Chapter Six
Cora sat up and watched Never sleeping on a cot beside the bed. A woman was wheeling herself down the hall and said, “Hey. Feel like a chat?”
She looked at Never. “Won’t that wake her?”
“She’s awake already. This will just let her know I am fine. I’m Cora.”
The woman wheeled in. “Axa. I was in a coma. What are you in for?”
“Gunshots. The perpetrator has been found and dealt with.”
Never smiled slightly.
“I am so happy for you. Mine was seven years ago, and I just woke up. They have no record of the drugging. Well, they have a record of it, just no one was found.”
Cora saw Never’s ear twitch. She said, “I have access to a hunter. She might be able to help.”
“They used to be really expensive. Are you rich or something?”
“Pretty well off. Well, Hunter, are you willing to go looking for a seven-year cold case?”
Never sat up and looked at Axa. “Tell me what you remember. I am looking for some light entertainment. If I can find out who did that to you, I will.”
Cora listened to Axa explaining the office party and the drinks. Her friend Vaia going to the ladies’, and Axa collapsing as her friend returned.
Never asked, “Which bar was it?”
Axa listed a bar, and Never looked it up. “Nice. Still in operation.”
Axa blinked. “You really are going to hunt down what happened to me?”
“Sure. Cora has plenty of folks looking after her now. If you see an orc that’s looking sheepish, exit, please. I am trying to get them together, and I suck as a matchmaker. You would not believe what I am willing to do to get my sister settled with a baby.”
Cora chuckled. “If it’s anything like what you got up to this afternoon, I think you are sacrificing hard.”
Never snorted. “It was one kiss.”
Cora paused. “That was a kiss? Wow. You really are a light touch.”
“Yeah, and he picked up on it. So, points for him.”
Axa blinked. “Wow. You really are sisters.”
They chatted for an hour, and Axa said, “I have to get back to my room. They check on me and get pissed when I wander. My physio hasn’t gotten me up on my feet yet, so I am stuck wheeling around.”
Never said, “I can take you for a walk and get you tucked in. Do you like snacks? We can find some snacks.”
Cora called out, “Oh, Never works for those marshmallow puff things with the strawberry centres. That’s her friends and family rate.”
Axa grinned. “I think Vaia can help hook me up with those. How many?”
“Three boxes to start, and then one for every set of stitches that I get.”
“Done.”
Cora watched as Never pushed Axa over to the bank of snack machines.
It was nice to see Never being social. So, that surge of lust had been from a simple kiss.
Cora wished for a moment that they were wired differently.
Well, just for a minute. Taking pleasure in all a lover could give had a certain allure.
She just liked things a little rough. Her deer wanted to be rutted, not courted.
That might change one day, but right now, she was what she was.
She finished texting her assistant and the court to get a stay for a few days until she was out of the hospital.
A large form filled her doorway, and she looked up. “Oh. I am sorry about my review, Abel-ur. I was a little out of it at the time.”
He snorted. “You were accurate. I treated you like fine china. Your sister gave me a few options for technique if you are willing to try again.”
“Yeah, she’s good that way.” Cora smiled. “She’s off with a new friend getting details for a hunt.”
“She enjoys it?”
“Her body drives her to it. She takes action, or she gets depressed. Same as me. I have other outlets, but her appearance restricts her. What is available for me isn’t for her. She’s big, even for an orc.”
He cocked his head. “I suppose. She was amazing at taking care of your attacker. Terrifying is another word for it.”
She gestured to the chair at her bedside. “Take a load off, Clan Chief.”
He sat, his jeans creaking lightly and his tee tight. “So, why me?”
“Why not? You were a good dancer, talked a good game, and held me like you wanted more. I took that as acceptable indicators that you were interested.”
“I was. I still am, when you are up to a more energetic repeat of events.”
She chuckled. “Give me until the end of the week. Never did an amazing job with the healing, but I was so tired by that point, my body couldn’t pick up the slack.
I have to spend another day and a half here, and then Never will take me back to my house and stay with me for a few days until I am back on my feet.
Well, unless she gets a hunt going. Then, I will hire a nurse or pay my assistant extra. I have one week to be back in court.”
He stared. “Court?”
“I am a real estate attorney. I work with people who are buying homes and who have had issues with homes that were supposed to be in good running order.”
He grinned. “You deal with property disputes?”
“Absolutely. Misplaced fences are my bread and butter.”
“Tree law?”
“Aw, now you are talking dirty to me.” She grinned.
He smiled. “I would not have pegged you for a lawyer.”
“You didn’t ask and definitely didn’t peg. I would have noticed.” Cora smiled at him. “So, why would you proposition me if you were exhausted?”
“I didn’t know if I would have another chance, so I dove in, not realizing that you needed more than good intentions.”
“Yup. I look elegant, but I need it rough. Never looks rough and needs a light hand to start. You don’t even want to know how we figured that out.”
“Trial and error?”
“Yup. Good guess.” She smiled.
“She also mentioned that you are actively trying to get pregnant.”
“Yeah. Still no clue yet. Waiting to see if the cells are doing their thing and can lock in. That is my issue. No matter how much recklessly enjoyable sex I have, nothing locks in to become a person. Never kept telling me to try an orc, but no one ever felt right until you.”
“She’s very wise and a shaman.”
“Technically, she’s an orc mage. She can’t be a shaman because she doesn’t have a clan. For her to be a shaman, she needs a link to the earth, but she can do a helluva impression.”
Abel-ur nodded. “That would explain some of what I saw today.”
Cora chuckled. “It would. So, what does the guy look like that Never went nuts for?”
“What?”
“Oh, yeah. Her reaction to a simple kiss could only be described as violently sweet. She nearly ruined her leathers.”
“Tam-or? Kissed her? He didn’t say anything.”
She winced. “Oh, was he not supposed to?”
Never spoke from the doorway. “He can, but he was acting as speaker when he did, so it wasn’t Abel-ur’s concern unless he asked. Speaker matters do not need to be public.”
Cora smiled. Never was relaxed and smiling. “I am going to find the bastard who dosed Axa. If any of your friends with XIA connections should be aware of her case, give me their number. I can bring him to the location of their choosing.”
Cora said, “You are sure it’s a him?”
“Axa remembers it as a him. So, that is what I will look for. I also got a drop of her blood, and her past is filling in, so it will be what it is, and then I will look for someone to confess, and if I find the right one and they don’t confess, they will be in for a rough lifetime. Toodles!”
Cora chuckled. “And there she goes.”
“So, she is just going to solve a seven-year cold case?”
“She is good at knowing what she needs and when she needs it.” She checked the time. “Wow. Seven-thirty. There are going to be a whole bunch of folks with her on their doorstep this morning. She is going to get what she needs to hunt this guy properly.”
“Properly?”
“What she did at your clan, she did it all legally and within your traditions.”
“Right.”
“She does the same when she works with law enforcement.” Cora paused. “I hope that the agents she goes after are early risers. She doesn’t take no for an answer when she’s hunting.”
“This ought to be interesting.” Abel-ur took her hand and squeezed it.
“Take a nap. You need it. I will be here when you get up.”
He grinned. “That should be my line.”
“Yes, well, you need the rest more than I do. I have all kinds of fun meds hooked up to me. My bullet wounds are turning into funky marks as we speak.” Cora looked at him and decided to ask him how many other lovers were hurt by the psycho another time.
He was asleep, but his hand was firm around hers.
She smiled and gave him a little of Never’s endless energy.
He settled in and began a deep sleep. He would be better in about an hour.
Cora got a text and grinned. Stop feeding him the extra energy. It’s for you, not him, and you need him to have more masculine energy, not feminine. I was boosting your sticking power.
Thank you, Never. What are you doing?
Apparently, being nice to your friend Vaia and her irritated dragonborn husband.
Cora laughed. That would be funny. Funnier still if Krys had Reynal over. Cora leaned back as the nurses checked her vitals and told her that today’s special would be barely edible but would be there in half an hour.
Cora smiled and leaned back, answering texts with her thumb. She didn’t want to let go of Abel-ur’s hand for some reason. It was like watching a green, sleeping great dane.
Across the city, her sister was on a mission.
* * * *
Never stood in the mansion foyer and looked at the woman with dark hair and flickering eyes who stood wrapped in a robe. “Wait, so you need a seer and someone who has access to the evidence lockup at the XIA? That is weirdly specific.”
Never nodded. “I am aware, but I would like to hunt down the attacker. Axa has waited long enough.”
“Axa? This is for Axa?”
“Yes. Axa Dorning.”
Another woman with brown hair that shone blue in the morning sun came into the room wearing a fuzzy robe. “What about Axa?”
Never introduced herself. “I am Hunter Kibra, and I am looking for the perpetrator of the drugging and subsequent coma of Axa Dorning. I am also Bella’s sister.”