Page 9 of Cursed Magic

“Uh, no. You won’t be driving.” Raven shook her head and moved to one side of Ryker. “You’re injured and lost a lot of blood.”

“She’s right.” Briar straightened as if trying to appear strong. “I’ll drive it.”

“You don’t know where the mansion is, and you’ve been held captive for over a week.” Raven karate-chopped the air. “I’ll be the one driving. Gage, I need you to help me get Ryker into the back seat, and then Briar can help Ember take care of him. Ember, recline the mid-row seat behind the driver’s back, and we can lay him down so he doesn’t fall over when we bring him to you.”

Equal parts gratitude and the desire to be the only one helping Ryker shot through me. I chose to focus on the part that meant I didn’t drop him and make his injuries worse. Idid as she asked, climbing in and lowering the seatbacks even as my own back convulsed in agony.

In unison, Kendric and Xander stood and carried Ryker over to me with Raven on his uninjured side and Gage on the side with the knife. When they reached the door, I scooted back to guide Ryker in as the two of them worked together to lay him down in the seat.

As soon as Ryker was safely settled, Kendric and Xander ran off toward the trees, no doubt to shift and grab the clothes they’d surely stashed there when they’d met up to scout out the area together.

In the sudden quiet, I could hear Ryker’s vitals clearly. My heart crashed into my stomach.

His heartbeat was slowing.

CHAPTER FOUR

Acrushing weight seemed to fall on my chest, making it impossible to breathe. How could the thought of this man—whom I had once despised almost as much as Reid—dying make me want to scream?

I hadn’t realized how much I’d grown to care for him. For the last four days, he’d protected me and taken care of me while I was on the mend. I had a hard time associating him with the man who’d tortured Simon maliciously—the man who’d pulled me from the river so I wouldn’t drown but who’d planned on leaving me on the embankment to die slowly, and the man whom I’d heard had beaten others needlessly.

That same man had jumped in front of a knife to protect my sister. Now I owed him a life debt that I needed to pay sooner than I’d ever expected.

“Raven, we gotta go,” I said, voice thick from desperation. “We need to stop the bleeding, or we’re going to lose him.”

The skin around her eyes tightened as she vanished from her spot next to Gage, and the front driver’s side doorquickly opened and closed. The top of her head appeared in front of Ryker. She started the SUV just as Briar rushed to the front passenger door.

Gage took a step back, his lips pressed into a line. “We’ll catch up. Go to the mansion, and we’ll meet you there.” He slammed the door.

Not even the loudbangstartled Ryker.

A salty-sour taste filled my mouth as my stomach roiled. With every second, the situation seemed to grow more and more dire.

The problem was that the mansion was an hour away, and I was certain Ryker didn’t have that long. However, we couldn’t take him to a hospital, and there wasn’t a pack we could trust. The Shae pack was under attack, even if I had thought we could take him to them. “We’re not going to be able to wait to get to the mansion.”

Raven dodged a tree and glanced over her shoulder. “Where did the knife stab him?”

“His side. He jumped in front of our attacker just as whatever it was tried to stab Briar,” I gritted out, trying like hell to keep my voice neutral.

The SUV hit a bump, and then Raven peeled out of the woods and onto solid asphalt.

Briar yelped from her spot in front as Ryker’s body jerked toward me. I caught him with both hands and dropped to my knees in the small opening between our two seats, not wanting the knife to cause further problems.

Pain exploded in my back, and my knees ached. I bit back a whimper, knowing that Raven was trying to get us back to the mansion as quickly as possible.

Briar whipped her head toward me, forehead lined. “Are you okay?” Her anger and disgust from earlier seemed completely gone.

“I’ll be fine.” The last person anyone needed to worry about at this moment was me. Ryker would die if we didn’t do something quickly.

Biting the inside of my cheek so I didn’t make any noises of pain, I kept one hand on his chest and moved so I could see where the knife went in.

His shirt and pants were soaked in blood, and the coppery smell had me ready to gag. I swallowed hard and tried to gently rip the rest of his shirt so I could see as much of the wound as possible.

Warm blood wetted my fingertips once more, softening the congealed blood on my hand. My wolf whimpered inside me in both hurt and rage at what had been done to Ryker.

I wanted to embrace the emotions, but I couldn’t. Not right now. I didn’t have the time or luxury to be anything but calm and rational in this moment.

I leaned forward, the smell of blood so strong now I could taste iron on my tongue. I held my breath and leaned closer, my nose nearly touching Ryker’s blood-soaked shirt as I tried to get a better look.

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