“Meaning she’s well past that?”
He nodded, raised his left hand, and made a “come here” motion. “At least we know the tracker works. If worse comes to worst, Tala or one of her team can drive me around the reservation tomorrow. You never know, we might get lucky.”
“I think we both know how likely that is on this reservation.”
“Yes, but it’s still worth a shot. Miracles aren’t exactly unknown in the place, either.” The tracking sphere thudded into his hand. He tucked it into his coat and then added, “Can we take the long way back to the car? I don’t think my ankle is up to climbing any more fences.”
By the time we returned to his car, he was limping badly and the thick scent of sweat and pain swirled through the storm. He opened the door and then paused and glanced at me. “Do you want a lift back to Aiden’s?”
“We’re not at Aiden’s. Our spirit’s target was another single man in a nearby rental.”
“Then I’ll—”
“Do nothing more than get into your car and drive to the emergency department,” I said. “You need that ankle checked out.”
“But—”
“Argue, and I’ll send Belle after you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. But I expect a full update on everything that happened before I got here over afternoon tea tomorrow.” He paused, his expression lighting up. “Isn’t it scone day tomorrow?”
“Yes, and yes, Belle will save you some if you happen to be out tracking rather than lounging around the café come afternoon teatime. Now go.”
I stepped back out of his way. He slammed the car door closed, then drove off. After scrubbing a hand across my forehead and wishing the idiots in my head would just give it a rest, I trudged back to Mal’s place.
Aiden met me at the door, a towel in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other.
“Oh, I think I love you.” I wrapped my hands around the mug and took a drink. It wouldn’t do a whole lot to stop the tiny idiots in my head, but at least my fingers would thaw.
He smiled, but there was an odd light in his eyes, one that seemed almost wistful. “They do say the way to a woman’s heart is through the provision of chocolate.”
“And they would be right.” Shame he wasn’t really interested in said heart because it didn’t come in the body of a wolf. I took another sip, then handed him back the mug and took the towel, drying my hair as best I could. “How’s our victim?”
“Still unconscious. I’ve called an ambulance, just to be safe.” He glanced at his watch. “They’ll be here in ten if you want to head back home and grab a shower to warm up.”
I shook my head. “I’ll stay, just in case the bitch decides to circle back.”
“Then at least get out of those wet clothes and go warm up near the fire. You’re shivering so badly I can hear your knees knocking.”
“You just want to get me naked.”
“Always.” He smiled, put the mug down, and then tugged off his sweater. “But in this case, I’d rather not keep you that way. The glory that is your body is mine, and only mine, to behold.”
“I thought werewolves were exhibitionists?”
“In a pack situation, yes. Anywhere else? Not so much.”
He handed me the woolen sweater. I walked across to the fire, boosted it with another log, then stripped off and laid my wet clothes in a soggy line across the hearth. The heat coming from the fire was fierce enough that they almost instantly began to steam. I couldn’t help but wish I’d warm up that quickly. It felt like there was ice running through my veins and, despite Aiden’s sweater, the shivering was growing.
He offered me the hot chocolate again. “I take it Monty’s tracker didn’t work?”
I took a drink then placed the mug down on the hearth and lifted his sweater to expose my butt and legs to the fire’s heat. “It did, but it’s limited distance-wise.”
“And Monty? Where’s he?”
“I sent him to the hospital. He sprained his ankle.”
“That’ll put a dampener on his movements.”
I snorted. “We’re talking about a man who chased a soucouyant through a forest on crutches.”
“True enough.” He glanced around at the faint sound of an approaching siren. “I’ll go wave them in.”
I’d started to thaw out a little by the time the paramedics walked in and followed Aiden up the stairs. I sipped my hot chocolate and listened to the soft conversation coming from the bathroom. The paramedics weren’t able to get an intelligible answer from our drunk, so they simply did the full check of vitals and decided—given the amount of alcohol he’d consumed—that the best option was to take him to the hospital.
Once he was loaded into the back of the ambulance and whisked away, Aiden came back inside and asked, “Will he be safe at the hospital? Or will the spirit go after him there as well?”
“Given she kills during sex, he’ll probably be safe, but I’ll send Monty a text. Once his ankle has been checked, he can go place a protection spell on him or something.”
Aiden nodded and pulled a long coat from the hook near the door. “You’d better borrow this. It’s still bucketing down outside.”
I banked the fire, dumped the empty mug into the sink, and then quickly pulled on the coat. Aiden scooped up my wet clothes and, with one hand cupping my elbow, guided me back through the stormy darkness to his place.
It was way past five in the morning and far too late to go back to bed, given I had to be at the café by six-thirty, so we made a “proper” breakfast of bacon and eggs on toast and then both got dressed. He dropped me at the café and then went to the hospital. Whether he intended to visit Mal or not, he didn’t say, but I suspected he would. He might have taken leave from his ranger duties, but I doubted he could ever let Tala completely take over.
The back door slammed as Belle arrived half an hour later. “How’s Monty?” I called out.
“A minor sprain, though you’d think otherwise given the way he’s carrying on. Men really do have no tolerance for pain. You want a coffee?”
“Always. And I’ll bet you twenty he’s playing up the injury to garner your sympathy.”
She laughed. “Got it in one. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong woman for that sort of thing.”
“Oh, I’m sure he knows that. And I’m just as sure that when it comes to hunting down our skeleton spirit, it won’t in any way stop him.”
She laughed again and started making our coffees. “He’s already arranged to have Maggie ferry him and the tracker around.”
Maggie was the receptionist and a ranger-in-training. As such, she got all the shittier jobs. “Has he forgotten it’s scone day?”
“No, he has not, and I’m under strict orders to save him some. So of course, I won’t. Best to set the obedience bar low at the very beginning of any relationship.”
“I think the only expectation Monty has when it comes to you is the fact you will eventually come around to seeing him as the catch he is.”
She snorted. “So my mother keeps telling me. I ignore her as easily as I ignore you when it comes to comments like that.”