She stared up at me, confusion and something else I couldn’t quite pinpoint etched into her face. Frustration doubled inside me. This was my fault. Like a dumbass, I’d traced her on Saturday. I knew there was a chance there were Arum nearby, and I hadn’t made sure she stayed home. Then she was attacked, because the Arum saw that damn trace and knew she could lead it back to us—what it really wanted.

“Light—I saw light,” she whispered, lowering her gaze.

“Well, they do say there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

She shrank back, cringing.

Shit. That was possibly the most asshole thing I could say. I crouched down. “Dammit, I’m sorry. That was thoughtless.” I paused. “How bad are you hurt?”

“My throat… It hurts.” She lifted a shaky hand and pressed it to her throat, wincing. “So does my wrist. I’m not…sure if it’s broken. But there was a flash…of light.”

My gaze zeroed in on her wrist. The skin was quickly deepening in color, becoming a purplish red. I didn’t think it was broken. There was a good chance I’d fixed that, but she couldn’t know that. No one could know that. I drew a deep breath. “It might be broken or sprained. Is that all?”

“All? The man… He was trying to kill me.”

“I understand that. I was hoping he didn’t break anything important.” I glanced at the top of her disheveled head. “Like your skull?”

“No…I don’t think so.”

“Okay, okay.” I stood, looking around. I needed to do damage control. “Why were you out here anyway?”

“I…wanted to go to the library.” She paused for a moment. “It wasn’t that…late. It’s not…like we are in a crime-ridden…city. He said he needed help…flat tire.”

My eyes widened as I turned back to her. “A stranger approaches you for help in a dark parking lot and you go and help him? That has to be one of the most careless things I’ve heard in a long time. I bet you think things through, right? Accept candy from strangers and get into vans with a sign that reads ‘free kittens’?”

She made a soft sound as I began to pace.

“Sorry wouldn’t have been helpful if I didn’t come, now would it?” I said.

“So why were…you out here?”

I stilled, running a hand over my chest. “I just was.”

“Geez, I thought you guys were supposed to be nice and charming.”

I frowned. “What guys?”

“You know, the knight in shining armor and saving the damsel in distress kind.”

Shaking my head, I lowered my hand. “I’m not your knight.”

“Okay…” she whispered, pulling her legs up and resting her head on her knees. Everything about her movements looked painful. “Where is he now?”

“He took off. Long gone by now.” I started toward her. “Kat…?”

She lifted her head, and when I didn’t speak, she lowered her good arm to the ground and started to stand.

“I don’t think you should stand.” I kneeled again. “The ambulance and police should be here any minute. I don’t want you passing out.”

“I’m not going…to pass out.” As if on cue, the sound of sirens could be heard.

“I don’t want to have to catch you if you do.” I glanced down at my hands. The skin had been scraped, but it had already healed “Did…did he say anything to you?”

Her brows knitted as she grimaced “He said…I had a trace on me. And he kept asking…where they were. I don’t know why.”

Hell. Lowering my chin, I looked over my shoulder. “He sounds like a lunatic.”

“Yeah, but…who did he want?”

My attention snapped back to her. “A girl stupid enough to help a homicidal maniac with his tire, maybe?”

Her lips thinned. “You’re such an ass. Has…anyone ever told you that?”

In that moment, I decided that if she was calling me an ass, she was going to be okay. “Oh, Kitten, every single day of my blessed life.”

She stared at me, but I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “I don’t even know what to say…”

“Since you already said thank you, I think nothing is the best way to go at this point.” I stood. “Just please don’t move. That’s all I ask. Stay still and try not to cause any more trouble.”

Kat frowned and looked like she wanted to say something, but praise all the higher beings in the universe, she remained quiet. The relief was short-lived, because when I glanced down at her, she was shaking so badly her teeth had to be rattling. It was then I realized she was soaked from the rain and shock was probably kicking in.

Pulling off my shirt, I found myself kneeling beside her again. My shirt wasn’t the best thing, but it was better than nothing. I carefully pulled it on over her head, keeping the material away from her bruised cheek. I got her limp arms through the holes, and the noodle quality to those arms worried me a little. I glanced up quickly. Her eyes were closed, thick lashes fanning the tops of her cheeks.

“Kat?”

Too late.

She toppled over to the right, and I caught her before she face-planted onto the cement. Her head lolled to the side and her hair, half up and half down, fell across her one unmarred cheek. Holding her against my chest with one arm, I brushed the hair back from her face. My fingers lingered along her jaw just below her ear. The sound of sirens grew closer, but I concentrated on each breath she took, her chest rising and falling steadily.

Kat was out cold.

“Hell,” I muttered, staring down at her as I shifted her so the back of her head was cradled in the crook of my arm.

This was becoming a disturbing trend.

Chapter 9

There were few places in this world that I hated as much as hospitals. Luxen didn’t get sick—no colds or cancers, no heart disease or strokes. Bumps and bruises could be healed with a touch of a hand. So I avoided these places at all costs.

Tonight it was unavoidable.

I stayed as out of the way as inhumanly possible, leaning against the wall while Kat’s mother flipped her shit. The pea-green curtain fluttered every time someone roamed into the room and back out. The deputies had come and gone, talking to both of us. Robbery gone wrong. I was in the right place at the right time. The police would do everything to try to locate the offender, but good luck there, because there was nothing left of the shithead, but what could I say? I just smiled and nodded and waited for the moment I could get the hell out of here. Actually, I could’ve already left, but it didn’t feel right to do so.

I needed time to think.

My gaze drifted over to the narrow bed. Kat looked tired when my eyes found her. She was looking out the window, her pale face drawn and weary. The splash of red on her cheek wasn’t easy to look at. Neither was her swollen eye. It could’ve been worse. My touch had sped up the healing process there and most likely repaired more serious injuries related to the imprint on her throat¸ remarkably similar to fingers. It was faint, but it was hard to look at.

Her arm was in a cast. Torn tendon or something. If she hadn’t pulled her arm away, I could’ve fixed that, too. I mean, why not at this point? The trace was still around her, stronger than before, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be fading anytime soon.

Why in the hell hadn’t they given her something for the pain yet?

Kat appeared incredibly small in that bed. Alone with me for a few seconds, she glanced over, and I raised a brow. Her gaze immediately flicked away.

Her mom had disappeared in search of a doctor and returned with a middle-age man, graying at the temples, who was vaguely familiar. The doc—Dr. Michaels—started reading off her chart, telling us things we already knew. He looked in my direction, and again, I was struck with this odd sense that I knew him from somewhere.