“I’ll tell ya where she is as soon as you put your cousin down. You’re crushing his windpipe.”

Bold released Fabi. “Where is she?” he demanded again.

Grigori motioned to a room between the two of them. “Right in there. So you can stop acting like a putz.”

The boy gave a short snarl and stormed into the room. That’s when Marci felt the need to glare at Grigori and he shrugged in response. What had he done?

She wasn’t in the bed, but cold relief washed over him when he saw her standing naked by the large picture windows of her hospital room, staring out over the snow and ice outside. He hadn’t known what to expect when the horror of the previous night came back to him. When he realized she was not at his side, safe and healthy.

He took a brief moment to look her over. She had lots of lacerations that the docs had sewn up, but it looked to be mostly from glass. And there were a bunch of bruises that were already fading. But still . . . he remembered how her body moved the night before when he’d turned her over. He knew broken bones and spinal damage when he saw it. He knew because he’d caused his fair share of it. And although shifters could heal from the kind of damage she had faster than humans, it would still take months, maybe years to recover.

Yet here she stood, tall and strong.

Swiping a blanket she’d tossed aside from off the floor, Bo walked up behind her and wrapped it around her body. He didn’t release her, though, simply held her. Bringing his head down to press against the side of her face, he said, “Blayne?”

“How?” she asked.

“How what?”

“How did you get us to Siberia?”

“Siberia? What makes you think we’re in Siberia?”

“An unholy amount of snow and ice and friendly polar bears.” She pressed her hand against the glass, and that’s when Bo saw the three polar males outside the window. One had his black nose pressed against the glass and that’s where Blayne had her hand.

“They’re shifters, Blayne.”

“They are? But they’re so nice.”

“They’re sub-adults. And I think they were just staring at your breasts.”

“Oh. So no Siberia?”

“Nope.”

“That’s disappointing.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I still have something to shoot for.”

He pressed his lips against her cheek, and Blayne’s hand came up and stroked his jaw. “That was a hell of a kiss, Novikov.”

He chuckled and hugged her tighter. “Are you okay?”

“I’m still breathing. In my world that’s okay.” She looked down and gasped. “Oh, God, Bo. Your arm.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’snot okay. It’s in a cast.” She pulled away so she could face him. Her gaze went to his other shoulder and now Bo saw tears. “Your shoulder.”

Not knowing what she was talking about he looked down, saw the bandage on his shoulder. Now that he was aware of it, he felt the pain, too. That’s right. He’d been shot. He remembered.

“It’s okay.”

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve ruined your career. I’ve ruined you.”

Wow. When she went there, she really went there.

“Blayne, you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I did this to you.” She pressed herself into him, sobbing against his bare chest. “God, what did I do?”

Not sure how to handle this, he did what he used to do ten years ago when he was confused. “Dr. Luntz?”

The sow appeared in the doorway, her face concerned. “What is it, Bold?” He motioned to the wolfdog in his arms.

“What on earth . . .” She rushed in, pressed her hand to Blayne’s forehead. “What’s going on?”

“Uh . . . she thinks she’s ruined my career and my life. Apparently this is all her fault.”

“Oh, honestly. The Novikov men.” She gripped Blayne’s shoulders and pulled her away from Bo. “Come on, dear.” She took her back to the bed. “You need to calm down. You need to stop crying. You know we can’t give you anything to do it for you.”

Grigori appeared in the doorway. The sight of him took Bo by surprise. Not because he looked substantially different—he didn’t. A little older, definitely a lot more gray in all that white hair, but that wasn’t it. It was seeing him at all, after all this time. And to see him looking so . . . concerned.

“What’s going on?” he demanded, his eyes on Bo.

“Now I need you to calm down,” Dr. Luntz snapped at Grigori. “There’s nothing here we can’t handle. Right, dear?” she asked Blayne, trying to get her attention.

“I’ve ruined his life,” Blayne said between her sobs. “It’s my fault.”

“You haven’t ruined anything. He’ll heal. You both will.”

“He’ll never be the same. He’ll always be flawed. Damaged. Useless.”

Shocked, Bo looked at his uncle and Grigori began laughing, making Blayne snap, “It’s not funny!”

“Of course it’s not funny,” Dr. Luntz said, rubbing Blayne’s shoulders, and trying her hardest not to laugh as well. “You ignore him, dear. He’s an idiot. We’ve all come to accept that.” Dr. Luntz winked at Bo before sitting down beside Blayne.