They advanced towards her.
“Stay away from me!” Skye barked, her blue eyes flashing in their direction, the frying pan brandishing like a sword before her. She tried once again to morph but to no avail; her ability had failed her.
There was a sudden sharp rapping from outside the front door.
“Skye? You in there?”
She recognized that voice. The thugs and Skye were momentarily glued to their spots. Then, with a voice so shrill and loud it could have smashed windows, Skye screamed,
“RAPHAEL!”
The thugs sprang into action.
“Kill her quickly!” hissed Pearson.
It all happened in an instant. One of the thugs leapt towards Skye with his knife pointing towards her chest; Skye dodged it by a fraction but suddenly felt a sharp, painful sensation somewhere near her left hip and she crumpled to the ground; seconds later, an enormous tiger came bounding into the kitchen, roaring ferociously, and the men scrambled to escape. Behind the tiger, three other men appeared and wrestled with the thugs, and there was a great battle of fists and kicks. The tiger clamped its teeth around the leg of one of Pearson’s men, who screamed in agony, and the remaining thugs retreated, zooming out of the front door, swiftly followed in hot pursuit by the men who had followed the tiger.
Skye was breathing very heavily. For some reason, she felt weak and dizzy. The pain in her side was getting worse. She raised a tentative hand to where the pain was coming from and gasped in shock when she felt something wet and sticky. She looked down. It was blood.
The tiger was towering above her, growling quietly, its great head sniffing the wound. It started to lick the blood. It then stepped over Skye and she heard a rustling behind her; Raphael had transformed back into his human self. He grabbed a towel that was draped on the chair and wrapped it around his groin. He then snatched some kitchen roll from the counter, ran it under the tap, knelt over her and pressed it on where the blood was flowing.
“We have to get to a hospital,” he said, his voice coarse. “They’ve hurt you. The wound isn’t deep but you’re losing some blood –”
At that moment, the three men who had accompanied him into the house returned, panting.
“They got away,” said one and Skye, dazed, recognized him as one of Raphael’s twin brothers. “How is she?”
“We have to get her to a hospital. Joey, you’re driving. Ricardo, bring that roll of kitchen paper, we’ll need it for the journey. Paddy, can you grab my device? I left it in my pocket and that would have been ripped to shreds. I’ll carry her.”
Before Skye knew what was happening, Raphael placed his hands gently underneath her and swooped her up, advising her quietly to wrap her arms around his neck.
“Look, I’m OK, I just feel a bit dizzy, that’s all –” she began, at first objecting to this request.
“Please, Skye, just do it,” said Raphael and, with reluctance, Skye placed her arms around him for support while he rose from his kneeling position and hoisted her into the air, his toned muscles effortlessly carrying her. She sincerely wished he would put her down. Aside from the fact that she was still suffering from the shock of the intruders and the knife attack, being in such close proximity to Raphael made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She was pale and weak from the wound in her side, plus she couldn’t stop recalling with dismay how she was unable to transform in the moment she needed it most.
Still carrying her as gently as he could and pressing tissue paper firmly on the wound, Raphael heaved her into the car as they stepped outside. Passers-by stopped in awe at the sight before them: the semi-naked young man lifting the white-faced girl into the back seat; the three fully-clothed men who were sweating profusely and carrying items in their hands.
“Is she alright?” shrieked an elderly woman who was watching the scene in horror.
“We’re taking her to the hospital,” replied Ricardo. “She’ll be OK.”
“Say … Ain’t them the Renzo boys?”
“What happened to the girl?”
“Looks like she’s bleeding!”
“Come on, let’s hurry,” said Raphael and he jumped in the back next to Skye, Paddy climbing in after him. Ricardo took the passenger’s seat and Joey hurriedly sat down in the driver’s, switching on the engine and speeding off towards the nearest hospital. At that moment, bright colours swam before her eyes and her head felt as though it weighed a ton of bricks; the last thing she saw was Raphael’s concerned face asking her how she was doing, and then, she fainted.
*
A very tall, skinny doctor in a white coat with enormous hazel eyes and a long bird-like nose was peering down on her when she woke up.
“Ah, good. You’re awake.”
Skye blinked several times. Her head was pounding. She took note of her surroundings and realized she was in a hospital room, lying on a bed. She went to rub her eyes, but gasped when she felt a sharp pain in her side.
“Oh yes. Better not to move that right arm too much. Luckily, the wound was superficial – that is, it wasn’t deep or even penetrated you in a way that would be too concerning. More like a very vicious scratch. It did cause you to be out cold for some time though. But you are lucky, young lady. An inch or two to the side and it would have been a much nastier wound. I have cleaned it and dressed it. Your friends were very worried about you. They are outside. Shall I tell them you’re OK to see them or would you like to rest some more?”
“Er … No, it’s fine, you can tell them I’d like to see them.” She didn’t want to ask who exactly it was she would be seeing for fear of seeming foolish.
The doctor left the room and returned a few minutes later with Raphael, Joey, Ricardo, Raphael’s friend, Paddy, and – to Skye’s surprise – Daphne.
“Oh my God, Skye!” screamed her friend, running towards her, a panicked expression on her face while the men lingered behind.
“Daphne,” said Skye; she was glad to see her, but puzzled also.
“What are you doing here? How did you know I was here?”
“Ricardo told me,” replied Daphne, throwing a rather soppy gaze to the man behind her, who grinned. Alarm bells rang off in Skye’s head; she had seen that look before in her friend’s eyes.
“Erm … so you two know each other?”
“Yes, we met a couple of weeks ago.”
Skye now knew the identity of the guy Daphne claimed to have met. Ricardo, one half of the scandalous Renzo twins. But she didn’t say anything. Now was hardly the time or place. Besides, he along with the others had just saved her neck and she was in debt to them all.
Raphael, who was now wearing a patient’s shirt, stepped forward.
“Really glad you’re alright,” he said. “You had us worried back there.”
“Yep,” chipped in Paddy in a cheery tone. “Good news is you’re alright. Bad news is Pearson and his boys got away before we could get to them. Now they’re safely back in their neck of the woods.”
“Does my mum know about this?” said Skye, suddenly fearful. She could just imagine how petrified her mother would be to hear about this news.
“She’s on her way,” said Daphne. “I called her about five minutes ago.”
“Listen, it’s probably not a good idea that we crowd Skye like this,” said Raphael, gazing pointedly at the rest of his companions. Taking the hint, the twins, Paddy and a hesitant Daphne left the room. Skye thanked them all as they left.
Pulling up a chair, Raphael sat beside her while Skye stared straight up at the ceiling. They were alone in the room together and, despite the earlier catastrophic event, she felt that familiar tingling in her blood that she had been working so hard to suppress while in his presence.
“Thanks Raphael,” she said. “This time I will admit you saved me.”
He reached out to take her hand, but she pulled away.
“Sorry,” she said quickly, in order to mask the reason for her reflex. “My side hurts if I move that arm. How did you know I was
in trouble? I couldn’t have been calling out to you this time. I hadn’t transformed.”
“Sheer luck – or maybe the grace of God sent us to you at that moment. My brothers, Paddy and I were walking past. I was going to call on you to see how you were doing. As we came towards the door, I smelt this overwhelming scent of Pearson and his lot. I’d recognize it anywhere, the place reeked of them. Obviously I knew something was wrong. If I hadn’t been there …”
He lowered his gaze and placed his head in his hands; there was fear in his eyes. Skye coughed.
“It’s OK,” she said. “It would have been alright –”
“No, Skye, it wouldn’t have been alright.” Raphael’s eyes flashed in her direction and his voice became hard.
“You were in human form when I arrived. When I first transformed I could sense your fear, but I couldn’t sense your inner beast. Why didn’t you morph?”
He stared at her, the accusation plain in his face, his dismay palpable. Skye swallowed and briefly shut her eyelids.
Why didn’t I transform? I tried! But I couldn’t do it. I’ve had problems with it ever since I saw you with Sasha! Why am I having a problem morphing? Maybe it’s because I was so in love with you – I don’t even know if I still am! – and ever since my heart split into bits I’ve had an issue with turning into a wolf! Why? I don’t know! It’s just one of those crazy things, crazy just like the way I couldn’t stop myself from stupidly falling for you!
But out loud she said,
“It was the shock … It happened so quickly. The thug came at me with the knife before I could react.”
“But you’re a Morpher! Your reflexes give you the advantage!”
“I know … I don’t know what came over me. It won’t happen again.”
She looked glum, as though she were a naughty child that had done something wrong. Raphael shook his head.
“Too right it won’t happen again. This is my fault. I encouraged you to fight back at the thugs so they came looking for you. I should have been more careful!”
“This isn’t your fault!” said Skye indignantly. “I made the decision to jump in when that boy was getting attacked. It’s my own fault for not being more on the look-out. I just want to know how they got inside my house!”
“That won’t happen again either,” said Raphael, a fearsome tigerish expression on his features. “We’re going to send guards to protect your house. Some of our own. Your mum wanted to go to the police when she heard about what happened, but that would be a waste of time. We’ll dispatch our own guards to you tonight.”
“Guards?” exclaimed Skye. “I’m not sure there’s any need for that, I doubt they’ll be back –”
“I’m not taking any chances!” said Raphael hotly. “It makes me feel ill when I think of what might have happened if I hadn’t turned up … When I think that you weren’t able to morph … I’ve made my decision. I’m going to kill him.”
“No – Raphael, you know what your dad said! You can’t kill Pearson because of the war that will break out. I am fine. I’ll sort my morphing out! How do you think I feel? If my mum had been there and I wasn’t able to morph – it makes me feel ill!”
Her blood really did curl at that thought.
“I appreciate you saving my life. But you can’t kill Pearson.”
“If I don’t kill him then what exactly am I to do?” said Raphael harshly and his eyes flashed orange. “He wants me dead and now he wants you dead – in fact, he almost succeeded with you! We can’t just sit here while he plots to pick us off! There are a lot of men at his command, Skye. They won’t stop until they get what they want and Pearson has recently upped his game; his malice towards me has grown. No doubt he feels the exact same way about you now and there’s no way I’m letting this happen to you ever again. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you, I told you I’d always have your back.”
The automatic warm glow she felt inside at these words was quickly buried by the dull reminder that he spoke only as a friend and the image of Sasha’s sneering face swirling through her mind. Skye cleared her throat.
“We’ll think of something. Just don’t act rashly. I won’t freeze up again like I did back there. My senses, my morphing … they’ve been haywire recently. But I’ll fix it. It’s alright. We’ll think of something.”
They stared at each other, one Morpher to another. Skye pushed aside the emotions that she felt for him in that moment. Right then, they had to figure out how they were going to defeat their enemy. It wasn’t going to be easy.
Chapter Sixteen
Skye spent a total of two weeks at home in order to heal from the wound in her side. Like the doctor had said, it was a superficial injury and not detrimental to her in any way. It was even unlikely to leave a scar. But Mrs Archer, who was in complete turmoil when she heard her daughter had been stabbed and that the thugs had entered the house, was thoroughly reluctant to allow her to leave her room any time soon after the incident; she had also doubled the locks on the doors and windows. Lord Renzo had deployed six guards to patrol the house twenty four hours a day. When Skye questioned Raphael on how long his family intended the guards to stay there he told her it was for as long as she or her mother requested. And seeing how Mrs Archer had no plans on letting them go, it looked like the garrison was there to stay.
But Skye knew that the real concern was her ability to morph. There was absolutely no need for security if she regained complete control of this aptitude. She knew that her emotional turmoil was the cause of this loss and she knew she had to conquer it, rather than bury it. She told herself to let go of her pride and anger and just accept the fact that Raphael truly was just her friend and not to be so hard on herself for misjudging the situation. Every morning and evening she told herself this. She even pondered speed-dating in case it provided a distraction in the form of another male. She concentrated firmly on the endangered species she hoped to work with. Another few months and she should hear a response from the charity. She limited the time she spent with him to practically zero, making up constant excuses as to why she couldn’t meet him for runs or the odd bubble tea, trying to squash any bitterness she felt at the thought he’d probably spend that time with Sasha. She morphed on a daily basis every evening to monitor how she was progressing. In time she regained her natural morphing ability and it was a great relief to her. At least if Pearson showed his face again, she’d be ready for him.
Mrs Archer, who at first had strong objections to her daughter leaving the house, had eventually relented to her returning to work. Having grilled Skye for three hours on the day the intruders appeared about who they were and why Skye had not been able to transform, her protectiveness over her daughter had reached an all-time high.
“I am not going to lose you the same way I lost your father!” she had said furiously. “You said you don’t know why your morphing ability wasn’t working and of course there is no such thing as a doctor for Morphers. But even when you start to control it again, I am not letting you out of my sight. The risk is too great. Those thugs must be stopped!”
Skye knew that she was lucky to be alive. If Raphael had not arrived when he had, she would have been toast. Ironic as it was that she should be rescued by the man who had unwittingly broken her heart, she had to thank her blessings for the intervention. She fully understood her mother’s concern; she was worried herself. She and Raphael still needed to think of a way to stop Pearson, though his vendetta was so great they may as well have been trying to divert a lion from hunting gazelles in an open plane.
The evening before she was due to return to work, her tag device started beeping loudly. Mrs Archer was busy making tea for the guards who were standing outside the house and Skye was in the kitchen fixing herself something to eat. She picked up her device and saw Raphael’s name flashing before her.
“Hello,” said Skye as his stunning features appeared in the air.
“Skye, hi. Mrs Archer, how are you?”
Mrs
Archer smiled.
“Oh hello, Raphael. We’re doing fine. I’m just preparing your guards some tea and biscuits. I can’t thank you enough for this – and I can’t thank you again for saving my daughter’s life.”
“I told you, Mrs Archer, I’d do it all over again if I had to. And the guards are at your disposal, you keep them for as long as you need them. In fact, I’d prefer if you kept them for good to be honest. Don’t want those thugs thinking they can get away with anything a second time.”
Beaming at him, Mrs Archer left the kitchen, carrying a tray of tea and biscuits in her hands.
“How you doing?” said Raphael, turning to face Skye.
“Fine. Sorry I haven’t been talkative lately. My morphing is back to normal by the way.”
“That’s a big relief,” said Raphael.
“What have you been up to?”
“Not a lot. Working mainly. Went to a house party last night.”
Skye’s stomach swooped. No doubt he went with Sasha …
Don’t think about it! she scolded herself.
“I’ve been trying to think of ways to stop Pearson. I’ve had people follow him, but he’s keeping a low profile at the moment. My dad sent an envoy to the House of Pearson in an attempt to have him arrested for what they did to you. But it was useless. The police are completely corrupt and they’re all eating out of Pearson’s pocket. We have our people, but not the formal power to have him thrown in prison. His dad would just buy him out anyway. And there's always the chance they would try and turn it back on me, say I transformed and attacked the thugs, even though they broke into your home. Not that I care about that, but that's one reason we can't get them for this. I’ve been trying to talk to my dad, convince him that I need to eliminate him. Now that you’re in danger from him, he’s worried himself. But he still won’t let me touch him. I should just do it anyway! At least no one else would get hurt!”
Raphael’s frustrations showed clearly through his holographic image. Skye shook her head.
How The Wolf Lost Her Heart Page 19