by Mikayla Lane
Grai looked up at Luca and Grant as they secured Chris to the stretcher properly, moving back as the auto straps locked in place.
“I need one of you to go to Peru to keep her monitored,” he said, nodding towards Moira. “We can’t take a chance of a mid-air struggle when we don’t know her abilities. The fle’ te’ Trughs need an objective person to assist.”
Luca, Grant, and Mikal all nodded their agreement, knowing their father was asking them to take on the responsibility of killing Moira if she somehow fought the drugs and got loose on the craft.
“I’ll go,” Mikal volunteered before Indrid appeared beside him and shook his head.
“You must go with your brother. He will need you there when he awakens,” Indrid said, his tone making it clear he wouldn’t change his mind. “I will remain and help keep her calm.”
“Thank you,” Mikal said with a nod of respect to his father.
“I’ll go as well,” Grant offered. “Just keep me updated.”
“On my word,” Grai assured his son as he stood, estimating the landing to be momentarily and turned to Ainsley. “Would you like to remain with us while they get Moira settled? You know where they are going and can leave at any time, but it might be a good idea for you to let them get Moira settled first.”
“Yes, she will,” Fiona called out wearily. “I mean . . . it would be best for right now.”
Ainsley disappeared and reappeared beside Fiona. The girl put her hand on Fiona’s cheek and smiled at her.
“I’ll go for now, so you won’t have to worry about me. But I’ll be there soon because we need each other, and we’re a family,” Ainsley said as she turned to grin at Grai before looking at Fiona again.
“Family sticks together.”
Fiona nodded as slow tears slipped down her cheeks.
“Yes, honey, family sticks together. You be good for them, and I’ll let you know the moment Moira is settled,” Fiona told the girl as the craft landed with a slight thump.
The door was thrown open quickly and half a dozen hybrid medtechs stationed at Base Beta pulled out the hover stretcher with Chris and ran into the Medlab with him.
“Chris!” Quinn shouted as she tried to reach out to Chris as he passed her.
Grai caught her in his arms as he headed into the lab and turned her so that she walked beside him.
“Remain calm for the sake of your son. Chris is fine and will be well again soon,” Grai said as he propelled his son’s startled mate into the building.
Quinn wasn’t sure what to believe and didn’t have time to think as she allowed Grai to keep her moving quickly into the room until they stood several feet away from where Amun and Lauren worked on Chris.
The Dranovians and fle’ te’ Brazars who hadn’t come from Peru with Quinn began to line up with those who’d just arrived, completing a circle around Chris’s bed. They were far enough away to lend their energy, but remain out of the way of Amun, Lauren, and the medtechs worked feverishly over Chris.
Quinn gasped and tried to go to him when she saw the horrible dagger protruding from Chris’s chest and couldn’t see it rise and fall with his breath.
“Oh god. Is he breathing?” she whispered, terrified to hear the answer.
“He is in stasis,” Grai assured her. “He is very much alive, but not able to breath on his own until they can remove the blade.”
Quinn looked stunned, and she turned to Grai, uncertain if she’d heard him correctly.
“He’s in a suspended animation?” she asked, looking for clarification.
“Yes, that would be fairly accurate,” Grai agreed. “Once the blade is removed, they will repair the damage to his lung and tissues before bringing him out of it.”
Angel moved across the room to stand on the other side of Quinn and took her hand.
“Don’t worry. In a day or two he’ll be up and ordering us all around again,” Angel said with a sniffle, her eyes red from crying.
Dree put her arm around Angel’s waist, and Quinn squeezed her hand and smiled up at her.
“He’s tough as hell,” Quinn said, trying to convince herself Chris would truly be all right.
“He’s stable,” Lauren said.
Amun moved around the table and took a firm grip on the handle of the dagger.
“Extracting the dagger now,” Amun said as he began to pull the blade out of Chris’s chest.
Quinn was horrified as she saw the long blade keep coming out of Chris’s chest and gasped when Amun finally pulled it free and handed it to a waiting tech.
“Repairing severed vessels now,” Lauren said as she placed a probe into the wound.
Quinn squeezed Angel and Grai’s hands even tighter when she saw smoke rise from Chris’s chest, and she fought to keep herself from going to his side.
Any anger, frustration, or disappointment she’d felt in Chris melted away as she concentrated on him staying alive and coming back to her and Christopher.
“I was going to at least pretend to play hard to get for another day or so,” she whispered. “Then the bastard had to ruin it by almost dying.”
Angel chuckled and then snorted as the tears fell.
“Get used to it. These jerks know how to push your buttons, rip your heart out, and scare you to death . . . before breakfast,” Angel half-teased.
“But they love just as fiercely and loyally,” Grai countered in defense of his sons.
“I hope you’re right,” Quinn whispered.
Chapter Twenty Three
Quinn shifted uncomfortably in the chair and pulled the blanket closer around her shoulders. She’d kicked herself a dozen times for choosing to leave Chris in stasis for the last two days to ensure his lung was completely healed before he was allowed to awaken.
Amun and Lauren said he was healing fine and could come out of the induced coma-like state, but they’d had also warned the damage had been severe—if Chris moved around too much he could re-tear something before his body had a chance to heal.
It sounded like his whole family had groaned at the last, and Quinn could understand why. Chris was one stubborn man, and she knew he’d be trying to get up the moment he woke up. When Grai and his siblings had turned to her to make the decision, she’d chosen to keep him under the extra two days.
Quinn had spent most of that time sitting beside of him. The only difference now was that the doctors had taken him out of stasis hours ago, and they were just waiting for Chris to wake up on his own. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected when they said he could come out of it at any time, but she hadn’t thought she’d be waiting so long.
She leaned her head back in the uncomfortable chair and huffed out a frustrated breath as she shifted again to ease the ache in her back.
“You probably should be laying down.”
Quinn’s eyes flew open, and she looked into Chris’s clear blue gaze. She couldn’t help but smile as she scooted to the end of her seat and stood, making her way to the side of his bed.
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she took his hand in hers.
Chris snorted and shook his head.
“Like I was stabbed in the chest,” he replied as his hand rubbed where the dagger had been.
Quinn chuckled but choked on her tears for a second.
“You really have to stop pissing women off,” she tried to joke, her voice sounding strained.
“Yeah, I’m definitely going to do something about that,” Chris chuckled and squeezed her hand. “How are you and my son doing?”
“We’re really glad you’re OK,” she replied with a smile.
Chris pulled his hand away from hers and pulled himself up to his elbows, wincing at the twinge in his chest when he did.
“No! Lay back down. Just rest,” Quinn said as she fluttered her hands nervously in front of him, unsure how to stop him.
Any other time, she’d have shoved him back down and yelled him into compliance, but Quinn was scared to touch him and possibly hurt his recently healed
chest.
Chris just grunted as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He rubbed at his chest and grinned at Quinn.
“I feel great. Don’t worry,” he assured her as he slid off the bed and stood on wobbly legs.
Quinn rushed to put her arm around him and keep him upright.
“Yeah, super idiot, you got it covered,” she said as she glared up at him accusingly.
Chris focused until he could stand on his own, shaking off the final effects of the stasis. He grinned as he spread his arms wide, no longer needing her assistance.
“Look, no hands!” Chris moved his hands to protect his chest when Quinn looked like she was going to punch him.
“I broke my ass for two days in that chair just to hear you talking smack at me!” Quinn huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Two days? What the fuck?” Chris asked, stunned he’d been out more than a few hours.
“Watch your mouth!” Quinn snapped back at him. “Christopher doesn’t need to hear that kind of language. And yes, two days! You had a lot of damage.”
“What kind of damage causes two days in stasis?” Chris asked, disbelieving he’d been out so long.
“The kind where a crazy women shoves a religious dagger into your chest and through your lung!” Quinn shot back.
“I’ve had a collapsed lung before . . .” Chris muttered as he shook his head. “I shut down my systems and let my beast take over until someone could get to me . . . it should have been a simple heal. Two days?”
Quinn suddenly felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to be the one to tell Chris it was her who’d ordered him to remain in stasis until the healing was complete.
She was beginning to understand why his family had left the decision to her and why they’d been grinning an awful lot when they visited Chris while he was in stasis.
“Well, now that you’re awake, we should probably get the doctors to make sure you’re good to go,” Quinn said, hoping to distract him from pursuing the current topic.
“No, I’m good,” Chris said as he rubbed his chest. “I expected to feel a lot worse than this if it was bad enough for two days of stasis.”
Quinn sighed; she couldn’t take it anymore. She was a terrible liar and had never been able to pull it off with Chris anyway.
“I did it! I was the one who told them to keep you out for two days until you healed properly!” she admitted.
Chris looked floored for a moment, and then a smile broke out on his face as he took a step towards her.
“You were worried about me,” he accused, his voice dropping low as he took another step.
Quinn took a step back and narrowed her eyes as she tried to figure out what he was getting at.
“You had a dagger protruding from your chest. Of course I was worried about you!” Quinn huffed out.
Chris backed her against the bed he’d just come out of and slid his hands around her waist as he looked down at her with a goofy smile on his face.
“No, you were really worried about me. You were worried like someone who loves me,” Chris teased.
Quinn blushed and looked away from him.
“I love Martha too and would be just as concerned about her if someone stabbed her in the chest,” she replied.
Chris chuckled as he put his hand under her chin and gently pushed until she was looking up at him.
“Admit it; we’re much more than friends and always have been,” Chris said as he leaned closer to her lips.
Quinn snorted.
“Oh please, just because you finally figured it out after 10 years doesn’t mean I’m going to applaud you. Shouldn’t you be lying down?” she countered.
Chris laughed and shook his head.
“No, I should have been up two days ago. Yes, it may have taken me a while to figure it out, but I’m more than willing to make up for all that lost time,” Chris replied, his goofy smile unwavering.
Quinn blushed deeply as Chris leaned closer, her entire mind focused on his ever-closer lips until their heat was searing her, and she closed her eyes. The kiss was gentle then possessing as Chris tenderly held her head and explored the heat of her mouth.
By the time he pulled away and looked down at her, Quinn was trying to catch her breath.
“I know I’ve been the worst mate in the world, but I’m begging you to give me a chance to prove that I deserve to have you and Christopher in my life,” Chris whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers, and his hands sunk into her soft curls.
“Chris . . .” Quinn whispered, closing her eyes against the indecision she felt.
Chris kissed her forehead and trailed kisses down the side of her neck. When he heard her sharp intake of breath, he pulled away and looked down into her half-closed eyes.
“You’re tired. Let’s get you to bed, and you can think about it more later,” he said before he stepped back from her and held out his hand.
Quinn put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her out of the medlab and to the path that led her back to the lakefront home, though she’d barely been there in the two days since Chris was injured.
“Don’t you need to see your family? They’ve been worried about you,” Quinn said to ease the painful silence stretching between them as they walked.
Chris chuckled and shook his head.
“They know I’m awake and fine. They’ve been teasing the hell out of me through the shengari’ for being a lazy slug and taking a two-day vacation,” he admitted with a blush.
“I’m sorry,” Quinn said. “I thought I was doing the right thing. It just didn’t seem like you could heal from something like that so quickly.”
Chris squeezed her hand and chuckled.
“We heal really fast, and with a wound like that, if we can stop more damage from happening and let our beasts shut down all unnecessary systems and take over until help arrives, you can be good in a day,” Chris explained.
“But the doctors said if you moved you could tear things,” Quinn argued.
“Well, yeah, but like any other wound it would hurt too bad to do too much, so the risk is pretty small,” he told her, seeing how his siblings could have manipulated her into thinking otherwise.
Quinn broke into laughter when she remembered what Shane said to her right after she told the doctors to keep him under.
“What?” Chris asked.
“I think it saved you from any more hits to the face,” she said.
“How do you mean?” Chris asked, wondering what she was talking about.
“When I told the doctors to keep you under, Shane told me that I saved your pretty face,” Quinn admitted with a huge grin.
“The bastards,” Chris whispered, vowing revenge on his siblings for making him lose even one more day with Quinn.
“Hey, if I were you, I’d take it,” Quinn suggested. “They hit really damn hard, and there were a lot of them left to take shots at you.”
Chris rubbed his jaw, clearly remembering how damn bad it hurt to be repeatedly hit by his siblings. He may heal faster than humans, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel the initial pain of being struck.
“You have a point,” he agreed as he reached the door on the veranda and turned to her.
Chris pulled her into his arms and held her close, enjoying the feel of his son and mate pressed against him.
My family, he thought in wonder as their combined energy swirled around them.
Quinn listened to his heartbeat as she hugged him and was overcome by relief that he really was going to be all right, and she wasn’t going to lose him.
“Will you hold me for a while like you used to?” Quinn was startled when the words came out of her mouth.
“I can’t think of anything I’d like to do more,” Chris whispered back before he moved away and opened the door.
When Quinn just stood there for a moment, he gently put his arm around her and led her inside the dimly lit home. Not wanting her to change her mind, he ushered her throug
h the living room and into the bedroom he saw her come out of days before.
“Why don’t you get comfortable, and I’ll get us something to drink?” Chris suggested when he felt her nervous energy.
He’d said the exact same words to her many times over the years when they’d been hanging out together, and he hoped it would lend a normalcy to the moment and make her more comfortable.
“That’d be great,” Quinn said with a relieved grin.
Something about hearing the words he’d spoken to her hundreds of times over the years chased away whatever doubts had been eating at Quinn’s mind since she’d asked him to stay.
Chris no sooner shut the door behind him, and Quinn was running across the room to the dresser to rummage through her clothes for something even remotely pretty to wear. She grimaced when she pulled up her regular nightgown.
The faded blue fabric and the distressed cat on the front proclaiming, “I’m not a morning person,” did not engender any form of pretty in her mind, and she sighed as she threw it back in the drawer.
“Hey!” Chris said as he came in the door. “Don’t treat that like that!”
Quinn turned to see him balancing two drinks in his hand and a basket of snacks in the other. He set them all down on the closest bedside table.
“Don’t treat what like what?” Quinn asked, unsure what he was talking about.
Chris tsked and moved over to her, leaning down in the open drawer to pull out the cat nightshirt she’d thrown in there.
“This! I love this damn thing, and I can’t tell you how glad I am that you still have it,” Chris said as he held it up to the front of her.
“What?” Quinn asked, completely confused.
“You don’t remember how you got this?” Chris said it more like a challenge as he quirked a brow at her.
Quinn’s brow furrowed as she tried to remember what thrift store she most likely got it from when her eyes widened, and she grinned at him.
“I can’t believe you remember that!” Quinn muttered as she stifled a chuckle.
“How could I forget? It was epic,” he replied. “Put it on. Please.”
Quinn couldn’t fight the adorable, pleading look in his eyes.
