by K. R. Willis
“Not directly, no, but the rumor is he left town and joined another pack. If I do not hear from him in the next few days, or find out otherwise, I will assume this is true and send his final check to the account we have on file at the club.” Leo kept a firm grip on my hand as the automatic doors swung open.
I sent up a silent prayer to the Great Spirit that the rumor held true. Enough death and suffering had already resulted from Dr. Johnson and his daughter’s madness. I hoped like hell George wasn’t a part of it.
We walked through the hospital hand in hand, not one person stopping us or giving us a second glance the entire way to the recovery ward. Leo’s power bathed me the entire time, feeling warm and welcoming in a strange sort of way.
Sam greeted me as soon as I stepped off the elevator on the second floor. Tears flooded my eyes as I saw him for the first time since my ordeal with the Evil One. There were no chains, no bloodied cuts, no symbols carved into his chest. It was just Sam, my Sam. Forgetting the illusion my contact with Leo’s hand created, I dropped it and ran to Sam. He gasped at the bloodied, torn sight of me—thankfully no one else was in the hall—but caught me when I threw myself at him. He unceremoniously scooped me up in a bear hug, happy to see me. We hugged until I could no longer ignore the pain our embrace inflicted on my ribs, and he quickly set me down when I cried out.
“You’re hurt,” Sam said, his voice sounding somehow worried and angry at the same time. He looked me over—frowning at my torn, bloodied clothes—but his face darkened and became frightening when he got a good look at the cut on my throat. “What the hell?” His head jerked up and his eyes locked with Leo’s.
I stepped between them, bringing Sam’s attention back to me. “It’s a long story,” I said, sounding tired even to me. “Leo helped rescue me and brought me here so I could see Sally. I’ll explain later.” I laid my hand on his shoulder when I noticed he shook and gave it a squeeze. “Which room is she in?” I asked as I looked past him. Sam stared at Leo for several heartbeats longer before nodding. It wasn’t quite thanks, but he acknowledged him. It was a start.
Leo dipped his head in return. “I shall leave you to it, then. Keira.” My name seemed to roll off his tongue, making me shiver. His lips curled in a devilish smile, and then he turned to walk away.
“Leo, wait.” He paused and I jogged the few feet to him. He turned so that he faced me and I stopped close enough our bodies touched. I forgot everyone and everything around me as I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you,” I whispered into his ear. When I pulled away, his eyes gleamed.
“You are most welcome,” he said, his voice deeper than it normally was. “I shall see you soon.” Excitement zipped through me at the promise those words held. He tipped his head to me and then turned and walked away. I watched as he vanished into the elevator.
“This way,” Sam said, pulling me back to the present. Once I walked even with him he started talking.
“Her surgery went well. They removed the bullet and repaired the damage as best they could. It missed all her major organs, but it tore several ligaments and tendons in her shoulder. She’ll have limited use of it. The doctor doesn’t know if it will be permanent.” He stopped when he reached the second to the last door on the left and looked inside.
I glanced through the window into Sally’s room and the tears started falling. Machines surrounded her on both sides of the bed, their tubes running into and out of her like macabre jellyfish tentacles. One monitored her heart; the lines and the beeping beat out a steady rhythm, soothing some of my anxiousness. Clear fluid ran into her arm from a bag hanging on a bedside pole, and tubes ran into her nose, providing her with oxygen. Once again, the sight of how small and fragile she looked caught me off guard, and I shook with the knowledge that it was partially my fault. I’d almost killed my best friend.
Sam saw the tears and hugged me, gently this time, and stroked my hair. “Shhh,” he crooned into my ear. “Sally told me what happened, Keira. It’s not your fault. She was going with or without you.” He stepped back and looked me in the eye. “If you hadn’t pushed her out of the direct path of that bullet, it would have torn straight through her heart.” He wiped the tears from my cheek. “You saved her life.”
I heard what Sam said, but what ran through my mind was the Evil One telling me it was all my fault, and then when he had Sam say it…no, not Sam. My Sam stood next to me comforting me the way he always had. I had to keep telling myself that.
Still, Sally should have never been in Lilith’s apartment with me. As she lay there in the hospital bed I made a silent vow it would never happen again. Comforted by the knowledge that the woman responsible had either been killed by one of Loukas’ vampires or buried in the rubble of the base as it collapsed, I nodded to Sam and reached for the handle.
As soon as the door slid open, Sally opened her eyes and smiled.
“Hey, you.” I choked back more tears, trying to be strong.
“Hey, yourself.” She tried to turn toward me and grimaced, so I went to her instead and gave her a hug as gingerly as possible. More tears bubbled to the surface and I blinked repeatedly to try and clear them away. It didn’t work. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks and landed on her crisp white hospital gown.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I meant it with every fiber of my being. If Sally had died, I never would have forgiven myself.
She patted me on the back in an effort to comfort me. “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” She let go of me and leaned back against the pillow. “I’m fine, really. But what about you? What happened? Where have you been?” She pushed herself up a little with her right arm as her left remained immobile in its sling. I slid a pillow behind her to make her more comfortable and my chest tightened at the reminder I’d almost lost her.
“It was…” I shook my head, trying to figure out how to tell them what happened. I wasn’t sure what to say, or how to say it, so finally, I settled on reciting the facts after Sally’s injury. I left out the part about the Evil One planning on raping me before he killed me—they didn’t need to know that part—and finished with Leo’s rescue and our flight to the hospital. When I finished, Sally looked on the verge of tears and by the look on Sam’s face, he wanted to kill something.
Sam wrapped his arms around me again and gave me the hug Sally would have if she’d been able to. The edge of Sally’s hospital bed squeaked as I sat down beside her and took her hand in mine. It was paler than usual and cool to the touch. “I’m just glad it’s over and you’re okay,” I said, leaning down and pressing my cheek to hers, afraid to really hug her, but wanting her to know what she meant to me.
She squeezed my arm with her uninjured hand and whispered, “I love you, Keira.”
My eyes watered all over again. “I love you, too.”
***
Sam and I talked on our way to the firehouse. He questioned me repeatedly about what had really happened during my captivity, and I told him as much as I dared. He knew I wasn’t being completely honest, which he demonstrated by giving a pointed look at my torn, bloodied blouse, but let it drop.
“Lilith told me she sent a cleanup crew to her house to remove Sally’s body. What happened?” I fidgeted with a piece of paper I found crumpled up on the bench seat, rolling and unrolling it until it had the texture of leather. Sam’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.
“There were two of them when Rya and I arrived. They loaded Sally into a van, and went back in to clean up any trace of what happened. We waited until they finished, then Rya and I…took care of them.” His voice cracked on those last words. He stared straight ahead, refusing to look at me. Sam had never taken a life before, which I guessed that’s what they’d had to do in order to save Sally. Judging by the way he clenched and unclenched the steering wheel, and chewed on his lower lip, he was having a hard time coming to terms with what he’d done. Anger warred with regret.
I rested my hand on his arm and squeezed. “You saved Sally.
They were loyal to Lilith, or she wouldn’t have sent them. They would have killed you and Rya. You had no choice.” He looked at me for a brief second, then turned his gaze back to the road ahead of us. Some of the tension seemed to ease from his body. Guess we both had demons to deal with now.
Rya was so happy to see me when we pulled into the parking lot at the firehouse she almost knocked me to the ground. Sam left her there to wander around the woods behind the shop where she wouldn’t be cooped up in his apartment while he stayed with Sally at the hospital. Sam said she’d been to see her a few times, too, but didn’t like wasting the extra energy it required to hide in case I popped up somewhere and needed her help. I braced myself just in time to catch her as she leapt and wrapped her massive paws around me.
Are you okay? What happened? I felt your pull on our bond. She rubbed her face against my chest and purred her excitement. I left you. I could have helped you. The sorrow in her voice rang crystal clear in my head. I missed you.
I missed you, too. Don’t feel bad about leaving me. If you hadn’t gone after Sam, Sally would have died. You did the right thing. I stroked her fur, feeling its softness as the individual strands caressed my fingers. Her whiskers scratched my midsection as she rubbed her face back and forth along my skin. The image the Evil One had given me of her and Sam came flooding back, and I gripped her a little tighter. She was here, and she was alive. All three of them were. That’s all that mattered.
Her claws crunched on the gravel as I set her down. We have a lot to talk about, but for now, I just want to go home. To Sam I said, “Take me home.” I could have driven myself, but I was achingly sore and dog-tired. I just wanted to sleep for a month.
“I’ll take you home, but just so you know, I’m staying with you.” I started to protest, but he held up his hand. “Nuh-uh, we just got you back, you’ll be lucky if I let you use the bathroom by yourself for the next six months.” I thought he was joking, but the stone cold look on his face told me he meant it. The image of Sam standing in the ladies’ room handing me a roll of toilet paper popped into my head and I burst out laughing. My ribs pulled and pinched, but I didn’t care. After everything I had just been through, it felt wonderful.
Sam and Rya joined in my laughter. It rolled on for several seconds before finally drifting away. Sam opened the passenger door to Old Red, ushered Rya inside, and then helped me in as well. Then he joined us. The old girl roared to life and peeled out of the parking lot as Sam steered her north. I settled into the seat and grinned as Rya laid her head in my lap. All the craziness that now made up my life played through my mind.
Loukas and the Evil One were keeping each other busy, which meant they didn’t have time for me…at least for now. I’d take whatever time that gave me to prepare for what was coming. Leo was taking care of the Council. With any luck they’d forget I existed. Not likely, but a girl could hope. The Lorum still burned on my back, a grim reminder of what I’d been through. Though it had helped to save my life, I knew I would have to figure out what to do about it sooner or later.
Brutus, Lily, and Dr. Johnson died in the fire at the base, along with all the weapons they’d used my blood to create. I hadn’t seen Brutus or Lilith’s bodies, but if I didn’t tell myself they were dead and gone, I’d never sleep at night. And Sally was alive. She would need some time to heal, both physically and mentally, but she was a pretty tough cookie and we’d help her through it.
I settled deeper into the bench seat, ignoring my body when it ached, and glanced from Rya to Sam. It was so good to have them back—all of them, alive and whole. There were things I’d have to deal with in the very near future, but it was enough for now. The rest of the world could wait until tomorrow.
About the Author:
K. R. Willis grew up in the South dreaming about unicorns and fairies, and now lives in Oklahoma with her very understanding husband, three dogs, two horses, and tons of books. She’s graduated from dreaming about unicorns to writing about vampires, werewolves, and anything else her mind can dream up. If it goes bump in the night, it’s fair game in her world. When she isn’t writing, she can found horseback riding, reading, or antiquing with her husband. Learn more about her and what’s coming next at krwillisauthor.com.
