Page 20 of Wolf Tamer

Gently, I place Tasha down on the bed, distantly aware of Bullet hanging back to do as I asked: to guard us.

“Come on, you’ve got to stay with me, Tash,” I tell her as I wait for Liam to follow me in with the hot water.

Her eyes flutter at the nickname she definitely told me not to air, but her breath continues to come in short, sharp gasps. Her skin is on fire, yet she’s shaking with chills. She pushed herself too far, and it’s my fault.

Too close a call for comfort.

“Talk to me,” I demand. “You’ve got to stay awake. You hit your head on the landing, and Tash—come on. Stay awake.”

She groans but doesn’t say a word in response. That should probably worry me more than any of the burns or the gashes, the magic overload or the head wound. She’s not insulting me.

Something is wrong.

Finally, Liam returns, setting the teakettle of hot water beside a large bowl with a stack of pristine white towels next to the bed. He stares down at her for a moment.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asks.

Shebetterbe okay because I have no idea what I’ll do otherwise.

“She’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it,” I tell him.

“Reid…” Liam breaks off on a choking sigh. “I don’t understand. You disappeared. Where did you go? None of us had any idea, and we couldn’t sense you. You were outside the territory boundary. Weren’t you?”

I rip her shirt open to get it off her. It’s already soaked through with sweat. I’m not sure what happens to witches when they use too much of their magic, but I know I need to do something. Cleaning her is the first step.

Shaking my head, I tell my brother, “Go outside, Liam. Stand watch with Bullet and make sure no one disturbs us. Okay?” I purposely soften my tone for him. “We’ll talk later and I’ll tell you everything then. I swear it.”

The last part isn’t necessary, but I air it for a reason.

Liam has never been one to push. Eventually, he nods and walks back to the door before shutting it behind him. He’s too meek to cause any sort of waves, and I’ve always appreciated his easy temperament. It’s such a contrast to me and our oldest brother, Julius, who seems content to cause more waves than the actual fucking ocean.

The moment we’re alone, I focus my attention completely on Tasha.

“Do you want to know why I was late?” I tell her in a low voice. “Why I wasn’t in time to keep you off that stake?”

I tell her about what Emily and Crane did.

“They had me down, jaws around my throat,” I continue.

Her legs suffered the worst of the burns. That’s to be expected. As a witch, her body responds differently to certain stimuli, and it also heals faster than a normal human. I bank on her hyper healing now, but until her skin begins to regenerate, I’ll aid the process by cleaning the wounds.

A little aloe vera never hurt anyone, either.

I dip the towel into the hot water, then stroke it across the dirt and dried sweat, the bruises and burn marks marring her perfect skin. Settling at her sides eases the tension curling beneath my sternum. It doesn’t, however, erase it entirely.

“Crane is dead. I killed him myself. And despite a broken wrist, Emily somehow managed to get away. She just ran off, like her mother was calling her, and disappeared.”

The stupid joke does the trick, and Tasha cracks a small grin.

“They… ganged up on you once I left. Of course they did. Cowards.”

The sound of her voice hasmesmiling.And she’s back, ladies and gentleman. “Of course they did is right. Because they knew they’d never be able to take me on with you here. You’d have kicked their asses from here to Sunday.”

“Oh, sure.”

Her lips are blue and her shaking is unending, but I can’t help laughing at the comment. A moment later, I’ve got her as clean as I can manage and start wrapping her in blankets like a burrito.

“So what did you do?” she asks me.

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