Page 27 of Bound

And the sooner I accepted that, the better.

4

Topher

SIRENS ECHOED ACROSS THE AMBULANCE BAY AS AN EMT crew pulled up to Lindley County’s main regional hospital and began offloading a patient. I’d just finished an overnight shift where my crew had gotten sent out on ten calls. Shifts like that were ordinarily a killer, with no time to decompress, and since getting the news about Kieran, I’d been running on coffee and adrenaline. With every patient transfer we signed off on at the hospital, all I could see was my brother staring out at me from that photograph, holding a crumpled newspaper.

I pushed away from the hospital’s brick exterior as two familiar figures approached from the visitor’s parking lot. I hadn’t seen River Caldwell in close to a year. He was taller than Brody and leaner in build. Black military fatigues, a skull trim and a wicked scar that traced the length of his jaw caused most people to walk on the opposite side of the street if they saw him coming. But it was more than that. There was a coldness to River’s pale gray eyes that was straight out of your local mercenary-for-hire magazine.

I pocketed my phone. “Hey.”

“This the OD from over by the high school?” Brody said as we made our way towards the emergency department entrance. “Dispatch had it two hours ago. Why’d it take you so long to call?”

I ground my teeth, reminding myself how many dragon books Caldwell would make me read as punishment if I killed his brother.

Beside me, River suppressed a cough.

I led the way through the brightly lit hospital corridor. “He coded on the way in. We were a little busy. Eighteen-year-old male. Contusions on the head, arms and upper torso. Low BP and signs of dehydration. Tox screen isn’t back yet.”

“And you’re sure the vampire who fed from him is the same one you marked at the apartment complex in Austin?” River murmured as we passed the triage desk. He touched his ear. “Yeah, August. You got him?” There was a pause, followed by the buzz of the lock release as we passed through the heavy wooden doors that led back to the main emergency treatment area. “We’re clear. He’s in number eight.”

“I’m sure. But look, he’s still unconscious. And no way are they letting anyone in to see him.”

River smirked, walking backwards as we passed the nurses’ station. “Leave that to me.”

And sure enough, the next nurse we passed in the hallway started to frown in our direction only to blink twice and continue walking, juggling the IV bag and portable stand he was pushing.

“I’ll wait out here,” Brody said when we got to a row of patient beds partitioned off by beige curtain panels. “Make this quick.”

River and I slipped inside the curtained area marked eight. Most of the narrow space was taken up by a hospital bed. Portable monitors and IV stands were crammed up against the wall, beeping quietly.

“This him?” River moved around me to the man lying unconscious in the bed.

“Yeah, it’s him.” Like I even needed to respond. River had probably already lifted the answer from my head the second we’d walked in. Maybe even the moment I’d called Brody. “Look,” I started when he lifted his fingers to make contact with John Doe’s temple. “All those doctors and nurses you wiped back there—”

“They’ll be fine,” he said distractedly.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

West: I leave you alone for five minutes…

West: Please tell me you and River haven’t blown anything up.

Things on the Caldwell front were fifty shades of awkward. We’d agreed not to let things get weird. You know, weirder than hooking up with the guy you not so secretly had a thing for only to have him let you down gently because he’s pretty sure you only slept with him out of magical obligation.

Topher: Saving it for after breakfast. We’re meeting at Guillermo’s, btw. Interested? And did you get the book I left you?

West: We both know I can eat my weight in pancakes. August said if I spoil the ending of book-that-shall-not-be-named, he won’t speak to either one of us for a week. As in, the last time, he broke into my apartment and wired all my lights to play Christmas music every time I used the microwave.

Topher: Double locking my doors.

West: Are we still on for Shadow and Bone later? I know you said no fae or dragons. But I deserve some sort of reward for finishing Dostoevsky.

Topher: 1. You’re a literary snob. 2. Convince me over pancakes. 3. Team-Darkling, btw.

West: Like there’s any other team.

I glanced over at River. His eyes were closed. On the bed, John Doe didn’t stir.