talk.”
Too bad, indeed. Was Freyja’s Redemption what the bolt was called? He hadn’t even seen a bow in her hands.
She stripped off her coat, and when her sleeve was off her arm, he noticed the vambrace crossbow strapped onto her right forearm.
What the hell was that weapon? Was it a Valkyrie thing? He’d never seen a weapon like this. Not on a man or a woman. As far as he knew, Eira didn’t have one.
Then again, I don’t exactly go through Eira’s stuff, now do I?
She slipped away, and when she returned, both hands were full. First aid kit from the cupboard and an oversize pair of pliers from the shed, alcohol, paper towels, washcloths. A very definite armful.
She laid them all out next to him, then leaned close to his wolf face. He inhaled deeply and let the scent of her rest on his senses. She smelled like a June morning on the water with a fishing rod and a warm cup of coffee with chicory in it. Or at least, that was how she made him feel. Wait. Was it him or his wolf?
Asa tried to feel around in his mind, to see what was going on with his wolf. This was the first time his wolf seemed… Quiet? Sane? Normal? Not homicidal? Maybe absent? Would that be possible when he was in his wolf form?
A burning in his side caused him to flinch. He yelped and cringed, drawing up his paws close to his body. He bared his teeth at the woman with the bottle of burn.
“Sorry. I’m trying to sterilize it.”
Asa’s wolf shook his head, clearing Asa’s mind with the motion.
Damn. That was some fierce pain.
She picked up a pair of forceps.
Forceps? Huh. Go figure.
Asa pondered this. Jason had set up the first aid kits. Asa would never have thought to include forceps.
“I’m nervous,” Autumn—who wasn’t Autumn—said. “I tend to talk a lot when I’m nervous. So bear with my babbling. It’s not that I’m nervous because of the injuries. I’m well accustomed to those. It’s a Valkyrie thing, you know? Well, you don’t know, but…”
No, Asa didn’t know, but the sound of her voice was comforting and calming. It lessened the pain in his side and soothed the ache in his soul.
“You’ve got two rounds in you. I’ll take those out and staunch the bleeding. They seem to be doing more damage than Freyja’s Redemption. The bolt’s only gone through some solid muscle. It’s not even bleeding.”
A pulling and tugging on his skin followed, then the sensation of cold metal entering his flesh, poking around. The sound of metal clanking against metal told him she’d found one of the bullets with the forceps.
“Got it.” Her words confirmed it. Seconds later. “Voila!” Her voice was softly exuberant. “Now, for the next one.”
Good job, Asa thought, oddly proud of the woman he didn’t know but was strangely attracted to. The woman who’d managed to somehow calm his wolf—or maybe vanquish it—by shooting him. She’d given him peace.
Maybe after all these years, he’d have one uneventful night of sleep.
She poured alcohol over the forceps, then inserted them back into his flesh, the sensation cold and jarring. As soon as the forceps touched the bullet, a zinger of pain flashed through him. He arched his back as a half-howl, half-yelp was wrenched from his chest.
Chapter Six
The wolf stiffened, made a strange—almost but not quite howling—sound, then collapsed, completely limp.
“Shit. I’m sorry. By the gods, I—” Emme placed her hand on the wolf’s chest. “Did I kill you? By Freyja, I better not have.”
Not only because he was the key to finding Eira, but also because there was something about the wolf. No, about the man. She was thinking crazy. Clearly, she was sleep deprived from looking for Eira all these days and not getting nearly enough rest.
“Breathe, damn you. Breathe.” She couldn’t feel anything. His chest was still. How could that be? She didn’t… Did she? Could she have killed him?
“You. Will. Not. Die.”
She held her hand to his nose. Nothing. Chest not moving. Panic set in. Adrenalin surged.
“Damnation.”
Think. Think. Think. Don’t you dare lose your shit. Think.
He was the answer to Eira. She could not let him die.
Did he have a pulse? How would she even feel it? Where would she find it? She placed her hand on his chest. No heartbeat there. What about a major artery? Yeah, no clue where to find one.
Would doggy CPR work on him? She’d seen that done on a video once.