Blown Away (Rogues Shifter Series Book 4) (17 page)

Farrell spoke with some authority, reminding me that although he was one of the youngest fae, he was still eighty-five
and savvy. “She needs a hospital. I’ll take her. I know several of the surgeons at Crescent City Hospital.” I nodded gratefully as he pulled out the needle feeding her blood and Garrett removed his. CCH was a hospital that serviced humans and supernaturals, keeping them separated by floors. It was conveniently built over a powerful ley line crossroad, so magic was easily accessible whenever necessary.

“I have to go with her. Please.” Ethan
was still clutching her hand.

Farrell grabbed his arm and nodded. “I’ll take you also, Ethan.” Ethan lifted her gently and they disappeared. We noticed Kyle standing in the doorway. He’d seen Farrell sift into the lines with Sinc and Ethan.

“How is she?” Sinc would have smiled to see how worried he looked. It seemed like they’d argued for as long as they'd known each other. Both of their auras burned red, as did their emotions much of the time, but underneath it all, their friendship was solid.

Garrett answered, having calmed himself when Farrell arrived. “The bleeding's slowed, but her foot is seriously injured. Farrell’s taken her and Ethan to CCH. I need to take care of Jackie’s wounds. Could you please call Rob and Aaron?”

“No prob. If it’s okay, I’ll tell Rob to go to the hospital and bring Ethan some food. None of us has eaten since breakfast. I’ll make you and Ashlyn something, Jackie.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Garrett raised an eyebrow. “She’ll eat. Thank you Kyle.”

His expression was implacable. There was no arguing with Garrett
when he was in crisis mode. “Okay, I’ll eat, thanks. She’ll be fine, you know. She’s strong.”

“Yeah, and too stubborn to give up." He looked back at Garrett. "What do you want me to tell Aaron?”

“Use the phone in my office and close the door. We want our 'guest' to remain in the dark. Tell Aaron about the bomb and that they wanted all of us dead, with the possible exception of Sinc. Ask him to inform the other packs and...," he smiled as he had a new thought. "Perhaps ask for a vote calling for sanctions against the Los Altos Pack. Quentin will be furious. Tell Aaron that we have Gabriel with us and that we haven’t harmed him. Perhaps he could contact Quentin directly to tell him that Gabriel is in our care. Ask Aaron if he’ll mediate for us.”

“I’ll take care of everything. Gabriel’s awake and you should see him. He’s all trussed up like a rodeo steer and Ashlyn is scaring the shit out of him, telling him what the fae do to murderers. Pretty gruesome stuff. Of course he keeps babbling that it must have been a gas leak or something like that.” Kyle looked at me.
“You’re bleeding, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He nodded and left to make his phone calls and our lunch, only his lemony scent remained behind.

Garrett ran a gentle hand down my face. “We need to clean your wounds. You’re still bleeding slightly. Come into the bathroom.” I nodded and dragged myself up off of the bed and into the large bathroom with Garret beside me supporting my elbow. “I’m cutting off your shirt. You’re sliced up pretty badly.” I sighed in resignation. It was one of my favorite shirts. I wondered idly how many outfits I’d ruined since I’d joined the team last May.

Garrett was as gentle as anyone could ask for, but it still hurt like crazy. The disinfectant burned and the tweezers poking into already sore areas made me jump and wince and grit my teeth. “Try to stay still, my little cheetah. I know this hurts, but I have to get the splinters and the glass
out quickly. We don't want your skin to heal over these pieces." He dropped another bloody splinter into the trash can, then took a moment to squeeze my hand. "It could have been so much worse.” I heard his voice catch with emotion.

When he finished, he put down the tweezers and turned my face toward his, looking a little bit desperate. “This was too close. It
could be you in the hospital.” He cradled my face and kissed me hard, startling me at first. My own need kicked in as I kissed him back, trembling as the truth of what might have happened set in.

I pulled away and leaned my forehead against his, clutching at his arms, hoarsely whispering, “Kaera saved my life. She covered my body with hers and then beamed me to a safer spot. Then she flashed inside to get Sinc. Liam got Brina out of there as quickly as he could. It was all so fast and so
—so  horrible. Brina looked bad, burned and bleeding. Kaera too.”

“Liam will be able to help them.” Garrett kissed me again and then hugged me very tenderly, being careful not to hurt me. “I should have listened t
o his advice and gotten you out of there last night."

"Pulling something like this is off the charts crazy. What did they think? That they could just explain it away as an accident?"

"I fear that Quentin and Karl are unbalanced." He gently kissed my cheek and smiled, running his finger along my jaw. "I'm feeling rather proud of you. The entire team pulled together in the middle of all that chaos, and as injured as you were, you thought to bring Gabriel, which gives us a bargaining chip and a source of valuable information."

"It was more Liam than me. I was scared and really angry. I'm not always clear-headed in that state."

He leaned his forehead against mine and whispered. "You handled everything perfectly, my love."

"At least they didn't try t
his when you and your nest..." I swallowed down a sob. "When you would have been there." The thought of losing Garrett brought on a bout of shivers.

"We're fine, and soon to become Quentin's bane
, I believe. It's unfortunate that all of our data is lost. I really wanted to help those boys.”

“The physical evidence
might be lost, but Sinc emails the reports to herself every couple of hours. You should have Kyle print it out here so we have it just in case someone hacks into her email.

Garrett nodded as he took one more look at my back and my arms, licking two of the deeper wounds so I wouldn’t scar
, and then bandaging everything up. I looked a little like a mummy by the time he finished. Even though nothing needed stitches, he gave me a small amount of his blood but wouldn’t let me give him any of mine, saying that he’d go out to a donor when Sasha got up in a few minutes. Kyle had made sandwiches and french fries and after one whiff I had to admit that I was famished.

Garrett went upstairs with
food for Ashlyn. When he came back down, he was laughing. “Gabriel is about ready to tell us anything we want to know. Sasha’s up, so we’ll question Gabe when I get back.” He kissed my cheek so sweetly and then left in a silent blur.

Sasha rushed into the kitchen looking a little anxious. I told him the whole story again w
hile I ate. Angry sparkles glittered in his clear blue eyes. He stayed with us until Kyle and I'd finished and then we went upstairs together and sat in the chairs across from Gabriel who was tied up and on the couch. Ashlyn took his gag out and cut only the rope connecting his bound hands to his tied feet.

“I was tired of hearing him go on and on about how it wasn’t his fault.” She zoned out for a second and then came back online. “Liam says Brina will recover in a week or so and that Kaera is cut up with some minor burns and will be fine by tomorrow. He wants to know how Sinc and Jackie are.”

“Tell him I’m fine and we’ll let him know about Sinc as soon as we hear from Ethan.”

“I’m thirsty.” We all glared at Gabriel. He had a big gash on his forehead where he’d collided with the fence and a split lip where he’d probably collided with Kaera’s fist, as well as a few of the same kind of cuts that I
had.

“Kyle cou
ld you get him a water bottle? The kind with the spout.”

“Sure, but
if it was up to me, I’d let him stay thirsty.” Kyle glared at Gabe, but then got up to get the water.

Gabriel asked, “Is Sinc ok
ay?”

Kyle was suddenly back and choking him, with a knife in his other hand. ”You almost killed her, dogbreath. If you say her name again I’ll cut your ear off.”

I put my hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Get me the water, Kyle. We’re waiting for Garrett. Please.” He backed off and did what I asked.  I squirted some water on Gabe’s injured lip and forehead and then in his mouth. I left the bottle in front of him on the coffee table. He'd be able to pick it up even though both hands were tied together in front of him.

Sasha took a closer look at my bandaged arms and back which were visible since I was in a tank top. “Do you need more blood?”

I smiled at him but shook my head. “I’m really fine. I’m just worried about Sinc. Why don’t you go feed and then head to the hospital. I need to hear the minute anyone knows anything about her condition.”

“Of course, Mistress.” He disappeared
in a breeze of sweet cherries.

“He calls you Mistress? They
treat you like you’re powerful. More than just a shifter.” Gabriel was only being curious but I wasn't in the mood to answer this wolf who’d wanted me dead. I couldn’t understand how it was that, with the exception of Garrett and Sinc, they didn’t know anything about the members of the team they’d hired and brought onto their territory. It showed an arrogance and a lack of judgment from their leadership that surprised me. I turned away in disgust to look out the window. Ashlyn lowered herself into the chair across from Gabe, ready to have some fun.

She smiled in
an evil way as she drew a long blade from a sheath at her belt. “We’ll have to send your father some proof that we have you. So, young wolf, do you want to keep your nose or your ears? If I were a wolf, I’d choose to lose the ears. You track with your nose, and it affects your ability to taste your kill. I believe that you would still be able to hear without the outside of your ear, unless I break the eardrum. Or I could just remove a thumb, but that would make handling objects difficult as a human, so I wouldn’t chose a thumb if I were you. There are other odd parts we could discuss.” She looked at his groin and Gabriel’s breathing speeded up. He looked like he was going to wet himself.

“You’re just fooling
with me, right?” You’re not cutting me, are you?”

Her expression turned icy. “Do you know what I am?”

“A fae.” There was only respect in his tone. "A Seelie fae, from Cascade?" It appeared that Gabriel didn't feel the same prejudices as his father.

“With your coward’s weapon, you injured Jacqueline, a valued ally of the fae people, as well as Sinclair, a former member of your own pack. The two fae warriors you harmed are like sisters to me. You are craven scum, wolf, and you don’t deserve the kind treatment you’ve been given so far. If it were up to me, I would take my blade and dip it in a particular poison that works slowly, but causes much p
ain. I would cut you in several sensitive places, so that you would suffer horrendous agony for perhaps a week before your body gave up its strength and you no longer fouled the air with your breath.” She shifted her blade to rest beneath his chin. He was smart enough to stay very still.

“Ashlyn, I think you’ve scared him into submission. Thank you.”

“I’m enjoying myself.”

“Yes, I see.”

Kyle was grinning from ear to ear. “That sounds too easy on him. I think we can come up with something better.” Ashlyn smiled, nodded in his direction and lowered the blade so that Gabriel could breath again.

Liam flashed into the room, moving quickly toward me.
“The sisters will recover. How are you?”

“Right now
, I’m furious. Later the panic will sink in.”
He looked at my bandaged arms and back and then suddenly pulled me closer and hugged me. It wasn't a typical action, but today had been intense and I guess we both needed the comfort. I hugged him back.

He spoke out loud when he pulled away, looking slightly embarrassed. “Kyle, Ashlyn will take you to Sinc, if you’d like to go.”

“Great, yeah I would.”

“Ashlyn, you and Farrell may return to Faerie after you’ve delivered Kyle. Thank you.”

“Yes, Liam.” She nodded and lowered her eyes.

I caug
ht Kyle’s attention. “Tell Sasha when you see him, that he can come home whenever he wants. Make sure you call here when you know anything.” Ashlyn took Kyle’s hand, nodded at me and then disappeared. Gabriel slumped down with a sigh, obviously relieved that she’d left.

So now it was just me and Liam and Gabriel. I pulled up some magic and sat on the couch next to him, my body tense and thrumming with energy. Liam looked at me curiously, but didn’t say a word, deciding to see what I had planned. Gabriel straightened, took the water bottle with both hands and squirted some in his mouth.

I waited until he looked at me, then I asked, “Why? Why did you want us all dead?”

“I’ll wait for Garrett and then I’ll tell you everything. I have nothing to lose at this point.”

“You’ve already lost your honor, wolf, but there’s still your life.” Liam was sitting in the wingback chair where Ashlyn had sat only minutes before.

“My honor? My fat
her's told me the fae know nothing of honor.”

“He misspoke. Y
ou haven’t answered my question.”