“Yeah, I’ll have to do that,” Cora said, wondering exactly how long they planned to keep her there. She got the impression it would be a quick conversation with Marquin then back to her life one way or the other.
Shit, Marquin.
She knew she kept forgetting something. Damn delicious chocolate martinis making her all fuzzy headed. Cora couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gotten drunk since she usually called it after a single beer. Alcohol wasn’t recommended with some of her medications, but for some reason when Tressa had suggested cocktails on the patio she’d agreed without hesitation.
“Hey, so do you guys know if Marquin is back yet? I’m supposed to plead my case to him.” Cora looked around as if Marquin might be hiding behind one of the Grecian statues that flanked the French patio doors.
The look Tressa gave Raven was so fast that Cora almost missed it.
“What?” she asked warily, afraid her good time was about to come crashing to a halt.
“Marquin is going to be away from the compound for a bit longer,” Raven said, taking another sip of her martini.
“What?” Cora barked, jumping to her feet then immediately regretting the action when the world tilted sideways. Gravity dropped her into the chair before she could fight back.
“It’s okay,” Tressa soothed, and Cora blinked at the raven-haired beauty across the table.
Heh. Raven wasn’t the raven-haired one, she thought, chuckling to herself.
Wait, this situation wasn’t funny. Angry, that’s what she was.
Except she couldn’t manage to keep a firm grasp on her anger. Itjust kept slipping through her fingers like fine sand.
“So, where is he,” she asked. Before one of them could answer, Donna reappeared carrying a plate loaded with mini burgers and breaded cheese sticks. All other thoughts vanished from Cora’s mind when the smell of fried food reached her.
Bless Donna and her vamp-loving heart.
Cora grabbed a slider and tore into it. Through a mouthful of food, she proclaimed, “Donna, you are a goddess.”
The older lady just gave her a wan smile then disappeared back into the house.
Swallowing the tiny burger, she grabbed two of the cheese sticks. You’d think she hadn’t eaten in days with how viciously she attacked the appetizers, but there was just something so enticing about comfort food that it was practically begging to be devoured in seconds.
Cora shoved a hunk of melty mozzarella into her mouth, and the taste of fried bread had just hit her tongue when, to her complete horror, her throat seized up.
Gasping for air, she clawed at her neck, but things only worsened when her face began to spasm, her bottom lip pulling uncontrollably to the left side.
Not now, she pleaded.Please, not now.
“Are you alright?” Tressa’s concerned face swam in Cora’s vision and someone, probably Raven, pulled her chair back from the table, giving her space to stand.
Not that she was able to get up. In fact, Cora knew that hunching over was the exact opposite of what she was supposed to do, but she just couldn’t fight the rising panic that crippled her body.
“What’s wrong with her?” Raven demanded, appearing next to Tressa. Both women kneeled in front of Cora, their faces painted with worry and confusion.
“I think she’s choking,” Tressa replied, her voice laced with trepidation. “I don’t know how to do the Heimlich. I think you’re supposed to pound on their chest? Or is that CPR?”
“Oh, for Lilith’s sake,” came a soft voice from somewhere behind Cora.
A pair of arms slid around her midsection and lifted her off the chair as if she were no weightier than an infant. Her unknown savior gave two sharp thrusts, and a chunk of melted cheese flew from her mouth to land smack in the middle of the liver crostini platter.
Between the alcohol and the nearly dying, Cora lost all sense of control over her body. She swayed and tilted in the breeze for a moment, then she was falling backward, the blue sky suddenly the only thing in her field of view.
She waited for the painful strike of impact, but her body made contact with the stone patio so gently that somebody must have laid her down. She remained there unmoving while the clouds above danced in and out of focus.
What was in that martini? Had they drugged her? Or was she that much of a lightweight now?
Her eyes blinked shut for a second, and when they reopened, there was a new face staring down at her. The woman glowed with a holy light, her long blonde hair creating a frame of gold around the edges of Cora's fuzzy vision so all she could see was smooth pale skin, icy blue eyes, and rosy lips.
