Borrowed Souls (Soul Charmer #1)(73)
The moonlight highlighted the drops of blood he left as they moved. The mounting pressure of the magic threatened to fell her, but now wasn’t the time to wuss out. If she had any real control over the magic, she’d offer to cauterize his wounds, too, but burning the guy you were screwing seemed like a recipe for failure.
The proof of their presence was scattered in a DNA trail behind them. The good part of working with criminals, though, is they weren’t likely to call the cops. Unfortunately, she still needed to get Tess to the Soul Charmer without further incident, and the man with the plan was bleeding too much.
—— CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ——
Callie should have known toting an unconscious woman through Gem City wasn’t going to be easy. It shouldn’t be easy. Kidnapping was probably some sort of criminal art form. Derek’s natural ability there was unsettling, but fortunate, given the circumstances.
Or at least it was until she noticed his chin dipping.
“Derek.” Panic lanced her through the chest.
His grunt of acknowledgement lacked energy. A second later his hand slipped from the steering wheel. Callie yelped and grabbed it just in time to correct their path before the car veered into oncoming traffic. He hadn’t reacted to her scream. Just great. She nudged his foot off the gas and edged the vehicle to the shoulder. Callie wedged a foot onto Derek’s side and hit the brakes. The car slowed, but thanks to their circuitous route there weren’t any streetlights to expose them. Once the car was safely in park, she spread the lapels of Derek’s jacket.
Blood was like any other bodily fluid: gross in all but the correct context. The right side of his shirt was soaked, in the darkness it turned black. She skimmed her fingers across the damp fabric, the tacky substance on top clinging to her fingers. There was a tear in the tee, hidden by the saturation, above his nipple. Contemplating how someone got a knife under his leather jacket to slash him there wouldn’t help anyone. Thinking would lead to panic, and she needed to be in nurse mode. He needed stitches, but she didn’t have the necessary tools here. She slapped his cheek and called his name until he roused enough to look at her.
“Can you hear me?”
He gave her more than his standard grunt, but the words were unintelligible.
She swore internally. “We need to get you patched up.”
“Charmer’s,” he muttered. It made perfect, twisted sense that the Soul Charmer would have the tools to fix Derek’s wound.
Callie scanned the car for a spare bit of fabric to staunch the bleeding. Nothing but a—wait, had Tess moved? Maybe not. Great, now she was psyching herself out. She shrugged out of her coat and yanked her own cotton tee overhead, wadded it up, and then placed it just so against his wound. Managing to get Derek to keep his hand on top of it was a whole separate task.
As she finished the last button on her coat, she heard a groan from the backseat. She didn’t have the energy to fight Tess. Snagging Derek’s tranq gun and plugging the woman with another dart was far simpler. With their hostage back in Dreamsville, Callie hopped out of the car and came around to the driver’s side, nudging Derek across to the passenger seat. A big man like that shouldn’t be so pliant.
She drove as fast as the aging engine would allow, and hoped it was fast enough.
“Most people would mention getting stabbed,” Callie muttered. The two unconscious people in the car weren’t listening, but she wasn’t talking to them; she was trying to distract herself from the fact that with Derek out, she was now on the hook for the safe delivery of both of them.
“I was wrong. We should have waited a day and made a real plan.”
She spared a quick glance at Derek. He sagged against the seat, and his hand had begun to drop from his chest. Callie grabbed it and pressed it firmly against his wound. “Keep it there.”
He sucked in a harsh breath, but at least he wasn’t dead.
“Just because my car is a piece of shit, doesn’t mean bleeding all over it is acceptable. You’re cleaning it when this is all over.” Maintaining control now meant he’d be okay. She could crumble once she made it to the Soul Charmer’s shop.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. No red and blue lights were flashing at her, but damn if she didn’t expect cherries to pop behind her any second. How would she explain Derek’s knife wound, or the green darts sticking out of the woman slumped across the back seat? Were licenses required for tranquilizer guns?
Balancing the need to get to the Soul Charmer’s fast against the extreme desire to avoid the Gem City Police, Callie pushed the car to five miles above the posted speed limit, but no further.
Ten minutes later, she parked her car outside the Soul Charmer’s storefront. She didn’t bother with safe distances or worry about being inconspicuous. Tess’s face was planted in a pool of drool. It didn’t get much more conspicuous than that.
Callie rushed around the car and opened the passenger door. Jostling Derek was enough to make him open his eyes. Steady feet weren’t going to be found, but his legs weren’t total Jell-O. Callie managed to get him standing. The bastard was heavy, but she wedged her shoulder in under his armpit and steered him the few steps to the door.
Once inside she yelled, “Charmer, you better have some medical skills!”
“I don’t remember offering you such services. Are you looking for another barter?” The Soul Charmer sauntered out from the back room. He deserved to be punched in the throat for his ambivalence.