A snapping of bone makes me wince, and by the howl of rage and pain, I’m betting it was Reid’s wrist. Seconds later, Hunter rushes out, “Don’t, you’re going to make yourself sick. The feral energy is toxic in these things; had me puking in the bushes when I tried earlier. And hate to break it to ‘ya, but Damian’s the only one that can pull off that trick.”
Fighting back a wave of nausea, I refuse to stop. “Then you can’t complain when it takes me longer to bring him down, so have fun trying not to die while I concentrate.”
With a slew of curses, he begins helping, and immediately, there's a noticeable difference. What before was a massive onslaught on my system lessens considerably, making it easier for me to breathe through the pain rapidly spreading throughout my body. The desire to vomit is coupled with a splitting migraine that has a small whimper slipping out with the next crack of thunder, and my limbs tremble with fevered chills. When Reid’s movements become sluggish, I tighten my hold, pulling harder.
Can’t touch her, she’s mine.The words are barely discernible; guttural, like spoken through a mouth full of glass shards.
Snippets of images flit through my mind so fast that I don’t have time to understand half of them. Faceless, blurred figures, a sea of limbs, and blood turning the soil to mud so thick, it sucks me down like quicksand. The sights and thoughts are muddled, but the sudden shock of anguished panic is a punch to the gut so hard, I lose my grip.
I hear the wet thud from the impact of the back of my head on the cement as much as I feel it, but can’t muster the energy to even lift my hand to check the damage. Pressure suffocates me like a weighted blanket, leaving me gasping for air in short bursts, but the only thing I receive in the attempt is a deluge of rain attempting to drown me. The fire in my veins is a muted version of the pain Damian put me through when he freed my wolf, and that’s my only saving grace.
I’ve felt pain of such magnitude that I don’t have any doubt that I’ll survive this. It’s agonizing, but nothing that I can’t endure, because I know it won’t last forever. Having that knowledge makes it bearable, allows me to trick myself into thinking ‘two more minutes and it’ll be over.’
A hand wraps around my ankle, and I use the connection to ground me, to keep from mentally spiraling and completely losing myself in my head. If that hand isn’t dragging me to death’s doorstep, it’s a sign that things are okay, because someone doesn’t need it to fight. So I simply concentrate on trying to breathe through the tight pressure in my chest without drowning, and as time ticks by, the pain lessens to a more manageable level.
My head is foggy, from both the possible concussion, and the fever raging through my body, but I tentatively open my eyes. When the world stops spinning, I sit up, nearly falling as everything lurches to the side.
“Better?” Hunter asks as he steadies me, quietly panting.
Blinking several times, all three of him finally merge into one, and after another thirty seconds, he stays that way. He’s leaning back against the railing near my feet, face flushed, and his normally dark green eyes blown completely to solid black. Chest heaving like he ran a mile, Hunter repeats himself, and I risk a small nod that I immediately regret.
Grabbing my upper arm, he catches me before I fall backward again, dragging me to his side. Between the railing and him, I’m able to stay upright, blinking a few more times to right my vision as I attempt to make sense of what I’m seeing. The blow to the head must have been worse than I thought, my brain sluggish and struggling to process, but things finally begin to compute.
Reid. Fuck, what if we took too much, if we...
I can’t bring myself to finish the thought, the rush of anxiety helping me fight through my bleary vision. Nameless faces litter the balcony, red water pooling everywhere and traveling in tiny rivers off of the ledge, as well as into the hole blown in the siding of the house, staining the wreckage of what used to be a bedroom. And amongst it all, a short distance away, is the person I’m searching for. Face down and unconscious, Reid lies there, his reddish-brown hair darkened by the rain, but no less distinguishable in the unmoving crowd. And most importantly? Only on his head, his naked body blessedly human once more.
“Yeah, I’m feeling better,” I murmur. The pearlescent blue series of puncture marks from my teeth on Hunter’s bare shoulder are blurred with streaks of blood, creating a morbidly perfect target for my head to land on his shoulder as my eyes close. “You shouldn’t have pulled from me, too, though. NowI’mgoing to have to carry Reid out of here because you can’t even stand. Again.”
Chuckling, he settles a hand slightly above my knee, thumb languidly stroking back and forth. “You kidding me? Once that beta of yours sees the shape you’re in, you won’t be walking anywhere ever again. Carried around like the princess you are from here on out.”
“Me?You’rethe princess. Saved your ass twice in one night, remember? You’re all damsely and needy; not sure why I brought you here in the first place.”
Another wave of nausea makes me pause, breaths growing ragged for a few minutes until the impulse to vomit passes. “It may not be one of the daily foot rubs you owe me now, but I suppose taking the edge off from this overloadisa good start.”
“Since when do I owe youanyfoot rubs, let alone daily?” he asks, his breathy chuckle immediately morphing into a pained groan.
“And I thought I was the one that hit my head. Since I heroically saved you from burning to death using only my amazingly talented mouth, obviously. I’m nice, but notsonice that I wouldn’t exploit my good deed.”
“Obviously,” he agrees before we go back to sitting in mutual silence, listening to the faint sounds of distant snarls and stray gunshots as the stragglers are weeded down to nothing.
Jerking out of the dozed state I’d slipped into when a howl rings out, louder than the storm, a sharp pain lances through my skull. Groaning, I gently probe the back of my head, hissing in pain and swiftly pulling my fingers away.
Hunter catches my wrist before I can rinse the fresh blood off of my fingers in the puddle beside my hip. “If I never set foot in Shadow Ridge again this lifetime, it’llstillbe too damn soon.” Lifting my wrist, he presses a featherlight kiss to my pulse and releases a shuddering sigh. “Let’s get you out of here, killer. It's time to gohome.”
