by Cecy Robson
“Ouch,” I whimpered through a mouthful of dust.
It took a great deal of effort, time, and a whole lot of swearing before I could push up onto my elbows. To my left, Koda was dodging bullets from yet another vampire who had arrived. He’d killed the one who had thrown me into the wall, but that one hadn’t been wielding a weapon. His howls echoed, rattling against the devastated halls, when a couple of bullets pierced his ribs.
Smoke wafted from his fur in tendrils. Koda could take being shot by gold, so long as the bullets missed his heart and brain. The screaming humans didn’t have that luxury. I scanned the area, searching for somewhere to stash them.
Twenty feet to our right was the medical supply closet. There wasn’t a lot of room, and the super-beasties could easily break through the keypad, but the door was constructed with thick metal and would provide protection from the barrage of shots being fired. I crawled forward, staying low mostly because I couldn’t stand.
“Helen. Helen!” I called louder when she continued to scream. “Get everyone into the supply closet!”
Helen didn’t hear me, but one of the nurse techs did. She ran to the door. It took her a few tries to open it with her trembling hands, but she managed. Another nurse urged everyone forward. They piled in, shutting the door tight behind them.
I pushed up on my legs, only to fall on my face again, narrowly missing the spray of bullets punching holes into the wall behind me. Another gun-wielding vamp had arrived because hey, why not? Collapsing into more broken glass, though horrifically painful, was the only thing that saved me.
Shit. All I could do was lie there like a very naked and oozing slug. Aric. Where are you, wolf?
Aric didn’t respond to help me. But Koda did. He tackled the vampire like a seasoned linebacker. He may have been hurt, but he tore into the vamp and ripped him apart. Ash exploded as he made the kill. He veered, ready for more, but the ash had occluded his vision, and he didn’t clear it fast enough to avoid the ninja or his lethal nunchucks.
Koda yelped when the ninja stabbed the tip of a blade into his haunches and then raked a knife across his face. It was horrible, but the attack brought Shayna racing from the opposite corridor. She lifted the IV pole and split it with her power, transforming it into two long and razor-sharp scythes.
The ninja leapt away from Koda and attacked. He wasn’t afraid. He was a master of weaponry.
But so was my sister.
Shayna howled one of her more pathetic wolf calls and spun forward, spinning her scythes. The ninja hadn’t expected someone so thin to be so lethal. His eyes widened when Shayna all but gutted him with her first strike. He pivoted right then left, catching one handle with the chain of the nunchucks. He brought the blade down, but couldn’t avoid Shayna’s kick to the groin.
The ninja recovered too damn quickly, reaching for a dagger from his belt and jabbing it at Shayna. She twisted out of reach, bringing her other scythe down in an arc. He evaded her blade and whirled back, and together they began a deadly dance of strikes and blocks. They fought like two vicious gladiators, my sister’s cunning and skill leading the ninja away from Koda, giving him time to rush another vampire.
I wasn’t a coward, but I was badly hurt and needed to hide from the last gun-toting vampire staggering through the rear entrance. He’d lost a foot, and yet he hobbled faster than most humans ran.
The linen cart had been pushed off to the side near the wall. It wasn’t much in the way of cover, but it was my only option given the condition of the ED. I crawled through the devastation and the ick. Shards of glass and splinters of wood scraped painfully against my breasts, belly, and thighs. It took me a moment, but I finally managed to reach the small pocket of protection before the vamp noticed me.
My body gave out just when a pair of feet in bloodred platform Mary Janes stepped in front of me. The most notorious Catholic schoolgirl had arrived.
I glanced up Edith’s long legs, careful not to look too closely. Edith wasn’t a fan of underwear. “Hi, Celia,” she said cheerfully. “The master sensed you were in trouble and sent us to help you.”
“Eh?” was all I managed.
Edith hauled me up by my shoulders with ease. She tossed back her long midnight hair and grinned. “The master also sends his love,” she said right before she kissed me.
That’s right. Edith kissed me. On the lips. I clenched my jaw shut before she could shove her tongue down my freaking throat. My eyes were wide as I kicked out uselessly. Edith’s eyes were closed as she continued what she probably thought was one hell of a smooch. I wanted to gag, having had an idea where her lips had been, but that would have granted her access to the inside of my mouth. No way in hell did I want anything of Edith’s near any of my orifices.
If it wasn’t strange enough having one of the Catholic schoolgirls making out with me, an odd blue haze surrounded us, and all I could think about was Misha. I thought of his gray eyes and how they softened only for me, and about that wicked smile he flashed when he was up to no good.
Then, unexpectedly, he materialized through the far wall and stalked toward us. It was hard fighting off Edith’s tongue as it slid against my teeth while I gawked at Misha, flabbergasted by what the hell was happening. His black silk pants hung shamelessly low on his hips, exposing his Herculean physique, glistening with sweat. He slinked leisurely, like a serpent over the rubble, while his long mane swept off his powerful shoulders. My eyes widened as every part of him tensed with each step. When he reached me, he pushed my hair away from my face, and joined our kiss.
I just about had a coronary, but then Misha vanished and was suddenly inside me, building my strength and caressing everything that hurt. Including my ass.
I jumped away at the realization, flipping backward—away from Edith and the linen cart—and landing in a crouch. The strange blue haze surrounding me intensified and glowed, erasing my pain and damnit all, tingling every part of me.
Edith fixed her attention on my breasts. “The master will be pleased by your response,” she said, smiling.
The cocking of a gun had me scrambling back toward Edith. I dove behind the cart and hunkered down, narrowly missing getting shot. Edith just stood there and tilted her head like she couldn’t understand my reaction. “Edith, get down!” I yelled.
She huffed. “What’s the big deal? They’re only bullets.”
The gun jammed, but then the vamp managed one more shot. It hit Edith right in the arm. She screamed in agony as smoke rose from her wound and black pus seeped from the gaping hole.
Edith peered at her wound and back at me. “That fucker is shooting with gold bullets!”
“I know. Get down!”
Instead of listening, Edith completely lost her shit. She looked up at the ceiling, raised her arms, and screamed. I fell back on my new and improved ass. I’d only heard her scream like that once before—when we’d found the beings who’d kidnapped and tortured her master. It was a guttural, primal, PMS type of scary scream—good for us and bad, very bad, for the vamp who’d shot her.
I snagged a patient gown seconds before she picked up the linen cart and flung it into the gun-wielding vamp. He grunted upon impact but all I could see were legs sticking out from the bottom of the cart. The cart shook as he tried to rise, but not before Edith screamed once more and launched herself on top of him.
Edith pierced her carefully manicured and deadly nails through the flaps of the cart and reemerged with the vamp’s colon. She tossed the intestines and what resembled a kidney aside. I stopped watching then. Not only because I was grossed out, but because her kiss had somehow transferred some of Misha’s power into me. And Lord knew I needed it then. The ED was suddenly flooded with more weres and vampires chanting, “Shah, Shah, Shah,” as if trying to locate him.
I rose, my claws and fangs protruding, and charged.
The wolves around me howled, one after the other, their call inciting one another to fight with great zeal. In the distance, another faint howl echoed,
tugging at my heartstrings and making me want to cry. I ignored the emotions it stirred, desperate to stay alive and focus.
My claws raked across flesh and my legs kicked hard. I killed two more vamps and a werecheetah in beast form before Misha’s power abruptly faded, and I collapsed.
All the injuries I’d endured and the pain that accompanied them struck me in one massive blow. I screamed, certain the agony alone would kill me.
My screams worked against me, attracting a mammoth wolverine. He thundered down the hall, landing on my limp form and robbing me of air. He would have killed me had Gemini not arrived and torn out his throat. As I lay on the floor, Gemini’s twin wolves rejoined and changed, revealing his human form.
He lifted me from the rubble, his voice urgent. “Stay strong, Celia,” he said. “Aric is on his way….”
Chapter 17
If Gem meant “stay awake,” I didn’t manage. The next time I pried my eyelids open, I was in a patient room covered in a sheet. Emme’s face was the first I saw. Her soft healing light faded as I felt the last of my pain recede.
“Celia’s okay,” she said softly.
Aric clutched my hand within both of his. I knew it was him even before I turned to look. His sweet warmth and addictive aroma alerted me to his presence. “Hi, wolf,” I whispered.
He kissed my hand and leaned his forehead against it, worry and exhaustion darkening the circles ringing his eyes. He seemed tired, unusually tired. I scanned the room until I fixed on the wall clock. 3:00 A.M. It was late, but Aric’s beast should have given him more energy than this.
“Son of a bitch,” Taran muttered. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. “How the hell does this shit keep happening to you?”
Aric helped me to sit. I rubbed my face. My body was weak from blood loss and from how quick Emme’s touch forced it to heal. My throat was also unbearably itchy, likely due to dehydration. I scratched it, for all the good it did me. “Just goes to show that hunting demons is safer than working in the Emergency Department,” I mumbled.
No one found my comment funny, especially Aric. He frowned, although I could see the fear behind his apparent frustration. “I should have sensed you were in danger.”
My hand fell away from my throat when I realized what he’d said. “You didn’t?”
He shook his head, his anger and disappointment building around him.
“But I called to you,” I said slowly.
Surprise smoothed away his frown. Okay, this wasn’t good. Nope, not all.
Emme and Taran shuffled nervously around us. “It’s okay,” I told Aric, unable to tear my gaze from his. “You’ve had a lot on your mind.” My excuse was pathetic at best. Throughout my fight, I kept expecting him to magically appear. He’d claimed me as his, and with my emotions running so high, he should have known that something was wrong.
Yet my mate hadn’t felt anything. And it scared me.
Edith strutted in, beaming. “The master knew you were in danger,” she taunted. “We would have arrived sooner had weres not been guarding the entrances.” She looked at Aric. “He returned to Europe last night and yet even from so far away he realized Celia needed him. Where were you, mutt?”
“Shut up, Edith,” I hissed. I expected Aric to lash out. Instead, he tightened his jaw and said nothing.
Edith shook her head with mock sympathy. “Poor little mongrel. Perhaps your love isn’t as strong as you thought.”
Aric stood. “Enough,” he snarled. “Time for you to leave.”
Edith kept her smile, though her eyes had narrowed. She wouldn’t leave just because Aric commanded, especially if Misha had ordered her to stay with me. I looked at her, my disappointment in Aric’s absence weakening the assertiveness in my tone. “Edith, go home. I’m fine now.”
She scowled. Clearly I was spoiling her idea of a fun night. She tossed back her hair and strolled out, but not before shooting me a glance with an evil gleam over her shoulder. “By the way, the master was right. You taste delicious.”
Aric straightened. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I glared at Edith, willing her to burst into flames. She didn’t. Instead she ran her tongue over her top lip and winked before stepping into the hall.
Sometimes Edith simply sucked.
“What did she mean by that?” Aric asked more forcibly. I wrestled with whether to tell him. “Celia?” he demanded.
I sighed. “Edith kissed me when I was hurt. Somehow, she temporarily transferred Misha’s power into me.” Aric regarded me like I’d been unfaithful. “I didn’t exactly let her, you know,” I added defensively. “She caught me in a moment of weakness. I was hurt, bleeding, and almost unconscious.”
I stopped speaking then. In his light brown irises, I caught a flicker of anger, but his most prominent emotion was shame. As my mate, Aric should have been at my side, giving me strength. Instead, Misha had come in his place. While I could forgive Aric’s absence, the guilt shadowing his features told me he’d never forgive himself.
“The master has been concerned for Celia’s safety since Shah bound himself to her,” Tim said. He’d walked into the room without knocking, of course. “Before he left, he transferred some of his power into Edith. He wanted her to have his strength in case Celia needed it in his absence.”
“It would’ve been more if you’d just let me fondle you,” Edith yelled from somewhere down the hall.
Tim smirked at Aric. “Good thing Celia has someone looking out for her.”
Aric’s jaw clenched, but when he took a step toward Tim, I clasped his arm and held him back. “Do you need something, Tim? Or did you just stop by to be a prick?”
He laughed, seemingly pleased with himself for getting a rise out of Aric. “I just wanted to know if you needed anything else before we left. All human witnesses have been hypnotized into forgetting the experience. But if you prefer we stay to guard you, that’s completely understandable given your own mate won’t even protect you—”
If I hadn’t been holding Aric, and Emme hadn’t shoved him back with her force, Aric would be flossing Tim’s remains from his fangs. “Just go, Tim,” I ordered.
He turned to leave, but not before offering one last dig. “I’ll be sure to tell the master you’ll be coming back to work for him.”
From the room next door, Koda howled in agony, making me jump. Through his torment, Shayna’s reassuring voice remained soft. “It’s okay, puppy, I’m here,” she said. “I promise it’ll be over soon.”
“What’s wrong—what’s wrong with Koda?”
Aric pulled me to him. I didn’t realize how fast my heart was beating until I tried to slow my breathing. The night had sucked, but it wasn’t over. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching and waiting to strike. “Don’t be scared, sweetness,” Aric said. “Koda was shot in the eye. Martin is just digging the bullet out of his brain.”
Oh. Is that all? My stomach did a flip-flop, and I felt faint. I could have done without that visual.
Aric eased me back down. Next to me, Emme and Taran were fumbling with some packages. Taran straightened my arm. “Hold still, Celia. I’m going to start an IV. You need fluid.” She shuddered when she took in my face. “And considering your face is as white as Emme’s butt, you’re going to need some blood.”
Aric rubbed his sternum. “You’re giving her your blood?” he asked, sounding oddly pleased.
Taran stopped what she was doing. “Aric, look at her. I don’t have to check her labs to realize her hemoglobin and her hematocrit are low.”
He rubbed his chest. “No, you’re right. Do what you can to help her.”
I flinched when Taran started my IV, but it was nothing compared to the pain Koda was experiencing next door. I was glad I was horizontal when I heard something crunch, followed by the howl of a furious beast.
—
The small amount of blood Emme had drawn from Taran was running into my vein when Gemini prowled into the ro
om. He’d found scrub pants to wear, but hadn’t bothered with a shirt. His dark almond eyes fixed on her. “Hi,” he said quietly.
Her shoulders tensed. She’d heard him yet she refused to glance in his direction. She busied herself drawing Emme’s blood to give to me. While she appeared to be concentrating, I knew her enough to sense her sadness. Gem stared at her for a moment longer before speaking to Aric. “Genevieve, Delilah, and Betty Sue are here.”
Taran scowled and tugged the cuffs of her long gloves upon hearing Genevieve’s name. I couldn’t blame her for getting upset. Her failing power, the condition of her arm, and the end of her relationship with Gemini had fractured what remained of Taran’s confidence.
It also didn’t help that Genevieve had the goods to make Miss Universe question her hotness. Genevieve’s fair skin, large blue eyes, and long wavy black hair bordered on perfection. She reminded me of a life-sized ceramic doll, if the doll came complete with a perfect figure, elegant mannerisms, and power so strong you could taste it. We’d only interacted a handful of times, including this last time in Malaysia. But each time, her beauty gave me pause, and each interaction had been uncomfortable and memorable.
Aric’s attention briefly passed to Taran before he kissed my bare shoulder. “Ask Genevieve in. I don’t want to leave Celia,” he said.
Gemini nodded and stepped into the hall, beckoning Genevieve forward. “He’s waiting for you,” he said.
She entered the room. Tonight, she’d chosen a deep purple velvet gown that brought out her eyes and delicate skin. Gold ribbons crisscrossed at the bodice, making her breasts appear fuller despite her lithe frame. Part of her hair was up in a twist, while the rest dangled in perfect waves around her cheeks. The yellow talisman typically affixed to her long staff dangled from a chain around her neck. Save for Halloween, most people would have looked ridiculous in this getup. But most people weren’t Genevieve.