'Probably.'

'See, you healed just fine,' Perkins said.

'I had help, and we don't have any of that kind of help with us,' Nathaniel said, and gave me a long, serious look. He meant we didn't have vampires with us, and even if we did, they'd need to be powerful enough to heal Ares without catching the rotting disease themselves. Asher had been strong enough, but Damian had almost died of it.

I turned back to Perkins. 'Trust me; this will kill him just like it's killing Officer Travers.'

'Lycanthropes can't get infections,' the paramedic said.

'Nathaniel is alive because we had extraordinary ... healing help, but on his own without that help he would be dead now. It is the only infection I've seen that can be fatal to them. I swear to you that I am not lying to try to get my guy on your chopper. I saw the bodies in the morgue that had this, and a bite near any major artery can travel to organs you need to stay alive. If this gets to his brain or heart, then he'll die from it.'

'You don't know that,' Perkins said, 'and I do know that three of the men waiting for transport will be dead within two hours or less without more medical care than I can give them.'

'Take the brain or the heart of a wereanimal and they won't heal, they'll just die. If this infection rots either of those organs, then it's the same as blowing them out with a shotgun; they're gone either way.'

'They know how to treat it better now; it's not that fast-acting,' Perkins said.

'With treatment it's not, but I'm worried that the higher metabolism he has as a shifter may actually move it through his body faster than if he were human.'

Perkins gave me a narrow look. I fought the urge to yell at him. Nathaniel hugged me closer, trying to soothe me, so I wouldn't lose my temper. He was right. If I screamed at the nice paramedic he would ignore me, and Ares wouldn't get on the first chopper.

'Look, Marshal, we have two men who will die within the hour, and that's not counting Travers.'

'How many will fit on the chopper?' I asked.

'Six. The clearing is only big enough for a Black Hawk.'

'Then there's room for your two critical, plus Travers, and Ares, plus one more,' I said.

He looked grim, never a good sign. 'I don't mean to be harsh, but I have to triage on the basis of severity of injury and likelihood of recovery. If I accept that your friend here has the same thing Travers has, then that doesn't change my mind. My understanding is that they will have to try to cut away the infected flesh. We don't have a lycanthrope blood supply, especially not for AB-negative, which is what Nick said he was. That's the rarest blood type in this country; there's never enough of it.'

I didn't bother to ask how Nicky knew Ares' blood type. I'd ask later after we saved him. 'A shapeshifter can take human blood, it's just the other way around that can give someone lycanthropy,' I said.

'In most of the western states, even Colorado, the blood supply for lycanthropes and normal humans is strictly separate.'

'You're saying that even if we get him there they can't operate in time, because he'll need blood,' I said.

He nodded. 'I'm sorry, but yes.'

'What if you had a lycanthrope with O-negative blood type?'

'One person might be able to donate enough for a conservative operation, but what are the chances of finding a universal donor with lycanthropy?' Perkins said.

'I am.'

'You're O-negative and a lycanthrope?'

'I carry lycanthropy but don't shift form, so technically I'm not a lycanthrope.'

'It's not possible to carry and not shift.'

'So they keep telling me, but I failed my blood test three years ago and so far what you see is what you get.'

He blinked hard, frowning. 'If you are lying to me, Blake ...'

'I swear to you I'm not. My blood work is on record with the Marshals Service.'

Perkins gave me another suspicious look.

Nicky called out, 'I hear the chopper.'

'I don't hear anything,' Perkins said.

'I don't either, but if Nicky says he hears it, we'll hear it soon.' I'd barely finished saying it when I heard the distant chop-chop-chop sound of the helicopter blades. They were distant but coming. 'I hear it,' I said.

'I still don't,' Perkins said. It was another couple of minutes before he heard it. Sometimes I didn't appreciate that I had super-hearing since I was usually surrounded by shapeshifters and vampires.

I said something I don't say often; I said, 'Please, don't let him die, not like this.'

He frowned at me. 'Damn it, fine, can Nick carry him back to the clearing?'

'Yes,' Nicky said.

'Follow me, and you're going to have to ride along, Blake. We'll have to put you in the helicopter equivalent of a jump seat, and only if the pilot says the weight distribution will tolerate your extra.'

'I'm small,' I said.

'You better pray you're small enough for everyone who needs to be on this chopper, plus one blood donor.'

Nicky picked up Ares easily and followed Perkins. Nathaniel took my left hand in his and spoke low. 'How's your phobia of flying doing?'

I stiffened, stopped walking, and almost stumbled. 'Motherfucker,' I said, softly, but with feeling.

'You didn't think about it, did you?'

'If I can save him, I'm going to,' I said.

He squeezed my hand and said, 'That's my girl.'

'Yes,' I said, 'I am.' We kissed gently as we walked, and the first tree limb caught in his hair. It wouldn't be the last. Becker actually took the ponytail holder out of her own hair and gave it to him so he could braid it. It also inadvertently exposed his body completely. Some good deeds do get rewarded.

CHAPTER 32