The injured raccoon perks up, her fur starting to regrow right before our eyes. Marco is chattering and excited, pacing the confines of the box, Polo is confused, but perks up even more when Kiara says, “This calls for a celebration!” And dumps half the bag into the bowl for them to devour.
I shake my head in disbelief. “Is this a normal work day for you?”
“Oh no, these are actually my first long term patients. Usually I sit around calling pet stores and other places to try and collaborate to drum up business, but all of them want a stack of business cards or a financial donation as incentive to hand them out. Seeing as I have neither a car nor money, it’s never gone anywhere, so I tend to clean or doodle until closing time unless I get a walk-in.”
My heart breaks for her, realizing I’m the reason why her business is struggling. “Kiara, I-”
The faint tinkling of a bell chiming in the lobby has her face lighting up. “Well hot damn! Looks like you're my lucky charm, Vic. I might have to bring you to work more often.”
I swallow the apology on the tip of my tongue. Because as sorry as I am, no good will come from admitting I was killingher customers. The best I can do now is find new ones. Not to mention, now that her ‘assistant’ will be released back into the wild with his mate soon, she'll need an extra set of hands around here.
I just need to prove I'm more useful than her other mates.
I take a deep breath and release it slowly. No, I need to prove I can workwiththem. Kiara’s already got Stryker and the feral shifter wearing her mark, not to mention whoever the fuck this Devlin guy is they're living with. She's not going to leave them all for me, and she shouldn't have to. I've always known she'd build a bondgroup, and though I wish I was there to watch it form, I can't go back in time. If I want a future with Kiara, I need her to see I can fit into her life and make it better, not harder.
The guy that stumbled through the door looks like hell. No coat, streaks of mud up his arms and jeans, cheeks red from the cold. “I’ve been searching for hours for a myst-run vet.Pleasetell me that’s you,” he begs, chest heaving.
“Tell me what happened,” she demands.
“I-I don't know,” he stutters. “He crashed onto my farm about four hours ago. Checked his wings, but they look alright. He was having trouble breathing, so I made sure he wasn't choking, but didn't see anything, and he's running a super high fever. All the vets nearby my place are run by humans though, and I couldn’t risk bringing him there.”
“Show me,” she says, pushing him out the door and running outside without her coat. I snag it before following her out to a truck hauling a massive horse trailer behind it, parked haphazardly in front of the building.
“You said wings. What am I walking into, here?”
He glances around to make sure the coast is clear, looking from me to Kiara before pleading, “Don’t tell anyone about him. I thought my granddaddy was full of shit there was a reason ourcrops did better than other farms, but he was right. People will hunt him down if they realize they still exist.”
Nervous now, I watch as he unlocks the trailer and drags the door open, revealing a soaking wet beast sprawled out, breathing labored. And the sight steals my own breath away.
A thunderbird. One large enough it could swallow me whole, with feathers that look like varying shades of smoke, tipped in an electric silvery-blue. Claws of molten gold that reflect the sunlight, each razor sharp and at least six inches long. It’s awe-inspiring, even on death’s doorstep.
My mate recovers far faster than me, climbing inside without a single ounce of fear that it’ll rip her throat out. “Hey there, handsome,” she says gently, kneeling beside its head and petting his neck in steady, soothing strokes. “Bear with me while I see what’s going on, and then I’m going to make it better, alright?”
A frigid wind races through the slats, breaking me out of my frozen state. Careful not to move too quickly and startle the beast, I wrap Kiara’s coat around her shoulders, crouching beside her to block some of the wind.
A soft silver glow emanates from her palms, her eyes closed as she works. Seconds turn into minutes, and I fall a little more in love with her every one that passes. Whatever Kiara does, she’s all in from the very first moment. And I’m a damn fool for not realizing how sending her away would hurt her more than protect her.
Slowly, the thunderbird’s breathing levels out, the tension in its body ebbing until it peels one tired eye open to stare at my mate. There’s an intelligence there I’m not surprised to see; a mythological creature as rare as this doesn’t stay alive this long unless it’s as wise as it is old. It rakes its gaze over Kiara before shifting to me. It’s slower to dismiss me as a threat, more acknowledging that I am one, but accepting I’m not a threat tohimbefore letting his eyes fall shut.
“There,” Kiara says wearily, sitting back on her heels. “Should be good as new after a solid night’s sleep.”
I rise to my feet, offering a hand to help her up, but she tries to quickly tug her sleeves down. Frowning, I gently grab her arm, rolling her sleeve up. The ringing in my ears reaches a fever pitch as I study the black veins across her hand, extending up her arm like poison.
Aware we’re not alone, I carefully roll her sleeve back down to cover the evidence before scooping her up, holding her against my chest as I jump down from the trailer and stride past the guy that’s worn a rut into the ground from his anxious pacing.
“What the heck has gotten into you?” she asks. “Let me down!”
“Humor me.”
Upon seeing us, the guy jogs forward. “Is he going to be okay? How much do I owe you?”
My mate squirms in my hold, but quickly realizes her escape attempts are futile and sighs, slumping against my chest. “He’ll be good as new after some sleep, and don’t worry about it. It was payment enough to actually see one in person.”
Oh,fuckthat.
I hold out my hand. “How much you got?”
The guy hastily pulls out his wallet. He’s got all of forty bucks, so I pluck out a twenty and hand it to Kiara. “You really want to thank her? Spread the word to any mysts that are good enough people to make it through Mercy's wards.”
