Kate Daniels 02 - Magic Burns

to drown me. I smelled my own blood. Julie grabbed my arm and sobbed. “You gotta get up. Come on! Don’t you die! Don’t die!”
    â€œIt will be okay,” I whispered. “It will be okay.”
    The magic drained from the world. The tech flared, bringing with it a new burst of pain.
    I had to guard the door. It was all I could do.
    Â 
    I WAS DRIFTING IN AND OUT, CLAWING MY WAY through the fog into consciousness, when I felt someone approach. I slashed on instinct and missed.
    â€œYou’re a fucking mess,” Curran’s voice said.
    Rescued by the Beast Lord. Oh the irony.
    â€œWill she be okay?” Julie’s voice asked.
    â€œYeah,” he said. I felt myself being lifted as Curran scooped me off the floor. “She’ll be fine. Come with me. You’re safe now.”
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    THE BED WAS UNBELIEVABLY COMFORTABLE. FOR A blissfully long moment I rested, half-drowned in the luxury of soft sheets. The pain had receded, still there, lurking in the small of my back, but dulled and accompanied by the soothing warmth of well-done medmagic. I was alive. That simple fact made me unbelievably happy. As I snuggled deeper into the pillow, I saw a sliver of white on the blanket next to me. I reached over and touched Slayer’s blade.
    â€œAwake, my lady fair?” said a familiar voice. Doolittle. The self-proclaimed physician to all things Pack and wild. He sat in a chair by a reading lamp, an ancient, dog-eared paperback on his lap. He hadn’t changed a bit—still the same blue-black skin, the same gray hair, and the same small smile. He had patched me up twice during the Red Point Stalker investigation, and there was no better medmage in Atlanta.
    I hugged my pillow. “We meet again, Doctor.”
    â€œIndeed we do.”
    â€œThere was a girl with me?”
    â€œShe’s downstairs. Being entertained by Derek. I daresay she much enjoys his company.”
    Derek of the huge brown eyes and the knockdown smile. Poor Red didn’t stand a chance.
    â€œWhat was wrong with me?” I didn’t insult him by asking about my bloody clothes. I knew he’d burned them.
    â€œYou were poisoned. You do test my skills every time we meet.”
    â€œI’m sorry. Thank you for saving me.”
    He shook his head. “I didn’t. You were saved by the flare. The deep magic makes all spells more potent. Including those of your humble medmage.”
    Icy claws skittered up my spine. “Was it really that close?”
    He nodded.
    I had almost died. I could think of a number of times I had almost died, but never before while a child depended on me for protection. Great going, Kate. You just had to stand there with your back to the window. Dumbass.
    As soon as I could walk, I had to find a safe place for Julie. The thought of those long claws ripping into her was too much for me.
    â€œWhere am I?”
    â€œIn the Pack’s Southeast office. There was some thought of bringing you to the Keep, but the consensus was you wouldn’t make it.”
    We were repeating the same conversation we’d had ten weeks ago, almost word for word. Except that time I had brought down a crumbling skyscraper on myself and a few hundred vampires.
    I grinned. “How did I get here?”
    â€œHis Majesty carried you.” He grinned back. That part was the same, also.
    â€œIs he burned to a crisp or sliced in half this time?”
    â€œNeither,” Curran’s voice said. If I had been standing, I would’ve jumped. He stood in the middle of the room. Behind him a young woman carried a platter filled with four bowls. “However he is quite put out at being awakened from his nap to go and rescue a fool who always bites off more than she can chew.”
    Doolittle rose hurriedly, bowed, and left. Curran motioned to the table at the foot of the bed, and the woman set the platter on it and left, as well. The door clicked closed, leaving the Beast Lord and me alone in the room.
    Oh joy. I hadn’t wanted to meet Curran at all, but if I had to meet him, I wanted to be at my best, because he was a mean, vicious sonovabitch, who enjoyed making me squirm. Instead I ended up helpless, in a bed on the Pack’s grounds, having been rescued by him. I wanted to fade into the sheets. Maybe I could pretend to fall asleep and he’d leave.
    Curran examined me. “You look like shit.”
    â€œThanks. I try.” He, on the other hand,