“I don’t know what I’d do—”

“Don’t.” She squeezed his hand. “Not gonna happen. You’re stuck with me.”

He tried not to turn too hard onto Nell’s street. The house was at the end of a good-sized drive and at the top several cars already waited.

“Shit, that’s my mother’s car.”

“Of course. You know she and Abe would be here. Sit still, I’ll be around to get you.”

William rushed out, followed by Abe. They stood back while Dominic pulled her from the car and carried her into the house.

“Guest room. Second doorway there.” William pointed to where Gage’s mother, Shelley, waited. The bed was covered and the room had been made sterile as well as it could be he guessed.

“Put her on the bed.” Shelley moved with them and bent next to Meriel. “Hi there, honey. I think that shirt is ruined. I’m going to have to cut it off. Everyone but Dominic out.”

Edwina sniffed and didn’t move. “I’ll be assisting. I have triage training. It’s a long story.”

“She did it for a Girl Scout camp I went to,” Meriel said from her place on the bed. “Hello, Mother. Sorry I woke you.”

“Yes, well, you’ve been doing it entirely too much of late. Your father and I would appreciate if you could stop getting yourself stalked or hurt.” Edwina’s gaze cut to Dominic. He saw and understood the emotion he saw there.

“Fine. Bathroom is through there. Get washed up and come back.” Shelley grabbed the scissors and cut the shirt open and Meriel looked up into her friend’s mother’s face.

“Oh, sweetie pie, this is going to leave a mark.”

Meriel coughed and it hurt. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“I’m going to give you something for the pain.” She swabbed Meriel’s arm and the cold shocked her back to attention. The prick of a needle and then the burn of the medicine as it shot into her system. Once that was done, Shelley began to weave a spell, her hands above the wound. Heat radiated outward as she did. The pain drifted away on drugs and magick.

“Gloves.”

Dominic was there, she could smell him. She turned her head, feeling dizzy as she did, and managed a goofy smile. “See? I told you …”

MERIEL woke up with a dry throat. Once her eyes were able to focus, she noted the IV drip. Must have been some good stuff in there because she couldn’t feel more than the tug of the stitches when she moved.

It was late afternoon if the slant of light on the walls was any indication.

She was really thirsty. Inside her the bond woke up and magick hummed through her. “Dominic?”

“Here. I’m here, baby.” He came into the room quickly, holding a mug. “Your mother made tea. Hang on.” He stepped outside the room again and she heard him call out for Shelley.

He was back wearing a smile. But he didn’t fool her. She could see the lines from lack of sleep around his eyes. But when he kissed her on the forehead and sat next to her on the bed, his body touching hers, everything was so much better.

“You’re awake.” Shelley came in. “How are you feeling?” She looked at the wound, both sides, and changed the bandages. “This is healing well. You’re going to be just fine. Are you in any pain? How’s the medication?”

“How long was I out?” She sipped a little water and then Dominic helped her sit up.

“Day and a half. You needed to just let yourself heal and rest. Your body took care of it for you.” Shelley carefully looked at her wounds and changed the dressing. “This is healing really well. I’m afraid you’re going to have some scars, but you’re going to be just fine.”

“I’m okay. I don’t need any more medication for now.”

“Meriel, don’t be so stubborn.”

Dominic set his jaw like he did when he was going to get testy and it amused her. Filled her with a rush of love. “Hi there, you.” She managed a goofy smile.

He softened immediately and brushed his lips over her cheeks. “Hello, to you too.”

“You saved me.”

Emotion flooded his features. “You’ve got that backward.”

“Aw man, if you’re gonna get mushy, let me go get a sandwich.”

Meriel looked up to find Nell at her bedside. “Tell me what happened. Did they find the guy?”

“Not right now, Meriel. You can hear about it tomorrow.” Shelley shook her head.

Edwina pulled up a chair and sat next to Meriel. “If you scare me like that again I will break my promise to never strike a child. Do you understand me?”

Meriel nodded solemnly.

“You were correct, Gloria led us right to them. Keep on listening to your gut, Meriel, as long as it does not result in your being shot. Now. We have not found the other turned witch. But we have a name. Arel and Nell have had the surviving mage they captured in interrogation for the last day and a half. They’ve gotten a great deal of information. I took the liberty of standing in while you were unconscious, with Dominic’s assistance of course. We’re cooperating with our neighboring clans and several covens so far to get this man’s information out. If he’s seen, we’ll be notified.”

This was her clan now. It was her time to lead it. She looked to Nell. “So what’s the story?”

Dominic grumbled under his breath but helped Shelley sit her up better so she’d be comfortable.

“Thank you.” She sighed because he was so beautiful and he was hers and he was there, right there. His normally well-trimmed beard was scruffy. His hair was mussed up. He smelled good. Spicy and familiar and she couldn’t stop staring at his pulse with the memory of the way he tasted right there.

Nell cleared her throat. “God, you two. Not the right time for that.”

Meriel grinned at Dominic, feeling a lot better.

Nell got down to business. “There were six in all. We took in two prisoners. The turned guy’s name is Cyrus Pasqual. Arel’s crew is looking into his past to see what we can find out. Human says Cyrus has been with them for about six months. Gloria brought him around.”

“And what does the mage say?”

“Not a whole lot.”

“Make that change.”

Nell cocked her head and then nodded.

“Okay then. I’m under the belief that once we indicate our willingness to go that extra step he’ll tell us what we need to know.”

Dominic nodded. She hated to even think it, but it had to be done.

“This group has been together about eight months. Gloria hooked up with one of the mages in Toronto and they came south. According to the human, they showed up at one of their meetings and told some story about how they’d lost people because of the witches. They told the humans that the witches to worry about weren’t the Wiccans but us. He had a lot of information, most of it sort of true, but not entirely accurate.”

“Best kind of propaganda, that. Bend the truth into a pretty lie.” Nell didn’t need to consult notes, but Meriel liked them. “Can I please have a pad or my laptop?”

“You should rest.” Shelley gave her best severe-doctor face.

“I’ve got a clan to run and a psycho turned witch on the loose. I can rest in a little while.”

Dominic heaved a sigh and reached down, bringing her laptop out. “I figured you’d wake up and want this.”

Such a giant marshmallow. With a very flat belly. Mmmm.

Mind back on her work for the time being, she booted up as Shelley threatened everyone not to get Meriel excited and she left to go back to her day job. “Pain meds are right there. Use them if you need them. You won’t benefit by being in pain. I’d like you to stay here at least one more night and then you can go home. I’ll be back later to check in, but everyone has my cell. Call if you need me.”

She thanked Shelley and turned back to Nell. “Go on.”

It turned out the human had been relatively easy to get information from. A combination of being really scared after seeing not only what Gloria and the mages were capable of, but what had happened when they’d tried to harm Meriel’s people. Their group was a cell of sorts with six members. The humans would do the scouting work to get around wards. They were usually dismissed for the part where they captured the witch. He’d taken care of body disposal though, so he may have been misled about what the others were doing exactly, but he knew the outcome and never spoke out.