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She forced herself to take a deep breath. Every instinct she had now vibrated with warning. “Spill it, my friend.”
“It’s Officer Braden. The shifter we brought in was Braden and I’ll need your special witch blood to transfuse.”
Braden.
Time stopped. That’s the only way she could describe what happened.
Had she heard right?
She should have known, but how could she? His face had been bloody and badly swollen. There was no way she could have recognized him.
Her throat grew tight. Dammit, why was she having this kind of reaction, as though she was losing her husband all over again.
She and Braden weren’t that close. Except, she’d gotten to know him well over the many appointments he’d made with her. For over a year, he’d been on a mission to locate his wife’s killers. For eight hours a day, he worked as a Border Patrol Officer, one of the hardest, most dangerous jobs in Five Bridges. But after each shift, he was on the hunt in her territory. He’d even rented a cheap apartment in Elegance Territory so he could work the case off-hours.
Until this moment, however, she hadn’t realized how important he’d become to her.
Somehow, in the months she’d gotten to know him, he’d become a true friend. In that sense, he was one of the first friendships she’d formed in Five Bridges. His wife had been killed not long after Maeve had arrived in Elegance.
“On my way.”
She jumped into a clean pair of jeans and threw on a fresh t-shirt, then ran the entire distance back to the emergency room.
~ ~ ~
Braden hovered between worlds. Gray fog rolled through the space. For some reason, he now lay on his back. Was he in the Graveyard? He couldn’t tell.
From far away, he heard voices calling to each other. One male shifter appeared to be giving orders. But he couldn’t make out the words.
He felt a soft hand on his face.
He turned. A gasp shuddered in his throat. His wife had returned. He tried to speak, but his voice wasn’t working. He switched to telepathy. Laura, my Love.
I’m here, my darling.
Her touch was cool to his forehead, yet not quite substantial, as though air passed over him. I can’t believe you’ve come back.
And I always forget how handsome you are. She leaned close. He felt her lips on his. But again, not fully substantial, just a soft vibration.
He was comforted. Deeply.
Yet pain followed, rising from the well of his grief that she’d died.
You can let me go now, Braden. I know you miss me. But you’ve got to move on and you must do it quickly. You have work to do, my love.
What work? He didn’t understand.
She continued to pet his forehead. Just look at her. There, not far.
Images came to him of Maeve. She was a red-headed beauty his body always responded to. He’d spoken with her often in his investigations. She had a candle shop and he confessed he liked talking to her. But she was a witch and he hated her kind. A dark coven had taken Laura’s life.
The setting didn’t seem familiar, though, so he knew he wasn’t in Maeve’s store. She sat on a stool near what looked like an operating table. A team worked on the body, but his gaze stayed focused on her.
Then he saw the line attached to her arm and leading to the patient. She was donating blood.
Huh. The witch continually surprised him. She was a blood donor.
He shifted his gaze fully to the patient. It took him a moment to recognize himself. Maeve is donating to me?
