by Dena Christy
“What is it?” he said as he swiftly stood and shoved his chair back.
“There are casualties coming in,” she said, the urgency of the situation stamped on her face.
“Humans?” Cadric asked, his heart picking up speed as he came around the desk. There was always a risk of exposure when there were large numbers of human casualties, and he hoped like hell that they could get whatever this situation was under control as soon as possible.
“Not humans. From what I can tell, they are all supernatural, and they are related to people who work here.”
Cadric wasted no time striding to the door, determined to find out what the hell was going on. The lives of his members and their families were his responsibility. He suspected that this was tied up with the murder of Dany Cavanaugh, the slaughter at the warehouse and the attack on Nan, but wouldn’t know for sure until he’d assessed the situation.
“What can I do to help?” Nan asked from behind him and he heard the scraping of her chair on the floor. He turned to look at her and made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
“You’d only be in the way,” he said, and felt a twinge of regret when he saw the hurt at his words flash in her eyes. He shoved those feelings away. His head needed to be clear and calm if he was going to deal with this.
Hadria shook her head and strode down the hall, not bothering to look to see if he followed her. He went after her, and he heard footsteps behind him and glance back to see Nan following.
“I told you to stay in the office,” he said, not breaking his stride.
“I want to help, so I’m coming,” she said as she came abreast of him with a mutinous look on her face. She had that stubborn tilt of her chin that usually meant she would not be argued with.
“Nan,” he began when Hadria cut him off.
“Cadric, we don’t have time for your domestic drama, let her come if she wants. We can use all the hands we can get,” she said as she led the way to the infirmary.
A flush burned hot on Cadric’s cheeks, and he clenched his jaw. Hadria was right, and he was being an ass over making a big deal out of Nan coming along. He should be grateful for the extra pair of hands.
They walked into the infirmary, and dismay shot through Cadric’s body at the sight that greeted him. Medical staff, including Nick, Lee and Simone struggled to attend to the wounded as more streamed in the door. So many familiar faces cried out for help as they cradled battered and bloody loved ones in their arms. There was not enough medical staff on hand, and while he was sure that they were triaging the worst cases, Cadric’s body went cold when he saw just how many injured people there were. The distraught faces of his members’ as they looked around for their loved ones would haunt his nightmares for a long time. What the hell had happened?
A hand touched his arm, and he looked down at Nan, standing calmly beside him.
“What can it do to help?” she asked, and his chest filled with pride at her willingness to jump into the middle of the chaos going on around him.
Hadria cried out, and he turned sharply to look at her. Her face was the color of bone, and she swayed on her feet.
“Hadria what is it?” he demanded as he reached out to steady her. One hand covered her mouth as she lifted her other hand and pointed toward the door. Cadric looked in the direction she pointed and felt the bottom fall out of his stomach.
Eric, beaten and bloody, staggered into the infirmary as Kate struggled to support him. Beside her, a distraught looking Rowan held Samara in his arms. Her body as bloody as her mates, except she looked pale and lifeless. Cadric prayed fervently that she was unconscious and not dead.
Chapter 9
Nan looked over at Cadric and Hadria as they appeared to be cemented to the floor where they stood. She didn’t know the people were coming in through the door but they meant a lot to her husband and the valkyrie. They both wore the same pale, stunned expression. Standing here gawking would do no good, so she reached in front of her husband’s face and snapped her fingers. The action brought him out of his trance.
“You are the leader, so lead,” she said, her voice fierce as she nudged him into the fray.
He sprang forward, rushing to the door where the injured people stood. He took the pregnant woman into his arms and placed her on a gurney. Hadria rushed over, her face frozen in an agony of emotional pain. Nan scanned the crowd for Nick, the only person she knew for certain was a doctor. She spotted him on the other side of the room and rushed to his side.
“Nick,” she said, and he turned, his face an intense mask. “We need help over there. A pregnant woman has been brought in and she’s unconscious.”
“Where,” he demanded, and Nan led him over to where her husband stood beside the gurney. Nick came to a stop, his face growing pale when he saw who the woman was.
“What do you need me to do,” Nan asked, her voice threaded with steel. Her question seemed to snap him out of his trance as he stood up straighter and a look of resolve came over his face.
“Take Hadria into the waiting room and stay with her,” he said as he moved Baldr aside so he could examine the pregnant woman.
“Who is she?” Nan asked.
“Her daughter,” Nick said, sparing her only a short glance as he pushed the gurney through a set of double doors. Hadria made a move to go with him.
Sympathy flooded Nan at the distraught look on the valkyrie’s face as Nan reached out to take her arm. Hadria struggled against her and Nan’s heart ached for her. She no longer seemed like competition for her husband’s attention. Now Hadria was a mother in agony over her wounded child. Nan tightened her grip on Hadria’s arm as she continued to fight her.
“Let me go,” she cried. “I have to go with her, I have to make sure she will be okay.”
“Hush,” Nan said as she put her arm around Hadria’s waist. Her hold was gentle, but firm, and no matter how hard she tried, Hadria couldn’t get loose. “Nick will take care of her. She’s in good hands. We need to let him do his job.”
Hadria ceased her struggles and sagged against Nan. She burst into tears, and Nan put her arms around her and ran a comforting hand up and down her back. She looked around the room for Baldr, and he rushed over to her side.
“Let’s get her out of here,” he said as he led them both from the room, and into the much quieter waiting room.
Once in the waiting area Nan eased her hold on Hadria. “We need to get her to sit down,” Nan said to Baldr, and Hadria pulled away completely.
“I’d rather stand,” she said, her voice shaky as she brought her hand up to wipe her cheeks. “I’m better now. It was just the shock of seeing her like that.”
Hadria visibly pulled herself together, and walked across the room, leaning against the wall. Nan felt a hand on her arm and her husband led her over to a bank of chairs, and they sat side by side. She noticed that his eyes never left the valkyrie across the room, and he had concern for her etched on his face.
“She’s very important to you, isn’t she?” Nan asked, surprised that there were no feelings of jealousy inside her. Her husband did not look at Hadria the same way he sometimes looked at her. She’d noticed the few times she’d come with him to work that he’d always treated Hadria with respect, but there was no heat in his eyes when he looked at her. Nan realized that she’d been a fool to be jealous of the valkyrie.
“She’s been with me the longest, and provides me with a link to the old ways and my old life,” Baldr said quietly as he reached for Nan’s hand. She looked down at his large hand resting on hers and looked up at him. He was looking right at her, and for a moment she felt like he could see down to the depths of her soul. “You don’t need to be jealous of her. There is nothing going on between us.”
“I know, I think I’ve known that for a while. Still, I can’t say I’m exactly happy about the way you seem to share more with her than you do with me,” Nan said with a sad smile on her face. He pulled her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss on her palm. Her ski
n tingled where his lips had been, and her gaze was caught by the bottomlessness of his deep blue eyes.
“Do you want me to share things with you,” he asked, his voice deeper than it had been before.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I want to know you again. I want to know the man you’ve become. We were together so long ago, and you’ve been through so much since we parted.”
She looked away from him, wondering if she should push for what she wanted. She wanted him back, but with the complication that Loki posed in their life, she didn’t know if she deserved to have a second chance with him. If he ever found out what she’d done, she doubted that he would ever forgive her.
“Nan,” he said as he put his finger under her chin, and lifted her face so he could look at her. “What is it?”
As she looked up at her husband, she knew she couldn’t deny herself what she wanted. She would deal with the consequences of what she’d done if they ever happened, but she would not deny herself her husband any longer.
“I want a chance to rebuild our marriage,” she said, and he put his arm around her and pulled her to his side.
“That’s what I want too,” he said and Nan felt his lips brush the top of her hair.
* * *
Cadric gently eased Nan over so she rested fully against the back of the chair. They’d been in the waiting room for hours, and she’d fallen asleep. She murmured quietly but did not waken.
People had been coming into the waiting room in waves as the evening had progressed, and as they’d received news of their loved ones, some had left to be replaced by others. As he looked around the sea of exhausted faces, anger slowly built inside him. Who the hell was responsible for this? Who ever it was, Cadric vowed that he wouldn’t rest until he hunted them down and punished them for what they’d done.
He looked up when Lee walked into the waiting room and made his way over to where Rowan, Kate and Hadria were huddled. Cadric stood and made his way over to them, hoping for news of Samara. If there was any lasting damage to either her or her babies, he’d never forgive himself for not doing more to protect them.
“What is it,” Hadria asked as she reached out for Cadric’s hand. He grasped it and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“Samara is doing okay. She’s delivered two healthy baby girls, and although they are early, they are doing fine.”
“Oh thank God,” Hadria said as she sagged back in her chair. “Can I go see her?”
“For a few minutes. Nick is waiting for your in the hall and he’ll take you to her room.”
“What about Eric,” Rowan said, his face a mixture of relief over his sister-in-law and fear for his brother.
“Eric will be fine too. We’ve put him in the same room as Samara so he can be with her and his children. And before you ask, yes you can see them.”
Rowan reached out and shook Lee’s hand. He nodded at Cadric as he took Kate from the room so they could see their family.
“Can you give me a status report,” Cadric asked Lee. A small hand tucked itself into his and he looked down to see that Nan had woken and now stood beside him. He clung to her as he waited to hear what had happened.
“Everyone who was brought in has been stabilized, except for one. Unfortunately his wounds were too grievous, and we lost him,” Lee said as he scrubbed his hand over his tired face. Cadric didn’t know what was holding the man up since he had been run off his feet saving lives for hours tonight.
“Who was it?” Cadric asked as he tensed. Lee glanced across the waiting room, and looked at Roger, who was sitting staring at the ceiling as the muscle worked in his jaw.
“No,” Cadric said, feeling like he’d been punched in the gut. He pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled. The young were-bear had been impetuous and undisciplined, but he’d save Nan’s life. He didn’t deserve to be cut down like this. None of the people who’d been hurt tonight deserved it.
“I’m afraid so. I need to go tell him,” Lee said as he turned to go to Roger. Cadric reached out and stopped him.
“I’ll do it. He should hear it from me,” Cadric said. He would not take the easy way out and let Lee do what he saw as his job. Every member of this organization was his responsibility, and he needed to be the one who told Roger that he’d lost his brother.
Cadric’s jaw clenched. Roger had worked for him for years, and he knew that Bern had been his only family and that he’d raised him after the death of their parents.
“If you need anything else, let me know. I should get back to work,” Lee said.
“Thanks for all your hard work and be sure to express my gratitude to all the medical staff. You all went above and beyond, and it’s all due to your efforts that we didn’t have more casualties.”
Lee nodded as he turned on his heel and left the room. Cadric took a deep breath, but he could not force his feet to move over to where Roger sat.
“Do you want me to go over there with you?” Nan asked. She’d always seem able to understand his struggles and seemed to know that he was about to do one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He could use her support.
“Please,” he said as he walked toward Roger. The werebear looked up as they approached, and he stood, his big body tensing as if it had turned to stone.
“Have you heard any news?” he asked, terse as he squarely faced Cadric. “Do you know what happened?”
“Roger,” Cadric said as he put his hand on Roger’s shoulder. The other man shook his head, denial written on his face. “I’m sorry to tell you this but Bern is gone.”
Nan stepped away from Cadric’s side and put her hand on Roger’s arm. He looked down at her, and his body sagged as he took a big shuddering breath.
“I’m so sorry Roger,” she said quietly, and the big man seemed to shrink before their eyes and Cadric could see the tears forming in his eyes.
Roger turned his body and put his head down on Nan’s shoulder. She gathered him to her, talking quietly to him as she ran her hands up and down his back. His big body shuddered with grief.
“I’ll find whoever did this,” Cadric said quietly. He doubted that Roger could hear him but he needed to say it anyway. “I’ll find who is responsible for this and they will pay for what they’ve done to Bern. I swear by all the gods that they will pay.”
Chapter 10
Cadric stood in the corridor outside one of the rooms in the infirmary a few days after the attack. He’d visited everyone who’d been admitted to the infirmary, and this was his last stop.. He ran a hand through his hair, then smoothed it down as he blew out a long, slow breath. Samara lay on a bed, on the other side of the door, and guilt churned his stomach at the thought of having to face her. He was responsible for everyone in the Order, Samara included, and he didn’t know what he would have done if she or her children had been harmed. He didn’t know what he was going to say to her to make things better.
Steeling himself he pushed open the door and came face to face with Eric, who looked a lot worse for wear. Samara looked over at Cadric from the bed and smiled at him. Cadric took a step into the room and was immediately blocked by an angry looking Eric.
“She’s not up for visitors,” he growled.
“Yes I am,” Samara said as she sat up in bed. “Baby, I love you but if you don’t get out of my hair, at least for a little while, I’m going to kill you.”
“But…” Eric said as he turned to look at her.
“But nothing,” she said as she waved him away. “I’m perfectly safe here, our babies are safe, and you need to go for a walk, go talk to your brother, go do anything except for hover over me in this room.”
Eric huffed out a sigh, walked over to Samara and pressed his lips to hers in a brief kiss. He turned, gave Cadric a stern look and limped out the door.
“Finally,” Samara said. She settled back against the pillows, and Cadric stepped into the room.
“Trouble in paradise?” he asked as he approached the bed.
“I think while putting
us in a room together may have sounded like a good idea in theory, in practice it’s not working out so well. This attack has him spooked and paranoid. I know he wants to protect us, that he needs to protect us, but he’s smothering me.”
“About the attack,” Cadric began, and Samara raised her hand.
“I can feel your guilt from here, and there is no need. You didn’t send those wolves out to attack us, and you can’t be responsible for everything. I knew the risks when I became a member of the Order,” Samara said as she looked directly into his eyes. “You’ll find out who is responsible for this, and they will meet with justice. But you need to stop beating yourself up to do that. Now why don’t you come around here and tell me what you think of my girls.”
Cadric smiled ruefully as he came around the side of the bed. Samara would know exactly what he was feeling, and wouldn’t let him indulge in it.
Two bassinets stood side by side on the other side of Samara’s bed, and Cadric walked over to them and looked down. He was careful to be quiet as he could see the babies were sleeping. Both girls were identical, down to their soft blonde hair, pink cheeks and tiny rosebud mouths. He could see the resemblance to their mother, and knew they would grow up to break hearts, especially if they inherited their mother’s nature. Seeing them looking so small and vulnerable, he understood why Eric was on hyper-alert. It also doubled Cadric’s resolve to find out what happened.
“They’re beautiful,” he said as he reached out and drew his index finger down the petal soft cheek of the baby closest to him. He remembered when his son was this small, and regret stabbed at him. He’d missed so much with his own child, and he couldn’t get that time back. His son was a stranger to him and probably always would be.
“How bad is it?” Samara asked gently and Cadric looked over at her, unsure what she was talking about. “How bad was the attack? The wolves who went after us didn’t appear to want to kill us. Eric took them on as best as he could, but there were too many of them and he was overwhelmed. There wasn’t a lot I could do, since I would have only been able to control one at a time, and the pregnancy hormones put my powers out of whack. They had ample opportunity to slaughter us, but they left us alive.”