Page 19 of Through the Veil (Endangered Fae #2)

They went down the steps, Finn racing ahead and racing back in his anxiety to move her faster, but her legs would only move at one pace. All his jumping and prancing from one step to another only served to make him more and more anxious.

Half a block from the park, Diego’s thoughts pierced his, laced with regret. “Carino , I can’t hold…”

“Let it go, bucko.” Finn sent back. “Gather your strength again. We’ll wait, as you said.”

“I don’t know how long.”

“Never fear, my hero. I have faith in you.”

The door in the Veil shut with an audible snap, like a limb breaking. “ Or someone’s heart.”

Finn relayed the message, though he suspected Tia Carmen had heard the gist of it. When they reached the spot where the door had been, she sat down on the bench to wait, and he curled up at her feet.

“I wish you had come just to visit,” she said on a gusty exhalation. “But it is good to see you. I’ve missed you both.”

Finn picked his furred head up and leaned against her shin. “We have missed you as well, dear lady. Perhaps we could persuade you to move to Montana with us?”

She laughed. “Me, in the middle of the forest? I have lived all my life in cities, querido . I would not know how to live, and my family is here. You wouldn’t want to take me from my grandchildren, eh?”

The last, he suspected, was the real reason. “Very well. But you can’t blame me for asking.”

“We still talk on the phone.”

Quite true. Finn called her almost every week. She was the top, right-hand button on Diego’s phones. “It’s not the same as seeing you. Being with you.”

“Maybe Diego can talk me into visiting.”

They talked of small things to hide their anxious thoughts. Good thing the park is deserted. People often talked to their dogs but passing humans most likely would not take it well when the dog answered back.

Perhaps twenty minutes had gone by, or perhaps several centuries, when the fur at Finn’s nape bristled.

“Someone watches us,” he told Tia Carmen. “And I do not think it is simple curiosity.”

She clutched her bag tighter, a determined set to her features. “Diego needs to hurry up. This is no place for an old lady after dark.”

The sharp crackle of dry leaves heralded someone approaching at speed through the shrubbery behind them. Finn leaped to his feet, snarling, as a figure broke through the screen of bushes and rushed down on them. The man made a grab for Tia Carmen’s bag, but she held firm, glaring at him.

Finn growled and barked, trying to sound as threatening as possible. The man ignored him and yanked something out of his jacket. He had watched enough television to recognize a gun.

“Gimme the fucking bag, you wrinkled old bitch!” the would-be thief yelled, waving the gun in her face.

Four things happened then in lightning succession. Finn leaped for the man, jaws closing on his left arm. The gun went off. With a roar of displaced air, the Veil reopened. Startled, the man’s grip loosened and Tia Carmen sprayed something in his face.

“Finn!” Diego’s anguished cry sounded thin and exhausted.

The thief rolled on the ground, hands clawing at his face. Finn thought his view of the scene rather odd until he realized he also lay on the ground.

“ Dulcito ? Can you get up? We don’t need to go far,” Tia Carmen urged, her hand on his shoulder.

He dragged himself up, limbs shaking. His back leg refused to hold him. Only when it crumpled the second time did the pain register. “The churl shot me,” he murmured in shock.

“Yes, he did. Though I think you will survive. Come now, just a few steps. Diego is hysterical and needs to see you are well.”

“I wouldn’t go so far as ‘well’,” Finn grumbled as he limped forward, dragging his hind leg.

They stepped through the doorway, the man still screaming behind them.

“What did you do to him? Was it some spell?” Finn asked with a last look over his shoulder.

“Pepper spray.”

The door snapped shut, leaving behind the screams and the vile stench of the city.

Diego fell to his knees between his supporters. “Finn! Gracias a Dios …you’re alive. I heard the shot…”

Finn crawled to him and placed his shaggy head in Diego’s lap. “I’ll heal, my heart. It’s not so bad. You may want to lie down, though. You’re about—”

He cut off as Diego’s eyes rolled back and his limbs stiffened. Too late, he realized Diego hadn’t had any of his seizure medicine in nearly two weeks. He should have asked Tia Carmen if she had some of it to bring.

While Diego twitched and jerked on the ground, Tia Carmen took stock of her surroundings.

“It is beautiful here. Just as I always imagined,” she said with a nod.

“You are the wise woman?” Eithne asked, a matter of formality rather than an actual question.

“ Una bruja , yes. Finn thinks I might be able to help.”

“Astounding that he retrieved you at all,” Morrigan snapped out. “You couldn’t even keep one old human safe, Fionnachd?”

Tia Carmen clicked her tongue in exasperation.

“No wonder you need me, if all las hadas do is stand around and argue.” She pointed a finger at Eithne.

“You, Senora Gata, can you carry Diego?” She waited until Eithne nodded.

“Good. He must not lie on the cold, damp ground.” Then she turned to Nathair.

“And can you carry Finn, Senor Culebra? Good, thank you.”

She waited for them to do as she asked, bag clutched primly in both hands. “So. Someone lead the way. I have patients to see.”