by Faith Gibson
He maneuvered so he was alongside the other helicopter. When he was close, he could see someone leaning out the side door, eyes intent on the carnage below. Frey was staring at Gordon Flanagan. He needed to get them as far away from the wreckage as possible, and away from any neighborhoods below. When the other bird didn’t move, Frey eased around, putting himself as close as he could without disrupting his family on the ground. He edged closer, getting their attention. Flanagan motioned to the pilot who moved away from the area. Kaya had already told Geoffrey to apprehend Flanagan by any means necessary. Even though she hadn’t said the words, he interpreted them to mean dead or alive.
Both helicopters were military grade, loaded for bear. The Apache might be smaller and quicker, but Frey and his Blackhawk were almost one entity. Neither he nor Lorenzo were scared of being shot out of the air; they could phase and fly before they hit the ground. They just wanted to capture Flanagan with as little damage to the area below them as possible. Their plan was squashed when Flanagan’s pilot maneuvered the bird into a quick one-eighty and opened fire. Frey dodged the rapid-fire rounds while returning his own volley.
A game of chicken ensued with both pilots proving to be unforgiving. “Do you want me to phase and take them out from inside?” Lorenzo was obviously ready to be on the ground. Frey glanced down and took in the number of rescue vehicles headed to the crash site. While humans usually never looked up, the constant spray of gunfire was surely garnering attention.
“If there were no civilians on the ground, I would say yes. It’s going to be hard enough to get out of this situation without getting Kaya in trouble, much less ourselves. FUCK!” A small rocket barely missed the tail of the Blackhawk. If his shifter hearing hadn’t alerted him to the Hydra being launched, they would probably be going down. “I’m tired of playing with this motherfucker. I say we go big or go home, and right now, I’m going big.”
It might be overkill, but Frey locked on with a Hellfire missile. He pressed the red “fire” button, and within seconds, Gordon Flanagan’s helicopter erupted into flames. Geoffrey didn’t wait around to find out if the man lived or died. He needed to get out the vicinity and hoped like hell none of this came back on Kaya or the Clan.
He kept radio silence so that no transmission could be tracked. Lorenzo looked back at the smoke on the ground. “Do you see any survivors?” Frey asked as he flew east towards his home.
“No, all I see is smoke. Do you want me to call to the ground, find out how Tessa is?”
Frey’s face became grimmer. If Tessa didn’t pull through her injuries, Gregor was going to lose his shit. “Yeah, but call Rafe. Tell him unless it’s imperative he has the bird for transport, we’re going incognito.”
Frey sent up a silent prayer to the gods that Tessa be okay. Lorenzo hung up and didn’t speak. He appeared to be offering his own prayers. Well fuck.
Thirty-Seven
Kaya was talking to Curtis Standifer, the local Chief, attempting to smooth things over for being out of her jurisdiction. She explained she was there as family, not as an officer of the law. Rafael had called Dante and told him to get in touch with Joseph Mooneyham. Joe was a lone wolf sort of Gargoyle, staying out of Clan business. He was Chief of Staff at New Atlanta hospital, and one of the brightest doctors and surgeons in the States. Rafe explained the seriousness of Tessa’s injuries, and how Joseph was the only one he trusted to work on her. He meant no offense to Dante and none was taken. They both knew Dante’s limitations, and neither was willing to risk a mate’s life because of pride.
The fire and rescue crews were using the Jaws of Life to extract the driver of the Mustang from his vehicle. Tessa was being secured to a board for transport. It broke Rafael’s heart to see Gregor in so much pain. If the roles were reversed, he didn’t know that he would be containing himself half as well as Gregor was. He hadn’t moved from Tessa’s side except to give the medics room to maneuver. A medical helicopter was on its way to transport her to the hospital.
Rafael was proud of Kaya. She had taken one look at Tessa and immediately went into Queen mode. She was not ordering her men around. She was consoling Gregor, and asking Dane and Jasper for assistance in dealing with the police and emergency crews. The only time she lost her shit was when Katherine Fox showed up, way before any news crew should have received the information. Kaya threatened Dane, telling him if he let Katherine anywhere near Tessa, she would rip his wings off with her bare hands.
The medical helicopter arrived and landed in the middle of the two-lane road Tessa had been driving on before she flipped. “We’re ready, Sir.” The medics were speaking to Gregor, but it was Rafael who spoke up.
“Take her to New Atlanta. Dr. Joseph Mooneyham is standing by with his team.” They nodded, gently lifted the board holding Tessa, and carried her up the hill to the waiting transport. Gregor didn’t move. He was immobile and still silent, having not said a word since he found Tessa’s body. Rafael placed a hand on his shoulder, “Greg, are you going to ride with her?”
Gregor blinked back the tears and nodded. Rafael grabbed his neck and touched their foreheads together for strength. When Rafe released him, Gregor followed her broken body and climbed in the helicopter beside her. Rafael yelled after him, “We’ll meet you there.” The bird lifted off the ground, headed to the one man, the only man who could possibly put Tessa back together. If she had been fully human, she would not be breathing. But Tessa was tough, and Rafael had to believe the fates wouldn’t put her and Gregor together only to tear them apart so quickly.
Rafael walked over to where Kaya was finishing her statement to the locals. “We need to go, Love.” When the Chief opened his mouth to object, Rafael interrupted. “Kaya is the Chief of Police in New Atlanta. You know where to find her should you need further information. My brother needs his family with him. Now.”
Rafael walked Kaya to her car, with Jasper and Dane going to theirs. Once underway, Rafael asked, “How bad is it?”
Kaya kept her eyes on the road. “If Geoffrey covered his own tracks, then not bad at all. I explained to Curtis what happened, how Tessa called Gregor who happened to be with us. He thought I should have called for back-up sooner than I did, but I explained we weren’t absolutely sure of what was happening. I told him we don’t know who the driver of the Mustang is or why he was chasing Tessa. That’s the truth. Do you think this Joseph is going to be able to save her?”
“If anyone can, it will be Joe.” Rafael put his arm on the seat behind Kaya and placed his hand on her neck under her blonde hair. He had been itching to touch her for the last hour. The need to be close to her had not waned in the last few weeks. If anything, it had intensified. With Kaya going back to work, Rafael was still getting used to not seeing her twenty-four seven.
“Is he part of your Clan? I haven’t heard you mention him before.” Kaya was far enough away from the wreckage that she flipped on her lights and her siren.
“Joseph is hard to explain. He showed up about ten years ago. When new shifters enter an area, they are required to meet with the leader and declare their Clan. He refused to give me a Clan name but assured me he would gladly serve under my leadership. I didn’t push it. We needed a good doctor on the inside. Rarely do we need medical attention, but on the off-chance we do, it needs to be one of our own.”
Rafael could see the medical helicopter ahead in the distance. He called Julian to give him an update and have him call the others. A waiting room full of shifters might not be a good idea, but with Tessa as critical as she was, Gregor needed all the support he could get. “Julian, see if you can trace Elizabeth Flanagan’s number from when she called the Pen. She needs to know her daughter’s condition.”
“I’m on it. Do you want me to call Nikolas back?”
“No, let him go. Sophia is his mate, and if she’s in trouble, he needs to be there for her. We have a long wait ahead of us. Please get with Dante. I need you two to find out who was driving the Mustang. I also want to know if there were
any survivors in the helicopter.”
“Will do. And Rafe? Tell Gregor I’m there for him.” The phone disconnected. If anything ever happened to Kaya, Rafe would not want to live. How could she have burrowed into his soul so quickly? He would just pray that Joseph could undo the damage to Tessa.
The medics constantly worked on Tessa to keep her stabilized. Her vitals were all over the place. Gregor stayed out of their way but did not move from her side. His hand was on her bare leg. He felt the tears wetting his eyes when he noticed the shirt that had been cut away from Tessa was actually his. She must have snagged it from his dirty clothes hamper before she left. She was laid out in front of him and everyone else in only her underwear. He wanted to cover the black lace panties, but the attendants were not focused on her crotch. He realized his own shirt was still wrapped around his waist, so he quickly shrugged it on.
Gregor studied the cuts marring Tessa’s skin. He knew plastic surgery could heal those, but he didn’t care. She would still be the most beautiful woman in the world if the gashes all over her body healed to pale pink lines. The important part was getting the internal damage fixed. The pilot alerted them that they would be landing soon.
Once the helicopter set down on the pad atop the hospital, nurses were waiting to take Tessa inside to surgery. The medics carefully lifted the board and Tessa onto the waiting gurney, and they all moved as one unit. Gregor followed until they came to a double door. Joseph Mooneyham was waiting for his patient. He nodded at Gregor. When he turned his eyes to his patient, he whispered, “No.”
Gregor stepped up to the doctor he had met a couple of times. “What’s wrong? Joseph, she’s my m… she’s my fiancée. You have to help her.”
The other man nodded. “You have my word; I will do my best.” Joseph directed the staff to the O.R. and Gregor shouted, “Wait!” He hurried to the gurney and leaned over Tessa, softly kissing her lips, whispering “I love you” against them. He knew it was too soon to declare his feelings, but he also didn’t want it to be too late.
Gregor found himself alone. He glanced around feeling lost until one of the nurses came back out. “Mr. Stone, if you will follow me, I need to get some information.” Gregor followed the nurse. He filled out the paperwork as if Tessa were indeed his fiancée. He listed himself as the individual responsible for payment. After that, he expected to be put in a small room where he would feel as caged as his inmates. Instead, he was taken to a large room that was filled with the faces he needed to see right now. Gregor prided himself on being strong, but at this moment, he felt anything but. The emotion roiling through his heart and mind was one he’d never experienced: despair.
Rafael was the first one to reach him, pulling him into a tight embrace. “Brother.” One by one the others offered their own support, then they all settled in for what was sure to be a long night.
“Dante and Julian are working to find out who the driver of the car was and if there were any survivors in the chopper crash.” Rafael was barely whispering, knowing the others’ shifter ears would detect his words. They didn’t need the humans to overhear any part of their conversation. Kaya was already privy to the knowledge, so she had gone seeking coffee for them all. “Deacon is manning the Pen, and Sixx is on his way.”
Gregor just nodded then turned toward the door, waiting. Kaya came back with coffee, but he declined. His adrenaline was still at an all-time high, and he needed to calm himself. Caffeine would not help. The others settled into the less than comfortable waiting room chairs and let Gregor have his space. Time dragged on. Minutes then hours passed. The second hand on the clock was deafening as it ticked, so very slowly. If by some miracle Joseph was able to save Tessa, Gregor would spend every minute of every day making up for lost time. Even though she was the one to steal the last three years away from them, he would be the one giving them back to her. If she would let him. Maybe she only reached out to him because she knew he had the resources to help her out of the dangerous situation she had found herself in. He had to trust that she would not have called him if she didn’t want him in her life.
Gregor could feel the pull of the moon. He wanted to go outside for some fresh air, but he would not be any farther away from Tessa than he was at this moment. Some of the others had gone outside for a break, never staying away long. Dante called with an update. The driver of the Mustang had been dead at the scene when they pulled him from the wreckage. His neck had been severed and the blood loss too substantial. He was identified as Richard Merrick. The Redhead Killer had been the one chasing Tessa.
This brought about another conversation. Frey was pretty sure the man in the other helo was Gordon Flanagan. At least he looked enough like him to make that assumption, but the man who died in the warehouse a few weeks back had looked just like a Flanagan too. Until the body was recovered and a positive DNA match made, they wouldn’t know conclusively.
The night had turned into day when the waiting room door opened. Joseph walked through, looking like he had spent all night fighting Unholy. The man was worn out and weary.
Gregor couldn’t stand the silence or the unknown any longer. “Joseph, please tell me. Is Tessa okay? Is she going to make it?”
Thirty-Eight
Before the doctor could answer Gregor, the waiting room door burst open, and Tamian ran in. He took one look at the doctor and said, “What the fuck?” Gregor didn’t miss Joseph shaking his head at Tessa’s brother. Did they know each other? It was possible. The Clan hadn’t known Tamian was a shifter or that the half-bloods even existed a week before. They knew so little about Tessa and her side of the shifter family.
“I was just going to give an update on Miss Blackmore.” He turned his attention to Gregor. “She is stable, although I induced a coma until the swelling around her brain shrinks. Her internal injuries weren’t as serious as we thought once we got in there. She had bleeding we were able to stop. Both arms and her left leg had broken bones, all of which have been repaired. The left side of her body sustained the most injury. Both bones in her left forearm, and the radius in her right arm required plates and screws. Both arms are in temporary splints. Her left leg was quite devastated. Her femur required an intramedullary nail. She was very lucky the femoral artery was not punctured. The good news is once her arms heal, she will be able to use crutches to get around, and her leg will heal quickly. Her injuries could have been much worse.”
“How long will she be in a coma? When can I see her?” Knowing his mate was alive had Gregor’s adrenaline rising again. The beast inside knew his mate was close, and he wanted to be near her, touching her.
“We will need to monitor the swelling for a few days until it has gone down enough to ascertain whether there is any neurological damage. She is in recovery. We will be moving her into ICU within the hour. You can see her then. Gregor, I need you to prepare yourself before you go in. She is hooked up to machines; wires and tubes are everywhere. She needs you calm and strong, yes?”
Gregor nodded. “Thank you, Joseph, I don’t know…” He couldn’t finish his sentence. The tears in his eyes and the emotion clogging his throat silenced him.
“You can thank me by taking good care of her. That woman in there is special. Someone will be down soon to take you to see her.” Joseph walked off before Gregor could ask any questions. How the hell did he know Tessa was special?
The waiting room door opened again, and Isabelle came in, tears streaking her pretty face. She just stood there, looking as lost as Gregor felt. “Isabelle, come here.” He opened his arms and she hesitantly walked into them. They didn’t know each other well, but they had one common bond, and that was Tessa. Gregor explained her condition and that he was going to see her soon.
“I’m sorry I just got here. I didn’t know. I got to work this morning and Deacon told me. When I finally checked my phone, I saw I had several missed calls from Dante. He is probably mad at me, but I turned the ringer off last night so I could rest.”
“Shh, it’s all right. Yo
u’re here now. Besides, there was nothing you could have done during the night except worry like the rest of us. At least you got some sleep.” Gregor released her from his embrace. He could tell she was overwhelmed with all the shifter testosterone in the room until Kaya came over, introduced herself, and took Isabelle away from him. Rafael’s mate was making an excellent Queen.
Gregor told everyone to go home and get some rest. He knew Tamian and Isabelle would remain, but the others wouldn’t need to go in and see Tessa. He assured them he was fine, and he would need them strong in the coming days. Isabelle and Tamian were talking quietly in one corner of the room. He could listen in if he wanted, but instead gave them their privacy. If he weren’t a greedy bastard, he would let them go in and see Tessa first, but he was.
Sooner than expected, a nurse came in and called for him. He wiped his hands down his jeans. He wasn’t sweating, it was just a nervous gesture. “I’ll be back soon so you can go see her,” he told both Isabelle and Tamian. Again, they huddled together.
Gregor followed the nurse until they came to a sanitizing sink. “Please wash and dry your hands before you go into the patient’s room.” He did as instructed and once again followed the older lady down another hallway. The room she led him into had the nurse’s station in the middle with the patient rooms surrounding the outer walls in a circular pattern. All the rooms had glass windows the nurses could see into. None of the curtains were closed, exposing everyone to passersby.
Gregor only had eyes for one patient. The nurse didn’t have to tell him Tessa’s room number. The mate bond took him to her. He stood outside her room, looking at her still body through the window. He willed his own body to calm. It would do no good for his claws or fangs to scare the humans. When he was ready, he entered her room and quietly stood over his mate, taking in the wires and tubing Joseph had warned him were present. Her beautiful red hair was matted together, some blood still present. Gregor wanted to pick her up and put her in the shower, wash it for her.
