Something moved in the trees above me, and I looked up to find her staring down at me through a familiar set of hazel eyes, more green than brown in catform.
Relief flooded me, and a little of the tension in my chest eased as she worked her way down from the tree, purring softly. “Come on. Jared’s trying to fend off some do-gooders who saw the crash, and I’m sure the cops are on the way. We need to get out ofhere.”
Her head bobbed, then she suddenly leaped gracefully onto the ground at my feet with a softthump.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and she rubbed her cheek against my calf. That was more of an affectionate greeting in cat-speak than an actual answer, but I’d take it, for themoment.
“I missed you too.” I scrubbed the fur between her ears, more like you’d pet a puppy than a one-hundred-ten-pound cat, but I wasn’t sure how else to express physical comfort when I was in human form and she was not. “If this is what happens when I let you out of my sight, you can bet that’ll never happenagain.”
She rubbed the entire length of her body against my left leg, then made her way back up my right, evidently telling me that she was fine with thatplan.
“Let’s go.” I threw her clothes over my arm and led the way toward the rental, careful to keep an eye on her as we picked our way through the thin foliage, because in addition to a cut on her left front leg, there was a shiny patch of still-wet blood on her head, above her right eye. Though it wasn’t bleeding as badly as the laceration, it could actually be the worse of the twowounds.
“I’ve got your stuff in the car.” I kept up a dialogue as we walked, trying to think of everything she would probably be asking me, if she had the use of her human tongue. “Your phone’s fine; just a little scratched up from hitting the concrete. And we’ll get you some food as soon as we can. I’m sure you’re starving after yourshift.”
She stiffened a little at that, and too late, I realized that post-shift food was probably a touchy subject for a cat whose peers called her a man-eater.
Bastards.
“I parked as far from the wreck as I could, to keep us from being seen. Jared’s hurt, but still capable of causing trouble,” I said, and her snort in reply sounded distinctly curious. “His leg was pinned between the steering wheel and his seat when I got to him, and I think I dislocated his knee pulling him out of thecar.”
Every few steps, she paused to lick her injured leg, and I remembered what Vic had told me about cat-form saliva helping to keep wounds clean. And according to Dr. Carver, it would also promote the growth of new skin cells, which helped animals’ wounds heal faster than humans’wounds.
Though nothing would be as good as stitches, some antibiotic cream, and a big bandage, once we got far enough away from Jared that it would be safe to stop for firstaid.
“You okay?” I asked when she stopped for the millionth time to lick her wound. She bobbed her head at me, but she looked a little woozy, so I picked up the pace, worried that her concussion would lead to her collapse before we made it to thecar.
If that happened, I would damn well carryher.
We stepped out of the woods just feet from where I’d parked the rental, and I opened the back door for her. She climbed into the bench seat and gave the upholstery a regretful look, considering the blood and dirt she was covered in. Then she noticed the fist-sized dent in thedashboard.
“Yeah, I got a little frustrated earlier,” I admitted. “I really should have bought insurance when I rented thecar…”
She huffed inamusement.
I slid into the driver’s seat and looked back at her. “You rest, but try not to fall asleep until I’ve had a chance to look at your head wound. I’m going to get us out of here, and as soon as it’s safe, I’ll stop forfood.”
As I pulled onto the highway, headed deeper into the free zone and away from the Southwest territory, she sat up on the rear floorboard, holding her head just high enough for a glimpse of Jared and the wreck she’d caused as the first police car pulled to a stop along the side of the road, his lights flashing bright blue and red. As we passed, I waved to Jared, who was sitting in the back of an ambulance, his left leg splinted beneath jeans cut open to his thigh, while an EMT examined the wound on hishead.
Then I took off to the east at five miles over the speed limit, before anyone could notice the big black cat riding in the back of mycar.
A few minutes into the drive, I realized Kaci’s breathing had grown slow and even. I tilted the rearview mirror down until I could see her, stretched across the floorboard in spite of the hump pressed against her midsection. I hadn’t meant to let her go to sleep with a concussion, but as long as I could hear her breathing, I figured she was probably okay. And she was clearlyexhausted.
A couple of minutes after that, I remembered to call Marc back. He answered before I even heard the phone ring. “Please tell me you haveher.”
“I have her. But only because she made Jared wreck the car. She’s got a gash on her left front leg and another one on her forehead, but she seems okay, other than that. She’s asleep in the backseat.”
“AndJared?”
“When we pulled away from the scene of the crash, he was being treated by EMTs and the cops were pulling up. He’s going to have to think quick to explain the plexiglass barricade he rigged up in the back of his car, and all the blood on the rearwindshield.”
“How much blood? Is she stillbleeding?”
“I think so. I was going to stop for some first aid supplies as soon as I find apharmacy.”
“Wait until you get out Nevada, if you think you can,” Marc said. “Then I want you to head back to St. George, rent a room at a different hotel, lock the door, and wait for Vic and Chris. They’re still on their way from Phoenix. I don’t want the two of you traveling by yourselves after this. You shouldn’t have been in the firstplace.”
“I know. I’msorry.”
