Page 94 of The Thief

Bear got Mercy to shift three more times, which sped up her healing. But as repeated shifts often did, it took its toll by sapping her energy. When her wolf began snoring, he realized everything was going to be okay.

Bear heaved a sigh. “What do we owe you?”

Milly disposed of the syringe in a trash can. “For a life? That’s a check you can’t cash.”

“I have money.”

“So do I.” She adjusted her glasses. “I have clients who pay me well for my services. Pay me in kind.” Milly reached for a fuzzy blue sweater jacket that was hanging on a hook. After putting it on, she sat in a waiting room chair and lit up a cigarette. “When I was young, someone showed up on my doorstep with an injured Sensor. They didn’t have money, so I turned them away. The Sensor died.” She pulled in a drag and blew it out. “Years later, my son developed an inoperable brain tumor. I did as much research as I could since Relics have advanced treatments and practices that aren’t approved in the human world. As it turns out, one surgeon had successfully operated and treated this specific tumor. Do you want to guess who that surgeon was?”

“The Sensor,” Lucian answered, taking the chair next to her.

On a shaky breath, she said, “After that, I never turned anyone away from my doorstep. If you fuck with the universe, the universe will fuck with you. My son only lived for five months after his diagnosis. He was my legacy—my father’s only grandchild. All our knowledge dies with me.”

“Take in an apprentice,” Lucian suggested. “Teach them everything you know.”

Bear lost interest in the conversation, their voices becoming a distant murmur as he stroked Mercy’s beautiful face and ears. He touched his nose to hers and whispered private words of love and gratitude.

But in the back of his mind, he couldn’t stop wondering how this had happened.

Chapter 17

“Everyone, stop fussin’.” I clutched the Relic’s arm as she guided me through her dark living room. My head was still fuzzy, and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep.

“Clear a path,” Milly barked at them.

Bear and Lucian kept trying to carry me out, but I had two legs and they were perfectly functional.

“I can’t thank you enough, and I’m so sorry for the trouble,” I said to Milly. “How can I pay you back?”

“You can live a good life,” she replied.

Milly wasn’t that much taller than me, but she was a little hunched over from age.

I stopped on the porch and wrapped her in a hug filled with gratitude. “You’ll be hearing from me again. When I get to feeling better, I’ll stop over with an apple pie and soda.”

“Whiskey would be better,” Milly said, a smoker’s cough tangled in her laugh.

“The finest bottle I can find,” I promised her.

She gave me a pat on the back. “Go home and sleep it off. You’ll be back to normal in a few days. If not, come see me.”

I descended the porch steps in Lucian’s tank top and skinny jeans. They weren’t skinny enough, but after rolling them up, I used his belt to keep them from sliding off. He might only have been five-ten, but that was still a good eight inches taller than me. Lucian plodded down the steps in nothing but a pair of black trunks and matching sneakers.

Archer was leaning against the SUV, hair askew, sucking on a round lollipop. When he noticed Lucian in his underwear, he grinned and asked, “What have you three been up to? I’m changing my opinion on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

Lucian branched to the left. “Where did you get the candy?”

Archer murmured a reply that none of us could hear.

I was still in a state of confusion, not understanding how these men had gotten here, let alone what time it was.

“Where’s the girl?” Bear asked.

Archer ran his tongue around the red candy. “She took off.”

“Took off what?” Lucian neared the vehicle. “Her panties?”

“What girl?” I looked at Bear, who was shirtless but hadn’t explained why.

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