Page 65 of Werewolves Don't Howl
I closed my eyes and turned my face into Cross’s neck, trusting him to protect my heart from the inevitable storm of fear and grief we were headed into.
ChapterSeventeen
We spilled into the warm, cozy kitchen, teapot steaming, cat curled up on the chair next to the stove then pushed down the hall, too many people for the narrow space.
When we burst into my father’s study, he was leaning on the mantle, book in hand. It was on werewolves. How fitting.
“What’s this?” he asked with his customary calm.
“We caught him with Delphi.” Bram said, looking thunderous.
Penn shoved him. “That’s not why we’re here. We need the first aid kit. Delphi’s been shot.”
My father dropped the book to the floor with a thud as he stared at Cross in consternation and then his eyes met mine, and there was a world of emotion I couldn’t read, welling in those dark eyes.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, clinging to Cross and the blanket.
“According to my research, a werewolf will survive a bullet to the heart, unless it’s silver,” my dad said in a clear voice then turned to look at the gun on the desk, and the silver bullets spilled out over the gleaming mahogany surface.
I inhaled sharply, which pulled on my wound. “Are you going to shoot me again?”
“No,” Cross answered for him, then nodded at Penn. “The first aid kit, if you’d be so kind. Your father wouldn’t be so foolish as to attempt to injure someone the lord heir of the night court has declared under his personal protection.”
Bram muttered, “Is that what you call what you were doing in the barn?”
“Is she? Under your protection?” my father asked, ignoring Bram.
Penn snorted and headed across the room for the cabinet underneath his books on Elven lore. “Delphi’s bleeding out, so let’s talk about who’s protecting her? That’s ironic. Dad, you should clear off your desk so Cross can put her on it. Bram, go get a soft blanket for her, and a pillow. If mom finds out you guys were arguing while Delphi’s bleeding, she’ll kill everyone.”
That seemed to be the motivation they needed. My mother could be terrifying, and my father wouldn’t ever want to disappoint her. Also, he probably didn’t really want to kill his only daughter. He cleared off the desk, sweeping everything into drawers in a mess he’d have to be meticulous about later while Bram disappeared and returned shortly with a blanket he arranged.
Cross tightened his hold on me for a moment before he lowered me to the desk and then pulled down the blanket so he could see the damage.
“You got her in the heart,” Penn said, sounding horrified. “Are you sure she’s not going to die?”
“Penn, go get some boiling water,” my dad said and then rolled up his sleeves and went to his healing elixirs cabinet.
I closed my eyes, because the strain of not knowing whether or not my father was going to shoot me again had taken all my energy.
“That’s right, relax Delphinia,” Cross said, putting a large hand on my head while his other trailed lines of healing magic over my skin.
I think I passed out, because the next thing I knew, I was being tucked into my bed by a pale and exhausted-looking Cross.
I frowned at him and touched his forehead. “You’re pretty even looking like a bloodless corpse.”
He smiled slightly and raised my hand to his lips. “That’s my line. Rest, Delphinia.”
“Only if you do.”
“I intend to.”
“In the barn with an itchy blanket?” I shook my head and patted my bed. “We were already caught in a compromising position in the barn. Our bed is made. Now we must lie in it.”
He frowned at me and then I tugged on him hard enough that he sat on the bed, looking confused how that had happened. I pulled him all the way down and linked my arm over his shoulder and spooned against his back.
“Now I can rest knowing that if my dad tries to shoot me with a silver bullet, you’ll block it,” I said, closing my eyes.
“Why didn’t you say you wanted me to block a bullet in the first place? I can definitely do that unconscious. I’m afraid that my healing talents are much more scant than my killing talents. One of these days you’re going to have me do something I’m good at.”
