Page 81 of The Enemy to the Living
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Okay.”
“I’ll come find you after sundown.”
“No, I’ll—I’ll be at the base. We need to finish this.”
Maurice is silent for a moment. “All right,” he says finally. “I’ll organise everything here. Keep him safe until Paxton gets there.”
As if I would do anything else. I know what he means by it, though. The reminder cuts through the panic and the sorrow, purpose stiffening my shoulders.
“Got it. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
I wait for Paxton’s arrival and never take my eyes from Quinn’s face. Paxton crouches beside me when he arrives, hand resting for a second on my shoulder.
“Come on, Asher. Let’s get him up.”
I almost don’t want Paxton to touch him. I don’t wantanyoneto touch him, not while he’s so hurt and vulnerable. My blessing puffs up at the thought, but then I look into Paxton’s face, and it settles again.
Pack.Paxton and Quinn are pack. Paxton will help.
The driver—human, I’m guessing—is waiting by the back door, which he’s holding open. Paxton and I get Quinn inside, and I climb in and rest Quinn’s head in my lap. Paxton jumps in up front with the driver and directs him tersely to Kieran’s pack house.
I can’t think about the reception that awaits us. I stroke my fingers over Quinn’s brow instead and watch the way his eyes are rapidly moving behind closed lids. Does he know I’m here? I hope so. I hope he can somehow sense me, even through all the hurt, and that it eases some of it for him.
I’m going to save him. There’s not a chance he’s going to die because of this.
Kieran’s waiting by the kerb as we pull up, body tense like he’s holding himself back. He is. He almost launches himself at the car when it stops, and Paxton leaps from it and pushes him away.
“Let me see him! He’s part ofmypack, for fuck’s—”
I don’t hear Paxton’s response through the glass. The driver locks eyes with me in the mirror. “Can I help you with him, sir?” he asks.
“No,” I say, voice hoarse. “No, it’s fine.”
I still don’t move for another minute or so. Not until the shouting’s stopped. Quinn tensed a little at the sound of it—he can still hear, whatever else is happening to him in there—but as the sound winds down, he relaxes a little again.
Paxton opens the back door and pokes his head in. “Ready?”
No. Kieran isn’t going to want me to see Quinn after this, once I’ve saved him. And I don’t want to drive a wedge between them. I stare down at his face for a moment longer, then swallow all of it back down and nod.
I can do this. I’ve lived through the worst thing that could happen to a wolf, and besides, he’s not going to die. He won’t.
“Yeah. Help me?”
“Of course.”
Between us, we get Quinn out of the car, though Kieran glares at me and all but shoves me aside to take Quinn’s weight along with Paxton. I hesitate only for a second before I follow them, passing through the wards with a shiver. Sam must be allowingus all through. I trail them into the building and up the stairs. A tensed, charged silence exists between us all, spinning out and out until it’s so thin I fear it might snap.
Kieran opens the door to a flat at the end of the hall. Drew is waiting just inside, and the pain on his face when he sees Quinn guts me. His eyes are already red, but his expression crumples. Sam pulls Drew back against him, into his arms.
“Give him space, sweetheart.”
I wait impotently in the living room, watching as Paxton and Kieran take Quinn into what must be his bedroom. The entire flat is bleak, devoid of anything that might pass for a material possession. Drew sobs quietly in one corner. Sam watches me the entire time, expression unreadable.
Kieran comes out of the room like a whirlwind, though he doesn’t speak until Paxton shuts the door quietly behind them both. I jolt. The visual connection to Quinn is all that I had, and now that it’s gone, it’s like I can’t be sure he’s alive at all.
“What thefuckhappened?” Kieran snaps. He’s holding himself in check, I know that, but I bristle all the same. Doesn’t matter that Kieran’s his alpha. Doesn’t matter they’re Quinn’s pack. Where the fuck have they been these past few weeks?
