do what he has to here. She's not leaving this room."
Z ignored the long silence that followed, totally caught up in watching Bella breathe. Her chest was going up and down in a regular pump, but it seemed so shallow.
Phury's sigh was one he'd know anywhere. "Zsadist - "
"Forget it. He'll see her here. And no one is touching her without my permission or my presence." When he glared up at his brothers, Wrath and Phury seemed totally dumbfounded. "For chrissakes, you want me to say it in the Old Language in case you two forgot English? She goes nowhere."
With a curse, Wrath flipped open his cell phone and spoke fast and hard.
When he closed the thing, he said, "Fritz is already in town, and he's going to pick the doctor up. They'll be here in twenty."
Z nodded and looked at Bella's eyelids. He wished he could be the one to take care of what had been done to them. He wanted her to be relieved now. Oh, God... How she must have suffered.
He became aware that Phury had come over, and he didn't like it as the brother knelt down. Z's instinct was to barricade Bella's body with his own, preventing his twin, Wrath, the doctor, any male from seeing her. He didn't understand the impulse, didn't know its origin, but it was so strong he nearly launched himself at Phury's neck.
And then his twin reached out his hand as if to touch her ankle. Z's lips peeled off his fangs, a growl launching out of his mouth.
Phury's head snapped up. "Why are you acting like this?"
She's mine, Z thought.
Except the instant the conviction came to him, he pushed it aside. What the fuck was he doing?
"She's hurt," he muttered. "Just don't mess with her, okay?"
Havers arrived fifteen minutes later. The tall, thin doctor had a black leather suitcase in his hand and looked like he was ready to do his business. But as he came forward, Z sprang up and intercepted the male into the wall. Havers's pale eyes popped wide behind his tortoiseshell glasses, and his case clattered to the floor.
Wrath cursed. "Jesus Christ - "
Z ignored the hands trying to pull him off and pegged the doctor with a glare. "You treat her better than you would your own blood. She suffers one unnecessary flinch and I will take it out of your hide a hundred times over."
Havers's slender body trembled, his mouth working silently.
Phury gave a good pull and got nowhere. "Z, go easy - "
"Stay out of this," he snapped. "We clear. Doctor?"
"Yes... yes, sire." When Z released him, Havers coughed and pulled at his bow tie. Then frowned. "Sire... ? You bleed. Your leg - "
"You don't worry about me. You worry about her. Now."
The male nodded, fumbled with his suitcase, and went over to the pallet. As he got down on his knees beside Bella, Z willed lights on in the room.
Havers's harsh inhalation was probably as close to a curse as the refined male could get. Under his breath he murmured in the Old Language, "To do this to a female... merciful Fade."
"Take the stitches out," Z demanded, looming over the physician.
"First the exam. I have to see if there are more serious injuries."
Havers opened up his case and pulled out a stethoscope, a blood-pressure cuff, and a penlight. He checked her heart rate and breathing, looked into her ears and nose, took her BP. When he opened her mouth she winced a little, but then he lifted her head and she began to struggle in earnest.
Just as Zsadist lunged at the doctor, Phury's heavy arm clamped around Z's chest and jerked him back. "He's not hurting her and you know it."
Z fought the hold, hating the sensation of Phury's body against him. But when his twin didn't let up, he knew it was for the best. He was on a hair trigger, and taking out the doctor would be a stupid move. Hell, he probably shouldn't be armed right now.
Phury was obviously thinking along similar lines. He removed Z's daggers from their chest holster and handed them to Wrath. The guns were taken as well.
Havers looked up and seemed greatly relieved that weapons were gone. "I... ah, I'm going to give her some light pain medication. Her respiration and pulse rate are strong enough so she'll handle it fine, and it will make the rest of the examination and what follows easier for her to tolerate. Okay?"