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“Wasn’t time for that.” One shoulder lifted, then fell. “I thought he was dying.” She glanced back at Jude. “Hewasdying, and I needed the cavalry to get its ass here as fast as possible.” Then she jumped up the steps, hurrying her way to the top, right behind the line of retreating cops.
The EMTs moved toward Jude.
“No, no, I’ll be okay. I don’t need?—”
“Stitch him up and then get the hell out of here,” Antonio ordered.
The guy in the front—the one with the name tag reading John Bishop—gulped. “We—we’re gonna need to take him to a hospital.”
“No hospital.” Jude’s growl.
“You heard the man,” Antonio said.
“He could have internal bleeding. Severe blood loss. He could have?—”
“Get some thread and get a needle.” Antonio glowered at him. “Stitch up any wound bigger than your hand, and don’t worry about anything else.”
Good advice. The cop obviously knew hisOtherbusiness. Jude’s internal wounds would already be healing and his body would be compensating for any blood loss. White tigers were amazing healers. If the stories were true, they were almost the fastest of the shifters when it came to wound repair.
The wounds on the surface would take the longest time to heal. Shifters recovered from the inside, out. Mother Nature’s way of taking care of her priorities. Priorities like the heart and lungs and all the internal organs.
“You’re a hell of a fighter, Erin.” Jude’s voice was a soft rumble.
The EMTs went to work on him.
She forced a smile and stepped back, knowing she was in the way. “So are you.” If he hadn’t fought so hard, for so long, they never would have made it to him in time.
His gaze bored into hers. Not dull anymore. So very blue.Jude.He was back. She could almost see the strength pouring into him.
“You had one of the...dreams, didn’t you?”
Erin forced a nod. She’d never forget that vision. Until the day she died, Erin would always remember what it was like to see Jude murdered before her.
She took another step back.
“You weren’t too...late this time.”
No, not this time.
Jude didn’t even wince when Bishop drove a two-inch needle into his shoulder. Probably not necessary, not like he could get an infection, but?—
“Thanks for...saving my ass, sweetheart.”
Her lips trembled into a smile. “You’re welcome.” And she slipped in the blood and fell on her ass.
* * *
Come nightfall, the demons would be making his delivery. A bound and beaten tiger shifter—all ready for the kill.
He smiled as he stared into the swamp. Thick trees, lazy moss, muddy water. When he was finished, he’d toss the body out here and let the alligators take care of Donovan.What was left of him.
The body would never be found. No evidence, no crime. It’d be for the best that way. The shifter had too many friends. Too many hunters on his side.
Yes, it would be far better for the world if the bastard just vanished, and he would make certain that was exactly what the shifter did. Erin would be all alone then. She’d think her lover had abandoned her.
All lost and alone—what would she do?Turn to me.He’d take her, of course, but not until she’d paid for bringing the tiger into their lives. A little pain would be good for their relationship.
An alligator cruised past him, never slowing, never glancing his way.
