Wild and Untamed (Netherworld Series Book 4)

by Olivia Hutchinson

  6

  Slipping out hadn’t been an easy task.

  If Kaleb hadn’t been holed up in his bedroom, she didn’t know if she would’ve been able to get away with it.

  She did feel slightly bad about taking his truck but she figured it would just slow him down when he came after her. Maybe he’d give her a break and just let her finish her shift before flying into the inevitable fit of rage.

  She’d been gung-ho about going to work but now that she’d pulled into the front of the hospital parking lot, she was filled with doubt and regret. Stealing his truck probably wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had. This may make her the biggest bitch of all time. She sucked in a deep breath. There was no going back now.

  She put her keys and her cell phone in the pockets of her scrubs and hopped out of the truck. Her eyes flashed around the parking lot, searching for people she didn’t know. The parking lot wasn’t too full at that point just because of the early hour.

  It felt wrong being there. Maybe if she got back into the truck and went back to the bar, he’d forgive her.

  What is wrong with me?

  It was too late as soon as she swiped her badge at the time clock. She was clocked in.

  Stopping by the lab, she stocked her cart and retrieved her tablet, which populated with her next destination. Stat lab draws went to the top of the list automatically, so that’s where she started.

  Eventually, she stopped worrying about Kaleb and his reaction. She went about her regular routine, going from room to room on her list, collecting her specimens before dropping them off at the lab. She’d sit for a moment before more labs populated on her screen and then she was off again.

  A blood draw in the emergency room was the next to come up. She pushed her cart in front of her and headed through the double doors after she swiped her badge to unlock them.

  The emergency room wasn’t huge to begin with and she’d worked there for years. She identified her patient and took her specimen before dumping it into a biohazard bag and putting it on the top of her cart.

  She was wheeling her cart back toward the doors on her way back to the lab when a hand fell on her shoulder. Beth jumped, spinning on her heel, expecting Kaleb to have found her.

  It wasn’t him, much to her disappointment and confusion.

  Christine smiled at her. An emergency room nurse, she worked with both Lila and Carey, who were also nurses there. They knew each other, were friendly, but she didn’t know Christine as her friends did.

  “Hey!” Christine said, smiling. “How are you?”

  “Oh, I’m fine,” Beth replied. “You good?”

  Christine had stopped her for a reason. Glancing around, she saw there was minimal activity around her. One of the physicians sat at a computer a few feet away and an occasional straggler was wandering around, but otherwise it was just she and Christine.

  “Have you talked to Carey?”

  Beth tilted her head. “No.”

  “Oh.” Christine frowned, looking off to where the physician was sitting.

  “Why?” She realized she’d blurted out the question too quickly when Christine’s eyes shot to her face, trying to gauge if Beth knew more than what she was letting on.

  It frustrated and annoyed her.

  “Didn’t you hear?”

  “Hear what?” Looking at Christine’s sympathetic, frowning face made Beth want to slap her. She didn’t need pity, she needed answers.

  Spit it out.

  “A patient stabbed her the other night.”

  Beth’s voice caught in her throat. Carey had been stabbed. She had to have misheard Christine. Someone would’ve said something to her before now. In disbelief she asked, “What?”

  Christine nodded her head, a grave look on her face. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard until now, but yeah. The last night she worked a patient came out of his room and stabbed her with like a six-inch hunting knife.”

  Beth choked and for a moment, the room spun. “When was this?”

  “Saturday night.”

  Today was Monday. She hadn’t heard a word from Carey. Worry gnawed at her gut. “Tell me what happened.”

  “They’d just finished coding the patient in two and she was on the phone with air transport, getting ready to ship them out when one of the patients came out of his room and just nailed her,” she said. “Got her in the back of the arm from what I understand before some visitor jumped on him and pulled him off her.”

  “So she was okay?” Carey had to be otherwise she’d have been air lifted to Portland herself.

  Christine nodded. “Shaken up, sure. Dr. Sallis stitched her up and they sent her home. No one’s heard of her since then though, so I was hoping she was okay.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” Beth tried. “What happened to the patient?”

  “They arrested him. We have no clue why he went after her. She didn’t do anything, hadn’t even spoken to him. Nothing.”

  If something like that could happen to Carey in the small hospital they worked out then there was nothing stopping a warlock from walking in the front door. And it hadn’t even been security to intervene. It had been a visitor.

  Beth had never felt so stupid in her life. So naïve. Her stomach felt as if it was full of lead and she gripped her cart to hide her shaking hands. She was sick over what Carey had gone through, but more than anything, she felt exposed and vulnerable.

  “I need to go,” Beth breathed, steering the cart away from Christine. She needed to go back to the lab. No, she needed to go back to the bar.

  “Yeah...yeah, okay.” A patient stepped out from behind a curtain and yelled for Christine who appeared oblivious to her name being called.

  “That lady wants you.”

  “Tell Carey to call up here if you talk to her. We’ve all been trying to reach her to make sure she was okay,” Christine said before turning to her patient.

  Beth left the emergency room and beelined to the lab. She dropped the tubes off at the desk and went into the bathroom, locking herself inside the small closet of a room.

  Digging her hone out of her pocket, she dialed Carey. It went straight to voicemail.

  “It’s Beth. You got stabbed? You got stabbed and didn’t call me! That is soooo not okay. Call me!”

  After hanging up, she sent her a text relaying the same message. Carey lived with her Grandma Ruby but Ruby didn’t have a house phone. Frustrated, Beth leaned her head against the bathroom wall, taking a deep breath and willing herself to think straight.

  Beth didn’t think she could stand it. She felt sick. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she sunk to the floor, her back pressed tightly against the wall. Never had she felt so alone as she did then, hiding in the small lab bathroom.

  She needed to get out of there. It was a mistake coming in to work in the first place. She’d been too stubborn for her own good. Beth was angry at herself for having been so caught up in herself and her own inconvenience. Andrea had been taken and now Carey had been attacked at work.

  Everything had changed. Everything.

  Her hands were shaking as the realization devastated her. Sliding her phone back into her pocket, she rose to her feet and went to the sink before splashing some water on her face. The cold water did nothing to change where she found herself.

  She wanted to be back at the bar. Desperately needing Kaleb and the safety she felt when she was with him, she jerked open the bathroom door and went straight to her supervisor’s office.

  “What’s wrong?” Angie asked her, genuine concern in her eyes as Beth rushed inside. “You’re so pale!”

  “I need to leave. I don’t feel good. I have to go.”

  “Do you want to go to the ER?”

  “No, I just want to go home.”

  “Are you sure? You’re white as a ghost and you look like you’re about to hit the floor.”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

  Angie shrugged off her apology. “No, no it’s okay. Get out of here. Are y
ou sure you’re okay to get yourself home?”

  Beth nodded. “I don’t think I’m going to be in tomorrow either.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll mark it you out for the rest of the week. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the ER? You look like—”

  “No, Angie.” Beth all but ran out of her supervisor’s office to the timeclock. She badged out and sprinted toward Kaleb’s truck lest she have a breakdown in the middle of the parking lot.

  When she was a few feet away, she stopped dead. There Kaleb stood, arms folded over his broad chest, leaning against the pickup. His face was red with anger and she cringed knowing she’d made him furious but in the same breath, she’d never been so happy to see anyone. He was there and the only person she wanted.

  His face shifted from fury to concern almost as soon as he saw her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked just as she dove into his arms. He caught her, wrapping her against his chest.

  Clinging to him, she sobbed against his jacket and let go of all the pent-up frustration that had been eating at her since the morning Lila called.

  Kaleb knew she’d break down eventually but he never thought she’d do it in the middle of the hospital parking lot after she’d stolen his truck.

  He held her shaking body against his chest, letting her drench his jacket with tears. She didn’t appear to be injured, just shaken. He didn’t know what had happened to cause it but asking her in the open wasn't a good idea either. He stayed vigilant, watching the few people who walked past them, their eyes curious.

  He needed to get her back to the bar and away from prying eyes.

  “Beth,” he urged gently, trying to get through to her. “Beth, come on. Get in the truck.”

  He didn’t have the keys but felt the metal digging into his hip from where they sat in her front scrub pocket. He shifted her slightly and reached into her pocket, retrieving his keys.

  Maneuvering her body while she sobbed was a challenge but he managed to get the passenger door unlocked and open. Kaleb untangled her from him, grasping her wrists and attempting to usher her into the truck. She didn’t let go of his jacket.

  He kept his voice low. “Beth, let me go for a few minutes and get in. Please.”

  Her hands were shaking as she released him. She allowed him to move her into the truck. He buckled her seatbelt for her as she sniffed and rubbed her eyes.

  He hurried around the vehicle and jumped in, anxious to get them out of there. Starting the truck, he pulled on his own belt and headed toward the main road in the direction of the bar.

  “I’m sorry,” she hiccupped. “I’m sorry I cried on you. I shouldn’t have.”

  He glanced at her. “What happened?”

  “Something happened to Carey.”

  Carey? Out of all her friends, Carey was the last person he worried about. She had never been ignorant of the Netherworld, she was aware of the dangers out there. Whether or not she paid attention to those dangers were another matter altogether, considering Beth was sitting next to him having been dragged into this mess by her beloved friend.

  “What happened?”

  “Christine...Christine said she was stabbed Saturday night by a patient. Now she’s not answering the phone for anyone, including me. Oh, Kaleb…how could this have happened?”

  Beth looked pitiful. A quivering frown marred her otherwise adorable features. He hated seeing her upset, hated that she worried.

  He was quiet for the rest of the short drive back to the bar, his mind turning. There was always the possibility that the person who stabbed her had been a patient. There were other possibilities as well, including warlocks or slayers. The only person who would know the truth would be Carey. Or Ruby.

  Kaleb didn't want to face the old bat and, if he were a betting man, he would say that Ruby probably didn’t want to see him either. She may willingly live in werewolf territory and she may be polite while out in public, but Ruby's property was her own. Period.

  He groaned inwardly. While he had never wanted to completely sequester Beth in the bar for the duration of her stay, he didn’t want her exposed like she’d been today either. Perhaps taking her to Carey and Ruby’s would help ease some of her apprehension and settle her down enough to make the next few weeks tolerable for her. He was mentally weighing the overall safety of riding over there.

  Kaleb parked the truck behind the bar, unbuckled his seatbelt and turned toward Beth. She had unbuckled herself, one hand on the door, ready to open it but stopping when she saw him looking at her.

  Her eyes were red and puffy. Grim, he asked, “Would it make you feel better if we rode over and checked on her?”

  He could’ve kicked himself when her face lit up. Carey had better be okay because he didn't want to see one more tear from Beth. He didn't like the way it made him feel seeing her genuinely upset. It made him want to fix it. And that was a scary thought.

  Nodding, she said, “Yes. Do you mind?”

  “No, it’s fine. We’ll be quick, though. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “And if there’s any sign of danger, we’re gone.”

  “Understood.”

  He surveyed her face, trying to determine whether she was honest. Kaleb wasn't going to risk them falling into a problem and her arguing with him. He’d drag her out kicking and screaming but he’d prefer it not to come down to that.

  On an impulse, he reached out and stroked her cheek. Bewildered, she sucked in an uneasy breath, but then eased into his touch. Her eyes fluttered shut as he brushed her still-damp cheek with his thumb.

  “It’s okay, Beth,” he murmured. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

  She shook again with renewed sobs. “It’s not that. I know she’s fine. He got her in the back of the arm, but…”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I don’t like feeling this way.”

  “What way?”

  “Vulnerable,” she spat. “Weak.”

  “Beth, you’re not weak. You’re a strong woman. You work your ass off, you care about the people who mean something to you, and you’re kind-hearted.”

  She snorted.

  “Deep down,” he said with half a laugh. “Deep, deep down.” He continued to stroke her cheek and slowly, she stopped crying. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  After a long moment, he dropped his hand and cleared his throat. Beth gazed at him while he stared straight ahead before finally turning in her seat and putting her seatbelt back on. He did the same and pulled away from the bar, heading in the direction of Ruby's.

  The drive didn't take too long but he was uneasy about going. When he saw her narrow driveway peeking through the dense overgrowth, he turned.

  “Why are you stopping here?” Beth asked when he immediately stopped the truck and cut the engine.

  Unbuckling his belt, he replied, “Ruby isn't a huge fan of people on her property. We’re not going up to the house without her permission.”

  She tilted her head. “I never had a problem.”

  “You're not a werewolf.”

  “True enough,” she said, before getting out of the truck.

  He met her at the hood. The driveway wasn't very long, and he could clearly see the Oldsmobile parked under the carport. There were no signs of life in the yard beyond the two horses they had in the small pasture and the chickens pecking the grass.

  “How will Ruby know we’re here?”

  Kaleb snorted. “Trust me, she knows.”

  Taking a few cautious steps forward with Beth next to him, he wondered if Ruby was going to allow him close to the two-story saltbox. Beth probably saw the centuries-old red clapboard as a being homey, he saw it as mildly threatening. That was perhaps also deliberate on Ruby's part.

  That's when it hit him.

  Electricity rocketed up his legs. White-hot currents stung his nerves and his muscles convulsed. He was a dog caught in an electric fence. A sound somewhere between a growl and a howl escaped him. Trying to pic
k up his foot was impossible, trying to get away from the bone-melting sensation was just as futile. Ruby had him pinned.

  “What’s wrong?" Beth demanded, her eyes wide with fear.

  At least she was unfazed by the witch’s trap. She touched his arm, her warmth creating a small patch of relief to the otherwise crushing agony. He needed more of her.

  “Kaleb!” Her voice was panicked.

  “What are you doing here, wolf?” Vaguely, he understood Ruby's words but he couldn't form a reply. His brain wouldn't communicate with his mouth, too overwhelmed with misery.

  “Ruby, are you doing this to him?” Beth’s voice was hitched with hysteria. “Please, please! Stop!”

  The pain slowly began ebbing away almost as soon as Beth’s plea left her mouth. “He knows he doesn’t belong here.”

  “Ruby, he’s here because of me. I wanted to come and he's helping me. Protecting me.”

  Kaleb slowly climbed to his feet, forcing his muscles to stretch and release. The voltage was gone, replaced by static dancing over his skin. Ruby left the warning in place, reminding Kaleb what she was capable of.

  “Protecting you?”

  “Yes, protecting me.”

  Ruby clucked, dark eyes darting from Beth to Kaleb and back again.

  The woman couldn't have been more than five feet tall but she was a quick little thing. Her face was a rich leather, wrinkled with age and years of sun damage. Her long, dark grey hair hung down to her bottom, held together in a thin braid. Crow feathers were woven in the strands and he wondered their meaning. There was a meaning behind everything witches did, he'd learned.

  "Why are you here?” Ruby demanded again.

  “I...” he wavered before clearing his throat and forcing his body to control his voice box once again. “I came because Beth is worried about Carey. We came to make sure she was okay.”

  “Carey’s fine,” Ruby said, her eyes narrowed in disbelief, waiting for a more thorough answer.

  “Grandma Ruby,” Beth interjected, taking Ruby’s attention off him for a nanosecond. “I was told she was stabbed at work the other night. That doesn’t sound like she’s fine to me.”