Benedict saw her freeze. He saw the mirror the hyena queen held and terror seized his lungs. Knocked the breath from him until he couldn't feel his hands and his vision spotted with dark blotches. His legs moved before he thought, even as Edgar tried to grab his arm and hold him back, but he had to save Eloise. Had to protect her as that fucking hyena tried to tear out her throat.
Ruby, Rafe, and a dozen other wolves descended on the hyena, driving it away and killing it in the dark, and a sleek lion with a peach fuzz mane crashed into Val Szdoka with a roar that shook his bones. Carter. Thank God for Carter.
But Benedict crouched by Eloise, patting her face. Yelling her name. Begging her to stay.
She just stared straight ahead, frozen. Frozen. Cool to the touch, a grainy texture to her skin. Like stone.
He snarled, roared his pain to the moon, and the wolves howled in response. The eerie sound floated into the night and set the hair on the back of his neck on end. His vision blurred and Benedict thumped Eloise's chest. "Damn it. Damn it. Wake up. Look at me."
Nothing. Not even a blink. Her hair didn't reach for him, just lay in stiff cords like a starfish around her head. He pulled her into his lap, didn't care that the blood from her injured arm coated his clothes. He stared around into the darkness. The sounds of conflict rose, no doubt his brothers taking care of the rest of Val's people, but that didn't help Eloise. Didn't bring her back. He rocked her. "A doctor. Please, I need a doctor. Anyone. Someone."
An eternity passed before a pair of bare feet shuffled into his field of vision, and Benedict looked up. Owen, the sleepy-eyed black bear from Kaiser's group, stood next to him, wearing only gym shorts. "I was a Navy Corpsman. Medic. Let me look at her."
Benedict stared at him, unwilling to release her. Guarding her.
Kaiser approached from the darkness. His voice was even, kind. "He might be able to help, Ben. Put the girl down."
His arms didn't work well, jerky and uncoordinated so he almost dropped her onto the broken concrete lot. Owen crouched next to her, quickly arranging her head and limbs to evaluate pulse and respiration and circulation as Benedict held his breath and didn't dare to hope. She looked so pale and cold. Vacant. Like an empty husk. The breath caught in his throat, too close to a cry.
Carter, still in lion form, stalked up and head-butted him, his muzzle coated with blood. Benedict barely noticed, looping his arm over Carter's shoulders so he wouldn't fall apart completely. She had to live. She had to.
He should have made her stay away from the meeting with Val. He'd wanted to go alone, but she argued. Said she had to take care of her own business, clean up her own messes. He should have locked her in the apartment to keep her safe. He couldn't swallow as grief welled up.
Owen anchored his fingers to her throat, searching for a pulse, and looked at Benedict. "What is she?"
"G-gorgon," he said, though the word caught in his throat and all he could think of was when he backed away from her at the hospital, when he feared her. The look in her eyes when she knew it... He grabbed handfuls of his own hair, wanting to tear his head apart. "She's part medusa."
"That explains it." Owen studied her arm, then bent to hover his cheek over her mouth. Checking for breath. He ran his knuckles across her sternum with enough force Benedict lurched forward to kill him for hurting her, but Eloise barely twitched. The bear's expression grew more guarded, less optimistic.
Benedict held his breath, staring at her chest so hard a white hot pain ignited behind his eyes. She had to be okay.
Owen sighed, sitting back on his heels. "I don't know much about gorgons, Ben. I think she's still alive. Thought I felt a pulse, but it's slow, sluggish."
"Will she wake up?" The words barely escaped in a whisper, and Carter grumbled his support, one massive paw landing on Benedict's leg.
"Depends on if her peepers were set to stun," Owen said, then held up his hands as the lion snarled. "I'm serious. She's not as bad as that chick," and he pointed at the statue that Eloise called 'Heba.' "So clearly something was different. Harrison said she paralyzed him at the hospital, right? Maybe it was that. Or maybe the mirror dilutes the effectiveness. There's no telling right now."
Benedict shook his head, kept shaking it, but nothing else would work. Eloise. His lion roared, raged. Cried out for her.
Edgar appeared from the shadows, wiping blood off his hands, and took in the scene with a grim expression. "Where to now, Owen? Hospital?"
"I don't think the humans are ready for this," the bear said. He frowned and picked up some of her hair, then shook his head. "There's another option, a makeshift place we use when someone is injured. We took Cal there at first, before it became clear he ... wouldn't wake up. It's not up to the Chase brothers standard of luxury, but it should be enough to get her through the next day or two."
"I've never heard of it," Edgar said.
"Believe it or not, but a lot goes on in this city that isn't on your radar." Kaiser folded his arms over his chest, frowning down at Eloise. "We can talk more about that later. Owen, get her stable and take her to the field hospital. I'll bring her mate."
Benedict lurched to his feet as Owen and another bear put Eloise on a stretcher and lifted her. Carter nudged him back but Benedict tried to reach her. Tried to touch her again, even though the chilly texture of her skin gave him the shivers. She would get better. She had to get better. He couldn't live without her.
Kaiser steered him toward a car, shoved him in the backseat, and let Edgar get in the front. Benedict kept his eyes on the car where they loaded Eloise and drove into the night, bumping across the broken ground, and he clenched his hands on his knees. Eloise. Fight. Fight to live.