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You should have called for me.
I didn’t want you to see this.
At that, she laughed. “Why the hell not? I’ve seen worse. I’ve treated worse.”
A shifter medic was opening his pack, but she stopped him. “I’ll take care of this.”
He nodded, then moved to one of his own who leaned up against a tree holding his arm.
Emma didn’t address the leg right away. Instead, she put her hand on Vaughn’s forehead. “This should help.”
~ ~ ~
Vaughn was about to say, ‘What will help’, when a drug-like wave moved into his head, and his whole body relaxed. He knew he was in pain yet felt separated from it at the same time.
Which was a good thing, since he could feel Emma now pushing into the wound. A stream of hot pain sliced through the feel-good, and his mind went on an agonizing roller-coaster ride. He was pretty sure he was going to pass out.
Then everything disappeared.
When he regained consciousness, he could feel a profound pressure on his leg. The pain had become a dull pounding in his skull, but not impossible to bear. Emma must have set his leg.
The pop of weapon-fire had disappeared, which meant the battle was over. There was also a lot of male laughter coming from different directions.
It sounded so familiar, the way he and his vampire brothers-in-arms would be after a significant battle. He heard friendly shouting as well. Men were the same everywhere, including in Five Bridges, whether you were a vampire or a shifter.
“How are the girls?” His voice sounded slurred.
“Ah, you’re awake. Good. They’re fine. When I left Fergus to find you, he was making arrangements to get them out of here right away.”
He lifted up enough so that he could see what she was doing. She had both hands covering the wound. Healing flowed into his skin, muscle and bone. The bullet had caught his calf from behind and gone through the shinbone in front. Yeah, it had hurt like hell. “They got a tunnel?” The ever industrious cartels had built dozens of tunnels that went under the pavement and ended in cartel owned homes on the human side of Phoenix. Eventually, other tunnels were built by the decent citizens of Five Bridges to get humans back to safety.
Emma met his gaze and smiled that quirky smile of hers, the way she looked when she was pleased with something. “They’ve got several. I think they might even be taking them through now.”
“Seriously?”
“Shifters don’t mess around.”
“That’s right. Max.”
“You remind me of him, Vaughn. You’re a man of purpose and action. He was, too.”
He felt conflicted. He liked the compliment, but he’d started feeling jealous of a man long dead.
He glanced down at the wound. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
She sat back on her heels. “Good. But just so you know, I’ve never had this kind of healing gift before, at least not at this level. And I’m levitating now as well as possessing more natural strength. It was so easy to carry that girl in my arms while levitating. Anything new and unusual you want to report?”
He understood what she was getting at. “Well, the ghosts are looking more real to me by the minute, and I’ve never flown as I did getting the last girl back here. Even when I got hit, I speared the sky and shot into the forest like a rocket.” He might be bragging a little, but he didn’t care.
She scooted closer and took his hand. “What’s going on here, Vaughn? It’s so strange. I mean, I can levitate, for God’s sake. But it was more than that. I had your skill level as though being with you, maybe as part of the spell I’d created, transferred your ability to me.”
He stroked her face. “I don’t know, but I think it rocks, because we just saved six young teens from one of the most hellish experiences in Five Bridges.”
She smiled. “We did, didn’t we?” She then leaned down and put her lips on his.
Desire rose quickly, which meant he had to quit as in right now. He drew back.
“What is it? You still in pain?” She looked worried.
