Warning Bells

Christie's POV

Someone had carried me to bed.

That was the first thing I registered when I opened my eyes. I had sat down on the couch in the hallway outside Nima's room to rest my legs for a minute, and then nothing. I was out. And now I was in the guest room, under a heavy blanket, with no memory of walking here.

Lyon. It had to be him.

I sat up and pushed my hair back. The room was bright with morning light. On the armchair near the window, someone had laid out a fresh set of clothes. Comfortable trousers, a soft grey top, folded neatly. I stared at them for a second.

Nobody had ever done that for me. Not once in my life.

I changed quickly, then splashed water on my face and went straight to Nima's room.

The door was already slightly open.

I pushed it wider and stopped.

Lyon was in the chair beside his mother's bed, his head dropped forward, his arms resting on his knees. Asleep. He was still in the same clothes from last night, jacket gone, shirt rumpled at the sleeves. His face was relaxed in a way I had never seen when he was awake.

He looked better than the men I fantasized from TV shows when I was a teenager. Yet, he was the person who had walked into my lab and thrown me over his shoulder without blinking.

I stood there longer than I should have.

What would it actually feel like to have those strong arms wrapped around my waist and that mouth seeking out mine for a passionate kiss?

Wait, what?

Was I really fantasizing about the man who had kidnapped me?

I shook myself and walked in.

Doctor Christie Graves is only supposed to fantasize about saving lives and perfecting the cures she was working on.

I moved to Nima's side and reached for the monitor. Her temperature was down.

Her breathing was slow and even. The stabilizer had done exactly what it was supposed to do overnight and her body was responding well.

I exhaled for what felt like the first time in hours.

I leaned over to check her pulse manually, pressing two fingers gently to her wrist, and then I reached across to adjust the drip dial on the other side of the bed.

My hand landed directly on top of Lyon's.

He was awake.

I didn't even hear him stir. His eyes were open and he was watching me, and neither of us pulled back. My fingers were resting on the back of his hand and we both just stayed there for a moment that went on too long to be accidental.

I pulled my hand away first.

"Sorry," I said quietly. "I didn't want to wake you."

"You didn't wake me." His voice was rough from sleep. He sat up straighter and looked at his mother. "How is she?"

"Better. Much better than last night." I kept my eyes on the monitor.

"The treatment is holding. If she stays stable through today, we can talk about next steps."

Lyon stood up from the chair slowly. He stretched his neck to one side and then looked at me.

"Did you sleep?"

"Someone carried me to the guest room."

He didn't confirm or deny it. He just looked at me with that steady, unbothered expression of his.

"The clothes fit," he said.

"They do. Thank you." I paused. "You didn't have to do that."

"You fell asleep on a hallway couch," he said flatly. "What was I supposed to do, leave you there?"

"Most people would have. I decided to sit there anyway."

He looked at me for a second like that was the saddest thing he'd heard all week, and then he turned back to his mother.

I started writing in my notebook, recording Nima's overnight readings. The room was quiet in a comfortable way, which surprised me. I hadn't expected to feel comfortable anywhere in this house.

The door opened without a knock.

An older man walked in. He was huge like most of the men I'd seen here, with grey at his temples and a long dark coat. He didn't look at Lyon first. He looked at me, standing at Nima's bedside with my notebook and my stethoscope, and his expression went hard immediately.

"The human is still here," he declared.

I looked at Lyon. Lyon looked at the man with what immediately looked like anger.

"Elder Cass," he said.

"I was told she stayed the night." The man's eyes didn't leave me. "This was not the agreement."

I looked between the two of them.

They kept saying it. Human. Like it was a category.

Or was it something specific that I was supposed to already understand?

Warning bells started going off in my head immediately.

What exactly had I gotten into?

“Human?” I asked.