Chapter 17
Nate pulled into his driveway and found Jay frantic in his driveway. Bastard paced the porch, stark naked. His normally tied back hair stood in every direction.
Jay didn’t wait for a response. He stopped in front of Nate and words flowed from him. “Savon is hurt. There was a mage—or something more—fuck, I don’t know, but I think he attacked her. I can’t find her now, but she’s in bad shape.”
“Who?”
“Fuck if I know. Canagan’s wolves dragged him off. I tried to help her, but she ran. Shit, she hit me with something that threw me away from her, and then a hundred ghosts or some shit pulled at me until I fled. I couldn’t get past them, so I went after whoever did this to her.”
Nate rubbed at his face. “Okay, thanks. I need to find her.”
“Let me help.” Jay looked into his eyes. “Look, whatever happened to her was bad. I don’t know how bad. She was only half dressed. Blood on her thigh. I didn’t smell sex, but pain. She was burnt. I don’t know what happened.” The desperation in his eyes convinced Nate to hear him out.
“You can’t follow me. Do me a favor. Get Bran. Tell him to meet me back here.”
“Why? Fuck, if this is about her choosing you, that’s fine. Someone hurt her, and I may be a prick, but I’m not looking to violate an unwilling woman.”
“No. I don’t think you did this, nor do I think you would. There are spells she wove. My father couldn’t find our place. I hope I can get to her. We’ll see how much she hated me through the years.” Nate took off at a run and shouted back, “Get Bran.”
“Shit, yeah, going.”
Nate made it to their willow in record time and slipped under the branches. He found Savon unconscious, a small trail of blood on one thigh. Her pants had been burned away or something, leaving most of the legs intact, but nothing covering her. Third degree burns encircled her wrists. Her throat was ringed in black and blue.
His heart thundered as he scooped her into his arms and carried her back to the house. He needed to tend to her wounds, wake her up, and find out what the fuck had happened, hopefully before Bran got there.
He took her inside, up the stairs, and into the master bedroom. The house had been completely remodeled before he moved back in an effort to erase the memories of his father.
Nate laid her on the bed and left long enough to grab his medical supplies. More often than not, he treated wolves there, as long as he didn’t have to open them up.
Seeing her like that gutted Nate. How long had she been under that tree?
He scrubbed a hand over his face and grabbed a pair of sweats he knew would be too big on her, but it was better than having her half-dressed when she woke up.
He managed to get one shoe off her before she jerked away.
She scrambled back until she was pressed against the headboard, her chest heaving. “Nate?”
“I’m here.” He held up the sweats and a cloth. “I need to examine you. You’re in bad shape, Sav. And I need to know who did this to you.”
Her eyes slammed shut as she dropped her head to her hands and cried in pain. “Shit. Fuck. I thought I killed him before I came back. I thought—”
“Who, Sav?”
Blinking, she focused back on Nate. “Nikolai Svette. I put him under and set his house on fire. Then I left as the firemen tried to put it out. I couldn’t go back. I thought he was dead.”
“Why did you want to kill him?”
She winced, jerking away. Panic flashed through her eyes as her words came out a million miles an hour. “He was part of something bigger, something horrible. Fuck, this is all a mess. I need to call Old Lady Murdock. She needs to know what happened, why I left, who’s here. She needs to know why. Damn it, I should have told her already.”
“You’re not making sense.”
A tear fell down her face and her voice cracked. “Told you. I’m not the same girl. It was fall in line, kill him, or be killed. I chose kill him and I fucked it up. I don’t regret anything but failing at killing the piece of shit.” She climbed from the bed, then looked down. “Oh fuck.”
“Did he…” He couldn’t finish that sentence.
“Started. I stopped him. The spirits pulled him away. The bear mauled him. I pushed his eyes until they burst and blood pooled.”
“Explains the blood on your hands.
She held her hands up. Blood slicked her thumbs. Shaking her head, she gasped. “A good healer could heal the damage, but they’d have to be really damned good. I needed him not to follow. Hoped to kill him, but he’s hard to kill. But the bear, I hope that bear tore him to pieces.
“He entered you?” Nate growled.
She backed away. “Didn’t want it. I stopped him.”
Nate moved in front of her. “Hey, I just need to know how bad he hurt you.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
A bitter laugh escaped. “No, you aren’t. Let me help you.”
“I need to tell Ms. Murdock what I learned, what he’s a part of.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to let him help until she got it all out. So he asked the inevitable question, “What is he part of?”
“A very old organization that’s not supposed to exist. They want to destroy life as we know it and make the world into a nightmare plane.”
“What?”
“I told you, not the same stupid little girl with blinders on.”
“Never said you were,” he growled, stalking toward her. He caught her shoulders. “Stop pushing me away and talk to me. I want to help you. The bastard hurt you. There’s blood.” He dropped one hand to touch her inner thigh. “He hurt you, Savon. I’d be concerned no matter who you were.” Then he grabbed her forearm, well above the burn, and lifted her wrist in front of her face. “He burned the hell out of you.” His fingers trailed over her throat. “Tried to strangle you. I’m a doctor. Remember? I need to help you.”
* * * *
“Only because you’re a doctor?” she whispered, her heart threatening to shatter.
“What part do you want to hear? The easy truth you can swallow? Or the horse pill that might gag on the way down?”
“All of it. I need to know what you want.”
“You, all of you. That’s not changing. I don’t give a damn about the past, who you were with, what you did. But that bastard is going to pay for harming you. Had he left you alone, fine, but he came here and hurt you. I’ll never tolerate that.”
Every last bit of her wall crumbled. “Nothing changed for you?”
“Couldn’t let you go. And when I tried, you always called me back, then ran. Shit, Sav, I love you—always have. But let me take care of you right now. I can’t have you hurt and not fix it.”
Tears spilled and she dropped her head.
“With the blood, I need to check inside, want to make sure he didn’t do worse damage.”
Her head snapped up. “Just tight. He didn’t exactly wait for me to be ready, and I didn’t want it,” she stammered.
“I need to know.”
“No. Not like this.”
“Damn it, Savon. I’m not doing anything any other doctor wouldn’t do in this situation.”
Shaking her head, she whispered, “No. Don’t even want you to see me like this.”
Nate’s eyes slammed shut as he walked her to the bed. She sat down hard and he dropped to his knees, pushing her legs open. “Lie back. I’ll be quick. Just need to be sure.”
Her legs squeezed shut. “Nate, no. Trust me, it’s fine. I’m not hurt worse. Not there. Please, just don’t.”
“The scent of your fear and pain overrule everything. I won’t take advantage of you.”
She caught his face and blinked. Another tear fell. “It’s not that. I know you wouldn’t. It’s just—I didn’t want it. I’m fine.”
He covered her hands, his voice gentle. “Sav, I need to know he didn’t do something you can’t see.”
Rationally, she understood. Mentally, she wanted to run. “Nate?”
“Trust me. I need to be sure you’re okay.”
A startled laugh escaped and she shook her head. “Not okay,” she admitted.
“You will be,” he promised.
Laying back she stared at the ceiling. He was gentle, pulling her open. Then he ran a warm cloth over her exposed parts and thigh before standing and pacing away. “You can put the sweats on.”
“That’s it?”
He growled. “Small tear, you’re right. He entered you without you being ready. Nothing that won’t heal quickly.”
“I want a shower,” she whispered.
Nate came back, shaking his head. “Not with your burns. Not yet. Fran can take care of that. For now, I need to clean the wounds. I have lidocaine gel to numb the tissue, then I’ll wrap them in gauze and give you ice packs to help until Fran arrives.”
“She’s not checking me. My wrists, that’s it.”
“Agreed.” He rubbed at his temples. “I needed to be sure, Savon. Jay came to me, told me you wouldn’t let him help. I sent him to get Bran. We need to find this asshole.”
She shot to her feet, her hands up, pain flowing through her. “No, shit, no! He can’t handle Nikolai. I should have been more prepared. If I hadn’t panicked, I would have been fine, but I let shit catch up with me and had a minor meltdown. Fuck, if I had just killed him the first damned time.”
“Sweats, Sav. Put them on.” He held them out.
Ripping them from his outstretched arm hurt, but she sat and took the rest of her pants off with her shoes and pulled his on, cinching the waist.
“Did you love him?” The question packed a punch, his emotion making the room waver with warring colors.
She opened her mouth to deny it, but the words died on her tongue. “A little,” she squeaked. “I wasn’t in love, but I was getting there. At least until I learned whose side he was on.”
“Of what?”
She tipped her head side to side, pacing away, trying to ignore the burn in her wrists that flooded her senses.
Nate caught her arm and spun her back. “Side of what?”
“That’s complicated. I’m not totally sure. I just know he’s part of some group that wants to tear apart our world to create a darker, more terrifying one.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Yeah, and I don’t have all the answers, but I know who might. I need to call her. Shit. I should have started by telling her what I found out. But then I thought he was dead, and there was no point.”
“What?”
“This is bigger than you know, Nate. And I don’t know enough to make it make sense. Hell, it doesn’t make sense to me. I should go. If I leave, maybe he’ll follow, then everyone will be safe.”
“You aren’t leaving, Savon.”
She glared back. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“And you don’t know what this pack is capable of.”
“It’s not your pack, Nate. You don’t want the job.”
“I came back with every intention of challenging my father and taking the pack. It was the only way to get you back and I was willing then, I am now.”
She let out a bitter laugh. “Werewolves alone can’t stop him. My power can’t stop him, clearly. Damn it, Nate. This is bigger than that. And he has people backing him who make him look like a tadpole in a river full of piranhas.”
“You’re safer with us than without.”
“I need to make calls.”
He hauled her closer. “You need to let me take care of your wounds. You need to let me talk to your brother. And you need Fran to heal you. We can discuss what we can do. There are more in this town than werewolves.”
“No one who can cast like Nikolai. He’s not only a mage. He has old gypsy magic to fortify his spells. No one casts like him.”
His eyes bored into hers, pleading. “And you have your own special set of magic. Let’s talk this out. We can stop him. Give us a chance.”
And she realized something. Bastard knew about Nate, which put him in danger. She had to stay, had to see it through.
Fuck it all!
“All right.” Her voice broke, the burns aching, throbbing. “But I still need to make a couple calls.”
“Let me treat the burns first. Please? I sense your pain and I’m amazed you’re still on your feet.”
Nodding, she glanced away.
Nate guided her to the bed. “Sit.” As soon as her ass hit the bed, he pulled on latex gloves and knelt. He dragged a leather bag over, then dropped it to the floor. Without taking his eyes from her, he opened it, grabbed a box, and pulled out a tube. “It’ll be cold, but I imagine that part will feel good. Spreading it won’t. Fuck, I want to gut the bastard who marked you.”
One side of her mouth tipped up. Protective, caring, and she felt his love, saw it in his emotion. She understood the anger.
He took one arm and squeezed a good portion of the gel onto the worst of the burn. “Gonna hurt for a few seconds, then you won’t feel anything.”
She nodded, ready to stop feeling everything, but knew he’d only deal with the physical injuries, not the emotional ones.
The pain bit deep, then eased as he worked the medicine in. Then he wrapped the first wrist in gauze. “Hopefully, by the time it wears off, you’ll be healed.” He took the other wrist and repeated the process.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He stared into her eyes. “There is nothing I won’t do for you, Savon. No matter what happens.” He looked down at her wrist, focusing on his task. “Better?”
“Much. You were always too good for me.”
“Never. Wish you wouldn’t underestimate yourself.”
Someone banged on the door downstairs. Probably her brother. “I need to get that. Wash your hands without getting the bandages wet, please.”
“Sure.”
* * * *
Bran looked up as Jay burst into his office, his hands up. “Before you start on my ass, your sister needs you. Nate’s bringing her back to his place.”
He shot to his feet, crossed the room, and pinned Jay to the wall. “What the fuck did you do to Savon?”
Jay shook his head. “Nothing. I swear it, mate. A mage. He burned her, and more. I tried to help her. Wanted to get her to Nate, seeing how he’s a damned doctor, but she wouldn’t let me near her.”
Bran noticed the cut above Jay’s eye and frowned. “How’d you get that?”
“Rock, maybe a branch. Fuck if I know. Just get your ass to your sister and ask her who did this to her. The mage disappeared. Smelled wrong. Blood ran down his face, no eyes. She messed him up, but he—shit, think he tried to rape her.”
“Mage?” Bran took a step back, releasing Jay.
“Sounded foreign, Eastern Europe maybe? He was screaming in some strange language before Canagan’s wolves dragged him away. There was a burning bear carcass beside him.”
“Damn it, sounds like Nikolai.” Bran grabbed his keys and bolted for the SUV.
Jay climbed into the passenger seat.
“What the hell are you doing?” Bran demanded.
“Making sure she’s okay. Look, I’m not going to stand in Nate’s way if that’s who she chooses. Yeah, your sister is hot, I’m attracted to her, and I think she could be my mate, but I’m not that asshole.”
“Evangeline thinks so.”
“Not for the reasons you think,” Jay muttered. “Look, I just want to see Savon is safe, taken care of, and I’ll go.”
“What about Canagan?”
“Fuck Canagan. She’s helping the bastard.”
“Thought she was your master,” Bran snarled.
Jay shook his head. “She’d like to be. I’m not stupid enough to fall for her shit. Killian needed to die. No one else was stepping up, so I fucking did.”
Bran growled. “Yeah, Killian needed to go. Damn it. I never thought I’d be listening to you.”
“Just drive, asshole.”
“That’s more like the bastard I know and hate.” He slammed the cruiser in reverse and took off for Nate’s.
“Seriously going to give up on her?” Bran asked.
“Only if she wants him. If not, well, that’s his loss.” Jay shrugged.
“What happened between you and Evangeline?”
Jay snorted. “Ancient history, but it’s hers to share. I have a feeling I’d land higher on her shit list if I divulged the secrets she works hard to protect.”
Bran’s brow pinched. “Why the fuck are you such an asshole if you can be this reasonable?”
Jay snorted. “Never gave me a chance. And don’t look so surprised. I’m still a bastard where most things are concerned.”
“If by some chance my sister doesn’t choose Nate, you hurt her, and I’ll end you.”
“I don’t doubt that. Hopefully after she calms down, she’ll realize I tried to help today.”
Maybe, and maybe he was trying to get in their good graces. If Nikolai was on Canagan’s side, alliances were shifting. He might just be trying to keep his ass alive.