Selene hurried to the kitchen to answer and keep from disturbing her patient.
As soon as she clicked the talk button, Deme’s urgent voice asked, “Selene, honey, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” She laughed softly. “Did you expect anything else?”
“With a strange man in your apartment, I didn’t know what to expect. Is he still there?”
Selene turned toward the bedroom.
Gryph lay as still as death, his face flushed with fever.
“Yes, he’s still here.”
“Do you want me to come over? He hasn’t attacked you or anything?”
“No, he’s too far out of it to be a danger.”
“What about when he comes to? I can be there in five minutes. Just say the word.”
“No.” Selene was firm. If Gryph changed in front of her, Deme might not understand. She sure as hell wouldn’t agree to let him stay in Selene’s apartment after that. “What’s the status of the woman who was attacked?”
“She regained consciousness for a few minutes, but she was so distraught, we couldn’t get her to answer questions or identify what attacked her. We’re at the hospital now, hoping she’ll come to long enough to describe her attacker.” As a member of Chicago PD’s Special Investigations Division, Selene’s sisters, Deme and Brigid, had an inside track on any case that defied the norm. Last night’s attack was right up their ally.
“Let me know what you learn.”
“We had the ME examine her wounds.”
“Isn’t that a bit premature?”
“Her physician wanted a forensic look at what he saw.”
“And?”
“They both confirmed it was some kind of animal attack.”
Selene’s hand tightened on the cell phone. “Did they say what kind of animal?”
“No, only that it was large enough to snap her neck and paralyze her. If she lives, most likely she’ll never walk again.”
Selene drew in a long breath, empathy for the girl weighing deeply in her mind. What if she was wrong? What if the man in her bed was the beast who’d attacked the woman?
She focused on the man lying against her sheets for a long moment. She could sense no latent savagery in him. No hunger to kill. Even when he’d half shifted in pain, she hadn’t sensed that he was capable of killing without cause. He wasn’t the one.
“Selene, are you there?”
Selene shook her head and returned her attention to her sister. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“Brigid is with me. I can send her over to assess the guy in your apartment, if you’d like me to.”
“No, Deme.” She gripped the phone. “You didn’t tell her about him, did you?”
“No. I respected your wishes. Although if you’re comfortable with him in your home, why be secretive? We’re sisters. Since when do you keep secrets from any of us?”
Since the man in her bed had a beast inside him. “Please, just let me get him well. I’ll tell the others once he’s able to get around on his own.”
“By that time, he might be well enough to attack you. I tell you, Selene, I’m not happy with the situation. It’s bad enough watching over a stranger who’s been attacked. I don’t want to know what it feels like to stand over one of my sister’s hospital bed.”
“I’ll be okay. I promise.”
“Well, I’m coming by later today. Whether you like it or not.”
“He’s unconscious now. Let him wake before you do.”
She snorted. “I’m not liking this.”
“Duly noted.” Selene sighed. “Don’t worry, Deme. I’ll be careful.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure that’s what this woman said as she stepped into that parking garage.” Deme hung up.
Selene sagged against the counter.
She could hear the man in her bed moan, the moan changing to a low rumbling growl as he thrashed, the sheets slipping low over his waist.
Tired, but determined, Selene prepared another of her mother’s poultices, wet a clean washcloth and filled a basin with fresh water. She laid them on a tray and carried them into the room.
With great care, she removed the bandages and plucked away the old poultice a little at a time. The wound was an angry red around the edges. When she applied the damp washcloth, the man jerked to a sitting position, his gaze wild as he slapped her wrist away as if slapping a paw at her. His eyes were glazed, his cheeks flushed with fever.
“It’s okay.” She pressed a hand to the uninjured shoulder. Speaking softly, she urged him to lie down.
As if he understood, he eased to his back, grimacing, his lips drawing back over long catlike fangs.
As she removed the poultice from the wound, she talked softly. “I’ve never met a man quite like you.”
He winced and growled, small hairs rising on his neck and arms. Fascinated, she stopped cleaning and reached out to touch the hairs. “What are you? Half man, half beast? I have a million questions for you when you are up to answering.” She sang her words, soothing him as she applied the new remedy and bandages.
By the time she finished, his face had paled alarmingly and his body shook so hard his teeth rattled.
She pulled the sheet up over his chest.
“Shh, you’ll be okay,” she said, worried when he shivered so hard he shook the bed. Even after she’d covered him with a blanket, he trembled and his jaw clenched.
Afraid he would go into shock, Selene did the only thing she knew to do. She stripped down to her panties and slipped beneath the blanket and sheet, pressing her warm body against his cold skin. Careful, so as not to touch his wound, she draped an arm over his belly and a leg over his thigh. Curling her body around his, she held on, praying to the goddess the fever and shock wouldn’t be the end of him.
Slowly, the tremors lessened, dropping from constant to intermittent and finally, they stopped altogether.
Warm alongside him, and tired beyond exhaustion, Selene lay her face against his chest and closed her eyes. His deep, even breathing reassured her that he would be okay while she took a short nap. Sleep claimed her instantly and with it began the dreams...
Wandering through the dark, she recognized the tunnels. They were just like the ones she and her sisters had traversed beneath Chicago to save the youngest of her sisters from an evil Chimera a couple of years ago.
So dark...
Selene carried a flashlight, the beam barely lighting the way, pushing against the inky blackness like a hand shoving back heavy drapery.
The longer she walked, the longer the tunnel seemed. She stepped over old railroad tracks, discarded pallets, pipes and debris, searching for...whatever, she wasn’t quite certain.
Something clattered behind her. Selene stopped to listen. Nothing but the eerie silence. When she started walking again, she sensed something moving with her, getting closer.
At a T-junction, she ducked to the left, clicked off her flashlight and waited, barely breathing so that she could hear the sound of footsteps treading softly in the passage.
There it was.