“Please. Thank you.” He brushed Cael’s hair away from his head. “Is he going to be okay?”
“We won’t know if there’s any internal damage or the extent of it until we get him x-rayed and scanned.” Something in Dex’s face must have given the guy pause, because he gave Dex a sympathetic smile. “His vitals are good. He received no lacerations, or severe injuries from what we can see. It’s likely his brain was rattled around a bit from the impact. We’re probably looking at a couple of nights of observation and rest before he’s cleared. It’s a good thing your brother’s Therian. It’s the only reason there hasn’t been any loss of life.”
“None of the kids….”
The EMT shook his head. “No. Don’t get me wrong; we’re transporting several children in critical condition, but they’re going to pull through. There are plenty more with serious injuries, but being Therian has saved their lives. If they’d been Human, there’d be fewer flashing lights and not enough sirens.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Dex muttered. He thanked the EMT, letting him go about his business patching up Dex’s leg. On the way to the hospital, countless questions went through Dex’s head. Had Isaac known the Therian kids would be more resilient? How would he know there wouldn’t be casualties? Why the hell would he pick a youth center? If he’d really wanted to cause loss of life, why hadn’t he? Something in Dex’s gut told him there was more to this than what was on the surface. There had to be a reason behind the bombing, just as there had to be a reason behind Isaac targeting the CDC Therian registration office. If only they could figure it out before Isaac ended up destroying the city.
DEX HAD spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening hovering outside Cael’s room at the New York Presbyterian Hospital waiting for the doctors to tell him about his baby brother. He’d managed to stop seething a few hours ago, after being forced to fight his way through reporters and angry mobs the moment he’d stepped foot off the ambulance. It was lucky the THIRDS had assigned agents to the hospitals receiving the wounded, or Dex would have ended up in jail for assault. Despite limping and looking like he’d been to hell and back, the villagers had their pitchforks out, demanding he be burned at the stake for his failures. Despite arriving earlier, Calvin hadn’t fared any better with the crowd, but managed to make it inside without punching anyone’s lights out.
Two doors down, his teammate had waited for word on Hobbs, who was in worse shape than Cael. After a bunch of x-rays and scans, Cael’s assigned doctor had assured Dex his brother looked worse off than he was. He’d been knocked out but nothing was broken, fractured, or concussed. They would be keeping him a few nights to observe him and keep running a few Therian tests to make sure. Apparently his brother had a hard head, and lucky for them, that hard head had been protected by an ev
en harder helmet.
As soon as Tony was able to get away, he was thundering through the hospital, voice booming, and boots stomping like Godzilla through Tokyo. Dex had heard him from Cael’s room. His dad deflated the moment his gaze landed on Cael, his gaze going from Cael to Dex and back. The two of them had blubbered like a couple of babies, despite knowing Cael was going to be fine. Then his dad put his game face on, told Dex to call him if anything changed, and stalked off. That had been an hour ago.
After tucking his brother in, Dex decided to check in on Calvin and Hobbs. Lieutenant Sparks had authorized Dex and Calvin to take a couple of personal days, and had even allowed the rest of their team to come visit in shifts. Rosa had kissed Cael’s head, called him her poor gatito, and left with what Dex had been certain were teary eyes. Letty had squeezed the life out of Dex, brought him lunch, and kissed Cael’s head, telling him he’d better be on his feet soon. Neither Sloane nor Ash had made an appearance, but he didn’t hold it against them. Headquarters was on lockdown, trying to sort out the chaos from the bombing, deal with families, address the media, and put every available agent out there on the streets in an attempt to track down Isaac or someone who could lead them to Isaac.
“Hey,” Dex said quietly, closing the door behind him. Calvin stood with Hobbs’s hand in his. There were IVs and tubes everywhere. They’d cleaned Hobbs up, revealing the countless scratches and nasty bruises.
“Doc said it’s a good thing he’s a Therian. His size helped. Plus he was wearing his gear and a helmet. If he’d been Human….” Calvin bit his bottom lip then nodded. “He’s going to be okay. He’s got a few cracked ribs from where he landed.” Calvin followed Dex’s gaze to the tubes in Hobbs’s nose. His voice was rough when he spoke. “Smoke inhalation. They’re giving him antibiotics. Luckily, there was no damage to his lungs.”
There was a sudden loud commotion outside, and Calvin’s eyes widened. “Oh hell. It’s them.”
“Who?” Sounded like a damn war had broken out. Dex was sure he heard a chair clattering somewhere. He edged away from the door.
“Rafe and Seb.”
“I still don’t know who that is.” Should he be worried? By Calvin’s expression, it appeared so.
“Hobbs’s big brothers.”
Dex arched an eyebrow at him. “Like, big as in older, right?”
“Big as in older and big.”
“How much bigger can they get? Hobbs is already the size of the fuckin’ Chrysler building.” Dex looked down at himself. “How do you not get an inferiority complex being around these dudes?”
“Dex, we’re Human. You can’t compare yourself to them. Once you accept that you’ll never be as big, strong, fast, or resilient, it gets easier. And it’s not because you’re not trying hard enough, or not good enough; it’s in their blood. Why do you think the THIRDS recruits them?” Calvin ran his hand tenderly over Hobbs’s head. “It might seem like a gift, but some don’t see it that way.”
“I never realized.” He never would have suspected Hobbs to have any hang-ups about being Therian. Cael had plenty growing up, but with Tony and Dex to support him, he’d grown out of it, even if his little brother occasionally felt inferior to his Felid teammates. Dex knew the feeling. “Wait, you said ‘recruit them.’ Are you telling me Hobbs’s brothers are—”
The door to the room slammed open and Calvin jerked back. Dex opened his mouth to tell off the two Therians, but when they stepped in the room, he quickly shut it. Rafe and Seb were not only bigger than Hobbs, they were tougher and meaner looking. They were also in THIRDS uniforms. Crap. Hobbs’s brothers were Defense agents as well. Why the hell hadn’t he known that?
“Ethan….” One of the brothers ran over to the bed and when his expression softened, Dex immediately spotted the resemblance. The guy couldn’t be that much older than Hobbs, with short black hair interspersed with gray, same with his stubbly jaw. The lines at the corners of his eyes were the same as Hobbs’s, showing he smiled often. The second brother was a whole other story. It was clear he was the eldest, and by the looks of it, not the friendliest. His expression was stern, revealing nothing. As opposed to his brothers, he had fairer hair, a few permanent nicks and scars here and there on his clean-shaven face, and had a lightly crooked nose that had clearly been broken one too many times. He had a stoic, military air about him.
The younger of the two gently put his hand to Hobbs’ head. “What happened?”
Calvin swallowed hard and looked to Dex. Where the hell was Sloane when you needed him? Shouldn’t the Team Leader be the one to explain why their brother was in a hospital room? “We were clearing out the youth center when we found a lost kid. We got him out and were about to make another round, when Hobbs came across a bomb hidden in a vent. There wasn’t enough time. He shoved me through the fire door and was left behind.”
The oldest turned to Dex, his amber eyes pinning Dex to the spot. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Oh, uh, I’m Agent Dexter Daley. I joined the team about eight months ago.” Dex held his hand out, but when the guy left him hanging, he shoved it in his pocket.
“A rookie? Are you the reason my brother’s lying there?” he growled, crowding Dex.
“Whoa, hey, take it easy.” Dex put his hands up and took a step back, not appreciating the accusation, but understanding how hard this probably was for the guy.