Page 6 of Primal Bonds

“Jesus. Wake the neighborhood, why don’t you?” Kyler sauntered into the kitchen, tall and thin and full of sixteen-year-old attitude until he saw her face. “Evie? What’s the matter?”

“Outside.” She jerked her chin at the backyard. “A fada. He’s hurt—bleeding.”

“For real?” Kyler pushed past her and vaulted over the railing to the injured shifter.

Evie followed. “Hurry. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Somehow, she knew she had to get the shifter inside—and soon—or he was dead. The fada were the killers of the magical world—assassins and mercenaries. If this man was injured, someone dangerous was after him.

Kyler slid his hands under the fada’s shoulders and head. “Grab his legs.”

She hurried to obey. Rain poured down, drenching them to the skin.

Kyler looked at her. “Ready?”

“Yep.”

“One, two, up,” he said, and they lifted him.

Evie staggered, struggling to keep her end up. “Damn, he’s heavy.”

“I’ve got him.” Kyler moved his hands lower on the shifter’s back, taking more of the weight, and together, they maneuvered his limp body up the stairs and into the kitchen.

Her brother raised a dark brow. “Where should we put him?”

“The floor, I guess.”

They laid him on the ratty vinyl. Swiping the rainwater from her face, Evie peered down at the unconscious man. His face and shoulders were wet, but the dark stain spreading across his T-shirt wasn’t from the rain.

While Kyler locked the back door, Evie scrubbed her hands in the kitchen sink and squatted down for a closer look.

His thick lashes were spiked with water drops. She couldn’t help noticing that the man was freaking gorgeous—shiny black hair, broad cheekbones, a body that was all hard muscle. But then, the fada had a few drops of fae blood, and with it a touch of the fae’s beauty.

Easing up his T-shirt, she sucked in a breath. He had a deep slash across his lower abdomen, and another small but deeper wound directly above it.

Kyler whistled. “Somebody cut him good.”

She nodded grimly. “Get me something to clean it with. Hot water, but not too hot.”

Kyler nodded and filled a bowl with warm water. Meanwhile, Evie found a couple of clean kitchen towels and knelt next to the fada, dabbing at the blood. From what she knew about first aid, the wounds weren’t life-threatening. Neither was spurting blood, which meant the knife or whatever had cut him hadn’t hit an artery. And the blood seemed to be clotting.

The biggest danger was probably infection. Hopefully, he’d be out of here before she had to worry about that.

She wrung out the cloth and dabbed at the gashes again. She’d heard somewhere that whiskey disinfected a wound, but the only alcohol in the house was a six-pack of cheap beer.

“D’you think we should pour some beer on it?” she asked Kyler. “You know, to kill the germs?”

“No.” The earth fada’s eyes opened. The intense green had faded to hazel. “Use…my quartz.”

Evie didn’t know much about shifters, but everyone knew earth fada had a special connection with their quartz. This man’s looked like an ordinary rock to her, but what did she know?

She reached for the pendant.

“No!” He grabbed it himself. “Don’t touch. Only…me.”

She jerked her hand away. “Gotcha.”

The fada’s fingers toyed with the quartz, and it started to glow the same green as his eyes had. His lips moved, and the blood stopped seeping. His wounds closed a bit, too.

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