Page 12 of Shifter's Homecoming

Smokey,he said inruhi.—I need you. I need help.

There was no answer.

He tried again.Smokey, give me a sign or something. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing here. I don’t even know if I’m crazy or dead. Give me a fucking meow… anything!

Nothing.

He was on his own.

***

Trent might have slept a little, he wasn’t sure. He had drifted. His eyes flew open all at once and he stared at the ceiling, still with no idea what to do.

He wondered if he could talk to his wolf. He tried. No, he could not.

What about Troy?

Troy, are you there?he said in ruhi, meaning to talk tohisTroy inhisworld. He didn’t know what he could possibly say to his brother, or what his brother could possibly do to help him, but he still had to try, he had toknow.

Troy from right here and now, the Troy he didn't need, rushed to his side.

“Trent, I’m here.”

Trent stared at him and blinked, wondering what he could say.

“Uh, never mind,” he mumbled.

Troy stared at him. Trent’s eyes drifted closed, and when he opened them again, Troy was back at the table bent over his papers.

Trent reached out with his mind to his brother Trevor, who was also the lieutenant in charge of the KSRT, Trent’s unit, then Graeme thedragen, then Ella, Trevor’s mate, then Wade, the big boss, then Eventine, Harlan’s mate who had just returned from the dead and was probably about to be in charge of everything…

Nothing. He could get no one.

Without thinking, he tried his brother Troy again. He was closer to Troy than anyone in the world. If he could reach anyone it would be Troy.

Troy, I need help…

The Troy in this world rushed to him again, looking down at him with something like fear stamped on his face.

“Trent,” he whispered. He waved a hand in front of Trent’s face. “Can you see me?”

Trent licked his lips and nodded at his brother, trying to think how to explain to him what was going on, trying to think what to do next.

He must not have been convincing. Troy looked across the room and called the doctor over. They had a quiet, hushed conversation a few feet away from the bed, but Trent heard every word.

“He keeps calling me even though I’m right here.”

The doctor nodded thoughtfully and said, “He’s had an awful lot of human blood, maybe it is causing him issues. He might need sedation until he’s stabilized.”

Troy’s eyes widened. He looked at Trent then looked at the IV bottles. He jostled one on a pole.

“Are you telling me this is human blood?” Troy said, his voice cracking.

“We don’t have any shifter blood,” the doctor told him, his demeanor nervous, his voice quiet.

Troy rounded on him, shaking his head. “What about the Deaden Curse?”

Trent listened hard.

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