Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
“I got you more of the meds,” I told her, going into the bag to find the orange pill bottle, and shaking a pill into my hand.
She took it and the bottle of electrolyte fluid I handed to her, chugging them back, then resuming her rocking.
“I’ve never had a headache like this before,” she told me. “Not even my worst migraines have even come close to this.”
“It’s going to pass,” I told her. I didn’t exactly excel with comfort, seeing as it wasn’t exactly in my nature. But I figured the truth could be comforting. No migraine lasted forever. And thanks to modern human pharmaceuticals, there was hope that she might even feel better in an hour or so when the new pain pill kicked in.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. “You’ve done too much already,” she added.
“I don’t mind.”
I damn well should have minded.
“Do you want to go back to your bed?” I asked.
“Not until my stomach stops sloshing around,” she said as a tremble moved through her body.
That tremble gave me a purpose. Which was good because I fucking hated feeling useless. It was probably why I was so miserable on Earth. I had no mission, no job, no reason to get up every day—aside from the fact that I had no choice, of course.
Making my way into her living room, I gathered the thick blanket on the back of the couch, then made my way back to the bathroom to drape it around her, taking the little whimpering sound she made as a thank you.
Feeling intrusive, I made my way back out of the bathroom, going around her apartment, picking up stray shit and finding their homes, then doing a quick sweep, cleaning out the coffee pot I’d used before, and refilling the countertop glass sugar container from the big bag in the small pantry beside the fridge.
By the time I made it back to the bathroom, Charlotte had curled even tighter into the blanket and was leaning up against the wall, fast asleep.
Which was good, I guess.
Asleep meant out of pain.
Or, if not out of pain, then at least not conscious of it.
I wasn’t exactly sure how the human anatomy worked in that respect.
The bruises were settling in from her attack. Her eye was starting to get a purple and blue ring around it, and there was a matching mark up on the side of her forehead. They’d probably look even worse by morning, sparking her students to ask what had happened, if the word hadn’t already gotten around the campus about the attack by then.
I waited another couple of moments, wanting her to be deep asleep before I reached for her, then moved into the room, scooping her up, and bringing her back to her bed.
I was pulled away from staring down at her like a fucking creep by the buzzing of my phone in my back pocket.
I made my way out of the room, mostly closing the door as I went.
“Yeah?” I asked after seeing Ace’s name on the phone.
If he didn’t appreciate the way I answered, he made no mention of it. And, I guess, after dealing with guys like Lycus and Drex for decades upon decades, he was used to a lack of proper respect for his position.
“How are things going?”
“They’re… going. The professor was attacked tonight, so there hasn’t been much progress,” I told him, going ahead and leaving out the part about hooking up with her.
“Attacked? Could it be connected?” he asked, voice going sharp. “Could it have been the old gods?”
“No. It was an ordinary, shithead human,” I said, listening to the chuckle on the other end of the phone.
“Believe it or not, you will actually start to feel some affection toward humans, given some time. Not all of them. Not even most of them. There’s a lot of shitty ones. But a select few. Is the professor okay?”
“She got a concussion and migraine, but I imagine she will be well enough to resume meetings in a day or two.”
“Good. Time is of the essence. Have you seen the news?” he asked, voice tight.
“I saw something about three natural disasters.”
“We’re up to five now. Five in a week,” he said. “If your professor was right about the gods showing themselves to the world through nature, then I am pretty sure they have been doing so. And are likely just getting started.”
“Have you heard anything from Dale and the rest of the demonslayers?” I asked.
I never thought I would see the day when we would be working side-by-side with the enemies, the ones who wished they could slay our kind. But, I guess, when one of your own Claimed one of theirs, you had little choice but to learn to get along.