Chapter 23

Chapter 23

“Fucking shift!” Jacob shouted as he dropped Kale on the bed and-

God, there was so much blood, Ashley thought, feeling her stomach drop as she slapped her hands against his wound, praying that it would stop the bleeding only to watch blood seep between her blistered fingers and down his torso where it pooled on the sheets. Everything went red as she looked at Jacob to find him shoving his hand through his hair as he stared down at Kale, who couldn’t seem to do much more than groan in pain at this point, looking lost.

“We have to do something,” she said, pressing her hands that had stopped healing at some point more firmly against Kale’s wounds.

“He needs to shift,” Jacob said more to himself as he watched the blood continue to pool on the bed.

“He can’t!” Ashley said, looking around the bedroom for something to fix this.

“He’s fucking stubborn,” Jacob said, shaking his head in disgust as Ashley looked back down at Kale to find him watching her through silver eyes as he struggled to stay awake.

Licking her lips nervously, Ashley tried for a reassuring smile as she said, “You have to shift, Kale.”

When he only continued to stare at her, she added, “Please!” hoping that it would be enough to make him listen because she didn’t know what else to do.

They couldn’t bring him to the hospital, which meant…

He was going to die if he didn’t shift.

“Please, shift,” she said, pressing her trembling hands tightly against his wounds as she struggled to think of something that would help him.

“We have to close his wounds,” Ashley said, shifting her attention to find Jacob watching her with something close to pity.

“He’s not going to make it, Ashley.”

Shaking her head stubbornly, she said, “You don’t know that.”

“There’s too much damage. If he’d shifted sooner, he might have had a chance, but with the demon blood…” Jacob said, letting his words trail off as Ashley knelt there, shifting her attention back to Kale and-

No, this wasn’t happening.

“Either find something to close the wound or I will,” Ashley bit out as she shifted her attention back to Jacob, wondering why he wasn’t doing something to stop this.

“Why do you care?” he asked, watching her curiously.

“Because he doesn’t deserve to die like this!” Ashley said, struggling to keep it together when all she wanted to do was cry as memories of her mother struggling to take her next breath threatened to tear her apart.

God, she couldn’t do this.

She couldn’t watch someone else suffer like that.

She just couldn’t.

“You don’t even know him,” Jacob pointed out in that same curious tone as he watched her.

“I don’t care!” Ashley snapped. “Just help him, please!”

For a moment, Jacob didn’t say anything as he continued standing there, watching her, and then…

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Jacob said, slowly exhaling as he shifted his attention back to Kale’s wounds. “We could try cauterizing the wounds to stop the bleeding and hope that his body does the rest.”

“Do it,” Ashley said, shifting her attention back to Kale.

While Jacob set to work getting everything that he needed, she tried to give Kale a reassuring smile as she said, “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Reaching up with a trembling hand, Kale cupped her face in his cold hand as he whispered, “Liar,” with a faint smile.

“What makes you think that I’m lying?” Ashley asked around a sob as Kale gently caressed her cheek.

“Your toes,” he said, surprising a weak chuckle from her.

“I’m going to have to work on that,” she promised him, watching as the silver in his eyes faded away until she found herself looking into warm green eyes.

“Mo ghrá,” Kale whispered reverently as he continued to watch her, his expression turning sad.

“What does that mean?” Ashley asked, watching as his expression turned pained as he dropped his hand and looked away from her.

“Get out,” Kale bit out coldly, making her frown.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Ashley said, watching as Jacob set one of those small butane cans she’d seen advertised online for camping, on the nightstand and lit it.

“Get out!” Kale shouted as Jacob held a large blade to the flame as she tried not to think about what he was about to do.

“Not happening,” Ashley said, refusing to leave the stubborn jerk like this. She didn’t give a damn what he wanted right now or that he hated her. She wasn’t leaving.

“Hold him down,” Jacob said, pulling the knife away from the flame as he gestured for her to move her hands.

“Get her out of here!” Kale shouted, looking more alive than he had a moment ago as he reached over to shove her off the bed only to end up pulling her closer and held on to her as Jacob pressed the side of the blade against the wound on his stomach while she prepared herself for the crushing squeeze that was about to come, only…

It never came.

While Kale struggled to bite back an anguished scream, he wrapped his arms around her as he pressed his forehead against her shoulder and held her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. After a slight hesitation, Ashley found herself wrapping her arms around him and…

God, this felt so right, Ashley thought as she closed her eyes and said the only thing that she could think of, not really sure which one of them needed to hear it more.

“Everything will be okay.”