by Cheree Alsop
Wolves didn’t have nervous breakdowns. He toyed with the thought that perhaps he should just stay a wolf. The world was easier that way; plenty of other werewolves ran off to live in wolf packs and pretend to fit in with the wild animals. The thought was tempting, especially considering the world he was confronted with wasn’t even his own. However, he didn’t know if there were even wolves in whatever world Edge City occupied.
Also, there was that small thought of demons and vampires threatening the safety of the nurses and doctor who had been, if not completely accepting, at least civil. He wasn’t in a cage; that was a plus, all things considered. Although he would probably be safer in a cage, if all things were really considered.
He sighed. No matter what happened, he couldn’t leave creatures like the fairy to die out of ignorance, and Dark fae like the demon to attack innocent humans and wreak havoc on their lives. If he could still do something to help the exhausted hospital staff, he would.
Aleric willed himself to remember what it felt like to be human. He thought of the way it felt to smile back when Sherian had been his life. His heart gave a human pang of regret. He pushed past it and thought of sunlight on his face and the feel of grass beneath his fingers.
His body phased much more slowly than before. Werewolves generally phased at night. Moonlight made it easier to maintain the form, and the full moon demanded the phase. Phasing back and forth four times in the space of a few hours during the middle of the day was something Aleric had never done.
He bent gingerly and picked up the hospital gown. He missed pants. Unfortunately, the white gown with the little blue dots was all he had. He shrugged into it with the reminder that at least he wasn’t naked. He was in the middle of fastening the ties along the back when the doors opened.
The worried expression on Nurse Eastwick’s face relaxed when she saw Aleric.
“Thank goodness!” she exclaimed. “I thought you might be dying in some corner somewhere. I know that creature tore you up.”
“Demon,” Aleric corrected. “And one benefit of being in wolf form is the thick hide.”
“Demon, huh?” she repeated. “Let’s hope we don’t have any more of those to deal with. We have it heavily sedated under Dr. Worthen’s orders. It’s going to take the orderlies forever to clean up the E.R. and we have two new patients.”
“Fae?” Aleric asked.
She shook her head. “They appear normal, or as normal as two guys brawling in a bar can be. Luckily, we can take them in the back rooms to treat black eyes, bruises, and a few stitches.” She winked at him. “We’d go with glue, but Dr. Worthen likes them to remember that fighting isn’t worth the scars.”
That brought a smile to Aleric’s face. “I think I like Dr. Worthen. How’s he doing?”
“He’s shaken,” the nurse said. Aleric heard her unsteady breath when she said, “Actually, we all are. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”
“Me, either,” Aleric replied.
She stared at him. “You’ve never fought a demon before?”
He shook his head.
Her eyes widened. “So you jumped on that huge beast and held onto its throat without knowing that cutting off its windpipe would work? Or that you wouldn’t be squashed like a bug?”
Aleric shrugged. “I figured it was worth a shot.”
She put her hands on her hips and studied him.
“Aleric, where on earth did you come from?”
“I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” he replied.
She looked at him closely. “You’re exhausted. You’d better sit down before you pass out.” Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. “You know, changing into a wolf and fighting demons is against doctor’s orders after hitting your head.”
“Oh,” Aleric replied. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
“I’ll get you an icepack,” she told him. “Go rest in the D Wing. I’ll be there in a sec.”
There was something about the familiar way she talked to him that made Aleric like the blonde nurse with the no-nonsense attitude. He could generally trust his instincts when it came to an assessment of the people around him. Nurse Eastwick, or Loreen, as Dr. Worthen had called her, felt like the pack aunt whose job it was to keep an eye on the youngsters and tag after the yearlings to make sure they didn’t get into trouble.
Intent on following her orders to get some rest, Aleric pushed the door open to the D Wing. All thoughts of taking it easy fled at the sight of the vampire standing at the far end of the room, the bars of the bed torn free and in his hands, and a bloodthirsty expression in his red eyes as he glared at the fairy who cowered in the sunlight.
Chapter 3
“What’s going on here?” Aleric asked, keeping his voice calm.
“I’m hungry,” the vampire said in gruff, low tones.
“I’ll get you some blood,” Aleric replied. “Take it easy.”
The vampire pointed with the bar. “There’s fresh blood right there, taunting me. All she needs to do is come out of the sunlight.” He turned his attention to the fairy. “Come on, sweetheart. Come over here. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“It’s only those who mean to hurt you who promise they’re not going to,” Aleric pointed out.
“Shut up,” the vampire growled.
Aleric crossed the room in a slow, steady pace. As far as he knew, the vampire hadn’t noticed the selkie sleeping in one of the unfinished rooms in the middle. If he realized there was an easy meal at hand not hiding in the burning sunlight, Aleric wasn’t sure he would have the strength to fight off the bloodthirsty creature. Vampires had a reputation for hunger-induced super strength when they got desperate.
Aleric reached the partially enclosed room. As soon as he put a hand on the selkie’s bed, he felt the vampire’s attention shift. He yanked the bed backwards. The vampire darted with a speed that would have done a charging minotaur proud. His hand latched onto the side of the bed just as Aleric pulled it into the sunlight.
The vampire had a grip of steel. When the bed was halfway into the light, it heaved backwards, nearly pulling Aleric off his feet. He scrambled for footing amid the pieces of wood and work dust that coated the floor. His bare feet slipped as the vampire steadily dragged the bed toward the shadows.
Aleric searched behind him for anything he could use. A small hand grabbed onto his. He looked down to see the fairy pulling with him. He gritted his teeth and, with their combined strength, managed to pull the bed far enough out that the sunlight fell on the vampire’s arm. Steam rose from his skin. The vampire gave a hiss of pain and let go. Aleric and the fairy quickly pushed the bed to one of the windows.
“Using sunlight isn’t fighting fair,” the vampire said; he glared at them, his red eyes bright with hunger.
“Sucking the blood of injured Light fae isn’t fair,” Aleric shot back. “Remember the Armistice of Fae Equality? You can’t suck her blood.”
“I’m starving to death,” the vampire said. “Desperate times and all that.”
Aleric heard the faint commotion of the doctors and nurses in the Emergency Room. The vampire looked from him to the door. It lay in the shadows, only reachable if he crossed the space without sunlight to reach it. A smile pulled at the corners of the vampire’s mouth.
“You’re just delaying the inevitable, werewolf,” he said. “If you need to leave the room, you’ll be my next meal. Once the sun goes down, I’ll have all three of you for dinner.”
Aleric looked at the fairy. “That sounds a lot less inviting than a dinner invitation should.”
“He scares me,” she replied in a whisper.
Aleric’s heart went out to her. In Blays, the Dark fae and Light fae kept fairly separate. Most of their dealings, if they needed to deal with each other, were done through Ashstock like werewolves who were neither Light nor Dark, but somewhere in-between. The fear he saw on the fairy’s face was genuine.
“I’ll keep you safe,” he promised.
“Trust a werewolf to give you false promises,” the vampire said. His lips pulled back to show his fangs. “Uncivilized creatures. Their blood smells like dog. I can tell a werewolf’s stench for miles.” He speared Aleric with a look. “Where were you during the Fallow Conflict?”
His words made the hair on the back of Aleric’s neck stand up. It was all he could do not to attack the creature right then. Only the thought of leaving the fairy and selkie unprotected kept him in the sunlight.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. If he shouted, it would alert the vampire. He only had one choice.
Aleric darted forward. He scooped up a wood splinter as long as his arm and spun to face the vampire just before the door behind him opened. The vampire, almost to him, paused at the sight of the wooden stake.
Aleric heard the gasp from Nurse Eastwick.
“Put it down, Wolfie,” the vampire said in soothing tones.
Aleric glared at him. “Your mind tricks don’t work on me.”
“Because werewolves are insolent Ashstock curs,” the vampire shot back. His eyes flickered to the nurse. “But they’ll work on her. Come on, darling. Let me introduce myself as a true gentleman should.”
Aleric heard Nurse Eastwick take a step toward the vampire.
“Speak to her again and I’ll shove this stake through your heart,” he growled with enough vehemence that even the vampire paused.
The Dark fae must have seen by Aleric’s expression just how serious he was, because he crossed his arms in front of his chest and took several casual steps backwards.
“You do take the fun out of things,” the vampire said.
Aleric shrugged without lowering the stake. “Werewolves don’t make the best dinner guests. Return to your bed.”
He caught the nurse’s wrist in one hand and followed the vampire, pulling her carefully forward. As soon as they were close enough to the sunlight, Aleric held her hand out to the fairy who stood ready for her. From the corner of his eye, Aleric saw the human shake her head to clear it of the fog from the vampire’s mind control.
Aleric kept his attention on the vampire. He followed the Dark fae back to his bed. When the vampire paused, he motioned for it to climb up.
“What are you going to do?” the vampire asked with annoyance thick in his voice as he obeyed. “Sing me a lullaby?”
“I’m not into torturing my captives,” Aleric replied.
He scooped up an electrical cord from the floor and tossed it over the vampire. Holding the stake in his teeth, Aleric proceeded to wrap the cord a dozen times around the bed, effectively binding the creature.
“I’m going to get out of this,” the vampire promised.
“I think you’ll try,” Aleric replied. “But I have a deterrent for you.”
He pushed the bed toward the line of windows.
“Whoa!” the vampire said with panic in his voice. “I was just kidding! I wasn’t going to eat her, just suck some blood, honest. I have a severe light allergy; it’s a genetic thing. Burns all over, remember? That’s how I woke up!”
Aleric paused a foot from the first reaches of the sunlight that filtered through the glass.
“You woke up in the sunlight?” he repeated. “I’ve never heard of a vampire so careless as to fall asleep where the sun could find him when he awoke.”
The vampire grasped at the chance to stall. “I didn’t fall asleep where the sun could find me,” he said. “I fell asleep in a garden. I’m pretty sure I was drugged with bad blood. I should have awoken with my comrades, but I awoke here, burned half to death and starving.” He ran a tongue over his teeth. “I’m still starving.”
“I told you I would get you some blood, but just to ensure that you don’t try anything while I’m gone….” Aleric tossed the end of the electric cord to the fairy. “If you so much as lift a finger trying to get free, our little fairy will pull you into the light so fast you’ll think you’re vacationing on the sun itself.”
The vampire’s pale skin paled even further.
The fairy had a very pleased expression her face. She tugged on the cord experimentally. Aleric put a hand on the bed to keep it from rolling forward.
“She’s a psychopath!” the vampire protested. “Don’t leave me to her mercy. Fairies are mischievous little imps at the best of times.” He twisted his head to look at her. “I wasn’t really planning to suck your blood. Honest!”
“Don’t speak to her,” Aleric said. “We don’t need your tricks here.”
He grabbed a half-used roll of silver tape from the floor and tore off a generous piece.
“Wait! No, I was just—”
Aleric pressed the tape over the vampire’s mouth.
“This is so you don’t get yourself burned to a crisp,” he said. “Just lay there like a nice vampire and I’ll see that you get out of here as soon as possible. Until then, you can appreciate the construction design of the ceiling.”
A glance up showed several unpainted beams.
“Think of it as impressionistic art,” Aleric suggested.
The vampire glared at him with hatred in his eyes.
Aleric dared to turn his back on the vampire. His instincts vibrated against the action.
“If looks could kill, I’d drop dead right here,” he told the others. “Good thing vampires have to speak to use their mind control.”
“Mind control?” Nurse Eastwick asked. “Is that what he did?”
Aleric nodded. “He couldn’t get past me to suck your blood, so he was going to have you go to him. Like delivery instead of carry out.”
She shook her head. “Disgusting.”
“Take it as a compliment. Vampires don’t go for human blood very often. They prefer the artificial brew made by the individual clans after the Armistice of Fae Equality.” He shot the vampire a look of steel. “Though they argue that accidents happen. Lives were lost during the Fallow Conflict because of once such accident.”
It took all of Aleric’s very stretched-to-the-limit self-control to put the stake in the fairy’s other hand instead of plunging it into the vampire’s heart. Memories he didn’t want to think about threatened to swarm his tired mind. Aleric shoved them down with practiced indifference and took a calming breath. He glanced at the nurse.
“Did you need me?”
The nurse looked from the vampire to Aleric. “You saved my life again.”
Aleric gave her a weary half-smile. “Seems to be a day for that. How’s our demon friend doing?”
She appeared to gather herself together and nodded. “That’s what I came here for. He’s sleeping, for now, and on heavy sedatives. Dr. Worthen asked if you have room back here for him, or what you suggest we should do. He’s afraid the demon will wake up again and patients’ lives will be at risk.”
Aleric thought for a moment. “We need to separate this wing into Light and Dark fae.”
“Light and Dark?” she repeated.
Aleric nodded. “In Blays, Light and Dark fae don’t intermingle often, mostly because Dark fae prefer the night and Light fae are afraid to be out after the sun goes down. Because of this, they don’t get along.” He indicated the vampire. “As you can see. If we want to keep the peace, we’re going to have to keep them strictly divided.”
“The, uh,” she waved in his direction, “Vampire said that you were Ashstock. What does that mean?” she asked.
Aleric’s lips pulled back in distaste for the term. “It a word used to specify werewolves and some other fae who aren’t Light or Dark. We’re in-between. Because of that, some of us choose to work as a intermediary for both sides. Others avoid them entirely.” Aleric left out the fact that he preferred to be one of the latter.
“So how do we keep them divided?” the nurse asked.
“I think I have an idea.” Aleric glanced at the fairy. “What’s your name?”
“My flower name is Alyssum saxatile, but you can call me Tranquility.”
“Flower name?” the nurse asked.
The fairy nodded. “Fairies are born beneath the flower of their mother’s choosing. When—”
Aleric raised a hand, cutting her off. “Don’t get fairies started on their origins. We’ll be here all night.” He nodded at her. “Tranquility, you’re in charge of the D Wing until we get back. Can you handle it?”
The petite girl stood on her bed and nodded; the cord for the vampire was clutched tight in one little hand. “Yes, Dr. Wolf. I’ve got this.”
“I’m not a doctor,” Aleric pointed out.
She gave him a big smile. “You saved my life, and I heard her call you Dr. Wolf. Given what you’ve been doing here, it fits. I don’t know many werewolves who would have saved the life of a fairy.”
“Me, neither,” Aleric admitted quietly.
Tranquility looked him up and down. “You definitely need to dress more like a doctor if you’re going to keep this up. Nobody’s going to take you seriously in that dress.”
“I’m not sure I want to keep this up,” Aleric shot back. “And it’s a hospital gown, not a dress.”
A chuckle turned his head.
Nurse Eastwick had her mouth covered and her brown eyes twinkled. “The ties on the back definitely aren’t hiding one of your assets.” She pursed her lips together in approval. “Are all werewolves so dashingly handsome?”
Aleric felt his cheeks burn.
Nurse Eastwick laughed. “I’ve made him blush,” she said to the fairy. “There’s nothing like a young hot doctor blushing. That just made my day.” She chuckled again as she met Aleric’s gaze. “I’ll go find you something more suitable to wear. Meet me in the hallway, will you? And I would suggest tying those strings a little bit tighter.”
She and the fairy exchanged another round of giggles before she left the room.