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Ixchel, Liliana’s second mother, was the only reason one little adolescent spider seer survived the slaughter of so many of her kind. Ixchel smuggled Liliana and her two youngest brothers out of Europe in a lion cage in the 1940s, even as most of her family fought the pets of seelie half-Sidhe Himmler. Liliana’s family stood their ground against Himmler’s wolves, covering the retreat of their Rom friends, many of whom were fox-kin.
And died.
Red wolf greed nearly made Liliana’s race extinct. Only Liliana and her sister, who had fled to Iceland years before while pregnant and unable to fight, survived the slaughter in Europe. Spider seers might still exist in distant parts of the world, but Liliana had not seen any when she looked.
There was no sign of the corruption of greed in Pete’s soul though. His soul shone with rich colors of courage, compassion, and love. And he had pretty hair and lovely blue eyes like a clear summer sky. He was really nice to look at both inside and out.
It figures that he is already taken.
She wondered what Pete was doing now, and her fourth eyes helpfully supplied an image. At that moment, he walked into a hospital room. There was a stocky man in a hospital bed. The sound of beeping and a dimness to the light made Liliana wonder what terrible thing happened to the man.
“Hey, Pete! I haven’t seen you since you helped us with that infestation of gremlins in Kuwait.” The man in the bed gave Pete a broad smile, even though his dusky skin had an ashen, unhealthy look.
“It’s good to see you again, John, although not so much under the circumstances. What the heck happened?”
“Wrong place, wrong time. You know how it is.” His short-cropped hair was raven wing black, his expression bleak. The words were an obvious avoidance, a clear indication he had no desire to verbally rehash whatever awful thing put him there.
Pete sat down beside him, in a big, boxy, padded chair with a lever, probably designed to fold out for loved ones to sleep beside their injured family members. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay long.” Pete’s voice held infinite regret.
“No big. Glad you could make it at all. It’s good to see you.”
“So how you doing?” Pete said, then hit his forehead with his palm. “Sorry. That was a dumb question.”
“It’s okay. I’m on so many painkillers, I can barely feel it.” He held an arm up with tubes running to a machine next to him. “Weird thing is, I’d swear my toe itches but…” The stocky, dark-haired man’s voice trailed off, and Liliana looked at the blankets over his legs. The blankets were flat. The lumps over his legs ended abruptly, about knee-level on one side and about mid-thigh on the other.
“John, man, your last e-message said you weren’t in a hot spot.” Pete ran his hand through his wavy red hair. “You said you barely even went outside the wire.”
The injured man’s broad face cracked a smile. “I might have exaggerated that a bit. I didn’t want you to worry. I was commanding a small unit. We…well, everyone made it back at least. My people even got most of me back.” He looked around the room, a vague expression on his face. “It’s weird. I passed out on one continent and woke up on another.” He shrugged. “At least I didn’t get jet lag that way.”
“I heard you were in and out for a day or two, so it wasn’t as fast as all that.”
“But we really are home, right?”
Pete squeezed his friend’s hand, the one that wasn’t riddled with tubing. “Yeah, we’re at Liberty.” He gestured out the window at the gray, drippy day. “That’s genuine North Carolina drizzle out there.”
John chuckled. “Well, that sure hasn’t changed.” He looked out the narrow window at the water dripping in rivulets on the glass. “This is it then, I guess.”
“What do you mean by it?” Pete asked.
“Well, I’m not much of a soldier without legs. Once they get me fixed up…” He took a deep breath like his next words were hard to say. “I’m a civilian.” He swallowed. “Never really thought about that. Always wanted to be career military. No clue what the heck to do now.”
“You’ll figure it out. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”
John shrugged. “I guess I’ve got time to think about it.”
Pete stood. “I’m so sorry. I’ve really got to go. Zoe’s waiting on me to chase down a lead in Raleigh on a serial killer.”
“Stopping a killer? That’s a pretty cool job for a biochemist.” John grinned at him. Then his face turned thoughtful. “Maybe I could do something like that next.” His eyes unfocused, eyelids drooping. “Good seeing you, Pete. Come back when you can.”
Pete stopped with one hand on the doorknob. “Is there anything I can get you?”
“Some good barbecue? The real kind with pulled pork and a tangy sauce, none of that sweet tomato-y crap.”
“Will do.” Pete nodded with a forced smile and left the hospital room.
Sergeant Giovanni waited for him outside. “Your friend okay?”
Pete covered his mouth and gave a laugh that was half sob. “I guess as okay as a guy can be who went from peak physical fitness to double amputee in a day.”
