A Demon Does It Better (32 page)

She smiled and left him/her to Deisphe.

“We rotate on who treats the Foozes that come in,” Dr. Heron told her with a mischievous grin. “It was your lucky day.”

“If a Bloater shows up today, I’m not here,” she told him. She’d barely started her shift, and she was already desperate for every doctor’s lifeblood, also known as coffee.

Her fingers itched to go below and check on Jared. She thought of even using Panabell as an excuse for being there. Not that she cared to make any type of justification to Turtifo and Coing. She knew she’d have to be careful, since they wouldn’t mind snitching to Dr. Mortimer.

“Deisphe.” She snagged the Were when she moved past her. “Do you know if Dr. Mortimer is on duty tonight?”

She thought for a moment. “I don’t think so. He’s always more in and out or just down in the dungeon where nobody knows what he does. He never shows up on the staff board. It was never magicked, so your name doesn’t automatically appear when you’re on the premises. Do you want me to find a way to get the ogres out of there for a while?”

“Are you sure you want to deal with them?”

Deisphe waved a hand. “No prob. Just tell me when.”

Lili thought about it. “Maybe in an hour or so?”

“Easy-peasy. Word will get down to the bowels that there’s a megacake in the cafeteria. They love to get to it before anyone else does.” She made a gagging sound. “That’s because they know no one will touch it after they’ve put their claws into it.” Deisphe brightened up. “But this time, I’ll ask for a very
special
cake that they’ll love to eat, but it won’t love them in the long run. I’d say you’ll be good to go in about an hour.”

Lili studied her friend’s face. “You know what, Deisphe? Your mind is very scary. But in a good way.”

“All in the name of love.” She grinned before loping off.

“There’s that word again.” But Lili couldn’t resist smiling as she returned to the ER.

“Dr. Carter,” one of the nurses called out. “That Fooz you just treated had some more castigats tucked away. This time he did some incredible projectile vomiting.” She made a face.

“My turn,” Dr. Erbe assured her. “Once a night is enough for any of us,” the witch told Lili. “I’ve had it pretty easy so far tonight. Although,” she tipped her fashionable glasses down her nose. “If Wattle shows up, he’s all yours. That bridge troll is more trouble than a herd of Foozes.”

Lili chuckled “Done. Thanks, Sasha.” She moved down to the desk to see what else might be waiting for her.

Even though thoughts of Jared remained in the back of her mind, she was able to concentrate on her new patients.

She thought of the dark scrolls still resting in her desk drawer. She needed them out of there and back with their owner. No doubt Dr. Mortimer would ask her how she felt about utilizing the spells detailed in the scrolls, and she’d have to be as tactful and cautious as possible. No doubt if she said one wrong word, he’d completely ban her from the asylum and she couldn’t allow that to happen. She not only wanted to protect Jared in any way she could, but the other patients there as well.

“Hey, Lili.” Annis, one of the elf nurses, with pale blond hair tucked behind her pointed ears, and an easy smile, slid to a graceful stop. “There’s going to be a cake displayed in the cafeteria,” she told her. “Warning, don’t indulge. It’s something the ogres won’t pass up.” Her eyes sparkled.

“Really?” She pretended innocence.

“They can’t control themselves when it comes to sweets,” she confided. “So every once in a while, we give them what they want. You’d think after all this time, they’d figure out it’s the cake that makes them sick. They end up in the ER as our least favorite patients, but it’s always worth it. Deisphe said it was time for them to have dessert again.” She was off.

Lili chuckled. “And here I thought Blair knew everything there was to know about revenge.”

“Off with you.” Deisphe pushed Lili out of the ER once two groaning and vomit-smelling ogres were wheeled into the area. “Dr. Mortimer is gone for the day,” she whispered. “We tend to work slow with them. They’re considered low priority, but don’t take any chances, okay?”

“I won’t. Thanks.” She hurried to the back stairs.

Lili realized her plans were subverted the moment she reached the entrance door. It refused to open to her palm print or even any of her spells.

“Damn it!” She slammed her hand against the door, barely wincing as the pain traveled up her arm. She walked in a tight circle, aware time was running out. She snapped her fingers. “Of course!” She ran up the stairs and tagged Deisphe. “Can you lift the medallion from one of them?” she asked. “The door is secured against me. If it’s not attuned to them, I can use it.”

She barely took a few breaths before the Wereleopard appeared.

“You really owe me for this.” She handed the witch the medallion. “I told them they’ll need a special shower to get rid of a certain mite that’s aggravating their stomach distress. But it’s going to cut your time down there.”

“An hour?”

“No longer,” she warned Lili.

“Thanks.” She wasted no time returning downstairs and breathed a sigh of relief when the medallion allowed her entry.

The first thing Lili noticed was the sorrow and fear thick in the air. Sounds of sobbing and mewls of pain reached her ears.

“Lili.” She barely heard Jared’s gasp. She ran to his door and looked between the bars. The darkness didn’t allow her to see much. “Light, now,” she ordered. “Half light,” she amended when she saw him throw his arm across his eyes as he winced at the brightness. She flattened her palm against the bolted door and held it there. “Keep in. Keep out. Not done. Not fun. Give me entrance. Give me what I want now.” She poured her power into the lock and soon felt it give way. She pulled the door open and ran inside. “Damn.” The lover gave way to healer as she examined the many slashes on his skin along with bruises and what she swore was a broken cheekbone.

“Lili, you shouldn’t be here.” He tried to brush away her hands, but she wasn’t about to be deterred.

“Shut up,” she said fiercely as she worked on healing his injuries. She blinked back hot tears as she ran her fingers lightly over the damage done to him and worried as she saw that it took longer and more command of her magick to mend him. “Something’s wrong.” She might be a doctor and aware that one’s heart couldn’t climb up into their throat, but hers sure felt that way. She draped his arm over her shoulder and helped him back to his filthy excuse for a bed. “You need to get better and get out of here tonight,” she told him, even more worried to hear a rattling sound in his lungs.

Jared shook his head and tried to push her away. “Help Pepta,” he rasped. “Something’s really wrong with her. I think the ogres did…” he stopped and held his arm across his chest holding the pain, or something broken, back. He hissed a variety of curses as she worked to heal his broken ribs. “Fuck, woman, do you know how much that hurts? Go to Pepta. Please,” he begged.

She nodded even as she reluctantly rose to her feet. “I have to lock your door again. I can’t let them know I was down here. The only good thing is with it so dark in here, they shouldn’t notice you healing until you normally would have healed.”

“It’s fine.” He stopped her action by wrapping his hand around her neck and pulling her down for a deep kiss. “I love you.” He rested his forehead against hers.

“I love you so much,” she whispered, leaving the cell and hating herself for resetting the lock.

Lili might have known where Pepta was kept, but all she had to do was follow the soft cries.

“Pepta.” She did the same with the nymph’s lock and moved into the cell. This time she kept her lights on dim. What she saw didn’t just take her breath away; she felt her fury rise up until the air thickened with her magick. She dialed back her temper, and the atmosphere immediately eased. “Those bastards,” she hissed, moving toward the corner where Pepta lay sprawled like a bag of potatoes.

“Get the fuck away from me!” Pepta spat out the words even as Lili knelt down next to her.

Just as with Jared, she ignored the nymph’s words and performed a quick examination.

“Who did this?” she demanded, seeing not just cuts and bruises, signs of broken bones, but also trauma no female should endure. The rips on Pepta’s cotton pants and top weren’t deliberate designs but random signs of a male’s misguided sense of empowerment. And the nymph would never have wounded herself so badly as to cause so many splotches of blood. “Did Turtifo and Coing do this?”

Pepta flinched when she tried to shrug it off. “You’re only here a few days a week, Doc,” she drawled, but her pain-laced voice told Lili more than enough.

“Come on.” It wasn’t just Lili’s voice that was ice-cold, but her blood too. She only hoped the cake made the ogres suffer for a long time. If not, she was more than willing to help it along. She reached down and carefully helped Pepta to her feet.

“What are you doing?” the nymph cried in anger and pain.

“I’m taking you upstairs for treatment,” the witch said grimly, sending some pain-fighting endorphins into her body.

Pepta reared back so sharply that Lili almost fell on top of her.

“I can’t go up there.” Fear, dark and strong, flashed across her pale face that was also black and purple with bruises and dried blood on her lips.

“Oh yes, you can.” Lili was at the stage she would have dragged her upstairs. The nymph was too weak to battle her for long, and the witch managed to get her out into the hallway. She didn’t care if she left the cell door open.

“They did it to her,” Panabell told her as they made a halting way along the floor.

“Assholes should be turned to dust,” Orkey growled.

But it was Jared’s face Lili sought as she helped Pepta toward the large entrance door.

“No more,” she vowed.

He smiled at her then disappeared into the darkness.

By the time they reached the stairs, Lili was practically carrying Pepta. She tagged Deisphe for help as they made their slow way upward.

“Holy shit,” the Wereleopard breathed when she met them halfway down the stairs. She took Pepta’s other arm and helped take more of her slight weight. Her gold eyes narrowed with anger. “And I just bet I know who did it. Good thing they’re suffering big-time right now.”

“Not enough,” Lili said fiercely.

“I’m not allowed up here.” The normally abrasive nymph tried to pull back, but a determined witch and strong Were proved to be too much for her.

“Dr. Carter.” Arimentha Garrish stood at the top of the stairs. The faint scent of sulfur clung to her clothing and, if Lili wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of smoke coming off her well-tailored suit. The dragon-shifter’s dark eyes flitted over Pepta. Not a flick of an eyelash revealed her thoughts. “The disturbed are not allowed up here.”

“I don’t give a damn what’s allowed or not allowed,” Lili informed her in a hard voice. “This patient was attacked and badly injured. She requires more than superficial treatment. More than I can do down there.” She glanced at Deisphe, giving her a less-than-subtle mental nudge.

Director of Nursing Garrish didn’t move, still blocking their path.

“Was this the work of the ogres?” she asked Pepta.

The nymph kept her head down. “I just want to go back to my cell,” she mumbled.

“You don’t have the strength to argue.” The shifter snapped her fingers. “Bring a gurney now!”

Lili released a sigh of relief when two trolls ran in with a gurney rolling between them. They gently helped Pepta onto the surface.

“Take her to the trauma room,” Nurse Garrish ordered, gesturing that Deisphe follow them. “And make sure Turtifo and Coing don’t go anywhere.” She turned back to Lili. “You are a very brave witch to do this. Dr. Mortimer’s orders that the patients not be up here were set in stone.”

“I wasn’t going to allow her to stay down there when she was in so much pain,” she countered.

“Of course you shouldn’t.” Her voice softened. “Anyone injured within the confines of the hospital is under my care, not Dr. Mortimer’s. That aides he hired inflicted these injuries only makes the situation much worse. The nymph will be protected here, and I promise you that I will arrange it so her state of mind be reevaluated.”

Lili’s nose wrinkled as the smell of sulfur grew stronger. She was so tempted to take a few steps backward in case the shifter’s temper got the better of her and Lili ended up as charbroiled witch.

“You have impressed me with your bravery and inner strength, Dr. Carter,” she told her, straightening her suit jacket. “Keep it up.”

Lili leaned against the wall as her knees weakened. She took a couple deep breaths, then headed for the ER where she knew her new patient was waiting.

“They’re at the other end, and Security is now standing by, per Nurse Garrish’s orders. I gave Pepta some valerian to calm her down,” Deisphe told her when she entered the room. “What did you do to the dragon lady?” she whispered, as she efficiently and gently cut away Pepta’s clothing and carefully spread a soft sheet over her. “She’s almost a nice shifter.”

“I think she’s on my side,” Lili whispered back as she worked to assess the nymph’s injuries. The more she saw the angrier she grew.