the darkness. I needed an anchor. And every time I looked around for someone to keep me rooted in reality, I didn’t see the one person I was certain could do it: Dodge.
Deirdre squeezed my hand gently, careful of the bruises and the bandages over where the IVs had bitten into my skin. “I promise you don’t owe anything. All of the shifters in the city pay to support that hospital. It’s the only one that their kind can go to without possibly exposing their existence to humans. It’s fully funded at all times, for all patients. There isn’t a bill. There’s never a bill.”
It made me feel a little better, although it did raise a series of related questions: how often did shifters end up at the hospital, if they needed their own fully staffed all the time?
Deirdre checked her phone and went on. “Miles will meet us at your apartment, with some friends we want you to meet. You’re on their territory, so if you ever need help and I’m too far away,” she patted the bracelet to remind me of the charm. “Then they’ll be in a position to help you.”
More kindnesses that I didn’t feel I really deserved. I cleared my throat. “I don’t want to impose.”
“It’s not an imposition,” she said. She arched a dark eyebrow and gave me a sideways look. “As I’ve said many times, and will continue to say – we dragged you into this world and it’s our responsibility to keep you safe. This is part of that. The lions can be a little hoity-toity and self-important – they’re cats, after all – but they mean well and they’re fierce when it comes to protecting those weaker than them. Plus they all have mates and young ones, so none of them will be interested in you.”
It hadn’t even occurred to me that that might have been a consideration. She must have noticed my consternation, because Deirdre laughed. “Okay, so that part might not be a serious issue for you, but there are others who wanted to make sure you weren’t surrounded by single men.”
“Others?” My heart stuttered, since the only person I could imagine would care about a thing like that was Dodge. But if he hadn’t bothered to visit me at all in the hospital after that terrifying fight, what difference did it make?
“It’s nothing,” she said. Deirdre frowned as she looked out the windshield, as Todd maneuvered the car onto a side street and pulled up in front of an enormous high-rise with a beautiful lobby and a semi-circular drive out front. “Mercy will stay with you for the first few days until you’re settled; she can cook and help clean up, change the bandages, make sure your balance is okay, all of that stuff.”
Mercy beamed at me from the front seat, then hopped out of the car as a doorman opened her door and reached for mine. “It’ll be fun, Percy.”
I stared at the dude who stood next to my door, offering a hand like I was some fancy lady who needed help getting out of the car. “Where are we? I thought we were going to my apartment.”
“We are,” Todd said. He got out as well, then the three of them waited on the sidewalk as a valet climbed into the driver’s seat. Todd bent slightly at the waist to peer at me, a hint of a smile on his normally stoic face. “It’s a new apartment. Your old one... had some issues. So we arranged something else.”
Deirdre and Mercy got tired of waiting and caught my arms to haul me out of the seat. Mercy looped her arm through mine and dragged me into the lobby while I was still distracted by staring at everything around me. “It’s really nice here, Percy. Real nice.”
“But...” I started, taken aback by the concierge desk staffed by a man and a woman, both of whom rose as we approached through the lobby. My heart thudded harder against my ribs as everything spun out of control around me. It was like being back in the sanctuary, trapped in the tiger enclosure. I couldn’t get out, couldn’t stay, couldn’t figure out what to do as nothing felt safe.
I set my heels as panic fluttered around the edges of my emotions. I clenched my hands into fists hard enough that pain spiked in my fingers and wrists. I took a shaky breath. “Wait. I just need...”
“Just breathe,” Deirdre murmured. She drew me