by C. T. Adams
“Tony! Oh thank God, I was so worried! Lucas kept shooting and the bullets kept hitting you! I was terrified I was going to lose you. I don’t care if you want to watch me cook, or sit in the bath, or want me around every minute of the day! Tony? Tony! Please say something!”
They redoubled their speed in moving metal and wood off of me. I’d been in this bad a shape once or twice in my life and survived—eventually. We may have won, but not without cost.
I could taste blood and too many body parts didn’t have enough feeling. I opened my eyes slowly and saw Sue’s worried face brighten. “How’s Lucas?” I rasped, and then burst into a fit of coughing. I immediately regretted it since I seemed to have broken most of my ribs.
Bobby glanced around. “I don’t know. Where is he?”
I pointed up to the balcony. “He got bit by the spider. He might not have made it.”
Bobby swore and bolted for the stairs. Sue helped me carefully to my feet. We staggering behind him with all the speed of a three-legged turtle. I couldn’t share her thoughts—she’d shut me out to protect herself from my injuries, but there was no mistaking her sob of anguish when she first caught sight of the fallen man.
Lucas looked a lot worse than when I left him, but he was still breathing. The black had spread to his chest and arm, and a line of black was even crawling up his jaw.
“We have to get him out of here,” Bobby said with feeling. “The girls are already in the van.”
It had been Bobby moving the cocoons. That explained the sticky webbing that covered most of his battered body.
I flinched first when I tried to bend over—and again after I reached under Lucas’s legs. The flesh on the wounded one was squishy, like holding a plastic sandwich bag full of mush. Bobby had a similar reaction when he grasped his shoulders. I raised my brows significantly. “Do you think we can move him?”
Bobby took a deep breath, looked again at his boss and friend, and nodded his head. “We have to get him to the healers—or at least try.”
“Fine,” I turned to Sue. “See if you can find something we can use to carry him.” She nodded and limped off, slow but steady, leaving me and Bobby with Lucas.
“Are you going to be able to lift him?” Bobby asked. “I can hear you wheezing from here. You’ve broken some ribs. I’d heal you—but I don’t have the juice.”
“You worry about your end. I’ll manage mine.”
Sue came back dragging part of a wooden crate. Between the three of us we managed to get Lucas onto our makeshift stretcher. With Bobby holding one end, and Sue and I the other, we made our way downstairs.
The fog had dissipated. A woman’s petite body lay in the middle of the dark-stained wooden floor. Her head was neatly severed. I might have to come back to get it—if Babs didn’t make it. If not, I’d just leave it to be disposed of by Wolven.
We walked out of the warehouse into a winter dawn, our footsteps muffled by the thick layer of snow as we fought to keep our footing on the slippery asphalt.
Asri was pale, and moving slowly, but she held open the rear doors so we could get the old wolf into the back. I winced when I looked inside. Babs was already there, looking just as bad as Lucas, if not worse. Pamela wasn’t much better. I didn’t know what the hell that stuff was that the spider injected, but it was going to kill them all if we didn’t get help. I was amazed it hadn’t already. There wasn’t one of us that wouldn’t need the healers. Sue was in the best shape and she’d screwed her leg up badly in that forced run.
Bobby ignored all of his fears about driving in weather as he raced back to the hotel, taking his attention away only long enough to check on Asri in the mirror every few seconds. She saw him watching once and smiled tiredly. I saw him tap his fingers impatiently on the wheel as we rounded the corner and skidded to a sideways stop at the hotel’s curb.
In a blur of motion Ivan, Amber, Charles and Raven moved to the rear of the van. The second the doors were open, Amber began barking orders.
Bobby and Asri held open the hotel doors as Raven and Charles took the stretcher with Lucas into the hotel. Sue and I were still staggering toward the entrance when they rushed back for Babs. Both stretchers were immediately surrounded by healers. I recognized the new one from Lucas’s photo. Tatyana had finally arrived.
With tears streaming down her face she poured a tube of viscous, foul smelling fluid down his throat while whispering. “Don’t you dare die on me, Lucas. Don’t you dare.” She was glowing too brightly for me to look directly at them as she flooded magical energy into his still form.
Amber poured a similar tube of fluid down Babs throat before lighting up like a Christmas tree. In the distance, I watched Pamela stagger into Yurgi’s arms. Raven handed her a tube of the same medicine, then left the two of them to join the group that was forming around me.
“Did you get the spider, or did it get away?” Raven spoke softly, his voice calm but worried.
I turned to him, looked up into his dark eyes and nodded. “It’s done. You can go collect the body if you want. We left her at the warehouse.”
Ivan was horrified. “You left a dissected, giant spider where humans could find it?”
I thought about it. Would a swarm of police be descending on the warehouse from a “shots fired” call? I doubted it. It was a fairly secluded area. Most of the warehouses had been deserted. It had been the middle of the night. There might have been a couple of bums—but they wouldn’t exactly have cell phones, and weren’t likely to call the cops anyway.
“She wasn’t a spider when we left, she was a woman. But you should probably go pick her up.”
Raven and Ivan looked at each other and then at me with a significance I didn’t understand. “Did she turn back before she died?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know. I was busy getting shot and colliding with a wall at the time.”
Raven stopped and apparently just saw my wide variety of slowly healing wounds. He walked slowly around me. When he saw my back he gave a low whistle. “I’ll need to put you under to get some of those out.”
“I need to deal with a couple of things first,” I answered. “Why don’t you take care of Sue’s leg.”
I left him doing just that and made my way to the lobby telephone.
I shook my head and dialed Carmine’s number from memory. I wasn’t surprised when he was wide awake and answered on the first ring. “Talk to me.”
“I’ve got Babs, but she’s in bad shape. They’re working on her now, but she may not make it.”
Carmine’s breath came out in a rush that wasn’t quite a sob. “And the other thing?”
“It’s done.”
“Where are you? I…we…want to see her.”
“No visitors for now.” It wasn’t quite a lie. Having Carmine and Linda here wouldn’t do her any good—and there was no way the Sazi would let them come anyway. “I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”
“Do it.”
“Now will you let me take care of that back?” Raven asked as I placed the phone back in its cradle and felt my legs go to rubber under me. I sank unceremoniously to the floor.
Must be in worse shape than I thought. “Right. Probably a good idea.”
His hand shot out in a blur of movement and the world went black.
I woke lying on my stomach in the middle of the lobby floor. Hearing came back first.
Lucas had apparently come to. He was utterly astonished at being alive and was patiently listening to his wife tell him that she had never in her life wanted or expected to be grateful to Jack Simpson for anything, but that she’d almost be willing to kiss the old bastard for sending that antidote. And furthermore, that if Lucas ever pulled another stunt like this she’d kill him herself and save Jack and everyone else the bother!
Then she burst into tears.
I heard a soft chuckle far above my head. I cracked my eyes open in time to see Charles squat down beside me. “I’m pleased to see you came through this relatively unscathed
. It bodes well for your future with us. I’ve temporarily reinstated Raven so that he can handle the security for the remainder of the meeting. You’re going to be busy. We only have two weeks to get you trained to use your gifts.”
I started to open my mouth to ask what he meant, but he silenced me with an impatient gesture. He looked like he had been through a wringer, so I kept silent. He sighed. “It’s unfortunate that we moved this meeting to Chicago and invited the seers in order to get to know you, only to have the plan completely upended. For now, Ivan will debrief you. Then you can return to your apartment. Aspen will come by there in the morning to begin your lessons.”
He was gone before I could comment, but I had to wonder what was happening in two weeks. I would have to find him and ask—just as soon as I could stand.
A moment later, Sue knelt beside me. Her eyes widened as she watched another drama unfolding a few feet away.
“I’m fine!” Asri hissed. “The healers are needed for the sick and injured. I’m neither!”
Bobby’s face was tight and fearful. “But you were injected with the venom—in the stomach… How do you know what damage it might do?”
“I would know, Robart. It is my body! I am not some mammal…”
She was so intent on the conversation that she didn’t see Nikoli walk up. “Have you been checked by a healer, Asri?”
She turned in shock and he raised bushy eyebrows.
“Alpha…it’s…I’m fine. Truly I am.”
Nikoli snorted into his beard. “And you have suddenly transformed into a healer in these past hours? I think not!” He pointed to Raven. “You will go to the wolf and be checked. You must be certain there is no damage to the children. You must not guess.”
Asri’s jaw dropped open and Bobby moved back from them, a bit flinchy. I raised my brows and held a finger up to stop Sue from speaking. She’d noticed I was awake and her lips had opened a bit.
I needed to hear this conversation. I hoped that Nikoli wouldn’t go off the deep end, but it might get rough.
Nikoli didn’t wait for words to come out of Asri’s moving but silent jaws. His brow furrowed and his eyes flashed. “I have a nose, Asri. I occasionally use it, even when I might not seem to.” His voice wavered for a moment at the end. But then he cleared his throat and straightened his back. “If for no other reason than the fact that I have protected you and housed you all of these years, you will tell me the truth now. Do you love him?”
Asri glanced at Bobby and looked lost for a moment. But then she turned back to Nikoli. “I am yours to command, Alpha.”
I watched Bobby’s eyes close and his big hands clench into fists. Nikoli noticed. He crossed his arms over his chest firmly and he settled his stance. “Then I command you, Asri—reveal your heart. Do you love him?”
Asri looked at Nikoli for a long moment with tears sparkling in her eyes, but finally dropped her head.
Nikoli nodded slowly. His voice cracked a bit. “And of course he loves you. He would be a fool not to. Agent Mbutu is many things, but he is not a fool.”
Asri reached up and put a hand on his jacket. “Nikoli…I…”
He looked at her and his face softened. He turned his eyes to Bobby, who was trying hard to stay neutral, but wasn’t succeeding well. Nikoli uncrossed his arms and pointed at the dark man. “You will be good to her, and the children. Or you will answer to me.”
Bobby got over his initial shock, and nodded strongly.
Asri looked at the pair with panic. “But my home is here. I cannot leave! Who will enforce the rules? Who will you confide in?”
Nikoli shook his head and put his large hands on her trembling shoulders. “You must do what is best for your children, Asri. I can enforce my own rules for a time and keep my own confidences. But your little ones will not be able to abide the cold. Go back to Komodo for now, be with your mate and raise your children. You may return whenever you wish. You will always have a home in this pack.”
He turned and walked away from them. Bobby hesitated for a moment as Asri watched Nikoli leave, but he finally rested a soft hand on her shoulder. She twisted her head with tears rolling and then turned and threw herself against him, sobbing. He held her close and let her cry.
Yurgi walked up to me, smiling. “You have saved my Pamela, Tony! I have no way to repay you for this gift to me.” He reached down to shake my hand, but instead pressed a small red velvet box into my hand without Sue noticing. “Is very nice,” he whispered. “I have friend at shop downtown and he gives me good price.”
I smiled and nodded as he walked away.
Sue turned to me, trying to allow Bobby and Asri as much privacy as the lobby would afford. Her voice was soft, timid, but she held her head high as she spoke. “Are you mad at me?”
I tried to look stern, but probably failed. “You mean for leaving your cover? For playing bait to that…thing and scaring the living daylights out of me?”
She nodded with her head lowered. “Yes, that.” Sue looked up at me with determination in her face. “But you couldn’t have done it, Tony! Not by yourself. I want to be more to you than just something else you have to protect. I’m going to be your partner.”
I raised my brows.
Her face got a startled expression, as though she just realized what she’d demanded. “I mean…if…if that’s okay. You said an equal.”
I couldn’t hold up the act. I laughed and pulled her into my arms. “Hell yes, it’s okay! It’s what I’ve always wanted you to be—smart and sexy and a very dangerous woman. We’ll just have to toughen you up a bit. Do you have any idea how proud I am of you? Any idea at all?”
I grabbed her hand and put the small box into it. “Merry Christmas, Sue. I know it’s early, but it seems the right time. It’s not everything I want to give you, but it’s all I have for now.”
I was leaning in to kiss her when I heard Lucas’s voice behind me.
“About that, Tony…”
I stared up in shock. I couldn’t believe he was actually upright. He wasn’t whole and perfect, by any means, but his skin was back to a normal color and he was only a little saggy around the original wound. He was aiming a little point and shoot digital camera at the ceiling and wearing an impish grin.
Why in the hell was he taking pictures of the ceiling.
I let go of Sue, rolled onto my back and looked up. Sue did, as well, forgetting about the box in her hand. “Oh my.” I stared, wide-eyed for a second before turning to Lucas. “Can I have a copy?”
It was worth a shot. Hell, he might make a small fortune selling copies to Nikoli’s pack members. A certain annoying councilman, along with four men and three huge snakes, were plastered against the ceiling, four stories up.
“What happened at the meeting?”
I hadn’t noticed Nikoli standing behind the couch until Lucas said something.
He paused and looked at the old wolf, waiting until he had turned his attention from the ceiling. “The Minnesota pack will be split in half. They have been offered an alternate territory in Quebec, but it’s far from prime land. It was either that or Alaska, and there’s the whole oil drilling debate up there.” He paused. “I wish there was a better time or place to tell you all this, Lucas. But there isn’t a private spot anywhere in the hotel. The meeting will begin again in the morning, and Charles mentioned you have to be elsewhere.”
Lucas nodded for him to continue.
“The cats will be allowed to remain as they are without grouping into prides.”
Lucas laughed. “I’m sure the Monier family had something to do with that!”
“Oddly, it was Ahmad’s idea.” Lucas looked suspicious, but Nikoli continued. “Angelique’s raptors lost a parcel of hunting land in California where the humans have reestablished the condor.”
Nikoli’s face fell. “And, I hate to tell you—I did my best, Lucas, but the council granted Catherine Turner part of your territory. I was able to hold them to only the part she’d purchased. Ahmad want
ed to make an example of your wife and Dr. Perdue by exiling the entire pack hierarchy, but Charles finally agreed that it seemed too extreme for breach of doctor/patient confidentiality. It was a close vote. Fortunately, I was able to sway Angelique by voting her way on the California land. You seem to have made a few enemies on the council, Lucas.”
Lucas took a deep breath and nodded. “I was afraid of that. But the odds were stacked against me. I should have stepped in myself long before now, but I truly thought that Jack could get control of his madness. He’s killed too many people without regard for our law, but attacking Charles’s godchild? Slaughtering his best friends? That was finally too much. He’ll have to be put down, at long last. I presume they signed the warrant?”
A deep slow breath made Lucas look at Nikoli. “It’s still in discussion. There are those who believe he can be saved, because of his efforts tonight. And there is the matter of the file…”
His voice cut off as one of the pack members rushed by, bringing a pot of hot water from the kitchen. Obviously, this file was something that wasn’t to be discussed in public, but they didn’t seem to notice me and Sue, so I let them continue.
“As for my wife…well, that’s been a long time coming too. I love her, but I can’t protect her anymore.” Then he returned to clicking pictures. But I could smell his anger, and his fear.
“Still, I am sorry. You may have to split the Boulder pack if you can’t find more hunting territory.”
Lucas put up a hand to stop Nikoli. “Let me savor this sight for a moment longer before I have to return to reality, please, Nikoli.”
It seemed that they were finished, so I decided to indulge my curiosity.
“How?…” I asked toward the pair, as though I hadn’t heard a thing. I gestured toward the ceiling.
They both looked up again. “Ah, yes. Ahmad said something…unfortunate to Aspen.” Someone else caught Nikoli’s eye and he moved off. “She lit up like the sun and he and all of his guards ended up there. Then she left and said he could find his own way down.”
