The witch smiled at her. “It doesn’t taste good, but it will help with the pain.”
She nodded at Dakota, who gently lifted Sadie’s head to help her take a few sips of the tea.
Beth made a poultice of some herbs and packed it against Sadie’s side. “This will help you heal and help keep the infection down. I know shifters heal a lot faster than mundane humans, which is great, but we still have to worry about infection.”
Sadie nodded. The cool compress against her side felt good. The pain was ebbing. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Dakota was lying on the bed next to her when she woke up. His eyes popped open the second she moved.
“Sadie. How do you feel? What can I do? Can I get you something?”
She wanted to laugh but it hurt too much. “I feel okay because I’m on this side of the daisies. That’s always a good thing. Water would be nice.”
Dakota jumped up and got her a glass of water, holding her head so she could take a drink.
“You terrified me. I should kick your butt. What were you guys thinking? You should have gone to Conner’s place.”
“I know. Don’t think that I haven’t been beating myself up over and over again. We figured that if we were careful, no one would see us. We looked for cameras and drones and even checked the area to make sure no one was hanging out. You’ll have to wait until I heal before any butt-kicking can occur.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you haven’t lost your sassiness.”
Beth stopped by half an hour later.
“How is Talia?”
“Talia is just fine. Taryn managed to magic the bullet out without causing any further damage to her hip. Between her and Savvy, Talia will be walking around normally in just a couple of days. Sebastian is driving her crazy by hovering around. Talia told him that he and the Griffins needed to go on a long bike ride. Sebastian refuses to go anywhere.”
Sadie laughed. “For a big, huge, tough guy, who has a global reputation for kicking butt, he sure is a softie when it comes to his love for Talia.”
“Love has a way of bringing men to their knees. I know Rory feels the same for Savvy, and Conner is just as loving and caring when it comes to me.”
It must be nice,Sadie thought.
Beth checked her over. “Everything is great.” She nodded at Sadie meaningfully.
After changing the poultice, Beth left, saying that she would be back tomorrow, unless Sadie needed something. Then, she should call and Beth would be right there.
“Thank you. I appreciate you, my friend.”
Beth kissed her cheek. “You’re welcome.”
Eric, James, and Opal arrived right after Beth left.
Dakota brushed a kiss across Sadie’s lips. “I’m going to head home to shower and change clothes. Can I bring you back anything?”
“A double cheeseburger with bacon and loaded fries fromHowlers’.”
Laughing, Dakota nodded. “You got it.”
Eric nodded at Dakota. Sadie knew that Eric didn’t approve of her relationship with Dakota, but the fact that he went up on the mountain after her at least created some respect between the two men.
“Sadie. You had us scared to death,” her mom gushed.
“Why in the hell were you on that mountain?” James asked.
“I’m sorry. Talia and I checked around and we didn’t see anything or anyone. We didn’t plan on being out there long and we were together.” Sadie sighed. “I know. We should have gone somewhere else, like Conner’s. No more lectures, please. I hurt already.”
She caught her brother’s eye. “Thanks, Eric. I saw you there.”