Phoenix Found (Brothers of Fire #5)

Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Perrin lay on the backseat of the vehicle, drifting in and out of wakefulness. His head resting on Oliver’s lap. Oliver held his too-long fingers too tight, but he wasn’t about to push him away. His face throbbed, and his cheek burned, but there was no flap of skin. The doctor had sewn his face back together and then placed a bandage over the top. The stitches weren’t pretty, but they didn’t need to be. They just needed to be functional until he returned to human and healed.

Something he’d need to do soon to stop the wound from getting infected. The longer he left it, the more likely there was to be some kind of weird scar as well. Even the doctor had warned him to do it within the twelve-hour mark. As soon as possible was better, but he was tired and sore, and Kaine had wanted Oliver out of the house.

It had been easier to leave and rest in the car.

Like all injured ghouls, all he wanted was a quiet place to rest until he had the strength to stretch and heal and then scavenge.

But he couldn’t sleep either because his father was dead, along with several of his relatives. An uncle and a cousin. All because he wouldn’t do as he was told, as was expected.

No, they were dead because his father had whipped up their fury and demanded that they defend his pride and reputation. He didn’t know what to tell his mother.

Or was she already expecting word of a death?

Her son’s or her husband’s? Or both?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to her. It wasn’t as though she’d stopped him from attacking.

They reached the castle, and he was helped out of the vehicle by the security guards.

“I can walk.” His words came out mangled, and talking made the pain bloom afresh. He wanted to be alone. He didn’t want people staring at him while he looked like this, all blood and claws and stitches.

“No, you can’t. You’ll land on your face and make a bigger mess of it,” Lenoir said from behind him. “That, and you don’t want to piss off the doctor or worry Oliver.” He tilted his head at Oliver, who frowned, knowing they were talking about him but not being able to understand the French. Lenoir turned to the guards. “Get him upstairs.”

“Where are you taking him?” Oliver stepped in front of the bear shifter like he planned on doing something about it if he didn’t like the answer.

Lenoir put his hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “To your rooms. You come with me.”

Even though he’d only been upright for a couple of minutes, Perrin already wanted to collapse. He couldn’t put weight on one foot, his face hurt worse, and his head was light.

“No. I need to?—”

“You need to give Perrin time to get up the stairs. Come and talk to me. We won’t be long.” Lenoir guided Oliver away despite his protests .

The bear shifter glanced at him. “Do you want to hobble or be carried?”

Perrin sighed. Might as well top off a shit night by losing all dignity. “Carried.”

“Good choice.”

The bear scooped him up as if untroubled to be touching a ghoul and followed the other guard who took care of the doors. They placed him on the sofa in the living room, and Perrin thought he might throw up as a wave of dizziness threatened to drown him.

“You look pale…paler than normal. Lie down,” the bear shifter said.

He was so used to being invisible that having people worry about him was weird. It was only because he was sleeping with Oliver…but the excuse didn’t quite fit because Monsieur had ensured Coven support of his request.

He lay on his side on the sofa, shivering and caught on the riptide of nausea.

“I need to stretch…” He glanced at the bear shifter staring at him. Was he Alice’s boyfriend?

Stretching may not help, but it couldn’t make him feel worse. That wasn’t possible.

“You aren’t to be left alone. Lenoir’s orders. Do you need to take your clothes off?”

“No. It’s a stretch, not a shift.” And he’d be returning to human. He’d already ripped the back of his shirt and dipped blood all over it. He picked at the edges of the bandage on his face because that was going to pull.

“Do you want the one on your foot removed?”

Perrin lifted his leg and stared at his foot, noticing the bandage around his toes for the first time.

“There’s one around your ankle, too,” the bear continued.

The burr of pain in his ankle increased as he stared at the bandages. “They should be fine.” His stomach rolled, and he closed his eyes, hoping that returning to human form healed the worst of the injuries and removed the nausea, if not the tiredness. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t watch.”

He sensed the bear shifter walk away, joining the other guard by the door. At least shifters understood the desire to shift in private…most of them, anyway. Oliver would want to watch.

Memories of Oliver in the ghoul’s grasp filled his mind. They were lucky to be alive. Everyone on the estate would’ve been killed if Oliver hadn’t…oh no, he’d shifted and killed. But instead of it being Shadow Board lies, it was now true.

“Oliver, is he okay?”

“He is with Lenoir,” the bear shifter said.

That wasn’t an answer. And Perrin couldn’t help him until he was able to remain upright for more than ten seconds. Oliver shouldn’t be getting in trouble for saving them. Because Perrin was sure that without Oliver’s intervention, he wouldn’t be lying there with his face on fire. He wouldn’t be feeling a thing…

He owed Oliver his life.

Oliver watched Perrin be carried away. “I should be with him.”

“He needs to stretch and heal?—”

“I know.”

Kaine leaned in. “Sometimes it’s nice to give someone a little space and privacy.”

Oliver frowned. “But I’ve seen him stretch and feed.”

“He’s hurt. ”

“I was there.” And he didn’t want to think about what had happened and all the blood.

Kaine stared at him, and Oliver realized he’d missed something.

“For most shifters and ghouls, healing is messy and painful, more so than shifting. Let’s give him some time to get cleaned up,” Kaine said.

“He’ll want to eat.”

“Not tonight. He’ll want to rest. He’s like a shifter, but not quite. Do you need to eat again?”

Kaine steered him into the house and toward the kitchen, even though he didn’t think he was hungry. His stomach was tight and unsettled, and he blamed it on everything that had happened. “I don’t think I can eat.”

Kaine boiled the kettle and pulled out two cups. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

Kaine lifted an eyebrow. “You were attacked and almost killed.”

Oliver nodded. “I was more scared of having to fly to the castle on my own. Of Perrin’s father ripping him apart.”

Kaine poured the hot water into the cups. “And you have no thoughts on how you saved yourself and him?”

Oliver accepted the cup, welcoming the heat. “I didn’t mean to hurt him…the ghoul. I guess I am a dangerous fire witch now.” He stared at the cup of tea.

He’d become what he’d always been told he was. A killer.

He was no different from Everest. The memory of him laughing as he’d burned echoed through his sleep.

Kaine was silent for a couple of heartbeats. “You did what you needed to survive.”

“I killed a family member…” Perrin might be mad at him. Or hate him. Is that why Perrin wanted to be alone ?

“Who would’ve killed you and everyone else.” Kaine sipped his tea. “It’s normal to feel guilt after killing, even if it was in self-defense.”

“Was it, though? He didn’t hurt me.”

“You acted to save Perrin.”

“But I didn’t. He still got hurt. Will his toes grow back?”

“No. But his face will knit together, and the scar will fade with each stretch.”

“Then why did he need stitches?” It was so much easier to talk about anything but burning the ghoul. The smell of burning flesh and the screaming.

“To hold it in place. If his toes had been found, they’d have been stitched on because they’d rejoin when he stretched. Nice way to change the topic.” Kaine smiled.

Oliver didn’t. “What will happen now?”

“Questions will be asked. Security will be increased. All you need to do is plan your holiday.”

“I won’t be punished?”

“No…though I want to know why you didn’t leave as ordered.”

Oliver closed his eyes. “I went up onto the roof, but he was waiting for me. And…and I forgot how to shift.” He didn’t even remember what had happened until they were on the ground and Perrin was being attacked.

“Panic doesn’t always look the same. You freeze up, some people fight, others run. It takes training to remain calm enough to think.”

“I don’t know how to fight.” He’d never been taught. He couldn’t throw fireballs like Everest or fight physically the way Perrin did.

“You did the right thing. And you didn’t take out the entire house. ”

That would’ve been terrible. “What about the two security guards who were killed?”

“Their families will be notified and given their pension. Dalmon or Gerrit will deal with that. It is unfortunate, but like the ghouls who attacked, they understood the risk, however remote, of injury or death.”

Kaine’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked. “You can go up now.”

Suddenly, going to see Perrin was the last thing he wanted.