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Johnny slipped around my other side to take it in. His mouth pressed into a thin line, eyes narrowed and arms folded across his chest.
“Yeah, fuck it,” he huffed. “We need to get rid of it. The last one didn’t help us, anyway.”
Aria pressed a kiss to my cheek, then hurried to the boxes behind me, shuffling around for something as my friend stared at the painting intently. Even if they got rid of it, the image would be forever burned into my head, and I was sure the same was true for him now, too.
“Should I just set it on fire here?” she asked when she came back, now toting a lighter.
“It’ll probably set off a fire alarm or something,” I pointed out.
“I don’t think this storehouse has one of those,” Johnny argued, and I couldn’t help but smirk. Theywerea little behind the times here.
Aria looked between us, then rolled her eyes, grabbing the canvas and dragging it outside. We followed after her. I laughed when she struggled to get it to light.
After a moment of fighting with the lighter, the wood on the canvas finally caught; Johnny grabbed a handful of sticks from nearly to throw on top and speed up the process.
We watched it burn together, grim expressions on our faces.
Johnny suddenly turned to look at something far-off. “Heads up, Auren’s chatting up a crow.”
Aria groaned when he said that. I leaned around him to see—sure enough, Auren was glaring up into a tree, talking to a black bird perched on one of the lower limbs.
“The bird’s probably his soulmate now. Earlier, it was a cat,” my mate grumbled in exasperation. After I gave her an incredulous look, she huffed. “Right? I was coming to tell you about it when I realized you were painting. I’m starting to get really worried.”
“I’d bet Zuzanna is messing with him,” Johnny said, chuckling.
“I kind of hope so, at this point,” Aria agreed. Her discomfort was like an itchy blanket laid across my shoulders.
“Auren!” a familiar voice suddenly shouted.
We turned to see Auren sprinting up the path, barrelling for the Resistance leader with a determined expression. He paused in his sprint when he spotted Johnny, though, letting out a heavy breath.
“Kiran has Marilyn,” he shouted. “They’re at the clinic!”
Johnathon didn’t hesitate to immediately bolt, leaving the rest of us in the dust as Atlan nodded in greeting, then hurried up to my brother.
Torn, I glanced at Aria. She nodded at me once, then made the decision to chase after Johnny.
When we got there, Johnny was already hovering over Dr. Vasille with a wild look in his eye. “Is she okay?”
She just rolled her eyes at his display. “Her vitals seem fine. I’d like to get a second opinion, though. Someone grab that Loris boy for me.”
Strangely quiet, Kiran hurried out the door just as Atlan and Auren entered.
“We don’t know when she was dropped off, but she was unconscious when we found her,” Atlan explained. “She wouldn’t wake up, so we rushed her here.”
Johnny let out a wounded noise, leaning over Marilyn and murmuring to her softly.
Not long later, Jack hurried in ahead of Kiran, a hard look on his face. Aria tugged me away from the table gently so that we didn’t get run over by either of the pair, who were now poking and prodding at the still-sleeping Marilyn.
Surely she’s not, like, brain dead or something, right?She asked, our bond alight with her anxiety.
I pressed a kiss to her knuckles.I hope not.
I wished I could reassure her more, but unfortunately, there was no way for me to know.
Apparently, Jack and Dr. Vasille couldn’t figure it out, either. When Johnny snapped at them about it, the vampire had bit out that they were in a clinic, not a hospital, and the tests she’d have to run weren’t possible. Auren had nearly been bowled over when Johnny tried to wheel her out, but luckily, he’d been able to talk the wolf down from being too reckless.
Once Johnny negotiated to stay in the clinic until she woke, everyone began to clear out.
