Abandoned: Bitter Harvest, Book Three
Page 27
“Already thought about that. It might slow things down, but it won’t work over the long haul. Immune modulators might, but chances of finding them in Invercargill are almost nill. The parts of Leif I absorbed when I saved him have to stop fighting me. I assumed our physiologies would be compatible, or I’d have made certain to establish a few degrees of separation.”
Ketha shook her head. “You were in full savior mode. I know you, and when you go there, the last thing on your mind is your own safety.”
“Your point?” Karin spoke stiffly.
“Not sure I had one. Can you shift?”
“No. Not enough magic, and before you suggest having my wolf circumvent that problem, I won’t place it at risk.”
“At risk, how?”
Breath rattled through Karin’s teeth. “I just explained this to my bondmate. Do you think the dolphins and whales remained in a poisoned ocean voluntarily? Hell no, they didn’t. They couldn’t return to whatever borderworld they live in, or they would have. If I’m correct, and I’m changing into something more like our sea kin, my wolf could be trapped here and die.”
“I can fight this thing off. I know I can.” The wolf chimed in.
Karin wanted to wrap her arms around its lush pelt and hug it, something she’d never been able to do.
“I heard that.” Ketha’s voice was soft. “Why not give your wolf a chance?” Without waiting for Karin to answer, she continued. “Have you spoken with Leif?”
“Of course not. He was my patient. I took chances that didn’t seem risky at the time, and—”
Ketha waved her to silence. “He might know a way to intervene. Those dolphins haven’t had their human forms long enough for me to get to know any of them, but there could be a healer in the bunch. Their magic is stronger than ours.” She turned her hands palms up. “Worth a shot.”
Karin straightened, horrified by how much energy it took. “It is worth a shot. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll let my wolf shift for us.”
A delighted howl ripped through her.
Ketha placed her hand on Karin’s leg. “I’m going to find Leif now. If he has any ideas, I’ll bring him back here.”
Karin swallowed hard. “Thanks. I’ll throw some cold water on my face. I’m burning up.”
“Take some aspirin or Ibuprofen.” Ketha quirked a brow. “Physician heal thyself.”
Karin smothered a snort. “Awk! Since when did we stoop to quoting scripture? Christians would just as soon burn us as look at us, or have you forgotten?”
“Nothing holy about it. Just a phrase. Back very soon, I hope.” Ketha sprang to her feet and bolted out the door.
Karin struggled upright and tottered to the sink. Cold water on her face and hands helped, and she dry-swallowed three aspirin. She came close to breaking into a litany and telling her wolf how much she loved it, how much its presence and undeviating loyalty had always meant, but it knew. They’d been together for over two centuries.
Karin rarely told anyone how old she was. In the first place, it didn’t matter. In the second, she feared it would insert artificial distance between herself and the other women she’d ended up with in Ushuaia. Rowana had known, but she was the only one.
And now Ro was dead. She’d died a hideous death in Karin’s arms, racked with pain but absolutely certain it was her time to go.
“Damn, but I hope I can exit with a tenth her grace and style.”
“You are not going anywhere,” the wolf said, steel in its voice.
The sound of running footsteps alerted Karin moments before her door swung inward. A worried-looking Leif burst through with Ketha right behind him. The dolphin shifter was naked and still dripping ocean water. The salt scent of the sea clung to him. Blue-gray hair shrouded his tall, broad-shouldered form to knee level, and he trained sea-blue eyes on Karin.
“Apologies,” he said. “Finding clothes took a backseat to Ketha’s summons.” He placed a palm across Karin’s forehead, and she felt a jolt of rough magic, glass shards and pepper flakes. He moved his hand from her face to her upper back and then her chest across her collarbones. Each place he touched her tingled unpleasantly, but the crippling inertia eased too.
“Well?” Ketha hovered behind him. The door was shut, so presumably she’d closed it.
Leif drew his brows into a thick, gray line and skewered Karin with eyes that had shaded to gray. “Why didn’t you call me sooner, wolf Shifter?”
“I kept thinking this would improve.”
“Mmph. Would have been far easier to intervene a few days ago. I must summon the other dolphins. This will equire all of us.”
“What are you going to do?” Karin and Ketha asked at almost the same time, their words tripping over each other.
“Reclaim the parts within the Shifter doctor that do not belong,” Leif said. “And hope to hell we don’t injure her in the process.” He blew out a tight breath. “This would have been simpler right after it happened, before our essence put down roots trying to displace land Shifter magic.”
“At least it explains why I have no power,” Karin muttered.
Leif leveled his gaze at her. “If we do not intercede, nor will you have a life. Sea Shifter enchantment is trying to convert you, except our two types of magic have grown incompatible over the centuries. Left unchecked, there’s but one way out of this.”
A knock was followed by dolphin shifters filing into the cabin. “We need a bigger space,” one of them said.
“Aye, no room to maneuver in here,” another voice chimed in.
“What in the hell is going on?” Daide boomed from somewhere in the hall.
Karin tried to tell him it was nothing, but her head whirled crazily. It might have been the three aspirin, since she rarely took anything at all. It might have been so many people crowded into her cabin. It might have been fear she wasn’t going to make it through what lay ahead. Desperate to hang onto a semblance of control, she made a grab for consciousness. Did her damnedest to hang onto it, but it eluded her, and she fell ass over teakettle into a deep, black hole.
Also by Ann Gimpel
Alphas in the Wild
Hello Darkness
Alpine Attraction
A Run For Her Money
Fire Moon
Bitter Harvest
Deceived
Twisted
Abandoned
Coven Enforcers
Blood and Magic
Blood and Sorcery
Blood and Illusion
Demon Assassins
Witch's Bounty
Witch's Bane
Witches Rule
Dragon Lore
Highland Secrets
To Love A Highland Dragon
Dragon Maid
Dragon's Dare
Earth Reclaimed
Earth's Requiem
Earth's Blood
Earth's Hope
Earth Reclaimed Series
GenTech Rebellion
Winning Glory
Honor Bound
Claiming Charity
Loving Hope
Keeping Faith
Rubicon International
Garen
Lars
Soul Dance
Tarnished Beginnings
Tarnished Legacy
Tarnished Prophecy
Tarnished Journey
Soul Storm
Dark Prophecy
Dark Pursuit
Dark Promise
Wolf Clan Shifters
Alice's Alphas
Megan's Mates
Sophie's Shifters
Standalone
Red Dawn
Marked by Fortune
Shadows in Time
Alphas in the Wild Collection
Midnight Magic
Heart's Flame
Icy Passage
Dark Storm, Soul Storm Books
Collection
Warin's War
Shadow Play
Melis's Gambit
Rubicon International Series Bundle
Coven Enforcers Series
Edge of Night