“I don’t care how mean I have to get. I’ll hit you if I must to make you keep your eyes on me. Stay with me.”
His eyes lowered again until she dug her nails into his skin. The unusual sharp edge made him lift a lip in a snarl.
“I told you I would do anything. You need to stay with me. I’ll do whatever I must to keep you conscious,” she said, her voice frantic. “Where in the dark moon are Isaac and the doctor? No one else could be as bad off. Someone help us! Help!”
“Here. We’re here. Doc, over here, quick,” Isaac said.
“Thank the Goddess,” Kate said as she turned her head and watched Isaac pull a lady around the corner. Two males hovered behind her with supplies. Another guardian raced after them with a stretcher.
“Looks like you moved up on my priority list, buddy,” the doctor said with a smile as she began to assess the situation. “I haven’t met either of you yet.”
“Helluva way to meet him,” Isaac said as he moved to assist with moving Etienne to the stretcher. “This is Etienne. He returned home after a long time away. We’re both on protection detail for this lady, Ekaterina.”
“Hi there, Etienne, Kate, nice to meet you and I’m the new doc of the clan. I’m Doctor Melinda Thompson-Constantin. Let’s see what we have going on here,” Melinda said. “Nathan, help me lean him forward and take control of the bandage. What did you use as a bandage?”
“My shirt and her cloak,” Isaac said.
Melinda muttered something and nodded. “Right. Okay. Miss, you can move your hand now. Nathan will take over.”
“I don’t want to leave the bandage without pressure,” Kate said.
“It’ll be okay, Kate, Nathan will be right there,” the doctor reassured her.
“Hi there, we’ll do it at the same time. I got him. I promise,” Nathan said as he moved over to the other side.
“He said the bullet had mercury. I think it hit one of his lungs. He’s coughing and blowing blood bubbles. He stopped speaking a few seconds or minutes ago.” Kate dropped her hands from Etienne when Nathan took hold. She stared at her hands and arms now covered in his blood.
“Heavy metal causes trouble for my healing power. We’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way to remove the bullets. Damn dark moon,” Melinda said with a grumble. “Collin, can you tear his shirt off?”
One of the guardians nodded and moved around. He reached forward and used his strength to tear away the ruined T-shirt.
“Do you have a healing power?” Kate asked.
“Yes, I’m a Luna jaguar. The Goddess, my mother, gifted me with the power to heal, but not for certain issues, like heavy-metal poisoning. I’m a skilled surgeon.” Melinda nodded to Nathan to lean Etienne forward as she pushed the ear tips of a stethoscope in her ears. She moved the diaphragm end against Etienne’s skin to listen. “Yeah, it hit one of his lungs. There’s lots of wetness in his breathing. We need to hurry before it collapses and causes more issues.” She checked the front before wrapping the tubing around her neck. She moved her fingers to the entry wound.
Etienne winced and closed his eyes.
“Hey. What did I say about closing your eyes?” Kate snapped, surprising everyone in the area.
Etienne opened his eyes with another playful snarl on his lips.
“One way to keep you awake,” Melinda said with a chuckle. “Looks like this sucker entered your bicep, and went into your chest to ping around your lung and ribs. You have a second wound which entered your upper shoulder and lodged somewhere around your blade. But these aren’t the first wounds.” She lifted her gaze to meet Etienne’s.
Etienne moved his gaze to Isaac in a plea for him to explain what happened.
“I don’t know all the details. I do know he was shot with mercury bullets before he arrived here. It took him months to heal, before they sent him here,” Isaac said, dropping a hand to Etienne’s knee.
“What? What in the name of the Goddess?” The doc stopped. “I’ll ask another time. Nathan, I want to replace these bandages with gauze. Pull out several large gauze pads and rolls of bandages. I want to bandage him before we move him and control the bleeding. Collin, Luca, I need you to help Nathan and Isaac move Etienne on the stretcher once he’s bandaged.”
Nathan opened a case and pulled out what she needed along with some tape. Together, they removed the makeshift coverings and instead covered Etienne’s right side with a heavy layer of sterile bandages. When his shoulder was protected, the four guys moved into position. Kate helped the doctor move the stretcher in place.
On the count, they moved him. Etienne winced and blacked out from the pain. He went limp in their arms the moment they moved him.
“Etienne!” Kate screamed.
“It’s better for him. He’s lost a lot of blood and the mercury burns. I’m surprised he lasted this long. Keep moving him. Careful, boys, we go straight to the clinic,” Melinda said as she ordered them through the process.
Chapter 7
Inside the building, the doctor ordered the men to carry Etienne into the back. She turned and held her hands out to Kate.
Kate lifted on her toes to look through the swinging doors, but she saw Isaac and the other two men come out. “What? I want to be with him.”
“I know you want to be with him, but now isn’t the time. Collin, take them to the showers and give them a set of fresh scrubs. Luca, call River and tell him we need a flower infusion stat. Run to the house and clip about a dozen flowers and give them to River,” Melinda said.
Both men kissed her cheeks. The dark-haired guardian raced away, a cell phone to his ear. The one with mahogany hair turned to them.
“Our lady is always in charge,” Collin said.
“Are the both of you mated to her?” Kate watched Melinda disappear as her dried blood-covered fingers tangled around each other with her worry.
Collin grinned in a satisfied way. “I found her first when we ran as jaguars and Luca and I got together. She joined us at the beginning of the poison crisis, took care of our wounded, and rebuilt the clinic.”
“It’s wonderful she’s here,” Kate said and wrapped her arms around her belly. Her hands cupped her elbows to lock her arms in place.
“Melinda knows what she’s doing. She’s a doctor of both veterinarian and human medicine. She’s top-notch.”
“You’re one of the few clans with such a doctor. We’re always looking for decent medical help,” she said. “What do we do in the meantime? I’m going to go crazy worrying about him.”
“We need to stay out of their way. Melinda and Nathan will do everything they can before she can use her gifts. They’ll take him into surgery once they triage and get X-rays to pinpoint where the bullets are. He’s in good hands, the best, I promise,” Collin said.
Isaac stepped over and wrapped an arm around Kate’s shoulders, which she realized were trembling now they were coming off the adrenaline rush. “The doc took real good care of me and others. Between her and River, we were all healed with no problems,” Isaac said. “She can heal Etienne.”
“But it was such a grave wound,” she said.
“Didn’t the clan warn you about heavy metals and how we can’t heal injuries by them?”
Kate shook her head.
“Dark moon,” Isaac cursed. “Heavy metals weaken our healing response to the level of a human.”
“While we wait, the two of you need to clean up,” Collin suggested.
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Let me show you the showers,” Collin said as he led them through the waiting room and a different area of the clinic.
Kate didn’t move and tugged on Isaac’s hand. He stopped and looked back at her. “Come with me.”
“I don’t want to leave him,” she said, nibbling on her lower lip.
“They’ll send someone to find us,” Isaac said and tugged her to follow him. “I don’t think you’ll want your father to find you like—Scratch the thought.”
The doors sl
ammed open as her father raced inside, the protectors surrounded him, followed by Alex and her brothers. Her father found her, his eyes widened. His anger washed over her, rocking her on her heels, but she forced herself to remain steady. He didn’t know about her gift. If he knew, he would call her witch or heretic.
“Where is your cloak? Your hair is uncovered. No. This can’t happen. I will not let you walk around uncovered. You are covered in blood. Blood is all over you. This is an outrage. You’re going home,” her father called out, his voice rising as his anger grew.
“Father, it isn’t my blood. Etienne was wounded. He and Isaac protected me from the danger. I’m not leaving,” she said. “I used my cloak to help staunch the bleeding. I’m in another clan with different cultures. They don’t care about the scarf and cloak.”
“You are uncovered. You were in danger, within minutes of being here, I will not—”
“Father, stop, please. You’re not helping matters. I’m not leaving.”
“You’re not staying, not under these conditions.” He snapped fingers toward his protectors. “You two take her by her arms and return her to the car. Call the jet. She is leaving—”
“Enough!” Kate snapped, tired of always feeling his anger and shame. She couldn’t stand being trapped under his vicious control. “I’m not leaving this place.”
Her father stepped back at her tone. “Ekaterina Lilyana, how dare you talk back to me? You’re under my control, my orders.”
“I’m not a little kitten anymore. I know you’re worried about Naira. I want to bring her home. I must stay and help. What happened had nothing to do with me,” Kate pleaded, ignoring how he used both her names and tried to make her feel like a child.
The sheikh faced Alex. “What happened? What kind of a clan is being run around here, Thurston?”
Kate growled as her father dismissed her. She felt Isaac place a hand on her lower back in quiet comfort.
“I’m trying to rebuild one which was damaged and mishandled by my father,” Alex said. “My guardians were cleaning out the numerous liquor bars, titty clubs, and other buildings I no longer want associated with my clan. Some of the owners didn’t take the eviction notice too well.”
“Was it the owner on the roof?”
Alex glanced at two guardians who entered the clinic. “These are two of my top-ranked guardians, Raphael and Sebastian. They can give us more details, correct, Collin?”
“Correct, sir. Luca is gathering the flowers so River can create the infusion. I was going to show where these two can clean up and wait for news,” Collin said. He nodded to Raphael and Sebastian. “What did you two learn from our sniper?”
“He’s a complete and utter lunatic,” Sebastian said with a snort.
Raphael nudged his side while Alex dragged a hand down his face.
“Guardians,” Alex muttered in a wry tone. “Get to what we want to know, you two.”
“We believe he has connections to our rogue group. He kept talking about how his Alpha will join him and take over control. There is one Alpha crazy enough to try,” Sebastian said.
Alex dropped his head back with a long groan.
“Until his head leaves his neck, we’re gonna have to deal with the bastard,” Raphael said.
“Excuse me. What are you talking about? What does this have to do with Etienne getting shot?” Kate asked.
“Quiet, female, let the men speak,” her father said.
“She has a right to know why they were shot at within my territory,” Alex said.
Raphael cleared his throat to gain attention. “You were in the wrong place, wrong time when the guy flipped and decided to declare war. He was supposed to leave his crappy bar by this evening, but he refused to acknowledge all eviction notices. We were going to send in a full guard to get him out, but we were too late.” Raphael shrugged.
“He went on the roof with a rifle,” she said and tilted her head. “Did no one think to look for a weapon?”
The dark Latino cat with eyes the color of melted chocolate smiled. “We did, my lady. His place was searched, but we think he had someone deliver it or he retrieved a gun.”
“From these rogues?”
All of the guardians along with their Alpha nodded.
“Who is this rogue?”
“My uncle,” Alex said with a grimace.
Kate’s eyebrow lifted high. “Oh?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “I apologize if you wish to leave. Patrols have been increased. We’ve taken precautions everywhere possible.”
“Could your uncle be involved with my sister’s disappearance?”
“To be honest, I wouldn’t put it past him,” Alex said.
When her father glared, she noticed the anger buzzed inside her mind. She took over the conversation and attention from him which pissed him off even further. She would hear all about how she shamed him in front of his equals and host. Kate let out a long breath. They came to the right place. She hoped they would find Naira soon. She hated to think about what her sweet baby sister was going through.
“All of this can wait. Please. You two follow Collin and clean up,” Alex said as he waved a hand to stop everyone.
Kate glanced at Isaac. “You’ll alert us if anything changes?”
“As soon as we know anything, we’ll let you know,” Alex said.
“Okay. Show us the way, Collin,” Kate said as she scratched at the flaking bits of blood drying on her skin. Things were starting to become uncomfortable as the blood dried.
Chapter 8
The release of all the adrenaline and fear hit Kate hard when she entered the changing room. The walls surrounding her empathy gift were fragile and needed tremendous energy to rebuild, but she found herself exhausted. Tears fell down her cheeks. She managed to kick off her shoes and stumbled into the shower area. Turning the water on full and steaming hot, she pressed her hands against the cool tiled walls.
When tears turned to outright sobs as she scrubbed her bloodied skin harder with a washcloth, Kate gave a low scream of frustration and pain. She crumpled to the floor, rubbing her arms, and curled into the corner as water fell around her.
She didn’t notice anyone running inside until something blocked the water. A warm hand curled against the side of her face. The warmth of simple comfort surrounded her fragile mind. Blinking the water from her eyes, Kate stared into Isaac’s baby-blue eyes.
“I can’t get it off. It doesn’t wash away.” She scrubbed with the cloth until Isaac stopped her movements.
“It’ll be okay. Etienne will heal.” Isaac gathered her against his stronger frame. He rocked them under the shower.
“I can’t. The image of him. I can’t.” Kate grabbed hold of Isaac’s damp shirt and pressed her face to his shoulder, sobbing.
“I know, Katie. I can’t forget the sight of him lying there, covered in his blood. I trust the doctor. She’ll bring him back.”
The sobs wracked her body. She sniffled and rubbed her face against his shoulder. She breathed in his rich scent and let his quiet emotions strengthen her mind, and it dawned on her where they were located.
“Isaac?”
“Hmm. How are you, Katie?” Isaac smoothed his hands down her wet hair, combing his fingers through the long locks to untangle the braid.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I raced in to take care of you when I heard your sobs. I had a feeling you might crash the moment you were alone.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “With my father’s restrictions, my family would have left me alone.”
“You don’t need to be alone, not after what you saw. You’re not used to this type of danger.”
“Is it worse because you love him?”
“Yes, I think it is worse when the one you love is fighting for his life.”
She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder.
“Can you stand?”
“I think so.”
Isaac adjusted his grip before they rose f
rom the cool floor.
Kate found herself unsteady, exhausted from the sobbing and mental challenges. Her belly rumbled at the thought of food.
“I hear your belly. Mine is doing the same.”
She blushed and held a hand to her belly.
“Don’t be ashamed. It’s a natural reaction. We’ll find something to eat.”
“How can we think about food?”
“We need to stay strong.” Isaac slid his fingers through her hair, pushing the heavy locks from her face. “Are you okay to shower alone?”
She stared at her arms and saw the blood was fading.
“Scrubs are on a counter for you to change into, and I’ll meet you in the hall.” Isaac cupped her cheek. “Okay?”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Leaning forward, Isaac placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Anytime, Katie-cat, I’m here for you.”
Watching him leave when she wanted him to stay was a hard decision. She didn’t want to remain alone. She noticed how the wet clothes clung to his fine, honed form. He was a gorgeous cat. Her inner feline purred.
Blowing out a breath, Kate stripped off the soaked clothing and let it fall with a plop. She stepped under the water. While she showered, she rebuilt her mental walls until they were firm and sturdy. Strengthened in both body and mind, she stepped out and wrapped a fluffy towel around her body and wound another around her hair. Finding beauty products left on the shelves, she chose and applied a lotion. She dressed in the scrubs and rubbed the second towel over her hair, loose curls appearing in some of the strands.
Some of the bottles were hair products and she used some, plugged in the dryer, and dried her hair. Shoving a hand through her hair, unable to find a band, she cleaned the mess, slipped into the loose espadrille shoes, and headed back to the hallway.
As promised, Isaac stepped out, dressed in similar scrubs, and dragged fingers through damp deep-brown hair, which fell around his face in sweeping layers but was kept short in the back. She couldn’t believe how handsome he was. He could be so strong and gentle.
Dark Moon Dance [Fire Jaguars 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 6
