“You…sound…like some…kind of…gangster from the twenties,” I said between hysterical chuckles. I kept picturing Micah in a pinstripe gangster suit with a thick New York accent. When it seemed no one was finding Ian’s death threat as funny as I, I regained my composure and got back on track.
“Sorry,” I said, holding back my laughter. Ian raised my arm toward his lips and all of a sudden, nothing was funny. I was in a real life dangerous situation, not to mention sexual. The memory of what Aiden’s bite felt like made me question whether or not I should share something like that with Ian. We were in a hospital; I could have a nurse draw blood for Ian. As much as that sounded like an excellent plan, we were dangerously close to sunrise and if we didn’t hurry, Ian would zonk out for the day.
My heart beat strongly against my chest as I waited for Ian to sink his fangs into my wrist. He captured my eyes and hesitated to bite. He was enjoying my nervous anticipation and drawing it out for as long as he could, or so I thought. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest, leaning down so that only I would hear his words.
“Are you sure you’ll do anything for your friend?” He whispered. I nodded my head, unsure what he meant. “Once she is brought back, remember you said that and remember that I confirmed it.” He stepped back and lifted my arm, leaving me utterly confused as to what the hell he was talking about but before I could question him further his fangs sunk into my skin.
I let out a yelp as waves of warmth washed through my entire body, leaving me yearning for more. His lips against my skin as he sucked blood from my body were a dark seduction I couldn’t get enough of. Ian’s bite was different than Aiden’s, stronger. I moaned and worried that my knees would give out with the pure delight that overtook me. Ian pulled me closer to help hold onto me and I happily leaned into him. I rubbed my body against him with my lust in overdrive and my only thoughts were of how to get our clothes off as quickly as possible.
“That’s enough!” Micah ordered from beside us. Ian growled and reluctantly let go of my wrist. He held me for a few moments as the waves of sexual pleasure wafted through my body and finally allowed me to stand on my own. Once clear-headed, I pushed away from him and put the table between us. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t look at either one of the men in the room and was very thankful Aiden hadn’t witnessed what happened. If the shoe were on the other foot, I wouldn’t have been able to watch Aiden have an orgasm with another woman.
No one said anything about our blood exchange, luckily. Ian placed both of his hands on Fiona’s temples and closed his eyes as his lips chanted an incantation that I couldn’t understand. It was bizarre to see a vampire doing magic, unnatural.
I thought I saw Fiona’s hand twitch out of the corner of my eye and the breath in my lungs caught in my throat. I stared wide-eyed at my best friend’s body, willing her to wake up with silent prayers. Ian continued to chant and my impatience was getting the best of me. I stepped up to the stainless steel table and said, “What’s happening? Why isn’t she waking up?” I looked back at Micah but his thoughts showed all over his face; he didn’t expect her to wake up. I turned back to Ian and Fiona and grabbed her hand, tears falling down my cheeks as I waited for her to come back from death.
When it seemed all hope was lost, and that Ian had been lying about his talents, I hung my head in defeat. Deep down, I knew that it was improbable but I had pushed the doubt aside and held on to every ounce of hope I had. Hope that was now squashed like a bug.
Fingers trembled against my own and I looked at mine and Fiona’s joined hands. Her fingers moved lazily but they moved! I was utterly speechless, full of disbelief and happiness that something was happening.
“Fiona?” I said softly but didn’t get a response. Ian said one last round of chants and all of a sudden, Fiona gasped loudly and her eyes popped open. It was like the world stopped moving and everything was in slow motion. I watched Fiona sit up on her own and look around the room in confusion. My feet were firmly planted to the floor and my mouth gaped with my surprise. I stared at her like she was something my brain couldn’t comprehend and in truth, she was. She was death that had been resurrected, something that shouldn’t have been possible.
“Gwen, what am I doing in the morgue?” Fiona asked with a scratchy voice. As soon as I heard her speak, I was brought out of my shock and encased her in one of the tightest bear hugs I could manage. Her body was slightly cold but otherwise normal.“I…can’t…breathe!” Fiona choked out. I loosened my grip but didn’t let her go. I was laughing and crying all at once, if there were such things as miracles, Ian had performed one.
“Can someone please tell me what is going on? Why am I in a body bag?” Fiona’s voice trembled with fear. I broke our embrace so that I could look into her eyes. I wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened. How was I supposed to tell my best friend that she was stone cold dead only minutes ago?
“You were…dead,” I said cautiously. I expected her to start crying or hyperventilating; I didn’t expect her to burst out laughing. I eyed both Ian and Micah worried that Fiona had lost her mind. Surely, she was entitled to be a little insane with what had happened; I know I was on my way to insanity.
“Fiona?” I asked. She held up one hand and waved me off while she tried to control her giggles.
“I’m…fine. You really got me.” She laughed again. “Dead.” My eyebrows scrunched as my confusion took over. Did Fiona think that I was playing a trick on her?
“Fiona, this isn’t a joke, you were really dead. Ian brought you back.” She stopped laughing and looked between Ian, Micah and me and then took in her surroundings and finally stared at the black body bag she was currently sitting in.
“Oh my God! Am I a zombie? Am I going to start craving brains?” Fiona was past her confusion and was now heading to the paranoia stage. I held back my laugh because I could see the horror all over her face and knew she wouldn’t appreciate me laughing, even though it was difficult not to.
“No, Fiona you are not a zombie and brains are not on the menu,” I told her. “Somehow Ian was able to bring you back and you look like yourself, and you feel like yourself, right?” She thought for a few seconds and then nodded her head. I knew her personality was all her so that was good.
“But how did I die?”
“They thought I killed you,” Ian chimed in. I shot him a look, still not convinced he hadn’t had something to do with it. At the very least, he knew who had killed her.
“Ian wouldn’t ever hurt me,” Fiona said. I silently grumbled that my best friend still seemed to be enamored with the devil’s advocate. I had hoped that coming back from death would put her self-preservation mode in overdrive, but it hadn’t affected her whatsoever.
“Yeah, he’s a peach,” I said, glaring at Ian. “We’re not exactly sure what happened to you but Ian knows and he’s not talking.” I had hoped that the new information would set Fiona’s inner diva off, but did it? NO. She pulled her legs out of the horrible black body bag and hung them over the side of the table, bracing her hands on the edge to steady herself. She took a couple of deep breaths and then hopped off the table. I stepped closer to help and she grabbed my outstretched hand. I pulled her into a hug again, too overwhelmed with happiness.
“Whoever…killed me must be dangerous and Ian doesn’t want to put us in anymore danger by telling us who they are,” Fiona said, pulling back from me. I rolled my eyes at her faith in Ian Despereaux but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the time to fight with my newly resurrected best friend about her bad taste in men.
“That is correct,” Ian agreed.
“We’ve got to get back to the FPD, the sun will be up any moment,” Micah said. I glanced at him, forgetting that he was in the room; he’d been so quiet. Maybe he was freaked out about seeing the dead come back to life.
“We?” Fiona asked. Her eyes looked like they were tired and her body seemed to struggle to hold up her weight. I laced my arm around her waist and helped steady her.
“Ian is still in custody of the FPD until he tells us who is behind your death and the other witch killings.” Ian mumbled something angry but it wasn’t clear enough to make out. He held out his arms, with his wrists together, so that Micah could put on his silver bracelets again.
“That’s crazy, Micah, Ian didn’t do anything wrong,” Fiona said lazily, like it was a huge effort for her to speak.
“We’ll figure that out later, we should get home so you can rest,” I told her. Luckily Fiona’s inner diva wasn’t up to fighting at the moment. She let me escort her out of the room and outside. We had driven there with Micah, so I had no clue how we were getting home. Nor had I any clue as to where the hell Aiden went. He had been pretty pissed, so he’d probably went home or to get dinner. Micah led Ian outside and noticed that we didn’t have a car so he ushered us into the SUV.
“I’ll drop Ian off and then take you guys home, is that alright?” I nodded my head and settled Fiona into the front seat so that she wouldn’t be anywhere near Ian and then climbed in the back.
After driving for five minutes, Fiona was sound asleep. I imagined it took a lot out of a person being brought back from the dead. Ian leaned over so that his lips were close to my ear and I tried not to think of how his bite had felt. I was putting that experience in the denial department, it never happened.
“You can start paying me back tomorrow night,” he whispered. Micah glared at us through the rearview mirror but I ignored him.
“You’re not feeding off me again,” I said with authority.
Ian smiled. “As much as I’d love to, you are delicious and powerful, but I have other ideas in mind.” His blue eyes watched me with interest but I quickly looked away, not interested.
“We’re not having sex either.” Ian laughed and Fiona stirred in the front seat. I glanced up at her but she had already gone back to sleep. I crossed my arms across my chest and looked out the window.