Page 71 of Wicked Bite
“I’ll do it.” The moment I tipped my blood into Piper’s mouth, I’d already signed this deal. I wouldn’t leave her in a life that I forced her into. Selfish bastard was not a title I wanted added to my name. I gave him a bow and turned for the door, praying that she would wake.
“Oh, and Grayson, one last thing,” he called after me.
My stomach sank. I knew it couldn’t be that easy. “Yes?”
“Once you’ve raised your progeny to be self-sufficient you will leave her and never see her again.”
The thought of not seeing her shot a jolt of pain right through my chest. Piper was a ray of light in the darkness, and now I’d forced my own darkness upon her. But to stay with her would end me because I would fall. I need only hold off long enough to make sure she was okay. I’d do anything in my power to ready her for the world. She’d never have to work or toil again. Two hundred years of life afforded me a fortune I would lavish upon her for all her days, even if only from a distance.
When I said nothing, I felt his impatience and anger grow. “Do we have a deal?”
My shoulders hunched. I felt deflated. “We have a deal.”
Love would always be pain for a Shade. This I knew well.
CHAPTER THIRTY
PIPER
The world was a hazy place, at least at first. My head pounded like I’d been drinking cheap tequila all day on the beach and didn’t even bother to have a sip of water. My mouth was dry like a desert, and my entire body ached. It was the kind of ache that came from throwing up all night long. Yet I didn’t remember drinking that much or even going to a party. My eyelids felt heavy, like they didn’t want to open at all. Even my body felt heavier, and not in a I ate too many tacos and now im boated kind of way. It was more than that. It was deep in my muscles. I tried to move my arms, but they were stuck to my sides.
I forced my eyes open and everything was blurry. There was a mask over my face, pumping air into my lungs. The flavor didn’t feel like that crisp, clean cold oxygen. It tasted more like the bubble gum flavored medicine they used to make me take when I was a kid. An older man hovered close to my face. He shined a bright light into my eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the prickling light. I turned my head away from him and memories of flashing headlights filled my mind. A blaring horn. Then pain. So much pain.
“Where . . . whare am I?” My words were muffled by the mask over my face. Even so, the breath felt weird in my lungs. It was lighter, like there was no burning to breathe, only that it was a habit and my muscles kept on doing it.
He turned to some people in the room. “Best if you give us some space.”
Footsteps hurried from the room, and he turned back to me. “Now, if I take the mask off, you’re not going to bite me, are you?”
Bite him? What the hell? I shook my head. “No.”
He gave me a warm grandpa kind of smile and pulled the mask from my face. I glanced around the room, and this place was like no other hospital I’d ever seen. The walls were a thick, rough rock like the room had been carved from the side of a mountain. Stainless steel counters and equipment lined the room like a super modern hospital.
“You hold very still so you don’t hurt anyone else.” He moved very slowly as though trying not to startle me. He lifted his head and spoke in a very low, calm tone. “Go get him. Now.”
“Go get who?” I pulled at my wrists. They didn’t budge an inch. “What’s going on?”
I pulled harder and the metal table below me bent ever so slightly. The doctor looked down at my wrists. “Fascinating.”
This was it. I was going to die on some psycho’s table. He was going to carve me open like a serial killer and bleach my insides before lighting me on fire. I fought against the restraints and kicked my legs, but they too were restrained.
There was a blur of movement at my side and then Grayson appeared. “Piper, shhhh. It’s okay. Everything is okay, love.”
“Grayson?” What the hell was happening? Was he part of this too?
“Yes, it’s me.” I’d never seen him have a full smile. But this was a genuine one of relief and happiness.
I held still for a moment. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
He looked to the doctor and motioned to the restraints. “Let’s take these off.”
“I’d prefer a bit longer to ensure she won’t hurt anyone.” He glanced from me to Grayson and back again.
“Now, Doctor.” He kept his position bent down low beside me. He ran his fingers through my hair the way he did on the nights we’d spent together. It always calmed me before and it calmed me now. “You’re not going to hurt anyone, are you?”
“Noooo, why? Why would I hurt someone?” I began to panic again, but Grayson shook his head and shushed at me.
“No, you’d never hurt anyone. I know you, Little Creature. All the flies are safe around you.” The doctor handed him a remote and he pressed the button. The restraints around my wrists and ankles fell away, and I scrambled to sit up so fast I made myself dizzy.
