Chapter 13
thirteen
“This is getting to be a bad habit.”
Warmth encased me, and I turned into the heat to chase away the chill. “Hmph?”
“Almost dying on my watch.” Long fingers slid through my hair. “I thought I would be better at this.”
Sleep-thick haze parted as my mind latched on to the voice and identified the speaker. “Rían.”
Details of the room swam into focus, and I found myself in the urgent care center once again. Same bed, same room, as far as I could tell. But this time Rían was sitting cross-legged on the mattress while holding me on his lap.
“Yeah.” His lazy strokes continued across my scalp. “How are you feeling?”
“Good.” I cracked open my eyes and swept my gaze across his features. “You’re okay?”
“I’m not the one who got shot.” He shifted under me like he wanted to set me aside, like he couldn’t bring himself to touch me now that I was awake. “I’m only vulnerable for seconds during the change, and that was all it took.”
“Ah.” I pushed off his thigh, which might as well have been a freaking railroad crosstie, and slid off him onto the cold sheets. “I see.”
One measly arrow, and I was getting benched for my own good.
“Ana.” He reached for me but pulled his hand back at the last second. “I’m not blaming you.”
“That’s not how it sounds.”
“I’ve spent my whole life preparing for you, convincing myself when I found you, I could keep you safe.
I built myself up with the goal of protecting you.
I thought my size was an advantage, but I couldn’t have shifted in the diner without squashing you and everyone else.
Even after, I was limited in my range of motion with you beside me, but I couldn’t leave you unprotected with so many enemies swarming us.
I underestimated Nelson and overestimated myself.
The combination could have gotten you killed. ”
Whether Fayne had planted the notion of his being my defender in his head or he put it there himself after his parents were killed, the details of which I had yet to learn, he was too wrapped up in this idea I was the key to—I don’t know—his happiness?
His revenge? His atonement? He had let the idea of me take up so much room in his head, in his life, he was struggling to align the concept of me with the reality.
Hand rising to my chest, I tested the area where the arrow had gone in, igniting a terrible itch. “There’s a lot I don’t know, but I do know this wasn’t your fault.”
“There is a lot you don’t know,” he allowed, “and there hasn’t been much downtime to fill you in.”
Footsteps clattered down the hall, and a bright head of red hair popped around the doorframe.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.” Goldie took a running jump and landed at the foot of the bed. “Liam said not to bother you, but I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition, huh?” I couldn’t help my smile. “What did you have in mind?”
“I would like to buy the kittens from you for five dollars each. I can get them spayed at the animal shelter for free. Jess will give me a discount on their shots and vet care, so that won’t cost me much. Then I can resell—”
“Kittens?” I must have missed something somewhere. “What kittens?”
“The ones from under the sink.” She frowned at me. “Liam didn’t tell you?”
“The plumber only left an hour ago, brat.” Liam strolled in and scooped her off the bed and onto his hip like she was a much smaller child. “But yes, Ana, you’re the proud owner of four kittens who vaguely resemble drowned mice.”
This was karma, wasn’t it? For turning the salon employees into mice and then drenching them in drool. The universe must have felt the best way for me to atone for thinking snacky thoughts while I was a dog was to gift me with cats.
“Where did they come from?” I had to stop and think back to the morning we met at GSG before driving the pets to Pampered Pooches when it felt like a million years ago.
“The sound came up the drain, right?” I heard the noise but not up close.
“There’s no way they got flushed down on our end.
” Even if the mother cat broke in and left them in the sink, thinking it was safe, the drain mesh would have protected them from falling in.
“They couldn’t have accessed the exterior sewer pipe to climb inside either, so how did they get in there? ”
“They were under the tub. That’s why Rían didn’t see them.
They were stuck beneath the cabinet where the exposed plumbing is, between the underside of the supply shelf Rían was laying on and the thin trim piece around the bottom of the unit that touches the floor.
” Liam didn’t blink when Goldie crawled over his side until she hung from his back.
“There was a gap between the wall and the back of the tub, maybe six inches, and the momma cat birthed them in there. Newborn kittens make an unholy racket when the momma cat leaves them, and two of them have upper respiratory infections from the damp conditions.”
Now I had a leak too? No. I wasn’t going to ask. Just in case Rían’s handyman skills were somehow to blame.
“Metal is a great sound conductor,” I mused, already writing a mental to-do list to guarantee nothing like this ever happened again. “Guess that solves the mystery of the goblin in the sink drain.”
“What do you think, Ana?” Goldie popped her head over Liam’s shoulder. “Can I buy your kittens?”
“Let me talk to your brother first, and I’ll get back to you.”
“This offer is only good for twenty-four hours,” she cautioned me like a salesman on a used car lot. “You better act fast.”
“I understand,” I said solemnly. “I’ll give you an answer as soon as possible.”
“Ana.”
All I could do was brace for impact as Sloane skidded around the door and launched onto my hospital bed. She landed half on me and half on Rían, who she obviously hadn’t expected, because she jumped again, this time landing in the floor on her haunches.
“Are we sure she’s not a wererabbit?” Liam cocked an eyebrow at her. “She’s so bouncy.”
“Are you supposed to be out of bed?” I leaned forward with a twinge and scratched the annoying spot on my chest. “Or are the guards about to bust down the door and haul you back to your cell?”
“I’m a free woman,” she huffed, standing. “The clan bond got me fixed up good as new in record time, but they wouldn’t let me visit until you were conscious.” She glanced around the room. “Looks like I was the last one to arrive at the party.”
“Your invitation must have gotten lost in the burrow.” Liam winced after Goldie pinched him. “What was that for?”
“Be nice.” She growled at him. Actually growled. “Remember when that boy pulled my hair and his mom said it meant he liked me, but you said it meant he was an ass—”
“Okay.” Liam slapped a hand over her mouth. “You’ve made your point.”
“Will you be nicer to Sloane?” Goldie mumbled against his palm. “Ana won’t stay if you don’t because they’re best friends, and best friends are more important than boys.”
Oh yeah. I had been right about this kid all along. She had everything figured out.
“I’ll be nicer to Sloane.” He lowered his arm. “Happy?”
Her answering smile lit up the room, and he softened in the face of her joy. He might annoy Sloane and me, but it was clear that Goldie thought her cousin hung the moon, and Liam believed she outshone the sun. “Yes.”
“Let’s go steal ice cream from Gran’s freezer.” He tweaked her nose. “Last time, we almost made it before the trap caught us.”
“Fayne sets traps to keep people out of her freezer?” Sloane looked both impressed and intrigued. “She must really love ice cream.”
“Something like that,” Rían mumbled beside the bed. “We’ll leave you two alone, let you catch up.”
Regret he was leaving so soon weighed on me, but I wanted to talk to Sloane about everything that had happened to her. Especially the part about belonging to Clan Walsh.
Hopping off Liam, Goldie twirled out the door to wait in the hall.
“This itch is driving me crazy.” I rubbed my skin through the fabric of my gown again, this time edging closer to the wound, and I sensed a hard and weirdly smooth spot.
“What is that?” I peeked down the neck of my gown and gawked at what I found imbedded in my skin where the arrow had struck.
“Rían?” I yanked it down farther. “What is this?”
Both Rían and Liam responded to my panic and turned toward me. I was already back to gawking at myself when a meaty thud jerked my attention away from my chest to find Liam sprawled on the floor, clutching his nose while Rían stood over him, staring at his fist like it belonged to someone else.
“Your boobs are hanging out, and Liam stole a peek.” Sloane helped me adjust my neckline with a spluttering laugh. “That’s why…” Her eyes snagged on the spot that freaked me out a second ago, and she jerked the fabric right back down. “What the hell is that?”
“Rían?” I squeaked as her panic fed my own. “Care to weigh in? Preferably before I have a heart attack?”
“I can’t…” He covered his eyes with a hand. “You’re…” He made a vague gesture. “I’ll get Fayne.”
“No.” I wanted answers, and I wanted them this instant, which meant strategic self-groping to cover my nips. “You can look now, and you need to look right now and tell me what’s happening.”
His loud swallow filled the room, but he lowered his hand and trained his eyes on my face.
“This is the problem.” Sloane pointed a damning finger at my chest. “You’ll have to look to see it.”
A low groan seeped out of him as he plodded over with his shoulders up around his ears.
“It’s okay.” I experienced the overwhelming urge to comfort him, even though I was still iffy on when my touch was welcome. Despite our snuggle sessions while I was a dachshund, he pulled away from me as often as I did him. “I show more skin than this in a bikini.”
Slowly, slowly, he dipped his gaze to the injury, eyes going wide, and he sucked in a breath.
The awkwardness vanished in a blink as he rushed over and caressed the quarter-sized area with the very tip of a finger. Good thing I was holding on to my nips, because they were very interested in what he was doing with his hands.
Down, girls.
“It’s a scale.” His face held unconcealed wonder. “You wanted proof you’re a dragon.”
Gawking at my sternum, I could just determine the delicate scallop edges. “And now I’ve got it.”