Cori grinned, then leaned down to pull the lasagna out of the oven. The aroma had been filling the kitchen for nearly an hour, but it was even stronger now. My stomach growled. I needed to get better at eating regularly. Just because I’d become immortal didn’t meant I didn’t have to keep my strength up.
“I’m going to drop Emily and Sable off around noon tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
Cori glanced over at me. “That’s fine. I’ve got someone covering me at the tattoo shop so I can spend the weekend with them.”
“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get that,” I said, heading out of the kitchen.
As I made my way toward the foyer, my stomach knotted. Hunter was out there and something was wrong with him—very wrong. I opened the door to find him shivering on the porch holding a gift bag. He wore a knit cap, scarf, heavy coat and thick gloves. It was cold out, but the frigid temperature shouldn’t have bothered a werewolf this much.
Unless he was sick.
I could only sense a subtle trace of it, but the demon magic associated with the plague ran through him. For whatever reason, it became more recognizable as it grew stronger in its victim. Almost as if it took time to fully get hold of the person. In the very early stages I couldn’t sense it at all.
“Hunter.” I gave him a regretful look. “We need to take you to Paula.”
His gaze dropped. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
Emily gasped behind me. I turned and found her eyes wide with shock. She’d gone through a lot of trouble to look nice tonight, putting on her favorite red sweater and curling her brown hair. It was the first time I’d noticed how grown up she had become—no longer the young girl I’d first met. But as she stared at him tears began to run down her eyes, ruining her mascara.
“Please tell me there’s a way to fix him,” she said.
Kerbasi joined us. “Please tell me this isn’t going to interrupt dinner.”
I shot him a warning look.
Hunter stepped into the foyer and looked down at Emily. “I’m strong. I can fight this.”
She wrapped her arms around him and they held each other tightly. I thought about objecting, but she couldn’t catch the plague as long as her blood didn’t come into contact with him. The werewolf version couldn’t cross over to Sable, either. We’d just need to sanitize later and lay some ground rules.
“No kissing,” I warned.
They broke apart. Emily wiped at her eyes and Hunter held out the gift he’d brought.
“What’s this?” she asked, taking it from him.
“Open it.” He gave her an encouraging nod.
She pulled the paper stuffing from the bag and drew out a flat black box. Inside was a pretty gold necklace with a small opal pendant hanging from it. Emily held it up toward the light.
“I love opals,” she whispered in awe.
He smiled. “I remembered you saying their color reminded you of hope. If you wear it I’m sure I’ll get better.”
Hunter didn’t fully believe what he said. He just needed her to believe it enough for the both of them.
“Thanks.” She shot a quick glance at me before pecking him on the cheek.
“Oh, good grief.” Kerbasi grasped his stomach. “I think I’m going to get sick watching these two.”
“Dinner’s ready,” Cori said, popping out of the kitchen.
The guardian relaxed. “Or perhaps not.”
Cori had been pulling plates and utensils out, making enough noise she probably hadn’t heard us. After all her hard work, I was going to have to break the news to her.
“I’m sorry but it looks like…” I began.
“Don’t cancel because of me,” Hunter interrupted, giving me a pleading look. “Can’t I have one last decent meal before you send me to the sick house?”
Emily backed him up. “Please, Mel. Let’s just pretend for a little bit longer that everything is okay?”
“I’m with these two, if my vote counts,” Kerbasi said, edging closer to the teenagers.
I put my hands on my hips. “This isn’t a democracy.”
“What’s going on?” Cori asked.
“Hunter has come down with the plague. He’s at the early stages of it,” I informed her.
“He’s not contagious to the rest of us, is he?” She cast him a worried glance.
“No.”
“Then let him stay.” She shrugged. “Who knows what Paula will feed him once he gets there. Plus there’s garlic in the lasagna and that’s supposed to help, right?”
I wasn’t sure what to say. If he wanted to survive he needed to get help as soon as possible, but Emily had become particularly sensitive to death since we’d lost Felisha and Charlie. Even the thought that she could lose him might send her over the edge. Could I deny her one hour of normalcy so she could prepare herself for what might come next?
“I guess the garlic could help,” I said, wavering.
“Fine.” Cori clasped her hands together. “Let’s eat.”
“Wait, I want to put this on first.” Emily handed Hunter the necklace and turned so he could pull it around her neck.
She was really going to pretend everything was okay. I could sense her tamping down all negative emotions so that only hope remained. Whether that was a healthy way to deal with the situation or not I didn’t know, but I’d leave it alone for now.
“Okay, we’re ready,” she said once her necklace was on.
We went into the kitchen and filled our plates in silence. It almost felt like the last supper. So far, all the supernaturals who’d come down with the plague were either in bad shape or dead. None had actually gotten better yet that I’d heard. It might have only been five days since we found the first victim, but the track record for the supernatural version of the illness was not looking good.
Would Hunter be able to beat it?
Chapter Fifteen
We pulled up to what had once been a human clinic, but had shut down a couple years ago and not been used since. After the plague had broken out Derrick leased it for our use. It had taken the alpha’s people a few days to get it ready, but they’d been able to move all the patients inside late last night.
Emily held Hunter’s hand as we walked up to the entrance.
“Are there really that many people sick now?” she asked.
“Paula said they were up to twenty when I called on the way over.” More than that showed up on my radar, but the rest would be the caregivers and family.
“I used to go to this clinic,” Cori said, running her gaze across the building. “I was sorry when finances forced them to shut down.”
“Rob is in there.” Emily’s gaze swung to Hunter. “Did you know that?”
Alarm blazed in his eyes. “No.”
I wasn’t about to point out that I had known his dad was here.
The scent of fresh paint and harsh cleansers hit my nose as we entered, quickly followed by the stomach wrenching odor of sickness and death. The front lobby area was empty except for a vampire stationed at the front.
“Can you get the doctor?” I asked him. “Tell her Melena is here.”
He nodded and headed down a hallway on the right. We moved toward it and peered down. There were several open rooms on either side and a big glass door at the end where the vampire entered. Judging by my radar, that was the patient treatment area. From a distance I could only make out a couple of cots in there with sups lying on them.
Paula came out a few minutes later. Emily gripped Hunter’s arm as if she could somehow protect him from all of this. He murmured reassurances to her that didn’t do very much to ease the feelings of doom she was emanating. She’d put up a good façade during dinner, but her bravery was gone now. It hurt to see her like this.
The doctor gave us a pleasant smile and then addressed Hunter. “I need to examine you to determine how far the disease has spread. If you could go into room number two and change into the gown in there?”
She nodded toward one of the side rooms down the hall. The door was open and I caught a glimpse of an exam table inside. Derrick had worked fast to get this place set up. It appeared to be a fully functional clinic.
Hunter crossed his arms. “Can you tell me how my dad is doing first? I didn’t know he was here.”
“He insisted we not tell you.” She gave him a sympathetic look. “But I’m pleased to report that he is the first of my patients to show signs of improvement.”
“So you think he’s going to make it?” Emily asked, a hopeful note in her voice.
“According to his latest test results, I think there’s a good chance,” Paula reassured her. “He’ll just need some time to recover. This disease takes quite a toll on the body.”
Hunter relaxed a little. “I want to see him later.”
“Of course, I’ve got someone setting up a bed for you right next to him.” She waved an arm at the exam room. “Now if you could go in?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.” Hunter headed for it.
Emily tried to follow him, but Paula stopped her. “Anyone who wants to stay needs to wash up and change into scrubs. I’ll come get you when I’m done examining Hunter.”
“Do we really have to stay?” Kerbasi asked, sounding annoyed.
I supposed I should have been grateful he’d remained quiet this long.
Cori shot him a dirty look. “Don’t be such an ass.”
I was really glad she’d decided to come along. She could handle the guardian as well as I could. Plus Paula might get upset if I started shooting Kerbasi in her medical facility.
“I’m staying with Hunter,” Emily argued.
“I’m afraid you can’t, but it’ll only be for a few minutes. The washrooms are that way,” Paula said, pointing to a couple of doors at the back of the lobby.
“Come on.” I took her arm. “Let Hunter have some privacy.”
The werewolf in question gave me a grateful look. I’d tended enough plague patients before to know the groin was another place where the lymph nodes could swell. He wouldn’t want her to see that.
Emily grumbled but didn’t argue any further. We went to the washrooms and found one marked for men and another for women. Kerbasi hesitated in front of his door. I opened it and shoved him through.
“Get in there.”
“Tyrant!” he yelled.
Cori, Emily, and I went into the women’s room and found Diane inside. She was Yvonne’s daughter and also mystic. She and her family weren’t very active in the supernatural community, but they pitched in when they were needed.
The middle-aged woman had her dark brown hair pulled back in a bun and was currently standing in front of a washer and dryer sorting clothes. She looked worn and tired. I imagined balancing this duty with her regular job at the hospital wasn’t easy.
She looked up and the lines across her forehead eased. “It’s good to see you, Melena. If you ladies could take off all your clothes—including shoes—and put them in the hamper I’d appreciate it. You’ll find scrubs in the sizes you need on the shelf against the wall.”
“You’re running a tight ship,” I said.
“Under the circumstances I’m afraid even this isn’t enough, but we’re doing the best we can.”
We stripped down and tossed our clothes into the designated hamper. There was no point in arguing. She was right. People were dying and we had to do what was necessary to protect them and those who could become sick.
“How are your mother and son?” I asked, pulling on a blue scrub top.
“Good, thank you.” She gave me a brief smile as she continued sorting clothes. “Mother is helping here during the day and I come in the evenings. That way one of us is always with Patrick.”
Patrick was her fifteen-year-old son who she home-schooled.
I pulled on some booties that were also on the shelf. “Will you stay all night?”
“No. Just until ten o’clock. I have to sleep sometime.” She let out a heavy sigh.
Emily was eyeing a blue cap I handed her with some reluctance. “Do I have to put this on?”
“Yes,” Diane and I said at the same time.
She groaned and pulled it over her nicely curled hair, tucking in the loose strands. Just because her boyfriend was sick didn’t mean she didn’t want to look good for him. Everyone had their own way of dealing with stress and Emily’s could be odder than most.
She’d been through so much in her seventeen years of life that sometimes I wanted to wrap her in a cocoon and protect her from the world. All I could do for now was hope the treatments we had available would be enough to help Hunter. If she lost one more person in her life, I wasn’t sure she could handle it.
I glanced at Cori and found her ready to go. She’d faced us the whole time while changing so I didn’t catch the tattoo on her back. We might be good friends, but she still wouldn’t let me see it. She’d only admit one existed there.
Diane grabbed a mop and rinsed it out in a large sink in the corner. “Your clothes will be ready in a couple hours. You can change back into them when you leave.”
“Thanks,” I said, following the others out.
Kerbasi was waiting in the reception area tugging at his scrubs. It took every ounce of control I had not to laugh. The big hulky guy looked just as uncomfortable as the last time he’d had to wear them. It was even more amusing to see him with the blue cap on his head. I pulled out my cell phone and took a picture of him.