“I think your father was protecting David. Maybe he thought he might be the one to finally bring about Edemas’s revenge.”
“Jesus,” Kenneth hissed. “You might be right. Dad was always talking about Edemas in more of a happy light than most people do.” He paused. “We need to meet soon. How long until you and Maddy can get to Europe? Until you can, you need to get Maddy into hiding. Immediately.”
“We already have her in hiding at my place.”
“No. That isn’t safe anymore. Hide her some place they’ll never think to look for her,” Kenneth said.
“Why? What’s different now?”
“Look. If what you’re saying is true, then Maddy should have been a shifter since she was a kid. I have no idea why her wolf has been dormant for so many years, but once the royals know their assassin wasn’t successful, they’ll increase the pressure. You have to be more careful. Something bad is coming.”
“Shit, Maddy, what’s wrong?” Felipe asked.
I spun in my seat. Maddy looked terrible. Her face was pale, and her eyes were unfocused.
She shook her head. “I… don’t…” She never finished the sentence. She slumped over. I barely managed to catch her before she hit the floor.
“Jesus, she’s so pale,” Felipe said behind me. “What happened?”
It was all I could do to stay focused. I needed to help her. My anxiety was almost too much. I’d made a promise totake care of her, and now was the time. “Felipe, call Doc. Tell him we’re on our way.”
The next hour went by in a haze. Maddy never quite lost consciousness, but she spoke like she was in a gauze-covered dream. Nothing seemed real to her. I couldn’t tell if she was hallucinating or maybe talking while in a semi-sleep state.
Doc worked on her and hooked up an IV, and I held her hand the entire time, Felipe paced back and forth at the other end of the room. It all reminded me of that night when I’d found her half-dead on the floor of her bar. I’d been right in that same room, holding her hand. The déjà vu wasn’t pleasant.
Sometime later, I felt a poke at my chest. I’d fallen asleep beside her bed. My head jerked up, and my eyes sprang open. Maddy was there, smiling at me. She looked so much better that I almost cried out in joy. I rubbed my eyes, reaching out to take her hand in mine.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Not sure yet. Doc took some blood to run some tests. You kind of fainted. I’ll be honest, you were a bit of a drama queen.”
She could see the sarcastic grin on my face and chuckled. “You know me. Anything for attention.” The smile slid away from her face as the memory of everything that had happenedmust have come back. “Nico, I’ve got a bad feeling things are gonna get worse.”
I tightened my grip on her hand. “Probably. But I’ll be here for it.”
Before we could say anymore, Doc walked back in. The look on his face told me that he’d found something he didn’t like. Doc pulled up a seat next to me and looked at us. “Your bloodwork came back, Maddy.”
She struggled to sit up straighter. “Okay?”
“So,” Doc began. “When you came in the first time a few months ago, after the attack, I took blood samples. You were unconscious and I needed to check for any diseases that might be in your system so I could treat you properly. The blood I took from you then and the blood I took today are almost completely different.”
Maddy and I stared at him in confusion. I shook my head. “What do you mean?”
He handed us a report. “This is a little hard to read, but look at the third column. It shows the red and white blood cell counts as well as platelet levels. The top line shows Maddy’s numbers from today. White blood cell counts are extremely high, like a shifter. That’s why we almost never get sick. The platelets are off the charts, which is the healing factor we have. Makes total sense, right? Since Maddy has shifter blood.” We both nodded, but Doc shook his head. “That’s the problem. The blood from earlier shows that she’s completely human. Cell and platelet counts are right on par with an average human. Somehow, over the last few months, the blood has totally changed.”
I furrowed my brow, not understanding. “Well, could it be that her wolf is awakening?”
“That’s the entire issue, Nico. Why the hell was her wolf dormant to begin with? You told me this morning her father was a full-blooded wolf. Even if her mother wasn’t, Maddy wouldhave had strong enough blood to be a shifter. None of this makes any sense.”
As we talked back and forth, Maddy remained silent. All she did was stare down at her hands.
Glancing over at her, I saw she had a strange expression on her face. Some combination of guilt, embarrassment, and shame.
I cut off my conversation with Doc and turned toward her. “What’s wrong?”
29
MADDY
