"Kenya took him inside to get cleaned up. You're the worst off of us, but he took a nasty bite to his shoulder and his foreleg is kind of a mess,” Rod said. He sounded unhappy as well, though if they won the day...
"What are you not saying to me?"
Marc's silence was telling.
“Marc, what happened?”
”We don’t know where the vamps came from, but they took Crissy when they retreated. Actually, they took her right when they got here, but there was so much going on that nobody saw it but Kaylee and we don’t want to push that right now. I’ll ask for more details later, but all she’s said so far is that when she was pulling Crissy along toward the cabin door, Crissy’s hand yanked out of her own, and by the time she had turned around, her mom wasn’t there anymore. We just know that she is gone, and the place she had been was covered in the scent of vampire and fear," he sighed heavily and they stopped before stepping into the lodge doors. "One of the Goldfangs offered to follow the trail and I figured it was better than any of our other options right at this moment. He and one of our sentries took off about ten minutes ago."
Aldric frowned but nodded. “What else.”
Marc wasn’t meeting his eyes and Rod’s shoulders were drooping.
“Mia didn’t make it. One of the vamps…” Marc finally answered with a deep sigh. Aldric snarled and several of the nearby wolves whimpered in sympathy. None of them felt much like celebrating their victory.
After a moment, Marc cleared his throat. "Kenya has called your cousin and between Madeline and Leo we will have vehicles brought up here to take you and Ori and the rest of our wounded to the clinic for treatment. Tamika can take over your duties until you've rested and healed. At least a week, Aldric, unless Madeline says otherwise."
They lowered him carefully onto the sofa in the lodge, on which a sheet had been spread. He could hear Kenya scolding Ori in another room, and Ori's teasing whines answering her. Faith's voice drifted to him, talking to the children and keeping them calm as well. And Kaylee's quiet sobs, no doubt frightened for her mother.
Marc crouched by Aldric's shoulder with a wet cloth and a bowl of water and started wiping away blood and dirt and sweat.
"Whoever those vamps were, where ever they took Crissy, we'll find them. And they will regret every decision they made that led to them coming against the Frostwalker Clan," Marc promised him. "We will not abandon our own."
Aldric just nodded and closed his eyes again. Healing was hard work and he was so tired.
The next time he opened his eyes, his cousin was hovering over his face wearing her scrubs and a raised eyebrow. "May I suggest that next time you duck?"
"Certainly. Although I hope to work toward there not being a next time," he answered with a sigh. "How are we?"
Madeline smirked and shook her head before answering. "We are going to be fine after a few days. Although you actually lost a fair amount of blood so you're going to stay here until tomorrow and you will rest when I send you home. And I’m not ruling out some fancy new scars, cousin. I've given you a transfusion already, and I'll bring you some to drink in a few minutes now that you’re awake. You have forty-seven stitches in fourteen wounds, two cracked ribs and I am not going to ask how you wrenched your wrist like that, but somehow it's not broken."
She pressed a button and the bed started to move, letting him sit up.
"And Ori? Kenya? Faith and the children? Marc?"
Madeline chuckled. “Marc is fine. Three stitches and a mess of bandages, but he's shockingly fine. Kenya as well, though she escaped without seeing my needle. Ori got stitches as well, and is going to be here for a day or two until I can really evaluate how well he's healing. That damn thing took a chunk out of him. I'm afraid he's on the injured reserve for a bit, but he’ll be okay.”
Aldric raised his eyebrow. He didn't miss what she left out, and she knew it. Her smirk didn't move.
"And?" he prompted.
"And?" she parroted back. She held his gaze for another moment before snorting a laugh. "Well, you can ask her yourself. She just ran out to grab coffee while I checked you over. You've only been here a few hours, but I put you under for most of it. It’s just after 9 am, in case you wondered. The kids went home with Marc, Rod, and four other enforcers last night after I checked them over. Tamika has, apparently, declared the kids to require two bodyguards each at all times when outside the Clan House.
“I believe Marc has also handled Detective Lincoln who showed up here extremely insistent that you all go to the sheriff's office to give statements. How he thought you could do that while unconscious, I’m not sure, but that concludes my news bulletin.“
Aldric was about to ask for more information when the door to the small room swung open. Faith trudged in carrying a huge takeaway cup of coffee and a bone-tired expression which brightened slightly when she saw Aldric was awake.
"Hey! How're you feeling, big guy?" She hurried over to the chair beside the bed and pulled it close before sitting down.
"Tired and sore. Are you okay? Uninjured? The children?"
"You'll do," Madeline patted his knee and grinned as she walked out. "I’ll bring you a drink in a few minutes, but there's water over on the counter if you can't wait. Don't even think about getting up before I get back!" she called as she pulled the door closed behind her.
"I like your cousin. She's cool," Faith smiled. It didn't quite reach her eyes, but he wasn't sure
