Bride ran to Vane, who lay on his back, completely naked now. There were tears in his eyes.
Ash ran his hand over him, and a T-shirt and jeans appeared on his body.
Still, Vane didn't move.
"It'll take him a few seconds more to get his bearings," Ash explained to her.
He looked to the Roman general. "How's the human, Valerius?"
"She's alive. You take care of Vane and I'll get her to a hospital." Valerius picked her up from the street, cradled her in his arms, and headed toward Royal.
Bride sank to her knees and lifted Vane's head into her lap. His birthmark was back on his face, and his entire body was tense and trembling.
"What happened to him?" she asked Ash.
"The Daimons must have hadand I hate to use the stupid worda phaser."
"Like in Star Trek?"
"Sort of. It's a Sentinel weapon that was developed for the Katagaria.
Stronger
than a taser, it sends a vicious jolt of electricity through the intended victim. Whenever a Were-Hunter from either division gets shocked, their magic goes berserk and they lose all control of themselves. They can't even hold on to
a form. If they get hit with a strong enough jolt, they literally fall out of their bodies and become noncorporeal beings like a ghost."
Vane took her hand in his.
Bride stared down at him and offered him a tentative smile.
"You all right, wolf?" Ash asked him.
Vane was still shaking. "What the hell was that thing set for?"
"Kill would be my guess. But luckily it didn't work."
Ash helped him up slowly.
Vane staggered and would have fallen had Ash not caught him.
"Easy, wolf." Ash reached out and touched Bride, then flashed them into their bedroom at Valerius's.
Worried about Vane, Bride stood back while Ash helped him into the bed.
Vane collapsed as soon as Ash released him.
"What can I do to help him?" she asked Ash.
"Nothing really. It'll take time for the electricity to stop bouncing around his cells. Don't move him too much since it tends to make them motion sick in this condition."
"Okay." She let out a relieved breath. "I'm just glad his mother didn't have something like this."
"I'm sure they had it. But knowing Vane, I doubt they had time to use it on him. Weres know to expect phasers from their own kind. It's rare that Daimons use them."
He looked back at Vane. "I should have warned you about that. Since there are so many Weres in New Orleans, the Daimons here are a little more savvy than the rest."
"You suck, Ash," Vane said in a ragged tone.