“Rue Hollis,” she said after a beat. “Of course you would know how to treat him. Give me ten minutes.”
The call ended as the daemon arrived, and I gestured for him to lay Derry on the grass.
Warg healing is a miraculous thing to behold, which explained why I didn’t sweat his recovery. Odds were good he would be awake and grumpy by the time his mate arrived. Or so I told myself. Until I saw the oozing green mucus weeping from his wounds and knew we had problems.
Wishing I could give her a heads-up but knowing I didn’t have the time, I dropped to my knees beside Derry and yanked on Colby. Hard. I pulled her energy through me and channeled it into Derry with a touch of my wand. Her warm, healing light pulsed within him, and the goop leaked from his pores as the foul magic was purged from his system.
I did all I could and prayed it was enough as I sat back and waited for his mate to arrive.
She didn’t keep me long.
“Derry Lamont Mayhew,” that same voice from the phone snarled. “I’m going to wring your neck.”
“Hi.” I scrambled to my feet. “I’m Rue.”
“Hey, Rue.” Her expression was equal parts annoyance and exasperation. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Marita, Numbskull’s mate.”
Hands on hips, she stared down at Derry and watched until he twitched before her shoulders lowered a fraction. She was good at hiding her concern, but it lived in her, the way the gnawing concern for Asa had been branded onto my bones.
“Old Man Fang did this?” She toed Derry in the side. “Impressive carnage.”
“Yeah.” I wiped slime off my fingers onto my pants. “Impressive.”
“You must think I’m crazy.” She laughed. “This damn fool man heard about the revenant or whatever it is and almost wet his pants. All the guys in the pack talk about how they could have ripped out Old Man Fang’s throat if they had been alive at the time. Derry couldn’t believe he was getting a chance to prove it.” She crouched over him and jabbed him between the eyes. “He smells…” She lifted her head. “You spelled him?”
“Healed him,” I corrected, feeling twitchy. “Old Man Fang’s bite wasn’t agreeing with him.”
“I can imagine.” She plopped down on the ground. “You don’t have to babysit him. I’ll stay until he can shift back. That will help accelerate the healing.” She settled in beside him. “Thanks for saving him from himself.”
“No problem.” I scuffed my shoe in the dirt. “Do you have someone who can patch up a mausoleum?”
Laughter shook her shoulders, like she could already tell this story was going to be good. “Yes?”
In exchange for a photo of her husband playing fetch, she arranged for the damage to be repaired so the family wouldn’t walk into a hot mess the next time they visited the cemetery.
“That’s all our t’s crossed.” I checked with the daemon. “You ready?”
“Bye, Derry-wolf.” The daemon pressed his hair into my hand. “Rue pet, I track.”
“I can find my way back.” I dropped his hair. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
Hiding my smile, I set off and left him to keep up with me this time.
“Rue pet.” He shoved his hair back into my hand. “I protect.”
“I can take care of myself.” I passed it back to him. “I exploded Fang, remember?”
“Found grave.” His grin showed every tooth in his head. “Want to see?”
“That’s why he attacked?” I hadn’t been sure we tracked Fang that far before he struck. “Show me.”
“You pet.” He thrust more hair at me. “I show.”
The tables turned on me so fast, I got whiplash.
“Fine.” Fighting off a smile that only encouraged bad behavior, I tugged on him. “Let’s go.”