Edge of Moonlight (18 page)

With her arm around his thick neck, Kaine seemed to be trying to strangle the man.

No way could she manage it.

“Let go of him, Kaine!” He couldn’t hit the guy without possibly striking Kaine and that wasn’t an option.

She didn’t listen, shaking her head as she cranked her arm tighter around his neck.

Adrenaline pumped through him, making his muscles bunch as he prepared to launch himself at the man who tore at Kaine’s arms as if to rip them from the sockets.

He’d almost reached them when the man managed to rip Kaine away from him and throw her to the ground so hard he swore he heard bones break.

Rage consumed him, clearing his head as nothing else could. He ran at the man who’d dared to hurt Kaine, the only thought in his mind to neutralize the threat to her.

John landed two punches before the guy swung back.

And knocked John on his ass at least ten feet from where he’d started into a stand of bushes. If his ribs didn’t break when he hit the ground, they sure as hell fractured.

Branches tore at his skin and punctured it in various places. But that wasn’t his biggest problem.

That was the goon coming toward him to finish him off.

John forced himself to his knees, the black tinge on the edge of his vision making it hard to concentrate. Trying to blink it away, he saw the guy coming for him as if in jerky, stop-motion animation.

And knew he didn’t have a chance in hell of coming out of this fight alive.

Kaine watched through a haze of sharp pain as the goon went after John.

Bleeding from the ears and various places on his body, he wasn’t going to be able to withstand another attack. The man would kill him.

She needed her wolf. John needed her wolf.

Closing her eyes, she sank her hands into the earth at her feet and pulled hard at the magic she felt coursing below the surface.

Power that wanted to seduce her into listening to its music. Like the music she’d heard in the trees the other day.

A melody so unusual, it started to distract her from her purpose. Around her, she felt all manner of growing things respond to her call. But not her wolf.

The thud of flesh meeting flesh terrified her, infuriated her. John needed her. He was taking a beating because of her and if she couldn’t find what she needed inside herself, he was going to die for her.

And she wanted him to live for her.

There! She heard the faint howl deep in her soul. Reaching inside, she grabbed hold of it and commanded it to come forward. She let it bust through the walls she erected inside, the walls she’d built against John.

The walls that had been shielding her wolf because that’s what she’d thought John didn’t want.

Agony flashed through her and she welcomed it with a ragged cry that changed into a howl as she transformed into her wolf.

A howl that quickly became a growl as she stood on her four paws for one brief second before she lunged at the man about to hit John for the last time.

She caught him on the arm he’d pulled back to deliver another blow. And knew she’d signed the man’s death warrant when she felt her teeth break the skin. She couldn’t allow him to live.

The magic that allowed her shift into a wolf was transferred to another through the saliva of the animal. If she didn’t kill him, he would transform into a wolf on the next full moon.

If he was lucky. If not, he’d die in the process. A wickedly painful death, from all accounts.

The guy fought her with that unnatural strength, tried to throw her off but she clung with tenacity and desperation. John had managed to drag himself out of the way of the fight but she couldn’t stop to do more than glance his way. All her focus had to remain on her foe.

He was tough, but in the end, he was no match for her. She let him shake her off his arm but only because she needed to strike at his neck. Which he realized too late.

She leaped one more time, her mouth opening and her teeth crunching through flesh and bone to crush his windpipe. He couldn’t scream and he only brought one hand up to fend her off.

The scent of his blood as it ran from his torn jugular made her want to howl but she knew they’d already made too much of a scene. The small, wooded hollow they had fought in had hidden them from anyone walking by but sooner or later, someone would see them.

She tightened her jaws, even as she felt the blade he produced from somewhere slide into her stomach.

The shock of it nearly made her lose her grip on him but she couldn’t let go, not now. She had to hold on, even as her own blood seeped from her.

Finally, she felt the last little bit of fight seep from him. With a shake, she released her jaws and stood over the body until she no longer scented his breath.

He was gone.

“Kaine.”

And she was left to face John.

Her eyes rose to meet his as he stood above her. In his eyes, she saw fear and horror.

And knew she’d lost him. Even as she’d saved his life, he was gone from her forever.

Which might not actually be all that long for her.

John’s heart nearly stopped when he saw the wolf slump to the ground.

Every muscle hurt as he forced himself to bend down and put his hand on her head.

To stroke the sleek fur that was the exact colors of her hair.

“Kaine, baby. Come on, sweetheart. You’ve got to wake up.” She didn’t move though he could see her body moving up and down with each labored breath.

Should he pick her up? Did he dare move her?

He ran his gaze over her body and froze as he caught the glint of metal beneath her.

“Oh, fuck.” She’d been stuck with a knife. He saw blood now, beginning to pool beneath her in a spreading stain.

He had to get her out of here. How—

The phone.

He fumbled it out of his pocket with the hand that wasn’t sporting a broken finger and laid the damaged one on her shoulder. They’d have to leave the goon behind but Kaine needed a doctor now.

If anything happened to her…

The phone clicked in his ear. “John! Fuck me, son, wha—”

“Get us back. Now. Kaine needs a doctor.”

John didn’t know if Sal said anything else or if the fact that he was being magically transported more than a hundred miles away from where he stood interfered with his senses.

He only knew blackness.

* * * * *

When he opened his eyes, John stared into the darkness of an unfamiliar room.

He didn’t recognize the bed he lay on or the sounds of the building around him.

His head pounded like a sonuvabitch and his back felt like someone had walked all over it with nail-studded shoes.

Kaine. He needed to find Kaine.

With an uncontrollable groan, he forced himself to sit up and swing his legs over the side of the bed.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He lifted a hand to his throbbing head, surprised he didn’t feel his brains leaking out his ears.

Jesus, the pain should have liquefied anything left in his head by now. What little remained of his brain was telling him to lie back down and sleep for a few more hours.

Amazingly, though, he felt no broken bones. And he knew he’d left New York with at least a couple if not several.

He’d been healed. Just like magic.

Damn, he almost laughed.

But not until he’d found Kaine.

She had to be here somewhere. He refused to consider any other possibilities.

As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed faint light spilling through the small window behind him. The moon still hung in the sky, so maybe he’d slept six, eight hours.

Too damn long.

Putting his feet on the ground, he pushed off the bed and stood.

Whoa, headrush.

Goddamn that hurt but, fuck it, he wasn’t stopping now.

When he didn’t fall over after a minute or so, he took one step, then another. He made it all the way to the door before the dizziness nearly did him in. He laid his head against the wood and took a few deep breaths before turning the knob.

The light out here nearly blinded him and his groan elicited a response from someone in the room.

“Damn, man, you need to sit down before you fall over. What the fuck are you doing out of bed?”

John recognized the voice as Kyle’s and forced some strength into his backbone.

“Where’s Kaine?”

Kyle slung John’s arm around his shoulder and practically carried him the rest of the way to the couch. “You look like shit. How do you feel?”

“Like shit. Where’s Kaine?”

With not much effort, Kyle eased him down. “Dane said you had a concussion and a few dozen broken bones when you got here. Nica healed you a few hours ago but you shouldn’t be moving around too much yet. You need a few more hours of sleep to be back to normal.”

“Where’s Kaine?”

Kyle sighed. “You’re a stubborn
scassacazzo
, I’ll give you that. She’s next door with Nica. You needed a bed—”

Whatever Kyle said after that, John didn’t hear. He forced himself back onto his feet.

“
Ti prendo a calci in culo
,” Kyle muttered under his breath. “You’re in no fucking shape to walk over there.”

John thought about giving the guy the finger because he was pretty sure whatever Kyle had said wasn’t complimentary, but that would waste too much energy. And he needed every ounce he had to get next door.

Besides, he was pretty sure his middle finger was one of those broken bones Kyle had told him about and even though it’d been healed, it still hurt.

He had to see Kaine. He had to know she was okay even though every single step felt like someone was driving stakes into his temples.

Probably not the smartest thing he’d ever done but then he’d never felt like his heart would stop beating if he couldn’t see her face.

Putting his hand on the doorknob, he made sure he had a good grip before he tried to turn it. Didn’t want Kaine’s commanding officer to think he was weak. That he didn’t deserve her.

Behind him, he heard Kyle continue to swear but it just kind of faded into background noise. Or maybe it just didn’t make it through the ringing in his ears.

Didn’t matter.

He made it out to the porch and if he remembered correctly, there were only one or two steps down to the ground. He could handle that. No problem.

Just as his foot hit the first step, he felt Kyle next to him, giving him a shoulder to lean on.

“Gods damn, you’re stubborn. You hurt yourself and Tam won’t let me hear the end of it. Don’t fucking fall.”

Tam. Kyle’s mate.

Kaine was his and she wasn’t here so he had to be where she was.

The distance between this house and the next seemed to take forever, each footstep digging those spikes into his head a little deeper.

But Kyle shut the hell up so that cut down on at least some of the static in his brain.

By the time they reached Nica’s house, the pain had pushed out most of the static and only the thought that each step brought him closer to Kaine made him put one foot in front of the other.

Kyle opened the door and practically dragged him into the house. He heard other voices, some he recognized, some he didn’t. Didn’t care.

The stone on his chest pulsed with heat, warming him. Every step forward was a step in the right direction until finally he saw her.

Lying in a bed made up with white sheets, Kaine’s skin was nearly as pale. It scared the shit out of him, made his gut curl into a tight little ball. But she was back in her human body and that had to be good. Right?

He nearly stumbled and would have fallen if not for Kyle’s hold. Somehow the other man got a chair under him and shoved it as close to the bed as he could. John dropped into it, his legs finally having given up the fight.

With a sigh, he slid his hand into her smaller one, put his head on the bed next to her arm and let the darkness take him again.

* * * * *

When Kaine finally roused, she barely had her eyes open a second before she closed them tight again.

Bright. Way too bright.

Her groan echoed in the room and when the bed moved, she wanted to tell whoever had woken her to get the hell away.

Taking in a deep breath, she realized in the next second that John was here.

That was him at her back, curled around her. So warm and strong.

Still here.

“Kaine.”

His voice whispered in her ear and she bit her lip to hold back the whimper that wanted to escape.

“Kaine, are you okay?”

Tears pricked her eyes though she had no idea why. Because he was still here?

Because his arms curled around her body and held her tightly against his? Because his mouth pressed a kiss right behind her ear as he gently turned her so he could look into her face?

Rolling onto her back as he lifted his body onto one elbow beside her, she saw his beautiful green eyes sharpen as his gaze caught hers.

“How do you feel?”

She thought about her answer before she gave one, stretching her side experimentally where she’d been stuck with the blade and feeling only minimal pain.

“Not as bad as I should. Nica healed me.”

He nodded, his gaze darkening. “Yeah, more than a day ago. You’ve been sleeping since then. You’re damn lucky, Kaine. A few inches north and the blade would’ve punctured your heart. As it was, you lost a lot of blood. Dane and Nica weren’t so sure you were going to make it. Jesus, you scared the fucking crap out of me.” Her eyes widened at the ferocity in his tone. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know that. Damn it…” He sighed and closed his eyes as if reaching for patience.

His expression looked pained, as if he was angry with himself, which just didn’t make any sense at all. She fumbled around in her head for something to say but the closeness of his body, the heat in his eyes and the lingering sensation of his kiss screwed with her head.

What was he doing here? Why wasn’t he with his sister?

And why had he kissed her like he was afraid she’d break?

More than anything, that confused the hell out of her.

Because she could have sworn the last time she’d seen him, he’d been horrified by her transformation into a wolf.