I looked up at Ben and jerked my chin toward the nurse . . . and the doctor whod pulled the curtain back to join the fuss out front. Ben gave me a why me? look. In return, I glanced at Adamobviously incapacitatedand then Sam, who was a wolf.
Ben looked up at the sky, invoking Gods pity, I supposed. He trudged over, hands cradled in front of his body, to solve the problems he could. I caught Mary Jos eye and interrupted a look directed at me . . . such a look. As soon as she realized I was looking at her, her face cleared. I couldnt interpret the emotion Id seen, just that it was very strong.
Anybody hurt? asked Ben. When he extends himself beyond his usual nasty personality, people tend to find Ben reassuring. I think its the nifty British accent and composed appearanceand even with the burns and the charred clothing, he looked somehow more civilized than anyone else.
No, said the doctor, whose name tag read REX FOURNIER, MD. He looked to be in his late forties. I surprised him when I opened the curtains. And then in a spirit of fairness seldom seen in terrified people, he said, He was pretty careful not to hurt anyone, just knocked me aside. If I hadnt stumbled over the stool, Id have kept my feet.
He was unconscious when I left, Mary Jo told Ben, half-apologetically. I came out to see if I could find someone to help himwed been here for a while. I didnt realize Id been away long enough for him to change.
Not so long, I said. I saw the ambulance pass us. You cant have been here more than a half hour, and it takes about half of that for him to complete the change. Whose bright idea was it to bring Adam to the hospital in his condition anyway?
It had been Mary Jos. I could see it in her face.
All he needed was the dead flesh peeled off, she said.
A really, really painful procedureand no painkillers work on werewolves for long. It was such a bad idea that we all stared at her, all of us who knew, anywayBen, Sam, and I. Adam was preoccupied with his change.
I didnt realize how bad it was, she defended herself. I thought it was just his hands. I didnt see his feet until we were already in the ambulance on the way over here. If it had just been his hands, it would have been okay.
Maybe. Probably.
I thought you and Samuel were dead, she said. And that left it my problem as the pack medic. And as medic and as my Alphas loyal follower, I deemed the hospital the safer option.
Shed just lied.
Not about Adam being safer at the hospital than home. With the recent upheavals, she was probably right that a badly wounded Adam wasnt safe with the pack in his condition. Theyd tear him apart and apologize and maybe even feel bad afterward. But that first statement . . .
Maybe she thought we were too overwrought to noticeand Ben was sometimes not as aware of subtle cues as some of the other wolves. But maybe Mary Jo didnt realize that I could tell when she was lying as well as any of the wolves could have.
You knew we werent in the house, I said slowly. And then the light dawned about what that meant. Did Adam send you out to keep watch over me while he met with the others? Did you see us leave?
She had. It was in her faceand she didnt bother denying it. She might be able to lie to the humans in this room, but not to the rest of us.
Why didnt you tell him? asked Ben. Why didnt you stop him before he went into the fire?
Answer him, I said.
She met my eyes for a long count of three before finally dropping them. I was supposed to follow you if you left. Make sure you didnt get hurt. But you see, I think everyone would be better off if one of the vampires had killed you.
So you chose to defy Adams orders because you disagreed with him, said Ben. He picked you to watch Mercy because he trusted you to take care of business while he dealt with the packand you betrayed that trust.
I was grateful that Ben kept talking.
Mary Jo was one of the people in Adams pack Id thought was my friend. Not because a debt the fae owed me had kept her from dying a little while ago . . . I suspected that had been a mixed blessing, like most fairy gifts. But wed spent a lot of hours in each others company because Adam liked to use her as a guard when he felt I needed one.
Mary Jo wanted me dead. That was what that look had been about.
It was such a shock that I might have missed her answer to Bens question if she hadnt sounded so defensive.
It wasnt like that. She was safe enough; she left with Samuel. Theres nothing I could do that would protect her better than Samuel could.
So why didnt you stop the arsonists?
Arsonists? There had been arsonists?
I wasnt ordered to protect her place. She wasnt in there.
Ben smiled in such satisfaction that I realized he hadnt known there were arsonists either. Who were they, Mary Jo?
Fae, she said. No one I knew. Just more trouble shes bringing to my packs door. If they wanted to burn down Mercys house, what did I care? She looked at me, and said viciously, I wish theyd burned it up with you in it.
Ben!
How he managed to stop his hand before it hit her face, I dont know. But he did. Shed have wiped the floor with him afterward. She might be nominally below him in the pack hierarchy, but that was only because unmated women were at the bottom of the pack.
She wanted to fight him. I could see it in her face.
I couldnt move with Adam mostly on my lap. Thats enough. I kept my voice soft.
Ben was panting, his hands shaking in rage . . . or pain. His hands were really damaged.
He could have died, Ben said to me, his voice rough with the wolf. He could have died because this He stopped himself.
And the violence was gone from Mary Jos posture as quickly as if someone had hit a switch. Her eyes brightened with tears. Dont you think I know that? He came running from the house, calling her name. I tried to tell him it was too late, but he just pulled the wall apart and jumped through the hole hed made. He didnt even hear me.
Hed have heard you if you told him she wasnt in there, said Ben, unaffected by the tears. I was right behind him. You didnt even try. You could have just told him she was alive.
Enough, I said. Adams change was nearly finished. Adam can settle this himself later.
I looked over at Sam. Two changes is bad when theres tissue damage, right? It heals wrong. The human ear I could see was scarred, and the top half of Adams head from his eyebrows up seemed to be as well. He must have had a wet towel or something over his head to cover his face, but it had fallen down at some point and hadnt protected his scalp.
Sam sighed.
The doctor had been listening to Mary Jos story with fascinationI bet he watched soap operas, too. Im sorry, he told me, sounding it. Unless you have some means of effectively restraining him, I cannot treat him here. I wont risk my staff.
Can we have a room, then? I asked.
Time wasnt our friend. We could take him back to his house and take care of him . . . but once Mary Jo had reminded me of the danger hed be in wounded, in the middle of his pack, I really didnt want to take him back there and hurt him.
Sam caught my eye and looked down the line of curtained rooms to the one Id retrieved him from.
I looked back at the doctor. A real room would be best. Could we use the X-ray storage room?
The doctor frowned, but Jody came to my rescue. This is Doc Cornicks Mercy, she said. Shes dating Adam Hauptman, the pack Alpha.
Who is lying in my lap, I told them. Im sorry. If it were anyone except for Adam who was hurt, we could make sure your personnel were safebut Adams the only one who could keep a lid on it reliably. You are right not to risk your people. But Ive got a couple of wolves hereMary Jos an EMTand we can manage on our own. If it werent urgent that we get started, Id just take him home. But if we dont do something soon, the scars will be permanent.
His feet were the worst. Wholly human and . . . I could see bone under blackened skin. He was unconscious, sweaty, and four shades paler than usual.
What can we get you? Fournier asked.
A stretcher, said Mary Jo. She looked at Sam, waiting for him to take over. Then she realized that in this place he couldnt possibly show them he was a werewolf. I dont think she had noticed the full extent of Samuels problem yet. She just turned to the doctor and started speaking medical gibberish.
A gurney appeared, and Ben lifted Adam out of my lap and onto it. A host of hospital personnel showed up and emptied the X-ray storage room of boxeswith very little respect for the existing organization. Someone was going to be upset about that. Dr. Fournier was paged to the third floor and left with the same brisk efficiency with which he seemed to manage everythingincluding werewolves in his ER.
With everything out, there was room, if only just, for all of us, the gurney, and the tray of tools Jody brought in.
Fournier isnt as good as Doc Cornick when things go bad. Jody gave me a sharp look as Mary Jo and Ben maneuvered Adam to the center of the little room, and I wondered if she was thinking about how many werewolves I seemed to know and connecting it to the fact that I was Samuels roommate. If so, she didnt seem to be hysterical at the thought of all the werewolves who were here at the moment, so maybe shed keep quiet about her suspicions.
Fournier didnt get hurt, I said. He didnt make anything worse. Thats good enough for me.
Do you need help? she asked bravely.
I smiled at her. No. I think that Mary Jo can handle it. Id have rather had Jody and the doctor, but Adam wouldnt thank me for putting humans at risk. Like Jody, Id really rather have had Samuel . . . who had disappeared from my side.
Its not a sterile environment, but it sounds like thats not important.
No, I told Jody distractedly. Where had Sam gotten to? Werewolves deal with germs better than people do. Looks like theyre ready to go.
I closed the door, took a deep breath, and turned to Mary Jo. Do you know what to do? I have to find Sam.
Im here. Samuel was naked as the day he was born, and sweating freely from the speed of his change. His skin was filthy with dust and fae blooda condition he was remedying with a bucket of water and a towel that must have been among the things Mary Jo had required. His eyes were gray, a shade or two lighter than normal, but the other wolves would doubtless put it to changing. Ill take care of it.
Samuel, I said.
But he looked away and took up something that looked like a scrub brush, with stiff bristles. I need you to hold him down. Ben, lie across his hips. Mary Jo, Ill tell you where I need you. Hands will be the worst, so well start with them.
What about me? I asked.
You talk to him. Keep telling him were helping him with this torture. If he hears you and believes you, he wont fight us as hard. Ill give him some morphine. It wont help much or for long, so well need to move fast.
So while Samuel scrubbed the dead skin and almost-healed scabs off Adam with a stiff-bristled brush, I talked and talked. The burns had killed tissue that had to be removed. Once it was gone, the raw wounds would heal cleanly and without scars.
Adam kept going into coughing fits. When theyd happen, everyone backed off and let him cough until he spit up blood with great hunks of black in it. Ben had a few of those fits, too, but he rode them out while still keeping his weight on Adam.
Every so often, Samuel would stop and dose Adam with more morphine. The worst of it was that Adam never made a noise or struggled against the people holding him down. He just kept his eyes on mine while he sweat and his body shook with small tremors that grew and subsided with whatever Samuel did.
I thought you were dead, he said, his voice a bare rasp while Samuel moved from his hands to his feet. It didnt seem to hurt as muchat a guess there werent a lot of nerves left. Hed jumped into a burning building barefoot to save me.
Stupid, I said, blinking hard. As if Id die without taking you with me.
He smiled faintly. Was it Mary Jo who betrayed us at the bowling alley? he asked, proving he hadnt been entirely unaware of what had been going on while he was changing.
Both of us ignored the pained sound Mary Jo made.
Ill ask her later.
He nodded. Better He quit talking, and his pupils contracted despite the morphine hed been given.
He arched up and twisted so he could press his face into my belly, making a noise somewhere between a scream and a growl. I held him there while Samuel snarled at Ben and Mary Jo to hold him still.
Another shot of morphine, and Samuel moved us all around. Ben across Adams legsAnd dont think I havent noticed your hands, Ben. Youre next up. Mary Jo on one arm, just above the elbow. Me on the other.
Can you hold him? asked Samuel.
Not if he doesnt want me to, I told him.
Itll be all right, Adam said. I wont hurt her.
Samuel smiled tightly. No, I didnt think you would.
When Samuel started on Adams face with the brush, I had to close my eyes.
Shh, Adam comforted me. Itll be over soon.
* * *
WARREN ARRIVED NOT LONG AFTER THAT. TOO LATE to help with Adam, but he and Mary Jo held on to Ben while Samuel scrubbed his hands free of black skin and blisters. He hadnt changed twice and started healing wrong, but it was still bad enough.
Adam had closed his eyes and was resting while I stood with my hands wrapped around his upper arm, one of the places where he hadnt lost any skin. The connection between us hadnt reset yet, and I had to rely on my senses to tell me what he felt. It surprised me, given how unhappy Id been with that bond, that I missed the connection when it was gone. My ears told me that he wasnt fully asleep, just catnapping.
Ben wasnt as quiet as Adam had been, but he was obviously doing his best to keep his cries down. Finally, he sank his teeth into Warrens biceps and dug in.
Attaboy, Warren drawled without flinching. Go ahead and chew some if it helps. Too far from the heart to do me much harm. Dang, but I hate fires. Guns, knives, fangs, and claws are toughbut fires are the worst.