Paxton’s eyes drooped, his head nodding to his chest. No big surprise. His half hour power nap was never going to cut it, not when he had rounds in a matter of hours. The ICU was quiet. The lights were dim throughout the ward, even at the nurses’ station, with only the steady beep from the monitors to cut the silence.

Even in the small hours of the night, there was work to be done, and his sensitive hearing picked up the softest tap-tap on the computers at the nurses’ station.

Something in the unnerving stillness made his ears perk and he lifted his lids, not enough to fully wake, but enough to give the room a quick scan. Cool air prickled his skin and he slid his gaze toward the windows across from Evelyn’s bed. Windows in the ICU were never open, yet hers were cracked enough to let in a soft breeze.

A shadow along the floor caught his peripheral vision. Nerve endings tingled and he inhaled. If it was one of the staff checking stats there was no reason to stir, but if it wasn’t—

The scent registered. This was no nurse. His turned his head, moving with noiseless stealth. A figure hovered across from Evelyn. Its shadow was human, but a distinct flutter of wings sounded in the quietness.

What kind of creature casts a human shadow from a shifter form? This was not the time for puzzles. Pax launched himself from his chair, crashing past the over-bed tray alongside the end of the hospital bed. The bird responded, swooping from the ceiling, striking Pax across the back of the head.

He pitched forward, grabbing onto the edge of one of the monitors. “What the fuck?” His hand moved to his scalp and he shook his head to try and stop the ringing in his ears.

Wings fluttered again and he lurched, letting his wolf rise. His eyes burned and his vision shifted from three-dimensional human to thermal. Pax tracked the bird to the upper corner of the room, its heart beating wildly in its chest.

“Who are you?” Pax demanded. “I know you can understand me, so don’t bother with the bird bullshit anymore.” He flicked on the light and his eyes went wide from more than just the sudden brightness. The bird was huge and black, with red eyes.

“You have a choice, featherbrain. You can either shift and face me man to man, or fly out the same way you came and tell whoever sent you that you failed. Evelyn’s got a big bad guard dog, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Talons out, the bird screeched as it rounded, slashing Paxton’s shoulder.

“Dr. Noble! What’s happening?” A nurse flung the door open.

With a hiss, Pax swiped for the bird, but it was too late. The large black fowl shifted midflight to a small sparrow and slipped past the nurse.

“Code Grey! Call security!” he shouted over his shoulder as he wrenched past her. “Get someone up here, now!”

“Doc, it’s just a little bird—”

The doors to the ICU were open and he rushed down the hall toward the stairs, skittering past an orderly halfway through the doorway.

“Did a bird fly past you?” Pax asked, knowing how insane he sounded.

“A bird?” The man’s eyebrows knotted and he blinked.

Pax didn’t wait to explain. He shoved the man out of the way and swung the stairwell door wide with a bang.

“What the fuck?” The orderly stumbled against the wall, a nurse rushing forward to help.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t think I can say the same for the doc. I think he’s gone crackers.”

“More like Polly wants a cracker.” She laughed. “Looks like our big bad wolf has gone to the birds.”

* * *

Pax scrambled down the stairs, catching a glimpse of the bird. “I’ve got your scent, asshole, and I will find you!” He clattered farther down, but swiveled on his heel as the creature buzzed his head again.

Hands up, he swung, fending off the attack. His wolf clawed to be free. Adrenaline poured through his veins and his muscles shook with the need to shift. The scent coming from the bird was the same as the shifter who attacked Evelyn in the park.

The bird rounded again and swiped at his face, claws raking his eye to his cheek. Pain exploded behind his eye and he lost his balance, crumpling down the stairs.

He rolled to his knees. It flew toward the basement exit and parking garage. He got up, resting his hands on his thighs as he steadied himself. He needed to call Craig. Now more than ever, he knew he was right about the attack being shifter on shifter, and tonight that shifter had come to finish the job.

Except the attacker he saw in the dream was a bear, not a bird, and not one that cast a human shadow. Things that didn’t add up before added up even less now. He gingerly touched the slash across his eyebrow and cheek and hissed.

Security was already on alert. The police would be notified and he’d have to tell them about the senator and the bird shifter in ICU, but he’d be damned if he would say a word about the syringe. Not yet. Evelyn’s safety was the only thing that mattered, and that meant a private room with a security guard. He nodded to himself. A security guard and him.