Seventh Seal: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 7)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  "Can you…uh…release my machine? I want to check your vitals."

  "Can you put it on mute?"

  "Yes."

  I waved my hand, releasing it from its shadow cocoon. It beeped twice before he found the right button and made my fucking day. "Thank you."

  "You're welcome."

  "So, what's the prognosis?"

  "Your vitals are stable, EEG normal, and you seem fine."

  "Why do I feel a but coming on?"

  "You need surgery to get the bullet out of your brain."

  "It's still in there?"

  "The guy shot you with a thirty-two ACP. I can't believe it made it through your thick skull to begin with." He sighed.

  I opened my eyes and instantly regretted the decision. The blinding white lights of the overhead fluorescents were twenty times worse than the incessant beeping. My eyes twitched and started watering. Closing them as quickly as I could, I felt for the wound in my skull. That wasn't there.

  "Don't bother. You healed right up."

  "With a bullet in my brain."

  "Yep."

  "Lucky me."

  "Come on. We're going to take you down for some more X-rays. I want another look before we put you on the operating table."

  "X-rays? Not a CT Scan?"

  "Steel jacket. Probably not the best idea to put you in a machine with giant spinning magnets. You'll scramble what you got left."

  "That's pleasant."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want me to sugar coat the fact that you have a fucking bullet lodged in your brain?"

  "Maybe." I grinned without looking at him.

  "Just do me a favor. Promise me that if you survive this, you'll stop putting yourself in situations where you end up in my hospital?"

  "I didn't plan on being here to begin with. Not every day you get shot by the dickhead you were trying to save."

  "I heard."

  "You did?" I opened my eyes again. Involuntary reflex. The lights didn't seem half as bright and the pain was almost gone.

  "Yeah. You came in with an entourage. They were calm but chatty. Almost like they knew you weren't in any danger?"

  "Yeah. Short of incinerating me, I'm a pretty tough cookie."

  "Nut."

  "Nut?"

  "Cookies are sweet. Nuts…"

  "Are crazy?'

  "Tough. Hard to crack."

  "I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted." I sat up and turned on the bed, attempting to stand.

  "What the hell are you doing?" He stepped forward and pushed me back down.

  "You said I have to go for an X-ray?"

  "Yeah. I've got some orderlies coming to wheel the bed down, dumbass." He huffed and shook his head, staring at me incredulously.

  "Don't think you're supposed to call your patients dumb."

  "I didn't. I called you a dumbass. It's a term of endearment."

  "Awww. You like me." I grinned.

  He chuckled and leaned over, pushing a few more buttons on the machine. I was kind of surprised. Usually doctors didn't have a fucking clue how the arcane machines worked and left them to their much smarter counterparts. Nurses. "I've never seen you do harm. Only good. That makes you sort of okay in my book."

  "Gee. Thanks, Doc."

  "Don't mention it."

  "I'm surprised Materos let me in through the front door."

  "You came in the back. ER entrance."

  "Well, I'm surprised he didn't wheel my bed out the front door into traffic."

  "Materos is…indisposed at the moment."

  "How so?" He had officially piqued my interest.

  "He's sitting in a jail cell."

  "What? What for?"

  "He was the one who shot you."

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "I don't fucking believe it." Shapiro was holding the X-ray up to the light, blinked twice and actually took the time to clip it into the wall reader. He flipped the switch and put his face about three inches from the giant picture of my skull.

  "What?"

  "It's gone!"

  "My brain?" I chuckled at my own joke.

  "I'm not sure if that was ever there to begin with. I meant the bullet."

  "It just disappeared? You sure it didn't come out the other side?"

  "See this darker area?" He used the tip of his first two fingers to swirl around a spot somewhere between my ears.

  "Yes?"

  "That's where it was. I saw your initial X-ray. I was thinking it was scarring, but now I'm not so sure."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I think the bullet disintegrated."

  "Disintegrated?"

  He sighed and turned to me. "Are you just going to repeat everything I say?"

  "No."

  He turned back to the X-ray. "See the pattern around what should be a wound? It's too dark to be scarring. I think it's metal."

  "So, I have metal swirling around my brain?"

  "It looks like it. The walls of your veins are pretty thick. The veins in your brain…they're a lot thinner. Probably because they're not surrounded by muscle. It's like the bullet's being absorbed into them. See how the darkening gets worse along this line?"

  "Yes?"

  "That's an interior cerebral vein. Now see how it turns here?" He slid his finger over a little more.

  "Doc. Blah, blah, blah, science stuff."

  "That's your inferior anastomotic vein. It's like it's getting sucked into it. I can't believe it. You are pretty fucking incredible. If there wasn't metallic dust in your head, I would send you down for a CT scan anyway." He put his hand under his chin and refused to tear his eyes away from the film.

  "When I'm dead, I'll donate my body. You can study me to your heart's content."

  He turned to me and narrowed his eyes. "Can't study a body once it's been incinerated. Since that's the only way you'd end up in my morgue, I'm shit out of luck."

  "You'd totally dissect me now if you could. Wouldn't you?" I was almost afraid. He had that mad scientist look in his eyes. When he turned to look at me, it was like I was a big juicy steak.

  "Of course not. But, when you're all healed and the metal is out of your head, would you mind stopping by for a couple of tests and scans?"

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "For your own personal curiosity or for a medical journal?"

  He sighed. "I'd love to say my own personal curiosity, but the temptation to share what you are, and what you can do, with the world would be too great. Even if I ask again, say no."

  I chuckled, slid off the hospital bed, and kissed him on his cheek. "That was for being honest. And not poking and prodding me while I was unconscious."

  "Judging by my waiting room, I think you get enough poking and prodding." He chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows.

  For the first time in a very long time, I blushed. "You have no idea."

  "No, but I can imagine. Go on. Get out of here. You're taking up a valuable hospital bed."

  "How much do I owe you.?"

  "You were never a patient here. Can't charge you." He winked and left me standing there.

  A nurse came in moment later with a set of hospital scrubs. "I managed to save your shoes, but they were about the only thing not soaked in blood," she said and set them on the bed beside me. She turned to leave, but stopped and faced me. "You're real, aren't you?"

  "Last time I checked?"

  "I mean witches. What those assholes were protesting in the square. You're really, really real, aren't you?"

  I opened my mouth to deny it, but I stopped myself. A vague recollection of a nurse eating her lunch and running for her life stopped me. She was there. "Does that scare you?"

  "Honey, I was in the square. I just saw shit that would scare a doctor's handwriting straight. You weren't the bad guy."

  "No. Those were vampires," I answered slowly. "But not all of them are like that."

  "It wasn't them that scared me, either. It was the crazy look in those assholes' eyes. Especially Dr. Materos. You had literal
ly just saved his life when he pulled a gun on you and shot you. Those are the things that scare me." She shuddered but then flashed me a brief smile. "You keep true. And tell Candy that Roberta says hi. And we really miss her here."

  "You haven't seen her since she left?"

  "No?"

  "She works at the coffee shop in the bookstore."

  "I'll have to stop in there for lunch one day." Her eyes brightened a little, but Candace did that to everybody.

  "Her fiancé is my–" I stopped myself from finishing that sentence. "Best friend. Tell 'em I sent ya."

  "I will." She flashed another small smile and gave me a nod, leaving me to get dressed and get the hell out of there.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "We missed the movie." Jimmy huffed, but I could tell he wasn't serious.

  "I'm sure I can think of some way to make it up to you." I chuckled in the seat next to him.

  "Not tonight. I'm taking you home and putting you into bed. A bullet in the brain counts as a 'Not tonight, Honey. I have a headache.'"

  "That's just it. I don't. I feel fine. It's kind of scary."

  "It is," Dennis added from the back seat. "But it's also fucking awesome. If you'd been a normal witch, you would have died tonight."

  I could feel the sadness radiating from him like heat. He'd been scared. They all had. Until they saw the wound close and my continued breathing. It was the only reason Materos was sitting in a cell and not a grave. Even still, it had been close. Yuki, believe it or not, had been the voice of reason.

  As soon as I had walked out of the hallway into the waiting room, Jimmy, Dennis, Shea, Dar, and Yuki had swooped me outside the hospital to tell me who had shot me. They'd been almost disappointed I'd already found out. After he pulled the trigger, Dar shifted into a hell hound, Jimmy hit him with a right hook, Shea had his dagger pulled and an arm around his neck as he was falling to the ground. Dennis was casting a petrification spell, while Chief was drawing his gun. But it was Yuki who dislodged my little assassin and put herself between Materos and everybody else, shaking her head sadly. All she had said was, "No."

  And they listened.

  I owed Yuki big time.

  "So, what happened to the rest of the OWLs?" I looked over at Jimmy for an answer.

  "As soon as Materos shot you, the rest of the OWLs scattered like vermin. They wanted nothing to do with Materos or the murder charges."

  "That was smart and kind of cowardly."

  Jimmy nodded. "Please don't do that again."

  "Do what?"

  "Get shot. Even though we saw the wound close and you not dying, we knew you were going to be okay, but still. That was one of the most horrific moments of my life."

  I nodded and gave him a reassuring kiss. "I'll try. So, what is going to happen to Materos?"

  Jimmy just shrugged.

  While he deserved whatever he got, I still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I was responsible for his actions. I needed to make it right if I was ever going to get rid of the guilt. It even came before a shower. Which was saying a lot since my hair was caked with blood. "Stop by the station a minute. I want to check on Chief."

  "He wanted to be there when you got out, but he had to haul that dick down to the jail."

  "I know. I'm not mad!" I laughed and held up my hands defensively. "I want to know what he's going to do to Materos."

  "Charge him for attempted murder?"

  "He can't. Then he'd have to explain me walking around. The new DA is a thousand times better than the last one, but still. No."

  "Well, he can't let him go. The fucker shot you, Dot. He deserves…"

  "To die? No. I'm going to talk to him. I'll figure something out."

  "You're going to scare him?"

  "He's already afraid. I think that's what's driving him insane. And making him go to such great lengths to make our lives miserable."

  "Then there's nothing left."

  "There's always other options, Jimmy. Pull over."

  He sighed and parked by the bookstore. "Want us to go with you?"

  "No." I softened my response with a smile and a kiss.

  "I get one of those, too. Right?" Dennis' head appeared between he seats.

  He was just too damn cute. "Of course. Even bigger than the one I gave Jimmy." I put my hand on his cheek and held him steady while I locked my lips to his.

  "Hey! How come he gets a bigger kiss?"

  "He didn't try and stop me from talking to Materos." I stuck my tongue out at him and slipped out of the truck.

  I opened the station door and Marcus turned around from the copy machine and dropped the stack of paper in his hands. "Holy fuck."

  "What'sa matter, Marcus?"

  "What the hell are you doing out of the hospital?"

  "A mere flesh wound. Bullet grazed me," I lied with a grin. "Chief in?"

  "The back," he answered and hooked his thumb over his shoulder. Marcus could only stare at me with his mouth hanging open. As I reached for the knob, he finally found his words. "Glad you're okay."

  "You and me both." I smiled and pulled the door open.

  Chief was sitting at his desk, head in his hands, when I finally made it to his office. When he heard me, he looked up and sighed. "Thank the Lady."

  "Missed you, too."

  He got up, walked around the desk, and threw his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. The non-bloody side. "Thank the goddess for your vampiric healing…"

  I let it go at that. "You keep thanking her like that and she might show up," I chided softly.

  "Why are you here?" He pulled back and narrowed his eyes at me.

  "Came to talk to Materos."

  "No. No way in hell."

  "I'm not going to hurt him, jackass."

  "That's not what I'm afraid of. If you wanted him dead, Yuki wouldn't have stopped us," he answered thoughtfully.

  "What?"

  "Nothing. Just think she knew how you felt and was acting as you while you were…out."

  "Probably. So, can I see him?"

  He wanted to say no. I could feel it. I could see it on his face. But he didn't. "Fine. But not alone."

  "Of course not." I motioned toward the holding area.

  Chief grabbed his ginormous ring of keys off his desk and led the way. Unable to stop myself, I frowned at the all too familiar setting and my butt puckered at my memory of the last time I was in there. When he moved out of the way, the look on Materos' face was pure terror as he finally let his eyes focus on me.

  "No. No no no no nooooooooo. You can't be!"

  "Alive? Sorry to disappoint you. Though, you shouldn't be. I just saved you from a lifetime of orange jumpsuits and an eternally sore anus." I grinned at him through the bars. "Why'd you shoot me, Materos?"

  "Because you are the spawn of Satan!"

  I sighed and shook my head. He was loony tunes. You could see it in his eyes. Getting attacked by vampires and shooting me had been the last straw. He was gone and there was no reasoning with him whatsoever. "Let him out, Chief."

  "What?"

  "Look at him. He's literally insane." I motioned toward his cell.

  "Well, I can't let him go! He shot you!"

  "And what are you going to tell the DA? That he missed? You know this can't go to court."

  Apparently Chief hadn't been thinking about it at all. I saw the little lightbulb go off in his head.

  "Of course not. I uh…fuck. What the hell are we going to do?"

  "This is your job. Not mine. I'm just the target dummy."

  "That's not funny." He narrowed his eyes at me.

  "Spaaaaaawn of Satan. Satin. Finish."

  "Shut up," we both said to Materos.

  "Boil me up. Put me in an oven. You know you're going to."

  His ramblings gave me a flash of brilliance. "Have him committed."

  "What?"

  "Well, fucking look at him. He got hit with all the draw fours and he's still not playing with a full deck. Call a psychiatrist. H
ave him put in a mental hospital." I paused to look at him. "Hell. I'll even pay."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know. I mean between everything. Jimmy, his brother getting eaten by Squishy the Third, getting attacked by vampires… I feel kind of guilty."

  "And sometimes bad shit happens to bad people. It's called Karma, Dot. And it's a bitch."

  "But so am I." I grinned at him.

  "I'll make you a deal. I'll make the call and have him remanded to a state-run facility. Either they can take the cost out of his savings or the state can pay. You're not footing the bill for this asshole."

  "Fine. But it was a good idea, yeah?"

  "Yeah." He actually smiled.

  "What about the other body?"

  "What other body?" He winked at me.

  Chapter 16

  "There. That's the last fucking one." I straightened up slowly in the back of the delivery truck. Normally when we ordered stock, they shipped it freight on a delivery truck from the distribution center in Syracuse. Unfortunately, our last order had been so huge we'd gotten the whole front half of an eight-wheeler. It was no small fucking wonder why Jason had snickered and said, "Sure," when I asked if he needed any help.

  He hadn't even let me use the old 'but I just got out of the hospital' routine, either.

  Dar grunted as he took the last box of books and headed through the back door. I just slid them from the front of the truck to the back. He and Ellis had carried every single one inside First Moon Books. I probably shouldn't have complained.

  I hopped down off the back of the truck and almost collided with the driver walking around the back at the same moment.

  "Woah!" He gave a startled jump.

  "Sorry. All done. She's yours again."

  "You know, if you had a loading dock, they could have palleted and shrink wrapped all the boxes."

  "And miss all this fun?" I laughed as he held out the bill of lading and a pen.

  I signed in the received box and handed it back to him without even looking at the box quantity. He seemed honest enough. If anything was missing, Dar would let me know and I could bitch later. "Thanks…"

  "Mickey."

  "Thanks, Mickey. Can I buy you a coffee?"

  He smiled and tipped his hat. "I'd love to, but I have to get back and loaded up again. Maybe next time."

  "Suit yourself. Have a good one." I headed toward the back door, turned, and yanked it shut behind me as I stepped into the much warmer back room. Sighing in relief, I shucked my jacket and screeched.