Jim was asleep on my couch.
Oh no. Last time I found him asleep in my house, a spider creature had been feeding on his soul. Not again.
I shoved the glasses onto the side table, grabbed his shoulders, and shook. “Jim! Jim, talk to me.”
He blinked and opened his beautiful dark eyes. They were glazed over as if he weren’t fully there.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
He peered at me. “I was challenged.”
In the Pack, personal challenges decided leadership. They meant a fight to the death. There was no mercy. “Who?”
“Roger Mountain,” he said.
Roger Mountain was a panther, vicious and ruthless. Jim was alive, so he had to have killed Roger, but I had seen Roger fight before. He tore his opponents into pieces.
“How bad?” I asked.
“Not that bad.”
“Jim?”
He raised the side of his T-shirt. His entire torso was dark. It took me a second to realize that it was one continuous bruise. Oh you silly idiot man. “Have medmages seen this?” The Pack had its own hospital and our medmages were some of the best.
“Sure.”
“What did they say?”
“They said it was fine.”
“I’m going to hit you with a wine bottle,” I growled. “What did they really say?”
“I spoke to Nasrin. She said bed rest for twenty-four hours.”
Of course, she recommended bed rest. The fight had to have drained Jim down to nothing, and changing shape took a lot of energy, especially now. Magic flooded our world in waves. When magic was up, spells worked and transforming was easier and still, if a normal shapeshifter changed form twice in twenty-four hours, Lyc-V, the shapeshifter virus, would shut your body down for a nap. I was exempt from this rule, because while I carried the virus, my magic was mystical in origin, but Jim’s wasn’t. With technology in control, a fight behind him, and two shape-changings, Jim should’ve been in bed, not here.
“So, instead of resting you shifted out of warrior form and drove here?” He couldn’t have been that reckless. He could’ve fallen asleep at the wheel.
Jim yawned. “I didn’t want to miss it.” He smiled at me. “You look really pretty.”
Oh you stupid dummy.
“I’m just going to sit here for a second,” he said and closed his eyes.
Jim was six feet tall. My couch was tiny. If he fell asleep here, he wouldn’t be able to walk in the morning. “Nasrin said bed rest, not couch rest.” I wedged my shoulder under his armpit. “Come on. We’re going upstairs to the bedroom.”
His eyes lit up for half a second. “Well, if you insist . . .”
“I insist.” I pulled him upright. I was a vegetarian weretiger, but I was still a shapeshifter. I could’ve carried him up the stairs except I didn’t think he would let me. “Come on.”
We walked up the stairs and I deposited him on the bed. I loved huge soft beds, and this one was a queen with a mattress topper so thick I had to hop to get onto it. Jim landed on it and sank in. I reached for his boots, but he sat up. “I’ve got it.”
His boots hit the floor. He lay back and closed his eyes. I slipped into the closet and pulled off my lingerie. I didn’t want him to see me in it. If he did, he might think that I had a plan for the evening and was upset because it collapsed. I didn’t care about the plan. I just wanted him to be okay. I threw on a pair of plain cotton panties and a white tank top, came out, and slipped into the bed next to him.
Magic rolled over us in an invisible wave. All of the electric lights went out and the feylantern in the bathroom stirred into life, glowing with gentle blue. My magic flowed through me. Excellent. He would heal faster during a magic wave.
“Sorry I ruined the date,” Jim murmured.
I snuggled up to him, my hand on his chest, careful not to press too hard. “You didn’t. This is perfect.”
• • •
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK.
I opened my eyes. I was lying in my bed. I inhaled deep and smelled Jim. His scent was all around me, the clean, citrus-spiced smell that drove me crazy. His arm was across my waist, his body hot against my side.
Jim was in my bed and he was holding me. I smiled.
Knock-knock-knock.
Someone was knocking on my front door. That was fine. They could keep knocking. I would just keep lying here, in my soft bed, wrapped in Jim. Mmmm . . .
“Dali! Open the door.”
Mom.
I jerked upright in my bed. Jim leaped straight up and landed on his feet, his arms raised, his body tense, ready to pounce. “What?”
“My mother is here!” I jumped to the floor, jerked a pair of shorts from under my bed, and hopped on one foot trying to put them on.
He exhaled. “I thought it was an emergency.”
“It is an emergency,” I hissed in a theatrical whisper. “Stay here! Don’t make any noise.”
“Dali,” he started.
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. “Shush!”
He blinked. I grabbed my kimono, tossed it over me, shut the door to my bedroom, and ran down the stairs, holding on to the rail for dear life so I wouldn’t trip. The last thing I needed was my mother finding out I had Jim in my bedroom. There would be no end of shock and questions and then she would want to know if we had set the date for the wedding yet and when are the grandchildren coming. I didn’t even know if Jim was serious.
I jumped the last seven steps, tied my kimono, and reached for the door.