Page 51 of Cold Sacrifice

“Sit down,” I told him. “I brought protein.”

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Kait, I’m not—”

“Please, Rick. Sit down and let me take care of you.”

He studied me soberly for a few seconds, and then finally, he walked gingerly to the large recliner across from the bed and sat down.

I meant to pull the soft throw across his body and place the tray of food on his lap. But when he sat down, I hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning.

I put the tray on the dresser. “I need to know if we’re okay,” I said quietly. “I need to know you aren’t sickened by what happened when I shifted to a butterfly.”

“Kait,” he said, gently. “Kait.” He released a hard breath, then held out his hand. “Sit with me.”

The recliner would have held us both. I could have crawled in beside him. But I didn’t want to do that. I got into the chair and climbed onto his lap, slid my arm around his bare waist, and lay with my mouth against his throat.

“You’re so warm,” I whispered.

He shivered, then wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. “I’m not disgusted by you,” he told me. “I could never be. No matter what you shift into. You’re fucking amazing. I’m just…”

I tilted my head back to look up at him. “What?”

“I’m not what you need, Kait.”

I slid my hand up over his bruised ribs to his chest. “You’re exactly what I need.”

“I’m going to die,” he said.

My heart nearly stopped. “What?”

“One of these nights when I’m fighting a fight I wasn’t meant to be in. I’m going to die there, and you’re going to be hurt.”

I sat up. “I think about that every time I see you standing in front of a supernatural or in the middle of a whole bunch of us,” I said honestly. “I’m terrified that you’ll get hurt or…or worse. You face down things that you shouldn’t be able to live through, yet here you are.”

“I’m here,” he said somewhat dryly, “because one of you is always protecting me. Tonight it was Jared. He saved my life. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count. Sam has protected me. Joe. Zach. Even Remy.” He shook his head but didn’t look away from me. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

“You’re human,” I said. “You shouldn’t be fighting in a supernatural’s battle. I wish to God you wouldn’t. You take chances every time you go to work out there in the streets with the humans. You don’t have to risk your life in a battle of nonhumans.”

“It’s fucking me up,” he admitted. “I’ve been knocked out so many times it’s damaging my brain. Other things. I have to find my place in this world, but I’m realizing it’s not fighting supernaturals.”

“Rick,” I breathed. “Yes. That’s all I want. There’ll be times when you get caught. There’ll be times when you’ll stride into the woods and put a shotgun to the enemy’s head. But deliberately fighting in the midst of the monsters, that’s the thing you have to stop.”

He nodded. “And I will.” His eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Despite how it sometimes seems, I’m not a stupid man.”

I closed my eyes, relief making me dizzy. Two seconds later, my cell phone rang with Saul’s spooky ringtone.

I sighed, reluctant to leave the warmth of my detective’s human body.

“Kaitlyn,” Saul said when I answered. “The council would like to see you. Aaron is waiting to transport you.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “The council?” I asked. “Not Wes Korda?”

“Wes Korda after, but first the council. They would like to aid you in your fight to end Frederick Axton’s creation.”

“I could use some help,” I said.

“Indeed. The loss of your magic has made you less capable of tending the city’s adversaries.”