Ray glanced at Penn’s leg, her pants gashed dark with blood, the torn skin and exposed muscle, and chose not to tell her he had heard the sound of bone on bone when she’d moved. She was breathing harshly, her fist clenched. Ray put his hand over it.
The bones would have to be set for anything to heal. Sirens healed faster than a human, but not anywhere near as fast as a fairy or a were. He had to get her to a doctor. The problem was the others in the building. And shock. First Aid training stressed the importance of avoiding shock for serious injuries. Ray didn’t know if this counted, but considering how Penn wasn’t moving, he thought so.
“Strider, your blanket? Do you have it? She might need it.” Ray twisted around to look over Strider, noticing for the first time that the human’s head was bleeding. Blood had already soaked through the knitted cap. “Come here and sit down,” Ray barked, although Strider pulled off his blanket and draped it over Penn’s chest and seemed steady enough on his feet for now.
Ray reached for his phone and was to the point with the operator. “Morello Avenue, the building with the chain link fence. I don’t know the street number. Property damage with suspected arson attempt. Two off-duty officers on scene. Two other unknowns. One of the officers is injured, at least a broken leg, and cannot be moved. She’s on the third floor, on the staircase.”
He hung up before the emergency dispatcher could ask questions.
Penn was giving Ray a mean look. She was too pale. Ray didn’t like it.
“Option one, Penny,” he told her, “I carry you out. You probably faint with the pain.”
“If she’s lucky,” Strider remarked, then swayed and hit the wall. He slid slowly to the floor. “Sorry.” He stared at Ray in a blank, alarming way. “Got dizzy.”
Ray turned back to Penn, letting her pretend there was still a choice. “Option two—I go down there and find out if those people are armed, and I keep them away from you two until help arrives.”
“If it does,” Penn said between heavy breaths, glaring at him. “Told you this was a bad idea.”
Ray nodded, then turned to Strider. “Keep her warm, keep her talking.” It wouldn’t hurt for Strider to have something to focus on and help him stay alert.
Strider stared at Ray with obvious surprise, then said, “The hands of the king are the hands of a healer,” and turned to Penn with a serious expression.
Ray squeezed Penn’s hand, then stood up. His side hurt. He put a hand to his ribcage, expecting to find a cracked rib. His hand came away sticky and warm. Maybe someday, he would ask Strider what was in those bags that Ray had landed on. If he got the chance.
With the building settling down again, the lack of conversation downstairs was telling. They were listening too, maybe already making their cautious way up to look at the damage.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Ray. He won’t forgive you and neither will I.” Penn didn’t have to yell it for her worry to come through.
Penn ought to be worried for herself. Ray was her hope of rescue, a werewolf who got tired, who had headaches, and now had a wound in his side that was still bleeding.
He crept down the stairs to the next level and listened at the landing, but the fourth floor appeared to be empty. He was halfway down to the third when the ancient elevator kicked on.
It stopped at the second floor.
Ray stayed where he was; the two of them, whoever they were, were trying to be quiet. He wondered if they were human, if either of them had been the were in the jumpsuit. But they hadn’t given any indication that they’d heard him and Penn sneak in, so he doubted it. He held his phone in his hand, weighing his options, then realized he had none.
He expected Cal to be too busy with the crowd to answer, but the call was picked up almost immediately.
“Hey!” Cal was bright even over the phone. “Getting bored back there? I was about to come visit.”
“Callalily.” Ray stopped him there. He kept his voice as low as he could. “Keep an eye on Benny and Calvin and anyone else you care about at that thing.”
“Ray?” Cal caught on too quickly. “What’s wrong?”
It struck Ray how funny it was that the powers that be had only taken the time to learn about them, about beings and the human outsiders and the village, about Ray, to destroy all of them. Funny, but not to laugh at. Cal was dangerous and they’d focused on Ray.
Ray imagined Cal standing somewhere near his father, glaring at encroaching fairies because his mother wasn’t there to do it. He’d have one hand covering his other ear to hear Ray better, the phone close to his face. Ray could still hear the music, that bass, Benny talking excitedly to someone close by.
“You need to be careful.” Ray pushed down on the gash in his side to slow the bleeding. That was what they said to do in trainings. He’d never thought he’d have to do it to himself. He gritted his teeth, then spoke over Cal’s hushed, alarmed questions. “Don’t trust anyone outside the pack. Get home as soon as you can, all of you. Don’t let Benny or Calvin be alone. When it’s safer, look into Leland Properties, their security people, any off-duty or retired cops who might work for them, who owns the company or has stock in it or…. I don’t know who to recommend to help you.” Ray’s thoughts ran together and he imagined for one second that this must be what fairies felt like when asked to focus on one thing only. There was so much he had to make clear. “Be careful.” That was important, even if he’d said it before. “Whatever you find, keep it hidden. You might… you might have to trust the Feds. I’m not sure about the state attorneys. Look at their colors, decide for yourself.”
“Ray!” Cal was sharp and loud; the conversations around him fell away. “What’s going on?” For a moment, some of his alarm switched to suspicion. “Where are you?” His breathing changed, picking up. Benny shouted in the distance, as if Cal was running, going to check on Ray and Penn, who were not where Cal had left them.
“Leland Properties,” Ray stressed it. “It’s not the only one. It can’t be. But start there. They’ve done something to the building, probably to that other one that collapsed as well.” Although, if they were smart, they would have other buildings listed as belonging to others, or shell companies.
“Raymond,” Cal’s voice was shaking, “where are you?”
Cal would know soon enough if the lights and sirens showed up. But Ray couldn’t have him here now.
