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They stopped in front of the first door. Cain knocked and opened it. Eve got up from a chair. Her black hair was cropped into one of those cuts meant to look messy.
Sean’s gaze went to the bed and the woman who lay in it. The color of her face matched the white sheets. Her dark blond hair was splayed out over the pillow.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “How’s she doing?”
“I extracted the bullet and stitched her up,” Eve said. “After a couple of days’ rest, she’ll be fine.”
Sean looked around the room. “Where did you operate?”
“In a nearby clinic where they had the necessary equipment.”
They had her flown to another fucking country before treating her? Bristling, he said, “You could’ve done it in Colombia.”
“No.” Eve’s tone was gentle but firm. “She was stable. It made more sense to fly her to a secure location with the helijet. I checked her vitals in Cartagena when we switched from the helicopter to the jet. I wouldn’t have risked her life.”
“She’s right,” Cain said behind him. “Juan’s men would’ve tried to retaliate on home territory. Or worse, Godfrey. Here, I can keep you all safe.”
“Are you a surgeon?” Sean asked, facing Eve again.
“No, but I’m more than a doctor. I specialize in forbidden arts patients.”
“Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but Asia is human.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“You have the experience to cut bullets out of patients? Have you ever done this before?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.” She exchanged a look with Cain. “I’ve attended to a very similar bullet wound before.”
At Sean’s questioning look, Cain said, “She operated on Lily, Godfrey’s daughter.”
Lily? “I thought she was dead.”
“I’ll explain later. For now, go to her.” Cain motioned at the bed, gave a nod, and left the room.
“Five minutes,” Eve warned. “She has to rest.”
Sean stalked into the room and took Asia’s hand in his. Her skin was cold. He wanted to get down on the bed next to her and warm her body. The tubes prohibited him from touching her freely. The best he could do was press her palm against his chest.
An alarm beeped on the heart rate monitor.
His pulse spiked. “What’s wrong?”
Eve checked the screen. “Her heart rate picked up.”
He squeezed Asia’s fingers. “How bad is it?”
“I’m sorry, but you have to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he gritted out.
“Seeing that your presence is upsetting her, I’m not asking, Sean.”
Wait. What? Dropping Asia’s hand, he took a step back from the bed. Sure as hell, the beeping calmed a fraction as the graph depicting her heart rate dropped.
His presence distressed the woman he loved.
His soul went cold and brittle.
Turning on his heel, he left the room.
Chapter 14
Cain waited outside. “Come.”
Too upset to think, Sean followed Cain blindly down the hall and into a lounge decorated with colorful pre-Colombian art and tapestries. He sat down on the nearest sofa, trying to digest what had happened.
“Whiskey?” Cain asked, going over to a wet bar.
Sean scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yes.”
Cain poured four fingers from a decanter into a glass. “She’ll be fine.”
“Where are her grandmother and brother?”
“I’ll take you to them later.” He handed Sean the glass. “First, we need to talk business.”
Sean wasn’t in any state to discuss business.
“Your art returned,” Cain said. “How did it happen?”
Sean downed the whiskey in one go and put the glass aside. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“It’s important. The information can help the team in the future. Despite what you may think, we don’t know that much about the forbidden arts. A lot of the ancient documents were destroyed after the arts were prohibited in the Middle Ages. Gathering information for future generations is of the essence.” He paused to look from the window. In the garden below, Kat and Lann were playing with Thomas and Laudren. “Their children will benefit.”
Despite himself, Sean’s curiosity was piqued. “Is Thomas an aeromancist?”
“Beyond a doubt.” Cain smiled. “He’s already moving the air, as Lann puts it. He’s receiving special schooling to help him understand and manage his art. As for little Laudren, we can’t yet say. It’s too early. Clelia started to combust objects at the age of three. He may have a gift for tasting blood like his father. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” Turning back to Sean, he pointed at the window. “This is for them, not for me. Anything new, anything we don’t already know, will help.”
There was no point in withholding the information from Cain, even if he still blamed Cain for everything that had happened. Cain was right. The realization he’d come to that morning was huge. It needed to be recorded.
Sean wiped a hand over his brow. “My sister, Madelein, gave me her art when she … just before she died. When the fight ended with Armelle this morning and her art transferred to me, I understood something I hadn’t realized at the time of Maddy’s death. Once an art has been transferred, death is inevitable. You can’t give your art away and keep your life.”
