Burning Up

ribs—don’t think it hit anything major. Hold on. Be there in a minute.”
    Closing the phone, she turned to share what he’d said with Keelie and Cian, but the couple shook their heads. “We heard.”
    “Oh, right.”
    “Emmett’ll get you an earpiece,” Keelie said. “It’s what the other human members of the pack use when they want to have private conversations.”
    Ria’s curiosity momentarily overwhelmed her worry. “You have human members?”
    “Of course!” Keelie smiled. “I guess people must assume they’re cats.”
    Ria opened her mouth to reply but something made her turn to the doorway. She was running toward Emmett before she realized she’d moved. He caught her with one arm, the other in a sling.
    “Flesh wound?” She pushed aside his shirt to reveal the bandage. “That’s an awfully large bandage for a flesh wound.”
    One big hand stroked over her hair. “It’ll be fine as soon as Tammy has some time free. Gimme a kiss, mink.”
    “Emmett! Your parents are standing right there.”
    But he was already kissing her, and what could she do but kiss him back? She held on tight, so glad he was safe. “When did you turn into such an exhibitionist?” she whispered after he drew back, her cheeks nuclear-hot.
    A small, wicked smile. “Just letting the others know you belong to me.”
    Her eyes widening in horror, she looked around his shoulder . . . to see the grinning faces of ten more DarkRiver soldiers. Including her boss. And a tall redheaded female who was giving her the thumbs-up. “Oh. My. God.” She buried her face in Emmett’s chest and felt the laughter rolling through his body. “I’m going to kill you.” But in truth, all she wanted to do was stay pressed to him forever.
     
    D orian was pronounced stable half an hour later, and Tamsyn had enough energy left over to do a little extra healing. “How does it work?” Ria asked as the healer put her hand on Emmett’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
    “Some healers say it comes from within, but I think I act as a reservoir for pack energy.” Tamsyn’s forehead furrowed in concentration. “My body can only hold a finite amount, so if Dorian had been hurt too badly, I would’ve been wiped out. But he’s a strong one.”
    “She’s selling herself short,” Emmett said. “Tammy directs and channels her energy so it does the most good—probably knows more about the human body than most doctors. Though she’s one of those, too.”
    Ten minutes later, the sling was gone, Emmett’s wound a soft pink. Ria ran her fingers over it, taking utmost care. “Does it hurt?”
    “Naw, I’m tough. But if you want to kiss it better, I won’t object.”
    Laughing, Tamsyn backed out of the cubicle. “Remember kids, this is a hospital.” She closed the folding door behind herself.
    Ria punched an unrepentant Emmett gently on his uninjured shoulder. “How did you get shot?”
    “Aw, come on, mink, you don’t want me to get into that.”
    Putting her hands on her hips, she faced him head-on. “Emmett, you know how we were going to have a conversation later?”
    He looked a little wary. “Yeah?”
    “Well—” she began just as her phone started to beep in a frantic pattern only the family ever used. “Amber!” She put the cell to her ear. “Mom?”
    A fragile response. “Amber’s in trouble.”
    Ria began moving, conscious of Emmett at her back. The maternity ward was in a completely different wing of the hospital so it took precious minutes to get there. She arrived to find Miaoling sitting down, her hand intertwined so tightly with Alex’s her fingers had turned bone white. Simon sat on Alex’s other side. No one said a word.
    Ria’s heart stopped. “What? What is it?”
    It was her father who answered. “There was bleeding. Complications. They don’t know if . . .”
    “No one will talk to us,” Alex said, sounding on the verge of tears. “They just rush in and out.”
    “Wait.” Ria took a deep breath and grabbed the first nurse she saw.
     
    C rouching down beside Miaoling, Emmett took her small, wrinkled hand in his as he watched Ria quietly and effectively intimidate a nurse into giving her the information her family needed. She returned several minutes later, a small fierce warrior. “They’ve got a fetal heartbeat. Amber’s conscious and talking.”
    “The bleeding?” Alex asked, her voice breaking on the words.
    “They’re working on getting it under control.” Ria looked up as another