Chapter 64
Pop!
Jamie blinked. Leah was on the back deck of the Jensens’ home, supporting an exhausted, bleeding Mac.
“We need medical!” Jamie yelled.
One of Mac’s colleagues from Grey Lake Hospital ran out from the living room. He assisted Leah in helping her get inside. They laid her on a cot in a corner that they’d set up as a first aid area. They covered her shaking nude body with a blanket.
Her left arm was bloodied and still bleeding. The doctor applied pressure as another shifter in medical scrubs appeared at his side to take her vitals.
“Oh, Mac!” Jamie said.
“Mac!” Heath yelled. He runs up to the cot, drops to his knees next to her and grabs her hand.
Mac blinked a couple of times, and then her eyes focused on him. “Heath, I’m fine. Jamie, Aiden’s OK. We took out the flight shifters. Aiden…” She closed her eyes.
Heath’s eyes went wide. “Mac!”
Her eyes flew open. “Aiden’s father! He has to fight his father. He’s so much larger than Aiden’s phoenix.” She sucked in a breath as the doctor cleaned her wound. “His phoenix is tired. I could tell. He needs help. We need to help him.”
The doctor spoke to Heath. “I’m going to have to sedate her to take care of this. It just looks like a flesh wound, but I need to be sure.”
Heath’s jaw was tight. Jamie could tell he wanted to stay, but he couldn’t. He was in charge of this whole operation.
Jamie spoke to Mac in a loud voice to make sure she heard. “Mac, Heath’ll be right over here. He’s in the same room. You’re not alone.”
Heath lowered his head to her hand and kissed it.
Mac closed her eyes and grinned. “Make sure he behaves,” she said to Jamie.
Jamie put a hand on Heath’s shoulder. “Let’s let them take care of her.”
Heath’s eyes snapped to his. He could tell he was torn.
“We’ll just be over there,” Jamie said. He pointed at the other side of the room.
In the end, Heath allowed Jamie to pull him to standing and nudge him back to the makeshift office near the sliding glass window. Leah, Jasper, Iris, May, and Beau were either standing by or sitting round the table.
“We need to help Aiden,” Jamie said to the others. “If we don’t, his father’s going to take over his body, and then he’ll be unstoppable for another five hundred years.”
Heath blinked. “OK, what are our options?”
“Send me out to him,” Jamie said. “Maybe I can sneak back into his father’s mind and distract him long enough for Aiden to kill him.”
“OK,” Heath said. “What else?”
“What else?” Jamie snapped. “We’re running out of time. Aiden’s running out of time. We need to do something!”
“Jamie,” Iris said. She was standing right in front of him. He hadn’t seen her move from her seat. “We need to make sure we don’t make things worse. We need to be sure.” Jamie’s breathing sped up. He couldn’t get enough air. Iris squeezed both his hands tightly. “Look at me,” she commanded. “You need to slow down. You can’t help Aiden if you’re unconscious, right?”
He gazed into her big brown eyes. She was his friend. He trusted her. He forced himself to slow down until his breathing returned to normal. He nodded at her.
“He’s my brother. I love him too, remember. Let’s just make sure,” she said.
“OK,” he said. He looked at the others. “Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry,” Heath said. “Give me some more options.”
“They were in the woods, but Williamson didn’t follow. Maybe he’s too big to maneuver there,” May said.
“Most likely,” Heath agreed.
“But if he won’t follow Aiden in, we have a problem,” Beau said. “It would be alright if he was just evading, but he needs to take him out.”
“Right,” Heath said. “What else?”
“Wait,” Jasper said. “If the old man wants to use Aiden’s body, he’s not going to kill him.”
“Wait, that’s right,” Iris said. “So, what’s his play?”
“He must have to make Aiden come to him. Maybe he’ll threaten him or bargain with him,” Leah said.
“He can’t be trusted,” Jamie said. “Aiden knows that.”
“But he could kill him and then go after Amber, right?” May said. “Speaking of”—she gestured to the Baby Bjorn Heath was still sporting—“why hasn’t anyone tried to get fake Amber?”
“This is crazy!” Iris said. “Jamie, just ask him. Maybe the bastard told him his plans.”
“Aiden?” Jamie reached out to his mate.
Minutes later, his eyes opened, and he jumped up from his seat at the table. “Aiden told me!”
“Good,” Heath said. “What exactly?”
“Where is he?” Iris asked.
“He’s still in the woods, trying to find a way out without his dad seeing. So, his father needs him for the rebirth spell. He told Aiden he doesn’t have enough magic left to use Amber for his spell. So, he needs Aiden.”
Heath immediately took off the baby carrier and threw it to the floor. “What else?”
“He was trying to get him to come willingly for this spell. He said he would spare Mac and some of the Lakers if he came to him of his free will. Aiden doesn’t know why he would have to do it willingly. It doesn’t matter. He knows the man’s a liar,” Jamie said.
“So, what do we have? Is it a stalemate?” May asked.
“No, his father is still able to shoot fire, fly, and cause a hell of a lot of trouble,” Jamie said. “We, or rather Aiden, needs to go on the offensive.”
“Head-to-head, can he take his father?” Jasper asked.
“He doesn’t know,” Jamie said. “Maybe?”
May slapped her hand down on the table. “I like Jamie’s idea then. If he can get in his mind, maybe he can mess with him enough for Aiden to get the upper hand.”
Jamie looked at Heath and raised his eyebrows. “We don’t have any better ideas.”
Heath’s gaze swept over the others before returning to Jamie. “OK. Clear it with Aiden first. If he agrees, have him go to the spot where Leah picked Mac up. She can teleport you there.”