Promise the Moon (Lorimar Pack Book 1) Page 13

  “Good idea. Why didn’t I think of that?” I snapped, getting my teeth involved. “Oh wait, I did.”

  Isaac didn’t snap back. He kept his head facing forward, eyes on the road, and let me seethe in silence.

  The trip dragged to the point where I half-decided I could get out, put Enzo in a fireman’s carry and run the rest of the way faster than Isaac was driving. But I resisted the urge, aware it was my nerves stretching out the miles and not the amount of pressure exerted by his boot on the pedal.

  An eternity later, we hit the long driveway leading into Stone’s Throw. At the head of the road, a gleaming silver Airstream that may or may not still have an outline of my bare butt on one of its panels sat parked in the grass.

  “This is as far as I can take you.” He threw the truck into park. “Get Enzo to help. You can drop the truck off once he’s stabilized since it looks like I won’t be allowed inside the wards any time soon.”

  He didn’t have to ask me twice. I hopped out, circled the truck and ducked under his arm to get behind the wheel. I left him in a plume of smoke and braced for the shiver of magic about to sweep over us. It hit a second later, raising chills down my arms. I floored it through the icy cascade then braked harder than I should have in the parking lot. Enzo slumped forward, and I cursed under my breath.

  I killed the ignition then jogged around the truck as if stuck in a twisted game of ring around the pickup.

  “I’ve got him.” Moore wedged himself between me and the door, almost yanking it off its hinges and putting us in close proximity. My hackles might have raised if he hadn’t started lifting Enzo out with care that didn’t come naturally to him. “Abram’s waiting for us inside.”

  “I’ll get the door.” I ran ahead and had it open by the time Moore arrived. “Abram, incoming!”

  The doctor poked his head out of his glorified exam room and waved us in. “Put him on the table.”

  Moore lowered the witch gently then retreated to a guard position near the exit.

  Abram began a standard examination that ended with him frowning. “The good news is I’ve seen this before. It’s burnout. Mostly young witches get it when they draw more power than they know how to handle.”

  Or when they’d rather win Macho Man of the Day than admit a task might be too large or dangerous for them to handle alone.

  “For Enzo to be this crispy, he must have grabbed the source of all magic with both hands,” Abram continued. “What did he do?”

  “He shattered the glamour on the parking lot at the Cantina.” I pushed the rogue hairs off his forehead back in line with the rest of their gel-set siblings. “Idiot. He should have admitted he couldn’t do it—or shouldn’t do it—instead of magically castrating himself.” Irritated at his recklessness, I ruffled his hair into disarray. That would show him when he woke up. “Isaac had already told us it was concealing Mr. O’Malley’s car. We could have waited and found an alternate method for clearing the lot.”

  “There’s your problem.” Abram crossed to a cabinet and removed clear tubing and what suspiciously resembled a needle packet. “Your old flame showed up with a quick fix for a problem that’s been on your mind. Except Gemini don’t, as far as I know, break glamours. Since they can see through them, there’s no reason for that trait to have evolved in their race.”

  “So Enzo decides to prove his superiority by almost dying to show me what Isaac couldn’t,” I summarized.

  “That’s my official diagnosis,” Abram confirmed.

  More blood covered his face and fancy clothes than was safe for a human to lose. Witches weren’t strictly human but, like wargs, humanity gave us our template. “Tell me, doc, will he die of stupidity?”

  “Assuming we can transfuse him?” Abram hustled about the room. “He should be fine.”

  “Transfuse…” I paled. “Do you know his blood type?”

  “No, I don’t.” He gripped my shoulders and shoved me out into the hall. “That’s why I need you to get Isaac in here, now.”

  Why I didn’t see that coming, I had no idea. But a trill of panic ran up my spine. Cam was not going to like this, but Cam wasn’t here to offer an alternative either.

  Gemini were one of the chameleons of the fae world. They adopted traits from any person foolish enough to grant them blood rights. Even a drop altered their physiology temporarily. Enough that, say you needed a transfusion, they could match you.

  “He can’t cross the wards.” And Enzo hadn’t told us how to lower them, assuming they could be shut down for short periods. “Isaac tried earlier and hit the barrier. He’s waiting at his trailer outside the gates.”

  Abram cursed under his breath then waved toward Moore. “You carry the patient, and we’ll carry the supplies.”

  I danced out of the way before Moore touched me. “Are you sure it’s safe to move him in his condition?”

  “It’s move him or lose him.” Abram deferred to me. “You’re beta, you make the call.”

  “Saving him sounds good.” I accepted all the implements he shoved into my arms and backed out the door, pinning it open while Moore slid through. “Here. Let me lower the tailgate. You can sit there and hold him.” It beat stuffing Enzo in and out of the cab again. Not that I was sure we could shut the door behind him, seeing as how it was hanging off its hinges. Moore settled, legs so long they almost dragged the ground, with Enzo held in a bride carry. “Sit tight.”

  Abram slammed the passenger-side door shut as I hopped behind the wheel. As itchy as my right foot got, I kept us slow and steady until we passed under the cool ripple of the wards. This time, I rolled to a gentle stop. Dumping Moore off the tailgate was probably not the best method of promoting healing in our resident witch.

  “Isaac,” I screamed as my feet hit the grass.

  The door to his Airstream blasted open, bouncing off the exterior. “Dell?” Eyes wild, he skipped the steps and jumped to the ground, closing the distance between us with four long strides. “Are you okay?”

  For the first time since Isaac’s unexpected return, I locked gazes with him. The moment stretched until my eyes got dry, and I blinked, eager to break that bone-searing connection. Seeing those baby blues pinched at the corners, raking over me for the slightest injury as if he would patch up my hurts by sheer will alone, gutted me.

  “Enzo needs your blood.” I rubbed my palms on my thighs to dry them. “Will you help? Please?”

  The weight of his attention pressed down on me, and I ducked my head to escape him.

  “You’re lucky you used the P word,” he groused. “I don’t like to bleed.”

  “Mind if we borrow your bed?” Abram didn’t wait for an answer. He stepped around Isaac and into the Airstream. “This won’t take long. A few hours at most.”

  “Help yourself,” Isaac called to his retreating back.

  “Coming through,” Moore bellowed as he followed Abram’s example by trudging past us up the stairs.

  Isaac ruffled his hair. “I would have cleaned up if I’d known I was having guests.”

  “Dell?” Abram cried out. “I need you.”

  “That’s my cue.” I scooted past Isaac but froze with one hand on the siding and one foot on the first step. This trailer was the last place I wanted to be right now—or ever again. I sucked in a deep breath and hauled myself inside, battling vertigo against the richness of Isaac’s scent assaulting my nose. Breathing through my mouth helped a bit, so I gulped air that way until I reached the bedroom. “What do you need?”

  Enzo occupied the right side of the bed. The worst part was the bleeding had slowed to a trickle. That couldn’t be good.

  “It’s your lucky day,” Abram said distractedly. “You get to play nurse.”

  The urge to promote Moore leapt to my tongue, but the sight of Enzo had blanched the ruddiness from his cheeks. Then again, he was a warg. Blood was just another outfit we sometimes wore. Maybe it was the wicked-looking syringe resting on the mattress or the tubing coiled like a snake rea
dy to strike on the comforter giving him the willies.

  “You can wait outside,” I told him, and Moore bolted.

  “Where do you want me?” Isaac asked from over my shoulder, his breath hot on my neck.

  Abram patted the mattress. “Right here will do.”

  Brushing past me, Isaac assumed the position. He stretched out across the left side of the bed, leaving a foot of space between his shoulder and Enzo’s. He extended his left arm and gripped Enzo at the elbow. The nail covering Isaac’s middle finger wiggled and dropped onto the sheets. The sight of the razor-sharp spur curving over his fingertip gave me sympathy pangs for what came next. While I watched, he jabbed the point deep into the meat of Enzo’s forearm. More blood welled, but the wound soon dried.

  “Interesting.” Abram leaned forward, taking Isaac’s hand. “Does the spur produce a clotting enzyme?”

  “You’ll have to ask the witch when he wakes.” A hard edge cut through Isaac’s voice as he yanked his hand back. “Cam bargained her blood to the Garzas once as payment for a favor. I’m sure he can tell you all kinds of interesting things about the tests he ran on her.”

  “I’ll do that,” Abram said, appearing oblivious to the vitriol lurking beneath the remark.

  The next half hour passed in a blur of crimson and needle points. Abram performed his tasks with quick efficiency that spoke to all his years in the field while I did the best I could to keep up with him. Once both patients were resting comfortably, Abram left the room. The sound of water coming from the kitchen told he me was washing the blood off his hands. I lingered in the doorway, torn between the impulse to run and the urge to stay.

  “Dell?” He suffused my name with gentle chiding.

  I shoved off the doorframe and walked the three steps into the kitchen. Abram dried his hands on a paper towel while I flopped into the booth-style table across from the sink.

  “This will take a couple of hours. I gave Isaac a mild sedative in the hopes he’ll stop fidgeting long enough for the process to complete. He ought to be asleep in a few minutes.” He sat across from me. “That said, do you want to stay with them, or do you want me to?”

  “You. It should be you.” My voice cracked at the end. “If anything goes wrong, all I can do is run around like a chicken with my head cut off. That won’t help anyone.”

  “All right.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “There’s a serum Enzo is going to need when he wakes, but it won’t take long to stir up a batch. It can wait.”

  I crushed my eyes closed. “Do you need me to stay?”

  “It would be more efficient.” The corners of his lips dipped. “I understand why you don’t want to be here. No one can ask more of you than you’ve already given.”

  “Dell,” a soft voice called.

  “Is there an echo in here?” I grumbled, staring at my hands. “Would you mind…?”

  “Talking cures a lot of ails. Though I don’t know that I would trust everything he says right now. What I gave him is designed to keep a smile on his face. He ought to be feeling very relaxed right about now.” Abram patted my hands where they rested on the table. “Say the word, and you don’t have to step a foot inside this trailer again.”

  The offer hung between us, a sweet temptation I ached to accept, but I couldn’t afford to be a coward. Once you started running, you never stopped. “I’ll handle things here.” I pushed to my feet. “You go work on that serum.”

  “Are you sure?” He tried and failed to conceal his eagerness to be off to the next thing.

  Abram had a great bedside manner, if you could anchor him to a bedside in the first place. eBay rated more of his attention lately than his patients. Maybe I ought to buckle down and get one of those smartphone things. I could pull up the auction website on that, right? Kind of like sticking a pacifier in his mouth.

  “Yeah.” I trudged toward the bedroom. “Do me a favor and call Cam?”

  I didn’t trust myself to talk to her just yet. Not when calling meant sitting in Isaac’s home, borrowing one of his phones and talking about him. But she had to be informed of Enzo’s condition as well as her cousin’s role in the witch’s recovery.

  “Sure.” He tossed his crumpled paper towel in the trash. “I can do that.”

  “Thanks.” I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “I better check on the patient.”

  The front door opened and shut behind me, leaving me alone with the man who had broken my heart and the man who had offered me his to shatter.

  Isaac was studying the ceiling when I reentered the bedroom. “Have you called Cam yet?”

  “Abram is heading back to the office to work on a serum for Enzo. He’s going to make the call while he’s there.”

  “She’s going to be pissed.” A slight grin ticked in his cheek. “I didn’t tell her I was coming.”

  “Where are Dot and the Ellises?” I leaned my shoulder against the doorway. “It’s unusual for one of you to travel alone.”

  “Colorado, Colorado,” he said, voice softening around the edges. “Purple mountains majesty.”

  “How are you doing over there?” I watched as his eyelids fluttered. “You’re slurring your words and not making a whole lot of sense from here.”

  “Witch is a vampire,” he said sagely. “Out of blood.”

  “Isaac?” I stood upright. “Should I get Abram?”

  “No.” He extended his free arm toward me. “Come ’ere.”

  The words made my heart thump out one, painful thud. “Isaac…”

  “Did you a favor.” He flexed his fingers. “You owe me.”

  “You could have said no.” I refused to be guilt-tripped. “You didn’t have to help.”

  “I did.” His arm wilted. “For you.”

  “This is such a bad idea,” I murmured to myself, not that I ever listened.

  The bedroom was so small, it was all mattress except for about six inches down three sides of the room. I scooted toward him, clasping his hand before it hit the bed. He linked our fingers while making a contented sound low in his chest. I attempted to untangle us, but his grip was as sticky as Velcro weed.

  “Missed you,” he mumbled. “Phone calls.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” I humored him. “Phone calls. Like the one Abram is making to Cam right now.”

  “Not Cam.” His forehead puckered. “You. It was you.”

  “Okay.” I rested my other hand on his shoulder. The urge to press him for an explanation tripped all kinds of warning bells. Whatever he said now would be one-part medicine and one-part truth. That left far too much gray area for me to believe a word he said. “It was me. Gotcha.”

  After that, he settled and allowed sleep to claim him. I stood watch over them both, and even once Isaac’s fingers went limp, I kept holding them. I might never have another excuse, and my wolf— No, I wouldn’t blame her this time. I wanted to remember how the slide of his skin on mine felt before it all fell away again. For good this time.

  Chapter 12

  “Okay, Grub, let me have it.” I reached behind me, expecting the hammer to be slapped across my palm, and grabbed a handful of… “What the hell? If I wanted a handful of nuts, I would have opened a can of Planters.”

  I whirled where I knelt, spinning aside to get a look up at the man who was most definitely not Grub and whose junk I had just fondled by accident.

  “Morning, Sunshine.”

  “Isaac.” I stood and set my shoulders back. “You shouldn’t be sneaking around a construction site without permission from the foreman.”

  He ran a hand down one of the interior walls we’d just erected. “And who might that be?”

  I anchored my hands on my hips. “Me.”

  “You did all this?” He gave himself an unauthorized tour. “By yourself?”

  “Most of it, yes.” I tugged off my gloves and yanked my hair back into a high ponytail. “Lately I’ve had a few of the Stoners helping out. Two guys are in training today, but Grub showed up this morning. Have you seen
him?”

  “I don’t know a Grub,” Isaac said helpfully.

  “I’m here,” a booming voice called from across the yard. “I jogged down to the office and snagged us some coffee. I didn’t think you’d finish with your measurements so fast.”

  I glowered at Grub, but not too hard, because he had coffee. “Next time, give me a heads-up, okay?”

  “Sure thing.” His gaze cut to Isaac, and his nostrils flared. “Is this guy bothering you?”

  Yes. “No.” Grub hadn’t been a Stoner long enough to meet the alphas. “This is Isaac Cahill. He’s one of Cam’s cousins.”

  “Her favorite,” Isaac added with a touch of smugness.

  “I’m Gabriel Smith.” With exquisite care, he passed me one of the steaming cups in his hands. “I didn’t mean any disrespect, man, but she’s the boss. Gotta keep the boss happy if I want to keep working.”

  I didn’t bother correcting him. Goofiness aside, he was a damn good carpenter, and I wasn’t about to let him go for something as endearing as wanting to protect me from my ex…whatever Isaac was.

  “I understand,” Isaac said, angling his chin toward me. “I had no idea this is what you did for a living.”

  “Yes, well, we never were much for talking, were we?” I helped myself to the hammer and went back to what I had been doing when he showed up. “And if you say anything about me being a girl, so help me God, I will nail your toe to the subfloor.”

  “You can be beautiful and talented.” Isaac’s words trailed me. “There’s no law that says you can’t be both.”

  Flattery had worked the first time. I wasn’t dumb enough to fall for pretty words again. “Bring that tape measure over here, will you, Grub?”

  Isaac got to it first and set it on my palm. “I want to talk, Dell.”

  Grub proved himself an intelligent man by standing outside the blast radius.

  “Can’t right now.” I knelt and sank in four nails to secure a new brace I had left wedged in place. “Come back after hours.”