Page 10 of Primal Bonds

She made a face at him and they both smiled. Weakly, but it worked. The ominous feeling slid past her without latching on.

She made another face at Kyler, and he caught on and made one back. They took turns making silly faces at each other. A laugh escaped Evie, and she froze until she realized the best thing was to make the night fae believe they didn’t know he was out there.

Kyler made a monkey face at her, and she returned, “Yo mama.”

He chuckled.

And the night fae was gone.

She let out a shaky breath. “Better wait another couple of minutes,” she said in a low voice.

“Yeah.” Kyler glanced at the unconscious man. “What are we going to do with—”

“I have no freaking idea. What’s he doing in Grace Harbor anyway? This is Rock Run territory.”

The local fada were water shifters who changed to dolphins, sharks and other water-based animals. The nearest earth fada clan was thirty-five miles away in Baltimore.

“We can’t just throw him out,” Kyler added. “The night fae could come back.”

“I know.” Evie pinched the bridge of her nose. Their narrow row house consisted of two floors, with the first floor taken up by the kitchen, living room and a tiny half bath. The upstairs consisted of two bedrooms and a full bathroom, but they couldn’t carry an unconscious man up a flight of steps to one of the bedrooms. “I guess we’d better move him onto the couch.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kyler rose to his feet.

It took them a few minutes to work out the best way to transport the injured man into the living room until Kyler had the idea of putting him on a sheet. They each took an end, Evie at his head.

“One, two, up,” her brother said.

This time Evie was prepared for his weight. Bracing herself, she bent her knees and lifted her end of the sheet—and she still staggered.

She gritted her teeth. “Got him.”

They maneuvered him past the kitchen table, Evie walking backward. She turned into the living room and almost banged his head against the wall.

“Almost there.” Kyler strained to take more of the load.

The couch backed up to the wall dividing the living room from the kitchen. They maneuvered until they were parallel with the cushions.

“Lift him a little higher,” Kyler said. “He’s sagging in the middle.”

Evie gripped the sheet and obeyed.

“Good grief,” she muttered as they eased him onto the couch. “What does he have, concrete for bones?”

The man lay sprawled where he’d landed, his breathing shallow, a leg dangling off the couch. Evie slid a small pillow beneath his head while Kyler pulled off his sneakers. He wasn’t wearing any socks. Kyler arranged his legs so both feet were on the cushions.

Evie pulled up the hem of his T-shirt and flinched. The cuts on his stomach had turned an angry, puffy red.

“That doesn’t look good,” muttered Kyler.

“Can a wound get infected that fast?”

“All I know is their biology is different from ours.”

She frowned. “But I thought they healed faster than humans. Plus, he did something with that crystal to heal it. He shouldn’t be getting worse.”

The earth fada moaned.

Evie laid a hand on his forehead. His skin felt clammy. “Shh. You’re okay.”

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