Standing there, staring down at the beautiful creature waiting for me, I could not believe how fortunate I was. That was, perhaps, an odd thought considering everything that was going on around me. The Warlock Council was corrupt. Stefan Danzig had made it his personal mission to disgrace and eliminate me. Danzig wasn’t just after me, but possibly my family and friends. Humans were suffering because of Danzig’s desires.
My professional life was currently in tatters, the threat to my personal wellbeing obvious. By all rights, I shouldn’t feel fortunate at all.
And then there was Hikaru. Naked and lounging on our bed, Hikaru’s heavy cock proudly protruding from a nest of fiery red hair. His tails draped behind him, two lazily laying across his thigh as he ran his fingers through their soft texture. Head cradled in his free hand, Hikaru’s gold-green eyes shone with so much more than lust when he looked at me.
There were times in my life where I chose not to speak, but there were rarely times when I was truly struck speechless.
“Are you going to just stand there staring, or are you going act on that desire?” Hikaru’s voice practically smoldered.
I swallowed hard. “You are a vision.”
“Trust me, I know.” Hikaru licked his lips. “You’re not so bad yourself.” He crooked a finger, beckoning me forward. “How about you come over here and show me just how much of avisionI am.”
The fingers gripping my towel slipped, nearly releasing it when my phone rang. Hikaru rolled his eyes and groaned, flopping on his back. “Worst. Timing. Ever.” Dramatically throwing one arm over his eyes, Hikaru used his other arm to wave toward the dresser. “Answer the damn thing. I swear to every god and goddess out there that if this isn’t an emergency, I’m going to transport to their house and break shit with the force of a natural disaster.”
I chuckled as I snatched the phone. Only Hikaru could make me laugh when my thoughts were so twisted and disjointed. My laughter sobered when I saw the name attached to the number. “It’s Martha’s number,” I announced before hitting the accept button. “This is Nikodemus.”
“It’s Belle.” She still sounded wrecked and tired. “I got your message.”
“Thank you for calling me back. How is Martha?” I got straight to the point.
“The doctors say she’s stable. I don’t know if what you did helped or not. The doctors are human and can’t tell. One of the docs told me I should contact the Warlock Council and see if there was anything more they could?—”
“No!” My answer was more forceful than necessary. “No,” I more calmly said. “That would only complicate matters.”
Belle huffed. “For you? Is that why you don’t want me to reach out to them? Are you afraid of getting into trouble?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Belle that I was already in trouble with the council, but I refrained. “My concern is mainly for your sister. I know you have no reason to trust me, but the Warlock Council will not have your sister’s best interest at heart.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you do?”
“Yes.” It was ridiculous for me to expect this human woman to believe me. Regardless, I needed to convince her.
There was a long pause before Belle blew out a heavy breath. “I don’t know what to do. Martha’s the same and the human doctors don’t know if it’s safe to bring her out of the coma.”
I sat on the edge of the bed. Hikaru’s arms twined around my shoulders, his hands barely meeting over my chest. With his body pressed against me—skin on skin—I could feel the firmness of Hikaru’s neglected cock pressing into my lower back. Unfortunately, that appendage was going to have to survive without my touch for a bit longer.
“It’s possible Martha will require witch healing.” I was loath to contact one of the local covens. There was one witch I had a modicum of respect for. She’d proven herself a useful healer before and I had enough dealings with Franklin’s captain, Loretta Cicely, to trust her. I wasn’t certain if she could take the time away from her position at the police station, but I would not hesitate to fly her from Mississippi to Nevada. Or, perhaps Hikaru would be willing to transport the good captain. I wouldeven be kind and offer an antinausea charm in the deal, although chances were good that Loretta already had such a charm of her own making. Witch-made charms worked differently than warlock ones, but the outcome was often similar. What wasn’t similar was that warlocks were not good at healing magic. We could guide magic to interfere with a disease process, but we could not repair the damage that had been done. Witch magic could.
First and foremost, I needed to magically examine Martha Phillips myself and I could not do that from afar.
Grasping Hikaru’s hand in mine, I asked, “Would you allow me to examine your sister?”
“You want to go near her? Haven’t you already done enough damage?”
Instinctively I wanted to defend myself but that was what I needed. It was not what Belle needed. “I would like to help if I can,” was all I offered.
“I…I don’t know. I…” there was a long pause before Belle finally said, “Okay, but if you make her worse, I’m definitely contacting the Warlock Council. I don’t care what you say.”
“That is understandable and acceptable. What hospital is Martha in?” Belle rattled off the hospital name and I repeated it to Hikaru. When I ended the call and turned, Hikaru was already dressed.
“You planning on traveling like that?” Hikaru pointedly stared at the towel barely wrapped around my waist. Licking his lips, Hikaru’s eyelids lowered. “I mean, it’s fine with me, but it might upset human sensibilities. Also, I’m not sure I like the idea of everyone else getting a look at your goods.” Leaning forward, Hikaru nipped at my exposed shoulder. “Those aremygoods. Mine.”
“I have no intention of putting on a show for anyone else,” I said while standing and heading for my closet.
“That’s good. I’d hate to be forced to pluck out their eyes.” Hikaru stuck out his tongue and made a gagging noise. “Eyeballs have the grossest smell and they’re gooey. Honestly, they’re a disgusting part of the body.”
I paused while tugging on a shirt. “You know what eyeballs smell like?”
