Page 21 of Twice Bitten

I hadn’t brought any healing potions or packs with me. Even if I had, I’d lost my purse somewhere between the flight from Beckett and my unfortunate stumble into those two clawed men—a vampire and a shifter, from the sound of things.

An odd pain pulsed in my wrist, once, twice, a third time—a strange thing to notice since the rest of me felt like it was in pieces. Unfamiliar magic tingled over my skin, zipping toward the worst of my wounds.

Burning agony flared over my side. My wheezing scream turned into hoarse sobs, and I wished for death for the first time, true death. No one was coming to save me.

Why couldn’t the universe just let me die instead of leaving me in this agonizing state of being?

The pain in my side grew worse, that strange light flickering and moving over my body. Eventually, the pain was too much, and my eyes slipped closed once more.

“Where is she?” a hushed voice whispered, jarring me from that in-between space I kept slipping into when the pain became too much.

“Back there. That’s where the light’s coming from.”

“Could this be a trap?”

“I don’t think so. She told us if we ever saw this, we needed to drop what we’re doing and come.”

“Have you met her before?”

A soft feminine snort. “None of us were allowed around her.”

“Weird.”

The footsteps stopped abruptly.

“Help,” I wheezed.

One of them sucked in a shocked gasp. “Put up a lookaway spell. Now.”

My eyes cracked open as magic shimmered over the alleyway. Watery shadows rose above me. A slim woman, her face obscured by a headscarf, bent over me. She gently moved my arm and lifted my blood-soaked shirt away from my wounds.

“Oh, dear heart,” she breathed. A second later, she snapped her fingers. “Tiegan. Bring me the aloe, frankincense, and the calendula, along with the bandages. We’ll need to bind her before we can risk a move.”

A sheet of blonde hair swung into view. The woman was petite and elfin-faced with slender, almost frail features. Her eyes were kind and sympathetic. She dug in her bag and passed a few things over to the other woman before brushing her fingers over my cheek. “I’m so sorry, dear. This will hurt.”

A whimper was all I could muster in response. Cool fingers probed the skin around the worst of my wounds, every touch sending fire through my nerves.

“Huh,” the woman mused. “The edges have started closing, far too fast to happen on their own.”

“No time for curiosity,” Tiegan chided. “We need to get out of this alley.”

“I have to move you,” the woman said. She gently nudged my hip. I gagged with pain, hot tears streaming down my face.

“Sorry, sorry,” she breathed. “The bandage has to wrap all the way around. You’ve lost far too much blood for us to risk moving you as you are now.” The woman reached over, gently encouraging me to move, but I couldn’t.

“Tiegan. Help her.”

The moment Tiegan tried to lift me, I barked a rasping scream and lost consciousness once more.

EIGHT

I awoke to the smell of unfamiliar herbs and magic. Falling asleep in the basement wasn’t unheard of for me, especially after a heavy magic session, but I knew before opening my eyes I wasn’t at home.

Images and feelings floated back to me as I rose to consciousness. Beckett, terror as I ran down the dark streets, stumbling into those two men, stabbing pain.

Being left to die.

My eyes opened and closed almost as sudden when bright light flooded my irises. I turned my face away, tears filling my eyes. I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten here, only that I couldn’t save myself and was getting ready to die.