“Won’t he heal?” I asked. “He’s a Chitah.”
Niko stumbled as he tried to find a place to sit. “Not if he’s lost too much blood. Chitahs are good healers, but his light is dim, and we don’t have Shepherd here to stitch him up. I need everyone to stand back.”
Gem reluctantly scooted away, her crystal pendant swinging from her neck as she leaned over to watch. I collapsed on the bench and peeled out of my leather jacket. I was actually sweating. Blood dripped from my hand, so I pressed the wound against my jeans to stanch the bleeding. While Niko knelt beside Claude and used his X-ray vision to look at whatever energy Claude was putting out, I turned to Christian since I was sitting right behind the driver’s seat.
“Are we safe?”
“Aye. For the moment. Unless there’s someone on the roof.”
“There’s a freshy up there, clinging to the van like a sock from a dryer,” Wyatt informed us. He widened his legs and stared at me from the opposite bench. “If he comes home with us after all I went through to clean the specters out of the house, I’m demanding a raise.”
“Will you be quiet?” Gem spat. “Claude… Can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me.”
We turned our attention back to our Chitah. His leather jacket was open in the front, revealing holes and bloodstains in his white undershirt. I counted three. I’d always assumed Chitahs were resilient, but I was learning that everyone had limitations.
Claude suddenly coughed, blood ejecting from his mouth and spattering on his face and shirt. My heart sank. His ashen skin and bluish lips told the story.
Niko assessed him carefully. “I can’t heal them all,” he finally said. “His energy is dark around his chest. I’ll do what I can.” Niko’s hand hovered as if he was searching for the wound.
Claude’s eyes fluttered and then opened.
Gem cupped his face in her hands, staring at him upside down.
He struggled to smile. “Don’t cry, female. I’m not worth the tears.”
Wyatt leaned over. “Stop trying to out-die us. You’re not going anywhere. I don’t want to have to deal with staring at your handsome ghost for all eternity. You hear me? You’ll give me an inferiority complex.”
Claude’s lips twitched as Gem wiped away droplets of blood that were on his cheeks.
Niko placed his hand across one of the bullet holes, and after a moment, I squinted from the flash of light that cracked like a whip. Claude sighed. Watching Niko heal someone else besides me allowed me to see the magnitude of how much energy it required from him. Despite his hooded eyes and lethargic movements, he continued. Gem let go just as Niko healed another wound.
When he finished, his eyes didn’t carry that spark of light they usually held.
“Niko, maybe you should stop.”
Out of breath, he fell back against the bench. “How many more does he have?”
Gem pulled Claude’s jacket away and lifted his shirt. “One on his shoulder and I think his leg.” She rose up on her knees for a closer look. “It’s too dark in here; I can’t see.”
Niko’s beautiful brown skin now had a greyish hue. The graver the wound, the more of his gift it required. He probably could have kept going, but the quality of his light would have diminished, assuming he could stay conscious after repeated energy depletion.
Claude rolled to his side. “I’m good.”
Gem helped him to sit. “Are you sure? You don’t look good.”
He smiled weakly. “I always look good.”
Wyatt sighed and took off his beanie, rumpling his hair with one hand as he looked at Christian. “When you called for backup, I thought maybe you were outnumbered by two or three guys. Four tops. Half a city? Now that’s a twist I didn’t see coming.”
I leaned back and shut my eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my hand, my sore jaw, and my aching muscles.
“Why the feck did you bring my car?” Christian spat.
Wyatt snickered. “Because you drew the short straw. Plus, we couldn’t all fit in mine. It’s not as if we had time to contemplate anything. We hauled ass to get here.”
“Grand. Now what are the odds that I’ll never see it again?”
Claude gripped my right arm. “Let me see your other hand.”
