For the first time, he understood exactly why Colt seemed to go mindless when Shea ended up in Grayson Main. She’d tapped herself completely out, using every last bit of her energy to heal her Donor brother after a vicious Nightwalker attack; in saving Hudson, she nearly killed herself. They weren’t even bonded yet when it happened, but Adam watched Colt pace outside of the hospital last December and knew that, if Shea didn’t recover, that would be the end of the shifter.
And not just because of the Claws Clause.
Back when he was still human, Adam never understood it. The most well-known clause to come out of Ordinance 7304—the reason it was referred to as the Bond Laws—was the choice given to a bonded Para who lost his or her mate. Because a bonded paranormal who outlived their mate was the definition of dangerous, they could either choose: a) voluntary incarceration with the (minor) hope of rehabilitation; b) a lobotomy-like procedure performed by a government-employed witch to sever the bond, or c) a state-sanctioned execution to end the pain.
When Evangeline was pronounced dead, Maddox Wolfe chose the Cage.
If Shea died? No doubt in Adam’s mind that Colt would go for the execution.
And if Tabby didn’t pull through…
He shook his head, cutting that thought off right there. He gave up on his revenge, letting Rafe flee so that he could tend to Tabby instead. Didn’t matter that there wasn’t a bond. Didn’t matter that she wasn’t—and would never want to be—his betrothed. Regardless, he felt responsible.
Responsible.
Right.
Just like Colt felt “responsible” for his witch, even when he was bending over backward, trying to convince himself he wasn’t the right mate for Shea.
Yeah.
Speak of the devil. As if Adam’s obsessive worrying called out to him, Colt slipped into the room. Dodge hovered behind him. Because he had nothing better to do—Shea warned him that, if he kept getting in her way, she’d send him out of the room—he glanced over at the two men.
Then took a double-take.
It was Colt’s turn to look like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Though the lean, strong shifter normally stood tall and proud, he was hunched as he drew closer to his mate. His pale blue eyes had darkened, almost matching the electric blue peepers—the only spot of color—shining out of Dodge’s ghostly face.
Dodge took the scene in with a curious expression. Once his gaze landed on Adam—who reacted by allowing his fangs to lengthen past his bottom lip—the ghost snorted and smirked before drifting back to the furthest corner.
He didn’t stay. At some point, while Adam’s attention was back on Tabby and what Shea was doing to her, he must’ve floated out of the room again.
Ah, well. Adam was too busy questioning everything Shea was doing to worry about the ghost. Didn’t matter that he knew Shea was a pro. If anyone could bring Tabby all the way back, it was the witch.
Just… what was taking so long?
Minutes dragged by. Between Adam’s palpable worry and the way Colt not-so-subtly inserted his body between the Nightwalker and his mate as if he expected Adam to lose it and attack her, the small room flooded with tension until Shea snapped at both of them to back off.
Adam’s jaw dropped. In the six months since he first met Shea Moonshadow, he’d never seen her lose her temper like that. From the way Colt growled under his breath before doing what his mate demanded, he was betting it was a first for him, too.
And that’s when Dodge passed through the closed door, another smirk in place as if he’d been listening outside of the door before he floated inside.
“Looks like I got back just in time. Head’s up. I went and brought back a second opinion,” he announced. Then, jerking his chin over at Adam, he added, “Maybe then the copper will finally take a load off and realize that his dame’s gonna be just fine.”
Out of reflex, the words not a cop were halfway to his lips before Colt cut him off.
“I thought I sensed someone out there,” he said. He took a deep breath. Nodded. “Yeah. Good idea. Go on and send her in.”
Her.
The door swung out, a voluptuous figure filling the doorway. “Hi there, sweetie. Miss me?”
A harsh chuckle bubbled out of Adam’s throat. “Deb.”
“The one and only. Now, Dodge told me all about what happened. I know you do good work, Shea—”
Shea moved away from the bed where Tabby still hadn’t so much as twitched. “Go right ahead. I think I figured out what Priscilla did with her magic, but the Nightwalker…”
“It’s alright, dearie. Let Deb take a peek.”