Page 26 of Red King
I sigh and grab my clothes, dressing as quickly as I can. By the time I am done, Thorn is already placing the injured human in the back of an idling SUV and jumping in himself. Paisley is next to him, with the doctor in the front seat.
I start toward them, but someone grabs my arm, letting me go in the same breath.
“Don’t get involved,” Steel growls.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I snarl back.
The SUV with the injured female takes off in a spray of gravel. I’m sure they’ll be headed to the clinic. The rest of the humans start to climb into waiting SUVs.
Steel smiles; it doesn’t reach his eyes and lasts all of a second. “Sire, I don’t think that rushing over there would be a wise thing to do. It is my job to—”
“Keep me safe. I know that! I need to go,” I tell him.
“We’re in troubled times and—”
“What the hell are you on about, Steel? I know all of that. I know, okay? But a human female is injured. I need to go and—”
“No, you don’t! Thorn is there as we speak. He can handle it and report back to you.”
I shake my head, feeling responsible.
“It’snotyour fault. Most of the human females enjoyed the demonstration. The injury was unfortunate, but these things are bound to happen. Humans are weak and quite breakable.”
“Don’t let your human hear you say that.” I smile.
Steel laughs. “Lucky for me, Jen isn’t here right now, but I know she would agree.” His eyes cloud for a moment. It’s obvious that he misses her. “You need to keep your time outside the castle to a minimum. The human accommodation isn’t nearly as protected as the castle. I can’t—”
“I’m living my life, Steel. I’m doing the right thing, and that means checking in on the human. There is nothing you can say that will stop me, so you can save it.”
“You don’t want the others to know that you are the king. That you’re someone important. Rushing in there will be directly in opposition to that. Standing on your hind legs roaring and breathing fire is, too, just by the way.” He gives me a look. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” He smirks at me. “Your need to show dominance at every turn might get you into trouble one day. You already stand out among the candidates. If you go now, you’re going to make it even more obvious.”
He has a point.
I don’t care.
I have to do what’s right. It’s in my DNA.
“I’ll go in via the back entrance. I’ll take minimal security. I’ll be in and out in no time.”
Steel sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You like to make my job difficult, don’t you?”
I make a noise like I’m thinking about it. “I see it as keeping you on your toes.” I start toward an SUV.
I hear Steel barking orders behind me. Within seconds, I am surrounded by my guard, with Steel leading the way. We jump into the waiting vehicles, dust kicking up in our wake as we head to the clinic.
It doesn’t take long before we get there. The SUV screeches to a halt, and I’m out, eating the ground with long strides. I catch a glimpse of Thorn standing by the entrance; his expression is tense with worry.
He meets my gaze as I approach, his eyes holding a silent conversation with mine.
“It isn’t good,” he says. “She’s bleeding like a stuck pig. It looks like she hit her head on a rock as she fell. The doctor is working on her now. The wound wouldn’t stop bleeding. Humans have zero healing capabilities.”
I nod once and then enter the building. One or two winding passages later, I reach the clinic.
“How is she?” I ask as I arrive at the door to the clinic.
The injured female is lying on the bed. Paisley has a compression to her wound. The doctor is leaning over the female from the other side of the bed, peering at the wound, which is still bleeding heavily.
“Please leave,” Paisley all but snarls at me. “We’re busy with a patient.”
