Lion Lost & Found, Paranormal Romance (Ghost Cat Shifters Book 2) (16 page)

Heath stood from the table. “Just call me. I’ll let Daniel know when I see him.”

When Heath reached the door, Roger spoke. “Heath.”

“Yeah?”

“Give Vivi a little time. She’ll come around.”

Heath appreciated Roger’s sentiment, but he was feeling impatient and frustrated—not exactly helpful at the moment. “Hope so. Catch you later.” Heath lifted his hand in a wave and left.

Heath headed over to Mile High Grounds. He needed to see if Sophia had any clue what was going on with Vivi. The coffee shop was a warm haven on the cold, rainy day. Usually, he’d breathe a sigh of relief and relax once he stepped inside, but today he was too twisted up inside over Vivi. He strode to the counter, dragging his forearm across his face to wipe the rain away.

Sophia glanced up. She opened her mouth and closed it, her eyes narrowing. “What’s wrong?”

“Can we start with some coffee?” Heath countered, a thread of irritation rising to have Sophia pick up on the fact he was off balance.

“Sure. What’s your preference today?”

“Something strong.”

Sophia glanced to Tommy at the espresso machine behind her. “Work your magic,” she called to him.

“Got it.” Tommy nodded in Heath’s direction. “I’ll add an extra shot to an Americano. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds good,” Heath replied. He leaned against the wall by the counter, reflexively looking toward the door when the bell chimed.

A couple walked in and approached the counter. Sophia took their order and put their selected pastries on two small plates. While she was helping them, Tommy quickly came from behind the espresso machine and slid Heath’s coffee across the counter. “Enjoy,” he said before turning back to get started in the next order.

Heath took a swallow and sighed, the flavor strong and rich. “Perfect!” he called out to Tommy who threw a grin his way.

After the couple stepped aside and sat down at a table, Sophia turned back to Heath. “Okay, something’s wrong. What’s up?”

“I was hoping you’d know.”

“Clearly I don’t.”

“Vivi met with Chris yesterday. She blew me off last night and said she didn’t feel good. This morning, she…well, I guess she kinda dumped me.”

Sophia’s eyes widened. “What? What did she say?”

Heath took a gulp of coffee, as if it could somehow fortify him. Inside, his gut was churning and his heart ached. He just wanted a chance to talk to Vivi, but she wasn’t giving him one, so he’d try to intuit what he could from Sophia. She was Vivi’s closest friend. If anyone could guess at what was going through Vivi’s mind, it would be Sophia.

“She said she didn’t think now was the time to try a relationship and she needed to focus on Julianna. She didn’t give me a chance to talk about anything. That’s it. I was hoping you’d have some idea what happened.”

Sophia was quiet for several beats. Just when Heath was about to ask her what she thought again, Tommy called her name. She swung around and quickly grabbed the two coffee drinks Tommy passed to her. Without pause, she slipped from behind the counter and delivered the coffees to the couple at their table. When she returned to her station by the register, she looked to Heath, her eyes concerned. “I don’t know what happened since she talked to Chris, but I can guess at what’s going on. This whole thing with you, well, it took her off guard. I don’t doubt for a second that she wants you. But you have to understand what it was like for her the first couple of years after she had Julianna. She was barely getting by. Her parents helped, but Vivi wanted to be able do things on her own. My guess is talking to Chris just brought up all her doubts about whether things can work out. Because of how he’s been, well, just gone from Julianna’s life, Vivi’s really protective of her. I can’t tell you what to do right now, but maybe give her a little space. It might help if you find a way to let her know you’ll be there no matter what.”

Heath gulped his coffee. “So I’m supposed to give her space
and
I should tell her I’ll be there for her no matter what? How the hell am I supposed to do both things at once?”

Sophia’s shoulders dropped with her sigh. “I don’t know.” She smiled ruefully. “I guess you can’t.”

“Don’t see how I can.”

***

A few days later, Heath stared into the edge of the forest. “How far away are we?” he asked, turning to Roger who stood to one side of him with Daniel standing on the other side.

Roger shrugged. “All I’ve got is a good guess based on what Chris told us. From here, the aerial maps show the old hunting cabin to be about two miles from here. Not far really.”

Heath spun in a slow circle. They were parked in a small parking area along the outskirts of the forest. The road leading here wound through the mountains. The direction they were headed started level and angled upward steeply into the mountains.

“I’d say we get going while we have plenty of daylight,” Daniel commented.

“Agreed,” Heath added.

“Yup. Let’s do this,” Roger said.

They’d talked at length on the drive up, so there was no further need for planning. With three of them, they would mostly stick together, but if they picked up Nelson’s scent, they’d agreed Roger would separate out and loop around from another angle. Without another word, they stepped into the trees and shifted. In seconds, they were jogging in unison through the forest, slowly winding their way deeper into the mountains.

Heath stretched into his lion, letting the power course through him in surges. He’d spent three days leaving Vivi alone, though it had taken every ounce of discipline he had. He was still spinning circles in his head and heart over how to break through this impasse with her. He didn’t doubt they would eventually get past this, but it was nearly killing him to wait. Yet, he knew he had to. Of the many qualities he loved about Vivi, her strength and independence were high on the list. He knew she had to be ready on her terms. He was still pondering Sophia’s conflicting advice to also find a way to let Vivi know he’d be there no matter what.

He’d hoped a few hours in lion form would help him think more clearly. He’d conveniently forgotten how his feelings intensified when his cat was free. The mere thought of Vivi tightened his heart and sent a wild combination of longing and frustration through him. He shook himself and forced his attention to where they were. The air was just above freezing. Autumn was winding down with winter closing in behind it. Roger and Daniel ran alongside him as they made their way through the trees.

The ground became rockier as they ascended into the mountains. As Roger indicated, they didn’t have far to go before a small cabin was visible. It was an old hunting cabin that had been transformed into a camping hut for hikers in the area. They didn’t expect to find Nelson here, but they hoped to catch his scent and follow it. They fanned out and circled the cabin in the trees. No sign of Nelson, however they caught his scent as they’d hoped.

They moved quietly and purposefully, honed in on the faint traces Nelson left behind. His trail eventually led through a small valley and ascended again onto a ridge. Simply by chance, Heath ended up in the lead. He picked his way carefully along a ledge that followed the curve of the mountainside. There was a sudden flash of motion. Heath saw a blur of tawny gold when Nelson leapt out from just ahead on the trail. With a vicious swipe, he knocked Heath off balance. Heath tumbled off the ledge, landing hard on the rocky ground below. Heath scrambled up with a roar. Daniel and Roger were already in the thick of a fight with Nelson by the time Heath regained his footing. When Daniel glanced down from the ledge and saw Heath was standing, he gave Nelson a strategic shove with his shoulder, sending Nelson tumbling to the ground beside Heath. Heath spun and tackled Nelson.

Daniel and Roger both leapt down from the ledge. The next few moments passed rapidly. Even though there were three of them, Nelson fought back viciously and didn’t give up. Driven by his lingering anger over the scourge Nelson brought into Painter and the risk he brought upon shifters, Heath didn’t back down and took some of Nelson’s hardest blows. Nelson fought with a tinge of angry desperation, although his anger and emotional turmoil couldn’t match Heath’s. Between his own brush with the smuggling network and the recent events with Vivi, his feelings were knotted tight. He savored the release that came from the brutal fight and was oblivious to any pain. By the time they managed to subdue him, Heath was battered and scratched and Nelson was barely conscious.

They had to carry him out of the mountains. It was slow going and darkness was falling when they reached Roger’s car. Roger bundled Nelson into the back of the car. He glanced between Heath and Daniel, his eyes swinging back to Heath. “Think we need to get you to the hospital. I’m not so sure we should wait to drive all the way back to Painter.”

Heath was still coasting on adrenaline and didn’t feel much of anything other than weary. “Nah. I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Roger looked to Daniel as if asking for back up. Daniel’s eyes quickly scanned over Heath. “Roger has a point. Let’s…”

Heath shook his head sharply. He figured if he needed immediate medical attention, he wouldn’t be able to stand. “Forget it. Unless I pass out, drive until we get to Painter.”

“I’ll ride in the back,” Daniel offered.

Since riding in the back meant being closer to Nelson, Heath shrugged. When he reached for the door handle to climb into the car, he started to become aware of his condition. Sharp pain shot from his shoulder down through his arm. He fumbled to open the door and collapsed in the car seat. The drive back to Painter was long and more painful than Heath had considered. Stubbornness kept him from saying a word. By the time Roger turned onto Main Street in Painter, Heath was beyond exhausted and gritting his teeth from the pain. He’d narrowed the worst injuries down to his shoulder and the side of his neck where Nelson must have scratched him deeply. It hurt to breathe, so he figured he also might have broken a few ribs.

Roger pulled up in front of the hospital and glanced over his shoulder. He said something to Daniel, but everything sounded muted to Heath. He felt as if he was floating underwater in a blur of pain and exhaustion. A few minutes later, Daniel was standing beside him where he sat on an examining table. The last thing Heath remembered was how much he wanted to talk to Vivi.

Chapter 15

The mug Vivi held slipped from her hands and fell, breaking into shards with coffee splattering around it on the kitchen floor. Inside she felt about the same way. She turned and leaned her hip against the counter, fumbling to keep the phone held to her ear.

“What do you mean?” she asked Sophia.

“Heath’s in the hospital. I’m on my way right now,” Sophia replied, her voice strained.

“What happened?” Vivi asked, a sense of panic rising inside.

“Like I told you the other night, he and Daniel were planning to go with Roger to look for Nelson. They found him and brought him in, but I guess Heath took the brunt of punishment in the fight with Nelson. Daniel just called me to tell me he’s at the hospital with Heath.”

Vivi heard a beep on the line and then another. “Do you know if he’s okay?” Vivi asked, fear spiraling wildly inside and her heart lodged in her throat.

The connection crackled in her ear, so Sophia’s reply was broken up.

“Say that again. I can’t hear…”

Sophia cut in. “Look, I have to go. My mom’s calling on the other line. Meet me at the hospital.”

The line went dead in Vivi’s ear and panic nearly choked her. She struggled to take a full breath and slowly set the phone down. A strange mix of numbness combined with a wild desperation rendered her motionless as she tried to get her body under control. Her heart pounded and she couldn’t seem to get enough air in her lungs. She’d spent the last few days clinging to the idea that she needed time to think clearly and to proceed carefully with Heath. Every time she thought about how damn stupid she’d been with Chris and what it meant for Julianna, the internal recriminations just wouldn’t quit. Even though she knew Heath was nothing like Chris, it didn’t mean she could trust herself to know she wasn’t jumping too fast and too deep into something.

Now, Heath was injured badly enough to be in the hospital. All she could think about was how fast she could get to him and if she’d already blown it with him. She broke out of the frozen feeling inside and went into action. She started to run out of the kitchen only to slip on the coffee-wet floor and fall. She caught most of her weight on her palm and cried out when one of the broken pieces of the mug dug into her skin. She curled her knees under her and lifted her hand. She carefully knocked away the offending pottery shard and glanced around at the mess surrounding her. She’d sustained a deep puncture just below her thumb. She barely even noticed the pain with her entire focus on getting to Heath as quickly as she could. She climbed to her feet and walked to the bathroom. After quickly cleaning and bandaging her hand, she swept up the broken mug and wiped up the coffee before she left. On her way out, she called her mother and asked if Julianna could stay for the night. Julianna had already spent the afternoon there because a friend from school who lived nearby had invited her over for a homework club.

“Thanks Mom. I’ll call you as soon as I have an update, okay?”

“Of course. It’s never a problem to have Julianna here. Please let Heath know I’m thinking of him, okay?”

Vivi’s pulse was racing along at a rapid, unsettled pace. Her mother’s words sent it into overdrive. “Right. I just hope…oh hell, I just hope he’s okay.”

“Vivi?” her mother asked after Vivi was silent for longer than usual.

“Huh?”

“Try to breathe, and listen to what your heart’s telling you.”

Her mother’s comment snapped her out of her fuzzy thoughts. “What?”

“Just what I said. Call me when you have some news.”

At that, her mother hung up. Vivi stared ahead as she kept driving. Her house wasn’t too far from the hospital, but it felt like forever right now. The streetlights glittered in the darkness. The tiniest bit of tension eased when she saw the bright lights from the hospital parking lot. She parked rapidly and jogged to the entrance. Every step of the way, all she could think about was making sure Heath was okay. She ran through the doors and to the main desk in the emergency room area.