Page 91 of Blood and Magic
But he did save my life, and the nine-year-old girl inside of me screamed with excitement. She’d been in love with him for years, and if I was honest with myself, it had only been a matter of time between us. I’d wanted him from the first time I saw him, and now I’d have him for the rest of my life.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I said. “But first, I have to go see Morwyn. She’s got the results of the blood test back.”
“Want me to come with you?” Sol asked.
“No.” I waved her away. “It’s fine. If I was going to turn into a vampire, I’m sure I’d already be stinking up the place.”
I hadn’t forgotten what Marx said when he drank from me.
“You’ve got some of us in you already. Have you been sucking vampire blood?”
Why would he say that? What did he taste? What magic did he sense that no one else could?
Sol glanced sideways at Guin, who shrugged and pursed her lips in some kind of silent communication.
“Hey, none of that,” I said. “I’m fine. I’ll join the pack and mate my lover, and on the world spins.” I grabbed my phone and shoved it into my back pocket before turning to my eldest sister. “Don’t you have a meeting with His Highness, the almighty alpha?”
Guin rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “He can wait.”
“He hasn’t convinced you to join the pack, yet?” Sol asked with a girlish giggle.
“He fucking wishes I’d sink so low as to acquiesce to his every whim,” she said.
“It’s not exactly like that,” Sol said. “I mean, I still have free choice and everything. It’s more like…family. And he’s the patriarch. He wants the best for us.”
“Hmm.” Guin didn’t dignify that with more of a response, just headed toward the door and opened it for me so I could go ahead of her.
“Are you sleeping?” Morwyn asked, her wide eyes inquisitive and compassionate. I blushed when I realized how much she looked like her brother. But she resembled Caelum, too, and I wondered what their parents must have been like.
“Yes,” I answered. “But the nightmares are intense.” I paused for a moment, trying to decide if I should bring it up or not. Ultimately, his sister had known him longer. Maybe she could get through to him in a way I couldn’t. “I’m worried about Mill.”
“I know. Me too.” She grabbed her stethoscope and put the ends in her ears. “Do you mind if I listen to your heart?”
I nodded, and she moved behind me, pressing the circular part to my back. After a few moments of the inhale-exhale gig, she removed the earpieces and wrapped them around her neck.
“It all sounds fine.” She scribbled down some notes. “If there were any lingering magical effects, they would have shown up by now.”
I rubbed the side of my neck, absently hiding the scars from where Marx had bitten me. “Do you think he was trying to turn me?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Marta, the witch from the Royal Harlots, said she would do some research on her end. It was an ancient ritual, not one they normally use to create vampires.”
“I don’t feel any different.”
“That’s good,” she said. “Marta thinks they didn’t get to finish.”
“Did she already head back to Asheville?” I would have liked to thank her for her help. Mill and Fenris would have died without her. I probably would have died without her.
Morwyn nodded. “The Asheville Witches are monster hunters. You don’t get to be a Harlot until you’ve paid your dues. I imagine she had other fish to fry.”
I hummed in disappointment and made a mental note to send her a fruit basket or something.
“The blood tests came back with some anomalies. I’m still trying to work through it. You said you have a history of cardiac arrest?” Morwyn asked, flipping through pages on her clipboard.
I explained what happened to me, making sure to include the medications I’d been on and what specialists I’d seen in the aftermath.
“When was this?”
“November 10th,” I said.
