“When did you realize you could hold people’s souls in your hands and force them to live?” Hudson asked. I scowled at him and tried to sit up. He pressed a hand to my chest. “No, Cora, you need to rest.”
“How long was I out?” I repeated.
“Thirty-five hours.”
I blinked. It felt like ten minutes, an hour at most.
“That’s—”
“Terrifying,” he snapped. “I go away for a few hours to help a small pack navigate a tragedy. I am engulfed in death, burnt flesh, and grief. And when I return home after receiving a message about a pox outbreak, I find my mate in a coma, clinging to life by a thread as she literally pumps the hearts of fifteen people at death’s door.”
I dragged in a long breath and let it out slowly. “I didn’t hide this from you. Until now, it wasn’t something I knew I could do. It would have come in quite handy a few times recently.”
“You scared me, Cora. I can’t lose you.”
My hand lifted and cupped his cheek. He turned his head and kissed my palm. “I’m okay,” I whispered. He shuddered, his eyes filled with a level of despair that broke my heart. “I’m safe.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I’m here in your arms.”
His arms tightened around me as he whispered brokenly, “You can’t die.”
I mean, I could—I wasn’t invincible. But I had too much to live for to opt out that easily. Knowing that Hudson was fully committed wiped away the jealousy and worry I had about Mercy. I needed to stop doubting him, as it wasn’t healthy for either of us.
After several moments, I worked up the courage to ask, “Where is Mercy?”
“Where she should be, with her pack. I had a stern heart to heart with her. She either refocuses her attention on those who depend on her, or she loses the pack. I will bring them in under me, and she will lose her station in the hierarchy.”
Well played, mate. Well played indeed.“So there wasn’t anything suspicious about the fire or the kids’ illness?” I checked. How long had it been since we had disasters that weren’t linked to something bigger? Too long. Meaning I was always looking for some kind of supernatural power play.
“No, nothing suspicious. Although you can expect questions now that you’ve shown your power to several of the families. I’ve done what I can to mitigate it, but the fact is, every single set of supernatural ears heard how you tamed erratic heartbeats and brought others back from the brink. For now, they are just grateful to have their babies, but the time is coming where you will need to decide how to explain who you are.”
I grimaced. No good deed goes unpunished.
CHAPTER NINE
Sex education is a right, but not a reality.
Morning brought routine and the familiar surroundings of my home. I’d reduced my regular doctor hours to Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, so I could spend Thursdays doing admin for the bed-and-breakfast and ensuring everyone had what they needed for the weekends, which I spent with Hudson and the pack. It was a fine balancing act, but the pack wasn’t overly happy about getting only three days of my attention. Hudson spent more time during the week over there, but at night, he always crawled into my bed. It couldn’t last, this fragile diplomacy in our lives.
Hosting the supernatural heavyweights trying to prevent a war was weighing heavily on the pair of us, and I had the added tension of the super secret meetings. In summary, we were exhausted.
Maggie gave me a little excited wave as we breached the front door. “Your nine o’clock appointment is already here,” she chirped.
My gaze flicked to the grandfather clock to find it was eight-thirty. I normally spent ten minutes with Rebecca catching up about anything that happened in my absence, but the vampire princess was nowhere in sight, and I didn’t have time to seek her out. Might as well get started with my patients.
Hudson’s hand tangled in the back of my hair as he leaned in and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “See you at lunch.”
My lips tugged up. He planned on staying here today, which settled something in my soul. The need to be in his presence was becoming a concern, but not one I had the energy to fight.
He grabbed my weekend bag and stalked down the hallway to the laundry room. My prehistoric tiger was doing my washing. How domestic.
Maggie glanced at the Principal’s retreating figure, then back at me. She pushed an insulated travel mug at me. “I made you coffee.”
I grasped the heated cup with a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
“And I made your patients some.”
My lips froze on the rim. Maggie’s coffee was mediocre but tolerable, but that wasn’t what gave me pause. “Patients? Plural?”
She nodded. “Three of them.”
