Glamour Bites

The Jeep spun and came to a perfect stop between two other cars and I climbed out, boys scurrying behind me. I strode through the emergency room doors and up to the nurses’ station.



“Alexia! Thank God you’re here! We didn’t know what to do. I’ll take you back immediately.” Nurse Erin Hatchet had been a friend mine for years, having tended numerous wounds of mine. She glanced behind me at the guys and stopped in her tracks. “I’m sorry. I can’t allow all of you back there.”



“It’s ok, Erin. They’re very important for helping. Kingston is mine and Cassi’s other roommate, Ian is Harper’s best friend and band mate, and Andreas is the eldest living vampyre. He can help.”



“I don’t know, Alexia. What can they do?”



“Just trust me, Erin. In all the years we’ve known each other, have I ever lied to you?”



“There was that time about how you were burned across the face and ended up healed within an hour, but that has been forgiven.” She sighed and gestured to the back room. “I guess I’m bringing you all along, but if Dr. Gordon asks, Alexia, you held a gun to my head.”



“Yes, ma’am.” I smiled slightly at Erin, but grew somber as we headed into the ICU.



She opened a door and escorted us into a dark room where Cassi and Harper lay, tubes coming out of their bodies. Both were bandaged so heavily that scent alone told me they were people I cared about.



I ran to Cassi’s bed side and brushed some hair out of her face, whispering softly. “Cassi, I’m so sorry. I should have been there to prevent this. You never have been a fighter.”



“We’ve tried everything, Alexia. He seems to be healing better than Cassi, but neither are healing as fast as they should be.” Erin stood at the door and rubbed her arms, as if she were cold. “I even did herbal remedies, but nothing seems to help her.”



I looked at Erin and nodded. “She’s different than the others.” I looked at Andreas and he nodded, so I turned back to Erin. “We need the room alone. No one comes in unless I give permission. You hear me? Do not let anyone in, no matter what you hear. Use force if you need to.”



“Gotcha, Alexia. I’ll be just outside the door. I’ll get Mr. Savage from Karma’s room and have him help me guard the door. Take your time.” She turned and left the room.



I took this as a chance to dive into action, taking off the duster jacket and holster underneath it. I knew what I had to do with Cassi, because the hospital found it disgusting and refused to even think about it. I needed to have my arms bare to let the healing power flow through me before I gave her my blood.



I pulled a blade out from my boot and felt Andreas gently grab my wrist. “Let me do it, Alexia.”



“No, Andreas. She doesn’t like you and doesn’t want to be bound to you. I can handle this.” I looked into his so caring face and thought about the fights we used to have, how he had tried to get into my pants for years. Now that he had, we both knew it would never happen again. I stood on tiptoes and kissed him gently. “I want to do this.”



“Um, Alexia, what’s going on?”



I had forgotten about Kingston and Ian until I heard Kingston’s concerned voice. I turned to find him standing by the door, looking like a little lost puppy, while Ian started to take his clothes off to deal with Harper.



I walked over to Kingston and kissed him gently. “Cassi needs blood and Andreas can’t give it to her without her being bound to him for eternity. She doesn’t want that. So I have to give it to her.”



I heard movement behind me and saw Andreas taking off his jacket and shirt. I raised an eyebrow and he answered before I could even ask him. “Her injuries are magically inflicted, so she’s going to need a lot of blood. Therefore, you’re going to need to take a lot of blood to feed her. We’re already bound, so it’s no loss for me.”



“I’ll give you some blood too, Alexia.”



I look at Kingston and shook my head. “No, Kingston, I won’t have it.”



“You can’t stop me. I’ve made up my mind. Right now, Cassiopeia’s health is all that’s important.”



“He’s right, Lexi.”



I looked at Ian and glared. “Don’t help them.”



He smiled and dropped his pants, sliding his nude body against Harper’s under the hospital blankets. I knew that Lycans healed faster with the touch of another, I had just never seen it done. Guess I still wasn’t going to see it happen.



“Whatever. I have to do this now before I lose all courage.” I walked over to Cassi and laid the blade against the vein in my wrist. I took a deep breath and slid the blade across, watching the blood well up in the cut.



A few drops of blood dripped onto Cassi’s chin and she flinched. I moved my wrist over her mouth so that the blood dripped there and jumped as her hands shot up and pulled my wrist to her mouth, biting deep into my already bleeding wrist.



I looked at Andreas, pain on my face. “I forgot just how a comatose vampyre takes blood. At this rate, I’ll not only need you and Kingston but Ian as well.”



I tried to loosen my grip a little, and found that I could, which was never a good sign. I tugged on Andreas’s arm and smiled. “Ready for a little pain, darling?”



Andreas smiled and leaned over in front of me, baring his neck to me. I took the offering without hesitation and sank my fangs deep into his neck, drinking him down. It was nothing sexual like it was normally was, it was me surviving.



I released Andreas and licked the wound so that he wasn’t bleeding everywhere as I heard yelling in the hallway. I groaned and gestured for Andreas to handle it. “You need to gain your strength, so handling a few human doctors should be no problem.”



Andreas nodded and stopped by Kingston. “Take care of her. If she starts to look pale, she needs blood. Force her if you must.”



Kingston nodded as Andreas headed out the door and came and stood beside me. “How much longer are you going to have to feed her?”



I flinched as Cassi started to gnaw on my wrist. “Until she wakes up, which could be a few minutes, or a few hours.”



“You won’t last a few hours.”



“I know, but I have to try.” I felt lightheaded again and found Kingston’s neck in front of my mouth. “No. It’ll be painful.”



“I don’t care, Alexia. You need it. Do it, or I’ll take one of your blades and make you.”



I had never heard Kingston be so forceful, so I placed my lips against his neck, tasting the sweetness of his skin. “Maybe when I can make it pleasurable, I’ll show you the good side of being with a vampyre.”



“Just take the blood, Alexia.”



Sighing, I bit hard into his neck and let the demon blood feel me. I was a new sensation for me. Hot, scalding, and yet, at the same time, invigorating, it was unbelievable. As I drank more, I felt my whole body fill with energy, power, and pleasure.



I pushed some of the energy through my veins into Cassi as I drank some more of the very powerful blood. I pulled back when I felt as if I was going to burst and shook my head. “No more. I can’t take anymore.”



I felt the hands on my wrist loosen and heard Cassi’s voice, still weak, come from the bed. “Me neither.”



I sighed in relief and wrapped my arms around Cassi, laying on top of her. “Oh my gods! Cassiopeia Rowan Holland, if you ever do that to me again, I’ll kill you myself.”



I felt her hands stroke my hair. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on getting into a fight with a demon again any time soon.”



“Demon? What did it look like?” My mind went into investigator mode and I sat up, looking at her.



“He was large and a dark red. His horns, when they appeared, were black and about a foot long. His eyes, my gods, his eyes were black and red with fire in them. He … he pulled a whip out of his pocket. Great goddess, Alexia, he was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.”



I wrapped my arms around Cassi as she cried and looked at Kingston, who looked as if he was about to pass out. I knew that we were thinking the same thing. The demon that had burnt my office down was the same who had beat my best friend and her boyfriend down, and I now knew that he was the same demon I had been beaten by in Sheol.



“Don’t worry, Cassi, I’ll find out why he went after you and Harper. Can you tell me exactly what happened after he pulled the whip out?”



“He pulled his hand back and just let it rip, hitting me over and over again until I was screaming. Harper came into the room to check on me and the demon turned on him. Harper?! Where is he?”



I looked to the bed across the room and felt her eyes follow mine. I heard her soft sob and saw Ian look at her, sadness in his eyes. “Don’t worry about him, Cass. He’s strong. I’ll get him up and going in no time.”



Cassi nodded but kept a hard grip on my hand, fear obvious in her behavior. She looked at me and moved my hair from my neck, showing the newest scar I had: Andreas’s fang marks. “Where did you get those, Lexi?”



I touched them and shrugged. “Andreas.”



“What? How in the world did he get close enough to you to actually scar you with his mark?”



“We bounded?” Horror showed on her face and I sighed. “He’s my soul mate, Cassi. He’s one of the reasons I was able to give you enough blood to get you awake.”



She opened her mouth to argue when the door burst open and Andreas came in followed by Erin, Dr. Gordon, Greg, and a security guard. “What the Hell do you think you’re doing, Ms. Mooren?”



“Ah, Dr. Gordon, it’s so nice to see you again. I believe you met my roommate, Cassiopeia Holland.” I moved to show the doctor that Cassi was awake.



“How in the world …? She was in a comma an hour ago. What did you do to her, Ms. Mooren?” I moved as he ran to her bed side and started to take Cassi’s vitals.



“I gave her blood. Something you refuse to do for your vampyre patients.” I leaned against the wall and felt Kingston’s arm go around my waist. I laid my head on his shoulder and looked at the doctor again.



“What about Mr. Linton? Why in the world are you in bed with him?” He had turned his attention to Ian long enough for Andreas to get across the room to me.



He brushed my hair out of my face and raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head and caught Cassi looking at us. With a brush of lips against my forehead, Andreas leaned against the wall on the other side of me and watched Dr. Gordon fuss at Ian.



I wasn’t paying attention until I heard the growl coming from Harper’s bed. “Leave him alone. He’s just trying to help me.”



I pushed away from the wall and got on the opposite side of the bed from Dr. Gordon, smiling as I saw Harper’s hazel eyes looking at me. “Hey, Lexi.”



I leaned into him and kissed him on the forehead. “You had us worried there, Harper.”



“I was worried myself. Ian, you can get dressed now.” He playfully shoved his best friend out of the bed to sprawl naked on the floor, grumbling as he put his clothes on.



“See, Dr. Gordon? We seem to have done more in the last hour than you’ve done since they arrived. Now if you could leave us alone, we have some things to discuss.”



“I don’t think so, Ms. Mooren. I think that you and your friends should leave. John, if you could escort Ms. Mooren and her friends out of the hospital?”



The security guard, John, looked at me, Andreas, and Kingston, all covered in blood, and shook his head. “I can’t do that, Doc. Those three look like they may need medical help. We’re not allowed to refuse them help.”



I held up my still bleeding wrist and smiled. “I think I may need stitches. Cassi bites pretty hard.”



“I’ll second the stitches. Alexia was none too gentle when she bit me.” Kingston pulled his hand away from his neck, showing blood.



“Amen to that.” Andreas turned his head and showed his own bleeding mark. We looked like we had gotten into a vampyre gang fight and all lost.



“Fine. I’ll patch you three up, but then you’re gone. Come into the ER and we’ll handle it.”



“I’m not leaving Cassi’s side, Doctor. You can get your kit and come in here to us.”



Anger welled in the doctor’s eyes, but he nodded. “I’ll be right back. John, back to your post. Nurse Hatchet, stay here with them and make sure that they don’t try anything.”



“Yes, sir.” Erin waited until the door was closed and turned to me. “He’s such an asshole. I can’t wait until my transfer goes through next week.”



“Yeah, he’s an asshole, but he’s a good doctor. Now to business.”



“What about her, Alexia?” Kingston nodded toward Erin and I smiled. “Don’t we need to get her out of the room.”



“Kingston, I’d like you to meet the real Erin Hatchet. Erin, if you please?”



Erin smiled and nodded, closing her eyes. A flicker of pain went across her face as large wings and dainty little horns came out of her forehead. “Hi, Kingston. I’m a dragon. Well, half dragon anyway.” She smiled and the wings and fangs disappeared. “I am the best person at keeping secrets.”



Kingston smiled and nodded. “Ok. What about the other guy?”



I had forgotten that Greg was in the room and smiled. “Greg Savage, Kingston, is the head of our favorite department of the DIT. He’s Karma … friend.”



Greg nodded and I turned to look at the crowd as a whole. “Here’s the deal. My office was burnt down with a demon spell, which injured Karma and Mike. Then tonight, Cassi and Harper are attacked by a large red demon with huge black horns. The problem here is that I know who is doing this. I just don’t know why.”



Kingston nodded and moved to do what I was hoping he would do. “His name is Melodux, and he’s the head of the demons in Sheol.” He paused and sighed. “I think I know why he’s doing this.”



That was a surprise to me and I looked at him open mouthed. “How? I mean, why could he possibly be doing this?”



“When I was down there, I heard him talking about how he needed to find a new queen. Someone with power, whom everyone feared and yet loved at the same time. Your name came up. Believe it or not, Alexia, you’re scary. Even loving you, most of the people in this room know that if you had to, you’d take us out.”



I looked around the room as my closest friends nodded in agreement. It didn’t make me feel good to know that my best friends were all scared that if they did something wrong I would kill them. If anything, it hurt.



“Melodux wants queen like that. You are the one he has chosen. He doesn’t know what you look like, but he does know your scent.” He looked at Cassi and Harper with a sigh. “Cassi, Harper, Karma, and Mike are some of your closest friends. In Melodux’s opinion, they’re competition. He has to get rid of them, to get to you.”



Well that explained a lot, yet nothing at all. Why would anyone want me to be queen of anything? I was sarcastic, stubborn, but way too kind to rule anyone, especially the demons.



“This is so stupid. Why would anyone want me to rule anything? I mean, you all know me well enough to know how I am. Do you see me ruling anything?”



Everyone looked at me like they were trying to see through me and shook their heads, one by one. Now that I knew they didn’t see it, I had to figure out how to keep everyone safe.



I shook my head and held up my healed wrist. “I believe we can leave now. I need no medical attention any more, and I just want to get home and sleep.”



Gordon walked into the room and looked around at all the somber faces. “Did I miss something?”



“No, Dr. Gordon, you didn’t. Me and my crew were just leaving. Have a good one.” I went over to Cassi and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Take care of yourself. Don’t let Harper be a stubborn male either. I’ll come back.”



I took Kingston’s offered hand and walked out the door, heading for the exit with the guys behind me. I stopped and turned to Greg. “Do I need to go see Karma and Mike? Have there been any changes?”



“No, Alexia, no changes. I even had faerie healers come in and look at them, but nothing.”



I nodded and stood on tiptoes, kissing Greg gently on the cheek. “It’s alright, Greg, I’ll find a way to help them. I promise.”



It was later as I was crawling into bed beside the warmth of Kingston’s naked body that I realized I might not be able to keep that promise.