Split at the Seams (10 page)

I licked my lips. “I remember getting out of the car, and someone knocking me down.”

“Not someone,” he said, shaking his head. “It was some
thing
.”

“What do you mean?” I couldn’t stop licking my lips, wished I could take a sip of water. I was suddenly so thirsty.

Papan unfolded his arms and pushed a hand through his hair, shoving it away from his face. “Fox, a person didn’t attack you. A beast did.”

I caught Jonathan’s show of surprise. A brief flash that disappeared so quickly I thought I might have imagined it. His hand slid from mine and he said, “I’ll get you a drink of water.”

Even a small nod hurt, but I managed it. I watched Jonathan leave the living room, hoping he would take his time in the kitchen. I really needed a moment alone with Papan, and it wasn’t just because of my dreams. He was the only one who could provide real answers about what had happened.

“Do you want me to help you sit up?” he asked with a small quirk of his lips.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Papan closed the distance between us. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me until my back was pressed against the cushions in front of the armrest. “Is that better?”

I nodded, unable to talk when our gazes met and I read the concern in his eyes. He’d saved my life. If he hadn’t been here to scare away the animal—or beast—I might’ve died outside my own house. I took a shallow breath, taking in his very strong scent. He always smelled like a summer day in the woods and I couldn’t get enough.

Unable to stop myself, I raised a hand and touched his face, letting my fingers rasp against the stubble on his chin.

“You saved me, again,” I whispered.

“I should’ve waited at the door for you.” He pressed his cheek against my hand and my pulse quickened. “Instead of waiting on the couch and falling asleep.”

“Papan, don’t.”

“I’m so sorry, if that beast had—”

“But it didn’t,” I interrupted. “Thanks to you I’m fine.”

He looked so serious, but none of this was his fault.

“Do you know what animal it was?”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was some sort of canine hybrid. Except…they don’t exist.” He took my hand from his cheek and pressed the palm to his lips, where he kissed it. “You scared the shit out of me, Foxy Lady. You’ve gotta get some better protection spells, or I’m going to go crazy worrying about you.”

“You’ve never worried about me before.” My voice sounded husky and the spot on my palm where he’d kissed me burned.

“That’s a damn lie and you know it. I’ve been worried about you since the moment we met. You’re always catching someone’s attention.” He lowered his voice, his eyes darkening. “The organization is asking questions again.”

My ears perked up. “The Council contacted you?”

He nodded. “Don’t worry, I turned them down. I can’t exactly work while I’m trying to hide from that crazy bitch of a hunter.” Papan lowered my hand, squeezed my fingers and laid it on my side, still holding on. “So I gave them an associate’s number. They contacted him and are at it again with the hundred-and-one questions. It looks like they’ve got a hard-on for you because this time they wanted surveillance. You need to watch your back. And I won’t let you down again.”

Instead of mentioning what Oren and I had found out while in the city and then after visiting Mara, I swallowed the lump in my throat and let the silence take over for a while. It was nice, just enjoying the weight of his hand on the back of mine while Jonathan had a murmured conversation with someone on his phone. Who was he talking to when he was supposed to be getting me some water?

“What’s Jonathan doing here?”

Papan rubbed my hand between both of his before letting go as he straightened, took a few steps back and lowered himself onto the armchair across from me. “I’m sorry about that, but I know he’s some hotshot healer and figured he could help you. I did all I could to stop the bleeding, but when you didn’t regain consciousness for so long and developed a fever, I called in anyone I thought could help.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that—”

“Don’t ever be sorry because I was here to help.” The glint in his eyes looked dangerous. “If that beast ever returns, I’m going to kill it. I’m willing to kill anyone trying to harm you, you know that, right?” His gaze darted toward the kitchen and he frowned. “Anyway, I called the old man to strengthen the shields and expand them outside. Then I got Jonathan over to heal you, and now you’re up. So everything worked out.”

“I need to call Ebony, she must be worried. I was supposed to call her last night, but ran out of time.”

“You don’t need to worry about her, either. I called and told her what happened. She dropped in earlier, but you were still out. She said she’d take care of everything at the office and attend some meeting you were both supposed to go to tonight.” He leaned back into the armchair.

“What do you mean, tonight? The meeting she’s talking about isn’t until tomorrow tonight. It’s Thursday, right?”

Papan frowned. “Fox, you were out for over a day.”

No wonder he’d called practically everyone.

“What time is it?”

“It’s almost two in the afternoon,” he answered. “Friday afternoon.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “That gives me enough time to rest a little more, take a shower, eat something and get ready for the meeting.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Papan said with a shake of his head.

“For once, I agree with him.” Jonathan strode into the living room with a tall glass of water in his hand. He handed it to me and I drank the whole thing in one go. He took the glass and placed it on the coffee table. “You need to stay here and rest until tomorrow at least.”

“I can’t. I’ve already lost a whole day!”

He glared at Papan. “You told her? I thought we agreed not to overload her with information?”

“You decided, not me. I’m not about to baby Fox, or keep things from her like you seem to do.” He sat forward on the armchair, his hands on his knees as if he was ready to jump out of his seat at any moment.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jonathan’s hands were balled into fists at his sides.

Papan snorted. “I think you know exactly what I mean. Who were you talking to just now?”

“None of your damn business—”

Papan stood, took a step, until only the coffee table stood between them. They were getting into another pissing contest because of me, and I wasn’t going to sit there and watch. Not now, not when the paralyzing pain was starting to make every muscle in my body ache. Not to mention the throbbing sensation on my collarbone. It itched like crazy, and I knew it was where I’d been bitten.

I swung my legs over the side of the couch and instantly felt like I was going to throw up. I took several quick breaths before I felt remotely okay again.

“Fox, what are you doing?” Papan asked, but Jonathan crouched in front of me.

“I’m going to lie down on my bed for a while. If you two want to stay down here and argue, please keep it down.”

Jonathan pushed a strand of sweaty hair away from my forehead. “You need to be careful. If you want to move, I can help you.”

“By the sounds of it, you’ve already done enough. Thanks for healing the bite, or whatever.”

Jonathan speared Papan with a quick glance before taking my left hand. “Sierra, I also healed the grazes on your cheeks, and the cut on your hand. How did you get that cut on your palm? It didn’t look like something a wolf would do.” He ran his fingertips over the sealed skin where Oren had cut a neat line to feed the dowsing rod. I didn’t feel like sharing the info, though. “I tried healing the bite, but it didn’t work.”

“She wasn’t attacked by a wolf,” Papan called.

“Whatever it was, I can’t heal the bite completely,” Jonathan added, releasing my hand.

“What do you mean?” Was that why I could still feel it? I thought it was just a remnant, while it faded. Just like what happened to Papan’s injuries. Then again, he was a werewolf and I wasn’t.

“I tried to clear it up, but the skin had already sealed.” Jonathan shook his head. “I’m not sure how it happened, but someone else took care of it before I did. Still, it’s not completely gone.”

I nodded, looking past his shoulder to focus on Papan. He was staring back at me, with a poker face that gave away a lot more than a reaction would. While I’d been delirious, a dog had licked my wounds…but it hadn’t been a dog, had it? Papan had somehow helped a lot more than he led on.

“I’ll need to find out more,” Jonathan said, still continuing his train of thought even though I was only half listening. He got to his feet. “Do you want me to help you get to bed before I go?”

I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. Besides, Papan can help me. You go off and do whatever it is I interrupted.” I probably shouldn’t be giving him this much attitude when he’d helped me, but something Papan had insinuated bugged me. Jonathan made a phone call while in the kitchen, and although I hadn’t been able to hear, I was pretty sure Papan’s wolf hearing allowed him to eavesdrop. What had he heard? I’d overheard Jonathan speaking to someone about me before, but he later denied it. This only made me more suspicious of his motives for bothering to heal me.

Besides, hadn’t I broken up with him already? He seemed to be using this situation to gloss over what happened the last time he stopped by. I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with it right now.

Jonathan’s eyes darkened to black when he took my hand again and squeezed my fingers a little harder than he needed to. “I can do it. I’ll take you up to your—”

“No, I’m fine.” I yanked my hand away before the darkness that appeared at the corners of my sight took over. What the hell was happening to me? Was I about to pass out again?

“Suit yourself. I’ll see you at the meeting tonight.” Jonathan left the living room without another word, slamming the front door behind him.

“That guy’s got some serious jealousy issues.”

I nodded. This Jekyll and Hyde routine Jonathan was pulling off lately was starting to grate on my nerves.

I held out my hand. “Will you help me get to bed?”

Papan’s sexy grin teased the corners of his mouth. “Ah, Foxy Lady, if only you weren’t asking me just because you’re about to pass out.”

I laughed. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

“You look very pale.” He headed for the kitchen. “Before I do that, how about you have a little something to eat? You need to get your strength back.”

“Sure.” I rested my head back for just a second, but when I opened my eyes he was heading back into the living room with a blueberry muffin, a glass of milk and two tablets. “Thanks, Papan. I didn’t know you were so domestic.”

“I can be, for those I care about.” He handed me the muffin.

I was surprised when I polished it off in a matter of minutes, then took the pills and washed everything down with the milk.

“I feel a little more human now.”

“Good. Let’s get you upstairs.” Instead of helping me to my feet, Papan actually took me in his arms and carried me up to my bedroom.

When he placed me on the bed, gently, I lay back against the pillows and closed my eyes. “Papan, can you stay for a while?”

“I’ve got nothing else planned, so I suppose I can.” He made his way around the bed and sat on the other side. “Come here, I’ll help you get comfortable.”

If he’d propped himself up on my right side, it would’ve been a hell of a challenge, but with my left shoulder being fully functional, I squirmed closer until my head was pressed against his chest. He felt so strong and comfortable. I could feel his heartbeat beneath my ear and it helped soothe away all my jumbled worries.

“Can you make sure I get up at eight?”

“Sure thing…”

I could feel sleep slowly tugging at me, but I wanted to tell him something before I faded for a few hours. “Papan?”

“Yeah?”

“I know it was you,” I whispered against his chest. “Your wolf tried to heal me, didn’t he?”

Papan’s chest rose and fell. “I did what I had to, to make sure the bite didn’t get infected. I’ve got enzymes in my wolf saliva that can speed up the healing process and help minimize the scarring. I’m not sure if it worked properly on you. It’s something we use on our own.”

“Thank you.” I took a deep breath and released it in a sigh. “Are you saying you consider me one of your own?”

“Fox, I’m a lone wolf, have been most of my life. But you, you’re the closest thing I have to a pack. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to keep you safe, and that includes keeping your boyfriend away. I shouldn’t have called him. I was just…desperate.”

“He’s not my boyfriend anymore. You were there when I broke up with him.”

“Well, he didn’t get the message.”

“Then I’ll have to make sure he does.” He was right. Jonathan hadn’t acted like someone who understood we weren’t a couple anymore. I’d have to make sure he got the message loud and clear. “Who was he talking to on the phone?”

“Sleep now. We’ll talk later,” Papan whispered near my hair, before I felt his lips on the top of my head.

I leaned against his hard body and let go of everything. Until my body felt so relaxed, sleep overcame my innermost desires almost instantly.