Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (30 page)

Time seemed to slow down. Her world

zoned in on the barrel of the gun now

pointed at her. Before she could push it

away, a light flashed. A loud bang

blasted her ears at the same time a

burning pain ripped through her right

shoulder. Her useless dagger slipped

through her fingers. She stumbled back

but stayed on her feet.

“No!” Kyle screamed, lunging

toward her.

Another shot rent the air. The

force of the bullet knocked her over as it

tore through her right thigh. She cried

out, landing on the hard pavement.

Kyle dropped down beside her.

“Oh, gawd. This wasn’t supposed to

happen.” His trembling hands fumbled

over her, causing more pain.

She tried to smack his hands

away but her arm wouldn’t move.

“Stop,” she said between quick, shallow

breaths. The clack of metal hitting the

ground got her attention. Dougie dropped

his gun before his lifeless body slumped

to the ground. An angry, Asian vampire

loomed over him.

Good riddance.

“Ivy.” Thane knelt next to her.

“Stay awake. We need to get you back to

the hotel. I still have some healing

potion left.”

She wanted to tell him there was

no way she could sleep through all this

pain but as soon as he mentioned it,

fatigue settled over her like a warm

blanket. As if she didn’t have enough to

worry about, now she had to struggle to

stay awake, too.

Thane pressed a cloth to her

thigh causing her to wince as pain bolted

through her leg. Kyle squeezed her left

hand and held it to his chest while

talking to her. For a fleeting second, she

thought it was Garren but Kyle’s voice

brought her back to reality. His words

were nonsense to her as she focused

instead on the melodic murmur as he

spoke. Occasionally he brushed his cool

fingers over her brow. A welcome

gesture but she wished for another’s

hands to comfort her.

Where is Garren... and Athena?

Are they all right?

“Ivy, we need to move you. It

may hurt,” Thane explained. She tried to

laugh at his miserable attempt to play

down the excruciating pain she was

about to experience, but she only

managed to grunt.

“Can you lift her?” Thane asked

Kyle.

Zoo stepped forward. “I will

take her. I don’t trust him.”

“No, we need you to take out any

other Eradicators who might get in the

way.”

Zoo nodded and went on alert,

scanning the area. Kyle placed his hands

gently under her body. But Thane put his

hand on Kyle’s arm to stop him before

he picked her up.

“You pull any funny stuff and

you’ll be choked by
Weeds
.” Thane

glared at the Eradicator. Pride swelled

inside her at her cousin’s growing

backbone that she almost managed to

smile.

“You ready?” Kyle whispered.

She licked her dry lips and

croaked out “Yes.” He hoisted her up

and she screamed through gritted teeth.

More warm blood flowed down her leg

and into her boot. Resting her head

against Kyle’s chest, she counted each

beat of his heart to distract her from the

agony.

“You have a car?” Kyle asked

through strained breath.

“Over there,” Thane answered,

blurring in and out of focus. Blackness

narrowed down on him. Her eyelids

were too heavy to keep open anymore.

Kyle jostled her body. “Don’t go

to sleep, Ivy. You die on me and I’ll kill

you.”

“What the hell happened to

him?” Thane practically shouted. She

pried her eyes open to find Garren on the

ground, slumped against Athena’s chest

as she leaned against the car.

Oh my gawd, he’s dead.
Then

the darkness of the night swallowed her

up.

Chapter 17

Where am I?
The scent of blood

and dust filled Ivy’s nose. She was

laying on something soft and warm. A

light shone on the other side of her

closed eyelids. Her nose itched but

when she attempted to raise her hand to

scratch, pain pulsed through her arm.

I can’t believe that bastard shot

me, twice.

An image of Garren lying still on

the ground settled in her brain and took

root. Her throat constricted with

remorse. Who else died because of her?

Pushing down the guilt before it

consumed her, she opened her eyes. A

dirty ceiling fan spun lazily around.

Beyond the foot of her bed sat an old TV

and an ugly painting of a bowl of fruit.

She was back at the hotel.

Garren slouched in a chair next

to her.
Garren!
He’s alive!
But his dark

hair was too short and his skin too tan.

When did he get his nose pierced?

Her heart sank. It was Kyle.
Did

he bring me here?
His hands rested on

his stomach, rising and falling with each

even breath. Although his presence was

comforting, she wished the person sitting

beside her had slightly longer hair and

bright blue eyes.

Unable to stop it, a tear trickled

down her cheek as exhaustion claimed

her once again.

*****

choking her. Instinct urged her to spit it

out but a soothing, familiar voice at her

ear told her to swallow. She gulped the

substance down. It tasted like cinnamon

gummy bears. Immediately, her blood

grew hot, like molten lava flowing

through her veins. Her skin burned from

the inside out. She scratched and clawed

at her arms, belly, legs, face, anywhere

she could reach in an attempt to find

relief from the scorching pain.

Get it out! Make it stop!
Her

throat ached from her screams as she

thrashed about.

Hands grabbed her wrists and

held them down. A weight across her

body kept her still. The worst of the pain

radiated from her leg and shoulder.

“What did you do to her?” Kyle

shouted right by her head. His body

pressed down on her side.

“The potion is repairing all the

damage. I know it hurts, but it won’t last

long,” Thane said.

Her muscles seized up and she

arched her back off the bed. How was

she not already dead from the pain?

The same soothing voice spoke

to her again. “It’s okay, Ivy. It’s almost

over,” he said over and over. She clung

to his words. The pain was almost

bearable when she focused on the low

timber of his voice. Soon the blaze

cooled to a warm burn. Her energy

drained away with the heat. The weights

holding her down lifted.

But the voice didn’t stop. “That’s

good. Take nice, deep breaths. Good.”

Cool air filled her lungs with each deep

inhale. If she didn’t know any better,

she’d swear it was Garren whispering

words of encouragement to her, perhaps

his ghost. She blinked her eyes open

enough to catch a glimpse of black hair

hanging over blue eyes.

“Go to sleep now,” Garren

whispered. She did.

*****

unconsciousness, though her eyelids

refused to open.

“He’s not leaving this room.”

Athena demanded. “How do we know he

won’t go straight to his buddies and lead

them right back to us? No, he stays.”

Tension saturated the air, prickling her

skin.

“While

I

understand

your

reasoning,” Thane said in a placating

tone. “He’s the only one who knows

where to find the ingredients I need. I

really believe he wants Ivy to recover as

much as we do. Now, if it will make you

feel better, Garren can come with us.”

Garren? He’s alive?

The bed shifted next to her. “No,

I’m not going anywhere.”

Her heart practically thudded out

of her chest.
He’s alive!
The heavy

chains of shame she wrapped herself

with shattered and fell away. They were

all alive. Relief bubbled to the surface

and escaped as a sigh. A warm hand

tightened around her fingers.
Garren’s

hand?

“Ivy, are you awake?” His warm

breath brushed across her cheek.

She opened her eyes. Kyle,

Thane and Athena stood around her bed,

staring at her. Garren sat next to her. She

tried to speak, but her dry, raw vocal

chords wouldn’t respond. She did a

great impression of a fish out of water,

though.

“Here.” Kyle brought a glass of

water with a straw to her mouth. Her dry

membranes soaked up the liquid like a

sponge. He pulled the water away

sooner than she wanted, but the small

sips were enough to find her voice

again.

“Hey.” She sounded like sand

coated her throat. “What’s going on?”

She cast a glance toward Garren and

squeezed his hand.

He yanked it away. “Uh, we’re

going out to find some ingredients Thane

needs to make some more strengthening

potion.” He barely looked her in the eye.

So much for Garren not going

anywhere.
“Great. I’ll take a nap while

you’re gone.” She tried to smile to hide

her disappointment, but her dry lips split

in the middle and bled.

Now I could use that lip balm

Garren teased me about
.

“Wait,” Kyle said. “What if she

does that… thing… she did last time.

You were the only one who could stop

it.” Everyone’s focus shifted to Garren.

Oh gawd, what did I do now?

“She’ll be fine,” Garren said. He

stepped away from the bed, found his

shoes and slipped them on. “We won’t

be gone that long. I’m sure Athena can

handle it.”

Handle what?
She looked to the

werewolf, hoping to get some answers

from her. Athena raised her hands and

swirled them over her head
.

Not again
. She didn’t want

Garren to leave. She didn’t want to

spend any quality time with him, but for

some reason his presence calmed her

down.
Who’d of thunk?
But by the way

he practically sprinted for the door she’d

rather face a hundred magical tornadoes

than admit her feelings to him.

“Sure, sure,” she said. “Just be

careful.”

Kyle knelt down next to her and

brushed a stray curl off her forehead.

“Are you going to be okay with the

werewolf?” he whispered.

She smiled gingerly, trying not to

damage her lips further. “Yeah, don’t

worry. She’s more bark than bite. Keep

them safe, okay.” She wasn’t sure if the

Eradicators would go after him after

botching up the raid or if they thought he

was captured and held against his will.

Hopefully, they’d avoid being seen by

anyone he knew.

“Can we go already? Your

girlfriend will still be here when we get

back,” Garren said, one hand on the

doorknob.

She tensed. Did everyone think

that she and Kyle were a couple again

because he was there? Did Kyle? Did

Garren? She peeked over at Kyle to gage

his reaction. He glared at Garren while

stroking her hand.

Talk

about

your

mixed

messages
.

Kyle leaned in and whispered,

“Your friend’s a real jackass. You sure

you want me to bring him back?” He

smiled and winked at her before

standing up to leave. Why did she break

up with him again?
Oh yeah, he tried to

massage Diane’s tonsils with his

tongue.

Garren opened the door and

jumped back, almost knocking Kyle

over.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kyle

asked before following Garren’s glare to

the small animal sauntering into the

room. “What the hell is that?”

“That,” Garren said, “Is Ivy’s pet