Chapter 29
Looking down at the threadbare rug that ran down the center of the distressed beyond reason hardwoods of the hall, Reese poked at a quarter sized burn hole with the toe of her black boot. The light overhead flickered as she tried to imagine the vibrant pattern when it was new. Now the colors were all a muted shit brown. Leaning her shoulder against the wall, her eyes traveled up to the cracks and water stains on the ceiling. The old faded wallpaper curled down and holes in the exposed plaster puffed plumes of white dust at the slightest disturbance. Her nose twitched at the heavy stink of the rats that she could hear scurrying and gnawing inside the walls.
Reese shook her head. She didn’t get it. She paid her people well and could not reconcile the fact that the males who lived here chose squalor over comfort. What the hell was their issue? This was above and beyond trying to blend in with the humans. This was a self-imposed punishment. Not that she’d ever ask for what. Everyone had skeletons that they kept buried, and that was truer than with most when it came to the members of her team. Her too. This fell firmly under the not her monkey, not her circus category.
Pulling soft calfskin gloves from her jacket pocket, she pulled them over her long, tapered fingers. Kids played at the far end of the hall with dented rusty Tonka trucks and half-dressed dirty dolls wearing torn clothing or none at all, until they spotted her. Then, they disappeared into the depressing gloom like smoke. Not that she blamed them. Reese was black leather head to toe and she didn’t bother concealing her weapons. Not in this neighborhood.
Lifting her hand, she rapped a gloved knuckle against the worn out, nothing special door, whose white paint was peeling off in long strips. Shaking her head, Reese brushed off the plaster dust that filtered down onto her left shoulder while she waited.
The door clicked and swung open to gape shallowly. Arching a brow, Reese pushed it open further with the pads of her fingers, her other hand closing around the grip of the Sig Sauer at the base of her spine. Stepping forward, her other brow joined the first as she seemed to step into another reality. As run down and dirty as the hall had been, inside the apartment was clean, well kept and flush with expensive furnishings, top of the line appliances and electronics, making the cloying scent of fresh blood that hung heavy in the air seem out of place.
Balden wandered into the living room, his short blonde hair disheveled. Worried azure eyes met hers as he rubbed at the day’s growth of hair on his normally clean shaven face. He pulled on the glove that had been tucked in the ass pocket of his Levis, his muscled shoulders and arms, bunching and flexing, pulling the black wife beater taunt across his wide chest. The thuds of his black biker boots fell silent as he shifted his weight onto one leg and nodded his head toward the door behind him.
Reese sighed heavily. The Djinn looked tired and his scent screamed his concern and of acceptance that his friend could not be saved. “What happened?”
Balden’s jaw ticked as he ground his molars. “The bastards set a trap. He chewed off his foot before I could get to him.” His blue eyes were as flat as his voice. “He can’t hold human form. Lost too much blood. I’ve been dosing him to keep him calm, but the fucker bit me three times.” The djinn turned his arm, showing the puncture holes and ripped skin. “He’s feral from the pain.”
Reese sucked in some air and patted her gloved hand on Balden’s bulky shoulder, walking around him to see the thrashing hyena on the blood soaked sheets. Her eyes closed and her shoulders slumped. Koen might be a smart ass, but she would never wish this on him. A shifter missing a foot? What the fuck was he going to do?
Squaring her shoulders, she crossed the room, sat on the bed and murmured what she hoped were calming sounds to the canine. Her hand sank into the fur of his cape when he rolled his head into her lap and whined, licking her gloved palm. Pulling the leather off, she offered him her skin and her scent, which seemed to calm him. She could see the blue traces of Bladen’s touch, left on Koen’s fur. The djinn excreted a toxin that could make a shifter trip for days in low doses. Gods only knew what was bouncing around inside the hyena’s head, but for the moment he was calm.
Petting his fur, Reese glanced up to find Balden standing at the foot of the bed, his hands clasped behind his back and his head hanging low, as if in prayer.
“Go get Ana.” Her voice was stronger than she felt and that was good. “She’s either at home or at the clinic at The Pit. You know where I’m talking about?”
Balden’s head bobbed before it rolled up and his sapphire eyes bored into hers. “I should be here.”
Reese shook her head no. “If there are hard choices to make, you are the last one who should be here.” She grimaced as sharp teeth sunk into her hand and her blood mixed with the hyena’s saliva and ran onto her leathers. Ignoring the pain and not taking it personally. She continued stroking the canine’s fur. “Don’t argue. The field dressing isn’t holding and we don’t have much time.”
“He is not going to die.” Bladen growled out between clenched teeth.
“Not if we get him help. Go. Now.” Her breath escaped in a relieved puff when the djinn flashed out. Only then did Reese let her mask fall as tears trailed down her face. Her team was more of a family to her than the ones who shared her DNA, and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing any of them. Not even this smart mouthed, pain in the ass hyena, whose laugh was like nails on a chalk board. Was this how Ozzy felt when they lost someone? She had no idea, but Koen was one of hers and no way in hell was she letting him go without a fight.