Close Contact

by Rebecca Airies

  “The spell was delivered on the bullet, inactive. It was only activated after the spell was inside him. The protection spell doesn’t work unless the magic is active,” Anne explained. “Let’s get Evan some clothes and then go see how he’s doing. I’d bet he’s already growling at the doctors and nurses.”

  “Are they going to keep him overnight?” Geneva headed for the bedroom. Relief flowed over her, slowly relaxing her muscles.

  “They’ll probably want to, but I doubt they’ll be able to convince him to say.” Anne smiled. “He’ll want to be with you to protect you.”

  “A tranquilizer would take care of that. Does he think he’s the only one who can watch over me? I’m sure someone else can do it for one night.” Geneva shook her head.

  She wasn’t going to argue about having someone else with her. Specifically someone who knew magic. The witch had proved that she wasn’t going to fade into the background. Anger built slowly within her. Even though the witch had attacked Evan before, it had never been aimed solely at him. It had always been an attempt to get to her. They’d had to get through him.

  “It might take a tranquilizer.” Anne laughed. “But we’ll see what we can do to get him to stay where he needs to be.”

  “If he wants, I’ll stay with a group of trusted witches. I don’t want him to risk his health.” Geneva shook her head. She’d do whatever it took to keep him in that hospital where he could get the care he needed.

  “You’d be with me if we can get him to stay in the hospital, at least for the night.” Anne slid a glance over at her.

  Geneva had plenty of time to think on the way over to the hospital. She frowned. She was surprised to see Anne pulling into what looked like a medical complex. She’d expected an actual hospital. This place couldn’t have anything more than some doctor’s offices.

  “Don’t be fooled.” Anne’s voice cut through the silence. “This place has a fully equipped small hospital for the special needs we have sometimes.”

  Geneva blinked and whipped her head around to stare at Anne. What special needs? What kind of special help would they need that couldn’t be given at a hospital?

  “We’ll talk about all those questions I see on your face later. Let’s go see Evan.” Anne guided the car into a parking spot.

  Geneva took a breath and nodded. She pushed the questions to the back of her mind. She had to see how Evan was and if he really was going to be all right. She wouldn’t believe it until she’d seen him or heard him rattling off orders like he usually did. She headed toward the entrance with Anne at her side. Once they were actually inside the building, Anne led the way, but kept Geneva in her sight. Geneva wasn’t thinking about going anywhere until she found out how Evan was doing now. They walked down the hallway to an office at the very end of the hallway that had no name plate. Anne waited for Geneva to enter first. Geneva stepped into the spacious waiting room. Painted a cheerful cream and yellow, the room seemed welcoming. Cushioned chairs lined two of the walls. Anne didn’t hesitate to head for the door on the other side of the room. She pushed it open and headed down the narrow hallway. She seemed so familiar with it that Geneva knew she’d been here at least a few times.

  “How many times have you been here?” Geneva asked. She noted the doors they passed, wondering if Evan might be behind one of them.

  “For most of my checkups and usually anything that requires more than stitches. The doctor’s a werewolf and treats many of the weres in the city. Only once for anything serious though.” Anne pushed open the door at the end of the hallway. “This isn’t the doctor’s office though. We go to Doctor Pennington. This is the way to the elevator to the hospital.”

  Geneva followed her to the sliding doors of an elevator. Descending two levels, Geneva could only wonder what else she didn’t know about in this city. She’d never have thought there was anything beneath this building. Exiting the elevator, she saw a nurse’s station in the center of the wide open area in front of the elevator doors. A long hallway stretched out behind the oval desk. Geneva was still gaping while Anne spoke to the nurse on duty. It only took a few words to discover where they’d put Evan. Anne led the way to the room, but Geneva needed no urging to step into the room in front of her. She needed to see Evan. Her muscles were clenched tight with dread and she knew it wouldn’t go away until she was certain he was alive and safe.

  His eyes were closed and his cocoa-brown skin looked extremely pale. A stark white bandage covered one shoulder and an IV slowly delivered fluid. Only the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed reassured her. The room was mostly white with a couple of uncomfortable looking yellow chairs along one wall. She walked over and put a hand on his arm. He didn’t even stir. That sent a jolt of fear through her. He never slept that heavily. What was wrong with him? Where was the doctor?

  “It looks like they must have decided that he needed to stay the night.” Anne laughed. “That’s one way of keeping him from arguing.”

  Geneva realized that the sleep would be good for him, but she’d expected to find him awake. Especially after Anne had speculated he’d want to go home when they arrived. At least he wasn’t hooked up to a bunch of machines. She slid into a chair near the bed. She felt a little weak-kneed with relief. A man wearing a long white lab coat walked into the room a few minutes later. The dark-haired man focused on Anne. Geneva didn’t know whether to be offended or relieved at being ignored. Maybe he hadn’t seen her.

  “Your brother’s going to be fine. He didn’t make treating him easy. More difficult than usual in fact. He kept saying he had to get back to Genny. We need to watch him tonight so he’s sleeping,” the doctor said in a cheerful voice.

  “Doctor Pennington, this is Genny, Evan’s mate.” Anne gestured to the chair where Geneva sat.

  “Evan’s going to have my ass for this. No wonder he was so difficult.” The doctor shook his head.

  Geneva stood and walked over to meet the doctor. He shook her hand firmly. He was nothing like any other doctor she’d met. Even though he wore a lab coat she could see that he was muscled and fit. He didn’t look like he worked in an office or hospital all day.

  “Hello, Doctor Pennington. When I saw him sleeping so heavily, it worried me a little. I kind of expected him to be awake and ready to go.” Geneva smiled.

  “He lost a bit of blood before we could stop it, but no serious damage was caused by the bullet. He’ll be here for the night so we can get some fluids in him and watch him, nothing more.” Doctor Pennington smiled as he stepped back. “He won’t wake up tonight. You should both go home and get some rest, because you’re going to have to deal with him tomorrow.”

  Geneva smiled at the not so subtle nudge. She looked back at Evan. She didn’t want to leave him. She watched the doctor stride out of the room. Anne walked over and put her hand on Geneva’s arm.

  “Let’s go. We’ll come back early tomorrow and pick him up,” Anne suggested.

  Geneva nodded. She turned to the door just in time to see it open. Steven took a single step into the room before he stopped. He looked at Evan sleeping and Geneva as she stood near Anne.

  “I thought he’d be awake,” Steven said.

  “They gave him something to make him sleep. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to him,” Anne said softly.

  “Before you leave, I need to talk to you.” Geneva took a slow step forward. Although she still had no idea how it could be done, she wasn’t going to lose this opportunity to speak with him.

  Steven nodded, but he looked a little cautious. Smart man. He probably wouldn’t immediately agree, but this attack had shown her that waiting was only inviting danger. The witch was escalating, not backing away from the attention drawn to her actions. And the bitch had gone after Evan. Geneva wanted to kill the woman for that alone.

  “I’m not going to let you put yourself in danger any more than Evan would, but I’ll let you talk to Steven.” Anne gave her a serious look.

  Geneva almost groaned.
She hadn’t thought Evan would have told his sister anything about that. Anne didn’t leave the room, but she took a seat on the far side in one of the uncomfortable looking mustard yellow chairs. Geneva wished for just a little more privacy, but would make do with this. She looked at Steven and gathered her thoughts. Geneva shot a glare at Anne. She didn’t need Evan’s permission and she certainly didn’t need Anne’s.

  “This has to stop,” Geneva said softly.

  “We’ll get the witch. You have to be patient.” Steven reached out and took her hand in his.

  The fatherly act wasn’t cutting it with her. He was too young and she’d been through too much to just take his advice. The witch had gone too far. It was bad enough that the woman attacked her. Geneva could deal with that, because she knew the woman felt she had some reason. What Geneva couldn’t handle was someone else getting hurt because of their association with her.

  “I was patient and look what happened.” Her hand slashed out and she gestured to Evan. “Does someone have to die before you think it’s time to act? I’m not willing to let that happen.”

  “No one’s going to die because we’re not going to do anything stupid.” Steven shook his head.

  “Doing nothing got him shot. The witch isn’t going to step forward and show her hand. Not without some encouragement. There has to be some opportunity or at least some appearance of a chance to get to me.” She put her hands on her hips. Why couldn’t he see the truth?

  “No, absolutely not. I am not putting you out there in danger.” Stephen took a step back from her releasing her hand.

  “It’s my choice, my life. I want this finished.” She wasn’t going to back away from this. If he saw how serious she was about this, he’d have to help her.

  “It wouldn’t work and Evan would rip me apart if I even thought about it.” His voice was flat and hard.

  “This isn’t about what Evan thinks is right. I can’t just stand to the side and watch things happen anymore.” She gritted her teeth. This wasn’t something she’d just tossed out there. She’d thought long and hard about this and little else for days.

  “Putting yourself out in the open and vulnerable won’t work. The witch will just send someone to hurt you. She won’t have to get close.” Steven looked like he was at the end of his patience.

  “And waiting’s working so damn well.” She glared at him, getting more frustrated with each denial.

  “What we have to do is limit access to you. Make it so that your attacker has to come to you. She sends people because they can get to you. If they can’t she’ll have to try herself,” Steven offered calmly.

  “All of you thought she’d make a move to get me or back off if Evan stood in the way. That hasn’t happened.” She clenched her fists and struggled to keep her voice even when she wanted to yell and rage. “That witch had him shot!”

  “He’s right, Genny.” Anne rose from the chair and came forward. “The only way this is going to end now is if she has no other option but to come after you herself. That means making it impossible for anyone she sends to get to you or Evan.”

  “That’s impossible.” Geneva ran a hand through her hair.

  “Not impossible. Isolating the two of you that effectively won’t be easy, but it can be done.” Steven nodded. “I’ll begin arranging it and discuss it with Evan when he’s awake.”

  Geneva watched him walk out of the room, a little bemused and still angry. The problem was that she could see his point. As long as there was the option, the witch had no reason to try anything risky. The men she’d sent had been too successful.

  “You know Steven wasn’t lying.” Anne’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

  “What wasn’t he lying about?” Geneva looked over at Evan’s sister who was standing beside the bed.

  “Evan would have ripped him apart if he’d let you take the risk of setting yourself up as bait. Especially if you got hurt.” Anne walked over to join her near the door. “Come on. Let’s go by my house so I can get some clothes and then we’ll go back to Evan’s house and eat.”

  “All right.” She shrugged. This wasn’t something she could do on her own as much as she might like to try at this moment. She needed someone to catch the witch.

  “Be patient. It will be over soon.” Anne’s palm slid over Geneva’s.

  “That’s easy for you to say. My life hasn’t been normal for nearly a month and it will probably be even longer before it will be back to something close to that. That witch will test and probe before realizing no men can get to us. If Steven can manage to set that up.” Geneva felt tired and alone. She’d have liked nothing more than to curl up beside Evan and stay with him for the rest of the night.

  “It will get back to something approaching the old normal. You’ll have a little more adjusting when you and Evan marry.” Anne opened the door.

  “Who said we’ll be getting married?” Geneva shot a frown at Anne. She wasn’t ready to think about marriage. She hadn’t even thought about living with him after the witch was finally caught.

  “Evan’s going to have something to say about it. He’s going to want a real commitment. Mates are for life.” Anne’s head tilted to the side a bit.

  Geneva shook her head. That was something she wasn’t going to argue about. She knew neither Anne nor Evan was going to see any other option. She knew she’d have a hard time getting Evan to see her side of the situation. What they had was a relationship forced on them by circumstances. They needed some distance and time away from each other. It would help her know if what she felt for him was real or if the intensity was just caused by the danger.

  Chapter Nine

  “Hello, Genny.” Evan’s voice sounded cheerful and strong.

  Geneva stood frozen in the doorway just staring at Evan. He was sitting up in the hospital bed. The white blanket was draped across his thighs. He wasn’t wearing a hospital gown. She had no idea if he had on boxers beneath that blanket or if he was naked. He looked almost unhurt. Only the bright white bandage against his dark skin marred the image of vital energy he projected. A smile curved his lips. She almost couldn’t believe it.

  “Hi, Evan.” She smiled. Relief flowed through her.

  Even with the doctor’s assurance, she’d had a restless night. She moved quickly across the room to the bed. His arms swept around her, pulling her tightly against his chest. His breath puffed through her hair and feathered over her neck. She heard him draw in a deep breath and then another. She held onto him, but didn’t squeeze. She didn’t want to hurt him. She didn’t know just how badly the wound hurt.

  “Don’t be timid. I want to feel your arms around me,” he said as he nuzzled her hair away from her neck.

  “I don’t want to cause you any pain.” She pulled back a little so she could see his face.

  “You’re not going to hurt me. The wound is healing. If the doctor hadn’t drugged me, I would have been at home with you where I belong.” He pulled her back against him. “Now let me feel your arms around me.”

  She hugged him tightly, but kept her focus on him. If he so much as flinched, she was releasing him. She couldn’t entirely block out her reaction to being near him. It felt so good. The warmth of his body was so reassuring. Her nipples hardened and tingled. He hummed, the sound satisfied and happy. When she looked down, she saw the edge of the blanket had moved and she could see that he was wearing something. He was dressed in the pants they’d brought for him. She savored the sight of his broad chest, but the bandage there reminded her that he’d been hurt.

  “I heard you had a little discussion with Steven.” He drew back a small smile curving his lips.

  “Not that it did any good. Who told?” She sighed. She’d expected him to find out, but not just yet.

  “Steven called me and talked about that and his suggestion for drawing the witch to us.” He released her and stood.

  She watched him, looking for any sign of weakness. He stood straight and confident. He put on the shirt and then his
shoes. She leaned against the wall. He didn’t even seem to feel any tenderness when he moved his arm.

  “Not much use anyone telling you anything. No one would give my idea any serious thought. I barely got the first words out before they started rejecting it.” She ran a hand through her hair. That still frustrated her. She didn’t want to sit, hide and wait, but she knew that’s probably what would happen for at least a few weeks.

  “I thought we’d settled that earlier. I told you it wasn’t a good idea.”

  “No, we didn’t settle it. You said it was a bad idea. I didn’t agree. I still don’t, but apparently I’m the only one who thinks that it’s worth trying.” She stepped forward and tried to push away the feelings of frustration, sadness and defeat.

  “It would be too much of a risk. No way of controlling what the witch would do. Keeping both of us out of reach of any of her plans should push her into making some kind of move. All of us know she’s not going to stop.” Evan curved an arm around her.

  She took a deep breath. “If we’re still confined somewhere this time next year, I’m not going to be an easy woman to live with.”

  “If this lasts that long, I’m going to be the one who’s close to growling and biting.” He laughed. “Now let’s go. Where’s Anne? I know you didn’t come here on your own.”

  “She’s getting the nurses and doctor to get the paperwork together to release you as soon as possible. She thought I might like a few minutes alone with you.” Geneva leaned into him a little more now that she was sure he’d be all right.

  “I definitely want time alone with you, but not here.” He grinned down at her.

  She shivered as that sexy rumble rolled over her. Her lips twitched, but her mind flew toward thoughts of getting him in bed and kissing him all over just to make certain he was really as healthy as he looked. She pushed the thought back. He’d been injured. He wouldn’t be in any condition to make love. She didn’t want him hurting himself trying to prove that he hadn’t been hurt that bad.