Page 67 of Wicked Bite
Ophelia threw her arm out, blocking their path. “Don’t go in there.”
The blonde doctor tried to shove past. “He needs to be sedated or he will die.”
“If you go in there, you’ll die,” Ophelia countered.
The doctor looked toward me. “What do we do?”
I groaned, knowing exactly what needed to be done. I stepped into the doorway and Ophelia jumped in front of me. “Stop him.”
Cross slammed his arm down on my shoulder. “Can’t let you—”
One second he was there, and the next he was gone. His body hurled across the room and slammed to the top of the wall. He crashed to the ground and popped to his feet. “What the hell?”
Sav stood where Cross had once been. “No one touches him.”
“Unless you want your balls chopped off, I suggest you keep your hands off my soulmate.” Ophelia snickered at him.
“And what are you going to do, little witch?”
She let her eyes drift down his body. “Why don’t you check?”
She had a knife pressed right to where his femoral artery would be. “If I go in one direction, you bleed out. If I go in another, I’d be revoking your privilege of having children.”
“Enough!” They all stopped. “Ophelia, I got this.”
I stepped around her and into the doorway, just close enough that my blood magic would work. I held my hand out and a fine red mist like sparkles drifted from my hand. It wasn’t like the kind of power the witches used. This was subtle, and if no one was looking, it would hardly go noticed. It was like a fine glitter drifting on the air. It touched the man and I let the command seep into my very being.
“Be still.” The blood seeping from his body stopped and he fell silent. “Relax.”
The tension eased from his rigid muscles, and he went limp on the table. The grainy black mist hummed over his skin, but it didn’t fight to tear him apart, and that was something. I dropped my hand and the staff all stared at me. I turned to the lot of them. “Didn’t you hear my friend. It’s rude to stare.”
They jumped into action and collided with each other trying to get back to work. Ophelia gave me the side-eye. “You’ve been hiding a lot of things, king daddy vamp.”
“Don’t ever call me that again.” I turned away from all of them and walked down to Piper’s room.
I felt them all trailing behind me, and it was exactly what I wanted. The doctor sat beside her bed, taking frantic notes on his computer. I walked to her other side and stopped beside her. I was relieved to see that someone had taken the time to clean her up and get her into a hospital gown. When she woke up, I didn’t want that gore to be the first thing she saw. Like this, she looked like she was peacefully sleeping. Her hair fell back from her face in wild waves. Her skin was perfectly smooth, even her eyelashes looked thicker. I couldn’t believe it possible, but the change suited her. It made her features more defined, her lips fuller and a cherry-red. Even her muscles looked stronger. She was utterly lovely.
Ophelia sauntered into the room and smiled. “Ohhhhh, don’t we have a pretty pet here.”
The doctor glanced up from his computer and smiled. “Who’s this?”
“Doc, this is Ophelia, Queen of Potions, and Cross, Malback heir to the Malback line.”
The doctor shot to his feet. “Ophelia as in daughter of . . . of . . .”
“Alataris. The evil king.” She offered him her hand. “That’s right. But you know he’s dead now.”
“Indeed, my girl. Indeed.” He swallowed and wiped his hand down his jacket before taking hers. “It is an honor.” He dropped her hand, then offered his hand to Cross. “To you both.”
She extended the jar out toward him. “Here you go.”
He took it with both hands like it was the most precious thing in the world. “But the last batch took months to brew.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, not everyone is as good as I am.”
“Modest, isn’t she?” Cross rolled his eyes.
She jabbed a finger in his direction. “Hey, it’s not cocky or ego when it’s the truth. Besides, every woman should own her awesomeness.”
