Azure (The Silver Series Book 5) (8 page)

I clung to several gnarled roots that had
worked their way through the dirt, but I didn't have the energy to
pull myself over. The water grabbed at my waist, trying to drag me
along with it. I pressed my face against the dirt, relishing in my
exhausted delirium the scent of forest loam, the cinnamon-laced
touch of the desert sand, and the roughness of the roots under my
hands.

Another log hit my body. My grip loosened
and I almost let go, then hands wrapped around my wrist and pulled.
Nora's strength wasn't enough, but her touch sent a surge of
adrenaline through my muscles. I pulled with her, working my bare
feet into the scratchy dirt and pushing against the branches and
debris that tried to drive me back under. I heaved up with a grunt
and used my remaining energy to pull myself higher. I rolled onto
the bank with a sigh of relief.

“
Do you have a death wish?”
she demanded, her face above mine and her chest heaving.

“
Do you?” I asked, fighting
to catch my breath.

She let out a relieved laugh and collapsed
on the ground next to me. “Maybe I do,” she admitted. Sorrow
touched her tone. “Maybe watching all of your friends die will do
that to you.”

I nodded, staring up at the trees above us.
“Maybe so.” I couldn't quite catch my breath. A nagging feeling
gnawed at the back of my mind, but I pushed it away and turned my
head to face her. “Are you okay?”

She checked herself over, then nodded.
“Definitely bruised, but yeah, I think I'm alright. You?”

“
I'm fine.”

She pushed gingerly to her feet, then held
out her hand. I took it and rose, but a shard of pain laced through
my side so sharply it brought me back to my knees.

“
Vance?”

I ran a hand along my bare back and felt
something protruding from my right side.

“
Vance, what's wrong?” Nora
asked with fear in her voice. She leaned around me to see, then her
hand flew to her mouth.

I put a hand on the ground to keep from
falling over. My vision swam and dark spots danced at the edges. I
fought to catch my breath, but the branch that had been driven deep
by the raging water inhibited each intake of air. I grabbed the
wood tightly and pulled.

“
I don't think you should
do that,” Nora said. Her tiny hand covered mine.

“
I can't heal if
something's obstructing the wound,” I forced out, breathing through
clenched teeth.

“
But you could bleed to
death before you heal,” she protested.

My vision narrowed to a dim tunnel. I pulled
on the branch. For a moment, it wouldn't move, then it slid slowly
from the wound with a sound like a boot pulling clear of mud. Blood
flowed down my side. I collapsed on the ground.

Nora rolled me over. Her face floated inches
above mine, her green eyes bright with concern. “You can’t give
up,” she said, her voice strangely muffled in my ears. “Your
werewolves won’t be able to find us out here.”

Her logic warred with the overwhelming urge
to close my eyes. She must have seen it on my face because her jaw
set and determination burned in her gaze. She grabbed my arm and
tried to pull me up, a tiny force considering my size, but the look
on her face brought me slowly to my feet.

I held my side and felt the blood streaming
out thick and hot through the gaping hole. My legs barely held me
and I felt weaker than I ever had before. “I can’t,” I said,
ashamed at the pathetic strength of my voice.

“
You can and you will,”
Nora replied stubbornly.

She took a step and I stumbled beside her,
then righted myself with a great effort. I gritted my teeth against
the pain in my side and closed me eyes. I felt her take another
step and willed myself forward beside her.

I don’t know how many paces I took before my
strength left completely. I fell against one of the contorted,
knobby trees that made up the landscape, but before I could land on
the ground, Nora was there. She eased me gently to my knees, her
fingers soft and spreading heat wherever she touched me.

“
You’ve got to hang in
there,” she said; her chiding tone didn’t cover up the concern in
her eyes as I lay back in the dirt and felt it cling to the
wound.

I took a shallow breath and winced at the
resounding pain. “Now’s your chance to escape,” I said in a
strangled voice that barely sounded like me.

Her eyes held mine. She mouthed my name over
and over, but I couldn't hear her. I closed my eyes. Her fingers
slipped into my hand and I tried to hang on, but the darkness swept
me away like the torrential river we had survived.

Chapter 7

A sharp throb through my side awoke me. The
familiar scent of the small medical room at Two touched my nose
with the tang of antiseptic, cotton bandages, Traer's coffee, and
the always-present cinnamon earth tones of the red rock walls. I
kept my eyes closed. The memory of the river debris barreling down
at me replayed again and again in my memory. Nora's hand showed
through the rubble and I reached for it.

I opened my eyes and found Traer smiling
down at me. “You finally decided to wake up?”

I lifted a hand to rub my eyes; it took more
effort than I was used to. “How long was I out?”

“
Two days,” he replied, the
tightness of his eyes revealing how worried he had been. Footsteps
came down the hall. He glanced up, then looked back at me with a
strange expression on his face. “Pretend you're still
asleep.”

“
Why?” I asked,
confused.

“
Just do it,” he said
quietly before turning.

“
How is he?” Nora's voice
felt like a balm to my soul. She had stayed. She could easily have
left me there and returned to her father. The rain would have
erased her tracks and scent and she wouldn’t have had to worry
about pursuit. Instead, for some reason, she was still
here.

“
A little better,” Traer
replied with a kindness that surprised me.

A soft hand touched my cheek. I almost
jerked back in surprise, but caught myself and held still. “His
color looks better,” she said softly.

“
It does,” Traer
agreed.

“
Do you think he'll wake up
soon?” My heart slowed at the worry in her voice.

“
I hope so,” Traer replied.
“I've done all I can. It's up to him now.” He turned away and I
heard the clink of metal instruments as he straightened them on the
counter.

Nora's breath whispered close to my cheek,
then her soft lips brushed my skin. “Come back to me,” she said in
a voice full of such quiet heartbreak I almost turned my head to
kiss her back. She straightened and her footsteps faded from the
room.

“
It's touching the way she
cares about you,” Traer said quietly. I opened my eyes to see him
watching me with a carefully emotionless expression.

“
You tolerate her now?” I
asked guardedly.

He nodded. “When the moon set and we phased
back, we found that you both had left Two and figured that Nora had
run and you went to bring her back. Brian, Ben, and I went after
you, but the rain made tracking difficult. We almost gave up, then
Ben saw Nora struggling through a pass.”

His voice took on a peculiar tone. “She
pulled you as far as she could and was on the verge of collapse.
When we reached her, she told us what had happened and that she
feared you were dying, which you were.”

I nodded. I remembered the feeling of
complete blackness, no warmth, no cold, only empty sadness at
leaving something I couldn't remember. It was a sensation I never
wanted to feel again.

“
We patched you up and
carried you back. Nora was so exhausted Brian carried her most of
the way.”

“
Brian?” I didn't hide my
shock. He was always the most volatile against Hunters, and he
didn’t bother to conceal his disapproval of Nora every time our
paths crossed.

Traer smiled. “She tried to refuse his help.
I think that's what won him over.”

I laughed, then grabbed my side as pain
knifed through it where the branch had been. Something twisted deep
inside and nausea rolled through my stomach. Bright spots danced at
the edges of my vision.

Traer's eyes darkened with concern and he
unwrapped the bandages. I twisted gingerly to see the wound. The
skin where it had been was pink with healing and would leave only a
round scar the size of a golf ball where the stick had protruded,
but he didn't look satisfied. “You were pretty messed up. All I
could do was put things as close to right as I could and let your
body do the rest.” He hesitated like he didn't want to tell me
something, then sighed and gave in. “I spoke to your mom about it.”
He rushed forward to fend off my frustration. “Your mother said
there are cases where such wounds heal, but not as they should.
Only time will tell if you've truly recovered.”

I pushed myself up slowly, ignoring the
throb in my side. “Then I guess we'll leave it to chance.” I forced
a smile, but Traer didn't return it.

He put a hand on my bruised chest. “You
should probably take it easy. Being unconscious for two days
doesn't exactly scream optimum health.” He glanced down at the
bruises. “Those should have healed by now. Rest is your best
bet.”

I gave a true smile at his concern. “Have
you ever been able to convince me to listen to reason?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“No.”

I stood up from the table, then stumbled
when my knees threatened to give out. I caught myself on the edge
of the counter and threw him a look I hoped was confident. “I'm
famished. What's for dinner?”

He sighed and led the way out of the room. I
followed faster than my body wanted to keep up. I would pay for it
later, but the wolf side of me refused to show weakness. I didn’t
know whether it was survival or stupidity that kept me walking when
I wanted more than anything to go to my rooms and sleep, but I
forced my feet to keep moving and followed Traer to the
kitchen.

A surge of energy ran through my body at the
sight of Nora and Seth chopping vegetables on the counter. Thomas,
Brian, Drake, and Johnny sat on various surfaces around the kitchen
talking and joking around. I leaned against the doorway and watched
Nora reach over and adjust Seth's grip on the knife.

“
Remember that you're
slicing a cucumber, not someone's neck. Hold it softly, like
this.”

The other werewolves laughed and Seth turned
bright red, but he gave her a grateful smile and proceeded to slice
more gently. Johnny glanced over and saw us watching. His eyes
widened and he jumped off the counter and cleared his throat. The
others noticed and rose, too. Brian nodded at me, a slightly
embarrassed smile on his face.

Nora said something to Seth, noticed he
wasn't paying attention, then followed his gaze to me. Her eyes
widened and the green of them sparkled in the kitchen light before
they filled up with tears. “Oh, Vance,” she said. She rushed over
and threw her arms around my neck, hugging me so tightly I had to
force my fight or flight instinct down so I didn't hurt her. She
then stepped back and looked at me, a slight blush to her cheeks as
though she realized she had crossed some unspoken line between us.
“How do you feel?” she asked, still with an edge of excitement.

“
I've been better,” I
replied honestly.

Traer lifted an eyebrow, but I ignored
him.

A hush had fallen over the kitchen. Nora
seemed unaware of it. “I'm so glad you're awake.”

I glanced at the others and they all turned
away and pretended to be occupied with other activities. Brian
picked up the knife Nora left and chopped with surprising
enthusiasm. Seth proceeded more carefully, though not with the same
grace he had used under Nora's supervision. Johnny and Drake
appeared suddenly interested in something in a bowl by the
sink.

I gritted my teeth against a smile at their
obvious diversions, but the look on Nora's face sent my heart
plummeting. “What?”

“
You stood on the edge of a
cliff to save me from a flash flood. Who does that?”

I shrugged. “Werewolves?” I said as more of
a question than an answer.

Brian shook his head from across the room.
“I wouldn't.”

We both looked at him and he sputtered, “I
mean, I would for you now, but not for some stranger.” At my look,
his eyes widened. “I'm afraid of heights.”

“
I am a stranger,” Nora
pointed out, her eyes on mine.

“
Not really,” I replied. My
heart did a strange flip at the way her gaze lightened.

“
Well, I did shoot you,”
she replied, a teasing tone to her voice.

I nodded. “There's that.”

Traer gave me an accusing look but didn't
interrupt. Seth gave an audible gasp, then pretended like he cut
himself with his knife. I couldn't take the searching look in
Nora’s eyes and changed the subject. “So what are you doing
here?”

She looked like she wanted to argue and I
realized she took the words wrong. I indicated the kitchen and
another faint blush stole across her cheeks. She smiled with
embarrassment. “Seth brought me some food yesterday and I could
barely choke it down. I promised to teach them how to make a few
more edible dishes.”

Seth spoke quickly, “She made shrimp cabbage
wraps and lemon meringue pie for lunch. It was excellent.”

The others nodded and my nose identified the
slight hint of lemon peel and cocktail sauce lingering on the
dishes in the sink. “And now?”

“
We're working on chicken
cordon bleu with a side salad,” Johnny said proudly.