She was helpless. She was harmless.
And the most intimidating shapeshifter in New Orleans was scared of her.
Don’t forget that she’s traumatized and trapped in a car with the woman you want to protect.
Alec glanced at him. “Where’s Nick taking her? To Jackson?”
“Yeah.”
“Kat’s probably not going to flip her shit before they get there, but you need to call Jackson and give him a heads-up. He may have to do something to keep her from leaking all over everyone, and I don’t know if she needs to be cuddling up to Michelle right now.”
Derek hesitated. “What about Andrew? When will you know?”
Franklin looked up and fixed him with a piercing green stare. “If the wolf hadn’t taken hold already, he’d be dead. For now, he’s stable. He’ll live.”
“As one of us?” A second-class citizen scorned by a society who thought anyone not born a shapeshifter might as well not be a shapeshifter.
“As one of us,” Alec confirmed, and the slight emphasis on the last word made it clear he wasn’t making any such distinctions. “Go call Jackson. Tell him about Kat. Tell him…” Alec hesitated and cast a helpless look at Franklin. “Shit, have you ever seen a psychic in shock?”
“A few.” He swabbed Andrew’s inner elbow and opened a plastic package. “Make sure someone there knows how to recognize the physical symptoms of shock. Emotionally, she’ll probably lose whatever barriers she has, at least temporarily. She might be so drained she can’t do much, but it could uncomfortable for everyone around her.”
“Jackson will know,” Alec said. “Hell, Aaron probably will too.”
“Got it.” Derek spared Andrew’s still form one last look before hurrying into the front office. He skirted around Kat’s desk and stopped at Alec’s. Two deep breaths ensured he wouldn’t end up crushing the phone, and he dialed Jackson’s cell phone from memory.
“Alec?”
“It’s Derek.” He drew in a breath. “Alec wanted me to call you. Nick’s on her way back with Kat, and Kat’s…not in good shape.”
Jackson swore. “Is she hurt? What about Andrew?”
“Andrew’s got Alec and Franklin up to their elbows in his guts, and will be howling at the moon soon.” The words came out too harsh, but he couldn’t seem to stop them. “I guess Kat watched an elite shapeshifter attack squad tear him up and then flipped her shit and used her empathy to erase their minds.”
It took Jackson a long time to answer. “Okay. We’ll handle things here. Tell Alec to call me as soon as Andrew’s out of the woods.”
The words were too calm, and they grated on Derek’s already ragged temper. “Did you hear me? My cousin took down a pair of fucking commando shifters with her brain. Can you keep her from doing the same to you?” To Nick, goddamn it?
Though he remained calm, the wizard’s voice held a sharp edge. “I’ll know what to do when she gets here and I see how bad off she is. The only thing I know with any certainty right now is that Nick doesn’t have a clue what happened to those men, or she sure the fuck wouldn’t be happy about bringing Kat to the safe house where her pregnant sister is hiding out. Do I have a solid grasp of the situation, Gabriel, or would you like to yell at me some more?”
Derek forced himself to breathe, but the air in the office still reeked of blood and fear. He shuddered and exhaled on a sigh. “Sorry, Jackson. Not my best day. Just—take care of both of them, and I’ll be there as soon as Andrew’s okay.”
“I’ll take care of them. You can count on that. You just look out for yourself.”
“Thanks, Jackson.”
“You’re welcome.”
He dropped the phone back into its cradle and stared at it. The last thing he wanted to do was go back into the room where Andrew struggled for life and two dead men served as a reminder of what Kat had done, of what she was capable of.
There was no alternative. So he squared his shoulders and did what needed to be done.
Nick had seen people on the verge of a breakdown before. By the time they made it out of the city, she’d almost turned the car around a dozen times. Kat sat in the passenger seat, unmoving, and stared out the window.
Derek would never forgive Nick if his baby cousin lost her grip on sanity on her watch. She gripped the steering wheel and tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind.
Finally, she said, “Andrew will be okay. Franklin will make sure of it.”
Kat made a quiet noise, something that sounded almost like a whimper. “I need Jackson. He can stop me.”
The words didn’t make sense. “Stop you from what?”
The girl fell silent again.
“Kat—” Nick choked on the words as fear and something darker flooded the interior of the car. “Kat, please.”
“I can’t talk.” The hoarse words sounded like she’d forced them out around broken glass. “I can’t think, Nick. I can’t—can’t do anything until Jackson is here to keep you safe. To keep everyone safe.”
“Okay.” Nick focused her attention on the road. Whatever had happened in Alec and Jackson’s office had traumatized Kat even worse than she’d feared. “It’ll be okay.”
Kat didn’t respond, simply turned her face back to the window and rode in silence.
Jackson opened the passenger door before the car came to a full stop. “Hey there, Kat. Come on, honey.”
Fear tore through the car, strong enough to make Nick’s heart hammer even though the emotion wasn’t her own. Kat spilled into Jackson’s arms as a wrenching sob shook her. “It was me—my fault—”
“Shh. Come on.”
Nick jumped out of the car and hurried around to help him. “Have you heard from Derek or Alec yet?”
He ignored her as he drew Kat out of the car. “Let’s get you inside, sweetheart.”
Kat yanked free of him and stumbled back two steps. “No. Her sister’s in there! And your mother. You can’t let—Jackson, you have to stop me!” She took another step away, directly into a shaft of moonlight that had filtered through the trees surrounding them.
She looked terrified—and terrifying. Her once brightly colored cotton sundress was liberally soaked in blood, blood that was beginning to dry on her bare arms and legs. It was drying in her hair too, making it stick to the side of her ashen face. But all of that paled compared to the look in her eyes, a panic bordering on madness.
“I can make you sleep,” he whispered, “but what if you dream, Kat? What kinds of emotions would you be projecting?” He held out his hand. “We trust you. Come inside.”
Kat wavered, and her gaze jumped to Nick. “Didn’t Alec tell you?”
He hadn’t, but Nick was pretty sure the sinking feeling in her gut meant some part of her had already figured it out. She fought a quick battle against the urge to get Kat away from the cabin, away from her sister, and finally took a deep breath. “It’s like Jackson says, Kat. Come inside.”
“I lost control.” It came out as a hoarse whisper, and Kat curled her fingers toward her palms, clenching her hands until her knuckles turned white. “They said they were going to take me somewhere and make me talk. Make me tell them about Alec’s safe houses. Andrew—” She choked on a sob. “He just wanted to protect me and they hurt him and I lost control and they shifted and he just kept bleeding—”
Nick caught her before she fell, and they hit the grass together. Jackson made a noise of protest, but Nick held up a hand.
Kat shuddered, fear and self-loathing heavy in the air. “I had to do it. I had to stop them. Because it was my fault they attacked him. It was my fault.”
Nick’s arms tightened around her. “It wasn’t, Kat. They thought you had information they wanted, and they decided Andrew was in their way. They would have killed him.”