* * *
Gradually, I began to awake. It took a while for reality to hit—a grace period of sorts to prepare me for the motherfucking-hell-in-a-handbasket memory that I’d been attacked by a werewolf last night.
I groaned, thinking I heard something shuffle in the corner. That had me popping my eyelids open, and reaching for the gun I usually kept on the nightstand. Only this wasn’t my downtown loft. This wasn’t Gran’s cabin either.
“What the—?” I stopped. My throat was dry as the Sahara. “Where…?” I croaked. Where was I that had sheets with thread counts in the high millions?
I went to stretch and quickly aborted the mission. Every single muscle in my body ached, and not the I-just-started-a-new-workout kind of ache. This was like I was a survivor of the bubonic plague.
Footsteps pounded somewhere outside of the bedroom. Again I tried to find some sort of weapon to defend myself, just in case. The world of supernaturals had never been a safe one, and it seemed at the very least I had a pissed-off siren hunting me. I’d learned long ago that it paid to be paranoid and prepared.
But I couldn’t move. No, that wasn’t true at all. I could move, as long as I didn’t mind feeling like death in a doggie bag of flesh and bones.
‘Holy hell, Ev,’Cass shouted in my mind, making me wince and try to pull away, only it was tough to pull away from a voice inside your head.‘I’m coming.’
I hoped he wasn’t talking to me during one of his sexcapades, because with how I felt, I really could do without the image of my dear friend shaking it all loose.
Shouts joined the pounding footfalls outside the door, and then Cass and Molly catapulted into the room, out of breath.
Cass’ red-rimmed eyes were wide, as he brought a hand to his heaving chest. “Evie, oh thank goodness you’re okay.”
My memories from the night before were hazy, but I nodded. With a shaky hand, I reached up to stroke where the wolf had bitten me. My flesh was scarred but… healed.
“You scared the living daylights out of us,” Molly added.
“Yeah, well, sorry.” I cleared my throat. “Can I get some water?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” Molly reached for the nightstand, and poured water from a crystalline pitcher, then handed me the glass. “Wait, let me help you sit up so you can drink better.” She returned the glass to the night table, propping pillows beneath me. There were enough pillows on this bed to make the Ritz jealous.
“Evie,” Cass called, drawing right next to me, and handing me the glass so Molly could use both hands to hold me.
They were treating me like a fragile baby. Normally I’d complain, but I didn’t say a word. I was extremely fatigued, and my muscles were weak. I tipped the cup back and drank the water, which was like heaven to my parched throat. Chugging it down, I extended my hand in the universal signal for more.
Cass kicked off his shiny gold astronaut boots, batted his wings a couple of times, while pulling the fluffy comforter askew, and landed on the bed. Padding across it, he plopped right next to me and grabbed my free hand. I had a prime view of his favorite matching gold Speedo and all the impy bits it struggled to contain, so I cast my gaze to the ceiling.
But my friend wasn’t having it. “Don’t you dare look away from me, Evie Black. Tell me everything.”
“What do you mean?” I huffed as I met his blazing black eyes.
His brow dipped in confusion. “What do you remember about last night?”
The imp looked concerned, beside himself really, and it made me nervous. What the hell happened last night? Other than the obvious?
Then the details of last night’s attack came back, flooding my mind. Nathan, the werewolf. My neck, nearly ripped in half. Brock jumping in to save me. Molly, a badass on the porch with a shotgun. And then pain, the worst pain ever.
“He bit me, then the alpha… I was in a lot of pain. I don’t really remember anything after that,” I admitted. I was witchborn. I should not have had that reaction.
“That damn wolf nearly chewed your whole head off,” Cass seethed, anger dripping from his voice. I knew that if I said the word, Cass would tear Nathan’s head from his body.
“It’s a good thing Gran wasn’t here to see this,” Cass went on, clearly distraught. It was one of his things; he wouldn’t shut up when he was nervous. “If she’d seen what we saw last night...” He whistled. “Well, it probably would’ve sent her to an early grave. I tell you, it was bad. It was so bad, girl, be glad you didn’t see yourself.”
“Uh, Cass?” Molly said, her eyes wide in warning.
“What?”
“She clearly doesn’t remember everything. Maybe we should, you know, ask her how she’s feeling, that kind of thing.”
My oldest friend looked at me with one raised eyebrow. “Do you really not remember all the crazy shit from last night?”
