"Fuck you, human." And then he vanished into thin air.
Susan feigned happiness as she clapped her hands together like a kindergarten teacher before her class. "Wow, boys and girls, they're just so inviting, aren't they? Martha Stewart would be proud."
Otto laughed while Kyl shook his head at her. Even Leo snorted.
"The Were-Hunters may be fuzzy," Kyl said, "but they're seldom warm. "
And that was definitely a shame.
Susan looked down at poor Ravyn, who was slumped in an awkward position on the mattress. "Could one of you at least get a pillow and blanket for him?"
Otto nodded. "I'll be back in a few."
The men stepped past her and left her alone with her charge. Although how he'd come to be her responsibility once more she wasn't sure. Then again, she was almost getting used to this.
Susan sat down beside Ravyn. As she was trying to make him more comfortable on the makeshift bed, she realized that he wasn't completely unconscious. "Ravyn?"
He gave a subtle blink but didn't really respond. He was as helpless as an infant, and that scared her. If he'd been hit with this while alone, he'd have been completely defenseless before his enemies.
It was one heck of an Achilles' heel to have. And now his enemies knew it...
Her gut tight with that thought, she brushed his hair back from his handsome face. Even though they were half-hooded, those eyes were still breathtaking and disturbing and they melted a foreign part of her. She'd never been the kind of woman who lost her head over good looks. But something in her was definitely drawn to him.
It was hard to believe she hadn't even known him twenty-four hours yet.
Otto came back with a blanket and pillow. "How's he doing?"
"I have no idea."
He sighed. "I tried to get one of the doctors in here to examine him, but, big surprise, they refused."
She ground her teeth in fury at that as she very gently placed the pillow under Ravyn's head. "Why do they hate him so much?"
"I killed them all."
Susan frowned at Ravyn's whispered words. "What?"
"I killed my family," he repeated, his voice distant and slurred. "Isabeau lied. She told them and they came for us..."
"Who's Isabeau?"
But there was no answer as Ravyn's eyes closed and he went limp. Again.
Otto shrugged. "I have no idea what he's talking about. Any more than I know why they hate him. I'm sure it has something to do with his being a Dark-Hunter, but anything other than that would be a guess on my part."
Feeling for Ravyn, Susan spread the blanket over him.
"You want me to bring you something to eat while you tend him?" Otto asked. "That is, assuming you intend to stay here with him."
Where else would she go? Besides, she'd been ill enough times in her adult life to know just how lonely it was. There was nothing worse than to have to tend yourself when you felt like complete crap.
"Yeah, I'll stay with him. And as for food, I'll eat most anything that doesn't bite me back."
Otto nodded before he left.
No sooner were they alone than Ravyn rolled to his side as if he was trying to sit up.
Susan caught him and pulled him back toward the mattress. "You need to stay down."