Moonshifted (Edie Spence 2)

He half smiled. “Is that what they’re calling it? We call it a vigil. ”

“Ahh. Sorry. ” There was silence filled by the hissing of pumps, the inflation and deflation of the sequential compression device on his one good leg.

“Do you think he’ll get better?” Lucas asked, after a time.

I inhaled, then paused before speaking. Breaking people into bad news was a process, like drawing a new swimmer out into the deep end of the pool. Sometimes people had to be confronted with it repeatedly before it sank in.

“Your silence says it all. ” Lucas snorted.

“I’m not a vet,” I explained. “I’m only a nurse. ”

“He’s a man now, not a wolf. ”

“I think what will happen soon is you all will have to decide what kind of life he wanted for himself—and what kind you all want for him now,” I said, choosing my words carefully, showing him the deep end.

Lucas stared into the room. “How tactful of you. ”

“Sorry. ”

“Don’t be. ” Lucas inhaled and exhaled deeply, as if waking himself from a dream. “He just needs to make it to the full moon. And the moon needs to heal him. It has to. ”

“Why?”

Lucas made a face I couldn’t completely read. “His pack needs him. ”

I would have asked more questions, only Gina came back around the corner with a barefoot boy in tow. “Here we go. ” The boy was in extra-small scrubs; the sleeves hung down low, and Gina’d had to cuff the legs. The boy had bone-straight black hair with uneven bangs. The copper-yellow eyes that had looked fine on the wolf were now out of place—downright creepy. He seemed timid, hiding behind Gina’s leg. “Edie, meet Fenris Jr. Fenris Jr, meet Edie. ”

“Hi, Edie,” Junior said, then to Lucas, “Was Mommy mad?”

“Not at you. ” Lucas stood up and pointed to the chair. Junior sat down in it, and Lucas wheeled him away, so he couldn’t see in the door. “Let’s see if we can find another one of these. I bet they won’t mind if we run some chair races in that hall outside. ”

Fenris Jr. ’s face brightened at this. Lucas was driving him off in Gina’s chair when Jorgen came around the bend. He eyed us and Lucas darkly.

“What’s the meaning of this? I just got a call from Helen. ”

“You left Junior here, alone. ”

“I had some

phone calls I needed to make in private. He was only alone for a bit. ”

“It’s not that he was alone—it’s that he was here at all. Even as a wolf, he’s too young for this, Jorgen. ”

“He’s his mother’s child,” he said. Lucas’s lips straightened into a line.

Gina cleared her throat to get their attention. “We strongly discourage child visitors. ”

The bald man glanced at her, then back to Lucas. “We need to transfer Winter to a better facility. He’s not getting the best care here. ”

I blinked. That was the first I’d heard of it. And to think, I hadn’t even bled him yet. Beside me, Gina stiffened in anger. Lucas stood straighter, letting go of Junior’s chair.

As if by magic, Meaty came around the corner to join us. “Is there a problem?”

Jorgen looked from one to the other of us. “She consorts with were-bears, and she’s employed by vampires. Neither of them is acceptable. They both should be replaced. ”

Meaty appeared unfazed. “I would let either one of them care for me, myself. ”

“You have poor taste then. ”

“Jorgen, you forget your place,” Lucas said. “I know your loyalty to my uncle runs deep, but now is not the time. ”

Jorgen looked at Lucas, and I remembered what Lucas had said that morning, leaning on my car, about bitten versus born. God, that seemed a long time ago. Jorgen looked like he was going to take a step nearer Lucas, then exhaled roughly, deflating.

“This nurse was one of the ones who found him. She saw the accident herself,” Meaty continued, as if nothing had gone on. “She’s been involved in his care since he first came here, isn’t that right?”

I nodded, because I knew Meaty expected it of me.

“Nurses found him?” Jorgen asked.

“Why do you think he’s still alive?” Meaty said.

“Did you see who hit him?” Junior asked.