Brilliant Heart (Dark Wing Series Book 2) Read online

  Spencer jumped up. They all tumbled out of their seats down the stairs in a frantic parade. They pushed the exiting crowd out of the way. Spencer abandoned the steps and walked down the tops of the chairs, security screaming at him to stop. At the bottom, he tore down the hall towards the door where they carried Duncan out on a stretcher. In the five matches Tad watched, only three stretchers had come out onto the mat. The loser of the match before Duncan’s and then both Duncan and Kyle.

  Spencer was chest to chest with a blond ponytailed lion shifter security guard, trying to get to Dunc.

  “Let me through,” Spencer yelled.

  “As I’ve already told you, sir, you are welcome to visit your brother in the infirmary. But you have to go back up the auditorium stairs and down to deck three.” The lion shifter’s arms were loose at his sides, his feet shoulder-width apart, but he still appeared ready to attack if Spencer pushed through.

  “Just let me follow him.” Spencer moved forward. Tad placed his hand on Spencer’s shoulder.

  “Spencer, come on. Let him do his job.” He spun Spencer around and up the stairs to the exit.

  “Deck three?” Tad asked the guard over his shoulder.

  “Indeed,” the lion said.

  Tad jostled them through the crowd. Gunnar and Michele joined them on the way to the full elevator lobby. “Let’s take the stairs.”

  “Hey, I hope your brother feels better soon. I’ll see you around.” Michele nodded to them as they thundered down the stairs.

  The trio rushed down the hall, following the signs for the infirmary.

  “If you’re out of control enough that Oliver Sutton has to shift and stop your fight . . . that’s a badass,” Gunnar muttered in the stairwell. A few years back, Sutton had been banned from playing Kunyon ball because he shifted during a game and almost killed a human player. Not that the human player wasn’t an ass, chirping and bating him. But it ended Sutton’s career—and the media still didn’t know what the guy said to make Sutton lose control. Not that it slowed his popularity. In the shifter community, he was a rock star.

  “Duncan could have died,” Spencer said to Gunnar in a whisper.

  Spencer hit a silver button on the wall to open the infirmary door. The aroma from dinner and the Bjørn Bar smacked him in the face like air conditioning on a sweltering August day. The urge to rotate out of there almost won over his concern for his dumb shit cousin.

  An attractive forty-ish no-nonsense nurse pointed them to the sign-in sheet until she understood they were there for Duncan. “Sit down over there. Away from them. Any nonsense and I’ll send our orderly Mike out. And you don’t want to make Mike mad.” She pointed her long finger at them and then to the group of shifters huddled in the corner. They glared over at Kyle’s family. Two male shifters and a woman. Tad nodded at them, worried faces spread over both groups.

  They plopped down into the black and purple waiting room chairs. Spencer sat stoically, Gunnar on one side, Tad on the other. The scent floated into the waiting room any time the door opened. Tad watched the doors, not ready for the woman who belonged to the scent.

  “Shit, Aurora. We need to tell her. If she finds out from someone else, she’ll freak out.” Gunnar threw the magazine he was thumbing through back on the table.

  “Right.” Spencer hesitated but rose. Tad jumped at his chance to get far away from the scent.

  “You stay. I’ll find out where she is and tell her. Don’t worry about it.” Tad stood.

  “Panther Hall,” Gunnar and Spencer said in unison.

  Tad and Spencer both stared at Gunnar.

  “What? I glanced at her paperwork for the board gaming convention shit,” said Gunnar. “Not like I went and checked on her. But if I did, I would tell you she’s sitting near the wall with her back to the door, third table on the right.”

  Spencer glared at Gunnar.

  “What?” Gunnar said. “It’s Aurora. Just wanted to make sure she found the hall okay.”

  Tad sprinted out of the waiting room.

  5

  Stone Heart

  Tad jogged up the stairs from the main lobby. Aurora’s night gaming session would be over soon. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too upset that he’d come to get her. But he didn’t want to deal with the fallout if he didn’t. The doors to the Panther ballroom were open. It looked like a lot of fun to him. Board games were something he was almost as passionate about as Aurora. But he had stopped playing them with her. Too much drama from giving her attention, both from Spencer and Duncan.

  Aurora sat at a table towards the edge of the room. She turned and waved to him, and he made his way over to her.

  “Hey.” He nodded to Aurora and the girl she was talking to.

  “Tad, this is Lauren. She’ll be at our table. Well, not only my gaming table, but our dinner table, too.”

  “Nice to meet you. Aurora, it’s no big thing. Just thought you should know in case you hear it somewhere else.”

  “Hear what, Tad? What’s no big deal? Usually when people say it’s no big deal, it’s a big deal. Like a really big deal.” Panic scent rolled off of Aurora.

  Lauren put her arm around Aurora. “Breathe, let . . .” Lauren motioned to him.

  “Tad,” Tad said.

  “Let Tad tell you the rest.” Both of the woman pivoted to Tad.

  “So, he’s fine, or he’s going to be fine, like I was saying. But the match.”

  “Duncan. What happened? For a high school English teacher, you would think that he’d get the story out faster.”

  “Aurora, take a breath. You’re going to hyperventilate.” Lauren rubbed Aurora’s arm.

  “The other wolf almost ripped his throat out but, like I said, he’s going to be fine.”

  “Where is he?” Aurora took off running.

  Tad followed behind. And then Aurora ran into a cutout castle display placed at the side of the top of the steps. The display tipped over with Aurora on top of it and in the next moment she sped down the stairs, riding the giant castle. With each step, she flew a little into the air and screamed as the makeshift sled picked up speed. Aurora held onto the cardboard and it turned. As the castle hit the landing, Aurora bounced off of it and smashed into the wall on the far side, firmly implanting her right foot and knee into the wall.

  Aurora tried to stand but sat back down.

  Tad raced after her. He knelt beside her. She smiled up at him, and he let out a sigh. They were going to kill him. Somehow, both Duncan and Spencer would make this his fault. “Shit, Aurora, I hope you are okay, because I so want to laugh.”

  Lauren joined them on the landing. Her ‘Are you okay’ was echoed by the people who had been in the lobby of the Panther Hall.

  Aurora looked at Lauren and then Tad, and she couldn’t control herself. She laughed. Tears ran down her cheeks until she snorted.

  “I missed that sound.” Lauren was on her knees on the landing. She probed gently at Aurora’s leg.

  “I’m good,” Aurora said, but she was obviously trying to not put any weight on her leg.

  “You’re aren’t going to like this, princess.”

  “Like what?” She looked up at him.

  He picked her up and cradled her to his chest. He could see having a thing for her too, if half of his family didn’t already.

  “I just happen to know the way to the infirmary. No complaining; this will be faster.” Tad took the stairs swiftly but carefully down. Lauren followed.

  “Wait, Tad, stop.” He stopped, but only when Aurora pinched his scruffy bearded cheek. “Lauren, I’m sure I’m fine. I’ll see you later. Go back and play. Hopefully I will be back in time for the last round.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, now go.”

  “Okay.” But Lauren didn’t look confident in her decision as Tad strode away with Aurora. Aurora waved over Tad’s shoulder.

  * * *

  The aroma was stronger in the back rooms of the infirmary. His wolf begged to be let out so he co
uld roll around in it. Tad pushed back a firm ‘no.’

  Tad put Aurora on the exam table down the hall from Duncan’s room.

  “He’s going to freak a little.” Aurora wiggled her ankle but grimaced in pain. “You’re sure we have to tell him?”

  Tad looked down at Aurora who sat on the end of the table, her leg spread across it. “Which ‘him’ are you talking about?”

  “Spencer,” Aurora said.

  “And why exactly did you take off frantically? When I told you about Duncan?” A little leading the witness in this situation wouldn’t hurt. She liked Duncan; she might not be admitting it to herself, but he’d seen it.

  “I wasn’t frantic.”

  Tad stared at her.

  “Maybe I was a little frantic. But I’m always like that. You know, clumsy.”

  “No, you’re not.” Yes, she was.

  Aurora shrugged her shoulders. “Let’s not tell either of them.”

  “Listen, Lucy, I’m not going to be part of any crazy plans. They’re down the hall. They’re going to figure it out.”

  “Lucy?”

  “Yes, a little redder next time and you could be Lucille Ball.” He pulled on her recently dyed hair.

  Aurora pursed her lips and stuck out her tongue.

  “Well, I see you’re not feeling too bad if you can stick your tongue out.” The doctor stood in the doorway, her messy bun on the edge of no longer being a bun. Tad’s not-so-careful plan of avoidance exploded all over him. His stone heart flopped. Her scent filled the room. He was craving more than meatloaf and it pissed him off.

  6

  The Big Bad Wolf

  Handsome shifters were the staple on the ship. She was even used to good-looking shifters gazing at her like they wanted to devour her. But this one—he was different. He looked like he wanted her and she was poison at the same time. His smirk bordered on a sneer. Oh, he was as good-looking as his cousin down the hall. Not the alpha or the one without the hole in his neck. She might have thought them to be brothers if she hadn’t overheard them saying that their cousin had gone to get the patient sitting on the table.

  The sneering wall of muscle in front of her sent shots of desire to her core. Seriously, what the heck? She’d turned off that part of herself, long before her relationship with Phillip ended. She didn’t need a guy, especially not a shifter. She didn’t want to distract herself from her research or her patients. And tongue depressors, this male was distracting.

  He said nothing to her, and she straightened her shoulders and ignored him back. Why would he say anything to her? Her unprofessional thoughts taunted her and she squinted at him, then snapped to the patient on the exam table.

  “Dr. Cottage.” Elizabeth shook her patient’s hand and read the chart that Anna had filled out.

  “Aurora Berry. I would say nice to meet you, but . . .”

  “True, no one goes on a cruise and says, ‘I hope I get to meet the ship’s doctor.’ Let’s see your leg; you’ve had quite the fall.” She took Aurora’s leg in her hands, manipulating the knee with care.

  “More like ride,” Aurora laughed.

  It didn’t appear broken, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t. “How’s this feel?”

  “Okay.”

  “Any pain?”

  “A little.” Aurora winced.

  Elizabeth proceeded around the exam table, putting her back to the scowling wolf.

  “How is Duncan doing?” Aurora asked when she paused the exam to take notes.

  She looked at the scowling cousin across from her again. He nodded his consent. “He’s awake. His brothers are in with him now. I’m sure you can see him after you’re bandaged up. You’ll have an X-ray to rule out a break. Hopefully our machine is working again. Either way I want you to come for a check-up tomorrow.” She gave her best it will be fine smile. The one she had practiced in the mirror during her residency.

  “Isn’t there a lot of bruising here next to her ankle?” The tone of Tad’s voice was firm and a bit condescending. He pointed to a bruised area on the side of Aurora’s ankle.

  “There’s some bruising but not more than would be expected for the trauma she’s had.”

  “What about an MRI?”

  “No, I want to wait. X-rays first—”

  “What if she has a meniscus injury?”

  “It appears to be a sprain. Let’s wait for the X-ray before we jump into thinking about an MRI.” Elizabeth stood on the opposite side of the exam table from Tad. She raised her voice a little louder with each sentence she spoke. “Mr. Larsen, I’m the medical professional.” Why was this deteriorating into a shouting match?

  “I’m an EMT, Dr. Cottage, and I coach Kunyon ball and I’ve seen a lot of leg trauma injuries of human kids from that—”

  “The name tag on my coat says Doctor Cottage.” Elizabeth poked herself in the chest with such vigor that she winced.

  “Don’t do that.” His blue eyes flickered at her. And her anger raged on.

  “Do WHAT?”

  “Don’t hurt yourself, Dr. Cottage.” Of all the infuriating things to say. Shifter males were impossible. He didn’t want her to hurt herself by poking at her own chest. But to be honest, it hurt a little. She had poked with determination. The two of them were leaning over Aurora now. He smelled amazing—of fresh-cut grass and chocolate. Aurora, who had been sitting up, was now lying flat. Her expression gave away her desire to slide off the edge of the exam table and slither away. But she also looked beyond amused. Elizabeth caught herself and stood upright.

  The door to the hallway opened. “Dr. Cottage, is everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine,” Tad and Elizabeth replied together.

  “Well, it doesn’t sound fine and Mrs. Rubin across the hall is upset.” Nurse Anna had her hand on her hip and pointed at Tad and Elizabeth with her index finger. She took a deep breath. “Huh, well, that should be interesting,” she muttered to herself and chuckled. “Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Rubin. The doctor just found someone she was hoping to never find is all.”

  “Oh,” Aurora said to both of them. “That makes so much more sense. This isn’t about my leg at all.” Aurora pointed back and forth between Tad and Elizabeth. “You’re—”

  “Strangers,” Elizabeth blurted out. “Have a good day, Miss Berry. I’ll send Nurse Smithfield in to take you down the hall for your X-ray, which should be all the testing you need.” With a swift pivot of her pink-Croc’d feet, her loose-bunned head disappeared in the hallway.

  “You’ve decided that before you’ve seen the X-ray?” Tad called out to her, but she didn’t stop.

  She opened the door to her office and slammed it shut. The door was counterweighted and shut without the uncharacteristic drama she wanted for the first time in her life. Under no circumstance did she need this right now, not until she’d found the cure for shifter widows.

  With arms crossed over her chest, she sighed. She signed in to her computer and clicked through her e-mail inbox. She was shaking. She didn’t shake, and she most certainly didn’t yell. What the fudge happened in there? He was the most handsome and infuriating male she’d ever met. The desire to wrap her arms around his neck and sniff his hair and then punch him pulsed through her. A Kunyon ball coach telling her how to treat a patient. But then the desire to wrap her legs around him instead jumped into her head like a cartoon.

  She huffed and entered her password into her computer again. Even thinking of the insufferable male took her time and focus. She wouldn’t repeat her mistakes. That was the one good thing about Phillip: she never cared enough to spend time thinking about him.

  Two emails from the captain. Which she skipped. All the daily e-mails from the staff. She scrolled through and saw the results she was waiting for from the Center for Disease Control. Except it wasn’t her results. She read the e-mail three times. Each time it seemed crazier than the last. It was a letter inquiring if she would like to apply for a job at the CDC in Atlanta. Research director.


  The door opened ten minutes later. Anna poked her head in. “Are you planning on hiding out in here the rest of the night? There’re stitches in exam room three.” Anna held the door open for her. “You want to talk about the wolf in exam room two?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about—he’s not my patient. I treated his friend and moved on.” I’m not spending a second thinking about rolling around on the grass with him. Fudge pops, what in the world was happening to her?

  “I’m a puma, remember? I can taste a lie before you even say it.”

  “I’m aware of your abilities, Anna. That doesn’t mean I want to discuss the shifter in exam room two.”

  “His name is Tad.”

  “Tad?” She said it a little too loud. “That’s odd.”

  “It’s short for Theodore, but you don’t want to discuss him. I’ll bring you the X-rays when you’re out of room three.” Anna pivoted. “Elizabeth, I think of you as my friend. You’re my boss, but I think of you as my friend first.”

  “Same. I don’t think about the boss part, though. And here is where you say . . ?”

  “Romulus, my mate, is the best thing that ever happened to me. Well, that and those two kits of mine masquerading as adults. Not everyone is given a mate. You’re darn lucky.”

  “Anna. I don’t want that. I couldn’t handle a relationship with a guy who didn’t care about me. A shifter mate? He’ll take up every last minute of my time. Like a newborn. Oh god, kids—he’ll want kids. I’ve never even thought about a family. No. I can’t do that. I have obligations. Besides, he’s a pompous know-it-all. He’s a Kunyon coach and he was trying to tell me how to be a doctor. Seriously.”