“Stay with me. That’s it. Just stay with me.”
LOST IN THE ECHO
Casey Adams
Lee had one of Casey’s arms around his shoulder as they staggered through the front door, supporting most of the taller, leaner male’s weight as his legs continuously threatened to buckle beneath him. At his other side Regina kept up a steady stream of dialogue, meaningless things really, meant more to keep him conscious than anything else. Krystiana had preceded them into the hotel and her voice rang out in a cry of alarm, a plea for help, even before the other three in her little party made it all the way into the lobby. Casey was dimly aware of all of this, of the blood on his hands and in his hair and down his shirt, the coppery taste on his tongue, the wet rattle in his breathing that he knew was bad, the fierce and full-bodied burn that meant something was very wrong. When they reached the middle of the lobby Lee brought them to a stop, unsure what to do next. Krystiana’s voice rose again in fresh cry for help.
Regina was in front of him then, lifting her hands to either side of his face, muttering softly to him in French. He had never been very good at French. Regina had been teaching him. He had been teaching her Italian in return. When she switched to English, she said, “Keep your eyes open, okay? Keep them on me. That’s it.” She smiled. Casey liked her smile.
More people came into the lobby, their scents swam around him in a thick tangle of wildness and worry, voices rose and fell as people asked questions and answers were given. Casey recognised some of the voices -- Bella, Neal, Mateo -- but they soon became an indecipherable drone. His blood pounded in his ears, his head felt both light and heavy at the same time. It was Regina’s hands that kept it from dropping. Her voice that kept him conscious.
“Stay with me. That’s it. Just stay with me. I know it hurts, but it’ll be okay.” He felt her fingers brush his hair back from his face.
Someone was on the phone as Lee told Bella and Neal what had happened, about the vampires and the abruptness of it all, how it had started and ended before any of them had really known what was going on. Bella was asking how the vampires had fared while Casey focused on the feel of Regina’s fingers gently brushing through his hair, across his cheekbones, along the line of his jaw. It helped. With the pain, with the confusion, with the darkness gnawing at the edges of consciousness. Regina kept it all at bay.
Casey was strangely content in his little personal bubble until someone else came close. Too close. The scent was the first thing that registered, the cloying stink of man, pressing into his space and inspiring a different kind of pain and confusion, the sort that had a growl rolling wetly on the back of his tongue.
“Easy, Casey, easy; he’s here to help you,” Regina soothed, but he wasn’t hearing her anymore. His eyes, paling from dark hazel to near-white, had moved beyond the she-wolf to the figure stepping in at her back. Too close. Uninvited and unwelcome, the human had no business being so close to him. To Regina.
Casey moved, abruptly and without warning. A cry rose from somewhere nearby as he acted with more speed and power than he should have been capable of in his condition, so bloodied and so battered, the growl twisting into a savage snarl as he all but toppled Lee in his rush to lash out. Regina was quick on her feet, dashing out of the way so he didn’t strike her, his name on her lips but falling on deaf ears as he made a desperate grab for the mortal in their midst.
“Silas!” A command to move, unneeded but urgently bellowed in the suddenly crowded and chaotic lobby of the pack’s newest home. The human doctor practically fell over his own feet in his startled attempt to retreat from the unexpected lunge by the wounded werewolf. Casey didn’t stop, his eyes fully wolfen, his hair lightening at the roots, pain forgotten in the surge of anger that had taken control, bringing the animal roaring upwards from within.
The human didn’t belong. He had no business being here. Casey had to get him out, get him away. They were bad, all of them, rotten to the core, vicious and vulgar creatures. Casey had to get rid of it.
People were shouting, at him, at the human, at each other, hands were grabbing at him -- Lee? Regina? - to no avail, and there was movement on all sides. The confusion panicked the wolf in him, brought it closer to the surface, defensive and defiant. He was hurting, his blood was on the air, the human was too close, unwanted. Casey’s mind was a red snarl of aggression and fear, fear that twisted into ferocity, the urge to rend and tear and eliminate the threat in front of him. More animal than man, Casey fought to get at the wide-eyed and overwhelmed human, snarling and shouting, all but screaming shapelessly in his mindless desire to reach what his addled brain saw as a threat.
“No-” Regina’s protest was cut off as a large shape pushed through the crowd and cut into the space between Casey and his intended target. Thrashing and fighting against the grip of several hands, Casey had just enough awareness left in him to recognise the figure as Spence before the older wolf lashed out. The blow struck him across the temple with enough force to hammer consciousness right out of him.