Zach nodded. “We’ll be outside.” I didn’t need to ask. I felt the purpose in Zach’s step.
“You’re going to get yourself fired,” I said as we crossed the lawn.
He opened the passenger door of his prowler, and I slid inside.
We drove across town to Bryn’s house, where security let us in after a short delay. Astrid and Zach parked, blocking my car in, which was still there from earlier.
Bryn stood in the door way when we got to it. “Astrid, you’ll stay in the guest house with Lennox.”
“It’s under your protection?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Is Lennox armed?”
Bryn nodded again as Security Steve pulled up in a golf cart.
“All right,” she said. Astrid climbed in and was whisked down a dark path.
“Bryn, my house was attacked,” I said.
“I heard. Are you all right?” he asked, waving us into the foyer.
I nodded. “I shot three of them using the silver bullets you gave me.”
He shook his head and smiled. “You’re full of surprises.”
“What can we do to make them go—”
“Who are they?” Zach cut in.
Bryn looked at Zach. “A gang.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Zach said. “Biker gang? Street gang? And where from?” As he waited for Bryn to answer, sweat popped out on Zach’s forehead and upper lip. My head tilted, and I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay as crimson blossomed on his upper shirt.
“Lie down on the bench, Sutton,” Bryn said, motioning to an expensive-looking settee in a small alcove near the door.
“I’m fine,” Zach said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Git to talking. I don’t have all night.”
“You’re right about that,” Bryn said grimly.
“Zach, honey, let’s sit down. I’m dead on my feet.”
Zach let me maneuver him to the bench. I took the keys and tote from his grip and set them down on the floor.
“Don’t fuss. I’m all right.”
“I know.” I pressed my hand over the fabric, pushing down on the wound. As the cloth touched his skin lower down, blood seeped into it. The blood was running down his chest.
Chapter 21
“Lay him down,” Bryn said.
I looked at him sharply. “What can we do? You healed yourself with that energy we created. If we were to—”
“No. Scratches are one thing. A bite’s another.”
Zach leaned back, putting his head against the wall and closing his eyes.
“We can give him a blood transfusion,” I said. “Like Lennox did for—”
“It won’t last.”
“I’ll be all right in a minute,” Zach said, but he looked pale.
I got up and pulled on Zach. He was heavy and hard to move. I panted with the exertion of positioning him flat and turned to Bryn, feeling helpless and overwhelmed.
“If you know anything, please . . .” I clenched my fists at my sides and blinked back my tears. “Please.”
He sighed. “Keep him flat. There’s something that can be done to slow the bleeding, but I’m telling you it won’t solve the problem.”
“But it’ll keep him alive while we think of something else?”
“It’ll keep him alive awhile, but there’s nothing I can do to save him.”
He walked to a wall phone and picked it up. He spoke softly and quickly, then hung up.
“What language was that?”
“Gaelic.”
Gay-lick? What in the world? Sounded like something Johnny Nguyen would be interested in.
“Keep his heart lower than his legs. There are some cushions on the couch,” he said, nodding to the room down the hall. “Lennox only has two packets of blood left. He’ll be up to give the transfusion. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He walked past me to the front door.
“Bryn, thank you.”
He didn’t answer as he walked out. I hurried down the hall and stopped in the incredibly opulent living room, which was decorated in shades of purple from dark blue-violet to periwinkle with silver accents.
I loaded my arms up with pillows and went back to Zach. He was too tall for the antique bench, but I got the pillows under his thighs while his calves dangled off the end of it.
“Better flip those burgers ’fore they burn,” he mumbled.
I bit my lip and unbuttoned his shirt. I grimaced and pressed the heel of my hand over the wound where his blood was draining from it.
“Oh, Zach, I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
A few minutes later, Lennox arrived. He put an IV in each of Zach’s arms and let the blood run in. It was just finishing when Bryn came back.
“All right, Tamara, hold the door open for me.”
I rushed to the door as Bryn and Lennox pulled Zach up, and Bryn lifted him in a fireman’s carry.
I started to follow them out, but Lennox caught my arm. “No. You’ll stay here until we’re done.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue! You owe us more than you can repay already,” Lennox snapped.
I went as still as if he’d clocked me with his fist. I kept my mouth firmly shut and my feet planted as I watched them load Zach into the golf cart. After they left, I closed the front door and paced back and forth, still shaking from having been yelled at. When I stopped to think about it, I knew it was just plain silly to be worried about that with so many worse things going on, but I couldn’t stop. Lennox made me feel like I was pushy and ungrateful, and that just wasn’t the way girls in Duvall were raised to be. Lennox could be a terrible jerk, but he had helped me. I’d try to remember to use my best manners even when I didn’t feel like he deserved them.
Finally, I sat down with the spellbook and started searching for strong healing spells.
A half hour later, Bryn came into the house. He was soaking wet and smelled like a shrimp salad gone bad.
“How did things go?” I asked.
“The bleeding stopped better than I expected, and he’s awake.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
Bryn walked past me to the laundry room, and I trailed after him.
“He’s in bed in the guest house. It was closer. And he walked in there under his own power. He’s tough. I’ll give him that.”
“Thank you so much for your help, Bryn. So what are we going to try next? I’ve got this old spellbook. It’s powerful, and I found a couple of healing spells that might do the trick. Nothing that mentions werewolves, but—”
Bryn yanked his shirt off, and something that sounded like hail on a tin roof fell to the floor. I bent, but he picked up the pearly white bits and tossed them in the garbage.
“Crushed seashells,” he said, unbuttoning his pants.
I turned to face the door but didn’t leave. “So, what do you think? Use the book I’ve got or one of yours?”
“We can’t spell-cast. I’ve done everything I can to cloak this property. There are still twenty-eight angry werewolves looking for us. The minute we cast a spell, they will track us here. I can’t risk it. Not for Sutton or anyone.” He reached past my shoulder and grabbed a bathrobe from the hook. “I’m going to take a shower, then I have to drive somewhere far enough away to draw power without compromising this house. The highest priority now is survival for the maximum number of people, which includes the townspeople. Werewolves aren’t especially patient. Sooner or later, if they get frustrated enough that they can’t find us, they’ll start attacking innocent people.”
“Zach is innocent,” I said.
He turned me to face him. “I’ve done what I can for him. Now, I need you to share power with me to help me do what has to be done. Are you with me or not?”
I needed to find the locket and to heal Zach. Edie was always a wealth of advice. She’d been around more than a hundred years now. She might know some rare cure for a werewolf bite that we didn’t. I couldn’t take a chance that Bryn would steal too much energy from me and leave me without enough juice to power the spells I was determined to cast.
I looked at Bryn, who was waiting for my answer. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“Saving it for Sutton, huh? He doesn’t deserve it.”
“Maybe not,” I said softly. “But I got him into this.”
Bryn walked out of the laundry room.
“Hey, I’m real sorry. I’ll make it up to you,” I called.
He didn’t slow his stride. “I hope you get the chance.”
Just as I was leaving the laundry room, Mercutio ran up and darted past me.
“Hey, where have you been?” I demanded as he careened into the hamper and knocked it over.
He rooted around in its spilled contents.
“No crab legs in there. Just stinky clothes. And I don’t know why swimming in seafood bisque would help a wolf wound, but I don’t have time to think about it. I’ve got to cast a spell and find a locket. I can’t go home. I can’t do it here. I can’t go to any of my friends’ houses. What do you think?”
Mercutio ignored me. He was intent on licking the fabric of Bryn’s damp clothes.
“Easy!” I said as he began chewing, putting puncture holes into the jeans. I sighed. “Great. You don’t think he’s mad enough at me?” I paced back and forth, and Merc cocked his head, looking at me. Then he walked over and rubbed his furry body against my legs. And just like that, I had to forgive him.
“Uh-huh. So where are we going to go?”
Mercutio hopped on top of the washing machine and surveyed the room. The way he was perched gave me an idea.
“We can go to the tor. I’ll park on top to cast my spell. If they show up too soon, we’ll just hightail it out of there. What do you say? Wanna be my lookout?”
Mercutio gave a rough purr that I took for his agreement.
“Okay, let’s go,” I said, turning and marching out. Mercutio padded along with me. I picked up my tote bag and the keys to Zach’s squad car.
“Our ride’s a police car. Too bad you weren’t with me earlier. You’d have liked that Trans A m—real fast and pretty. Maybe when I get another job, I’ll buy a used one. You know, I don’t think they make them anymore though. How do you feel about vintage? I like antique stuff. You?”
We walked out the front door, and I spotted the golf cart, which made me think of Zach. If I was going out to possibly become a sandwitch for a pack of wolves, I should at least say good-bye. Plus Bryn had said Lennox was armed in the guesthouse, so maybe he had a few silver bullets to spare. There was a better than average chance I was going to need them.
“You like the wind in your hair?” I asked Mercutio as I got in the cart. He hopped in too, and I drove in the direction I’d seen them go.
The “guesthouse” was bigger than I expected. I’d pictured a cottage, but this looked like it could sleep half a dozen people. There was a flower border of pretty impatiens lining the walk, but I didn’t stop to admire them.
I knocked on the door and opened it when no one answered. I walked through the family room, which was decorated Southwestern-style with big leather couches, American Indian throw blankets in deep orange and brown, and a big stone fire-place.
I found Zach in one of the bedrooms down the hall, and my jaw dropped when I poked my head inside. Zach sat up in bed, his naked chest partially wrapped with a tight Ace bandage. On a chair next to the bed was Astrid, her long legs propped up and resting on part of the mattress.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked, stepping into the room.
“Hey there, darlin’. Lyons said you were at the big house, sleeping.” His hair was disheveled, but he looked as handsome as ever. And the way Astrid studied him, I was sure she’d noticed.
“Do you think I’d just tuck myself in for a nap while you were—” I paused, catching myself before I said the word
dying
. “While you were so sick?”
“You were exhausted.”
“Sure I am, but I thought I’d check on you. Glad to see you’re all recovered.” My gaze slid to Astrid, who had a rather smug expression on her stunning face.
“Oh c’mon, Tammy Jo, we’re just shooting the shit.”
I glanced at him. He had an earnest expression and looked as innocent as someone with that many muscles can.
It didn’t matter. I was still ridiculously jealous. “I’ll see you later.”
“Hang on,” he said. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out,” I announced as I turned and left the room.
He caught me a few steps later, proof that he was feeling pretty strong again. He turned me by the shoulders, and I couldn’t help but glance down. He had a towel tied around his hips. So he’d been sitting naked in a strange bed with a strange woman for company, as easy as you please.
“You don’t need to go off half-cocked,” he said. “I talked to the sheriff. Told him I fell sick from this bite before we could get to the station. He says they’ve been patrolling the town, and there are no signs of any gangs, but we’ve got five cars from the surrounding counties coming. They’ll get everything squared away, and we can talk about the details of what happened at your house so that your story’s straight when they question you. I’m sure Miss Astrid can find something better to do than jaw with me. Why don’t you come cuddle up in bed?”
I shrugged his warm hands off my shoulders. I’d only ever seen Zach sick a couple times, and both times when he’d recovered, he’d had one thing on his mind, proving just how strong and alive he was. As tempting as he was, there was no time for that now.
“I can’t.” A blur of spotted fur caught my eye, and I turned my head. Mercutio, who had been perched on top of a tall bureau, had jumped down and walked the hall to the front door. “Mercutio’s ready to go. We’re heading to Georgia Sue’s to wait for her to come home,” I lied. I couldn’t take Zach with me to Macon Hill. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“You’re leaving me here?”
“I figured you’d want to question Bryn some more.”
“And you’ll be at Kenny and Georgia Sue’s? When I’m done here, I can meet up with you there?”
I nodded. He gave me a quick kiss, and I left him there.
I walked through the quiet house, listening. When I heard the rustle of papers from a hallway to the right, I followed it to a door that was partially ajar.
I tapped lightly.
“Come,” Lennox said.
I pushed the door open slowly. He looked up at me from a pile of papers and charts.
“Yes?” he asked, his tone neutral enough.