Chapter 2

2

T he agonizing swim back up to consciousness wasn’t for the faint of heart.

Reality intruded on me more slowly than it should have, returning in spits and spats and hazy images until I finally pried my eyes open.

The room swam into view, first in triple, then double. Then at last the world solidified into a familiar space where I’d spent way too much time already.

I groaned and shook my head, or tried to shake my head but found myself unable to move.

How many times had I woken up in the Claw & Fang Hospital?

At least Mike knew to bring me here, for which I’d be forever grateful. As a half shifter, a regular fae hospital was too dangerous for me because they’d likely figure out my genetics and possibly eject me from this realm.

Shifters weren’t welcome here.

We were tainted or something.

It was a huge risk being in this land in the first place but it sure beat the alternative.

I tuned in to the weight at the bottom of the hospital bed and found Noren curled up asleep at my feet. His enormous body took up most of the damn bed, actually, and heat rolled off of him.

What a giant.

At least he kept my feet warm.

His concern was sweet. Noren understood more than any normal wolf I’d ever met, and despite his massive size and his ferocious claws and teeth made for disemboweling, he’d started to act like a giant puppy around me.

He’d jumped in front of me, as well, right before I passed out, almost like he’d known something was wrong before I did.

I’d have cracked my skull open on the ground if not for his quick reflexes to break my fall.

“Thanks, big guy.” It took me a hot minute to haul myself up to a seated position and reach out to run my hand through his fur, ruffling the dark strands. “You’re always looking out for me. I appreciate it. You’re the best.”

Noren cracked open a yellow eye, his gaze meeting mine, and then he snorted and curled up into a tighter ball.

I ran my hand over his shoulder and up to his ear, scratching him lightly.

“You want to talk to the wolf but not to me?” a female voice scoffed, the tenor sweet and airy but also loud enough to pierce the fog in my brain. “Typical Tavi.”

Bronwen Minuti set her book down on her lap and grinned at me, the motion bringing her freckles to attention on her pale face. Her relief was evident.

Bronwen knew everything about me and then some. We came from the same kind of background, except her family had gotten her out before I ever realized there was a need to run.

When I initially used my mental manipulation on the direwolf, Bronwen and Melia were the first people I told.

She reached out for my hand, and it took an inordinate amount of effort to lift my arm even just to touch my fingertips to hers.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I said.

“Where else would I be? I heard about you fainting and I came right away. Like I’d let you stay in this place without someone to keep an eye on you. Well, two someones. Noren does an amazing job.” She stood and placed her hand on my forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel like shit. Actually, I haven’t been right for a couple of days. It’s like the flu on steroids.”

I dropped back down against the pillows, blinking away the sudden burning in my eyes.

And my arm, too. It was bandaged at my side and the skin beneath the wrapping felt like I’d held it over a fire and watched my skin crackle and split.

“What’s going on?” I asked Bronwen.

Her brows knitted together and she stared at me. Then realization clicked in.

“You mean your arm? It’s an infected wound. I’ve been here long enough to watch them clean and rewrap it three times now. Which the nurse assures me they’ve been doing for days.”

“What do you mean, for days ?” I bolted upright and jostled Noren in the process.

His expression barely changed—he was a wolf, after all—but I swore he frowned at me for the imposition.

“You’ve been unconscious for, like, four days now, dude. The hospital staff aren’t really sure what’s going on or why.” Bronwen gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “They also don’t have a clue why your shifter abilities aren’t healing you the way they should.”

Well, that was troubling.

My shifter healing abilities had gotten me out of way too many scrapes in the past for me to be able to operate without them now.

And where the hell had they gone in the first place?

Ice crystalized in my veins and at the same time the palms of both hands were hot and clammy.

Was something wrong with my wolf?

“The infected wound is from where zombie Madam Muerte bit me,” I admitted softly.

The grave expression looked out of place on Bronwen’s face, and for a moment her eyes darkened and I wondered what the hell she was hiding.

Then she smiled at me and any trace of what I’d seen disappeared.

She settled back down in her chair. “If anyone can figure out what’s going on, it’s the doctors here. The Claw & Fang aren’t fucking around. They know their stuff. Oh, and I told Melia what’s going on.”

A small measure of relief stole over me.

“Thanks.”

“Mike’s been in and out to check on you, too. He really is a hunk, and a caring one as well. It’s a rare combination.” The observation was her attempt to diffuse the tension thickening the air between us. “I know I had some issues with him at first but I think I may actually like him now.”

A rush of panic overtook me. “I had another training session with Coral. If I’ve been here for days, then I must have missed it. Did you tell Coral?”

Bronwen rolled her eyes.

“You have to tell her.”

“Ugh. Fine. Okay? Fine . I’ll go call her now, but you’ll owe me.”

I owed her so much more than even Bronwen knew.

She and Coral hated each other. It was totally understandable, considering Coral was just about the most offensive person I’d ever met.

At least until I got to know her.

“Add it to the list,” I told Bronwen, sighing. “And I’m sorry, again. For leaving you high and dry.”

I’d chosen not to go on patrol with Bronwen. And my mentor, Onyx, attacked. He was killing pure-blooded fae, and although he’d been controlled by magic…that didn’t make up for what happened.

Or the part I played in how it all went down.

Shame shriveled my insides.

“You almost died because of me,” I added when she stayed silent.

Bronwen shrugged, her lips pouted. “Yeah, well, I don’t fear death, so don’t worry about it. If this life ends then I’ll just do my best to enjoy the next one. At least I know there’s another chance waiting for me.”

I swallowed over a chuckle. “Yeah, sure.”

Bronwen leaned forward. “No, I’m serious,” she insisted.

“What do you mean, the next one? There’s only one life. Don’t we have to make the most of this one?”

“It’s the old myths, Tavi.” She leaned in further and crooked a finger for me to come closer.

Which, as I found out, was pretty much impossible. “What old myths?”

“Come on, don’t tell me your uncle never told you about the old reincarnation myths? Every pup right out of the nest knows about the second life of shifters.”

“If he did, then I’m drawing a blank,” I admitted. “Want to explain them to a poor invalid laid up in bed?” Yup, that was the card I played.

“So, ancient shifters believed that even an ounce of shifter blood allowed them to reincarnate into another life after death if they wanted to. Which means we get another shot at this whole thing. Another go-around. It’s awesome to think about, isn’t it?” She sat back in the chair with a shrug. “Either way, I’m putting off this call. Let me go have a little chat with the devil herself.”

Bronwen left to call Coral, and at once the burning in my arm ratcheted up a notch, as if acknowledging it somehow made it worse.

Reincarnation, huh?

It sounded like something people made up to excuse their poor decisions and bad judgment in this life. I wasn’t sure I believed in it. I’d seen some incredible things, but that?

If we got another shot at life, it meant— A swell of pain cut off that line of thinking.

Sleep wasn’t easy but it took me under a few times. I remembered waking up woozy once or twice whenever a nurse came to check my vitals.

Each time, the pain tickled the edges of my awareness before the dizziness got worse and I drifted again.

The sensation left me with no choice. I couldn’t have fought sleep even if I wanted to. Eventually I floated back to reality, the din of voices in the room distant and foggy.

I shifted against the pillows at my back.

“None of the treatments are working,” someone said. “I’m not sure what other options are left for us to explore.”

“There has to be something you can do, Doctor. Please. She’s very important.”

The second voice was feminine and low, familiar in a way that tugged at the rusty processes in my brain.

Selene Montrosse .

She led the Claw & Fang. So it made sense for her to be here, but how much time had passed since I’d been brought in?

I struggled to sit up straighter to try and catch a glimpse of the two but failed miserably.

“Tavi only seems to be getting worse. We’ll keep her here for a few more days to see if there’s any improvement, but at this point it makes sense for you to consider taking her somewhere she’ll be comfortable. I hate to be the one to tell you this but her outlook isn’t great.”

I heard what the male doctor didn’t say. That I’d need to be brought out of the hospital so that I died somewhere off the premises. Where they wouldn’t have to clean up the mess.

My insides constricted and squeezed the air out of my lungs.

“Is there any hope for her?” Selene asked.

“We’re doing the best we can,” the doctor continued.

The next thing I knew, soft fingers stroked across my forehead, and I peeled my eyes open to watch Selene gently brush my hair back.

The wooziness allowed me to watch her lips move but I heard nothing. Sick, dizzy, I existed as if in a wind tunnel. There was nothing outside of the howling in my head.

The doc was definitely right. Whatever was happening, I felt worse, not better.

But her motherly touch broke through my defenses. I wasn’t getting well, and the look in her eyes was all steely resolve with a bit of tempered sympathy.

I’d met her as a reporter during the Faerie Trials. Today her normal sly smile and sharp voice seemed a million miles away and her usually pert chin-length black hair looked messy.

Eyes of a deep silver scoured me.

The next time I woke, Selene wasn’t in sight, but her voice lifted in a shout.

“What do you expect us to do, Almighty Prince?” Her tone bit deep but at least I heard her. The knot in my chest released with a small measure of consolation. “We’re giving her the best possible treatment. I can’t exactly pull a miracle out of my ass simply because you command it. With all due respect,” she said, with absolutely no respect whatsoever.

“And yet you’re not helping her! None of you. What good is the Claw & Fang if they can't save someone like her? You’re spinning your wheels and she’ll pay the price.”

Mike . Tears pricked my eyes.

He came back for me.

“The castle has the best hospital in the realm. Hand her over to me or I’ll send the entirety of the King’s Guard here to storm your medical center,” he threatened.

“Try to take her and see what happens.”

I could practically see Selene’s sneering face in my mind.

Oh no, this was going to devolve into something hideous, and fast. I lifted my hand to try and stop the fight but a wave of nausea attacked my insides.

My gut swirled sickeningly and the sudden rise of heat in my throat sent me right back into unconsciousness.

Sunlight warmed the side of my face the next time I woke. For a moment I lay on my back breathing, focusing on the sensation, and slowly I lifted my hand to cup my sun-warmed cheek.

I moved without issue.

That alone had surprise welling up and my eyes popped open, this time without the accompanying sick feeling I’d gotten used to. I actually felt…decent. Much better than I had any of the other times. And this place?—

I reached out for Noren like I usually did when I woke up and felt nothing. He wasn’t with me.

Something tugged at my arm with a small prick of pain when I sat up and I glared at the clear IV attached to the crook of my arm.

My current hospital room boasted large mullioned windows letting in a powerful stream of light. Two high-backed chairs upholstered in buttery yellow fabric sat beneath the windows, and the sheets were crisp, clean, and pristine white.

The fresh scent of evergreens and mulberry filled the space. None of the sickening ammonia chemical stench of human hospitals.

I waited for several moments, hoping someone would come.

There had to be a call button somewhere. I rolled onto my side, reaching out with my free hand to search the bedside table. Nope, no call button there.

Okay, think .

Wherever I’d been moved, this place was so very different from the hospital operated by the Claw & Fang. Where was I? Had Mike actually dragged me out of there, or was I dead and trapped in some kind of weird purgatory?

I’d seen stranger sights.

Taking great pains to go slowly, I slid my legs over the side of the bed until my feet hit the cool tile floor. The IV stand moved along with me on well-oiled wheels.

The small private room held my bed, the two chairs, and a small table with a glass of water filled to the brim but nothing else.

A quick twist of the gold knob had the door swinging open silently, and the hallway beyond, although well lit, was as quiet as a tomb.

A chill wracked over me. I didn’t recognize the place at all, and although I strained for some sort of magical recognition, nothing outside the low moan of the breeze outside greeted me.

Gripping the IV stand, I shuffled one foot in front of the other, my muscles tensed and a little sore from however long I’d been stuck in bed.

Despite the experience I felt better than I had in a long time. I wasn’t even tired. The pain in my arm had all but disappeared and my head wasn’t stuck on a Tilt-A-Whirl anymore.

Small miracles.

I turned the corner and the hallway opened up into a lobby. An ornate desk of polished mahogany took up one entire wall but only a single fae in scrubs manned the desk. The strange nurse and?—

“Mike.”

My voice cracked but his name came out loud enough to draw his attention.

A beautiful smile split his face and he unfolded from where he’d leaned across the desk, talking to the nurse.

“You shouldn't be out of bed yet,” he called back to me. “What are you doing, Tavi?”

I shook my head and awkwardly pushed a lock of hair behind my ear at his approach. I probably looked like a hot mess. The hottest of messes, but nothing could have moved me.

Energy crackled between us, the same physical, visceral reaction whenever I saw him.

“I’ve spent enough time in bed to last a lifetime, thanks.”

And there he stood in front of me. Live, in person, and handsome in that odd way of his. “I brought you here for better care. It’s good to know things have finally turned in our favor.” He dropped his voice. “It took a lot of effort to get you out.”

I stared over his shoulder at the nurse. If anyone found out my secret, then it didn’t matter if I healed and recovered or not. They’d shoot me where I stood.

Those few fervent glances between Mike and the nurse failed to project my concern to the former.

He placed his hand on the back of my neck, warm and steady, and dropped his forehead to mine. “You’re safe, Tavi. You’re safe.”

He sounded so assuring.

I leaned into his comforting heat and let myself feel . To enjoy being in the moment with him when everything felt better than it had for a long time.

“How long?” I managed to ask.

“Have you been here? Only a day. It took a whole lot of posturing to move you but once we did, the doctors worked quickly. You’re safe.” He repeated the phrase with such surety I almost believed it.

I might have let him sweet talk me into lowering my guard, too, if a high-pitched alarm hadn’t sounded in the next heartbeat. The shrill shrieking cut through my skull and I curled in on myself.

“Tavi, let’s get you back to your room. Now .” Mike cradled me against his chest.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s the emergency alarm. It means the castle is under attack.”