The Catalyst - By Zoe Winters Page 0,6

you all patched up. Would you like some drugs to dull the pain?"

She goggled at him. No she didn't want drugs. That was the last thing she needed. "Didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you." He guided her to sit back on the couch, took her arm, and finished the stitching while she tried not to scream. No way was she going to let the asshole who brought her here see her cry over stitches. A few moments later the older man patted her arm. "There, now. You'll be good as new before you know it."

She could have handled it just fine on her own with her books and tools and with much less pokey-needle pain. She didn't need someone to come along and stitch her up. The man handed a bottle of pills to Z.

"Make sure she takes these. One in the morning and one at night to avoid infection. Humans aren't like us. You've got to be careful with them."

"I'm a witch! I don't need any of that. I've got magic." She looked around, but none of her books were there - just a small bag she recognized that looked like it had clothes in it. "Where are my books and tools?"

"Again," Z said, "I won't have you doing magic while you're with me. I'm not stupid."

She felt like she couldn't breathe. No books or tools. She wasn't at her house, but outside. Miles away. Was the room getting hotter?

Z snapped a finger in front of her face before she could make a dramatic scene. The panic attack had been edging in on her senses.

"Hey. None of that. We're not doing that here. Do you read me?"

His flippant attitude about her emotional state pissed her off enough that the anxiety eased. Nothing like anger to ward off an encroaching panic attack. She looked around. At least the cave looked secure. It was small, closed in. Cozy. Safe. Safer than her house right now, she reasoned. She just had to think of this as the new, safe home base.

Easier said than done.

The doctor continued, unfazed. "And this one..." he passed a second bottle to Z. "These are for pain if she needs them."

"I'm not taking any of that," Fiona said, still ruffled that the doctor who wasn't human was siding with her abductor. Only therians had this honor-among-thieves code to this extreme. No human doctor would go along with kidnapping.

Z's eyes narrowed at her, then he turned back to the doctor. "She'll take them. Thanks, doc."

"No problem. You have my number."

When he was gone, Fiona dropped back into the chair. She was trapped. Maybe not literally. She wasn't sure if she was locked in or not. But the fear of going outside was enough to confine her to this new prison.

It was only now that the situation was starting to dawn on her in the way it would have dawned on someone who didn't have her particular phobias much earlier. A dangerous panther therian had kidnapped her. He'd said he needed her help with the pup, but he'd also said he just needed her to watch the wolf for a while, during which time he'd gone to get the tools he needed to take her without a fight. His word was worthless.

"Hey. Stop all that thinking," Z said, snapping his fingers in front of her face again. "I really did just bring you here to help me with the pup. I have no evil plan."

"How can I trust that?"

He held up three fingers. "Scout's honor."

Fiona wrinkled her nose, not trusting that for a minute.

"Look. If I'd wanted to hurt you, I could have done it a thousand times already."

She held up her arm again to make the point that he had, in fact, already done physical damage.

"You know what I mean. You think I couldn't have killed you in a couple of swipes if I'd wanted? And if I'd wanted to do other things... that would have been simple enough, too. I'm not a bad guy."

She didn't like the way his eyes roved over her body, sizing her up when he said other things. Or maybe she did like it. She'd never had a man look at her like she was an appetizer before. Again, that was probably because she wasn't around men, being in her house all the time.

"Whatever. You know I'm stuck here now, right? If you ever want to get rid of me, you'll have to chloroform me to get me back home. Because I still can't