Deathtrap (Crossbreed #3)(64)

“Get away from her, you shitebag!” Christian leaned across me and broke the Vamp’s arm before throwing him out. “Get up. I’m taking over.”

We switched places, and I stepped into the back of the van just as Christian hit the gas. I gripped the passenger seat to keep from falling and assessed our situation. Claude lay unconscious, and Niko was opening one of the back doors.

“Blue!” he shouted. “Blue!”

The van slowed.

“Take my axe!” She reached inside and handed him her tomahawk before shifting. Her falcon ascended out of sight just as an explosion rocked the van.

I stumbled to the bench, my heart racing. “Was that Gem?”

I looked to Niko. Staring into chaos, he held on to the end of the closed door.

My eyes drifted down to Claude, and I realized how grave his condition was. I had initially thought someone knocked him out, but blood pooled on the carpet beneath him in ghastly quantities.

I crouched beside him. “Claude, can you hear me?” I pulled his eyelids back, searching for signs of life. “He’s hurt bad. He’s not waking up.”

The van jerked to the left, and my back hit the bench.

“Hang on,” Christian shouted before slamming on the brakes.

Niko reached out and pulled Gem inside. Wyatt jumped in behind her, out of breath. Niko’s sharp whistle summoned Viktor’s wolf, who charged inside and onto a bench. Niko slammed the back door, and we took off.

I looked around. “Where’s Shepherd?”

Wyatt stepped over Claude and led Viktor’s wolf to the front passenger seat. “He didn’t come. Holy Toledo, get the hell out of here, Christian. The freshies are everywhere!”

When Gem saw Claude on the floor, her eyes rounded, and she crawled next to him. She stroked his hair, tears wetting her cheeks. “Niko, you need to help him.”

“Won’t he heal?” I asked. “He’s a Chitah.”

Niko stumbled as he tried to find a place to sit. “Not if he’s lost too much blood. Chitahs are good healers, but his light is dim, and we don’t have Shepherd here to stitch him up. I need everyone to stand back.”

Gem reluctantly scooted away, her crystal pendant swinging from her neck as she leaned over to watch. I collapsed on the bench and peeled out of my leather jacket. I was actually sweating. Blood dripped from my hand, so I pressed the wound against my jeans to stanch the bleeding. While Niko knelt beside Claude and used his X-ray vision to look at whatever energy Claude was putting out, I turned to Christian since I was sitting right behind the driver’s seat.

“Are we safe?”

“Aye. For the moment. Unless there’s someone on the roof.”

“There’s a freshy up there, clinging to the van like a sock from a dryer,” Wyatt informed us. He widened his legs and stared at me from the opposite bench. “If he comes home with us after all I went through to clean the specters out of the house, I’m demanding a raise.”

“Will you be quiet?” Gem spat. “Claude… Can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me.”

We turned our attention back to our Chitah. His leather jacket was open in the front, revealing holes and bloodstains in his white undershirt. I counted three. I’d always assumed Chitahs were resilient, but I was learning that everyone had limitations.

Claude suddenly coughed, blood ejecting from his mouth and spattering on his face and shirt. My heart sank. His ashen skin and bluish lips told the story.

Niko assessed him carefully. “I can’t heal them all,” he finally said. “His energy is dark around his chest. I’ll do what I can.” Niko’s hand hovered as if he was searching for the wound.

Claude’s eyes fluttered and then opened.

Gem cupped his face in her hands, staring at him upside down.

He struggled to smile. “Don’t cry, female. I’m not worth the tears.”

Wyatt leaned over. “Stop trying to out-die us. You’re not going anywhere. I don’t want to have to deal with staring at your handsome ghost for all eternity. You hear me? You’ll give me an inferiority complex.”

Claude’s lips twitched as Gem wiped away droplets of blood that were on his cheeks.

Niko placed his hand across one of the bullet holes, and after a moment, I squinted from the flash of light that cracked like a whip. Claude sighed. Watching Niko heal someone else besides me allowed me to see the magnitude of how much energy it required from him. Despite his hooded eyes and lethargic movements, he continued. Gem let go just as Niko healed another wound.

When he finished, his eyes didn’t carry that spark of light they usually held.

“Niko, maybe you should stop.”

Out of breath, he fell back against the bench. “How many more does he have?”

Gem pulled Claude’s jacket away and lifted his shirt. “One on his shoulder and I think his leg.” She rose up on her knees for a closer look. “It’s too dark in here; I can’t see.”

Niko’s beautiful brown skin now had a greyish hue. The graver the wound, the more of his gift it required. He probably could have kept going, but the quality of his light would have diminished, assuming he could stay conscious after repeated energy depletion.

Claude rolled to his side. “I’m good.”

Gem helped him to sit. “Are you sure? You don’t look good.”