Lizzy was relieved to see that the once feisty scientist no longer looked as if she was on death’s door. But she was pretty stinking pale, so perhaps Lizzy shouldn’t celebrate just yet. Alice’s vulnerability made Lizzy ache, and she felt the need to offer comfort. Since Kara, Lizzy hadn’t had anyone to comfort her when she’d needed it. It had been so long since her childhood friend had hugged her that she didn’t exactly know how to comfort someone else anymore.
Maybe this new feeling was because of the alien wolf inside her. She knew that wolves were pack animals and cared for one another. Perhaps this was some type of nurturing instinct, or whatever. Lizzy ignored the strange feelings of tenderness growing in her usually detached mind. Instead, she waited, letting Alice come to her, afraid to frazzle her friend’s nerves even further. Hell, she didn’t even know if Alice saw her as a friend.
At last, the woman raised her eyes. “I must apologize for not coming sooner, but…”
“But what?”
“Well, I thought I actuallyhadcome to see you and that we had spoken.”
Lizzy’s brow rose. “You thought?”
Alice nodded. “Apparently, I’ve been in some sort of vampire induced coma. Courtesy of Cain.”
“Told you.”Lizzy reached out to Finn.“How could she be with him if he had her unconscious?”
“I’ve been living a false life in my unconscious state,” Alice continued, unaware of the argument Lizzy was having with Finn. She shrugged and stayed rooted in place, emotions warring on her face. Lizzy patted the end of the bed in invitation. She hoped that Alice would stay for a while. If she couldn’t have Finn, she’d take Alice’s company.
“I don’t get it? How did he do that?” Lizzy couldn’t comprehend how Cain had the power to pull something like that off. But then again, she had no idea what all powers a vampire possessed. She certainly hadn’t seen him sparkle, but who’s to say he couldn’t do some sort of mind control, influencing stuff?
Slowly, Alice sank down across from her. She seemed to debate with herself before finally whispering, “Sally, another healer, visited me in my dream. And there was another woman named Peri. She is a high fae.”
“Whoa.” Lizzy’s eyes widened. “That had to be pretty weird.”
“Notthe weirdest thing I’ve endured as of late, unfortunately.” She sighed and brushed her hair from her face. “I look like a hot mess.”
Lizzy shook her head. “You look like a woman who’s been through hell and survived. Own that shit.”
“Language,”Finn growled at her.
“Bite me.”
“That’s sort of your thing now, babe.”
Lizzy felt her stomach warm at the endearment. Gah, she was such a girl.
“While I was in a coma, I came to your room and shared stuff with you.” It looked to Lizzy like the scientist was growing more anxious by the second. “I told you I had feelings for Cain.” Alice continued talking, telling Lizzy all of what she’d said to her while in the coma-like state, and how she’d thought it had been real. “It had felt so freaking real,” she said for the tenth time. After a few breaths, Alice bit her lip. “I need to get this off my chest. I swear it’s eating a hole in me.”
“Of course.” Lizzy nodded and held out her open hands. “Anything.”
Alice’s gaze dropped to her twisting fingers. “It’s about how I feel for Cain. Regardless of what I’ve already told you, being around him, it’s... different now. Or at least it was in my head, when I thought all of that was actually taking place. We had… like a relationship.”
“Told ya,”Finn quickly tossed out.
Lizzy gave him the mental image of her sticking her tongue out at him.
Finn chuckled.“Just wait ’til I get my hands on you.”
Lizzy forced herselfnotto think about that and refocused on Alice.
With halting words, Alice tried to explain. She told Lizzy how Cain hardly left her side as she recovered, caring for her tenderly. How being near him eased the jagged, bleeding places in her soul. And how sometimes she caught him looking at her with undisguised wonder.
Lizzy listened silently. She’d suspected, simply because of what Finn said, even if she didn’t want to believe it, the relationship between Alice and the mercurial leader had shifted, but hearing Alice talk about it brought the truth home.
“I don’t understand what’s happening between us,” Alice whispered. “The way he was with me in the dream was so gentle and concerned. It’s not like him.”
Lizzy tried not to allow the nauseous feeling to show on her face. And she hated that the fleeting thought of ‘at least he was attractive’ ran through her head.
“You realize I’m still here, right?”She heard the annoyance in his tone.
