“No,” Chalton said. “I’ll take out the re-bar.”
“Hell, no,” Logan hissed. “Only my brother.”
“Please, Chalton,” Janie said softly.
Zane could only gape. The woman had taken control of the entire room and somehow kept everybody from turning on each other. She truly was magnificent.
With a pissed-off growl, Chalton stalked forward and ripped off the offending cuffs. “If you bolt, I’ll shoot you in the head.” He backed toward his earlier vantage point.
Zane slipped to his feet, concern for this brother slowing his normally quick movements. “Give him the painkiller, Belle.”
Logan opened his mouth to protest, but Janie was already sliding the needle into his shoulder. She nodded to Garrett as she removed the syringe.
Gingerly, and far more gently than Zane would’ve ever suspected Garrett could be, he slipped an arm beneath Logan’s good arm, tugged his back to Garrett’s large chest, and held tight. “I’ve got him,” Garrett said.
Logan gasped in pain and grimaced. “We’d better not be having a gay moment here, buddy. I like women.”
Garrett snorted. “Ditto, and I bet you don’t even know what to do with a woman.”
Zane reached for the end of the re-bar. “Neither one of you idiots knows what to do with a woman.” He hated seeing his brother in pain, and he was about to cause a hell of a lot more. “On the count of three. One—” He yanked out the projectile.
Logan bellowed and then sagged against Garrett, who placed him down on the bed.
“Holy fuck, brother,” Logan hissed. “You’re supposed to go ontwo.”
Janie quickly pressed a bandage against the wound. “Zane saidthree.”
Garrett leaned over his sister to supervise the treatment. “Yeah. You’re supposed to saythreebut go ontwo. Everybody knows that.”
“Which is why I went onone.” Zane eyed Janie. She’d surprised him, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. While he’d always felt her nurturing qualities, the woman patching up his younger brother had brains, strength, and serious depth. Her calm in the middle of chaos humbled him. “You seem used to healing injuries.”
She shrugged and finished taping down the gauze. “I’ve worked in infirmaries most of my life, and the doctoring part comes easily.”
“She’s studied for years,” Garrett said, his chest puffing out.
Janie flushed. “Well, field training and Internet classes. I like helping people.” She brushed dirt off Logan’s cheek. “You’re okay. Take some deep breaths and try to heal your wounds.”
Logan’s eyes warmed and his cheeks colored. “Um, thanks.”
Zane bit back a grin. Which he quickly lost as Dage and Talen strode into the room.
“We had a bomb close to the perimeter?” Dage asked Garrett, his gaze silver and hard.
“Yes.” Garrett wiped blood off his chin.
Talen glared at Zane. “Why the hell isn’t he restrained?”
Janie smoothly inserted herself in front of Zane. “Enough.”
Oh, hell no.Zane grasped both her arms and set her behind him. Then he held up a finger to Talen Kayrs. “Give me a minute.” Turning his back on one of the most dangerous vampires in history, he glared down at his mate. “Never, and I mean fuckingnever, get between me and somebody who wants to hit me. Got it?”
Blue flashed hard and pissed in her gorgeous eyes. “Right nowIwant to hit you.”
He barked out a laugh. The woman was asking for a good taming, and he needed to set some ground rules. Later and without witnesses. He turned back around to catch a glimmer of grudging respect in Talen Kayrs’s golden eyes. “I’m happy to go a round or two with you, Kayrs, and I have time now.”
Talen stepped forward, but Dage stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Don’t be an asshole. Either of you,” Dage rumbled. “What’s your plan with Suri?”
The king did like to get to the point, now didn’t he?
