With a nod she shoved energy up the bond, sending a brief surge of strength through his system. He sent a spurt of energy to her, giving her body that same boost. They each did it again and again, as if they were breathing for each other. It was working; it was also weakening her fast because the effects of her head injury were hazing her thoughts and leaving her feeling hollowed out. What’s more, her natural urge to sleep while injured was trying to take over.
“Keep fighting.” Tao could sense darkness pulling at her, threatening to take her from him, and it was freaking him the fuck out.
His wolf’s ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps shuffling along the road. The van shook, as if something or someone was bracing their weight against it. Moments later Mathers stumbled into their vision, bloody and scratched to hell.
Riley hissed at the human. “You should be dead.”
He sneered. “So should you.” He lifted his gun, aimed it at them.
For Tao everything went quiet. Slow. Just as it had the last time death came calling for him. He wanted to push Riley out of harm’s way, attack and maul the son of a bitch before shooting him with his own damn gun. But his energy level was simply too low.
“This is for Ramón.” Mathers’s grip tightened on the gun and—
A large gray wolf smashed into Mathers’s side, sending him flying out of their sight. Tao knew that wolf. Dante.
Relief washed through Tao. “Just hold on for me, baby. Taryn’s here.” But it wasn’t Taryn who climbed into the van. It was Ally, the Mercury Pack’s Beta female. She also happened to be a Seer and had the gift of healing.
The brunette paled as her eyes danced from Tao to Riley. “Oh God, shit!”
Riley slurred, “Heal him first.”
“No, heal her first,” Tao ground out.
Riley shook her head. “He’s been shot at least three times and he’s lost a lot of blood; he needs you more.”
“No, heal—” But Ally laid her hands over Tao, ignoring his protests. He felt Ally’s healing energy buzz through him, tried to push it down the mating bond, but it wouldn’t work. The energy wasn’t his to direct; it was Ally’s.
Riley rolled onto her back, releasing a pained hiss. “I’m gonna sleep now.”
He squeezed her hand. “Not yet. I know it’s hard, but you have to stay awake for me.”
“Okay.” But even as Riley said that, she could feel herself beginning to pass out. She felt as if she could just drift away . . . and that scared her. She didn’t want to drift away; she wanted to be with Tao.
“Open your eyes, Riley.”
She forced them open. “Sorry.” It just felt like weights were hanging from her eyelids.
“Ally, go to her! You’ve healed me enough, now help her! Fucking now, Ally!”
Soft hands touched her head, but Riley was too tired to even flinch. A strange energy flowed through her like warm honey. It both soothed and healed, calming her raven. When Ally sat back, Riley slurred, “Thanks. Now I really have to sleep.”
Feeling heavy and uncoordinated, Tao sat upright and gathered her to him. “That’s okay, baby.” He kissed her temple. “You can sleep now.”
“Awesome,” she breathed. Then it all went black.
“I can hear her breathing,” Savannah whispered, standing beside the bed on which Riley was sprawled, hair fanned out all over the pillow.
Crouched beside Savannah and Dexter, Tao nodded. “See, she’s just sleeping.” But he understood why that didn’t chase away their terror. He needed to look into her eyes, hear her voice, to truly believe she was fine. “We can’t wake her, though. She needs the rest. The more sleep she has, the faster she’ll get better.”
Biting her lip, Savannah asked, “Can we come see her when she wakes up?”
“Of course you can. You two will be the first people she wants to see. What she needs most now, though, is for you to take care of each other while she sleeps. Can you do that?” At their nods, he smiled. “Good.” Tao gently touched Dexter’s hair. “How’s your head, little man?”
“Better,” said the toddler, sucking on his thumb.
Tao had expected to be dealing with a traumatized child, given that Shirley had burst into their bedroom and slung him at a fucking wall, but either Dexter was good at blocking out stressful events or he’d simply become extremely resilient after surviving alone on the streets. Then again, all cheetahs were physically and mentally tough like that.
“The bad lady’s gone now,” said Savannah. “Riley made her go away.”
“She did,” Tao confirmed. He looked up as Makenna poked her head through the partially open door.
“There you both are,” she said. “Grace wants to know if you want to bake cookies with Kye and Lilah.”
Both children looked at Riley, loath to leave her. Tao put his hands on their shoulders. “I’ll come for you when she wakes up,” he promised them. “Okay?”
“Okay,” said Savannah. Taking Dexter’s hand, she tugged him toward the door.
As they reluctantly left the room, Makenna walked in and peeked at Riley. “She’s been asleep for quite a while now.”
At least twelve hours, Tao estimated. He’d have panicked, but . . . “It’s a healing sleep.”
Makenna’s brow creased. “A what?”
“When ravens are injured, they go into a deep sleep to help them recover. Max confirmed that she’ll be fine.” The uncles had gotten a scare when she hadn’t called them back last night, so they’d both rushed to Phoenix Pack territory. The first thing they’d done was check on Riley. The second thing they’d done was yell at Tao, blaming him for her injuries. Then they’d apologized profusely for yelling at him and congratulated him on the mating.
“Her wounds have faded,” Makenna noted. “So have yours. That’s good.”
“Yeah, that’s very good.” Ally hadn’t fully healed Riley or Tao, needing to save energy for the rest of the injured, so they had both been left with some superficial cuts and bruises.
“So many were injured, Tao. Almost everyone was at the very least skimmed by a bullet. I honestly thought we were going to lose Trick. Taryn barely managed to heal him in time.”
Tao had already heard the story from Taryn, who was swamped with guilt for being too weak from healing Trick to go to him and Riley. She’d actually been in tears, apologizing for not being able to get to them. It had taken a good half hour to convince her that she had nothing to apologize for and that he wasn’t angry with her. She’d sent Ally to them, which had saved them. “Thank God for Ally.”