Ким Харрисон - Every Witch Way But Dead

"You little bitch!" he snarled, backhanding me. The force of the blow picked me up, throwing me into Ceri's wall. I landed in a crumpled heap, unable to think. My head hurt and my throat was raw. The snow under me was cold. I snuggled into it, burning.

"Go away. Go away now," I whispered.

The overwhelming ever-after energy humming through my brain vanished in a clock-tick. I moaned at its absence. I heard my heart beat, pause, and beat again. It was all I could do to keep breathing, empty with just my own thoughts in my head. It was gone. The fire was gone.

"Get her out of the snow," I heard Ceri say urgently, her voice easing into me like ice water. I tried to open my eyes, failing. Someone picked me up, and there was the warmth of body heat. It was Keasley, a small part of me decided, as I recognized the smell of redwood and cheap coffee. My head thumped into him and my chin dropped to my chest. I felt small cool hands upon my forehead, and with Ceri singing to me, I felt myself shift into movement.

"Oh God," I whispered, my words sounding as raw as my throat felt. It was a raspy utterance, more like gravel in a tin pail than a voice. My head hurt, and a wet washcloth smelling of Ivory soap was over my eyes. "I don't feel so good."

Ceri's cool hand touched my cheek. "I'm not surprised," she said wryly. "Keep your eyes shut. I'm going to change your compress."

Around me was the soft breathing of two people and a very big dog. I vaguely remembered being carried in, wavering on passing out but never quite managing it, hard as I tried. I could tell by the smell of my perfumes that Keasley had put me in my room, and the pillow under my head had a familiar, comfortable feel. The heavy weight of the afghan I kept at the foot of my bed was draped over me. I was alive. Go figure.

Ceri lifted the damp washcloth from me, and despite her warning, I cracked my lids. "Ow…" I moaned as the light from a candle on the dresser seemed to pierce my eyes, going all the way to the back of my skull and ricocheting. My headache tripled.

"She told you to keep your eyes shut," Jenks said sardonically, but the relief in his voice was obvious. The click of David's nails intruded, shortly followed by a warm snuff in my ear.

"She's fine," Ceri said softly, and he retreated.

Fine? I thought, concentrating on my breathing until the light bouncing around in my head lost momentum and died. This was fine?

The throbbing in my head retreated to a mild agony, and when I heard a soft puff of breath and the biting scent of blown-out candle reached me, I opened my eyes again.

In the streetlight leaking past my curtains, I could see Ceri on a kitchen chair beside my bed. A pan of water was on her lap, and I cringed when she set it on Ivy's vampire dating guide, out where everyone could see it. On my other side stood Keasley, a hunched shadow. Perched on the bedpost, Jenks glowed a dull amber, and lurking in the background was David taking up half the floorspace with his wolf bulk.

"I think we're back in Kansas, Toto," I murmured, and Keasley harrumphed.

My face was damp and cold, and a draft from the broken door mixed with the musty smell of the heater blowing from the vent. "Jenks!" I croaked when I remembered the wash of winter air that had hit him. "Are your kids all right?"

"Yeah, they're fine," he said, and I slumped back to the pillow. My hand crept up to hold my throat. It felt as if it was bleeding inside.

"David?" I questioned softer. "How about you?"

His panting increased as he pushed Keasley out of the way to snuff warm and moist in my ear. His jaws opened. Ceri gasped when David gripped my entire face in his mouth.

Adrenaline cut through the pain. "Hey!" I exclaimed, struggling as he gave me a gentle shake and let go. Heart pounding, I froze at the soft growl rumbling up and the wet nose nudging my cheek. Making a doggie huff, he padded into the hall.

"What in hell does that mean?" I said, heart jackhammering against my chest.

Jenks rose in a sprinkling of pixy dust that made me squint. It wasn't bright, but my eyes hurt that bad. "He's glad you're okay," he said, his tiny features serious.

"This is okay?" I said, and from the sanctuary came an odd, yodeling bark of laughter.

My throat hurt, and I held a hand to it as I sat up. There was Were spit on my face, and I wiped it off with the damp washcloth and set it over the edge of the pan. My muscles hurt. Hell, everything hurt. And I hadn't liked my head being in David's mouth at all.

The sound of manicured nails clacking on the floorboards drew my attention to the dark hallway as he trotted past headed for the back of the church. His backpack and clothes were in his mouth, and his coat trailed behind like a downed animal.

"Jenks," Ceri said softly. "See if he's going to change here or if he'd like some help getting his things in his satchel."

Jenks rose up, falling back at a short negative bark from the living room.

Jaw clenched against a Texas-sized headache, I decided it was likely he'd change back before leaving. It was illegal to Were in public outside of the three days around the full moon. Once the restriction had only been tradition; now it was law to make humans feel better. What Weres did in their own homes was their own business. I was confident no one would say anything about him shifting to help save me from a demon, but he couldn't drive his car in the shape he was in, and catching a ride on a bus wasn't going to happen.

"Well," Keasley said as he sat on the edge of my bed, "let's take a look at you."

"Ow…" I exclaimed when he touched my shoulder and the bruised muscle sent a stab of pain through me. I pushed his hand off me, and he shifted closer.

"I'd forgotten what a pain-in-the-butt patient you are," he said, reaching out again. "I want to know where you're hurting."

"Stop," I croaked, trying to slap his knobby arthritic hands. "My shoulder hurts where Al pinched it. My hands hurt where I scraped them, my chin and stomach hurt where he dragged me down the steps. My knees hurt from…" I hesitated. "…falling in the road. And my face hurts where Al slapped me." I looked at Ceri. "Do I have a black eye?"

"You will in the morning," she said softly, wincing in sympathy.

"And my lip is cut," I finished, touching it. The faint scent of bane joined the smell of snow. David was turning back, nice and slow. He'd have to after the hurt he must have endured to shift so quickly before. I was glad he had some bane. The herb was a mild pain depressant and sedative to make it easier. Too bad it only worked on Weres.

Keasley groaned as he rose. "I'll get you a pain amulet," he said, shuffling into the hallway. "Mind if I make some coffee? I'm staying until your roommate is back."

"Make it two amulets," I said, not knowing if it would help my head. Pain amulets worked only on physical pain, and I had a feeling this was more of an echo left from channeling so much ley line force. Was this what I'd done to Nick? No wonder he had left.

I squinted when the light flicked on in the kitchen and a slice of it spilled into my room. Ceri watched me carefully, and I nodded to tell her it was okay. Patting my hand atop the coverlet, she murmured, "Tea would be easier for you to stomach than coffee." Her solemn green eyes went to Jenks. "Will you stay with her?"

"Yeah." His wings flashed into motion. "Baby-sitting Rachel is what I do third best."

I sneered at him, and Ceri hesitated. "I won't be long," she said, rising to leave in the soft sound of bare feet on wood.

The comfortable rhythm of conversation drifted in from the kitchen, and I awkwardly pulled my afghan up about my shoulders. Every muscle ached as if I had been in a fever. My feet were cold in my soggy socks, and I was probably making a damp spot on my bed from my snow-wet clothes. Depressed, my eyes landed on Jenks atop the bedpost at my feet.