MoonlightTemptation (21 page)

“And that’s what’s making his core temperature fall, this
spell?” Ryan’s hands clenched her shoulders, almost tight enough to hurt.

Nica nodded. “But I’m afraid if we try to warm him through
conventional methods, we may set off another layer of the spell. We need to
find a way to bring his temperature back up before hypothermia sets in. I think
that might be the way to combat the spell.”

“Like…burn it out of him?”

Margie turned to give her an assessing look before nodding
slowly. “Yes, just like that.”

Ryan’s eyes met hers, dark with worry. “You can do this,
Evie. I know you can.”

Such faith. But did she believe?

Evie didn’t know much of anything at the moment. She only
knew she wanted Dane to wake up. And she had the Goddess Gift of fire.

Behind her, she heard John take a deep breath and release it
slowly. “Evie…”

She turned, expecting to see John shaking his head. But she
saw only steady trust in his expression.

“Be careful but don’t falter,” he said. “We’ll be right here
for you. I’ll be right outside the door, Evie. You call for me, I’m here in a
second.”

She nodded, unable to speak. His belief in her went a long
way to believing she could do this.

After a final nod, John looked at Margie, who gave her a
brief smile then waved Nica ahead of her as they walked out the door. Kaine
reached forward to squeeze her arm before she slid past John and disappeared,
that same trust in her eyes that she saw in John’s.

John stepped toward her, his arms circling her shoulders for
a brief, tight hug before he turned to Ryan.

“You’re staying?”

“Yeah.”

John stared some more but Ryan held his gaze. “Don’t let
anything happen to her.”

“Not on my life.”

Evie didn’t see John leave. She’d already turned to Dane,
lying so still on the bed.

Their bed. She had to keep that in mind. It would ground her
as she fixed this. Fixed him.

They couldn’t lose Dane.

She crawled onto the bed next to him, her knees touching his
side, her hands on his chest. God, he felt so cold.

“Ryan, could you…”

She didn’t know what she needed until he stepped behind her
and put his hands on her shoulders.

Then she closed her eyes and let the fire take her.

* * * * *

An hour later, Ryan pulled the covers over an exhausted Evie
as she lay next to Dane on the bed.

Ryan had just told John and Kaine he’d call them when Evie
woke. He didn’t really expect that to be until the next morning. Kaine had
pulled a reluctant John away to get some sleep after she’d made Ryan a mug of
hot chocolate.

He hadn’t known how much he loved the stuff until he’d had
Kaine’s. It tasted like sweet ambrosia and he swore she must have put a
tranquilizer in it because he actually thought he might be able to sleep now.

Dane was still out cold, though his core temperature
continued to rise. Slowly.

Whatever Evie had done to combat the spell seemed to have
worked.

But it’d wiped her out.

Ryan wished Dane would wake the hell up.

What if he’d sustained brain damage from the prolonged drop
in his core temperature? What if she hadn’t managed to burn out all of the
curse or spell or whatever the hell the guy had infected Dane with? What if he
never woke up?

Every fucking awful possibility paraded through his head
until it ached.

He thought about following the hot chocolate with a few
shots of Jagermeister, just to help him sleep. But he wanted to be coherent and
ready if either of them needed him.

At the moment, he felt pretty fucking useless.

At least while Evie had been helping Dane, he’d been
providing literal support, his arms around her shoulders, his chest against her
back. He swore she’d drawn energy from his body as she’d worked on Dane.

Now…

He sighed, looking over his shoulder at the chair on the
other side of the room. He really wanted to sit.

But…he needed to call Dane’s mother. And he needed to check
on Cat. Margie had put her in Dane’s spare bed on the other side of the hall.

The girl had still been in her pelt when Ryan had sent John
and Kaine home but Margie had told him that was to be expected after the high
level of tranquilizer they’d used on her.

Still, he couldn’t sleep until he’d seen Cat.

Dragging toward the door, he left it ajar so he’d hear if
either of them called. Or whispered. Or moved.

When he pushed through the door into the spare bedroom, he
stopped when he realized Margie wasn’t the only one in the room with Cat.

A lanky teenage thug sat on the edge of the bed. The kid had
tats running up both arms, his short, dark hair spiked in every direction and
his jeans looked as if they’d been run through barbed wire.

He didn’t look up at Ryan but Ryan knew the kid had heard
him enter.

“I told Margie I’d wake her when Cat opened her eyes.” The kid’s
voice sounded ages older than he looked, husky and weary. “But…she won’t. Not
even for me.”

It was on the tip of Ryan’s tongue to ask who the hell the
kid was, but Ryan heard fear in the boy’s tone and he moved to the bed.

“Damn it, why didn’t someone come get me?” He moved to the
other side of the bed, his veterinarian training taking over as he started to
examine Cat.

“I was just about to. I thought…” The teen shook his head.
“What do you need?”

“I need my bag from the front room. I’m afraid she’s slipping
into shock and having a reaction to the drugs. Damn it, why the hell didn’t I
see this earlier?”

Because he’d been preoccupied.

“Hey—” He turned to find the teen gone, only to have him
reappear in the doorway seconds later with his bag. “Thanks.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Ryan opened his bag and started pulling out what he’d need.
But he spared a look at the other guy and saw fear in his pale gray eyes. Since
he had no idea who the kid was, he’d been about to tell him to leave but
thought better of it.

The guy obviously cared for Cat and if anyone had ordered
him out of the room when Evie had been healing Dane, he would’ve fought tooth
and nail against it.

He had a feeling this guy would too.

“Come over and help me get a drip going… What’s your name?”

“She calls me Ty.”

“Okay, Ty. Here’s what’s gonna happen…”

* * * * *

Dane opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his
bedroom.

Pristine white.

How fucking boring was that? He really needed to think about
bringing some color into his life.

A soft sigh caught his attention and he turned his head to
see Evie lying next to him. She faced away from him but relief at the sound of
her easy breathing made him weak.

Thank you, Blessed Mother Goddess.

“Finally. Jesus Christ, Dane, you scared the fucking shit
out of us.”

Turning toward the door, he saw Ryan leaning against the
doorjamb. The guy looked as if he hadn’t slept in two days.

Dane frowned. “Are you feeling okay? You look exhausted. You
need to sit down before you fall over.”

A wry grin curved Ryan’s mouth as he shook his head. “You’ve
been unconscious for thirty-six
fucking
hours and you’re already giving
orders. I guess you’re feeling better.”

Thirty-six hours? Dane paused to take stock. No headache. No
muscle aches. His stomach hurt but he put that down to hunger.
Vaffanculo
,
he could eat a horse.

“I’m hungry. Is Evie okay? Did something happen to her?”

Ryan shook his head. “She fixed you. Whatever spell the guy
put on you, she fixed it.”

Hell. He turned back to look at Evie. She looked to be
sleeping soundly, her color good. His hand automatically went to check her
pulse and her temperature. Both seemed normal.

“And she’s okay? She’s been awake, coherent—”

“Gio checked her out last night. He said she’s fine.”

The sense of relief that hit him felt like a ten-ton weight
had been lifted from his chest and he let himself lie back for a few seconds
before sliding to sit on the edge of the bed. He wore boxers and nothing else
and he needed to drink about a gallon of water.

Ryan apparently read his mind because he told Dane to stay
put and returned with a cold bottle of water that he opened and handed back to
Dane.

Dane swallowed half of it before he gave Ryan a dirty look.
“I’m not an invalid. What happened to Alex?”

“Marrucini took him. But Kaine’s already got a plan. She
called in her dad.”

Whoa. They weren’t messing around. Kaisie Giliati was the
lucani
’s
finest tracker. But he had no love for the
Mal
.
Vaffanculo
, he
and Grace were going to get along like fire and gasoline.

“Evie’s upset,” Ryan continued. “John said they’re still not
sure how Marrucini found the boy but Kaine’s confident her dad can find him.”

“Shit, Ryan—”

“Dane?” Evie stirred and rolled over, her eyes widening as
she saw he was awake. “
Dane.
”

He turned and opened his arms to her, closing his eyes as
she practically leaped into his arms and held him tight. “Hey, I’m fine.
Everything’s going to be fine.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryan turn to leave.
“Ryan.”

Ryan tipped his head back. “I’ll just give you guys a few
min—”

“No.” Evie’s head popped off his chest. “That’s not how this
is going to work. Ryan, come in here.”

Ryan just shook his head. “Evie, I—”

“No. Don’t you dare.” With her hair tousled and her eyes
still a little blurry with sleep, she looked so damn young. But the strength in
her voice was unmistakable. “That’s not how this is going to work.”

Ryan’s expression didn’t change but Dane saw something light
in his eyes before he doused it fast. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do. I don’t want you to go back to Philadelphia. I
want you to stay here.” She took a deep breath and glanced up at him. Not for
reassurance. She was staking a claim. His chest tightened with anticipation.
“You can’t start this and then take it all away.”

Ryan leaned back against the doorjamb, hands jammed in his
pockets. “And what about my life in Philly? My job? My teaching position? Am I
just supposed to give those up because you want me to warm your back at night?
We both know Dane’s it for you, sweetheart. He’s the Happy Meal. I’m just the
toy you find on the bottom and forget after a few hours.”

Dane’s mouth fell open at Ryan’s matter-of-fact statement.
He heard no trace of teasing, saw nothing on his expression that said he didn’t
absolutely believe what he’d just said.

Vaffanculo
, what the hell did he say to that? How did
he make Ryan understand that it wasn’t only Evie that wanted him to stay?

Evie stilled in his arms before taking a deep breath, as if
Ryan had wounded her somehow.

Hell, Dane felt as if Ryan had stuck a knife in his gut. He
could only imagine Evie felt just as bad, if not worse.

Ryan stood there, staring at them, waiting. For what?

Shit.
Shit.
He was an idiot.

Ryan saw Dane’s eyes narrow and figured this was it. He’d
head back to Philly tonight because there was no way he could stay.

Not even the stunned hurt in Evie’s eyes was enough to get
him to reconsider.

Neither of them realized why he couldn’t stay. Which just
proved why he needed to leave.

He was about to turn when Dane got off the bed, pulling Evie
with him.

“There’s always been a place here for you. If I hadn’t had
my head up my ass for the past few years, I would’ve realized that we need you
here. That the
lucani
need your skills as a vet. And that I need you
here just as much as Evie needs you.”

Ryan kept his gaze on Dane as Dane put Evie between them.
“Your friendship keeps me grounded and I need that. Evie needs both of us to
love her.
I
need both of you here to make my life complete. And
you
need us because you will be fucking miserable in Philadelphia without us.”

Ryan’s mouth had already started to curve into a smile when
Evie wound her arms around his waist and pressed herself against him. He
glanced down and got caught in the stormy gray eyes of the woman he loved.

“I love you, Ryan. I don’t want you to ever doubt that.”
Then she turned to Dane. “And I love you. I don’t want to lose either of you.”
When her gaze turned back to Ryan, he saw the sheen of tears in them. “Please
don’t leave.”

He lifted his hands to cup her face and draw her to his mouth.
He kissed her long and hard and felt her melt against him.

“Well, since you asked so nice…”

With a muffled squeal, Evie threw her arms around his neck
and clung to him as he stepped forward, making her step back. Into Dane’s arms.

Evie’s hands slid under his t-shirt, flattening against his
stomach then moving to the button on his jeans.

Ryan smiled against her lips as her fevered motions made his
body respond with a surge of lust.

When he felt Dane’s hands sweep her underwear down her legs,
he lost the smile and lifted her into his arms. He set her on her knees on the
bed and tore off the rest of his clothes.

Dane had a head start on the clothes since he was only
wearing boxers and was already lifting Evie’s shirt over her head when Ryan
began to strip out of his jeans. By the time he was naked, Dane had his hands
on Evie’s breasts, caressing the tips into hard little peaks.

With her eyes closed and her mouth parted, she looked
wanton. And so beautiful he would have been content to watch Dane slide one hand
between her legs and play with her clit. But when she arched and moaned, he
practically fell over his feet to join them.

Evie opened her eyes to see Ryan toss his jeans aside and
kneel on the bed in front of her.