by Tes Hilaire
She took a deep breath, let it out. “I guess it still seems so surreal. Unattainable even.”
That was nothing less than the truth and he nodded as though he understood as well.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked, pushing the hair away from her face.
“Much, thank you.” She kissed him, then before it could turn into something more, pushed up on her arms. The faint tingle in her arm was barely an annoyance, the splint more a hindrance than any actual pain. It didn’t ache at all like it had during last night’s lovemaking. Which meant she must have pulled a whole hell of a lot of power from Mike to have healed this fast.
The thought was a bit of a slap in the face, and she found herself turning away from his intense gaze, using the excuse of searching the room to avoid his scrutiny. “We should get dressed. Who knows how long our hosts will let us sleep in.”
It was a legitimate concern. Mike had told her somewhere between one amazing orgasm and the next, how they’d ended up in a room that looked more like a school nurses office than anything else—maybe because it was one?—because she’d needed healing and this is where Logan had sent them. And wasn’t that a surprise. The Paladin had actually helped her, though maybe it was more because he was trying to recruit Mike still, and didn’t want to anger the beast over his choice of woman.
Mike didn’t think so. He seemed sure that Logan and Jessica were okay with who, or rather what, she was. Mike didn’t have all the answers though. He didn’t know much about the school turned compound that they had ended up at. Just that at least three people here—the healer and two Paladin—had gifts to contend with his own, and by the nagging itch at the back of his neck he suspected there were far more. He also believed that Logan wouldn’t have sent them here if they meant her harm. She, however, was reserving judgment. Maybe this was the Paladin’s way of getting rid of her. Maybe she was only alive now because they’d yet to realize what she was.
Reluctantly she untangled herself from Mike’s limbs, then realized she was at a bit of a handicap. Her clothes sat in a soggy bloodstained pile by the exam table.
“Um…”
Mike grunted, immediately realizing the problem. He reached for his shirt to hand it to her but it, too, was bloodstained. A quick inspection of his jeans yielded the same result.
“Wow, that’s a lot of blood.”
His gaze fell hard on her, the grim line of his mouth told her much, if not all of it was hers.
“I’m okay,” she told him, reaching out to touch his ticking jaw.
He closed his eyes, leaning into the caress. “No thanks to me.”
“That’s not true. I wouldn’t be here without you. I’d be…” She trailed off, unable to voice the rest of that thought. She’d be in hell, most likely strapped down to Ganelon’s torture table.
“And you want me to help you find a way in there.”
“I have to go. Mia—”
His hand closed around hers, his fingers threading through hers as he pulled their hands down between them. She knew, just knew, she wasn’t going to like what he said next, and sure enough…
“I can get Mia without you having to risk your life.”
Katrina snapped her mouth shut, least she regret her words. Despite his attempts at trying to sound calm and confident, he wasn’t. He was scared shitless, and the beast? It was right there, snarling and snapping at its chains. Mike’s eyes were even starting to glow a little.
Logic: that was how to approach this protective side of her Mike.
She took a deep breath, knowing she walked on thin ice. “I’m not letting you go in there by yourself. You’re good, but you don’t know the layout and I do.”
His eyes flashed, his nostrils flaring. “Draw me a map,” he ground out from between clenched teeth. “Better yet, show me with your memories so I can recognize the landmarks.”
Absolutely not. No more look-sees into her past. Bad enough he’d seen what he had last night. He’d accepted her unconditionally, angered for the things she’d endured, had even comforted her when she’d told him of her most desperate bargain. He didn’t seem to see it as the sin that it was, but rather told her that no one should be held bound to their word when given under such duress. For better or worse, he forgave her when even she couldn’t forgive herself. But that would change if he looked into those memories and saw that for a short time, when she graced Ganelon’s bed, she’d actually been content.
For the first time in her life she had been safe. And though not a tender lover, he hadn’t been cruel either. For months she’d walked around, perhaps not without a care, but so blissfully content to not be looking over her shoulder all the time, that the enormity of what she’d done hadn’t even registered. Not until that first barely there flutter of movement had occurred deep within her womb. And then? Then everything had changed. Because in that moment she’d realized exactly what she’d done. And she would have traded it all back. Gone groveling back to the succubus and incubus halls and given herself over for their games if she could just go back in time and not have taken Ganelon’s hand that day when he’d found her hiding in that dark corner of Si’ane’s layer.
No, she didn’t want Mike to ever see those memories. Luckily there were other reasons why his asinine plan wouldn’t work.
“Mia won’t recognize you. She might be unwilling to leave with you and accidently draw unwanted attention before you could convince her and sneak back out.”
“You said you taught her not to go with strangers, to be street smart. Do you have a code word? Some sort of safe word so that she’d know I was trustworthy?”
Kat snapped her mouth shut. Actually, they did. Moose tracks. It was their favorite ice cream. Wouldn’t it figure that the cop in Mike would remember that random comment from their first night?
And she was out of roadblocks. Well, other than the obvious one. It had to be said, though. This fear ran both ways, and though the beast might discount it as irrelevant, she knew Mike wouldn’t.
“You go in there, get caught or killed, and then what? What do I do, Mike? Because I can barely function now, knowing that Mia is down there in that hellhole. But at least with her I also know that Ganelon won’t hurt her. Not yet. You?” She shook her head, wiping away the tears that were all of a sudden flooding her face. Damn it. “I can’t lose you.”
His hand tightened on hers, his other brushing away the tears as he tipped her face up so their gazes were lined up perfectly. She sucked in her breath when she saw that his own eyes were filled with pooling liquid. Her Mike, crying, because of her.
“But you’d have me risk losing you?” His voice was so soft she barely heard him, but she certainly felt the aching anguish that came with his words.
She was saved from having to answer by the knock on the door.
“Um… Just a second!” she called, trying to pull the sheet up over herself while simultaneously trying to tuck them around Mike as well. Because, yeah, his finer points may have been magnificent, but they weren’t something she wanted others getting a peek at. At least not while she was still alive.
Mike cocked an eyebrow. “Magnificent, huh?”
And oh, crap, how long had she been riding that wide open? How much of her thoughts had he seen?
He leveled his gaze on her, his tone seriously matter of fact as he said, “Moose tracks is good. But I happen to like cookies and cream the best.”
She sucked in a breath, then let it back out. Okay, this wasn’t the end of the world. Just because he knew their safe word didn’t mean she was going to let him do something so stupid as go in there alone.
Another knock.
“We’ll discuss this more later,” Mike told her, then raised his voice to be heard through the door. “You can come in.”
A woman breezed in, her mocha skin tone proclaiming her to be African American in heritage, though the shape of her features suggested something else, maybe Indonesian or Asian. She couldn’t have been much taller than Katrina, though w
ithout the curves she looked more like a pixie than a full-grown woman. It took Katrina a moment, probably because she hadn’t been expecting to see anyone she recognized here, but with a start she realized this was the doctor friend that Angelina had called in to tend to her neck wound.
“Good morning! How are you feeling?”
“Much better… Dr. Shae, right?”
Shae smiled, her lips pulling into a wide smile. “I wondered if you’d remember.” The smile faded quickly. “Not that I appreciate having to fix you up a second time in as many days.”
“I’m sorry,” Katrina said contritely.
Shae laughed. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. I hear you had a run in with some merker though.” She tipped her head to the side, her brow pinched in consideration. “Was the first time we met because of them too or was that really an ex?”
“Ah, no, not an ex.” Though she supposed technically they’d been sent by her ex.
“Well then, I’m glad you’re here now where you can get the help you need. We’re all a bunch of misfits here, but we protect our own.” She patted the exam table. “Well come on, hop on up.”
Katrina was still reeling from the whole protect our own comment. This woman didn’t know anything about her or her circumstances, yet it was assumed that Katrina was now one of them and would accepted into the fold.
“Oh, um…” Katrina looked helplessly down at the one sheet she and Mike shared. “Our clothes are bloody and we only have the one.” She lifted the corner of the sheet.
Shae chuckled. “That is a problem. Hold on.”
She pulled out a drawer under the exam table, rifled through it, and then stood triumphantly holding one of those ugly hospital gowns, this one with pink My Little Ponies on it.
“Ta da! It’s not much of a fashion statement, but I think you can squeeze into this. Just put it on backwards so I can check out the puncture wounds in your side easier. The one in the front was definitely the deepest.”
She tossed it to Katrina, then politely turned her back. Katrina slipped her arms into the sleeves, but didn’t bother to tie more than the one tie across her chest, assuming it was pointless anyway.
When she was ready she started to stand, but quickly found that despite the influx of energy, she had not been ready to be completely vertical. The world tipped, her vision tunneling, but then Mike was there, holding her tight to his side.
“Easy, Kat. It’s not a race.”
“Oh my…”
Katrina jerked her head up to see Shae had turned around, and her eyes were fixed on not Katrina, but Mike. Katrina glanced over, saw that in his haste to catch her, the sheet had slipped off him and he was now standing in all his naked glory.
She growled, literally growled. There was no other term for the sound that rumbled in her throat.
“Sorry! Sorry.” Shae spun back around, though Katrina saw the mischievous smile on the woman’s face. “Help her to the table, then get yourself covered, hunky. I won’t turn back until your little she-cat says it’s okay.”
“Little?” Katrina muttered. Who was this woman calling little? Now that Katrina was standing, she knew the woman was shorter. Five one, five two at best? And though Katrina suspected Shae actually had a few years on her, the smile and laugh lines claimed she did anyway, her size and small stature made her look closer to a teen than a woman who was closer to thirty or more.
Mike got Kat to the table without any more incidents. In fact, with each step she felt stronger, as if she was regaining her land legs after being out to sea. Once he had her seated and was sure she wasn’t going to tip over he returned to the cot and grabbed up the sheet, tying it around his waist.
“We’re ready,” he said, returning to her side. Katrina begged to differ. She would have taken a moment to adjust that sheet. The thin white cotton hugged his hips, doing nothing to hide the rippling muscle of his chest and abs, and little to cover the bulge underneath the thick knot he’d tied. And oh, yeah, Shae noticed, her gaze dragged appreciatively down Mike’s sculpted body before she gave herself a little shake and moved to Katrina’s other side.
“I’m going to need you to lie down,” she said, offering her hand to help Katrina do just that. Katrina worked hard not to hate the woman. Truthfully, Shae wasn’t being at all inappropriate and had caught herself from staring just now. But damn it, he was her Mike, and as long as Kat lived she didn’t want any other woman ogling him. Even if that woman had saved her life, and seemed harmless in her attentions.
It helped that Shae had turned all business, her hands gentle but firm as she pushed the hospital gown back just enough to inspect Katrina’s wounds. She started at the one at her throat, explaining how she’d stitched her up that night because they were around normal humans, though she had put a bit of energy into convincing the bottom layers to close up.
She frowned as she checked the even row of stitches. “It’s already mostly healed. I could probably take the stitches out today even.”
“Do it,” Katrina told her. The stitches itched. Not to mention they were ugly.
Shae nodded and went to work clipping them and gently tugging them from Katrina’s skin.
“Your cuts on your face look like they are healing nicely, too. Maybe leave those butterfly bandages on another day or so, just in case.”
“Okay,” Katrina agreed.
Shae moved on, her fingers tingling as she touched the puncture wound on Katrina’s left side.
“Oh, wow!” Shae’s brow winged up.
Katrina craned her neck to see the wound the doctor was fingering. And okay, the puckered purple skin was definitely not very pretty, but at least it didn’t do more than pull when she moved. And she said as much when Shae asked.
Shae had her turn to her side and inspected the four smaller punctures in her back. And they went through the same question and answer routine.
“Hmm…” was the doctors only reply as she helped Katrina sit back up. “Okay, let’s check out the arm. I didn’t have much juice left when I tended that.”
“It feels fine. Just itchy.”
“We’ll see how it feels without the splint.” She went to work on the wrap, careful not to bump or pull on Katrina’s arm as she expertly and efficiently removed the bandage.
“Bruising is already healing.” She gently prodded Katrina’s arm. “Does that hurt?”
Katrina shook her head.
“Okay, flex it like this.” Shae demonstrated a series of moves to test Katrina’s range of motion. Katrina followed suit, answering Shae’s question about any pain with each new one. Always, no, it feels fine.
Shae had Katrina push against the doctor’s own arm, then try and lift her weight off the table. No problem.
Shae planted her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “Well don’t I feel useless.”
“How so?”
“I’m beginning to think you would have healed just fine without me.” Her mouth puckered up, her eyes narrowed as she considered Katrina. “Must have some pretty strong genes in there, girlie.”
Katrina’s stomach fell, her mouth went dry. Shae didn’t look like she was about to grab up a scalpel and attack her or anything, but the vibes coming off the woman had definitely changed. No longer casual and friendly, but intense consideration.
Shae opened her mouth, probably to ask another question, just as the door banged open. A dark haired man, shorter than Mike, but still just as deadly if the way he moved was any indication, strode in. Katrina’s muscles tensed further, ready to run as every single alarm in her body went off—definitely Paladin—but then the man’s bourbon gaze landed on her, his features easing into a devil may care grin.
“Nice outfit.”
Heat rose in Katrina’s cheeks as she tried to pull the hospital gown tighter.
“No worries, gorgeous. I’m not going to ravish you. This piece of male magnificence is already taken.” He gestured to himself, then lifted his other hand that had a stack of clothing in it. “Though I
do come bearing gifts.”
“Katrina, this is Valin,” Mike told her, clamping her hand in his as he leaned in closer. “His mate is Gabby. They took us in last night.”
The words and tone said he trusted them, but the seemingly instinctive urge to get closer to her said otherwise.
Mike’s voice came to her, along with his amusement.
“Pleasure to meet you,” she nodded her head at the warrior, even as she gave Mike’s hand a reassuring squeeze. She wasn’t at all tempted by Valin and all his magnificence. He was compact yet devilishly handsome with his bourbon eyes and thick wavy dark hair, but despite his handsome face, he also held about him an I-could-kill-you-with-a-smile-on-my-face confidence that made her want to jump off the exam table and run.
Valin chose to ignore her obvious unease, turning to Shae. “Is the patient cleared for a little excursion?”
Shae shook her head in disgust. “The patient is perfectly fine. A little more rest to recoup from the blood loss and she’ll be right as rain.”
Valin whistled, his gaze returning to Katrina. “That was fast.”
Katrina tensed, ready for another round of questioning, but he just shrugged and handed Katrina the bundle of clothing.
And damn if Shae wasn’t right. She was weak. The little walk across the room, the little gymnastics to prove her arm was healed, and the general tension of the last little bit of eggshell walking had done wonders to suck all the energy she’d woken with out of her. Her hands shook as she took the offered bundle, the room tipping just slightly with the movement. She immediately deposited them in her lap so she could place her arms back on the table and support herself.
Tired, she tried to punctuate the thought. He must have gotten it because he nodded, leaning into her in an offer of support.
Valin was looking at them oddly, but he didn’t put her under the wringer as she’d been expecting. “Jacob wants to meet you guys. He’s the official head honcho here.”
“Not you and Gabby?” Mike asked.
