“Fine.” Cas exhaled through his nose. “But if he mentionsanythingelse about her body or his—”
“Deal.” I turned back to the girl, brushing a curl from her temple. Her skin was furnace-hot under my fingertips, her breathing still ragged.
Zane flopped into an armchair, legs slung over the armrest.
“Relax, grumpy grandpa. Once we’ve nursed Sleeping Beauty back to full vigor, I’ll be too busy impressing her with myothertalents to annoy you.” He pantomimed playing the piano. “Picture it: candlelight, my superior vocals, my shirt mysteriously missing—”
Casimir hurled a roll of medical tape this time. It thwacked Zane’s forehead.
“Dark take it! What happened to ‘let it go’?”
“That was before you crossed the line from obnoxious to reprehensible.”
“Enough.” I didn’t raise my voice. Didn’t need to.
Silence fell, sticky and thick. Sitting up, Zane picked at the tape’s edge. Casimir repacked the med kit with unnecessary force. I slipped off my plain white t-shirt and slid it onto our beloved, tugging the hem past her hips to mid-thigh.
Then—
A sniff.
I glanced up. Zane’s head was bowed, his red hair messier than ever. His shoulders jerked once, twice, before he swiped his knuckles under his eyes.
Cas and I froze.
The wolf pup whimpered, nosing Zane’s boot.
“Hey.” Cas approached him like a soldier disarming a bomb. “Z?”
“Fuck off.”
“You’re shaking.”
“Am not.”
“We’ll fix this.” Cas’ palm gripped Zane’s shoulder. “All of it.”
“Yeah?How?” His voice cracked on a sob. “Our beloved ishurt! Someoneattackedher! She was allalone! She could’ve— She could’ve—”
“She didn’t,” I murmured soothingly, “and she’s not alone anymore. We’re here now, and no one will hurt her on our watch.”
“And the wolf—” Gulping, Zane gestured to the pup, who was frantically licking his arm, as if to comfort him. “Who hurts apuppy?”
“Someone who’s going to die,” I pointed out.
“Agreed.” Cas rubbed Z’s back. “First, we stabilize. Then we strategize.”
“Strategize? I’ll strategize their entrails into—”
“Later.” I stretched, back popping.
“Let’s give her a couple of hours, then we’ll bring her something to eat.” Cas was already five moves ahead. “I’m going tointerrogate those gargoyles at the front gates. I want to know what they saw, what orders they were given, by whom—”
“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t turn them to crumbles. They’re the only guards around here,” I grumbled. “While you do that, I’ll grab a shirt, then sweep the house perimeter.”
“Good. Zane, unpack our gear, yeah? We want to be ready if whoever did this shows up again.”
“If they do, I’ll turn their liver into a coin purse.” Zane picked up the pup and set him on the bed, earning a frown from Cas.
