Red (10 page)

Then it rolled. Someone was screaming and she realized belatedly it was her.

The sturdy SUV held together and she thanked God she had worn her seatbelt. They came to a stop on their side, her door on the pavement. Steve cut through his seatbelt even before they came to a complete stop, using a knife he’d taken from his boot. He was all action, removing weapons from compartments she hadn’t known about. He handed her a big, black handgun and silently flipped the safety off.

“Just in case,” he whispered. He didn’t ask if she knew how to shoot. She did, of course. Every person in her family could handle weapons. Dad had made certain of that. “Stay here and whatever you see, don’t shoot me, okay?”

He gave her a wink that made her want to smile despite the desperate situation. Then he vaulted out of the broken window on his side of the car, which was now facing the sky. She craned her neck to see out the broken window, but the safety glass of the windshield had shattered and held, for the most part. It was really hard to see anything through it.

Trisha worked on getting herself free of the seat belt. It took some doing, but she was finally able to move. And that’s when she saw the blood. Her leg was bleeding from a long gash that had ruined her stocking. She couldn’t tell how deep it was. Her leg felt mostly numb, so the pain wasn’t really registering. Maybe it would later. But she realized she ought to tie something around her leg, just in case the gash was worse than she hoped. She wiggled out of the ruined stocking and used it to tie a tourniquet around her thigh. Now
that
hurt, but it was better to be safe than…well…dead from blood loss.

As she worked, she heard a lot of strange noises from outside. Yelling and…growling? Then screaming. A few sporadic gunshots in the distance. The sound of motors revving and moving away at a fast clip. Then silence.

She tried to see out the window but the fragmented images made no sense. She saw a cat. A really big cat. And it had blood dripping from its fangs and claws as it padded toward her. And then it…morphed. It changed as it moved into an upright, bipedal shape that was absolutely immense. It was like something out of a horror movie and then it…

She must’ve lost more blood than she thought. She was hallucinating.

Chapter Five

Steve paused to pick up his pants and discarded shirt. He put the pants on and used the dirty T-shirt to wipe the blood off his face and hands. He’d had to use all his abilities to hold off the attackers until his men could fight their way free and come to his aid. They’d managed to run off their attackers, but it had been a close thing.

Steve had taken a few bites out of the bad guys. He’d know their stink if he encountered any of those men ever again. But they’d buggered off before any of them could be captured and questioned. It was frustrating. There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask those guys, but it looked like he wouldn’t get the chance this night.

He headed back to the ruined SUV and its precious cargo.

“It’s okay. They’re gone,” he called out, wanting to make sure she knew not to shoot him. “Let’s get you out of there.”

“Red?” Her voice quavered and he was surprised by her reaction. He’d thought she was tougher. But it didn’t matter. He was plenty tough enough for both of them.

He poked his head into the driver’s door, which was now on top. And then the scent of blood hit him strong.
Oh, no.

“Are you hurt, baby?”
Son of a bitch.
He should never have left her alone. But he’d thought she was okay. Guilt swamped him.

“My leg,” she whispered. “I think I’ve lost a lot of blood. I saw a cat. And then it was you.”

She sounded hurt, confused and frightened. He grimaced. The last thing he’d wanted to do was make her afraid of his inner beast.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. The cat’s gone. I’m here. I’ll take care of you.” He reached in and lifted her out by placing his hands under her arms. She helped as best she could, but she was weak. And from the strong scent of her blood, she really had lost quite a bit.

He pulled her up and out and into his arms, noting the nylon tourniquet she’d fashioned out of her stocking. Good girl. The bleeding had slowed, but wasn’t quite stopped and that worried him.

“Rory, get Kate on the phone and have her meet us at the Pack house,” he ordered one of his men, moving as quickly as possible toward one of the cars that had been escorting them. They’d sustained minimal damage and one was a large SUV that would easily fit him and Trisha in the back seat. “Get us out of here, quick as you can. Trisha’s hurt and has lost a lot of blood.”

“Emergency kit’s in the back,” Rory quickly reminded him as they all piled into the big vehicle.

Rory was a good man to have around in an emergency. He was a man of few words, but those few were exactly the ones you needed to hear. In this case, Steve was glad to know they had supplies and he could start fixing Trisha up even before they made it to the safety of the Pack house. Rory also drove like a bat out of hell. Which was just what Steve wanted right now. The fastest, safest route, and a competent would-be race car driver.

Steve took a closer look at Trisha’s leg as they drove. He’d laid her across the bench seat and taken a position by her feet, raising her legs and letting them rest on his thighs. Feet up was a good position for shock and it might slow the bleeding.

He took a look and was surprised by the jagged gash that was way deeper than he’d thought.

“I’m glad you got this tourniquet on here, baby,” he whispered. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you fixed up in no time.”

“Is it bad?” she asked. “I couldn’t really see the wound in the dark.”

“I’ve seen worse.” Not often, but he had. “It’ll be okay.” He sent prayers heavenward that he wasn’t telling a lie.

Steve looked out the window to get a read on where they were and realized they had a closer alternative. Making a quick decision, he reached for his phone even as he spoke to their driver.

“Go to my place, Rory. It’s a lot closer. I’ll call Kate.”

Putting actions to words, he dialed Slade’s number, knowing Kate would be with him. Slade agreed to the redirect and said they’d meet him at Steve’s house. He’d even send around some of their men to secure the location before they got there. One less thing for Steve to worry about.

He dug into the supplies in the emergency kit and found a couple of units of saline. He put those aside. He didn’t want to be inserting needles into her veins in a moving vehicle, but it was good to know he had fluids on hand if she needed them.

“How you doing, Doc?” he asked her, watching her closely for signs she was in trouble.

“I’m okay. The leg is starting to burn. Do you have any water? Did you bring my bag? I always have a bottle in there.”

He had snagged her pocketbook on one arm as he took her out of the mangled SUV and had thrown it onto the floor of this vehicle. He dug around until he located it and fished inside until he laid his hands on the cool plastic bottle inside. Sure enough, it was a water bottle. He unscrewed the cap and handed it to her as she tried to push herself up.

She took the bottle from his hand and he moved to support her back so she could rise up enough to take a few sips. And then, as she started to drink the water, the strangest thing happened.

Where she’d been on the verge of passing out, suddenly she seemed to gain energy right before his eyes. She stopped trembling. As she downed the water, her color returned. And when he looked at her wound, it seemed to look a bit better than it had just a moment ago.

Water had done that.

And then he realized what she was. Or what one of her ancestors must have been. Some kind of water nymph. Judging by the way she drew him, maybe a sea siren.

Steve had to smile. Sea sirens were said to lure sailors to their death. Well, he wasn’t a sailor and he had a little magic of his own. She definitely lured him to her, but he didn’t think it was to kill him. Unless he could die from pleasure.

Seeing how the water healed her, he thought he knew what she needed. And he had just the thing back at his house.

Rory drove like a maniac, and before long they were pulling up in front of his place. Steve had built his own home near enough to his brothers to be on hand when needed, but far enough away to have a little room of his own to prowl. The house had taken a long time to finish, as Steve had done most of the work himself, and he was really proud of how it had come out.

One of his favorite features was out back and he was going to take Trisha there first thing. He carried her in his arms from the SUV and walked straight up the garden path that would take him behind the house.

“Where are we going?” She was much more alert since she’d had the water. If his guess was right, she’d be even better in a few minutes.

“I think there’s something you need to see—and experience.” He walked around back and triggered one of many motion sensors he’d installed.

The backyard was flooded with low illumination from the many accent lights he’d put in. The whole place glowed in rich yellows and oranges with a few brighter spots. At the center of the wide backyard was his target. An exceptionally large swimming pool.

Steve had opted for a sand-colored bottom to the pool rather than the more traditional neon blue. He wanted his waterscape to blend more with the desert around him. A wooden pergola shaded one end of the custom-shaped island of water in the middle of the desert.

“Oh, that is lovely.”

Steve heard the catch in her voice, the little breathless yearning that filled her tone when she caught sight of the water. She wanted in. He could see it in the way her gaze fixated on the pool and never wavered as he walked nearer.

“It’s salt water,” he whispered.

“Mmm.” The sound she made seemed almost involuntary. She reacted as if he’d just said something naughty and he could feel her body reaching out toward the oasis he’d created in his backyard.

Steve walked them around to the shallow end where he’d created a set of wide stairs that led down into the water. It was his favorite place to hang out and just think, sitting on the steps, floating, letting the water soothe him in the hot desert sun.

Without pausing, he walked right down the steps, into the water. He was still barefoot and bare-chested from when he’d shifted to fight. He’d only taken time to put his pants back on and nothing in the pockets was in danger from the water except his phone. He paused when the water was about mid-thigh on him and lowered Trisha’s feet into the water so he could free up one hand to fish out his phone and toss it into the cushion of greenery to one side of the pool. He’d retrieve it later. For now, he had to see to his woman.

Trisha’s skin started to take on a pearly sheen as her feet touched the water. Her eyes closed and expression of bliss came over her face. She was fully clothed except for the one stocking that was still acting as a tourniquet, but even as he watched, the need for the tight band around her leg lessened.

“I thought so. Water is your element,” he commented with a pleased feeling.

Her eyes shot open and she looked afraid as she met his gaze. He did his best to calm her.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Your secret is safe with me.”

“How did you know to bring me to water?” She seemed terrified that he’d somehow figured out what made her so different from other people.

“The water bottles in your bag were my first clue, but please don’t look so scared.” He used his free hand to brush strands of her hair out of her face. “There’s so much I have to tell you, and believe me when I say, I love the fact that you’re part nymph.”

“My dad says
sprite
. He says we’re descended from a water sprite.”

“I would have said sea siren,” he teased. “You have certainly put me under your spell.” He dipped his head to kiss her lightly.

But he couldn’t afford to get too distracted. She was still injured. He thought he knew the cure, but they still had to go that final step. Steve lifted his head and walked deeper into the pool.

“If we submerge the wound, will it heal completely?” he asked, watching her and her wound carefully.

She nodded tightly, still nervous even after her admission. She knew she was special. She knew she had magic running through her veins. Things were looking up. Maybe she would be able to accept the fact that she was his mate and that he was a shifter. But first they had to get her well and functioning on two solid legs again. If he guessed right, that would happen momentarily. And then they could move on to more pleasurable things.

He kept his arm around her shoulders as he walked her deeper in to the pool. Her legs floated at first. She seemed to be trying to keep the injury above water. Maybe she was still afraid for him to see her magic? She’d learn to trust him. This was the first step.

He paused and let her make the decision. Slowly, she lowered her legs one at a time. First the uninjured one, then the one with the nasty gash that had already grown smaller from when he’d first seen it back at the crash site.

When the lower edge of the gash touched the water it immediately cleared and sealed, leaving unblemished skin behind. As her leg sank deeper into the water, the phenomenon continued until she stood before him on two perfectly formed, uninjured legs. He’d never seen anything like it.