Page 17 of Wicked Bite
“Am I dying?”
A smile spread over his lips, and he chuckled. “Not today.”
“Oh, good.” I wanted to sit up, but he placed his hand on my shoulder, holding me in place.
“Maybe not yet.”
An ear-splitting scream broke the calm and I let my head fall to the side. I looked out toward the end of the alley and there was Dice with her phone in her hand and a bat on her shoulder.
“Aidenuli, now,” Matteaus growled.
Aidenuli soared at Dice and grabbed her upper arms. She froze and her mouth dropped open into an O-shape. Her eyes went wide, and a small squeak came from her throat. The bat clattered to the ground at her feet. “I-I . . .”
“Shhhh.” His voice was so low and lulling. “You didn’t see this.”
She shook her head, and her blond hair flew around her face. “I didn’t see it.”
“Your friend fell down the stairs . . . she’ll be fine.”
She nodded and said in that monotone, zombie-like voice, “She’ll be fine.”
“Wha- He’s lying. Angels don’t lie.” Was this all some kind of weird dream people had right before they died?
A round of chuckles sounded and Matteaus leaned in closer. “We’re not those kinds of Angels.”
Matteaus stepped back from me, and Aidenuli’s face filled my vision. “Your turn.”
A hazy, drunk feeling overcame me. It was like the moment when you’ve drunk enough to have fun, right before you drank a bit more and fell off the cliff to spiny town. Suddenly, my pain subsided, and I sucked in a deep breath. “My turn for what?”
He locked eyes with me, and I fell into the many flecks of amber in them. “To forget.”
CHAPTER SIX
PIPER
The smell of disinfectant stung my nose, and a rhythmic beeping filled my ears. Pain, aching pain, surged over my body. I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut tighter. Cold air went into both my nostrils, and I shook my head, still refusing to open my eyes.
“Piper?”
I didn’t want to wake up, wasn’t ready. If I could just sleep a bit longer, I’d feel so much better.
“Piper, come on.” Dice’s urgent voice came from just beside me.
I felt like I was drowning and trying to pull myself from the depths. Why was it so hard to wake up? Why did I want to stay in this comatose-like sleep?
“Piper Camilla Santiago. You open your eyes right now,” she snapped.
I forced my lids open, and everything was hazy. Her face was blurry, and the world seemed to be spinning. “Whoa. What the hell?”
She sagged against the side of my bed and sucked in a deep breath. “You scared me!”
“Why?” I glanced around at the curtain hanging beside my bed and the people rushing by. Monitors were stuck to my chest and finger. Clear fluid ran from a hanging bag to an IV running from the veins in my forearm. “Why am I in the hospital?”
“Because you’re a complete and total clutz.”
I tried to sit up, but pain exploded in my head. I fell back onto the pillows. “What happened?”
“Dude, you don’t remember?” Her eyes went wide. She looked as bad as I felt. Her thick blonde hair was tied in a messy knot on top of her head. He sweatshirt looked like it was covered in dirt, and there were weird holes in the shoulders. She was paler than her usually milky pallor, with streaks of dirt on her cheeks and forehead.
