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Kade leaned forward and kissed my uncut cheek. "Today was fun."
"You have a very odd definition of fun," I said, voice dry. "And kissing is against the rules."
"Like you care about the rules." He gave me a salute good-bye, then spun on his heel and walked out.
I walked over to Iktar and held out my hand. "Keys?"
"In the car."
"Thanks."
He nodded, then his all-blue gaze met mine. "This job will kill us all, won't it?"
I hesitated, then nodded. "Probably. None of us is immortal, Iktar."
His gaze went back to the bakeneko's body, then he nodded slowly. "I guess it's as good a way of going as any."
"Oh, I think getting old and slipping away peacefully surrounded by friends and loved ones would be a hell of a lot better than this."
His gaze came back to mine. "But you and I are not destined for that, are we?"
"Probably not." I squeezed his shoulder lightly, his flesh cold and clammy under my fingertips, then walked away. I didn't want to think about a future I might not have. I just wanted to get to the hospital and make sure my present was alive and well.
Liander's surgeon walked in an hour after I arrived back at the hospital.
Yann and Raina stood up immediately, but Rhoan didn't move, his expression carefully neutral but the tension in his body suddenly sharpening.
"How did the operation go?" Raina asked, her normally warm tones thin and high. Shaky.
The gray-haired surgeon gave her one of those smiles doctors all over the world seemed to use. The one that said everything was fine, even if things were going to hell and back.
"We repaired the bowel and the small intestine damage, but we can't one hundred percent guarantee we've gotten all the fecal matter out of his abdominal cavity, so we'll have to keep an eye out for infection. For that reason, we've confined him with light silver to stop him from shifting."
"But silver will kill him - "
"And by shifting, he could accelerate the infection as much as the healing, and that could be dangerous. We need to give it a day or so to be sure." The doctor gave her his best professional smile. "We don't use enough silver to kill, just restrain. It'll burn, but he'll heal from that and be fine."
"Oh, thank God," Raina said, raising one hand to her chest.
The surgeon hesitated, then said, "He did lose a lot of blood, and we'll have to keep him in the hospital for a little longer than we normally would for a wolf, just because the risk of infection is a lot higher, but I think he's going to be fine."
"That's excellent news, Doc," Yann said gruffly.
The surgeon smiled. "I wish all my patients were as tough as this young man. I don't like losing patients."
Which in itself said just how close Liander had been to death.
"Can we go see him, Doctor?" Raina asked.
The surgeon hesitated again. "Only two of you. And only quickly."
"Thank you, Doctor."
He nodded and spun on his heel. "This way."
Raina squeezed her husband's hand, then followed the surgeon. Yann didn't move. "Rhoan?" he said, voice sharp.
Rhoan looked up quickly. "Yes, sir?"
