Chapter 9
Either You Or No One
“Come on, Astrid, wake up.”
Astrid felt something warm on her shoulders, then something warm on her neck, as if taking her pulse. The voice was familiar, but she was having a hard time placing it. Something about it sounded desperate. However, she was having trouble focusing because there was a strange tingling sensation across her limbs and a concerning pain in her chest. Then her body jolted, almost like she was being hit with something electrical or experiencing a seizure.
That’s not right.
Her mind was trying to make sense of the problem. When she was young and stuck her finger in a socket, the same thing happened. Her brother and father had been beside themselves with worry, and she had spent a couple of days under close surveillance. They never took her to the hospital, and while they never told her why, Astrid felt certain it was because she was a shifter. Instead, they monitored and cared for her until she was back to normal.
Something warm slid under her back. The spasms stopped, and her body felt more relaxed. The man let out a sigh as her body stilled and her breathing stabilized. She caught the scent of lavender and leather. Turning her head, she breathed in a little deeper, and a slight smile formed at the edges of her mouth.
As she settled down, he whispered. “Just be ok, and I swear, I won’t contact you again. I’ll leave you what I have and will stay away from here. Just wake up. Please, wake up.” She felt something touch her forehead, and a warmth spread out from there.
Groggily opening her eyes, she saw a pair of shiny blue eyes framed by some very prominent cheekbones and some gorgeous black hair. Something flashed through her mind, so she looked down at her chest. The little clamps and wires were gone. “Did they… Tase me?”
Instead of an answer, the man pulled her into a hug. “Thank you. I could not have lived with myself if I caused your death, too.”
Astrid rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, tasting metal. She started shivering. “I don’t think they used anything deadly. They just shot me with a Taser or something. I remember the prongs sticking out of my shirt and the wires going back toward the man.” She moved a bit, but her arms felt like jelly. “My body isn’t quite working properly. Is that normal?”
The man set her down carefully, and she realized that she was in an unfamiliar bed. Looking around, Astrid tried to think about what led up to her being shot.
As she tried to process everything, the man stood up and moved away from the bed. “I believe it is normal for humans, but I’m not sure about shifters. There’s a good chance they did something to alter the charge, something that would enhance it to make sure you weren’t able to resist it. I’m running some tests now to see if there was anything else because your response suggested it wasn’t just electrical. I mean you…” He turned and looked at her and placed his hand on his chin as if thinking.
Astrid looked away, feeling some heat spreading across her neck. “I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time remembering who you are.”
When he didn’t immediately respond, she looked up at him. The man was just looking at her, concern in his eyes. “I mean, you look familiar, but I don’t… I can’t quite place you.”
“Do you remember what happened? Did you hit your head?”
“I…” Astrid tried to think back, but what stuck out was the wires and the three men.
The man walked over and started feeling the back of her head. “Ah, yes. You have quite a knot on the back of your head. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that. Hold on.” He closed his beautiful blue eyes and placed his hand over the back of her head. It hurt for a second, but Astrid realized that as it warmed, the pain dissipated.
“Oh. You’ve been healing me.”
He opened his eyes and gave her a weak smile. “I’m sure you could have done that yourself, but I think that the current in your body is going to make healing a little more difficult.”
“Yeah… that sounds right. I managed to get myself electrocuted when I was little by playing with an outlet with my fingernails.” She usually would stop there, but since this guy was able to heal her, she kept going. “I was in my other form, so you know, claws really, not fingernails.” She feebly held up a hand and wiggled her fingers.
The smile widened, but there was still sadness in his eyes. “You shifted into your cat form to play, and you were trying to play with the outlet?”
She showed her teeth and wrinkled up her nose. “Yeah. My dad would have been furious if he hadn’t been so afraid that I was going to die.”
“I’ll bet. That would be terrifying.” He pulled his hand back and bit his lip.
“What are you thinking?”
“Since you can control water… I’m wondering if that’s why you are having a different sort of reaction. I’m still going to have Elliott finish the tests to see if there was anything else, but it’s possible it’s an adverse reaction to direct electrical currents. I know that they use different ways of… disabling women with abilities, but this seems like a very different kind of reaction than what we’ve seen or heard about.”
“Do you mean kind of like an allergic reaction?”
He looked thoughtful. “Kind of. Yeah. It’s a somewhat encouraging sign since they don’t have enough understanding of your kind to know what works. It’s entirely concerning, though, since it means women with abilities are at greater risk since they can be harmed or killed when these malicious miscreants attack.”
“So… you think there are people after women with abilities?”
The man looked at her, clearly assessing how much to tell her. “Yes. My organization knows that women like you are targeted. They don’t seem to know about shifters, so they were not expecting your incredibly quick response to being Tased. But they figured out where you lived and that you have abilities. Do you know how they were able to figure that out?”
Astrid closed her eyes and thought back. “It wasn’t because of you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Exactly what are you remembering to make you say that?”
She opened one eye and looked at him. “I heard you blaming yourself.” Closing the eye, she said a bit defiantly. “I don’t know why you think that at the moment, but I think it’s ridiculous. The reason they found me was because of myself.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds right.”
“That’s not my experience. Now that you are doing better, I’ve got someone coming with test results in a bit. I’ll leave him with you to—"
“I don’t want to be left with someone else.”
“It’s not your choice.”
“I can just up and leave.”
“That would put you at much greater risk. Especially since you are not fully recovered.”
“Well, that won’t be your problem if you decide to leave.”
He shook his head and turned around. “Don’t be difficult, Astrid.”
“I don’t want to spend time with Elliott.”
The man looked over his shoulder. “So, you remember Elliott?”
She looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, he stopped by after I… called his brother.”
“Which one?”
Astrid turned her head and looked at the man. “Cooper. I don’t remember why. Wait – I was trying to get in touch with Elliott.”
“There you go. You can talk to him later.”
She frowned. “I don’t think I need to. He wasn’t able to help me.”
“What did you need?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Then how do you know he wasn’t helpful?”
“Because he was here for a few minutes, then just left.”
“You told me to apologize to him for you.”
“Ah.”
“Do you know why?”
“Not yet. Wait,” She tried to sit up. “If not Elliott, who is supposed to come help me?”
“Another cat shifter named Levi. I figured it would be more beneficial to you to learn more about similar cats. Although, he’s not even remotely normal.”
She cleared her throat. “How is he different?”
“He’s kind of like you. But his ability is…” the guy licked his lips, “much more dangerous.”
“And you think he should take care of me?”
“I think he will do a much better job than anyone else who can help right now.”
Her mind was telling her that it should be a perfect opportunity to actually talk to someone who might be able to tell her more about cat shifters. The problem was that she didn’t want him taking care of her. “I don’t know this person. I’m not comfortable being with someone unfamiliar to me while I’m in a vulnerable state.”
“Then you shouldn’t want me around either since you don’t remember me.”
“You’ve healed me, and clearly, you took care of me after when I was unconscious.” She pursed her lips. “What happened to the three men at my doorstep?”
“They won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“What did you do?”
“I took care of them.”
“Are they dead or just out of the way?”
He gave her a half smile, and for a second, there was a twinkle in his eye. “They aren’t dead, but I’m pretty sure they wish they were.”
“Oh, no. What did you do?”
“Let’s just say they won’t be getting out of a criminal asylum until they are in pine boxes.”
Wobbling, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. “You drove them insane?”
He shrugged. “I don’t like killing, and they didn’t deserve to be free. So, I made sure they won’t be going after any other women.”
“I… how did you do that?”
He scratched his head, a shy look on his face. “It’s an extension of my ability. Or perhaps a… more extreme use of my ability.” Rubbing a hand over his mouth, he was considering if he should say more.
“Spit it out, shifter. What are you not telling me?”
His tongue flicked out and wrapped around his lower lip before disappearing into his mouth. Finally, he said, “That’s why I was able to tell you that you could control the water in a person’s body. My ability has some similar uses, but for the mind instead of water.”
Her eyes widened, and Astrid leaned forward, her body shaking.
“Whoa,” he said, coming toward her. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Is that… I mean, can you…” Astrid was having trouble collecting her thoughts, which seemed to be flowing like a river around a large rock. “Did you do something to my mind?”
He let out a sigh. “No, I didn’t do anything to your mind. The altered or missing memories are because of the injury. Don’t worry, it won’t last.”
She bit her lip and stared at him. “I don’t want someone else taking care of me. I feel that it needs to be you.”
He took a few steps toward the door. “That’s neither a good idea nor a possibility.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m needed elsewhere.”
“You haven’t been in town in a while, but you came back. Why?”
“It was a mistake.”
“So, you regret saving me?”
“No! I…” he pursed his lips, torn between giving more details and staying silent. “I know that being near you is a bad idea.”
She thought about that for a moment.
When the man walked toward the door, Astrid spoke up. “Please don’t leave me.”
“Astrid, I can’t stay here with you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m starting to get attached, and that is decidedly a bad thing for you.”
“I don’t care. I may not remember you, but I feel comfortable around you, and that’s not something I’ve experienced with anyone besides my dad since Evan died.” She rubbed her lips together as she collected her thoughts. “That isn’t normal for me. And I don’t want to lose that while I’m vulnerable.”
He withdrew his hand from the doorknob. “Ok, I’ll stay with you.” Astrid smiled, her body relaxing a little on the bed. “But we can’t talk, and you can’t ask me any more questions. We’ll just—"
Astrid’s eyes widened, and she sat up. “I know why I wanted to talk to Elliott.” He fell silent. “I want to break the curse.”
“Oh, no,” he said, then placed his back against the door and slid down to the floor.
“What’s wrong?”
He stared at the floor. “That was the last thing your brother said to me.”