As the man screeched in rage above him, the eteri pulled a knife and went for the throat.
But the guy proved just how strong he really was when he kicked out his leg hard enough to dislodge Nic, who spun across the floor, and twisted away from the eteri’s knife so only the tip nicked his skin, drawing a thin bead of blood.
The man didn’t stop. He whirled away and headed straight for the woman with Tira. Shaking his head, Nic got to his paws, ignoring his cracked ribs and the ringing in his ears, and pursued the man.
He couldn’t be allowed to touch Tira. He had to stop—
Nic leaped just as the man used his fist to hit Tira in the head. With a howl, Nic watched Tira slump to the ground as the man slung the other woman over his shoulder and began to haul ass out of the building.
The eteri began to give chase but stopped when he came to a long metal box that looked like a coffin. He flung it open but Nic didn’t care what was inside.
He only had eyes for Tira.
Behind him, he heard bones break as Kyle and Dan finished off the remaining men. One short, aborted scream then nothing.
Nic crossed to Tira and nudged her with his snout, letting out a whine of relief when she sighed and her eyes fluttered open.
Pain filled the pretty blue depths but the corners of her mouth tilted up in something approximating a smile.
She didn’t speak but she did lift a shaking hand to pet his fur.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Just give me a minute. Where’s Duke?”
Behind him, he heard Kyle moving then the unmistakable sounds of Dan changing back into his skin.
“Fuck,” Dan said to Kyle, his voice barely above a whisper. “We gotta get Duke and Kaine back to Tam and the Doc. Right now.”
Shit. Nic turned, his eyes widening as he realized Duke still lay on the ground unmoving and Kaine had slumped next to him.
Duke’s skin held a gray tinge Nic knew from personal experience wasn’t good. And Kaine… One of Kaine’s front legs was definitely broken, and probably a back one as well. Her breath came in shallow gasps and even though Kyle was trying to wake her, she wasn’t responding.
Nic forced himself to move away from Tira and shift.
When he’d returned to his own skin, he pulled a woozy Tira into his arms and nearly stumbled to Duke’s side.
“Duke—”
He broke off with a gasp as he caught sight of Duke’s head wound. There was a noticeable dent in Duke’s skull and he didn’t think Duke was breathing.
“No!”
His shout startled Tira, who lifted her head from his shoulder and started to cry when she saw Duke.
Nic didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Duke couldn’t die. It was supposed to be him.
As he struggled to hold on to Tira, who seemed determined to get free, he met Kyle’s gaze then turned to Dan.
But Dan’s attention was snagged on something behind Nic.
Someone brushed by Nic. The eteri, holding another woman in his arms. Long dark hair covered her face as the eteri hugged her close to his chest. Then he said something in her ear and her head nodded. Obviously she was conscious.
The eteri stopped in front of Kyle and didn’t say anything, just stared into Kyle’s eyes and waited until Kyle held out his arms to take the woman.
Then the eteri knelt down to Duke and started chest compressions.
“If we’re gonna get him out of here,” the eteri said, “we need a stretcher. Now. If he doesn’t get help soon, I don’t think…”
He broke off as Tira started to weep, the sound tearing holes in Nic’s gut.
“I’ll call Sal,” Dan said. “See if he can transport Duke to the house.”
“Nic. Nic!”
Nic’s head snapped around to face Kyle, his commanding officer’s face set in hard lines. He wanted to salute, years of ingrained training kicking in, but he wouldn’t release Tira.
“Yes, sir.”
“Get some clothes, go get a car and start loading people into it. The eteri will stay with Duke.”
His arms tightened around Tira but she shook her head, taking a deep breath. “Let me down,” she said. Her voice hoarse with tears but not shattered. “We need to get out of here. Go.”
Knowing she was right, he went.
Chapter Thirteen
“Tira, you need to get some sleep.”
Nica Donato’s soft voice roused Tira from the fugue state she’d been floating in for…well, she didn’t know how long.
Blinking away the grittiness in her eyes, Tira’s gaze lit on Nic in the chair next to hers. Fast asleep, he had his head pillowed on his crossed arms on the side of the bed. Neither she nor Nic had left Duke’s side in the lucani den’s medical ward since Nica had finished healing as much of Duke’s head injury as she could and Tam and the young lucani doctor, Dane Dimitriou, had patched the rest.
That had been yesterday. They were still waiting for Duke to wake.
But… Tira had caught the glances between Nica and Tam, the ones when they thought she wasn’t looking. The ones that held fear that Duke wasn’t going to wake.
Tira didn’t remember much of what had happened after the redhead’s goon had clocked her on the head.
She remembered the eteri John pumping Duke’s chest until Salvatorus had arrived. The powerful salbinelli—his lower body that of a goat, the upper all man—had made John’s eyes widen in shock but he’d never stopped his lifesaving measures until Sal had magically transported Duke back to the den.
She barely remembered their retreat, vaguely knew the eteri and Kyle had had a brief argument about returning to the lucani den with them. She assumed Kyle had won because John and the woman Tira had heard mentioned was his sister were staying in a pair of rooms on the top floor of the den common building.
John had actually come down to visit Duke last night while Kaine had been there. The young lucani tracker hadn’t been able to leave the room fast enough.
And Tira had had her first vision since she’d touched the redhead. Just a short flash of Kaine, her hair slightly longer than it was now and dripping wet, standing outside a window looking in, her eyes dark and shadowed, her face drawn.
Her Gift no longer needed touch to work, a secret she’d told no one.
Not even her mother, who’d arrived only minutes after she, Nic and the rest had stumbled into the den last night. Her mom had grabbed her and hugged her tight, tears in her eyes. But they hadn’t had time to talk about the transfer of power because they hadn’t had two seconds alone together.
Nic had glued himself to her side and neither of them would leave Duke for longer than a bathroom break.
She and her mom would need to have that talk soon. Tira had a shitload of the redhead’s memories to sort through and piece together and no idea how to do it.
And she couldn’t tell if the headache that continued to plague her was due to the woman’s memories or the transfer of power from her mother—
Nica’s warm hand squeezed her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts. “You really need to get some rest.”
Tira turned her head to smile up at her best friend, who’d left her mates behind on their honeymoon to rush to Duke’s aid with Sal’s help. Tanner and Jensen were driving back from Florida. “I’ve tried. I just can’t fall asleep. I’m afraid if I do…”
Nica’s hand tightened. “Tam said it’s a good sign that his vitals remain steady and I sense no further internal damage. But I’m worried about you. You’re in so much pain. Let me block some of it.”