Unless you can give me a realy good explanation why I should not help Brady, I’m going to do so. He is a felow human being in need of help. Now please get the supplies I asked for if you have them so we can get him taken care of before his injury becomes infected.”
Her cheeks heated, but not with embarrassment.
Her annoyance was rising to the surface, and she was finding it hard to understand why Kish didn’t want her to help Brady. He didn’t move or say a word. Finaly, after several minutes, she put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot in agitation.
“Wel?”
Kish sighed. “Fine. But don’t touch him until I get back.”
“Touchy, huh?” Brady snorted.
Georgia frowned. “Yeah. I guess.”
Although Kish had never seemed that way to her until now, but she kept having to remind herself that she’d only known him for a few hours. Why did he seem upset about her helping Brady? She wasn’t sure, but she’d ask him about it later.
Only a couple minutes passed before Kish was back. When she bent in front of Brady to tend his injury, Kish knelt beside her and shoved the bowl of water into her hands while he went to work on the wound.
“Son of a bi—beach, bro. Take it easy,” Brady grunted.
Kish didn’t say a word in response, and Georgia could nearly feel the tension and heat steaming off of him. She’d been wrapped up in his response to her being near Brady and had almost missed the strange scent permeating the air. It was nothing she’d ever smeled before with a hint of the wildness she now associated with Kish.
She simply shrugged it off with Kish, but now that she’d met two men in the span of a few hours that had a scent she’d never smeled before, she began to think on it a little more. The scent was vaguely familiar, yet she couldn’t place it. She racked her brain while Kish continued tending to Brady’s injury.
Just when he’d finished, it hit her. The only time she’d smeled anything close to what she detected on Kish and now Brady was at her one trip to the zoo several years ago. Particularly the predator section that housed the lions, tigers, and wolves and such.
But why in the heck would Kish and Brady have such a scent? Yet another thing she would be questioning Kish about later.
Kish took the bowl from her and helped her stand before walking away probably to discard the water and other stuff he’d tended to Brady’s injury with.
She sat down on the couch next to Brady.
“Better not sit too close. Your boyfriend might hurt me.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Could have fooled me.”
She frowned.
“Aw. Don’t look so confused. It’s obvious he has a thing for you. And hel, who could blame him? You are beautiful.”
She felt heat rush to her cheeks. “Thank you. I’m sorry you got hurt by the way.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“I hope you feel better soon.”
“Again, me too, but thank you. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you go blind?”
The question she’d been asked numerous times didn’t phase her. “I was born without my sight. For some reason, my optic nerves did not form properly.”
“Bummer.”
She giggled. “Not realy. You can’t miss something you’ve never had. I have adjusted fine. I don’t feel any different from anyone else.”
Brady admired the woman sitting next to him for her spunk and determination. While she was probably right in thinking that she was no different from anyone else—anyone else being your average, everyday Joe —she would be considered seriously handicapped to his species, hel, any shifter species. Being blind and a predator didn’t mix. His keen sight had saved his ass as many times as his amplified sense of smel and hearing.
If she were lost in the woods, she’d be a sitting duck waiting for a predator to pluck her, hel, inviting a predator to pluck her. A twinge of guilt tickled his gut. And he was the predator that was going to do that plucking.
He scowled. When he’d started down this path, he’d felt no remorse. The woman had been a mere means to getting his sister back, a bargaining chip.
But now she had a name, a beautiful face, and a kind heart. He’d never been a violent man. Had never kiled unless necessary, and while he wouldn’t be the one actualy kiling Georgia, he had no doubt that’s what would end up happening to her once he made the trade.
He was going to wilingly put her into the hands of the rogues that had kidnapped his sister. The beasts that had found Georgia only a week earlier. Two days ago he hadn’t been dumped by a woman. Hel, he’d never been dumped by a woman. He wasn’t a pompous ass, but he knew how to please women, and to be fair, he didn’t usualy stick around long enough to be dumped. Long-term relationships were not his thing.
Two days ago, his sister had been kidnapped right out from under his nose. The lycans had come to him the same night they’d taken her, told him the only way he’d see her alive again was if he brought Georgia to them.
They’d apparently been folowing her, waiting for just the right moment to nab her. When that moment had finaly come, Kish had showed up and foiled it.
He had to give it to the two rogues for not being naive and stupid. Kish was a mean-looking son of a bitch, and he was sure the man could squash the two rogues with no problem.
Truth be told, he could kil the two with little effort, but unfortunately, he’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once they had his sister, they had his bals in a vice and they knew it. Georgia was his only hope of ever seeing Krista alive again. She was the only family he had left. He hadn’t been lying—wel, much—when he’d said he hadn’t seen another of his kind for years. He’d just omitted that he’d not seen another of his kind besides his sister. As far as he knew, they truly were the last of their species.
Krista was his only family, and he was her protector. He’d let her down. He had to set things right. He had to save her. And even though his damned conscience was starting to rear its ugly head, he had to do what he must. If that meant putting Georgia in the hands of two rogues, he had no choice. The guilt grew from a tinge and now gnawed at his insides. Yes, he had no choice, but he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
Chapter Ten
Kish’s blood pressure shot up when he found Georgia sitting on the couch beside Brady. He didn’t exactly mistrust the guy, but he wouldn’t say he trusted him either. He also wanted to get him alone and get more details about how he’d ended up at his house because something wasn’t sitting right in his brain. Although the story Brady had told him seemed perfectly plausible, maybe not to a normal person, but to a shifter, yes, Kish had a feeling Brady hadn’t told him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
There was no doubt in his mind that rogues of his species would find tormenting Brady a fun game, but how he’d escaped two lycans while in human form and injured was a feat he found improbable if not impossible. He guessed under certain circumstances it could be achieved, but while he, himself, had confidence he could take down two rogues in human form, he wasn’t as confident about Brady’s ability to do so.
Kish was an ancient and could partialy change, which gave him an upper hand against younger, inexperienced rogues. Since Brady had said he couldn’t shift while injured, that stacked the odds higher against Brady surviving two days in the forest during blizzard conditions with two rogues on his tail.
He didn’t want to completely discount Brady since he knew absolutely nothing about lynx shifters. He hadn’t known such a thing existed until tonight, and he’d been around a long time. If it was true that Brady was the last of the species, that would explain why he’d never heard of them. Cats were notorious hunters and crafty hiders when the situation caled for it. Maybe Brady was a master at blending in.