Guarding His Heart (21 page)

Dylan swore and dragged his hand down his face. “Mason is already beside himself worrying. He’s with one of the other scout groups.”

“Then you’d better call him. She looks as if she’s been put through the ringer. There’s a lot of bruising, but aside from being shot, she seems okay. It’s Lynn I’m worried about.”

“You have
got
to be fucking kidding me!”

The outburst from Kitty was followed by Liam’s gleeful laugh as he carried her out. “Don’t worry about it. The whole naked thing doesn’t bother me a bit. We’ll just focus on you getting better for now though.”

“I’ll be a hundred times better if you’re far,
far
away from me,” she exclaimed, flailing in an attempt to get down. “Let me go! Do I look like some sniveling damsel to you?”

“Not at all. You look like one of the bravest, most beautiful females I know, but you’re also injured, and I intend to see you get proper care for your wounds.”

Spotting Dylan, Kitty beseeched him to call Mason to come get her, and not to let Liam drag her off anywhere.

“Calm down before you make your bleeding worse,” Dylan demanded. “Of course, he wouldn’t take you off anywhere. I’ll put a call in to the group Mason is with, and he’ll meet us at the clinic. Now, just calm down.” Turning to his brother, he added, “Liam, behave.”

“Then keep him away from me, please. I want to sit in the back with Lynn and Jag.” The mulish expression on her face would have been comical had she not been bruised, battered and covered in blood. One whiff told them it wasn’t just hers, but nobody commented.

Dylan and Jag exchanged a bewildered look at her reaction to Liam then shrugged. “Okay,” Dylan agreed. “Help her into the backseat then get us back to the Pride clinic, Liam.”

Once they had a bandage situated over her bullet wound, Kitty helped Jag tend to Lynn. They were nearly there when she finally roused, her beautiful emerald eyes gazing up at Jag from where she lay across his lap.

“I’ve got you now, sweetheart. We’ll get you to Dr. Lewis, and you’ll be good as new before you know it. Just hang on,” he urged. He could only imagine what she’d been through between the videos sent to him.

A dozen questions were on the tip of his tongue, but he refrained from asking right away. She was alive, in his arms, and he had to focus on that or he ran the risk of losing control of his cat. He scented the rogues on her skin, but couldn’t bring himself to inquire whether or not she’d been abused sexually as well as physically.

He watched as her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, but they still looked dry to him. She opened her mouth to speak then closed it again, along with her eyes. He raised his fingers to stroke her cheek, but Kitty stayed his hand.

“She’s been through a lot and her body needs the rest. Neither one of us have had anything to eat or drink, so she’s probably dehydrated. I tried to keep their attention on me, but they were determined to torture her to teach you both a lesson. I’m not sad they’re dead. It’s just a pity it wasn’t as prolonged as it should have been.”

Jag offered up a small smile. “I guess it’s a good thing the animal only had a taste for men today then, huh? Did you see where it went?” he asked, jerking his eyes toward the front seat.

Kitty caught on quickly that he was giving her an out and winked. “Sorry, I was focused on Lynn at the time. I got really woozy for a second and had to close my eyes. When I opened them again, you had just come in.”

Dylan turned in his seat. “Well, whatever or whoever that was, we are in their debt. I just wish we could have gotten here before it left.”

“Why? So you could bring it back to the Pride? You really think a bunch of lions would welcome something like that into their midst?” Kitty asked, her eyes narrowed and daring them to lie to her.

“I can’t say for sure, but after the rescue and how those rogues were dispatched, he or she would be an asset.” Dylan shook his head, his mouth curving up into a ghost of a smile. “I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime, but that feline was amazing. I still can’t wrap my mind around it. It looked almost like a—”

“Saber-toothed tiger, maybe mixed with another feline,” Kitty finished.

A snicker came from Liam in the front seat. “That’s ridiculous! Those things are extinct and have been since the ice age. Besides, if there were any of them left, I’m sure they would have been spotted by now. It’s not like they could hide easily.”

“Even if it was a shifter?” Jag wouldn’t out Kitty. It was her confession to make when she was ready, but he’d do whatever he could to help her, no matter what. She’d risked herself and her secret to save Lynn’s life, an act he’d work his whole life to repay. Now if he could only figure out why she was having such a negative reaction to Liam. As far as he knew, they’d never officially met before.

“That’s impossible. Don’t you think we’d know if there were any prehistoric shifter breeds still in the world?”

“We know what we saw.”

“Well, I didn’t see a damn thing. I was driving, remember?”

Kitty held up a hand to stop them. “Wait. So you’re telling me that you are arguing with us about something you know nothing about? You shouldn’t even be a part of this discussion.” They hit a pretty deep rut in the road, bouncing them all in their seats and drawing a whimper from Lynn and a curse from Kitty, who clutched her side.

“I’m sorry!” Liam exclaimed. “Are you guys okay?”

“Fine,” Kitty gritted out. “Let’s just get to this clinic of yours.”

When they finally pulled in, Mason came rushing out the double doors, nearly tearing the door from the SUV in his haste to get to Kitty, who batted him away. She was wrapped in a blanket, toga style, and Jag sensed her refusal for assistance was more of a pride thing.

A gurney was brought out, and Jag carefully placed Lynn on her side before raising the rails and allowing the staff to wheel her inside. He followed right behind her and into a large room where Kitty was already on a bed, with both Liam and Mason flanking her.

When Dr. Lewis entered, all eyes landed on him as he looked quickly between the two females whose bandages had been removed. “My assistant can remove the bullet from Ms. Kitty, but I need to tend to Lynn. She’s been tutoring me on the ways to treat humans, and she will require many stitches from the looks of things.”

The next twenty minutes were a blur of nurses and techs swarming around both women, starting IV fluids, cleaning their wounds and forcing all the men from the room. Jag, Mason and Liam wore a path in the hallway as they walked to dispel their nervous energy.

Lynn had been given a dose of pain meds, and a mild sedative to keep her calm and still while her back was tended. Kitty had vehemently refused any drugs, claiming she wanted to remain fully in control of her mind and body at all times. All three of them came to a halt when shouting began inside.

“Just give me the damn instrument if you’re too scared to pull out the bullet yourself. I’m not going to bite or maim you for helping me, but I want this out, like yesterday,” Kitty shouted.

“And I’d feel safer if you would allow us to give you some pain meds or a sedative. After what you’ve been through, a little rest would do you good,” the nurse argued.

“I’ll heal just fine,” Kitty snarled. “Now, pull it out or hand those things over and I’ll do it myself.”

Liam stared at the door, a lethal expression on his face. He was clearly upset at what he was hearing, but which part?

“Just pull the damn thing out already!” he bellowed.

The room beyond went silent until they heard a small ping, signaling the bullet being dropped into the metal bowl. A relieved sigh came next, no doubt from Kitty. Several of the nurses left the room soon after but shook their heads when the men asked it go in.

It was another hour before they were allowed back inside. Lynn was now cleaned up, her blonde hair back to its golden glory, all the dirt and blood gone. Her face was lax and peaceful as she slept, though her back and wrists were adorned with white gauze. Jag pulled up a chair and sank into it before lowering his face to hers and planting a kiss on her forehead. Just the sight of her there was enough to calm and anger his jaguar all at once.

Although the rogues were now gone from their lives, the question was, were there more? Surely those three hadn’t been the only ones left, and the thought had his cat pushing to get out. He ached to annihilate every last one of those bastards, to ensure they could never threaten his mate again.

“Calm down there, killer,” Kitty teased from beside him. “We’re all good, and they’re gone.”

“How did you know that’s what I was thinking about?”

“Because I’m brilliant? Please, you couldn’t have been thinking of much else.”

Of course, she was right. “So what do you plan to do now?”

“Right now? I’m starving. I need food and something to drink, but hospital food is just gross, I don’t care what anyone says.”

Suddenly, Mason and Liam were there and asking what she would like, both determined to be the one to get it for her. Kitty frowned, obviously as confused by their behavior as Jag was, but she replied with her order. Both men took off, leaving them alone in the room with a sleeping Lynn.

“Yeah, that wasn’t weird or anything.”

Jag chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say they both have the hots for you.”

“Nah, not Mason. He’s just feeling guilty. For some reason, the crazy fool thinks he can protect me from everything. Liam? I can’t even deal with him right now.”

Interesting
, Jag thought. “Well, if you ever want get away and stay off the grid for a bit, you’re welcome to use my home. I plan to move in with Lynn, so I won’t be there anymore.”

Her eyes widened, her face registering her surprise at his offer. “Uh, thank you. Shouldn’t you sell it though? If you’re moving in with Lynn, you don’t need two homes.”

“Who wants to live in a cave? I made it myself, furnished it too, but there’s no power. I have plenty of crank lanterns and solar powered lamps though. Oh, and there’s a hot spring in a cavern towards the back. It’s huge in case you ever felt like…letting go.” He knew she understood what he was saying when she grinned. Now that he was paying closer attention, he noticed the black-and-white streaks in her hair had some gold and red with them too, though they were subtle, as if maybe she’d tried to color over it.

“I appreciate you not saying anything.”

“Not a problem. I owe you that and much more for saving Lynn.”

“She’s my friend. I don’t have many, and I wasn’t about to let them hurt her again. I just wish I could have gotten to her before they used that fucked-up whip.”

“Lynn’s alive because of you. That’s enough.” Jag sighed. “As much as I hate that they got hold of her in the first place, I’m just happy she didn’t suffer worse.” He paused for a moment, unsure whether Kitty would know the answer to the question that had plagued him since she’d been taken. “Kitty, do you know… I mean, they had you both stripped down. Did they at any point…you know…”

“Not even close. They seemed to get their jollies from causing pain, so rest easy. Lynn was never violated in that way. I think her being human saved her from that too, since they are so anti-human.” Kitty shifted in her seat grumbling, “And they called
me
a freak.”

“Thank God. She already suffered nightmares from the attack here at the clinic. I can only imagine what it will be like for her now. It’s killing me there are demons haunting her that I can’t fight off. All I can do is hold her and coax her out of that dark place, but I can’t prevent it from sucking her back down as soon as her eyes close.”

“She’s lucky to have someone like you. I’m not really at a point in my life where I can afford to have a mate, maybe, I never will be, but the two of you are good together. Just keep loving her, and eventually, it will drown out everything else.”

Jag watched as Kitty crossed the room to rummage through a cabinet before pulling out a set of scrubs much like the ones he wore. “Going somewhere? You should rest up while you’re healing. You lost quite a bit of blood.”

“I know my limitations. With my animal comes some pretty sweet perks. One day, I’ll tell you about them. Lynn knows some of it, but I barely scratched the surface. She doesn’t know about my animal though. It’s just you and me.”

Cocking his head, Jag asked, “Will you ever tell Lynn? I think it might help to alleviate some of her nightmares. After all, you did throw a severed leg at her just before she passed out.”

Kitty winced and hunched her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to. How did you know that anyway?”

“They had propped up her phone, hoping to make me watch you eat her while they escaped.”

“Well, shit.” Kitty plopped down on the gurney she’d originally been placed on.

“I think it would help to know you were on her side the whole time. Might prevent any nightmares about that part of the ordeal.”

Nodding, Kitty stood again. “I’ll stop by in a few days, once she’s home and settled. If you need me before then, just call me at the bar. Mason will make sure I get your calls.”

“I’ll have the key ready for you when you come.”

“Oh, and please tell Liam to stay away from me.”

The request had Jag frowning. “Do you two know each other?”

“Nope, just met him at the warehouse, but I don’t want him near me.”

Clearly, she wasn’t in the mood to offer up any more of an explanation, so Jag agreed. He wasn’t looking forward to the conversation, but he’d do it. “And who will keep him from approaching you once you leave here?”

“Oh, I’m leaving right now. Mason will keep him away from the bar, after I tell him I don’t want Liam around. There aren’t many shifters foolish enough to cross Mason.” Pulling the privacy curtain between them, Jag heard the rustling of fabric as she quickly donned her borrowed clothes. “I’ll wash these and send them back.”

“Don’t worry about it. They have plenty.”

She stepped back into the room, gazing down at Lynn for a few seconds before looking to Jag again. “I better scoot out of here before they get back with the food.”

Her belly grumbled, and Jag laughed. “You do need to eat.”