Page 74 of Shifters Awakening

But I didn’t want to talk about the private link between shifter souls or what happened when I delved someone so intimately, and it was Emma to boot. No, I would be processing the experience for a long time, fighting the urge to link with her like that as soon as I could. Besides, I wasn’t really sure how to explain the strength of the connection to anyone, and the idea of being studied like a historical specimen wasn’t on my bucket list.

I took a step closer to Emma, tucking her arm onto the table, and I drew my fingers from Emma’s shoulder to the back of her hand, mimicking the way she’d stroked my back. Then I moved out of the way of Dr. Wise and the other Red Tail healers as they worked for several minutes.

Suddenly, Emma shot straight upright, took a deep breath, and pressed her hands to her eyes. “What happened?”

Flynn stepped forward. “Ye went primal and then passed out. Maybe don’t do that again until ye’re ready?”

She dropped her hands and searched the room until her gaze landed on me, devouring every inch of me. “You brought me back.”

“Always,” I said, keeping my voice low.

“I wanted to give in to disappearing.” Her eyes turned glassy, and her chin quivered. “Thank you.”

A rush of Red Tail shifters surged toward Emma, anxious to meet the multimorph, pushing in around us now that she was going to be fine, so I ducked my head, slipped back through the crowd, and worked my way out of the den. The danger had passed, and my emotions were too raw to remain. I had too much to process and too much to do. Inexplicably, I already loved her too much.

Also, not for the first time, I wrestled a rush of panic, and the walls pressed in so close I had to find some fresher air. Two worries warred against my reason.

What happens if I lose Emma to Acheron… or lose her as she fulfills her destiny?

Beyond the large den, my hands curled into fists, and I clenched my jaw, snapping my teeth together to punctuate my vow, my promise to Emma. Well, there was only one answer I allowed to either of those questions: Emma Carter was mine.

No matter what it cost me…

No matter what I had to do…

Acheron couldn’t have her, and I wouldn’t let her die.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

emma

Tuesday Afternoon

Logan.

He’d been there, in my head, leading me out of the stupor I’d been stuck in, and now my heart felt squeezed. He’d had to get away from me the minute he’d been sure I’d woken up. A few words and then… nothing. How fucking disappointing, frustrating, and irritating.

Instead of spending time sorting out why his fresh absence bothered me, I searched the faces now surrounding me as I slid off the table the elders had been seated behind the night before. I felt more naked than I’d ever felt before. My tongue felt too large for my mouth, and my throat had been coated in sand. My empty stomach churned, and I swallowed, trying to keep the bile where it belonged.

Dr. Wise stood against the wall of the large den,taking it all in. Flynn now huddled with Giselda, whispering, while everyone else stared at me, brushed my skin, and spoke in hushed, wondered tones as though I were a lucky charm or a relic. I wanted to scream the truth at them:I don’t know how to repeat the primal energy trick.

The whole act had been instinctual. I still barely knew how to shift, and they had to understand they couldn’t pin all their hopes on me. I needed Logan to lead me out of the confusion around me, and he wasn’t here anymore.

Dr. Wise approached with a hypodermic needle about an inch and a half long.

I took a step backward. “What the hell is that?”

“B-12.” She blinked and glanced down at the syringe she held. “You don’t want it?”

I probably needed a whole damn IV bag of vitamins, electrolytes, and saline, so I offered my upper arm. At this point, I doubted Dr. Wise would inject me with anything meant to kill me, and I was too tired to give two shits.

“It’s fine. Go ahead.”

She swiped my skin with an alcohol pad, angled the needle down, gave me a little prick, and then stepped away and safely tucked the empty syringe into her bag. “That’ll help your recovery.”

“Yep,” I said, now irritated that all these Red Tail shifters had watched me get an injection but not Logan. No, I wasn’t his problem anymore, and he wanted to be gone.

Jasper appeared with a crocheted cover and moved through the small crowd. The weave didn’t hide much, but he draped it around my shoulders, and I tugged it closer like a kind of coat meant to protect me from the shower of awe.

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