35. Chapter 35
Chapter thirty-five
Day 16 Denali, Alaska
Trident’s thick, ominous growls frayed Demi’s nerves, even though the cat hadn’t drawn blood since their flight to Alaska nine days ago. Whatever mad cat magic O’Neill had cast over the feline was long-lasting—at least when it came to scratches and bites. The cat’s unfriendliness, growling, and bad temper? Sadly, there was no improvement there.
Kait gently lifted Trident’s stump of a back leg and leaned in closer. The growling intensified until deep-chested rumbles vibrated across Demi’s thighs. She tensed, bracing herself for a display of claws or fangs, both of which were free. They hadn’t wrapped him in the towel like usual since they needed to see his wounds.
“Just a few seconds more,” Demi soothed in that soft, sweet voice she didn’t hate nearly as much as she had prior to climbing aboard the jet.
Kait straightened from where she was kneeling in front of Demi’s lapful of pissed off cat. “Everything looks great. The surgical areas are all healed. Or at least the flesh looks like it knit well. I still see stitches though. Didn’t your vet say those would dissolve, or fall out by two weeks? Are we supposed to do something about them if they don’t disappear?”
“She said it could take several weeks for them to dissolve.” Leaning forward, Demi carefully set Trident on his three legs, next to the paper plate with a generous load of tuna. She waited to make sure he was stable, then slowly released her hold. “At least he doesn’t show signs of infection or inflammation.”
She’d used the last of the antibiotics days ago, and the anti-inflammatory meds before that.
For a second, it looked like Trident was going to race off and hide, as usual. Instead, he hesitated, glancing back at Demi. After another hesitation, he turned and crept toward the dish of tuna. She’d discovered tuna was his favorite food, so she’d been using it as a reward for his good behavior—as in no drawing of blood.
“If he would have allowed me to get my hands around his wounds, maybe I could have healed him completely, or at least sped up his natural healing.” There was frustration in Kait’s voice.
Demi nodded agreement, even though Kait had managed to get her hands on Trident several times. She suspected her friend’s lack of success in healing Trident’s wounds was because the cat fell into the seventy percent of patients Kait’s ability didn’t work on. When it came to her healing ability, Kait should just count herself lucky that the people she cared about—Aiden, Cosky, and Demi—all fell into the thirty percent she could heal.
Kait’s phone rang. Cautiously, Demi leaned over and ran her fingers down the cat’s spine. It arched beneath her fingertips. She wasn’t sure whether the movement was from pleasure, or annoyance. But he didn’t flee or growl. The fact he was allowing her to pet him while he ate was a major step forward. He’d never let her get so close before.
“What happened?”
Kait’s shrill voice was Demi’s first clue something was wrong. Trident flinched and fled, diving beneath the recliner across the room. Her heart suddenly pounding way too hard and fast, Demi straightened. Kait had gone rigid. Her face blanched. Her fingers were pale talons clamped around her phone.
Had something happened to Cosky?
“But that makes no sense. He was just here. He was fine.” Kait’s voice shook. Her throat trembled. “Do his doctors think this sudden sickness is related to those nanobots? Was he infected, after all?”
Sudden sickness? Nanobots? Infected?
Kait had asked Aiden about nanobots the evening he’d come to see her. He’d changed the subject. When Demi had asked him about them, he’d claimed the topic was classified and wouldn’t tell her a damn thing. She’d thought his refusal to explain was another one of his secrets.
She should have pressed him on the matter.
Demi’s chest tightened. So did her scalp. Instinctively, she knew this call wasn’t about Cosky. It was about Aiden. Fear tightened her belly into an icy knot.
“No. Send the chopper. I’m coming.” Kait glanced at Demi. “Demi and I are both coming.” She fell silent, listening. “I know that.” Another distracted glance at Demi. “She deserves to be there beside him.” She paused and added, “I need her with me. She’s coming.” Although she didn’t say it, the words, end of discussion, rang in her voice. She paused, listening. “I don’t care. I know he’s in the percentage I can heal. I’ve healed him before, I’ll do it again.” She paused once more, then responded with a snap in her voice. “You have no right to make that decision for me. I’m coming. Send the damn chopper!” Another pause, a longer one. This time when she responded, her voice had gone icy. Deadly. “I’m not messing with you, Marcus. If that chopper isn’t here in twenty minutes, I will never forgive you. I’m not fucking stupid. I know it’s dangerous but he’s my brother. I’m not going to sit around and let him die.”
Demi jolted, Kait’s words hitting her like an electric shock.
Die!
Aiden was dying?
Her head went light. How could Aiden be dying? She’d just seen him. He’d been perfectly healthy. None of this made sense. What had caused him to get so sick, so fast? The question froze in her mind and started echoing. The answer hit her like a gunshot.
The bots. His sudden illness must have something to do with the nanobots Kait had asked him about. She took a deep breath, released it slowly, and watched as Kait threw the phone on the couch. It bounced off the backrest and fell into the indent between the seat cushions.
“How bad is it?” Demi fought to keep her voice even.
She’d been expecting this call for years or a visit from someone in dress whites delivering the terrible news. But not like this, not because of a sudden inexplicable illness. Not while he was on downtime. She took another breath and tried to regulate her shallow breathing.
“Bad. He’s unconscious.” Kait ran shaky fingers through her hair. Her face looked more gray than white now. The shock was hitting her eyes, turning them shiny and blind. “Marcus says he’s running a fever. His blood pressure and pulse are unstable.”
Demi tried to swallow the lump in her throat. It wouldn’t budge. “Do the doctors know what’s wrong with him?”
Kait shook her head. The blind look slowly easing in her eyes was replaced by resolution. “Not for sure. They’re running more of their damn tests. He’s going to be fine, though.” The resolution on her face hardened. “You can be sure of that. I’ll make certain of it.”
Demi hesitated. She didn’t want to put Kait in a difficult position, and Aiden had said the nanobot discussion was classified. But her need to know—to prepare—won out over the urge to maintain boundaries. “Does Aiden’s sickness have anything to do with nanobots?”
Kait sighed and turned to face her. “Yeah, about that, I’ll explain everything while we’re on the chopper. You’ll find out anyway once we reach base. But right now—” She glanced at the slim, silver watch strapped to her right arm. “We should pack a change of clothing. God knows how long we’ll be camped out beside his bed.”
Trident emerged from his hiding spot and crept his way toward the dish of tuna. “Do you think one of your friends would check on Trident while we’re gone? To make sure his food and water dishes are full?”
Kait gave a decisive nod, as though grateful for something mundane to concentrate on, something besides her fear. “I’ll call Beth. I’m sure she’ll be willing.”
The next twenty minutes went by in a daze, her thoughts fragmented and frantic. Fear was an ever-present swelling pressure in her chest. Everything around her felt too loud, too bright, as though her senses were overstimulated. If her reaction was so strong now, after she’d broken things off with him, how much worse would it be if they were still together? Or if it was years down the road, when there was longevity and children involved?
But then again, she frowned. How much more terrified could she possibly get? There must be a threshold to fear, like once you hit a certain level, it didn’t get any worse. Was she at that threshold already? Could the fear get any worse?
Before heading upstairs, she refilled Trident’s water and kibble dishes and cleaned his litter box. She paid little attention to what she stuffed in the huge, quilted bag Kait had dropped on the guest bed, but the bag was bulging and heavy by the time she carried it down to the living room and dropped it next to the front door. Kait arrived moments later with a quilted bag almost identical to the one Demi was using.
“Beth will watch Trident,” Kait said as she dropped her bag next to Demi’s at the front door.
Demi watched her friend pace to the window and peer through the glass. The movement was a nervous tic rather than a scan for their ride. They’d hear the chopper the instant it arrived. Kait had regained some color in her face, but her shoulders were still tense, her spine rigid, and her fingers were twitching against her thighs. Demi knew without a doubt that her friend was itching to get her hands on Aiden to start healing him.
Please…please let Kait’s hands heal him.
She’s done it before. She can do it again.
She has to do it again.
By the time they climbed into the chopper, Demi’s muscles were in knots. Her chest was so tight it hurt to breathe. It was ironic, really, the intensity of her reaction to this news. She cut Aiden out of her life so she wouldn’t go through this kind of fear and pain. And yet here she was, facing the fear and uncertainty she’d tried to avoid.
Day 16 Denali, Alaska
Demi was still processing everything Kait had told her when the chopper landed. Nanobots had infected Aiden’s team and turned them crazy. Not just crazy, but homicidally crazy. They’d turned on each other. They’d murdered each other. It was unbelievable…and terrifying. No wonder everyone was so concerned about this new weapon.
Had his teammates turned on Aiden, too, tried to kill him? Had Aiden killed some of his men to protect himself? She flinched, her stomach souring. Kait hadn’t mentioned that, but Aiden wouldn’t have told her. He’d take that secret to his grave. And it would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Cosky was waiting for them in the air hangar, his face tense, his body rigid.
“How is he?” Kait asked as she hopped out of the chopper.
Cosky simply shook his head, a grim expression on his face. Demi followed Kait to the ground, vaguely aware of asphalt, planes, and helicopters surrounding her. The smell of oil and fuel fumes hung heavy in the air.
“Do they know what’s wrong? Have they found any bots?” Kait’s questions came hard and fast. Cosky glanced at Demi and his face hardened. “Yes. I told her everything,” Kait snapped. “Has One Bird or Eldon tried to heal him?”
Demi twitched at the last question. Kait had mentioned earlier that she wasn’t the only healer that worked on the Shadow Mountain base, although she was by far the strongest.
Cosky shook his head again, the grim look turning ominous. With Kait beside him and Demi on their heels, he started weaving his way between the planes and helicopters.
“The docs think it’s an autoimmune response but they don’t know what’s causing it. They’ve pulled more blood and taken more biopsies. They’ve scheduled ultrasound, CAT and MRI scans. The results won’t be back for hours yet.”
Kait grabbed Cosky’s wrist. She didn’t stop him, just kept pace with him. “What about One Bird? Eldon? Joseph? Why haven’t they tried to heal him?”
Cosky’s jaw bunched. “Wolf won’t allow it.”
Kait sucked in a sharp breath. “Why not?” She sucked in another breath and bit her lip. “Never mind. I’ll be able to heal him. I’ve done it before. I can do it again.” There was a belligerent edge to her voice, like she was daring Cosky to try to stop her.
When they reached the door to the hangar, Cosky led them to a golf cart type vehicle with four seats. They climbed inside and Cosky guided the vehicle down a corridor and into a spiraling, downward ramp. Demi was so caught up in her fear that her surroundings didn’t quite register, just a vague impression of a tunnel with two lanes divided by a white line, endless smooth walls, glass doors that occasionally whooshed apart and disgorged people. The cart pulled into a recessed parking slot in front of a rectangular glass door. A bright red sign above the glass read Emergency Room . Demi’s heart jittered like a jackhammer as she followed Kait and Cosky through the door. Just because Aiden was still alive didn’t mean she couldn’t still lose him.
You’ve already lost him, remember? You sent him away. He isn’t yours anymore.
The reminder didn’t lessen the dread.
The clinic was sparkling clean—yet smelled like antiseptic, blood, vomit and desperation. The smell had to be something her mind had pulled up from long ago, from back when she’d sat beside Donnie’s emergency room bed. The Coronado ER and this one couldn’t smell identical. Yet somehow, they did.
While her parents had already been dead when she’d gotten the call, Donnie had died in the emergency room. She’d sat there beside him, holding his limp hand, urging him to return to her. He hadn’t. He died without ever opening his eyes, without saying goodbye. In truth, he died before they’d made it to the ER. He died in the stands when that baseball had shattered his skull. Her heart and hope had died in the ER that day, too. It had taken years for her heart to awaken, for hope to return.
She wasn’t ready for another bedside vigil. She wasn’t ready to pray over another man she loved. If only this moment was a nightmare and she’d jolt awake to find Aiden stretched out beside her in bed.
Except he wouldn’t be in your bed , a voice in her mind jeered. You sent him away. Remember?
As if she’d ever forget. As if the reality of that wasn’t constantly sucker punching her in the heart.
Cosky led them through an empty waiting room, to a nurse’s station beside a dark blue door. The nurse looked up. Her face softened when she saw Kait. “I’m so sorry about your brother, sweetie.”
“I need to see him,” Kait said, her voice shaking.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. He’s in isolation.” The nurse’s voice was as gentle as her face.
“He’s infected?” Kait grabbed Cosky’s hand.
The nurse reached for a black, corded phone at the edge of her desk. “Hang on, let me get Dr. Brickenhouse. He’ll fill you in on your brother’s condition.”
Demi fought to focus on the nurse’s conversation with Kait and Cosky, but that damn phantom ER smell kept invading her senses and hijacking her mind.
We’re not visiting Donnie. This is Aiden. He is not dead. He’s not dead!
Her chest throbbed to the beat of each word.
After what seemed like forever, but according to the white clock above the nurse’s head was only five minutes, a man in a white coat, with a long, silver braid, pushed through the blue door to their left.
“Kait. Marcus.” The doctor solemnly shook each of their hands. A somber expression lined his face.
His gravity sent electric flares of fear up Demi’s spine.
“Why is Aiden in isolation? Is he infected with those bots? Is that why he’s sick?” The questions burst from Kait.
“He’s in isolation as a precaution.” The doctor sighed and pushed his glasses up to massage his eyes. “I wish I had more information to impart. But we don’t know why he’s sick. We believe he’s having an autoimmune response, but we aren’t sure why, or what it’s in response to. We’re hopeful the tests, when they come in, will give us a direction. For now, all we can do is treat his symptoms and keep him stable. Our immediate concern is his blood pressure and increased heart rate, both signs of shock. We’re treating these symptoms with medications.”
“I can heal him.” Kait tossed the comment out like a dare.
The doctor’s concerns devoured Demi’s mind.
What if Aiden’s blood pressure plummets, leading to the suffocation of his internal organs? What if his fever climbs so high it fries his brain? What if his heart quits beating? What if…
With each what if, her own internal temperature spiked. Her heart raced faster and faster still. The fear rolled through her in waves. She shut the what ifs down and focused on the here…the now. It was the only way to remain sane. She’d learned that after Donnie’s accident.
Cosky’s voice caught her attention, or rather the tense, frustrated edge to it. It was a tone she’d never heard him use on Kait.
“They aren’t saying you can’t heal him,” he stressed, his voice gritty. “They’re telling you to wait until the tests come back, until the docs can say with certainty that he isn’t contagious.”
“Why hasn’t anyone asked the Taounaha if Aiden’s infected? Benioko knew he wasn’t a danger to me in the hills above Karaveht.”
“Wolf says Benioko is weak from his last shadow walk. He must recover before crossing the veil again. Benioko doesn’t know if Aiden is a danger to others. We’ll have to look to science to clear him.” Cosky looked half frustrated, half relieved. “We’ll have to wait for all the tests they’ve done to come back.”
Kait squared off against her husband, every muscle in her body tense, her eyes on fire. She drove her fingers into Cosky’s chest and yanked them loose when he grabbed them. “He’s dying, Marcus. It might be too late if I wait for the test results. I need to heal him now!”
Cosky stepped back, his face hardening. “We’re barreling down on the most dangerous op in years. We’re risking massive injuries. If you touch Aiden, Wolf will lock you in isolation alongside your brother until he knows for certain you’re not infected. He can’t chance you picking up the bots from Aiden and infecting the entire base. If you touch Aiden, you won’t be allowed to heal anyone else. For Christ’s sake, you’re the strongest healer the base has. What happens if I take a hit? Or Zane? Rawls? Mac? Fuck, what if Wolf goes down?”
Kait froze, her face twisting. She looked torn. “You said there would be no mission until you had a location on Aiden’s arms dealer.”
“Yeah…fuck.” Cosky ran a tense hand down his face. “The location came in this morning. Our strategy is set. The Thunderbird is fueled and the teams are decked out.” He swore again. “I was about to call you when Aiden went down.”
Kait’s face was so tight it looked skeletal. Her eyes turned glassy. “When do you leave?”
Cosky reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips. “I’m sorry, babe. I wish I could stay, but I’m needed. We can’t allow this weapon to deploy. We spin up at zero thirty.”
Kait swallowed hard and squared her shoulders. “Aiden would want you to go. He’d want you to stop what happened to his team from happening to anyone else.” Her face twisted. “Just make sure you come back. Promise me you’ll come back.”
Demi turned away, giving them privacy.
Poor Kait, she was facing losses in every direction. Her husband and both her brothers were at risk now. Because Wolf would be right there beside Cosky and the rest of his warriors, putting himself in danger to protect the world. The whole lot of them were heroes. It was hard to love a hero, let alone three of them.
Demi’s heart would have ached for her if it wasn’t numb with fear.