Scarred (6 page)

Still growling, Scarlet turned her attention back to Cooper, who lay nearly motionless at her feet. She nudged him over and over with her muzzle, trying to encourage him to stand, but his labored breathing seemed to be taking up all the energy he could spare. Blood poured out of his wound at an alarming rate. She bayed a mournful cry as she increased her attempts to rouse him.

She was unsuccessful.

The crunching of rock under feet snapped her attention back to her surroundings, and she poised herself for a fight, welcoming the opportunity. Anger coursed through her like a raging river crashing into a dam. She wanted to let it out.

Sean slowly rounded the corner of the building that had sheltered them from sight. Protecting Cooper, she snarled at him, accenting it with a gnash of her teeth.

“I need to take him,” Sean said, hands held wide, palms forward. “He needs Peyta.
Now
.”

She snapped at him again, lurching forwards.

“Scarlet,” he warned, eyes darkening. She took a small step in retreat and lowered herself down beside Cooper, taking slow deep breaths. It was an incredibly human action.

In less than a minute, she lay naked and very human in the dirt alongside Cooper, who, due to a loss of blood, had morphed to his former self as well. She took him in her arms, cradling him against her chest, and sprang up gracefully in a sprint for the house. Sean followed at a slight distance behind her, not wanting to spook her too much. With the house in sight, she alerted everyone to her arrival.

“Peyta,” she hollered, rushing the front porch. Busting through the front door without even attempting to open it, she landed in the living room full of PC brothers, Ronnie, and Peyta. “
Fix
him,” she ordered, laying Cooper down gently. She pulled a blanket off of the couch to delicately cover him.

Peyta stared down at the body, teary eyed and unable to move.

“FIX HIM!” Scarlet shouted, grabbing Peyta by the arm and throwing her down beside Cooper. Jay put himself between the two women, standing toe to toe with a blood-covered Scarlet. Before she could remove him, Sean grabbed her from behind in a choke-hold and hauled her away.

“Do it, Peyta,” Sean ordered. “I know you can. Do what you did the last time. It's no different. Forget that it's Cooper.”

“But...I...I...,” she sniffled, running her hand along the side of his face.

“You have to, Peyta, or he'll die,” Sean said, heading upstairs with Scarlet in tow. “You
must
.”

She said nothing else in response. Once again, Peyta was faced with the morbid task of trying to heal someone she loved dearly, fully understanding the fatal consequences of failure. That understanding weighed on her heavily. I felt her fear as she disappeared from sight.

I prayed she would be able to do it―to save Cooper. I couldn't bear the thought of losing him any more than she could. Her calling was proving to be a burden of sorts with a heavy toll to pay. Though my concern in that moment was all for Cooper, I couldn't help but feel an unnerving sensation from Peyta. A dark and ominous energy warned of a loss of control―an instability. It made me wonder if Sophie herself hadn't started off as a bright-eyed and happy girl, who slowly had that light drained from her with every pair of dying eyes she looked into. I shuddered at the thought.

While Peyta was hopefully working her magic downstairs, Sean dragged Scarlet into a bedroom and slammed the door before releasing her. They eyed each other carefully from opposite sides of the room―Sean's release was more of a throw to put distance between them. He then grabbed a pair of oversized sweatpants and matching sweatshirt off of the floor and chucked them at her.

“Move,” he barked, pointing out the door while keeping a keen eye on her. “You need to clean up.”

“I'm fine,” she snapped at him, unmoving.

“You're
fine
when I say you are,” he replied, staring her down. “Now
move.
”

“Did you catch him?” she asked, begrudgingly making her way to the door. She growled at the mere thought of the Rev. He was going to pay dearly.

“No,” Sean said, flexing his hands. “I heard the howling...” He punched the wall next to him and dust flew through the air. When he removed his fist, the hole exposed the wall stud he'd just obliterated in his efforts. “I thought...maybe it was...”

“You thought it was
me
,” she finished for him.

“Yes.”

“He can't hurt me,” she informed him as she made her way to the bathroom, naked as a jaybird.

“He's dangerous,” Sean warned, snatching her arm just as she entered the tiny space. “Don't
ever
forget that. There's a reason he's still alive after all these years.”

“Yes,” she said bitterly, reaching in to turn on the shower. “Because
you
can't seem to focus long enough to catch him. Stop worrying about Ruby. I'll keep her safe.”

He said nothing in response, only watched as she lithely climbed into the shower. The water sprayed wildly off her body, but she left the curtain open, making a show of herself. Sean's eyes bled to black. I had no idea if that meant he wanted to jump her or kill her―it was a 50/50 at best.

A knock on the door startled them both. Sean threw Scarlet a towel before opening the door just wide enough for Jay to pop his head in and say that Cooper was alive—in rough shape—but alive. It was going to take him a while to fully heal that night, but he would make it. I immediately pushed at Scarlet until she begrudgingly relented. I needed to see Cooper with my own eyes.
Tossing on the borrowed clothes in record time, I moved quickly past Sean and toward the door, but he caught my arm. He wasn't finished yet.

“Ruby―” he started, lightening his grip when he realized I was wincing under his grasp.

“Not now,” I whispered, looking at the door. “Please, Sean...I need to see him.”

He said nothing when he released me―he didn't have to. The emotional siege was intense but brief before he threw up a wall, blocking me off from the pain he felt. I couldn't bring myself to look back and see the lack of emotion on his face.

The boys had already brought him upstairs and placed him in the spare room that Jay had been using, leaving him to rest comfortably, sprawled out across the bed. without asking permission, I crawled into bed with him, wrapping myself around him tightly while trying my best to avoid the red-hot marking across his stomach.

“Maybe we'll have matching scars after this,” I whispered to him, squeezing him lightly. I knew he was in his healing coma-like thing that all werewolves went into when they were injured, but I said it anyway. The intensity of the evening required a little humor to break it up, however inappropriate it may have been.

Surprisingly, it took only a few minutes for him to return to consciousness. There was still something about my presence that sped his healing. I didn't know if it was something specific between him and me, or if it worked on all werewolves. All I
did
know was that it had to have been connected to my empathic abilities and I assumed that it was allowing me to force my will onto others. Theory or not, it worked, and I didn't care much about the why behind it. My will was to have Cooper safe and healthy ASAP.

“Hey, you,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Did Scarlet get him?”

“No, Coop...he got away,” I replied, burying my head in his chest. “
You
almost did too.”

“That?” he asked sarcastically. “That was just a flesh wound.”

“Right...and Hell is just warm.”

“Something like that.”

I pushed up onto my elbow to look down on him. His words were in jest, but his face was serious. He knew how badly he had been injured.

“You scared me,” I said, brushing a stray hair off his face. “I think you scared Scarlet too. She wouldn't let anyone near you. Not even Sean.”

“That's because she's a good judge of character,” he said, knowing Sean would hear him wherever he was in the house. “Are we going home or what?” he asked, pushing up gingerly from the bed. He was willing to show his vulnerability to me, but I knew that as soon as we were around the others, he'd hide whatever pain he was in. He was
such
a guy.

“Maybe you should stay here, Coop...rest a bit more,” I suggested, fumbling my way off the bed to stand beside him.

“The boys can handle things here. I took a piece out of him. He won't be coming back tonight in less than top form.”

“I still have to go to Sean's,” I told him, walking him slowly towards the door. “I won't be around the house for a while. I really don't want to leave you alone.”

“I'm a big boy, Rubes,” he argued. “I can handle myself.”

“Your
handling
almost got you killed tonight,” I countered, turning to face him.

“He got lucky,” he growled.

“Lucky or not, he got you, Coop,” I yelled, my fear driving my frustration. “Do you have any idea what it's like watching someone you love nearly die right in front of you?”

“Yes,” he said, glaring at me. “I have a
really
good idea. I've seen it.
Twice
.”

He was right. He had.

“Then I guess we're even now,” I said, storming out of the room. Emotions made me angry when I had too many of them at once. They also made me likely to react inappropriately.

Cooper, never willing to back down from me, followed me out and grabbed my hand before gently tucking me under his arm.

“I'm sorry I scared you,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head. “I thought I had him. I had to try. He can't...I couldn't take it if...”

“I'm worried about Peyta too, Coop. We'll get him. But no more going it alone. Scarlet could―”

“I don't need her help,” he rumbled, his voice low and menacing. He immediately winced from the pain. It was a feeling I knew all too well.

“I know you don't need her, Cooper, but she has a hard-on for killing him and if she doesn't get a shot at him soon she's going to go mental. More mental than she already is. And that's not going to be good for anyone.”

“Fine. I'll wait for her next time, but not at the risk of letting him get away. If it comes to that, I'd rather die trying than not try at all,” he said, pushing me away just enough to see my face. “Tell Scarlet to do the same. She should have left me to go after him.”

“You'll have to take that up with her next time she shows up. I'm not playing the middle man today.”

“Oh, I will, believe me,” he said, looking painfully serious. Those two seemed to have an all-or-nothing relationship. “At any rate, let's just make sure we take him out before he gets any of us, and then we won't have to worry about these annoying little details.”

“Sounds great to me,” I said, pulling away from him. “So are you staying here, or am I taking you home?”

“Home,” he said with a smile. “I feel better there—with or without you around.”

“Then let's go,” I said, leading the way downstairs.

He eased himself down the stairs carefully as I followed dutifully behind. I knew he wanted to make a show of how strong he was, so I let him, but regardless of how much my presence sped his healing, that wound was no joke. He wasn't going to be up to snuff the rest of the night.

When we arrived downstairs, we found that everyone had amassed in the kitchen. Jay and the PC boys were pilfering the pantry while Peyta and Ronnie fussed over something cooking on the stove. Sean stood just outside the room, as if he was on watch.

Always watching.

“Are we postponing our meeting?” he asked, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

“I hadn't planned on it,” I replied. “I have to take Cooper home though. He really needs to rest.”

“He's not staying here?” Peyta cried out from the kitchen.

“I'm going home, P. I'll see you tomorrow. I promise,” he said, making his way in to gingerly hug her.

“Fine,” she agreed, though she seemed unable to let go of him until he reached behind his back and physically unclasped her hands. I saw the tiny beads of sweat forming around the edge of his hairline as he peeled her away.

“I'm okay, Peyta...thanks to you.” He kissed her on the forehead before heading to the door. “Ready to go, Rubes?”

I looked at Sean for confirmation and received an absentminded nod in return.

“I'll be home in ten minutes. See you there,” he said, turning his attention back to the kitchen. I felt slightly dismissed, but he was in business mode. He had plans to make and orders to give, so I decided it was best to let it go and take Cooper home. We’d already had a long night, and my meeting with Sean wasn't going to be any shorter if he was in a pissy mood.

After making our way outside, Cooper and I filed into the car and sped off to town. I was feeling generous, so I let Cooper carefully shift the gears while I worked the clutch. It was the closest I would let him get to actually driving the new TT. I was a little overprotective of her and he wasn't a fan of my new “no sharing” policy.

“You'd think that nearly dying would warrant a turn in the driver's seat,” he said, pouting next to me.