“After I’d saved him, Bane was going to shoot him. I knew he had on the shirt, so I shot him instead to distract Bane.”
He blinked. “You shot Volos because you knew he wore a bulletproof shirt and it would save his life?”
I was basically upright only because of shock, so all I could manage was a clipped nod.
Morales ran a hand through his hair and blew out a long breath. “You’re a piece of work, Cupcake.”
“She’s a bitch is what she is,” Bane called from the gurney where the medics were strapping him down. His face and arms were covered in bright red, oozing wounds from the salt shrapnel. There was a neck brace around his throat and the way he was groaning and moaning, he’d probably ruptured some discs or something in his back. Good.
“Get him the fuck out of here!” Morales yelled at the medics. They nodded and started to haul him out.
I turned to see where Volos was, but yet another commotion came from the stairway. A flurry of red hair appeared over the crest of the steps. The lawyer. She cried out when she saw the medics loading John onto his own gurney. I looked away because the scene she was making over him embarrassed me. I was glad Volos survived and all, but considering how many people had given their lives in this case, it felt … wrong to dote over the precious wealthy man who was alive only because he could afford expensive magical defense gear that the city wouldn’t buy for any of the cops in that room.
“Miss Turner,” Morales said, “we’ll need to question Mr. Volos.”
“Not tonight you won’t. He’s going to the hospital. Only once he’s had a chance to receive the treatment he needs will we even consider making a statement.”
A muscle in Morales’s jaw clicked. I could practically hear him cussing at her for her haughty attitude in his head. “Understood, ma’am. You still have my card?” She nodded dismissively, which I took for a no. “Here’s another just in case.”
“We’re ready,” the medic said to Jade.
“Come on, John.” She turned and started marching toward the stairs as if she was ready to fight her way out of there. Unfortunately the effect was ruined when the gurney he was on slowly started to rattle and squeak across the dirty concrete floor.
“Hold on,” Volos said to the wiz-medic. “Kate?”
“John! Let’s go,” she called from the stairs.
He grimaced but didn’t respond to her. His eyes searched mine, pleading with me to approach him. With a sigh that hurt way more than it should have, I placed a hand over my ribs and limped over. I bent over to hear him, but not so close as to invite heartfelt bullshit. “Thanks,” he said, his breathing rapid. “I know this could have turned out ten other ways that didn’t involve me breathing.”
I bit my lip to hide the smile. “Don’t think about it.”
“I will, though.”
Before those words could sink in, he reached up and grabbed my neck to pull me closer. I’m sure to those who watched us it looked like a tender moment. But what really happened was he pressed his lips next to my ear. “Don’t tell them about Abe.” His hold relaxed and I pulled back to glare into his cool, blue gaze. “I’ll get the antipotion to you within twenty-four hours.”
In other words, he’d send the new dose of antipotion for Danny once he was sure I hadn’t told the BPD and Gardner about Uncle Abe’s involvement during the debriefing.
I gritted my teeth to keep in the angry words that were clawing at my tongue. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the asshole had manipulated the entire situation just to put me in this corner. Of course, no one was that powerful. Not even the amazing John Volos. Still, my resentment burned like acid in my chest.
“Kate?” he said quietly.
I swallowed hard and nodded because I couldn’t force myself to utter the words out loud in front of the people he wanted me to lie to in exchange for my brother’s life.
John nodded back to let me know we understood each other. Then he motioned to the medic and glided away.
And I was left there, dumbfounded, wondering how after I saved his life—twice!—John Volos had just managed to get the upper hand again.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jeez, Kate,” Danny said, swatting my hand away. “I’m fine.”
I pulled my hand back and fisted it to keep from touching him again.
“Get used to it, kid,” Pen said from the doorway of Danny’s bedroom.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you, I feel pretty awesome.”
Honestly, he looked great. He was still a little thin, but his color was high and his eyes had the sparkle of mischief in them again. All signs of the Gray Wolf infection were gone, so only the memories remained like the echoes of a nightmare. Oh, and the track marks on his body from all the IVs and potions he’d received in the hospital to keep him alive.
“I don’t know what was in that stuff John sent, but I feel awesome.”
I gritted my teeth. Every time he or Pen praised Volos for saving Danny’s life, I wanted to scream that I’d been the one who’d figured out the formula. But doing so would be an admission of working dirty magic, which would only damn me.
As promised, the antipotion arrived by special courier exactly twenty-four hours after the debriefing that proved my bullshit was convincing as ever.
The cure arrived with the following note:
Inject in jugular. Plenty of fluids and rest. Everything will be as it should.
—J
I’d waited until all the nurses and doctors had left the room. Then I stared at the liquid inside for a good long while. On some strange level, when this case had started, the last outcome I would have guessed was John Volos’s saving the day. Yet there we were. I might have figured out the formula, but he’d been the one to get the saving dose to Danny. Irony was a major bitch.
Finally, I injected the neon green liquid into Danny’s jugular. Unlike John, whose reaction to the antipotion had been unpleasant but manageable because he hadn’t had the Gray Wolf in his system long, my brother’s recovery was … Well. Let’s just say that after several days under its hold, his body had some issues with the cure.
The doctor had helped Danny through the transformation as much as he could. Mostly he offered generous doses of painkiller and barred the media from the hospital so Danny could recover in privacy. Every nurse on the floor knew we’d given Danny a dirty magic potion, but none of them said one word about it. They all seemed just as relieved as we were to see him finally free from Gray Wolf’s claws. However, the official medical records reported that the recovery was due to the patient’s youthful immune system and a cocktail of very clean magic potions.