Page 120 of Hoofin’ It

I thought about getting up. I spent so long thinking about it I missed my chance. Two Babylonians shoved Marian through a crack in the yellow crystals, and she squeaked, stumbling to a halt. Silver, shimmering cloth swaddled her, and she held it in place with a hand, her brown eyes wide. Her wet hair was plastered to her head.

With preternatural speed, Quinton stepped to her, tucked her under his arm, and guided her through the cavern while the pair of Babylonians melted into the stone. If I looked carefully, I could find the outline of their bodies. They crept away from where they’d disappeared, the faint, rare reflection of light on their carapaces betrayed their presence.

Marian’s eyes widened when she saw me. “Shane.”

I liked the way she breathed my name. “You all right?”

“I threw up.”

The confession motivated me to get to my feet, and I closed the distance between us, aware Quinton was ready to catch me if I fell. I tucked her wet hair behind her ears and smiled at her. “Pity party for two later?”

“I’m in. I broke my wrist.” She struggled to free her other hand from the fabric wrapped around her and revealed a brace covering most of her hand and extending to her elbow. “I think a tentacle touched me.”

After exchanging a worried glance with the vampire, I nudged Marian to the nearest crystal large enough to support our weight. When I thought of towels, shimmery and silky didn’t come to mind, but the fabric the Babylonians had wrapped her in seemed to be drying her and keeping her warm. “I won’t talk about the tentacles if you don’t.”

“I jumped in corpse stew, Shane.” She lifted her injured arm and sniffed the brace. “Why don’t I smell bad?”

“Shock,” Quinton whispered in my ear.

“Magic,” I answered, grateful the Babylonians had spared us from the canal’s stench. “What were you thinking, escaping from the hospital?”

“You were hurt,” she hissed at me, clutching the towel closer. “Of course I escaped from the hospital. I needed to find you. Who did it?”

I laughed, knowing I could get Quinton into a world of trouble with the woman if I wanted. I sat close and shamelessly leaned my weight against her. She leaned against me, too, which made me think everything was right in the world, at least for the moment. “I’m sorry I worried you. I wasn’t being hurt. I was being helped. It was just a bit painful is all.”

“I thought you were dying.”

Later, I’d need to ask her how she’d known. Instead of denying the truth, I kissed her cheek. “Quinton took care of me, so don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re shaking.”

“I’ve been told that’ll stop after I eat and get some rest. I owe our hosts an accounting of everything, so please don’t kill me when I say the S-word and the A-word?”

“This once,” she replied, gracing me with a smile. “You’re all right?”

I hooked the top of her towel with a finger and peeked, discovering a lovely, unimpeded view of bare skin. “Hospital gown didn’t survive the slide?”

“That was not a slide. It was a torture device. Then tentacles grabbed me, Shane. There were tentacles in the water. You didn’t tell me there were tentacles in the water.”

I laughed, wrapped my arms around her, and hugged her close. Whatever magic the Babylonians had used had erased the evidence of her trip, for which I was grateful. “Sorry, Marian.”

“You’re going to be sorry. Tentacles.”

Unable to blame her in the slightest for her crankiness, I wondered if I’d discovered one of her fears. I wasn’t a fan of tentacles, especially ones tipped in poisoned claws and hooks, but at the same time, those claws and hooks had helped me remain among the living. “I’d be unnerved by tentacles in the dark, too. The owners of the tentacles are the ones who helped me. And I needed the help. Right, Quinton?”

Maybe if I dumped the whole problem on the vampire’s lap, he could better prepare Marian to accept the Babylonians, especially since I still had trouble with their hooks and claws and secretions.

“I’m sorry, Miss Peterson. Part of what you sensed was likely my fault. He couldn’t be sedated until after he’d shifted back to human, and it was a painful process. I bit him so I could hold him in thrall long enough for him to be treated.”

Marian stiffened. “You bit him.”

“Out of necessity. Had I not, it would have been difficult to treat his injuries. I saw the MRI scans, and they were rather dire. He needed help the human hospitals here are unable to provide. Down here, they aren’t prejudiced—they aren’t human, nor are they anything like humans. His wrist will bear the evidence of my bite for a few days, but it’ll heal without scarring.”

I tightened my grip on Marian, holding her close. “I consented to it. If I’d known you would know, I would’ve done it differently. I had no idea you’d be aware.”

Marian frowned, her attention fixed on the vampire. “Really necessary?”

“Unless you wanted him in ICU for a few weeks, yes.”