Page 4 of Cursed Touch
“And how do you feel right now?”
Carter shut his eyes and took note of his body. “Right after? I felt weak and had to maintain composure as best as I could so no one would notice, but my head swam profusely. Now I feel like I could take a long nap, and even then, I’d still feel fatigued. Like I said, he was on death’s doorstep. If I’d healed him all the way, I wouldn’t have been in any condition to drive.”
Serena nodded. “Drink your tea. It will restore your energy.”
He looked down at the liquid and took a tentative sip. A bitter flavor burst on his tongue, followed by a nutty taste he could not identify.
“Carter, now that you’re healing more often and have determined a difference with heals, you’re going to have to take better care of yourself. I’ll send you home with more of this maca tea. Its properties will help give you the energy you need.”
“Thanks, Serena.”
“As far as the bite? It sounds like a lycan bite. Once their saliva mixes with the tissues in our bodies, it’s deadly. Your patient was really lucky you were there to heal him.”
Chapter 3
Vanessa stared into her cup of coffee, her eyes glazed as her mind wandered. By some miracle—or magic—Tyler had been released after a couple hours. He’d been prescribed amoxicillin for the infection and told to keep the wound clean.
He limped his way out of the hospital, but it was a vast improvement from the condition he was in when she’d brought him in. It just didn’t make any sense to her.
Then there was the matter of the… doctor. She was not sure who he was, since the person who had discharged Tyler was a woman. But the man? Vanessa had dreamed of him all night. His brown eyes swallowing her in and her body vibrating with his touch… No man or woman had made her shiver like the one look from Dr. Tingles had.
Dr. Tingles was the nickname she had given him after a few hours of thinking about nothing but him and how he’d affected the nerves along her skin. His strong jaw, brown eyes, and dark hair that was a week past a haircut were all firmly planted in her mind.
She was nearly obsessing about this total stranger. There’d been something so familiar about him, a connection perhaps. Vanessa shook her head again.
“You sound like a lunatic,” she chastised herself.
Then again, if magic really did exist like she believed it did, the chances of that man meaning something to her didn’t sound crazy at all.
She looked at the time and realized if she wanted to check in on Tyler before going to her shop, she needed to get a move on. Vanessa chugged her now-lukewarm coffee before washing the mug and setting it to dry.
Looking down at her blouse, she was pleased to see she had managed to keep it stain-free. Red roses decorated the white fabric of her sleeveless top, and she’d paired it with dark-wash jeans and a pair of black wedges. Summer was around the corner, and she would enjoy every ray of sunshine they got.
Vanessa grabbed a hoodie and her keys and left the apartment. After locking up, she knocked three times on Tyler’s door. She closed her eyes at the cool May breeze caressing her skin as she waited.
A minute later, the locked disengaged. “Hey,” Tyler said.
Color had returned to his face, and it seemed he bore all his weight evenly. “Hey, I wanted to check up on you.”
“Thanks, I’m feeling much better, thanks to you,” he said.
She studied him closely, wishing she could see the wound on his lower thigh. “You look… better. Almost like nothing happened.”
Tyler’s eyes shifted as he chuckled. The sound was odd and made her wonder if he was nervous. “That’s a good thing. I’d hate to look like death.”
She bit her lower lip in thought. “See, that’s exactly how you looked yesterday. Antibiotics are great, but they’re not that great.”
He shifted his feet. “Are you heading to your shop?”
She narrowed her eyes at his deflection. “I am…”
Tyler nodded. “Thanks again for checking up on me, but I’m good.” His eyes darkened when they shifted toward a parking lot in the distance. “You should drive today.”
Vanessa searched the lot for any signs as to why he would suggest she drive. A man was walking through it, and the breeze around them became a gust, causing her to blink rapidly. When she focused once more, the man was gone. “Uh, why do you say that?” she asked Tyler distractedly as she searched for the man. “Did you see the guy out there? One minute he was there, but the next he was gone?” she asked before Tyler could respond to her previous question.
Tyler cleared his throat. “N-no. There wasn’t anyone that I could see. You saw a guy disappear?” He chuckled. “Maybe I should take you in today.”
Her hard gaze landed on him. “I know what I saw. Look, feel better. I gotta go.”
