The air around her erupted into a giant ball of flames.
Shadow felt herself being lifted off her feet as she was thrown backward through the air. Though she tried to hold on, her hand was ripped from Digger’s with an unstoppable force.
She was tossed into a nearby patch of manicured grass, her body landing hard against the unforgiving ground. A flash of pain struck as her head bounced with what felt like a crushing blow, and she thought she may have heard Digger call out her name.
But then the darkness prevailed, and her eyes fell shut. And after that, there was…
Nothing.
CHAPTER9
“I’m fine.”
Slade’s infuriated gaze remained locked on the frowning woman sitting up on the gurney. Rage and fear still ran strong through the hard thumping of his heart, leaving his hands in white-knuckled fists at his sides.
“You’re not fine,” he growled.
Yes, he fuckinggrowled. And no, he didn’t care.
Someone had placed an incendiary device on his car with the hopes that he and Shadow would be inside it when it blew. They’d come close to succeeding. Too damn close.
And if he’d pressed the button on his key fob a few seconds later…
We’d both be dead.
Slade had come to grips with the idea of death years ago. He wasn’t afraid to die and some days even welcomed the idea. No, the murderous inferno raging inside had nothing to do with his own mortality and everything to do with the woman he was supposed to protect.
“I have a headache and some bruises,” Shadow argued as she moved her head to the side in an effort to avoid the nurse’s hands.
“You have a concussion and a cut on your scalp that this nurse istryingto butterfly shut.” Taking a step closer, he put his hands on his hips and shot her a pointed stare.
“Just slap a band aid on it and call it good.” She scowled. “I need to see my dad.”
“Owens is fine,” Digger assured her. “I told you earlier, I spoke to him on the phone while you were off getting your CT.”
“Yeah, well I was sure that was Ashley who called me earlier, too. Look how that turned out.”
“That’s why I used FaceTime when I called,” he countered.
“All done.” The kind nurse smiled as she finished placing the small, white strips over the cut near her patient’s bloodied hairline.
“So that’s it?” Shadow shot the other woman a hopeful glance. “I can leave?”
“I’ll go get your discharge papers from the doctor now.”
She wasn’t gone two seconds before the stubborn blonde swung her legs off the portable bed. But when Shadow stood a little too quickly, she started to sway.
A deep curse flew out from under Slade’s breath as he shoved his way past Bones on his way over to her side. With his hands on her shoulders, he kept her steady as she held onto the lowered bedrail and closed her eyes.
“Easy, dammit.” He admonished her for not waiting until someone could help. “You need to slow the hell down and take a breath before you wind up hurting yourself more than you already are.”
With her head still down and her eyes remaining closed, Shadow grimaced as she kept a tight grip on the plastic railing. “Good thing you don’t have to worry about patient satisfactory scores, because your bedside manner really sucks.”
Bones snorted with a chuckle from a few feet back. “And this surprises you how exactly?”
“Oh, I’m not surprised.” The stubborn woman peeled her lids open and glanced his way. “Just pointing out the obvious.”
“Damn, brother. She’s got you pegged.” Then to Shadow, Bones said, “Honestly, I’m shocked you haven’t killed him by now after being locked away with him in that cabin for the last few days.”
