Dr. Hays stared at her then glanced at me. “This hospital technically belongs to Mr. Huntsman. What do you suggest we do in this situation?”
I shrugged. “Nothing. If they don’t want you in, don’t go in. Give them their privacy. Eventually they’ll get hungry, or bored, and unlock the door. Marge, just sit outside of those doors and pretend you’re inside.”
“But they’ll hurt each other! What about Missy?”
“Missy? Oh. You think she’s in danger? All right. I’ll check on her.”
I stepped sidethrough into a dingy back alley that smelled like molasses and burned hair, then back into Dayside, into the room where they were overthrowing the enemy. I walked over to the couch and sat down, kicking my feet up on the coffee table.
Missy was still sitting on the couch, staring at the TV in spite of it being off.
I grabbed the remote and clicked the TV on, but a roar came from behind me, and someone’s hands latched around my throat. I rolled my eyes when Missy looked over at me, her remaining eye wide and panicked. Marge was right. Missy was not enjoying the coup.
I sat there being strangled while I tried to think of what exactly would be the most positive end to this situation, and just when I thought I had a plan that might be interesting as well as effective, the nondescript white phone that hung on the wall rang. I snapped my fingers and green sparks flared while everyone in the room froze. It took a bit to get Ralph’s fingers off my throat, the phone ringing and ringing until I walked over to it.
“Hello?”
“Miss Lane has your phone.”
“Jasper? Did you call her?”
He cleared his throat. “No. Miss Lane wished to inform me that you were in the hospital with a head wound so that she could arrange for insurance or something else, I’m not sure she knew what exactly.”
I leaned against the wall, smiling stupidly at the human who was frozen inside the cage, the pet who had a look of immense rage on his features. “Did she? She’s really worried about me. I had to cut myself four times to keep the bleeding going.”
He made a sound that may have meant yes, or no, or something else. “Excellent. I’ll let her know that the doctor thinks you’ll be fine after a few stitches. You aren’t distracted now, are you?”
“What? No, I’m not doing anything. I mean there’s a little coup here, but I don’t particularly mind. I think I’ll lock Missy in the cage with the TV so she isn’t disturbed. Other than that, I’m leaving them to their anarchy.”
“Drake, she called me for you. You understand what this implies.”
I closed my eyes and smiled. “She’s making steps towards alliance. Offering her services to our family, my family, showing personal, official interest to you, my father’s man. Yes, I understand. She has no idea. Be subtle.”
He made a noise before he hung up. Of course he’d be subtle. He was the butler.
Chapter 19
Witch
I sat down in a hard plastic chair beside Zach. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it while I stared at the green and cream checked floor tiles.
His hand was stiff in mine. “He’s fine, Penny.”
“He was hurt because of me. He shouldn’t have tried to protect me, or at the very least, he should have just pushed me over, not taken it in my place.”
He squeezed my fingers back. “Drake’s a man of action. He’s taken more polo balls to his face than anyone else I know, but he has a notoriously hard head. Francine, the woman at the desk, she knows us pretty well since we use Drake’s bus to transport a lot of broken bones. I’ve seen a lot of head injuries, but no comas, and no amnesia. Too bad. Think of how much we could mess with Drake. We could tell him that Viney’s his girlfriend.” He got this evil glint in his eyes that made me nudge him. I should have pulled my fingers away, but something inside me was still so scared. Maybe I should have gone with Drake. No, I didn’t want to watch a doctor sticking needles into him. I couldn’t do that.
I said, “There’s that crazy streak. Seriously, you think he’ll be okay?”
He put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “Of course. Relax, Penny.”
I should have kicked him in the teeth for touching me like that, but instead I leaned my head on his shoulder. He stiffened up for a moment before he exhaled and relaxed into me. For a minute we stayed like that until I elbowed him sharply in the stomach.
He gasped and I shrugged off his arm, bending down to pull Drake’s phone out of my bag. I scrolled through contacts until I came to, ‘home’. I hit send before I could change my mind.
“What are you doing?” Zach frowned at me, head cocked while I ignored him. I was back to not talking to him.
“Drake, is there something you require?” The man who answered sounded like one of those snooty butlers who always dunnit.
I managed to not say, “It was the butler!” and hang up laughing hysterically.
“Hello. I’m a friend of Drake’s. I just thought I should let someone know that we’re at the hospital.”
Silence was on the line for a moment. “You have his phone? Is he unconscious?”
I shook my head and noticed Zach’s perplexed expression while he stared at me. “No, he’s fine, I mean he’s probably going to be fine. He just has a head injury that they’re checking out. Do I need to do something with insurance or…”
The man cleared his throat. “Thank you for informing me of Drake’s condition. I assume he is at the usual hospital in Fairmore?”
“That’s right.”
“The hospital there is very familiar with Drake.”
“Your son?”
Silence again for a long time. “Er, no. I am Jasper. Drake’s father is not at home at the moment. I shall notify him once I’ve contacted the hospital. It’s very kind of you to concern yourself. Do you attend school with Drake?”
“Jasper? Oh. I met you. I mean, I wasn’t conscious at the time. He’s my Pas de Deux partner.” I winced because that was stupid and irrelevant. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know.”
“Miss Lane, is it? Thank you very much. I have the hospital on the other line. Hold for a moment, would you?”
“I’m not really…” I heard a click and then sighed as I held on. It didn’t take long before he was back.
“Miss Lane, thank you so much for staying with Drake. I’ve been assured that the injury isn’t serious, but please watch him and let me know if anything changes. If you need anything at all, I would be very happy to help you. Let me give you my information. Do you have your phone ready?”
I got out my phone and put his number and name in before I said goodbye and finally hung up.
Zach stared at me while I slumped in the chair. I should have made him call Drake’s family. Macaroons and bonbons I’d rather light myself on fire than do that again.
“Are you all right?”
I glared at him.
“You called his man?”
I frowned. “His man?”
He nudged me like since I’d grabbed his hand for just a few seconds it meant that he could invade my personal space at any time. “Jasper. He’s like the butler only with more corporate power. He’s the VP of Huntsman Inc.”
“Vice president or Very important person?”
“VIP is very important person.” He shook his head, staring at me with his soft blue eyes. If only there were something actually soft about him. “You look tired.”
I touched beneath my eyes with my fingertips. “I shouldn’t. I’m wearing very good makeup.”
He reached out and brushed my cheek with his fingers. “His blood got all over you. You look like a psycho killer.”
I smacked his hand away. “Don’t tempt me.”
He grinned widely. “Come on, Penny, you know we’d both like it.”
I stared at him. “There’s something seriously wrong with you.”
He shrugged. “Not as many things as there are wrong with Drake, he just hasn’t shown you his claws yet. You’re really cute about him.”
I shook my head and pulled out a lollipop. We were in the hospital, and I couldn’t help but be taken back to last night, to everything and Lulu…
I grabbed his arm and pulled it to my chest. I gripped his wrist, the one with the scar while I stared at the tiles. What was wrong with me? Why did I cling to people so stupidly? I’d only known Lulu for a few weeks and there I was hardly able to breathe or swallow from the grief in my throat. I don’t know how long I sat like that, frozen and aching.
“Excuse me,” a quavering woman’s voice said, a voice attached to the sensible loafers in front of me.
I looked up and saw a woman who held her hands together so tightly they were white. It made me want to let go of Zach, or hold on tighter, something. I cleared my throat. “Can I help you?”
“The nurse said that you’re the girl who visits the children. Is that right?”
I nodded wordlessly while I dug my fingers into Zach’s skin until I could feel the pulse thrumming there.
“Lulu’s service is on Saturday at the Methodist church at one. We’d love to have you there.”
I stared at the woman, at her eyes. I knew those eyes. “You’re her mother.”
She nodded and those eyes glistened brightly. She was going to cry. She couldn’t cry. I couldn’t watch her cry, not right now, not when I was so close to exploding, drowning, something horribly messy.
Zach stood up, slipping out of my grasp easily as he smiled at the woman. “Penny would be honored. Right now she’s too worried to be good company. A friend of hers is here getting stitches. She’ll be there. Thank you for thinking of her.” He stood there, smiling until the woman nodded at him uncertainly then gave me one last tremulous smile before she turned and walked away, the loafers barely making a sound over the tile.
He stood there for a long time before he turned to stare at me, a weird expression on his face. “I’ll take you if you’d like.”
I swallowed and nodded. He walked over to the drinks machine and stared at the contents for a long time. I watched him stand there, his strong lean body intent on the machine like the fate of the world rested on the choice between cola and juice.
He picked juice, two of them, dropped one can in my lap but stayed standing.
“The world saved,” I muttered.
“Mages don’t save the world, we profit from it. Are you so sad about a human death? Why?”
“I don’t like death.”
“You take it so personally.”
I turned and glared at him. “It is personal. A person dies.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“If a certain person named after a certain color were to die and you’d never see her again, how would you feel?”
His eyebrows lowered threateningly. “That isn’t the same thing.”
I shrugged. “So I care about more people than you. It’s one of my special quirks. I cry when mice die, too.”
“So humans are the same as mice to you?”
I shook my head. “You’ve finally gotten to the bottom of the fascinating puzzle that is Penny Lane. You should stop trying before you hurt yourself.”
He stared at me. “You love her, your secret friend. You love me too. And Viney, Drake goes without saying, even Professor Vale. You become attached to anyone you are close to for a long enough period of time. Stay away from Wit, and Ian. And Lester.”
I glared at him then opened my drink, hesitating as I stared at the opening. He’d gotten it from the drinks machine so the odds were that it wasn’t poisoned.
Zach laughed and snagged the juice from my hand, took a swig and handed it back to me. “There’s got to be a story behind your paranoia. It’s from the machine. How exactly would I poison that?”
I shrugged and took a sip. I didn’t die so I took another longer one. “How long do you think he’ll be?”
“Are you talking about me?”
Drake’s voice spilled around me like a warm blanket.
I gasped and stood up, reaching out for his hands before I could stop myself. I gripped him while I stared into his eyes, sparkling green while one side of his lips curled up. I inhaled deeply before I smiled and stepped away from him.
“Are you feeling better? No coma?”
He shook his head, smiling seductively. “Unfortunately, no. And I think I have all my memories intact. Did we actually go to the circus together, or was that a hallucination?”
“We didn’t go there together, but we left together.”
He nodded. “And tea parties?”
I chewed on my lip. I wanted to touch him again, check his head, wrap my arms around him and let him hold me while my heart pounded. I needed him. I stepped into him, brushing his cheek with my forehead while I inhaled deeply the scent of him.
“Lulu’s service is on Saturday.”
He stiffened up for a moment before his arms came around me and he pulled me against him, pouring his comfort over me. “This Saturday. I’ll take you.”
I shook my head but slid my hands around his waist. “What about your necromancer friend? Maybe you should stay away from funerals for a while.”
“Necromancer?” Zach sounded interested.
Drake sighed and pulled away far enough that he could gaze down at me with his dark eyes as they sparked green. “He’s a human. I already told you. We’re not friends, I’m his sponsor.”
Zach laughed and tried to cover it up with a cough. “Sorry man, but that’s the worst lie I’ve ever heard.”
Drake rolled his eyes. “Then you should listen to other mages more often. I knew that your antisocial behavior would result in something truly horrifying. It’s not a lie. Carl is perfectly human if a bit unusual. Are you hungry? I’m starving. We had Chinese last night, and Zach’s here. Let’s go to the pool hall and get sandwiches.”
I shook my head and stepped away from him. “It’s still early so the Dining Room is open. I want to go home.” If only that were possible. I wasn’t sure what my home looked like.
Drake stared at me before he gave me a slight smile. “Perfect. I should get started on my laundry before the blood sets.”
I stared at him then down at my red streaked blouse. I’d really liked that blouse. I probably did look like a psycho killer. I sighed and ran my hand over the worst streak. “Drake…” I trailed off as I looked up at him. Would he want to make a deal with me if I asked him to do my laundry?
His mouth twitched. “Penny?”
“Can you help me with my laundry?”
He shook his head as he took my arm and began walking towards the exit. “I’m going to do it without you to distract me while you do something essential like, I don’t know, sleep maybe?”
“I’m not tired.”
He shot me a glance. “Of course not. She’s not tired, is she, Zach?”
“Of course not. Witches don’t need sleep. That’s an old wives’ tale.” He slapped my shoulder with his hand, knocking me into Drake who didn’t seem remotely affected by his recent run-in with whatever it had been.
“Who did it?” I asked, pulling Drake to a stop.
He raised his eyebrows at me. “What?”
I reached up and gingerly slid my fingers through his distinctly blood-free hair. There wasn’t a bandage, no stitches, no scar, nothing but a slight line my fingers could barely trace. I stared into his eyes while they blazed with something, amusement? Anger? I couldn’t tell.
“Did you fake all this?”
He raised an eyebrow before he grinned wickedly. “Not all.”
I stepped away from him and stalked towards the door while my heart pounded and my stomach clenched. What was wrong with me? I knew he was a mage. Mages were practically indestructible. A rock wouldn’t stop him for long, if that’s what it was. At the same time, I knew what it felt like for an unconscious body to hit me. There was a certain fluidity to the body that conscious bodies didn’t have. Maybe he’d pretended to be hurt worse than he’d actually been, but he’d still been hurt, and it
was still my fault. My responsibility. My debt.
I stopped walking in the middle of the parking lot in the dusk of the chilly late autumn evening. “Drake, I didn’t ask you to do that for me. Now I owe you.”
“Not at all.” he said smoothly.
I glared at him. “You have to stop doing things for me without my permission. I only have one business for you to take over. I’m not giving up Señor Mort.”
“Zach, tell her that she doesn’t owe me. Apparently, she doesn’t believe me.”
I folded my arms over my chest, staring at him. He was so beautiful. It was hard to be upset about something like a small debt when he looked so perfectly whole and well. “I suppose I could catch and train a pet for you, if you’d like.”
He stared at me, his smile growing into something even more magnificent. His voice was low, gentle. “I would like that. Something small and cute. A mouse, maybe, or a snake.”
I inhaled shakily and nodded. “And then we’re even. No more debts. No more of you doing things I don’t ask for.”
He cocked his head and stared at me. “You only owed me for the spell because you did ask me in advance for assistance. This whole thing was purely for my pleasure.” He gestured at his head and winked at me.
“Your pleasure to get knocked unconscious? You were unconscious, and that was, is,” I added, glancing down at my blouse, “real blood. That was a lot of blood. Are you sure you’re okay?” I took a step towards him and touched his shoulders, smoothing over the fabric of his shirt. He didn’t have nearly as much red on his shirt as I did.
He stared at me, leaning closer, his gaze drawn down to my lips. My heart pounded while he raised his hand and brushed my jaw, barely a caress, but it was like fire, warm and cozy that I wanted to curl up into.
I sighed and slid my hands around his neck then jumped when a car started honking at us. Zach grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the middle of the lane where I’d been standing. Drake laughed as he caught my other hand, tugging me away from Zach, but still closer to the parked cars so traffic could pass.
I walked for a few steps, holding hands with Zach and Drake before I twisted out of both their grips and crossed my arms. I walked woodenly towards Drake’s car, ignoring both of them the rest of the way. When I got to the green Suburban, I climbed into the back seat and shut the door firmly behind me, leaving Zach and Drake with the clear message that I was riding alone in back.
Dread Delight: Rosewood Academy for Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 2) Page 18