No Mercy(30)

Dev didn't have time to obey before a dagger went whizzing past his cheek so close he swore it trimmed his whiskers. It buried itself in the Daimon's chest.

With one last foul curse, the Daimon exploded into a shower of golden dust, leaving the net that had been wrapped around his feet to fall to the floor.

Turning, Dev narrowed his gaze on the portal the women had vanished into. As long as it was open, the Daimons could return and grab Sam, who now slumped against her bed. She was bleeding like crazy and panting from the agony of her injury. That sight made him want to reanimate the Daimon so that he could rip his heart out and feed it to him.

But first he had to get her out of here.

Without a second thought, he scooped her up in his arms, grabbed the net from the floor to keep the Daimons from reclaiming it, and used his powers to teleport her to Carson's examination room in Sanctuary where the doctor could hopefully help her stop bleeding.

Sam was completely disoriented as she found herself inside a windowless room that appeared to be a hospital. There was a stretcher for a bed and glass and metal cabinets that held surgical instruments and medicine. The bear must have used his powers to teleport her.

A little warning before he yanked her out of her house would have been nice. As it was, it made her feel like she was about to be sick. Literally. The bear was lucky he wasn't wearing her last meal.

Before she could think to protest, Dev laid her down on the bed while he called out for someone named Carson. The moment her skin touched the sheets, other people's emotions ripped through her. Someone had died on this bed...recently. She could feel his panic as he desperately sought to stay alive and the tears of his mate when he'd lost that fight.

Someone else had been badly wounded while another had been sick...one of the bear cubs. Dozens of images and emotions hit her and, being wounded, she had no defense against it. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't escape.

Help me!

Dev winced as Sam started screaming. She curled into a fetal ball where she trembled and shook. It was like she was being tortured.

What should I do?

Carson flashed into the room beside him, then took a step back, his eyes wide as he took in her hysterical condition. Dev had never seen anything rattle the Native American shapeshifter before, but Carson was definitely wary over this. "What's going on?"

Dev held his hands up. "She was wounded.... I-I don't know why she's screaming." For once he hadn't done anything to cause it.

Then he remembered her powers....

Shit.

Dev picked her up and held her close, pulling her as far away from the bed as he could. "Shh, Sam," he whispered in her ear in an attempt to calm her. "I've got you. I'm so sorry I forgot."

Sam tensed as the emotions fell away so fast that it left her weak. One moment she'd been in absolute agony.

In the next...

Total peace. It was like being in a sensory dep cocoon where nothing intruded. There were no thoughts. No feelings. It was just her and her alone inside her head. Astonished, she looked up at Dev who watched her with concern creasing his handsome brow.

"You okay?"

She nodded slowly, still waiting for the assault on her senses to return. But it didn't. What ever Dev had, it was still holding. Thank the gods. She laid her forehead against his right cheek and cupped his left one with her hand, so grateful for the silence that she could weep.

Carson approached her cautiously. His long black hair was pulled back into a braid that fell down his back. Extremely handsome, his features were sharp and something about them reminded her of a bird. He reached his hand out to touch her.

Sam cringed and wrapped herself tightly around Dev. "Don't."

His features offended, Carson pulled up short. "Beg pardon?"

"You can't touch me. It'll open a conduit between us and I'll see everything about you and I do mean everything. Any instrument you touch me with and I'll know things about everyone you've ever used it on. No offense, but I don't want to be that intimate with you."

Carson let out a low whistle as he held his hands up in surrender. "No offense taken. I don't want to be that intimate with you either. No wonder you went crazy a second ago."

He had no idea.

Dev scoffed as he shifted her weight. "Yeah, and I don't want to know what she's getting from me right now. I cringe at the mere thought."

Sam met his gaze. "We both know what a perv you are."