Twenty One
Luka
Aggie started screaming and didn’t stop the entire way back to the cottage. I burst through her door and tried to lay her on her bed, but she clutched me harder. She wouldn’t stop screaming.
“Aggie, please—”
“It burns! It burns!”
I blanched, terrified beyond my wits. I laid her down gently on her bed, prying her hands off of me. I needed to think. Burning like this only occurred when someone suffered from a vampyre bite. Every wolf cub knew that! I pressed my hands to my head, trying to remember what the solution was.
“The vampyre has to… has to seal the bite marks!”
I froze, torn between the immediate need to find Karl and the overwhelming urge to stay and care for Aggie. She sobbed hysterically on the bed, stripping her clothes until she was buck naked on the sheets. There was nothing remotely sexual about the situation as pain contorted her body.
“Don’t leave me!”
My heart felt like it was ripping down the center.
“Babe, I need to find Karl or—”
“NO! DON’T LEAVE ME!”
She tried to reach out to me, nearly falling off the bed as she continued to thrash. I easily caught her but couldn’t move once my arms were around her. Her screams muffled to pitiful cries and whimpers, and I knew I wouldn’t leave her. If only Quinn’s damn falcon was around, that thing could at least take messages.
Wait.
“DAMON!”
The cat appeared in the kitchen window,eyes wide when he saw Aggie’s state. He yowled and leapedlightly to my side, hissingand glaring at me.
“Damon, we need to find Karl or Quinn. They’re the only ones who can help.”
The black cat didn’t waste another moment. He pounced onto the oven and then out the kitchen window, leaving me to cradle Aggie’s head as she moaned in pain.
I curled around her, trying desperately to keep my own shit together. My wolf was upset and begging to be released, but it couldn’t do anything to help. No one likely could, except for the warlock or the vampyre who’d started all this. I had one idea left.
I carried Aggie outside into the night air, laying her down between a path of lavender and sage. Her shaking stopped when she touched the dirt, but her brow was still fevered. I gave into my wolf and shifted. I curled my body around her, better able to detect any threats that may approach us.
I hunkered down with Aggie, prepared for a rough night.