We sat in the dark for a while until someone shouted Jace’s name. The shifter’s head jerked up. He unfolded himself from the ground and took off running. I kept my position and checked Ethan’s breathing again.
He smelled like he always did, but his eyes had started to twitch and jerk behind his eyelids. His fists clenched and unclenched over and over again, and his jaw had clenched several times since Jace’s conversation.
Ethan was fighting whatever my mother had done to him, and there was nothing I could do to help him. I held his hand instead and waited for the calvary to come in and help us carry him home.
His new Second appeared a moment later, a tall, rangy male named Kinsley. His sharp gaze took in the scene, halting at Ethan’s prone body. Kinsley’s jaw tightened.
“What happened?” he demanded as he stalked over to crouch beside his fallen Lord.
Kinsley was handsome, like most shifters, but he looked more at home here in these wilds than anyone else I’d seen. His face was rough with five o’clock stubble, and his intelligent gray eyes missed nothing. Scar-flecked fingers reached out to touch Ethan’s neck, checking his pulse. Satisfied Ethan was stillbreathing, Kinsley gently tipped Ethan over to ensure he had no other wounds we might have missed.
I went through what happened, ensuring I left nothing out.
“You know the woman who did this to him?” Kinsley asked, pinning me in place with his silvery stare.
“I do.”
One of his eyebrows went up as he waited for me to elaborate.
I let out a sigh. “She’s my mother.”
At his incredulous blink, I shook my head. “Estranged for…” I squinted. “I dunno. We’re both old as dirt. Let’s say that long.”
Kinsley blew out a low breath. “And Ethan suffered for it?”
My jaw clenched at his tone. “She’s been making a menace of herself for a while now. Ethan was in the way. I’ll speak to him about it when he wakes up.”
I couldn’t fault Kinsley for blaming me. My mother was very good at throwing wrenches into perfectly good plans and always had been.
Kinsley motioned for the others to come in. Two wolves carried an old-fashioned stretcher between them.
One crouched. “The others have our people loaded and ready to go. Should I send them ahead?” His curious amber gaze lighted on me.
I’d never met this one before. Sitting by the prone body of his Lord certainly wasn’t the best way to meet, either.
Kinsley nodded. “We’ll follow close behind. Help me with Ethan.”
I got up and moved away, watching as they carefully lifted Ethan and settled him on the stretcher. When he was situated, Kinsley looked back at me. “We’ll meet you back at the house with the Keep Healers.”
I swallowed hard and nodded, watching as they carried him away.
Once they were out of earshot, I buried my face in my hands and let out a loud, shuddering breath. He had to be okay.
I wouldn’t accept anything less.
The run backto the Keep was short and sweet now that I had no one watching me. I stopped at the edge of the woods, keeping a close eye and nose out for my mother. When I sensed nothing amiss, I took out my cell phone and texted Evie, asking for her to come rebuild Ethan’s wards to keep my mother out.
She responded almost immediately and said she needed something of hers to use as a focus. Witch magic could be tricky to work around, but fae magic would always be more powerful.
I had a few things that might work and told Evie as much. She had a key to my apartment and was one of the few people I didn’t mind digging through my things.
She told me to call her as soon as I knew anything about Ethan. After I tucked my cell away and stepped out from the tree line, I made a beeline to the house.
No one guarded the door or gave me a second look when I walked in. They’d grown used to me being around after my long stay, but today they were more concerned with Ethan than my presence.
I went straight to the small clinic room he’d set up long ago. Injured shifters were a dime a dozen. Due to their very nature, someone was always getting hurt, so Ethan had taken it upon himself to build one of these areas in each home and dormitory so the injured party could get quickly patched up or stabilized in the event of something more serious than a cut or broken bone.
Ethan rarely had to use the room, so when I stepped in and saw his prone form lying motionless on the steel bed, worry froze my veins.
