Chapter 48
My chest heaved as I struggled to make sense of what was right in front of my eyes. The two dragons shimmered and then morphed back into Declan and Ronan. The wolf trembled and then did the same.
Colt cursed as he stood, hand covering himself. Dash hurried over to him. “How bad?”
“I’m fine,” he gritted out. “Check Leighton.”
His words made me realize that I, too, was shaking. That painful cold still wracking through me.
“We need to get inside,” Ronan clipped.
The fact that he, Declan, and Colt were all naked as the day they were born wasn’t even on the top ten list of shocking things of my night.
Guards stormed around the house, all dressed in black.
“Check the perimeter,” Colt ordered, and they took off across the property.
Trace ground his back teeth together as his eyes raked over me. “Did he touch you?”
I tried to clear my muddled thoughts. “What?”
“The shadow demon. Did. He. Touch. You?” Trace growled.
“H-he touched my shoulder.”
All the guys cursed.
“Come on,” Dash said, pressing a hand to my back. “Let’s get inside so I can treat you.”
I moved almost robotically. Some part of my brain recognized that shock was setting in. Dash guided me through the house, taking a path I didn’t recognize down a maze of hallways until we got to a large wood door.
Dash pressed his palm to a pad next to the door, and there was a series of sounds. A moment later, he opened the door.
Stepping inside, I gasped. The room was massive.
Three of the walls were made of glass, letting the moonlight stream in and illuminating a secret garden.
Plants of all kinds took over the space, ones that looked familiar and others that were completely exotic.
Every color under the rainbow was present.
“Over here,” Dash said, pushing me gently along.
He guided me to a lab area of sorts. There were microscopes and test tubes and equipment I didn’t have the first clue about.
Dash sat me on a stool. “Take off your sweatshirt.”
I eyed the rest of the guys. Declan, Ronan, and Colt had grabbed basketball shorts somewhere along the way, but Colt was clearly in pain.
I pushed to my feet, crossing to him in a flash. It was then that I saw the gash along his side. The blood coating the wound had turned black, looking so similar to whatever had been on that creature’s teeth. “We need to get you to a doctor. That looks bad.”
Ronan shook his head. “That’s what we have Dash for.”
I glanced over to see Dash mashing a series of ingredients into a mortar.
“I need to see where he touched you, Leighton.”
There was none of the typically easygoing air in Dash’s tone.
I slipped off my sweatshirt, and a litany of curses filled the air. I glanced down at my shoulder and gaped. Black shadows covered my skin like ink poured into a glass of water.
Trace crossed to me, leaning in but not touching me. “You need to move, Dash. This is a tracking mark. If we don’t get it off in the next few minutes, it’ll be with her for good.”
Declan moved in beside me, taking my hand. “It’ll be okay.”
But something in his eyes told me he wasn’t quite convinced of that.
“Tracking as in that thing will know where I am?” I squeaked.
Trace winced, and that was the only answer I needed.
Dash hurried over to me and gooped a paste over the shadowed area, not caring that he was getting it all over my tank top, too. He glanced at Trace. “We’re going to need you.”
Trace clenched his fists at his sides. “It’s a bad idea.”
“She won’t be able to handle the pain without you,” Dash said quietly.
Declan released my hand, stepping back for Trace to take his place.
Trace took one step and then another until he was just a breath away. But he still didn’t touch me.
Dash looked down at me, apology in his gaze. “This is going to hurt, but there’s no other way.”
Growls filled the room.
Dash glanced at Trace and nodded.
Trace took my hand, holding on as if for dear life.
It was the first time I could remember him touching me.
I knew he had that night I was attacked, but I couldn’t remember it clearly.
The moment his skin connected with mine, warmth radiated through me.
A wave of heat and tingly energy that made me want to rub up against Trace like a cat.
“I’m so sorry, Leighton,” Dash whispered, and then pressed his hand against my shoulder as he muttered words in that language I didn’t recognize.
Pain ripped through my body. That icy agony like when the creature had touched me but so much worse. A scream tore from my throat, and more hands were on me, keeping me from collapsing to the ground.
“How much more?” Colt yelled at Dash.
“I’m not sure. It’s a bad one.”
Wave after wave of pure torture cascaded through me.
Soft lips pressed to my temple. “Hold on, Little Bird. Just hold on.”
There was a snapping sensation deep within me, and then Dash released his hold. I did collapse then, into Declan’s waiting arms. He scooped me up and carried me to a stool, where he sat and settled me on his lap.
Echoes of the pain still coursed through me like tiny electrocutions.
Dash breathed heavily but then turned to Colt. “Let’s get this over with.”
Colt shook his head. “I can wait for you to get some strength back.”
“We’re not taking any chances. We do this now,” Dash argued.
Colt ground his teeth together but nodded.
My head nestled against Declan’s chest as I watched Dash paste a different concoction on Colt’s side. He pressed his hand to it and began chanting. Sweat broke out on Colt’s brow, and he braced himself on a table.
I wanted to stand, to go to him, to help ease him somehow.
Declan held me tighter. “He’ll be okay. I promise.”
A second later, Dash released Colt, and Colt’s chest heaved. “Thank you.”
Dash sank onto a stool, and Ronan shoved what looked like a glass of orange juice into his hand.
I scanned the room, stopping on every face as I went, trying to put the pieces together. “You’re not human.”
It wasn’t a question.
Colt straightened, his breathing still slightly labored. “We’re not.”
My throat went dry, a new question playing on the edges of my mind for the first time, one that had been rising to the surface ever since I saw Colt morph into a wolf. “Am I human?”
Colt’s gaze bored into mine. “No, you’re not.”