Page 36 of Merciless
“Okay.” Jandro looked puzzled but still set aside his rake and came inside.
“She used to be a vet tech,” I explained. “She’s the best person to help.”
“You got it!”
Jandro hurried to the garage, then stopped in his tracks when Gunner yelled, “Take my bike! It’s faster.”
Jandro was out the front door and settled into Gunner’s seat within moments, then promptly screamed and jumped off. “Gun, there’s a fucking rattlesnake coming out of your saddlebag!”
“What the fuck?!” I cried.
“Yeah, that’s the other thing.” Gunner rubbed his forehead, not sounding alarmed or surprised, just weary. “Ran into another god who hitched a ride.”
I couldn’t have heard him correctly. “Anothergod?”
I’m Quetzalcoatl, and I will not harm you,a warm, ancient voice soothed me.
Sure enough, a six-foot long rattlesnake moved with fluid grace up my driveway, porch, and into my house. Despite its assurance of no harm, I found myself backing away from the reptile.
Heal the sky god first,Quetzalcoatl said.Then we will have much to discuss.
He was right. I had a barrage of questions, but taking care of Horus was the first priority. Jandro had gotten over his freak-out and had already taken off for the hospital. I went into the kitchen so that I could lay Horus down on a flat, clean surface.
“Freyja?”
I am here, daughter.The black cat jumped gracefully onto the table, making her way toward Horus.
“How bad is it?” I watched her sniff him delicately.
Very, but he lives,she reported.
“What do you need?” Gunner was already scrubbing his hands in the kitchen sink.
“A bright light, forceps, alcohol, gauze,” I rattled off. “Something to use for a splint, like a wooden dowel or something.”
“I’m on it.” He raced off to grab my supplies while I examined the injured bird as carefully as I could.
“I’m so sorry if this hurts you, Horus,” I muttered, saddened by every one of his soft chirps of pain.
I wasn’t sure how to go about setting the broken bone in his wing, so I decided I’d wait for Erica to handle that. In the meantime, I was an expert at treating gunshot wounds at this point.
I had just extracted the slug and was wrapping up the wound with gauze when I heard Jandro’s motorcycle rumble up the driveway. Perfect timing!
“Erica, thank you so much for coming,” I said when the two of them walked in. “I’ll explain later, but can you set a broken wing?”
She blinked once, taking in the sight of animals all around us. Hades and the rattlesnake were also nearby, looking at her hopefully. With a short laugh, she then pushed her sleeves up and headed for the sink to wash up. “Believe it or not, this isn’t the craziest house call I’ve ever gotten.”
“You’re an angel,” I breathed with relief.
Erica quickly figured out how best to set the bone, and it was my job to hold Horus still. After the most tense count to three of my life and a firmsnap,I fought against every instinct in my body to let the bird go. His screech rattled my eardrums, his good wing beating against the table in an effort to get away.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I whispered to him.
“We need more hands to hold this splint in place while I wrap the wing,” Erica said.
The guys sprang into action, all four of us lending a hand to keep Horus still. Moments later, it was over. His wing was wrapped in two places, the thick bandages making one side comically bigger than the other.
“No flying for eight weeks,” Erica instructed as she went to wash her hands again. “You can give him pain relief, just microdose in comparison to humans.”
