Edge of Midnight (McClouds & Friends #4)(78)

“Hey. Wait. What’s—”

“Tetanus booster. Had one lately?”

“Uh…” Liv hesitated, trying to remember.

“Then you need one.” Stab.

Liv tried not to shriek as the stuff burned into her arm like a massive, awful bee sting. But it seemed ignoble to bitch about it.

Tam held up a third hypodermic. “Were you raped?” Her voice as matter-of-fact as if she were asking if Liv took milk in her coffee.

Liv caught her breath as an image of T-Rex squatting on top of her, flashed through her mind. “No,” she said. “Close, but no.”

Tam flashed Sean a quick, approving glance. “Good.”

“What’s in that one?” Liv asked, with some trepidation.

“A dose of morning-after juice,” Tam said. “Do you need it? You did spend the day wrangling an oversexed gorilla who was hopped up on adrenaline. I doubt he exercised much restraint. Just say the word.”

“God, Tam,” Sean complained. “Would you back off?”

“Never,” Tam said sweetly.

“Isn’t that stuff available by prescription only?” Liv asked.

Tam’s grin lit up her face, showing off blindingly white teeth. “Aw. Is she for real? She’s cute, Sean. Where did you find her?”

Sean shrugged. “In Endicott Falls. Of all places.”

Tam snapped her fingers in Liv’s face. “So? You want this shot?”

Sean lifted his shoulders in a shrug that said “your call.” She thought about it for a second and a half. “No,” she said quietly. If it came to that, she and Sean could have The Talk.

Tam’s eyes widened. She rummaged in the chest, and pulled out a string of condoms. “You hardly need these, but take them as a reminder not to take advantage of a girl’s romantic feelings.” She flung them.

He caught them one-handed. “I am tired of everyone throwing condoms at me,” he growled. “I’m perfectly capable of getting my own.”

“But not using them, hmm?” Tam’s voice was sugary.

“Mind your goddamn business, Tam.”

“Oh, but I was. Until I got your phone call. If you want my help, you’ll just have to tolerate my character defects. Now get your own shirt off, big boy. It’s your turn.”

“Me?” he sounded aggrieved. “Why? Nobody bit me. And nothing’s infected. I would know by now if it was. So don’t worry about—”

“Shut up.” Tam’s voice was adamant. “If she gets it, you get it.”

Sean let out a liquid string of words as he yanked his shirt off.

“Insult me any way you like,” Tam said. “But if you ever talk trash about my mother and grandmother again, I will rip your guts out and tie them around your neck in a big, festive bow. Is that understood?”

Sean’s eyes widened with shock. “You speak Croatian?”

Tam’s face was an icy mask as she squeezed the air out of the syringe. “Assumptions get you killed. Filthy, shit-mouthed idiot dog.”

“Uh, sorry,” he said, chastened. “I didn’t mean it personally.”

She swabbed, and stuck him in the arm.

Sean hissed. “Fuck! I take it back. I’m not sorry. Not sorry at all.”

“Crybaby.” She swabbed the other arm, jabbed.

“Hell witch,” he snarled.

She responded with something incomprehensible. Sean shot something back. The insults flew, picking up speed and volume and vicious energy, each in a new language she had never heard.

“Stop it!” Liv yelled.

They stared at her, startled into silence. Liv retrieved her shirt and tugged it on. “Stop showing off,” she snapped. “It’s really irritating.”

“Sorry.” Sean turned to Tam. “You have to teach me the one about the goat-f*cking son of a lazy camel, though. What is that, Turkish?”

“Yeah. I liked the Corsican one about the sheep in the bushes,” she said, faint admiration in her tone. “Very obscure. Very dirty.”

Sean gazed at her for a long, thoughtful moment, his smile fading. “Where the f*ck are you from, anyway, Tam?”

Her smile was brilliant and empty. “Nowhere,” she said.

Tam opened the door of the vast refrigerator, which had nothing in it other than mineral water and a big box. “Here’s your dinner. Take it up to your suite to eat it. I can’t handle the smell of food tonight.”

Sean frowned. “Not eating, huh? You don’t look so good.”

Her eyes flashed. “Your usual cheap gallantry has deserted you.”

“You’ve lost weight,” Sean persisted. “More than you can afford to lose. And you’ve got circles under your eyes. Have you been sick?”

“How about you mind your own goddamn business, hmm?” Sean grabbed the box. “Whatever,” he said. “Thanks for dinner.”

Tam jerked her chin at him, with ill grace. “Take it and go. You’re bothering me tonight. Take the north tower. You know the way.”

Liv scurried to follow him. If that was how Tam looked when she wasn’t looking good, Liv would be afraid to to see her looking fabulous.





Chapter 16