Timeless Moon (28 page)

"How
bad
is it?"

Rick could hear Josette's voice as if from a distance. He wanted to open his eyes, but couldn't seem to manage it. It was as if they were leaden, too heavy to move. He knew his body was in pain, but shock had set in, so it was more of an esoteric realization than an immediate agony. The knowledge that he was probably dying didn't panic him. In fact, he wasn't capable of feeling much of anything.

"Bad enough." Raven's voice was thick with exhaustion. "It was silver ammo. Then there's the damage from the wreck. I don't have the strength
—"

"You can use mine." Josette's voice was wet with tears, but there was an underlying steel to the words, a demand that would not be denied.

"From
…
you?
No, we can't share energy. We'd have to have some sort of
…
bond."

She didn't say a thing, but something must have passed between them because he heard Raven say, "Does Rick know?"

"It doesn't matter. Just do it. Take whatever strength you need. I don't care. Just heal him." The desperation in her voice cut Rick like a knife. He
wanted to say something, but he couldn't seem to make his body cooperate. Nothing seemed to be working right.

The first sensation started in his spine. It began as a warm electric feeling that flowed in a long line from his skull to his tailbone. Only then did he feel pain. It was excruciating. Each breath he drew into his damaged lungs brought stabbing agony. His hips, pelvis,
everything
hurt. He felt his mouth open and ragged screams split the air. Again and again his body reacted to the damage. It wasn't until long minutes later that strength began to build slowly, as blood vessels healed, bones reknit, and muscle and skin tissues repaired themselves. He forced his eyelids open and saw Raven kneeling on the ground beside him. The air around the healer's hands glowed with the power that he was pouring into Rick's chest.

Josette
stood behind Raven. Her hair was matted with blood that covered one half of her face, running and thinning in the rain that soaked all of them to their skins. She was steadying herself with her hands on the big man's shoulders, and he abruptly knew why. He'd seen this before in other Sazi. The magic that was pouring into him came from her, filtered through the man who was
…
her mate.

No wonder she'd rushed to him, was willing to wait until he arrived.

Seized with a fit of coughing, Rick rolled onto his side, choking out the blood that had been trapped
inside his windpipe as he healed. He spit it out on the ground as he forced himself to his knees.

"Josette?"
His voice sounded ragged. It hurt to speak after all the screaming he'd done. They'd healed the gravest wounds only and from the exhaustion plain on both their faces, he knew why. His body would have to take care of the minor injuries. "The bad guys?"

"Dead." That, at least, was good news. Because right now, none of the good guys were in any condition to fight.

Rick shifted positions until he was sitting upright. He was sitting in a puddle, not that it made any difference. He was soaked to the skin anyway. Lucas would throw a fit about him letting the playing cards in his rear pocket get wet, but it was too late now, and Rick honestly didn't care. He'd done his best every step of the way. His best just simply hadn't been good enough.

"I got the cell phone. It doesn't seem to be damaged."
Josette
lowered herself onto the ground beside him. Her body made a squelching sound as it sank into the mud, but he could see she was too sad and weary to care. "We'll need to report in."

"I'll do it." Raven took the phone from her hand and rose slowly to his feet. His expression was deceptively calm, his voice controlled, but there was a deep burning rage in those dark eyes. Rick could feel its searing heat. It was the type of anger that had led
more than one agent to cross the fine line between justice and vengeance. Rick watched the other man stalk off, phone in hand. Staring at Ramirez's retreating back he wanted to hate him. He couldn't. Raven was a good man. If he had to lose
Josette
to someone else, at least it was someone he could respect. But damn it hurt. He almost wished they'd let him die. Almost.

Gathering his courage and strength he turned to face the woman he loved with as blank an expression as he could manage.

"Rick, we need to talk." Her voice was barely above a whisper, pitched so that Ramirez wouldn't be able to hear. She was giving him that courtesy at least, telling him directly and privately instead of in front of the man who'd be taking his place in her heart and her bed.

He turned to meet her gaze, saw the sadness and regret in her eyes. He watched her struggle to find the right words. It was too much. He couldn't bear to hear it. So he broke the tension instead. "What's to talk about?" He fought to hide the pain that threatened to tear him apart. "You're mated. Congratulations. He seems to be a great guy."

He watched in shock as tears filled her eyes. She stared at him for an eternal second, then rose in a blur of motion. Before he could do anything, before he could even
think
of what to do, she was gone.

"Josette
—" he called, but she didn't answer. He
struggled to his feet, only to find Raven standing in front of him, blocking his way.

"You are such a fucking idiot, Johnson."

Josette
raced away
from the wreckage, tears coming to her eyes. Well, now he knew, and there wasn't a thing she could do to turn his heart back to her. Either he would be angry or he'd walk away, as most Sazi did when a mating occurred. Yes, there were cases of love overcoming a mating bond, but it didn't happen often.

Trouble was, she didn't want Raven
—had never really loved him. Oh, she had
hoped
for the longest time, and she watched every vision that had him in it. She'd waited for the day they'd meet and happily showed up in Chicago, just on the chance. But the timing hadn't been right. In Chicago, he'd been too torn up over the loss of a beautiful owl shifter named Emma, who had been killed by one of the spiders, in just as senseless a death as Ellen had endured.

The bond was there. The
potential
for a future was there. She knew from her visions that they
could
be happy. It wouldn't be perfect, but what is? But that had been before she knew Rick was still alive. That she hadn't seen him, had been given no sense of his presence, still astounded her.

Even from here, she could feel Raven's anger beat at Rick like blows from a baseball bat as he spoke. His
every word dripped scorn to her sensitive ears. It was sweet that he'd realized so quickly what was happening, but then, he was Charles's ever-so-great grandson. He understood that things happened strangely sometimes. "That is one of the most amazing women I've ever met. She is crazy in love with you, was ready to
die
for you, but you're just throwing her away."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Rick's frustrated fury threatened to boil over. He lurched to his feet, his power flaring until steam rose from the wet ground. Anger and hate roiled into the air until even the rain stank of it. "It's not my fault she's mated to you!"

Frantic to get away from what could erupt into a full-fledged war between them, she turned to cat form and crawled among the roots of a massive tree. She needed to think and part of her wanted to just run away. If they fought, she honestly didn't know what would happen. Would the mating ties overcome her heart? Would she spring to Raven's defense, instead of the man she loved?

"It's not her fault either, asshole." Raven leaned forward until his face was a bare inch away from Rick's. Rick jerked back from the electric power of the other man's magic. "She may be mated to me, but you're the one she's in love with. It's obvious from the way she looks at you, the way she says your name. And you're ready to just walk away. Doesn't she mean
anything
to you?"

"She means
everything
to me, damn it! Why in the hell do you think I'm willing to go?" Rick clenched his fists at his sides.

"Then
tell her!
Just because she's mated doesn't mean she's going to choose me. Open your eyes. Amber's mated to my father, but she married Charles. Tatya chose Lucas. If you want the woman, then fight for her damn it! Don't just roll over and give up. She deserves better than that." Raven's eyes blazed, but his voice was controlled. "If you don't love her, don't want her,
fine.
Tell me now. But know that this is your only chance. If you don't go after her
…
right here, right now
…
I will. I will happily claim her and I will do everything in my power to make her happy."

There was a long pause, and she could feel Rick's eyes boring into her fur. His voice was cold and harsh when he spoke to the taller man. "Get out of my way."

Rick strode toward her haven with purpose, only slowing to a stop when he was a few feet away. The rain was starting again. Not heavy yet, but steady, individual drops plopping against her body as he stared down at her makeshift shelter. The rain and wind swept away scents before he could even notice them, but there was no mistaking the misery in his posture. She turned her body so she didn't have to look as he said whatever he was going to.

"I'm sorry." He squatted down so that he could look her in the eyes, but she turned her head away, unable to believe him after the anger she'd smelled
and felt. "I just assumed." He sighed. "I mean, he's your
mate,
Josette."

"Don't care." Her words were muffled by dirt and fur as she desperately faced away from him.

"I love you," Rick said the words softly, but it felt like he put every ounce of feeling and intensity he possessed into those three words, pushing the emotions at her to break through the barrier of power she had raised in defense. "I always have. I don't want to lose you again."

"Could've fooled me." She turned to face him then, her eyes tear-filled even though cats weren't supposed to be able to cry. She could feel her whiskers drooping with the misery she was feeling.

Rick seemed unsure what to say. His face moved through a variety of expressions and his scent along with them. Finally, he said the only thing that mattered. "I love you and I'm so incredibly sorry. I just couldn't believe you'd give up a true mating for someone who deserted you and made you suffer every day for a century."

He crept forward on muddy knees until he was inches away. Slowly, gently, he reached forward, stroking the soft fur of her head and back with his left hand as he scratched the sensitive skin of her jawline with his right. "I love you,
Josette.
Ma ch
ère,"
he whispered the words again into the soft fur of her ears. Closing her eyes, she reveled in the scent of his skin, in the emotions that washed over her.

"I love you, too," she whispered the words. "Even if you are an idiot." She nipped at the soft skin of his wrist and he jerked back his hand quickly.

"Gee thanks." He gave a dry chuckle as he rubbed the tiny bleeding marks. "I have to say you do wonders for my self-esteem."

She raised her chin with what little pride she could muster. "You'll get over it. Besides, you deserved it."

There was no arguing with that, so he just shrugged. Then, he changed the subject. "We'd better get back."

He reached inside the root ball and pulled her out into the cool night. She expected him to put her down, but he didn't. Instead, he carried her back to the scene of the wreck. It felt right, good, to purr against his chest, to scrape fur and whiskers against his jaw.

Rick picked his way carefully across the wet, uneven ground, making sure of his footing. Raven sat waiting, tired and bedraggled. Josette's purse sat at his feet. He looked up, face drawn, eyes hollow. "How do you feel about another train trip?" he asked
Josette.
"There's no other chance to get you to Florida on time."

"If it's the fastest way to get there, I'm all for it," Rick answered.

"It is. Nobody else is stupid enough to try to fly in this weather, and we're not even sure exactly where we are." He stood. "But we passed railroad tracks
running east-west not too far back. You can catch the next freight train in to Albuquerque. I'm supposed to stay here and do a basic cleanup, then head back to the Simmons place to do a thorough investigation." He bent down to pick up Josette's purse, which he passed over to Rick. When he spoke his tone was polite and utterly neutral. There was no hint of the warmth or friendship that had marked their relationship earlier. Rick understood. If their positions had been reversed he wasn't sure he could be even that calm.

"The phone's in the bag, along with her identification. As soon as two of you hit Albuquerque you're to call my father. He's arranging a commercial flight to Daytona Beach."

"How are the other seers holding up?"
Josette
asked the question hesitantly. He could feel the tension vibrating in her body. Her mate was in pain and she might well be putting him in more. A part of her wanted, needed, to go comfort him. But she couldn't, and she knew it. She'd made her choice.

"They've stabilized." It wasn't an answer, but it was information she needed. Then Raven actually looked at her. Until that moment he'd refused to meet her eyes. "Amber called, too. She told me to pass on the word when she couldn't reach your cell. Your idea bought us until the moon rises tomorrow night. She explained the rest of it, too." He paused for a long moment and then sighed heavily. "I don't know if the
mating's mutual. But if it is
—I understand what will happen. I'm okay with it, I suppose. It's not like either of us have a choice. I just wish I had more to offer you. With the situation down here, I don't know how good of care I'll be taking of myself for the next day."

Rick stared at
the other man for a long moment. If things were different, this was a man who he'd have had a real friendship with. But things were what they were. Josie would always come between them, whether they liked it or not. It was just a fact. But that didn't keep him from asking. "Are you sure you'll be all right dealing with
this?"
He gestured at the scattered wreckage and the dead bodies that littered the ground.

"I've handled worse." There was a hint of steel in the words. "I'll call in a few people. My mom lives just south of here. Some of her tribe from Alaska are visiting. They can be very discreet."

"It's not that, it's just
—" Rick tried to find a way to say what he was thinking without insulting the other man. Unfortunately diplomacy wasn't his best thing— as he'd proven so admirably with
Josette
moments before. Still, he had to try. He'd been burned out before. He remembered how it felt. It had taken him decades of peace, quiet, and solitude to recover. Even now he wasn't the same. If it wasn't for
Josette
he'd still be
retired. He could feel Raven's weariness, his rage. The job hadn't broken him, but he was only a hair's breadth away from it. "Will anyone on the council get on your case for jumping off medical leave?"

Perhaps Rick was projecting, because Raven seemed to understand what he was trying to convey. "I'll manage. I always do." He brushed a stray hair back from his forehead with a weary hand. "But do me a favor. Get her to Daytona safely. Save my grandfather."