Stained (24 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY

Let the tongue of Kate Simms be numb and powerless to speak the evil, to speak the untrue. Let her voice fail and throat close on her harmful words.

Thorn woke up before Sé at four the next afternoon. She took a shower and started coffee brewing. The rich smell roused Sé. He slipped on some boxers and stumbled out to the kitchen with tousled hair, a scruffy face and his dimples showing.

“You look gorgeous,” he said.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing,” Thorn said, as she cozied up to him. His arms went around her as if he had been doing it for years. He nipped her neck.

“How long have you been up?” he mumbled into her hair.

“Not long. Here let me get you some coffee.”

“No, let me grab a shower first, Leannán. I’ll just be a minute.” He gave her a scratchy kiss and jogged back to the bedroom to grab his clothes before getting in the shower.

Just after he started the water, Thorn heard a loud pounding on the door. It startled her. It had to be an emergency. Maybe something with Uncle Charles? She rushed to the door and flung it open without thinking and was knocked on her ass before she could register what was happening.

Agent Simms sat on her, her eyes fierce, her expression furious, Raven cawed loudly, lifted off his perch and arrowed toward the FBI woman. He lunged at the agent with claws extended. Simms pulled Thorn off the floor and Raven grazed her back. Simms was too angry to notice. Thorn’s anger boiled over. She got to her feet before Simms could get another hit in. Thorn cocked her fist back and nailed her in the gut. Simms didn’t expect that, but she recovered quickly. She’d had lots of training and was ready for the fight. She wasn’t restrained by the honorable tradition Thorn had trained in and she wasn’t using a sword. Simms lifted her leg and thrust it towards Thorn’s hip. Thorn fell to the floor where Simms stomped on Thorn’s hand. Thorn screamed out and kicked up, landing a shot to Simms’s knee. Simms backed up and then Thorn had a chance to roll out of the way of another stomp.

Thorn got to her feet and dodged a fist. Stay away, Raven, she’s got a gun and I can handle this. Simms landed a fist to her face. Thorn came back with a roundhouse to Simms’s side and followed it up with a punch to the solar plexus. Simms backed up. Thorn eased up, thinking the woman must have come to her senses. Then Agent Simms kicked her in the ribs. Somewhere in the background Thorn heard the water turn off and then saw a flash of Sé coming out of nowhere. When she looked up, she saw he had Simms pinned against the wall with his fist cocked.

“Sé, no!” Thorn croaked. Sé looked down with fury in his eyes.

“I thought you were unconscious!”

“Stupid Bitch, you’re staying here?” Simms said. Sé looked like he was thinking about punching her after all.

“No, Sé, call the police instead.”

“You wouldn’t.” Simms looked disgusted. Sé just grinned.

“Yeah, I would. Kate, you’ve fucked up this time. She’s got you hands down for assault and battery. This will cause all kinds of hell for you. Thorn, are you able to get my cell phone, honey?”

“Honey,” Kate spit the word back at Thorn, and Sé tightened his grip on her until she cried out.

“Yeah, I think so.” Thorn got up tenderly and went to the other room. She fumbled through Sé’s jean pockets until she found his phone. She brought it back out to the entryway.

“Call 911, Leannán. It will be better coming from you. Tell them you are in my apartment and that the person who assaulted you is being contained by an off-duty cop.”

“Okay.” Thorn was having an increasingly hard time talking as the side of her face was swelling. She repeated everything Sé said and it wasn’t long before she heard the sirens.

Soon there were more people in the apartment. Thorn was shaking. The adrenaline had hit her hard. Sé let the patrol officers take custody of a violently cursing Kate and got a bag of frozen peas out of his freezer. He made a compress and brought it to Thorn, gently applying it to her face. She shut her eyes and thanked the Goddess for him.

“Um, Detective O’Bradigen? This is Special Agent Kate Simms,” the young officer said, as if O’Bradigen hadn’t known. Kate had a gleam in her eye and was looking haughty.

“So?”

“Well, can we arrest an FBI agent?”

“Yes, when they break the law. Cuff her, take her to the station and book her. Let the FBI sort it out. Thorn’s pressing charges.”

“We’ll see if they stick,” Kate said, a sneer twisting her handsome features.

“Don’t talk to the victim, ma’am,” the young officer said, with a bit more courage.

The other officer started taking pictures of Thorn’s numerous injuries. Her hand, ribs and face were bruised and swollen. Blood was smeared along her jaw from a split lip. Sé’s eyes got colder with each picture.

When the officers were gone and they had taken Kate with them, Sé got more bags of frozen vegetables and put them on Thorn’s hand and ribs.

“Thanks, sorry I’m such a wimp,” she mumbled.

“Thorn, I don’t think you’re a wimp. She’s trained to kill. You were amazing standing up to her the way you did.” He ignored the skepticism on her face. “Why didn’t you use your magick?”

“She’s a mundane. I couldn’t give myself away like that. I knew she wouldn’t kill me. If I had thought that, I would have used it,” she said carefully, around her tender jaw. “I’m so sick of people bursting in on us.”

“I’ve brought you a lot of grief, haven’t I?”

“No, Sé, Caleb has. He started all of this in motion and I can’t be completely mad because he brought me you too,” she said, doing her best to smile at him. It was a lopsided smile because she was smiling around a bag of peas and with a swollen face, but it was heartfelt.

Sé bent down and kissed her swollen lip tenderly. “I know you just had a shower but you need a long soak in a hot bath. You probably have some herbs that will help with the healing. Do you have anything left?”

“No, but some of my salt will help,” she said, as she pointed her good hand towards her bag. Sé went to get the salt and helped her to the bathroom, where he started running the bath as hot as a person could stand it. He took the salt out and shook in a liberal amount. When the water was high enough, he helped Thorn get undressed and into the tub, scowling at the bruises on her ribs. Thorn winced as she moved. He should have taken her to the ER. She refused.

While Thorn soaked, Sé made them dinner. By the time the water started to cool, Sé was back in the bathroom and to help her out of the tub and into some yoga pants and a long Irish wool sweater.

They sat down to the soup and garlic bread Sé had made. With each bite Thorn drew a little more energy. She hurt everywhere, the stiffness from the previous night’s spell was nothing compared to the new trauma Simms had inflicted. Yet she was not alone to suffer by herself – she was most definitely not alone.

Sé watched Thorn eat and the burn he had been feeling in his stomach since Kate had attacked her started to ease. He hadn’t been there to keep her safe in his own house against a vicious human. He knew it would be worse with Caleb. He wouldn’t be able to do anything in that fight. It frustrated and angered him. A slow acid burn was all he had to show for it.

“I know I’ll probably scare Uncle, but I’d like to see him tonight for a few minutes, if you don’t mind,” she said, when they had finished.

“Could we call him instead? It’s going to be a bitch in the cold on the back of a bike.”

“I want to see him. We missed last night.”

“Okay. I want you to wear my old leather jacket. It will cover you up more than yours will.”

“You have to tell Uncle I got in a couple of good hits though. He’d be so ashamed of me if I hadn’t.”

Sé smiled thinly, clearly not happy. He gave her some ibuprofen and called a cab.

When they got to the hospital, Thorn regretted the trip. She was stiff and sore and had a hard time walking. It would have been impossible on the bike. Sé helped her out of the back seat. He led her slowly through the maze of rooms, over-worked hospital staff, and visiting family members. When they entered Uncle’s room, he had just finished his own dinner.

“Thorn! What on God’s green earth happened to you? Sé, I told you to take care of her. I knew this would happen. Was it Caleb? I need to be out of here watching over you.” Uncle started making like he was going to get out of the bed. Thorn hurried over to him and tucked him back in. She kissed him on the forehead and winced.

“This is a gift from the delightful Special Agent Simms, Uncle.”

“We’ll sue the pants off the FBI,” Uncle snarled. Color high in his cheeks.” I want out of this fish bowl.”

“Sé called the police and had her arrested.”

“Oh, that’s even better. Bet she was fit to be tied,” Charles calmed down. His mood improved noticeably. “That’s enough red tape to keep her in lockup at least most of the night.” Uncle reached for his Jell-O to take another bite. “I do like your style, Sé. She’ll be thoroughly humiliated. Hope that doesn’t backfire though.”

“I do too, sir. This should be the end of Kate’s harassment. I don’t even know what she was doing over at my place tonight. She was surprised to see Thorn.” Sé sat down in the chair next to the bed, as Thorn made herself comfortable on the bed next to her uncle.

“She was pounding on the door like the building was on fire. That’s why I opened it. I should have used the peephole. I didn’t think it through at all. I just took down my wards and threw open the door,” Thorn said.

“I would have answered, too. I’d have wondered what was wrong,” Sé said. “Kate’s always been extreme and she’s crazy jealous. But this behavior is unbalanced. I’ve never known how she became an FBI agent.”

“It’s over and you are the worse for it. How bad are you hurt, niece?”

“My hand hurts and my ribs might be cracked, and of course, I’ll have a black eye.”

“I need to get her home and put more ice on her,” Sé said.

“I’m going to get out of here in a couple of days, and we will set everything to rights then.”

“You rest now.” Thorn pushed the hair back from his forehead. “I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, dearest. Tell Raven hello for me.”

“I will, he worries about you. Rest now, Uncle.” Thorn and Sé got up to leave. Sé touched base with the police officer outside of the door. No one else had tried to visit Charles.

“Is it true about Simms?” the burly guard asked.

“You know her?” Sé replied. The guard nodded, a disgusted look on his face. “She likes to lord it over the uniforms,” he grunted. “You take care, Miss, it looks like you need to be here tonight.” Sé called a cab and they made their way slowly to the front door.

Sé watched her sympathetically. He wanted to punch something as she held her side while she struggled to get into a comfortable position. It wasn’t so much that she was hurting, he hated that. It was that Kate had done this to get back at him. It was that he hadn’t been there for her in time. He knew Thorn wouldn’t want him to fuss. She didn’t want to hear his pity or his guilt.

She needed to tough her way through this. Her ribs ached, it hurt to take a deep breath, and she had a hard time closing her hand. That bitch. She should have used magick. She couldn’t afford to be off her game right now. She hung on stoically.

When they got back and Thorn had checked all the wards and Raven, Thorn headed towards the bathroom to take another hot bath. Sé stopped her.

“What you need is some Tiger Balm. Let me rub you down and then you can get into bed,” Sé said, taking her hand. “I know you probably have herbs that work better but you’re out of them right now, so let a layman work some magick on you.” He smiled.

“Anything that will take this stiffness out and help the swelling. I have to be back in commission as soon as possible. Damn the unholy harpy!”

“Come on, Leannán, this will help. I use it all the time when I’ve taken a beating at the gym.”

Sé took off her sweater and Thorn stripped out of her pants. With just her bra and panties on, the bruises stood out spectacularly. Vivid purple and blue black contrasted with her pale Irish skin. Sé cursed under his breath as he went to get the balm. He came back and lowered Thorn carefully to the bed. He rubbed the pungent menthol-smelling balm into Thorn’s stiff muscles and bruised skin. Relief followed and Thorn sighed.

He found her a nightgown and helped her out of her remaining clothes and into it. Then he tucked her into bed. Sé changed into pajama pants and got into bed with her, holding her close. Sleep was a long time coming for Thorn.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Every tear I’ve cried, may you suffer by and by. Three times three, make him see what he does to me, so will it be.

Sé left quietly early the next morning before Thorn woke up. He left her a note telling her that he was going to take care of some things at the department. He didn’t want to wake her since she was so tired. He’d stood and watched her for several moments while she slept. He thought she was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, even with lumps in brilliant technicolor. With reluctance he left her and made his way down the elevator and to his bike. Before he could pull away, he heard a low mumble. It was the last thing he remembered.