Page 47 of Death and Divination
Chapter 17
Ophelia
Sadly, there was not time for even a quickie the next morning. We both showered, ate toast, and drank coffee, and we were out the door and on our way into town. Taking the elevator down to the basement level of the hospital, I saw Babylon standing outside the door to the morgue, keeping watch.
She yawned when she saw me. “Please tell me you brought coffee? The stuff they have here sucks giant donkey balls.”
“You left her alone to go get coffee?” Clearly nothing had happened last night, but I still was a bit irritated that Lonnie could have been so lax in her guard duties.
My sister rolled her eyes. “No, dufus. Of course I didn’t. I sent one of the dead guys upstairs to get coffee for me. If I’m going to hang out in a morgue all night, might as well make use of the residents.”
“Sorry.” I grimaced, thinking again that Lonnie’s magic was pretty creepy stuff. “Lonnie, this is Nash. Nash, my youngest sister Lonnie.”
“So, you’re dating the reaper now?” Babylon eyed Nash. “Sylvie didn’t die, so I’m giving this relationship my tentative approval.”
“Thanks,” I drawled. “How is Tink doing?”
“Welp, she spent the night in a room full of stainless steel and dead dudes, so there’s that. Actually, I think she was fine until I animated my coffee-delivery guy. That’s when she told me I had to stay out here in the hall and not do any more magic.”
I was pretty sure Tink would have changed her mind if Dallas and his crew had shown up to get her. Nothing scares werewolves more than an undead army.
“I appreciate the help,” I told my sister. “Go on home and get some sleep. Nash and I will take it from here.”
Lonnie saluted, then smiled. “Thanks for calling me, Ophelia. Thanks for letting me help and not treating me like I’m a baby, or like my magic is too icky to be useful.”
“It’s because your magicisicky that it’s useful,” I teased her.
She walked off, giving me the finger behind her back. I chuckled, then followed Nash into the morgue.
It was a good thing he’d gone in first because something that looked like a bedpan bounced off his shoulder.
“You jerk! I told you it was a secret and next thing I know some freaky witch shows up to ‘guard’ me. She’s a necromancer. Do you know how horrible it is to be stuck in a morgue all night with a necromancer?”
Nash batted a trashcan away and stood in front of me. I leaned around his shoulder to see Tink over by one of the tables, an assortment of projectiles at hand.
“Do you really think Dallas couldn’t sniff you out if he wanted to?” I asked her. “I spoke with him yesterday. Both he and your mother were just biding their time, waiting for you to return. How long before he decides you’ve humiliated him enough and he comes to drag you back home? You should thank Nash for telling me so I could provide not just for your safety, but for the safety of everyone here in the hospital.”
She hesitated, a metal tray in her hand. “I didn’t…I didn’t think about that. I don’t want anyone here to get hurt.”
I gave Nash’s shoulder a shove, but he refused to budge. “I hate to push you to make a decision, Tink, but I need to know. Are you going to go back to the compound and willingly go through with the mating ceremony, or do you want us to provide you with sanctuary?”
She set the tray down and ran a hand over her face. “I don’t want to be an outcast. I don’t want to be exiled and have no one ever talk to me again—although right now I might be happy if mymothernever talked to me again. I can’t believe she took his side over mine. What mother does that?”
I grimaced, thinking that Tink might not want to blame her mother too much. Dallaswaspack alpha, after all. Although I couldn’t imagine not supporting my daughter in something like this.
“Is there any way you can get out of the engagement?” I asked her, still peering around Nash’s shoulder. The guy would not move, even though Tink had put down her weapons.
The werewolf sniffed, wiping her eyes. “No. I mean, not unless Dallas agrees to it. And he won’t. Mom already told a few people, and it’s gonna make him look like a fool if I back out. Dallas hates looking like a fool.”
“What if he tells everyone that it was his idea to back out?” I asked. “He can make you look like a fool instead.”
Tink’s eyes sparked with anger and for a second, I thought she was going to pick up the tray again. “I’m not a fool!” she snapped.
“Maybe Dallas can let everyone know he found a female werewolf he likes better and that he’d dumped you for her.”
“That better not happen,” she snarled.
These werewolf egos were driving me nuts. “How about if we make your mom out to be the idiot instead? Dallas can say he was thinking of you as a possible mate, but nothing had been decided yet, and Ruby jumped the gun on it all.”
