Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
He frowned slightly, like he was trying to make sense of something. All I could do was hope he’d recognize me if he didn’t already. I didn’t know how to shift back, and given my recent circumstances, I had never imagined that would be a problem.
He squatted next to me, brushing his hand over my fur in a gesture that was undoubtedly meant to satisfy some curiosity, not to be comforting. His fingers caught on something by my throat and he frowned, giving a tug until the long cord I had all but forgotten about popped off my neck.
My mother’s ring! My pulse quickened hopefully as I watched him take the ring in his palm, his eyes widening with recognition. He looked back at me with panic blooming in his gaze and horror in his voice. “
Lavinia?”
Relief washed over me, but my consciousness was fading fast. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and the last thing I was aware of before the world went dark was Marcus speaking to me in a voice that sounded distant as he lifted me into his arms.
* * *
Arguing.
I could hear the muffled sounds of two men speaking in clipped tones somewhere in the room around me, but I couldn’t make them out. There was a shrill ringing in my ears that felt related to the static in my head, keeping any full thoughts from forming.
My eyes wouldn’t open and my limbs felt too heavy to move, so I stilled and focused on listening, trying to make sense of where the hell I was and what was going on.”You shouldn’t have brought her here,” came a vaguely familiar hiss. “She should be at a hospital.””Like that?” Another familiar voice countered in an incredulous tone. “They would laugh us out of the ER, and it’s not like a human doctor would know what the hell to do.”
Marcus. The ringing had subsided just enough to recognize the sound of his voice. Everything was starting to come back in pieces, slowly but surely.
I remembered taking out the trash and being attacked by three vampires, but the rest between that and Marcus was fuzzy.
He must have taken me back to Cole’s place. No surprise the other shifter wasn’t happy about that. I still couldn’t remember how to move my limbs, though. My whole body was numb, so it was hard to tell from sense alone, but I gathered from their conversation I was still in my wolf form.
Or whatever the hell it was. I wasn’t sure how I ended up that way, but Marcus didn’t seem to think it was a natural transformation.”What if whoever did this to her finds out we have her and comes back for another round?” Cole snapped. I could hear the tone of his voice growing more hostile by the second. “She’s basically helpless out there.”
I shot my eyes open then and tried to lift my body up, but my arms and legs were still too heavy to move.
Marcus went dead silent. Cole’s voice raised an octave in suspicion.”Someone elsediddo this, didn’t they?” he pressed. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was upset on my behalf.
More silence.”Jesus, Marcus,” Cole snapped. I could hear him walking somewhere, slamming a cabinet.”It was an accident,” Marcus said, his voice rough with guilt. “I didn’t know it was her.””Sure are a whole lot of friendly fire ‘accidents’ with you, aren’t there?” Cole countered bitterly.
Marcus growled, but he didn’t try to defend himself. “Can you help or not?”
Cole didn’t answer right away. I heard another door slam and managed to get my eyes open just enough to see a shadow approaching me. I smelled alcohol in the air, dry and acrid. As blurry as everything else was, my sense of smell had been heightened. It was overwhelming, like a thousand songs blaring at me full volume all at once. Even scents I usually found pleasant, like Marcus’s aftershave and Cole’s light musk clinging to the bedsheets beneath me were now blended with more pungent scents like the alcohol and semi-fresh paint on the walls.”I don’t even know what she is,” Cole finally answered, sitting next to me on the bed. “I can treat the wound and watch her while you go get the antidote. I assume you’re too much of a dumbass to be carrying any on you.”
Another grunt of agitation, and heavy footsteps stormed toward the door. “Just don’t let her out of your sight.”
The door slammed shut, and I heard Cole rummaging around in what I assumed was a first aid kit. I tried to open my eyes again, and this time, they stayed open a sliver, but everything was still a blur of light and shadow.”Hold still,” Cole said, his voice stern but not entirely unkind. I didn’t have time to brace myself before the sting of cold liquid assailed the wound in my side, which was bigger than I’d assumed.?The dart must have done more damage coming out.
I tried to yelp, but only a strangled whimper came out, and my head dropped onto his knee.