"No. You need to do it. Now."
"But I haven't got any tools - "
"You have hands, Cass. Just hook a finger into the wound and dig it out."
"Oh, fuck." But she dropped down beside me and a hand touched my shoulder. Her fingers were shaking almost as much as mine.
Find something to bite down onto, Quinn suggested. It'll help.
I groped for some wood then shoved it in my mouth as she took another deep breath. "Okay."
That was all the warning I got. She plunged her finger into the wound and a scream wrenched its way up my throat. Everything went red and the sweat on my brow became a river.
Cass was crying and shaking, but she didn't stop. Blood spilled from the wound and pain seemed to consume my world. It was all I could do to stay conscious. Heaven help the lot of us if one of those men became aware enough to attack now.
Then the bullet moved. Sideways, not upward. Not out. White-hot fingers of pain rolled through me, and I bit down on the wood so hard splinters drove into my tongue.
Cass swore bitterly and drove her finger a little deeper. The bullet moved again, but this time it came up, making a slight popping sound as it came free of my flesh.
The relief was almost instantaneous. I leaned my head back against the wall for several heartbeats, drawing in great gulps of air, feeling the fire wash away and hoping like hell the numbness did, as well.
"Thank you," I said eventually, and opened my eyes. Her eyes were puffy, her nose pinched and red, and she was as pale as possible for a dark-skinned woman. "You just saved my life."
"And you saved T.J.'s and ours. A fair swap, I think."
"Yeah." I raised a still-shaky hand and wiped the sweat from my eyes. "But I think he shot some of the girls and the man-mountain guarding the stairs."
More tears spilled from her eyes. She scrubbed at them hastily, then spun around at the sound of footsteps, her fear ramping up several notches.
"Riley?" Cole's voice, harsh and urgent.
We were safe.
I could let go.
Once I'd shifted shape to stop the bleeding and heal my broken rib, that's exactly what I did.
W hen I came to, it was to find myself in warm, familiar arms. They were wrapped around me, holding me steady, pressing me against a body that was hard and strong.
"Hmmm," I murmured, snuggling in a bit deeper. "This is how a girl should wake from every nightmare."
Quinn kissed the top of my head, his lips light but warm. "I don't mind the 'holding you while you wake' bit, but let's avoid the whole 'getting shot by silver' part in the future, shall we?"
"Love to." I opened my eyes and blinked at the unexpected harshness of the light. We were obviously no longer inside the shadowy confines of the brothel. "The problem is the bad guys. They seem intent on using the stuff."
"Well, you'll just have to learn to avoid them better."
I snorted softly and sat a little. Quinn's arms slipped from my waist to my hips, but he didn't let me go. Maybe he was afraid I'd fall flat on my face. And given the tremor that invaded my muscles when I moved, he was more than likely right. "The trouble with avoiding bad guys is the fact that it's my job to bring them down."
"Then maybe we need to change your job."
I glanced at him and saw the seriousness in his expression, the little lines of tension and worry around his eyes. I raised a hand and caressed the strong, beautiful planes of his face. "Maybe."
He smiled and kissed my fingertips. "The wolf still enjoys the hunt. When she doesn't, let me know."
"I will." I leaned forward and kissed him, slowly and sweetly.
The ringing of the phone interrupted us. "That will be your brother again," Quinn said dryly. "He wouldn't believe me when I said you were okay the first dozen times."
"Such sarcasm from the man who came running to my side. Against my wishes, I might add."
He shrugged and handed me his cell phone. "I'm more connected to you now than he is - and if it had been really bad, then I could save you only by being beside you."
"Really? How?" I said, then pressed the answer button and added, "Rhoan, I'm fine. Really."
"So Quinn said, but I needed to hear it for myself. What the hell happened, Riley? I was getting all sorts of weird sensations."
"I got shot with silver." I flexed my left hand as I said it. I had full motion back, but there was a definite lack of sensation coming from my fingertips. What was it about my left limb that bad guys seemed to hate? First I'd lost a finger, then I'd lost a chunk of skin, and now it looked like I might lose sensation. That would totally suck - but I guess if it was going to happen, then better my left hand than my right, given I was right-handed.
"Well, that explains the burning and numbness that hit me. You okay?"
"I'm alive, and I can move. That's always a bonus after being shot." I didn't mention the continuing numbness. There was nothing anyone could do about it, so why bother?
"Totally true." He paused, and I heard murmuring in the background. "Liander said he'd do roast lamb for dinner tonight. He thinks you need the treat."
"Tell him I'll love him forever if he does."
Rhoan snorted. "God, you can be so easily bought."
"Totally. I'll see you tonight, bro."
"You should be coming straight home after such a close call, not lingering at work."
But he wouldn't have come straight home, and we both knew it. "I have a job to do, Rhoan, and it's not finished yet."
He grumbled something I couldn't quite catch, then said, "Yeah, yeah, see you tonight."
I grinned as I hung up, then handed the phone back to Quinn. He pocketed it, then gently brushed the stillsweaty strands of hair away from my forehead. His fingers were unusually cool against my skin, and I frowned.
"Why aren't you as warm as usual?"
He raised a eyebrow. "I am. You, however, feel like you're burning up."
"Oh." Maybe it was an aftereffect of the silver. Or the fact that we were sitting here in the warm sunshine. Although, it wasn't even sunny enough to drive Quinn inside.
But that didn't mean it wasn't hot enough for someone whose vampire genes were coming to the fore ...
I thrust the thought aside, not wanting to dwell on such possibilities right now. My skin might be warm but it wasn't frying, so I saw no point in worrying about it yet. "How long was I out?"
My gaze moved to the building on the other side of the road. There were several ambulances out front, as well as Cole and the coroner's cars. In fact, the entire street was blocked. I could see the cops diverting traffic.
"Less than ten minutes," he replied. "Just enough to get you out of there and find somewhere to sit, really."
That somewhere was the bus stop. Just as well the bleeding had stopped. "We would have been more comfortable in your car."
"We would have, but my car wasn't here at the time. I travel faster out of it."
I looked at him, seeing again the little lines around his eyes and suddenly realizing they were from fatigue rather than worry. "That's why your skin is cooler. You used your Aedh form."
As an Aedh, he could become smoke and travel places the vampire couldn't go - not even a very old one. He could ride the wind and survive attacks few other vampires could. But like any ability, it had its drawbacks. In the case of his Aedh powers, it left him weak. The more he used it, the weaker he got.
"I also fed you energy," he said, and shrugged. "I'll be fine in a few hours."
"Good." I paused, then added, "You said before you could save me only by being beside me - what did you mean by that?"
"The Aedh are blood cousins of the Reapers. They are the dark to our light. We are the gatekeepers and they are the guides, but our powers are similar." He hesitated, his gaze sweeping mine, as if what he were admitting somehow alarmed him. "I could have - if I'd wished - stopped your soul from rising from your flesh and kept it bound until we removed the silver and had you breathing again."
I stared at him. Was I ever going to fully know all the facets of this man? Was I ever going to truly know just what he was capable of?
And did it matter?
The answer to that question was a decided no. I loved him, no matter what he was, no matter what he could do.
"That is as scary as hell."
"And the reason why there are so few of the Aedh around. Humans kill what they fear, and the Aedh can be killed as easily as any man if caught in human form."
The key being catching them in human form. A harder task than it seemed, given they could turn to smoke in the blink of an eye. "So if you could do all this, why didn't you drag me from unconsciousness when I was in hospital after Kye died? I mean, Death - or the Reaper, or whoever the hell that shadowy cloak figure waiting for me was - could have snatched me at any time. Why didn't you just pull me awake?"
"Because I can't, just as the Reapers can't." He hesitated. "Or in their cases, won't. The soul has to make the choice to leave the body before either of us can act."
Well, I guess that was a comforting thought.
Across the road, two ambulance officers appeared, with a stretcher between them. On it was a woman and, even from here, I could hear the ragged sound of her breathing. But she lived, and I guess that was something.
But I couldn't help wondering just how many others had died. Suddenly, I had to know. Besides, I needed to thank Cass, and make sure she was okay.
I blew out a breath and forced myself to get off his lap. He let me go but kept one hand close, and it was just as well because the street suddenly decided to do a drunken dance around me.
"Damn," I said, grabbing at his arm for support. "The silver has really drained me."
"You need to go home - "
"I will," I interrupted, "but after I talk to Cole."
"That's fine." He slipped his hand under my elbow. "We'll just go talk to him together. And then I'll drive you home."
"I thought you didn't come in your car?"
"I didn't." He gave me an amused glance as he escorted me across the street. "But it's not far away, either. And I'm quite capable of driving yours."
"You can't leave your car, because the local street kids will either redecorate or steal it. And I'm not leaving mine for the same reason." I patted his hand. "If you're that worried about me, you can follow me home."
He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. I could feel his annoyance through the link between us. And that wasn't surprising, given right now I felt as weak as a kitten, but it would pass soon enough.
We walked up the steps and into the building. The smell of blood, sex, and fear mingled with the scent of antiseptic, creating a cloying mix that stuck in my throat and made me cough. I dug out my badge and flashed it toward the crime scene recorder set up just above the doorway, then stepped over the blanketed figure lying between the main entrance and the waiting area. Frankie had obviously been one of the first killed. And if the bulge evident on the side of his hip was anything to go by, he hadn't even fully drawn his weapon before he'd been shot.
There were two more bodies in the waiting area, one woman and one man. Both had taken a shot to the head at close range. I moved through into the next room, and found Cole squatting beside yet another woman.
"Gunshot to the chest," he said unnecessarily. He glanced up, his expression as angry as I'd ever seen it. "It's times like this I'm glad the Directorate has kill orders. The bastards who did this deserve death."
But only after Jack had extracted the information he needed. "How many dead?"
"Seven. The guard by the door, two in the front room, this poor lass, and three others who were running for the back door."
Meaning T.J. and the women I'd told to stay hidden had survived. That was something. "Did you round up the brothel owner? He was here, as well, and he's the one they were after."
"He's scampered, but we'll track him down easily enough."
If we didn't, then the organization behind all this would. If T.J. had any sense, he'd come to that same conclusion and turn himself in. Even so, I reached into my pocket and drew out the scrap of paper Cass had given me earlier. "Here is his address. You might as well add it to your report, because I need to rest before I write up mine."
He nodded and slipped the piece of paper into an evidence bag. I glanced around at the sound of footsteps, and watched another two ambulance officers walk a stretcher past. This time, the person on it was in a bag. I hadn't saved them all. I couldn't have saved them all, and yet some small part of me regretted that. Quinn slipped his hand into mine, gently entwining our fingers and squeezing lightly. Comforting without saying a word.
My gaze returned to Cole. "Have you seen a woman named Cass?"
"Yeah. She went to the hospital with one of the women. Why?"
"Because she saved my life and I just wanted to thank her again."
"Then she's someone I need to thank, as well," Quinn said. "She saved me from having to bring back the dead."
Cole raised an eyebrow, expression suggesting he was unsure whether Quinn was joking or not. I didn't bother enlightening him but simply said, "Did Jack tell you about the top floor? It's bristling with security equipment guarding a phone and God knows what else."
He nodded. "Dusty's up there now, hacking into the system. It shouldn't take him long to get in. Do you want to be advised when we do?"