“A seven?” Dr. Wilkes glanced at me and then scribbled something on his clipboard. “It’s been a long time since you’ve chosen a seven. What were you doing just before your boyfriend here brought you in?”
His words were laced with meaning. The way he looked at me, I could see what he thought. Again, a flush spread through my chest and my cheeks. This was very embarrassing and not even true. Iwishedthat was the reason I was here.
Unfortunately, my episode had been caused by a murderous demon death cult who wanted to drink my blood to gain immortality.
“Um.” How did I explain this? “It was a long night and—”
“I can see that.” He nodded toward my arm wound. “Did you get into some kind of altercation?”
“This was just an accident,” I whispered. The last thing I could do was tell Dr. Wilkes about the cult. He’d go straight to the police. Or throw me into the psych ward. Either way, this would not end well.
Dr. Wilkes’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t believe a word of it, and I didn’t blame him. “Eva, if there’s something you need to tell me...”
“To be honest, I’m a little embarrassed.” I blew out a breath and shrugged. “I had a little too much to drink, and I was out all night. At some point, I stumbled over my own feet and this happened.”
His eyes narrowed. “Eva, you know what we’ve told you about drinking alcohol. It’s one of the worst things you can do for your inflammation. It’s no wonder you had an episode and ended up here.” He pressed his lips together. “It’s just...”
“It’s just what?” I asked, my heart pounding in my ears.
“It’s just odd, that’s all,” he finally said. “Because your graphs don’t show an increase in inflammation. This is the best your bones have looked in years. Are you sure you’re at a seven on the pain scale?”
Okay, he was right. Thatwasodd.
“Trust me.” I winced. “I’d even say it’s approaching an eight.”
He shook his head, scribbling something else on his clipboard. “Well, pain or not, your vitals are fine. Get some rest, and you’ll be able to go home tomorrow.”
* * *
My cell phone rang halfway through my binge-watch of the latest season ofThe Witcher. Henry Cavill was hmming and growling and generally being awesome enough to distract me from the terror of the past few days. I didn’t love the idea of real life intruding right now. With an annoyed sigh, I pressed pause and lifted my phone to my ear without glancing at the screen.
“Hello?”
“Eva?” Alana’s sharp voice was like a bucket of ice water on top of my head. Instantly, I was alert. My new boss. My freakingjob. I’d forgotten all about it because of the insanity, and I’d definitely not gone into the office for at least three days now. All without calling in.
Fuck!
“Alana, hi.” I winced. “Before you say anything, please let me say just how sorry I am for missing work. I’ve had a bit of an emergency, and I’m in the hospital right now.”
“Your roommates called and told me what’s been going on,” Alana said, more gently than I’d anticipated.
Relief whooshed out of me. Anya and Sarah were my saviors. My glorious knights riding in to save the day. I would have to find a way to repay them for this. Maybe by baking lots of cookies. They loved double chocolate chip.
“I really am so sorry for not calling myself,” I said quickly. “I just had no way of contacting you until now.”
“I understand, Eva. Far better than you know. There’s just one thing I need to ask you.”
Something in the tone of her voice sent an uneasy tremble through my bones. “Okay, what is it?”
“The cult that Charlie was involved with. Did they come after you?”
I blinked. “Say what now?
“That’s what I thought. You’ve never been a good liar, Eva. I can hear the truth in your voice.” She let out a heavy sigh that rattled through the phone. “I received a threatening message this morning. This cult, they said if I don’t hand you over to them, they’re going to have the newspaper shut down.”
8
Eva
