“Yes. Her blood levels went dangerously high. They’re coming down slowly, but if they peaked any higher I’m not certain we could save her.”
A chill went across Cody’s shoulders. Damn if he and Payton were going to lose her. “I’m going to go out to the cabin. I won’t get in the way. But another pair of eyes won’t hurt. I can’t stay here. I need to do something to help.”
Dr. Jack studied his face. Finally, he nodded. “All right, I’ll contact Ellen and tell her to expect you. She’s in charge. Understand?”
“Yes.” He rushed out of the waiting room and to his horse. He took Averil’s horse with him. He’d drop the mare off at the barn in the care of Sahale or Justin before he rode to Averil’s cabin.
* * * *
Averil woke to a bright light glaring over her. Doctors and nurses were checking monitors and one nurse put medicine into her intravenous line.
“What happened to me?” Her voice came out in a whisper.
Dr. Jack walked around the stretcher where she lay and brushed his hand across her hair. “You gave us a scare. We’re checking to see what caused you to pass out.”
“Well, I’m not pregnant.” All the staff laughed, easing the tension in the room.
“I never thought you were,” Dr. Jack said. “We’re doing some tests. Your mother mentioned you’d been on a trip to Northern California recently. Did you get any bites while you were there?”
“I only spent one evening in California, before Dad called and told me about Payton. I came right back.” Her voice got stronger as she talked, and she sensed her body recovering. “But to answer your question, no, I didn’t notice any red spots like a bug bite.”
“We didn’t find any either when we examined you. But we’re running tests for all types of critters.” He smiled at her. “We’ll find out what caused this reaction. I don’t think you’ve met my wife, Ellen, but she’s a first-class scientist. She and a group of our other specialists are checking your parents’ home and your new cabin.”
“Thanks, I’m feeling better already. It was probably nothing.”
“It was something. And we plan to discover the answer.”
Something about Dr. Jack’s expression gave Averil pause. She stared into his eyes. “It’s that serious?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Averil tried to push away the fear rolling through her body. “Do I need to stay in the hospital?”
“Until your blood levels are normal, but they’re coming down. Hopefully it won’t take too long.”
“Can I see Payton, or am I contagious?”
“We don’t think you’re contagious or others would be showing up to the ER. You can see him on your way to your room.”
“I want out of here as soon as those levels are normal.”
“I know. None of my patients want to just rest and be waited on. Payton’s doing so well, he’s demanding to go home also.” Dr. Jack patted her hand. “I’ll see you later.”
Averil closed her eyes to the bright light. Her body ached like she’d been beaten, and her head hurt. But she still felt better than when she’d first opened her eyes. That time the world was going round and round, and drums were beating in her head. Mom would call Kira.
She’ll come. If no one else can save me, Kira will.
“Averil, are you awake? We’re going to move you to a room. Your parents are here and will go upstairs with us.” A short, dark-haired nurse smiled at her and began to help her sit up and then get into the wheelchair she’d put by the bed. “Do you feel all right? We can move you on a stretcher if necessary.”
“No, actually my head feels better in this position.”
When the nurse rolled her into the hall, Averil’s mom and dad hurried to her side. Mom took hold of her hand.
“How are you?” Her mom’s voice sounded anxious.
“Better, but Dr. Jack must have told you his concerns.” Averil tried to speak louder, at a normal level.
“He did, but they’ll figure it all out,” her dad reassured her.
“Mom, call Kira.”
“I did right after we talked with the doctor. She’ll be on the first plane out.”
A sense of peace edged some of the fear aside. “I want to see Payton.”
The nurse leaned forward. “Dr. Jack wrote an order for us to take you by ICU. That’s why I put you in the wheelchair. It’d be almost impossible to get you into his room otherwise. Don’t worry, that’s going to be our first stop.”
As they came up to the ICU doors, they opened. Another nurse held the door. “We were called and told to expect you.” She motioned them to room three.
Payton was sitting up and fully awake. “Wouldn’t you know just when I’m getting better, you’d get sick. Dr. Jack stopped by. Come closer, sweetheart.”
Her nurse and parents laughed. The nurse rolled the wheelchair right beside Payton’s bed. “We’ll wait outside. But you only get ten minutes, no more,” she warned them.
Payton took Averil’s hand. “Did Cody give you a rough time while I was out?”
Averil felt her face flush. “A little. He told me a bit about why he gets upset in hospitals, but it didn’t help my feelings of guilt. He was right. If I hadn’t pushed you none of this would have happened.”
“Don’t be silly. Your little tap hardly moved me. If that wood hadn’t been right behind me, I’d be fine. And that wasn’t anyone’s fault but mine. Your cabin is a construction site. I knew to be careful. I had an accident.” He squeezed her hand. “You concentrate on getting well. We still want to marry you. This isn’t going to make us give up.”
When he smiled at her, as he did now, desire heated her body. “I’m not sure how I feel about Cody. I didn’t like him much yesterday, but he’s the one who caught me as I fell. I don’t remember anything afterwards. He must have carried me into the emergency room.”
“Give us a chance, then if you still say no, we’ll reluctantly accept your decision.”
Through the glass walls, Averil saw her nurse headed toward Payton’s room. “If we ever all get well, I will.”
Payton leaned forward and kissed her hand. “Your words will make me heal even faster. I’ll be up to see you or over to your home soon. Watch for me.”
“All right, lovebirds, time’s up.” Her nurse took hold of the wheelchair. Averil pulled her hand out of Payton’s grip.
“Soon,” he said as Averil was wheeled off.
Ellen met Cody at Averil’s cabin door. “If you’re coming in you’ll have to put on protective gear. We don’t want to contaminate the scene with anything on us or our clothes.”
“I wanted to let you know I was here. I’m going to check around outside first.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll leave the suit and shoe wraps here by the door for you when you want to enter the house.”
She disappeared back into the cabin.
Cody tied his horse to the rail and started to walk around the yard. But he stopped. He might step on evidence. He knew who they needed. Flipping his phone open, he called Aleron Alois. He was one of the third tribe’s shape-shifters. He shifted to an eagle and had superior vision. He’d spot any abnormalities without disturbing the evidence.
“Hello, Aleron here.”
“Hi, this is Cody Jessup. I’m not sure if you remember me.”
“I think I met you once. You’re Payton’s friend, right? Is he doing all right? Jewel and I were told he can have more visitors now. The rest of the family has stayed away until Mr. and Mrs. Camilius told us we could visit.”
“As far as I know he’s doing very well. I’m calling about Averil Stanwic. She’s the woman Payton and I are interested in.”
“Ah, yes. Jewel said Payton was determined to marry her. What’s happened?”
He explained about Averil’s sickness and why he needed Aleron’s help. “I thought in your eagle persona you might see something that I’d miss or step on.”
“I’d be happy to help. I haven’t flown today, and I try to do that daily to keep in shape. I will be there in a few minutes. Give me the directions.”
“I can tell you the roads.”
“That’s enough. I’ll find you.” After listening, Aleron clicked his phone off.
Cody stood by his horse watching the skies for the larger-than-normal eagle. It wasn’t long before he came into view. Aleron swooped down over him and then began following what looked like a grid, going forward and back in rows.
Aleron flew lower and slower over an area back and to the right of the cabin. He flew across near Cody and shifted. “You’ll have to excuse my appearance. It’s a nuisance, but if we aren’t close to where we left our clothes and we shift, we’re naked.”
“No problem, I’d heard.”
“Where I flew lower and slower, to our left and the cabin’s right, I saw a horse’s hoof marks and a human’s footprints. The human’s tracks led toward the cabin. With people going in and out of here this morning, I couldn’t see if the footprints go all the way to the front door. But they were headed in that direction.”
“That’s what I was afraid I’d do, smear the evidence. I’ll let Ellen know, and they can check the marks you’ve found.”
“Call her out and I’ll fly over the area again so she’ll see where to go. By the way, the footprints are small. It wasn’t a man.” Aleron shifted and flew up into the clouds.
Cody knocked on the door and Ellen came to open it. “Did you find something?”
“He did.” Cody motioned to the eagle flying lower now. “He’s going to fly across the area where he saw footprints and a horse’s hoof marks.”
Ellen called inside to someone named Peter. A tall, partially bald man came to the door. “I’ll need your expertise. We have prints in the ground out here. The eagle will show us where.”
She motioned to Aleron, and he flew low and slow, back and forth, indicating where to look. Ellen waved to him and yelled thanks.
“You’re full of great ideas today. It was smart of you to get his help.” Ellen went back inside. Peter went in and came out with his equipment. He walked slowly and carefully toward the indicted spot.
For the first time in days, Cody felt good about himself. He decided it was time to return to the hospital and check on the two most important people in his life. Even the thought of the hospital didn’t bother him as much as it had in the past.
* * * *
Kira packed several suitcases of clothes. She didn’t expect to get a chance to empty her apartment anytime soon. Her boss had been surprised at her sudden notice that she was leaving for good. She’d tried to change Kira’s mind. But Kira explained she had to go to her family and wouldn’t be back for a long time.
Thank goodness, she’d taken care of the cabin before she’d returned to the city. She had people in the nearby town who’d see that it was winterized and check on it frequently for her.
She was taking a later plane than she’d planned, but this way she wouldn’t have to rush back. Kira glanced at her watch. Her plane left in two and a half hours. She’d called a taxi and watched out the window for its arrival. Internally, she knew Averil was better. When the attack first happened, Kira had almost been thrown to her knees. It was serious evil magic, and although her sister might be better, Kira sensed the malicious entity still close to Averil.
Her taxi arrived shortly after Kira took her suitcases downstairs and out front. “Take me to the airport and hurry please,” she told the driver.
When she arrived at curbside, she checked her luggage, got her boarding pass, and hurried to the gate for her plane. Soon after she arrived, first-class boarded.
Once the plane was in the air, Kira took a deep breath of relief. She couldn’t get to Averil’s side fast enough.
The flight attendant brought her supper. He looked at her with a puzzled expression. “There was a lady who flew with us a few days ago. She looked a lot like you.”
“They say we all have doubles somewhere,” Kira teased with him.
“Well, you sure do. She even had the same worried expression on her face.”
She looked into his black eyes and smiled at him. “I’ll have to tell my mother. Maybe she’s been holding out on me and I have a sibling I don’t know about.” Kira shrugged casually. “Could I have a soda to go with my meal?
“Sure.” He turned away, but not before she’d seen the flash of fire deep in his pupils. Goose bumps popped out on her arms and the slight sour odor of evil blew into her nostrils as the man had turned quickly. He seemed very inquisitive, and he gave her an uneasy feeling.
He came back with a glass of ice and her soda. “Can I get anything else for you?”
“I’m fine. I’m hungry, and the food looks good.” She opened the can and poured her drink over the ice. Then she cut up her meat. It was difficult not to look at him again. But she mustn’t arouse his suspicions any more than she may have already.
The meal had been good. When she’d finished, her alert flight attendant hurried to her side. “I’ll clear this for you.”
“Thanks, I’m going to put my seat back and see if I can sleep. I’m tired from packing.”
“Was this a sudden trip?”
“Oh no, I’ve been thinking about this for several months. My boss said I looked tired and needed to take a vacation, so I finally listened to her and impulsively took off.”
“Sounds like a nice boss.”