Part 29 (1/2)
”Stop,” I groaned. ”Don't move me.” The grip eased and the pain subsided enough for me to open my eyes.
Lloyd's blurry shape loomed above me.
I blinked until his image came into focus.
He wore the same s.h.i.+rt he'd worn to Viola's. A ma.s.sive hickey purpled his neck. Worry creased his brow and a frown drew his mouth tight.
”Lloyd?” My lips felt thick. Too thick to talk even, but I tried anyway. ”What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be making werewolf babies?”
”What? I can't hear you. Your voice is cracking.”
Thankfully. Werewolf babies? Where was my head?
Being bludgeoned to death by tiny little construction workers bent on sending me straight to h.e.l.l.
My eyelids fluttered and Lloyd gave me another quick shake.
My eyes popped open. ”s.h.i.+t,” I ground out, my voice louder this time. ”What are you doing? Trying to kill me?”
”I came by to thank you for last night, but then you didn't answer the door and I heard you moan and-”
The words stumbled to a halt when I held up my hand. ”Whisper. Please.”
”What the h.e.l.l happened?”
The question stuck in my head, pus.h.i.+ng back all the pain and clearing the way for the rush of memories.
Ayala and the garlic-tainted blood and- ”Ty.” I grasped at Lloyd's arms. ”I... He's... Oh no.”
”Just calm down.” Lloyd tried to push me back down. ”Don't move. He's sleeping.”
”He isn't.” I struggled to my feet, despite his large hands which tried to push me back down. ”He's hurt. He's...”
I refused to finish the thought and struggled to my feet instead. In a blur of pain, I stumbled toward the bed where he still lay on his side, his back to me.
I grasped his shoulder and tugged. He rolled over, his face as pa.s.sive as if he were in a deep, dark sleep.Or finally, really, and truly dead.
No!
I leaned over and touched my hand to his chest, and felt a faint thud against my palm. Relief swamped me. His heart was still beating.
For now.
”We have to get him to a hospital,” Lloyd said, coming up behind me. ”I'll get the minivan.”
”We don't have time.” I grappled for the cell phone that sat on the nightstand and punched in a familiar number. ”We have to bring the hospital to him.”
”Thanks for coming,” I told Jack less than an hour later. I sat on the sofa and watched as Mandy checked the bright red bag of blood that fed an IV tube inserted in Ty's left arm.
”It sounds like his blood's been poisoned. If so, the red cells are fighting in a no-win situation with the white ones. They're destroying each other,” she'd told me when I'd described the situation to her in my frantic phone call. ”That means we have to pump in as much new, healthy blood as possible in order to replenish the supply.”
She'd come with several bags from a local blood bank and had arrived in record time thanks to Jack, who'd done his Superman imitation and given Mandy a quick ride rather than driving his Beamer.
I glanced at the IV tube in my own arm. My blood had been poisoned, as well, but not to the same degree because I'd had only a few swallows compared to Ty's nearly full bottle. Once the blood had started to flow, I'd felt better almost immediately.
Ty wasn't progressing as well.
”He'll be all right,” Jack told me as if reading my worried thoughts. ”Mandy said it's just going to take time.”
”Thanks for coming.”
”I almost didn't.” When I raised a questioning brow, he added, ”I was counting on you to be there at the tea and take some of the heat off me.”
”Thanks a lot.”
”Instead, I had mom's full attention.” He shook his head. ”It wasn't a pretty sight.”
”I'm a.s.suming she's not half as excited about the wedding as you and Mandy are.”
”Are you kidding? She's ready to hire one of those cult guys to kidnap and deprogram me. The only thing keeping her in check is Mandy. When Mom blew, Mandy threatened to put a hex on her.”
”Mandy's not a witch.”
”You know that and I know that. Mom, however, is convinced otherwise. Especially since Mandy's ancestor was burned at the stake.”
”I can't believe you guys told her.”
”Mandy thought it would make things easier.” He eyed the woman wrapping a blood pressure cuff around Ty's upper arm. ”It worked.”I remembered Mandy's excitement. ”But not in the way she thought.”
He nodded. ”But beggars can't be choosers. Mom's scared of being turned into a frog, that or getting a few wrinkles from an aging spell, so she's agreed to keep her mouth shut.”
”Lucky you.”
”We could always tell her your boyfriend there was a warlock before he was turned.”
”Oh, he's not my boyfriend. We're just having s.e.x.”
Just s.e.x, I reminded myself again.
Which didn't begin to explain the tightness gripping my chest.
Then again, Ty and I were friends. It made sense that I would be concerned over his well-being. It wasn't like I was afraid for him or anything like that.
It's just that Ayala was still out there, still trying to ruin my life, and she wasn't going to stop until I stopped her.
”I need you to do something for me,” I told Jack as a plan started to form.