Fingers trembling, Brenna had taken it as soon as it rolled free and handed it to Hawke, who’d wrapped it in a piece of cloth torn from the shirt he wore under his jacket. That had been an hour ago. Judd hadn’t spoken or looked away from what he was doing the entire five-hour stretch, Riley had kept breathing for Drew, and Brenna had held on to Judd, instinct telling her it was the right thing to do.
Judd suddenly lifted his hands from Andrew’s chest. “Riley, move.” His voice was rough, holding the rust of disuse.
Riley broke contact and a bare instant later, Drew’s body jerked as if an electric shock had passed through it. Brenna gritted her teeth, knowing that Judd had just tried to restart her brother’s heart after stopping whatever it was he’d been doing to keep it going. But there was so much blood on Drew’s chest! Her hand clenched on Judd’s shoulder. He reached up to touch her fingers for a second, staining them dark red. “His heart is beating on its own. He’s breathing.”
Disbelieving, she came close enough to touch Drew’s neck. His pulse beat strong and powerful. Shaking, she pulled out and used the edge of her own shirt to wipe away the blood. “Please.” Please let him be safe.
Riley was the first to see it. “It’s gone.”
Then she saw it with her own eyes. The wound had ceased to exist. Under the blood, Drew’s skin was pink and tender but it was unbroken. She turned to the man by her side. “Judd, oh, my God.”
He didn’t seem to be able to focus on her. His eyes had gone black at the start then slid back to normal near the end. Now, they were close to dazed. Worried, she pulled back from Drew. “Baby, what’s wrong?” Putting her hands on his cheeks before she realized she had blood on them, she leaned close. “Judd, speak to me.”
“Flameout.” A single word and then his eyes went pure black again, the whites disappearing as before. Except this darkness held tinges of bloodred. It terrified her. She expected him to fall unconscious but he shook his head. “One hour.”
“One hour.” She remembered his disappearance after he’d teleported her during the hyena situation and made the connection. He had to be in a safe place within the hour. “Okay, okay.”
Andrew coughed at that second and she switched her attention back to him, aware of Judd doing the same. After a few more coughs, her brother’s lashes lifted to display familiar blue eyes. “What the hell happened?”
Sobbing, she kissed his cheek. He struggled to raise his arms to hold her but didn’t seem to have the strength. “Hey, sweetheart. Come on.”
“You lost a lot of blood.” Judd’s voice. “Full recovery will take time.”
She broke away from Drew to hug Judd. “Hold on,” she whispered in his ear, knowing he wouldn’t want to display weakness in front of the others. “Can you walk?”
A small nod, but she didn’t really believe him, not with the way his face was losing color. This was worse than at the cabin. She got to her feet. “Let’s get them both inside.”
Her comment snapped everyone to attention. Within seconds, Drew was loaded onto a stretcher someone had had the foresight to fetch, and Riley and Tai were carrying him off to the den. Lara hovered anxiously at his side. Dismissing the other men, Hawke went down on his haunches, threw Judd’s arm around his shoulders, and dragged him upright.
“To my room,” Brenna directed.
Hawke didn’t argue and not much later, Judd was in the bedroom. He supported himself, one hand on the wall. “No assistance.”
Hawke looked to Brenna. “Is he serious? I’ll have Lara in here as soon as she checks Drew out.”
“No,” Judd said again.
She wanted him in bed. “He’s still conscious and able to make a decision,” she said to Hawke. “Let him recover in peace and he’ll be fine.” If not, she would get the medics herself.
Hawke scowled. “If you need anything, holler.” He glanced at Judd. “What you did today—I’ve never seen anything like that. I didn’t think it was possible. Get some rest and then we’ll talk.” He left.
Brenna was the only one who heard Judd’s reply. “According to my trainers, it isn’t.” He swayed on his feet.
She rushed to hold him up. “In bed. Now.”
“I need to shower.”
About to say absolutely not, she realized he was covered in sweat and blood. It would hardly make for a restful sleep. Helping him into the cubicle, she began to tug at his clothes. He stopped her with a hand on her wrist. “No.”
She was ready to push him off when she saw the look on his face. Pure male pride. “Fine.” She sighed. “But if I don’t hear from you in five minutes, I’m coming in.”
Walking out, she kept every one of her senses on high alert as she turned down the bed and whipped up a high-energy drink from a mix Drew often used. The shower turned off after exactly four minutes.
By the time she got back into the bedroom, Judd was asleep. Putting down the drink, she brushed damp hair off his forehead, the tenderness in her heart overwhelming. “God, I love you.” She kissed his temple and for a second it felt like something in him responded. But he was out cold.
Shaking her head, she got up and began to pick up the clothes he’d left crumpled on the floor in what struck her as a very uncharacteristic bit of messiness.
Ironically, Drew was up and around before Judd. He came knocking twelve hours later, just after she’d finished breakfast—a bit of a misnomer, as she hadn’t actually slept, too worried about Judd. He was in such a deep sleep, she kept checking to see if he was breathing. “How are you feeling?”
“Fantastic for a guy who apparently had half his chest blown off.”
She was careful when she hugged him, aware the repaired wound had to hurt. “Drew, you stood in front of that bullet for me.” It had happened so fast she still couldn’t sort out the sequence in her head.
He laughed. “I meant to push you in front of it. Damn.”
“Idiot.” Sniffling, she broke the hug. “I love you.”
“That’s what baby sisters are for.” He opened his fist to reveal the bullet she’d picked off his chest. “Do you know the name of this little piece of evil?”
Her gut roiled at the sight of that twisted piece of metal. “No.”
“ShrapnelX. Illegal as hell.” His expression was pure fury. “It’s meant to spread into five sharp points on impact and claw its way through anything it touches.” He put it into a pocket. “Which makes me a walking miracle. I’m told it’s thanks to your boyfriend.”
“So he’s my boyfriend now?” A very important concession.
He scowled. “Don’t rub it in. Lara says I’m missing some flesh from lower down in my chest and that’s just what we can see—it’s like he moved bits to fill in the gaps.”
“He did.” She’d seen it happen in front of her eyes. “Will you be lopsided?” She was trying very hard not to cry. A world without Drew to fight with was unimaginable.
He hugged her anyway. “Nah. It’ll fill back out.” A pause. “Probably.” His arms tightened. “So, where is he?”
“Sleeping,” she said against his chest. “And no, I’m not waking him—he’s exhausted. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He crushed her to him. “Hell, I’m not going anywhere. Need to stick around to make sure he treats you right.”
“He will.” She smiled and leaned back enough that she could look up at him. “Don’t judge him by his Ice Man persona. He’s different.”
“No, he’s not, sweetheart,” Andrew said. “I think Judd’s the same as any wolf in the den—he simply hides his animal better.”
Coming from a changeling, being called an animal was the highest of compliments.
CHAPTER 33
