MUFFLED VOICES, THE smell of antiseptic, and…Chinese food? pervaded my senses as I came to, sure that I must be dreaming. My stomach rumbled when I focused on the smell of sweet and sour pork, and I decided that maybe I wasn’t dreaming after all. Prying my eyes open, I frowned in disgust at the crusty gunk sticking my eyelashes together. My mouth tasted metallic and gritty when I licked my lips, the cut in my lip still sore and swollen. I tried to reach a hand up to touch my lip and felt a flare of panic when my arms wouldn’t move.
Oh god, I’ve been dosed again, I thought in terror, struggling to move, only to discover that my arms were merely tucked beneath a scratchy woolen blanket pulled up to my chin. Breathing shakily, I cursed my foolishness, glad at least that no one had witnessed my moment of weakness.
“Take it easy now,” a soft voice said, a cool hand brushing my hair back from my forehead as a face came into blurry view.
I guess I’m not alone after all, I thought, my cheeks warming with embarrassment.
Blinking rapidly, I cleared some of the crud from my eyes, the blurred shapes and colors in my vision coalescing into the face of a young woman. I bat strictly for team penis, but even I was left breathless by her beauty. Bright violet eyes regarded me through a ring of the longest eyelashes I had ever seen, a warm and genuine smile curving lips that looked like plump little strawberries. Thick coppery hair fell in a gently curling cloud over her slender shoulder.
I had the overwhelming desire to trail my fingers over her face, wondering if her skin was as soft and perfect as it looked. My hand rose as if of its own accord, reaching out to touch the apple of her cheek.
“Oh, sorry!” she said, looking more than a little chagrined, the rosiness in her cheeks darkening to crimson as she blushed. “Sometimes I forget to turn it off,” she added with a smile.
Just as quickly as the desire to caress her had rippled through me, it receded. It didn’t disappear entirely, but it withdrew enough for me to resist. Clearing my throat, I dropped my hand to my lap, rubbing my sweaty palm against the rough wool of the blanket.
“Ah, sorry about that,” she said, tucking a lock of hair behind a delicately curved ear. “Sometimes I forget that some of you supes are even more susceptible to the pull than the mundanes.”
“What are you?” I asked in an awed whisper, my fingertips still tingling where they had brushed against her skin.
“I’m Alyssa Byrne” she said, her hand once again rising to push a curl of red hair behind her ear. “I’m fae, but I guess you can say I’m a succubus. I’m also the one who patched you up. Oh, that sounded like an AA introduction didn’t it?” she said with a chuckle, the sound of her laughter like a chorus of chiming bells, drawing an answering smile to my face.
Holy crap, she’s amazing, I thought while my brain turned to useless mush.
“You might want to tone it down a bit more, Byrne,” Chrismer said from the corner of the room where she lounged against the wall. Her face was illuminated by the glow from her phone, the cool light emphasizing her sharp features. “I think she’s still crushing on you.”
I was startled by Chrismer’s presence, the wolf having missed her completely. I was also more than a little mortified that she had witnessed the interaction between me and the beautiful woman sitting beside my bed. The smirk plastered across her lips made it obvious that she had seen everything, and I desperately wanted to wipe the smug expression off her face. Repeatedly. With my fist. But I was as weak as a puppy and doubted I’d even be able to stand under my own power, let alone face off against her. The last thing I needed was to get knocked on my ass by the uppity Day Servant.
Bitch, I thought, for what felt like the hundredth time.
I must have blushed a dozen different shades of red before I got my buzzing hormones under control, though at least I was able to take comfort in the fact that the other woman looked a little embarrassed too.
“Sorry, it’s harder to control when I’m nervous,” she confessed in a lilting voice.
“No problem,” I said, wanting to move past the awkward moment as quickly as possible. “What um…happened?” I managed to ask, though forming words required a herculean effort as I gazed at her.
“You were given a very large dose of wolfsbane and beaten pretty badly. I’ve cleaned you up the best I can and given you lots of fluids, but there’s not much else I can do besides give you something for the pain. It’s hard to tell how soon your body will flush out the last of the drugs, but once it does you’ll heal like usual. Anything else I do might cause more harm than good. Luckily, Jessica was close by and brought you in to see me.”
Sure, if you call the bitch running me over with her car lucky.