"Mr. Wolfgard, let me talk to the doctor. Let me help," he said firmly when Simon snarled at him. The Wolf didn't lunge at any of them, so Monty took the doctor by the arm and led him a few steps away.

"I'm Lieutenant C. J. Montgomery, Lakeside Police Department."

"Dr. Dominick Lorenzo. Look, Lieutenant, we've got ambulances fighting to get here with people who need our help. We can't be indulging them just because-"

"Sir, I understand your feelings. But she's human, and she's their Liaison. They came here for help. Unless she gets the very best care you can provide, this city will never see another spring. I'm sorry to place this burden on you, but the lives of everyone in Lakeside are now in your hands."

Lorenzo glanced toward the entrance. "You can't know the storm won't end."

"Yes, sir, I can, because the fury driving this storm was standing outside this hospital a minute ago and told me flat-out that our lives depend on their Liaison getting well."

"G.o.ds above and below," Lorenzo muttered. Squaring his shoulders, he strode back to where Simon Wolfgard stood trembling with rage.

"Do you know what happened to your friend?" he asked.

"She fell through the ice when she was running from the enemy," Simon snarled.

"Most likely hypothermia, but we'll make sure nothing else is going on," Lorenzo said. "Let's get her into the exam room at the end."

s.n.a.t.c.hing Meg from the other terra indigene male, Simon followed Dr. Lorenzo. Monty followed them, and the other male trailed after him.

Monty half listened to Lorenzo's rapid instructions to the nurses who were getting Meg out of her wet clothes. Before the doctor could close the exam-room door, Simon muscled in, leaving Monty with little choice except to go in with him and hold him away from the doctor and nurses.

Turning his face to give Meg that much privacy, he whispered to Simon, "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"

The question brought back some of the thinking intelligence in Wolfgard's eyes. "I feel . . . angry."

"Did you take anything before you started feeling angry?" Any drugs? Not likely, but it was possible Simon had ingested something without realizing it.

Simon shook his head, his eyes fixed on the people touching Meg.

Then a nurse sucked in a breath. Turning his head, Monty looked at Meg Corbyn's bare arms and saw the evenly s.p.a.ced scars-and the crosshatch of scars on her left arm. Answering the unspoken question in Lorenzo's eyes, he said, "Yes, she's a ca.s.sandra sangue."

"Get more blankets and a heating pad," Lorenzo said. When one of the nurses bolted, he tipped his head to indicate he wanted to talk to them out of the room.

"How long was she in the water?" he asked Simon.

"Not long. We heard Winter scream when Meg fell through the ice. We pulled her out."

"And before that? Did you remove her coat before you brought her to the hospital?"

Simon shook his head. "No coat. No boots. She was running from the enemy."

"How did you get here?"

"We came in the sleigh."

Lorenzo didn't look happy. "All right. We'll start with external treatment; see if we get enough indication that we can bring her around that way. Now. That gash in her chin. I can close it without st.i.tches, but only if you can leave the bandages alone. If you can't, I'll have to use st.i.tches to make sure the gash stays closed and heals properly. But st.i.tches puncture the skin, and that might cause her some mental distress, even in her present condition. Also, if I use st.i.tches, the whole chin would no longer be viable for cutting."

Simon's eyes blazed red. He snarled, "Do you think we care about her because of her skin? She's not property to us. She's Meg."

Monty held on to the Wolf, pushing him back from Lorenzo. "He has to tell you that, Simon. You're standing in for Meg's family, and it's his duty to tell you so that you can decide what is best for her."

Simon panted with the effort to control himself. "Fix her."

"It would be best if you stayed out of the room while I tend to her."

Feeling the objection in the way the Wolf's muscles bunched, Monty said quickly, "If you give me your word that you'll wait right here, I'll go in and stand guard for you."

He thought Lorenzo might object, but the doctor just waited with him for Simon's answer.

A sharp nod. Wolfgard was panting and growling, so a nod was the best he could do to give permission.

The nurse arrived with blankets and a heating pad. Lorenzo and Monty followed her into the room. When Lorenzo closed the door, they all jumped at the howl that rose from the other side of the door.

"Can you keep him from doing that?" Lorenzo asked as he cleaned and closed the gash in Meg's chin. "Scaring everyone in the emergency room isn't going to help."

"Let him stay in here with her. I think he'll be calmer that way." Monty glanced at the bed, then looked away. "You've dealt with blood prophets before?"

"I saw a few of them during my residency. Anytime the skin is punctured, it opens the girl to prophecy."

"So if Ms. Corbyn needs st.i.tches . . . ?"

"Only the G.o.ds know what she's seeing right now because of the gash," Lorenzo replied grimly. "Every st.i.tch would only add to it."

Monty leaned against the wall, feeling sick. He didn't speak again until Lorenzo finished and the supplies were properly stowed away.

"Let him in," Lorenzo said.

Simon leaped into the room the moment Monty opened the door. He stared at Meg. "She's cold. She's shivering!"

"That's a good thing," Lorenzo replied. "We'll use the heating pad to warm up the blankets. We'll keep her warm, keep watch on her heart rate and breathing."

"Not so different from a Wolf," Simon said quietly.

"I'm calling in my men," Monty said, knowing he wouldn't have anyone but Louis for backup until the storm ended. "One of them will be on guard at all times."

"Is that necessary?" Lorenzo asked.

"Yes, sir, it is."

Simon blinked. "Winter is outside." He walked out of the room.

"I have to take care of other patients," Lorenzo said. He looked toward the two nurses.

"I'll keep an eye on Ms. Corbyn," Monty said. "Your people are needed elsewhere."

When Lorenzo and the nurses left, Monty noticed the Other who crouched against the wall outside the room. "I'm Lieutenant Montgomery. Can you tell me what happened in the Courtyard?"

"I know who you are," the male replied wearily, pushing to his feet. "I'm Jester." He walked into the exam room and closed the door. "I can tell you some of it."

When Jester finished, Monty stepped out of the room and called his men. He couldn't reach Kowalski, who had been trying to ski to the Courtyard, and hoped the man had found shelter somewhere. Debany and MacDonald were a few blocks from the hospital and were bringing in some injured citizens. When he reached Burke and gave a summary of what had happened, the captain agreed with the necessity for guards while the Liaison was in the hospital and an abduction attempt was still a possibility.

Sending Jester to fetch one of the plastic chairs from the waiting room, Monty stood by the bed. Was Meg's breathing labored? Was she too pale?

He leaned down and said quietly, "Ms. Corbyn? You're safe now. We're going to keep you safe. But you have to help us. We all need you to get well."

Her eyes fluttered open.

"Meg?"

"Cold." Her voice was barely audible. "Cold."

"We'll get you warm."

Her eyes closed.

A minute later, he heard Jester set down a chair by the door-and Simon Wolfgard returned, snow melting off the fur covering the mostly human body.

"She woke up for a moment," Monty said.

Simon rushed to the side of the bed. "Meg? Meg!"

"I'll let Dr. Lorenzo know she came around that much." Leaving Simon and Jester to stand watch, Monty found the doctor and reported. Then he found Louis, who was trying to reach his own team. Finally, he found a vending machine, got a cup of coffee, and returned to the exam room to begin his shift of guard duty.

Still in human form, his clothes spattered with Hurricane's blood, Jester curled up in a corner of the exam room, his head pressed to his knees. He whined softly for a few minutes, then drifted off to sleep.

Simon stood by the bed, watching Meg. He felt so confused, so . . . angry. He had a reason to be angry. The enemy had invaded the Courtyard, had destroyed buildings, had killed some of the terra indigene. And they had threatened Sam and tried to take Meg. Even so, this angry didn't feel right, and the closer he was to human, the more he felt not right.

"Did you take anything before you started feeling angry?" Monty had asked. The possible answer to the question made him uneasy, so he wasn't going to think about it. Not now.

He glanced at the closed door. Meg was cold, shivering. The blankets weren't helping. He knew what he would do for a member of his pack. He carefully got onto the narrow hospital bed, grumbling because it was barely wide enough for a single human. After fixing the covers over him and Meg, he shifted to Wolf and curled his tail over her feet.

Much better.

She couldn't hear him, couldn't answer, but he called anyway. He stretched his neck, sniffing at the bandages that covered the gash in her chin. He didn't like them. They shouldn't be there. He wanted to pull them off and lick the wound. Lick and lick until it healed.He drew back his head. He had promised to leave the bandages alone. He'd brought her here for human healing, so he mustn't undo what the doctor had done.Not so angry now. Not feeling so alone now with his body touching hers.Winter outside in the sleigh, those cold, rage-filled eyes fixed on him when he came out to talk to her. he'd said. Winter nodded. Then she and Air drove off. And as he turned to go back inside, the wind died down and the snow stopped falling.The door opened. Simon turned his head and bared his teeth, ready to spring up and attack. But it was Dr. Lorenzo, so he stayed where he was."I came in to check on Ms. Corbyn," the doctor said. "I'll check her pulse, then use a stethoscope to listen to her heart and lungs." He touched her wrist and looked at his watch. Then he put the metal disk on her chest and appeared to be listening.Could Lorenzo hear the little rattle in her lungs that Simon could hear without the disk?"Pneumonia's a concern," Lorenzo said quietly. "But she might avoid any problems." He glanced at the Wolf body under the covers. "The main thing now is to keep her warm."When Lorenzo left, Simon stretched out his neck again, still wanting to get rid of those bandages and the medicine smell under them. With a quiet grumble, he licked her arm instead.Her fingers flexed, burrowed into his fur. "Don't tell Simon about spinning the BOW," she mumbled.He lifted his head. But she was asleep again.Nowhere to go. Nothing he could do while she was here. Settling his head on her shoulder, he closed his eyes and slept.CHAPTER 29.Vlad studied the ash that drifted off the two bodies. The last two enemies had been in sight of the Corvine entrance, had almost escaped. Riding their machines, they might have gotten out if they'd met up with anyone but Fire.Suddenly aware that the swooshing sound he'd been hearing for the past minute had stopped, he looked toward the open gate. The figure hesitated, then came forward, moving slowly on skis."Mr. Sanguinati? It's Officer Kowalski. I work with Lieutenant Montgomery."He recognized the voice, but he still felt suspicious. "Do humans ski during storms?""No, sir, not by choice. But I heard about the explosion in the Courtyard and was coming to see if I could help when I got caught in the blizzard. My mobile phone is still working, and I got a call through to the station. The lieutenant's teams are heading for the hospital. Protection for Ms. Corbyn while she's there."Still trying to work out if there was another message under the words, Vlad looked toward the Wolfgard part of the Courtyard as howls filled the air."Problem?" Kowalski asked."One of the Wolves died.""In the storm?"