Page 312 of Dragon Slayer

~*~

Mia pulled the zipper up on her second boot, free hand resting on Val’s shoulder for balance, and an alarm went off. It wasn’t on their floor, was obviously coming from somewhere much deeper in the house. But her reaction was immediate and instinctual: she slammed her foot down and clapped both hands over her ears. She felt a vibration in her chest, and it took her a moment to realize she wasgrowling.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that Val and Anna were wincing, but hadn’t resorted to covering their ears like big babies. Slowly, she lowered her hands, teeth gritted against the onslaught of the alarm. Having heightened senses was going to take some getting used to, and at the moment, she wasn’t sure it was a good thing.

“You good?” Anna asked. She carried a long knife, unsheathed. When she’d come in the room ten minutes ago, she’d brought Val his sword, which he wore buckled over his shoulder; the blade was so long it had to hang down his back, rather than along his hip.

Mia took a deep breath. Yes, her ears hurt from the sound, but she was strong, and not sick, and she felt a humming energy under her skin like nothing she’d ever known before.

She nodded. “I’m good. Lead the way.”

~*~

Blood. She could smell it, taste it; it was in her eyes, and thick in her throat, choking her. She heard the thump of rotors – medivac. Medivac forher. Everything hurt. She didn’t know where the pain ended and her body began. Did she have a body? She had at least part of one, because hands gripped her arms, and shoulders, and supported her head.

Voices:

“Do you see her foot?”

“Just…pieces.”

A warm hand touched her face – spanned it, really, thumb on her jaw, fingers along her temple – and pushed her head to the side. Not rough, but not gentle. Not tender. A military touch. The thump of the rotors grew louder.Whump-whump-whump. Hot air on her neck. Breath. And then pain there, stabbing, like needles, like…

Fangs.

She opened her eyes. Ceiling above: the stone of the basement, crawling with modern wires and tubes; harsh lights droning. Too bright. She squinted, and tried to bring her hand up to shield her eyes. Something tugged: an IV. Turned her head: a hospital bed, laid flat, machines humming and beeping.

She remembered the ride. The stream. The bear. The sense of not being in control, and hating the way it made her afraid. The fall…

She jackknifed to an upright position.

“Adela! Whoa!”

She’d awakened from more than her fair share of surgeries – they’d operated, right? Her right leg was encased in white bandages – and it had always been a slow, groggy, sick affair. Having to press the buttons on the bed to sit up, swallowing with difficulty, face numb. But right now, she was alert. Her heart throbbed in her chest and temples, and her vision was crystal clear, and adrenaline coursed through her veins; she wanted to leap off the bed, go running out into the hall. Wanted to…wanted to…

Something waswrong.

“Adela,” Jake said. He’d stood up from his chair, and stood frozen in the middle of the room, open palms held toward her in a universalcalm downgesture. He was too loud. She couldsmellhim. “It’s okay. Don’t panic.”

“I don’t panic,” she snapped. And then shegrowled. The sound started in her chest, a deep vibration, and rolled up her throat; slipped out through her teeth. She gasped afterward. “What – what the fuck – what did I–”

“It’s alright,” he said. “Take a deep breath, please, and I’ll explain everything.”

A deep breath, right. Her lungs worked like machines, perfect and strong. She wanted to claw her own skin off, the itchy, awful energy buzzing under it trying to get out.

“What did they do to me?” Her voice was an inhuman snarl.

One of the monitors, it must have been her heartrate, started to whine.

Jake inched closer, hands still held up – the posture looked more and more protective the closer he got; like he was shielding his face. “Easy now.”

“‘Easy now’? I’m not a fucking horse, Treadwell. What the fuck is going on?”

Another inch. She’d seen his face like this before: carefully blank save his traitorous eyebrows, which knitted together. “Do you remember coming back here? You were unconscious at first, and you’d lost a lot of blood.”

She remembered…flashes. Hands gathering her. Rocking motion of the horse. Arms around her. A low, emotionless voice.

“Vlad.”