by RJ Blain
“You survived. That’s going to piss this guy off. He’s a pro. You got away. Of course there will be problems. And I say no. There won’t be problems because I asked my daddy to make sure there won’t be any problems.”
Damn it. Sassy was on a collision course for chaining herself to me, probably with literal handcuffs she’d steal from Maxwell. “If he didn’t want me to have a chance of survival, I’d be dead, Sassy. This guy doesn’t miss. I think he just wanted me out of the way for a while.”
“Nope.”
When Sassy made up her mind, it’s be easier to move a mountain, change the ocean’s tides, and perhaps relocate the moon. Maybe I’d try my hand at wrangling a hurricane first. “All right. Anything else I should know?”
“You’re sleeping in my room, but Daddy says there will be no shenanigans in my room, so I have to sleep on your feet and keep them warm while a cheetah.”
As the fastest way to ensure shenanigans in Sassy’s room was to tell Sassy she couldn’t indulge in any shenanigans in her room, I gave it two days at most before she snapped and went after me. Sassy’s father needed to be thanked somehow, and I bet I could find some tools he didn’t already own. “I’ll do my best not to kick you, but you’d be more comfortable sharing the bed properly than hunched over my feet. If you’re concerned my feet will get cold, we can use another blanket.”
“Your feet are closer to the door. If someone does come after you, I want to be ready. I even sharpened my claws earlier.”
“Did you have your mother paint them?” For some reason I didn’t understand, nail polish survived the transformation, and nail polish stuck surprisingly well to cheetah claws.
“They match your truck.”
Nice. “Good choice.”
“I certainly thought so. Daddy wants to see you when we get in, and I’m not invited. Try not to pick a fight, okay?”
Considering Sassy had gone Daddy’s Little Girl to the extreme, I’d do better than my best behavior to keep her from snapping. How she’d snap, I had no idea, but I wanted to be off my medications so I could fully enjoy it when it happened. “I can manage that. Well, I won’t pick a fight on purpose, but I’m heavily drugged. I do stupid shit when drugged.”
She laughed. “We know. Your mouth gets you into trouble every damned time. Daddy’s probably in his den. I’ll show you where it is, then I’ll go shift.”
“All right.” As being heavily medicated might save me from Sassy’s mother but wouldn’t spare me from her father, I went through the usual guest ritual, making sure I took my shoes off, removed any stray dirt so I wouldn’t track it over the floors, and handed over my wallet and keys to Sassy so I wouldn’t lose them. “I will lose them in my current state.”
“They could stay in your pocket, Aaron.”
“I’ll lose them.”
“All right. I’ll put them in my room for you.”
While I’d been to the living room, guest bathroom, kitchen, and dining room, I’d never been through the rest of the house, and Sassy led me to a door, which descended into the basement. She took the steps two at a time and knocked. “Daddy? We’re here. If you don’t need me, I’ll go upstairs and shift. I’ve got Aaron’s wallet and keys. He didn’t want to lose them.”
I wondered at the little girl Sassy had once been, likely an avid worshipper of her father. The street went both ways, as only an idiot would miss how much her father adored his little kitten. I needed to, when opportunity allowed, thank her parents for doing everything just right with her.
A vibrant, stubborn, headstrong woman with indomitable pride didn’t happen by accident.
“You come on in, Aaron. Get yourself ready for bed, Sastria, and I hope you’ve abandoned your hope of going to your apartment tonight. If you need something, I’ll send some of your brat brothers over, but you’re staying here for the rest of the day.”
Yep, I definitely needed to thank Sassy’s father in some way.
Sassy bolted up the stairs. Smothering my chuckle, I shook my head and opened the door.
A book lover’s dream waited inside, and two armchairs took up the limited free space. While he had a fireplace, I appreciated he’d gone the electric route; smoke could damage books, and from the looks of his collection, he’d spent thousands finding the perfect titles to grace his shelves. Sassy’s father lounged on one of the armchairs, and he gestured to the seat beside him. “You’ve got to be tired. Sit, sit. How are you feeling?”
“Like my brother spiked my medications with more medications,” I confessed, grateful to get off my feet. Once seated, my body reminded me how sore and abused it was. “Thanks for keeping me from bleeding out. Appreciated.”
“You’re welcome. You are looking better, though you’re still grayer than I like. How’s my kitten holding together?”
“She’s all right.”
“I find that unlikely, as tense as she’s been. Last time she was over, she wanted to go to her apartment and bake every single type of pie you like and feed them to you.”
That explained the ban from returning to her apartment. “The DA came over and pitched an offer from the copper shop; they want to use us as guinea pigs for non-hybrid lycanthropes on the force. Sassy never wanted to be a PI. She wanted to be a cop. So, she’s excited right now.”
“I stand corrected. You still serious?”
It took me all of ten seconds to confirm to myself I needed the infection almost as much as I needed my next breath. The offer from the police had cinched the deal, as I refused to risk Sassy’s chance of having her dream job. I had my reservations, as I understood what else being a cop entailed, but some sacrifices were worth making.
For Sassy, I’d do a lot more than deal with the burdens of becoming a cop.
“One of my brats has a field transfusion kit with him and knows how to use it. He’s already confirmed I can donate, as he got a copy of your medical file from my kitten, which had your blood type listed. The plan is to give you transfusions as often as safely possible until your next testing to help the virus take hold. Here’s where things will be tricky. Sassy’s already locked onto you, and she’ll become anxious until you’re a properly mated pair. This is due to your incubating virus and hers reacting to each other. Your job is simple. Keep your attention focused on Sassy. Bribe her with shoes as necessary, but stay concentrated on her. Your virus will figure it out from there. Being blunt, kidnapping followed with a hostage situation is becoming a family tradition, so play along when she finally snaps.”
“As long as it happens when I’m not scheduled to work, okay. I’m all right with that.”
“I’ll make sure her mother suggests our kitten take care with the timing.”
“I take it we’re going to use the crash to hide the transfusions?”
“That plus a little magic and an ointment to close the injection sites. My brat will be monitoring the transfusions to maximize how much we can give you and jumpstart your infection. In good news, your injuries likely mean we can make more ground tonight. He thought the other option might creep you out.”
“I’m not a vampire, nor am I bisexual.”
“As such, we’re going the transfusion route.”
“I’d say do your worst, but I don’t think I can handle your worst today,” I admitted.
“You’ll be fine. Just try to relax. You’ll be upstairs napping in no time at all.”
According to Sassy’s brother, Joe, the hospital shouldn’t have released me, and if an opportunity presented itself, he wouldn’t be against beating sense back into my collection of doctors, none of which had any business being a doctor if they couldn’t verify the complete halting of internal bleeding before releasing a patient. Using an eclectic mixture of magic, blending natural ability and practitioner tricks, he examined me from head to foot, muttering curses the entire time.
When a military field surgeon cursed over my health, I worried.
When the military field surgeon could likely lift my other doctors over his
head and snap them in half, I worried a lot.
“Should I just go buy my casket now? Because seriously, with how you’re cussing, I feel like I should just save everyone the hassle, and buy my own casket in advance. And since I spent so much money on your sister’s shoes, I’ll probably opt for a cardboard one for cremation. It’ll be cheaper.”
Sassy’s father snorted. “Don’t be dramatic, Aaron.”
“He’s not necessarily wrong, Dad. Perhaps a little dramatic, but he’s not necessarily wrong. I’m going to document and authenticate my findings with an angel so I can build a malpractice case. He’s got more leaks than I like, and it’s serious enough he really shouldn’t have been let out of the hospital. Fuck, did they not even bother with a blood test? Any medical mage worth their license would take one look at you and know you’re leaking like a sieve. Did they just go off an imaging check and ignore the signs of internal bleeding? Fuck, I wouldn’t even need to do a blood test. I would’ve just checked your blood pressure and laughed at the idea of releasing you in this condition. On blood pressure levels alone, you’re already a candidate for a transfusion.” Joe spat more curses. “It’s like they want you to fall over dead or develop early onset lycanthropy. I won’t even need to cover anything, Dad. He’s a mess. Why is he even here? Why would they release him? What sort of doctor is that fucking stupid?”
“I’m assuming he’s here because the hospital decided he no longer needed to stay there,” Sassy’s father replied. “Complete your examination. I’ll run upstairs and tell your mother she might need to donate as well so she doesn’t have her evening wine. Aaron, I’ll give your brother a call and notify him there’s a problem. I’m also going to bring him over just in case. I’ll also convince him it’s wise he not yap about what we’re doing.”
Mark would love watching me be used as an experiment by a bunch of cats. “I’m sure he’ll eagerly become an accomplice.”
“Good. Need anything from me, Joe?”
“Bring down some bottles of water, please. In the meantime, I’ll figure out how much of a transfusion he needs. I might be able to pull it off just using your blood if your virus levels look good after the first round, but I’d rather Mom be ready if needed.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Sassy’s father promised before rising to his feet and strolling towards the door as though he didn’t have a worry in the world.
“If you work through Mom and Dad, Dean’s good to donate, but Charlie’s virus is too low for my liking. I checked before coming down here. While Sassy’s probably good to donate, I’d like to leave her in the dark about this as long as possible. She’ll flip, and when she flips, her virus flips, and the last thing you need right now is a mauling, which is exactly what would happen if she and her virus flip right now. Mate claims are rough,” Joe said, shaking his head and sighing. “But seriously. You’re a mess, and I’m going to be filing about this. You shouldn’t even be out of the hospital.”
“I guess that explains why I felt like shit trying to walk to the rental?”
“Yep. I’m glad your brother called me. Frankly, if I wasn’t a field surgeon used to working with the infected, I’d be carting you back to the hospital in an ambulance just to be safe rather than sorry. Bleeding like this can easily become fatal, and it can become fatal in minutes. Frankly, I don’t even understand how you’re as alert as you are. If I had to make a bet, you’re infected, the virus is replicating as fast as it can to help counter your internal bleeding, and when I start the transfusion, your incubating virus and Dad’s virus are going to get together, have a party, and jumpstart your infection nicely with an added bonus of helping the internal injuries heal.”
“I’m going to ignore all the parts about this potentially being fatal and concentrate on what’s important. Your odds on infection probability?”
“When I go grab the scanner I have on loan, my bet is it’s going to squeal like a stuck pig when I bring it near you.”
“Which is good.”
“Very. Unless you don’t want lycanthropy, in which case, I’m sorry.”
Joe wasn’t sorry at all, and I laughed at his unrepentant tone. “Please tell me I have decent odds of surviving tonight.”
“You do. I’ve healed a lot worse in the field. You should recover with no impairment or permanent damage. The lycanthropy virus will help with that. While Dad’s upstairs, I’m going to be blunt with you. Dad asked me to poke around in your memories and see if I can find anything out about the driver. I know you’ve said you don’t remember anything, but it’s common with brain injuries for memories surrounding a traumatic event to be forgotten. I’m capable of poking around your head and sifting through old memories. I’ll go through everything from now until shortly before the crash in order to learn whatever details I can. What I find will be private unless I feel it will help us find this asshole. Everything you saw, felt, and thought will be mine to know, and that disturbs people.”
I raised my brows. “Well, I love your sister and bought her nice shoes hoping she’d forgive me for deliberating contracting lycanthropy, except that part of the plan got derailed. I’m terrified of your father. Beyond that, try to stay out of client matters, please.”
“You didn’t have to tell me your secrets.”
I snorted. “You’re a cat. You’re going to tell everyone anyway. Just keep a lid on the client matters. If you think poking around in my head will find the killer, have a ball. I just don’t promise you’ll like what you see.”
“True, that. All right. Make yourself comfortable. Relax if you can. I’ll try to keep this as painless as possible, but it depends on where the bleeding is. Some areas are more sensitive to magic than others, and the harder I have to work, the more painful it becomes. If it’s too much for you to handle, I’ll drug you until you can’t see straight to make sure Sassy doesn’t figure out something’s wrong. Try not to scream. I’d rather you bit me like you mean it than scream. You screaming will set Sassy off.”
“Noted. Hit me with your best shot, just don’t kill me, please. I’ve had my fill of close brushes with death for a while.”
Unexpected naps made it difficult to monitor if Sassy’s brother rummaged through my head. According to my body, I’d endured a second crash, although my chest and stomach took the brunt of the pain. My throat twinged, an alarming enough sensation, but since no one around me panicked, I focused on regaining coherency. It took a lot longer than I liked, and when I finally managed to crack an eye open, Joe fiddled with a line attached to my arm.
It hurt.
“Ouch,” I informed him.
“It only stings a little. You’ll be fine.” Joe straightened and shook his head.
“Am I leaking?”
Joe’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed.
“It’s never a good sign when the military surgeon looks defeated. You’re making me think I need to purchase a casket.”
Shooting a glare at me, Joe perched on the arm of his father’s chair, careful to avoid the blood-filled lines. “I’m not defeated. I’m annoyed and tired. You were leaking, but you’re not leaking now. I’ve patched you up, but you’re going to be stuck in bed with limited mobility for the next week unless your incubating virus gets its ass in gear and finishes the job faster. Assuming Dad’s virus levels stay stable, he’ll be your morning donor. Dean has evening duty, and Mom will be the extra as needed. I’m going to call in for your medical record, but do you remember if they ran you through any imaging machines?”
“They did, yes. The last one was the day before I was released, I think. I’m not really sure what all the machines do,” I confessed.
“All right. I’ll talk to Mark, and I’ll have him start investigating your doctors and their connections. There’s no way those active bleeds should’ve gone undetected. You had a minor bleed in your brain, and just don’t fucking ask me about the rest of the mess. You’ll be fine, but you need rest, and you need to let the virus do its job. Also, I’ll make sure Sassy knows to
keep her attention extra gentle.”
“But she has been gentle,” I protested.
“Aaron, she climbed you like a tree, and because you’re an idiot, you liked it despite it hurting like hell.”
“Well, yes. She was wearing the blue shoes, and she was excited. Honestly, I was a little excited, too. Have you seen my new truck?”
“Who hasn’t? You can see it from the end of the street. I’d say you’re overcompensating, but honestly, you put your trucks through their paces whenever possible. And I can’t begrudge how much you enjoyed your first look at that beauty.”
“Is a trip to the hardware store out? I need new tools. My old tools had a terrible accident. I would find a trip to the hardware store very restful.”
“Order new tools online.”
Sassy’s brother wasn’t just a military man, he was a hardened, cruel professional, potentially aligned with the darkest forces of evil. I frowned and wondered how I could defeat the darkest form of evil.
Sassy’s father laughed. “Don’t get pouty, Aaron. As soon as Joe clears you off bed rest, I’ll take you out for some tools. It’ll give us a chance to see if anyone is following you before you go diving back into trouble.”
From the day I’d met him, Sassy’s father had called me trouble. His fatherly intuition must’ve warned him I’d meant to stick around. I considered my options and decided he’d win no matter what I did. “I’ll make a list of tools I’ll need.”
“That might keep the trip sane. Perhaps. I need a new planar.”
“Dad,” Joe complained. “You don’t need a new planar.”
“Your mother decided I need a new planar.”
Joe crossed his arms over his chest. “And what is Mom going to tell me when I ask her about your old planar?”
