Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam #2)(66)

“Honey. I don’t know her last name. But I’m going to find out.” I jumped up. “I’m exhausted, but I’m not going home till I find out what the hell kind of games Ralph and Honey have been playing at my expense.”

Sandy stopped me as I headed toward the door. “You are going home and you’re going to sleep on it first. You know as well as I do that you’re about due for an energy crash. Rutillite is fucking hard on your body. You said it’s not completely out of your system yet, and you know full well that if you aren’t near your bed when it is, you’re going to be hurting mighty bad.”

I grumbled, but Sandy was right. And I could feel the last bits of the drug starting to dislodge themselves. Like Novocain, when suddenly you started to feel your jaw again and then—in one big rush—it was gone and you suddenly felt the after-ache of the appointment. Only Rutillite’s after-ache was more like a sledgehammer to the head.

“Fine. Then you’d better take me home. But the minute I get up, I’m heading to Ralph’s.” I glanced at Delia. “Don’t you dare go over there without me.”

“Hey, hexing a neighbor or a business rival is against the law, but it’s so hard to prove that I’m not sure I want to bother. But I can have a little talk with him if you want me to. I can tell him that I’m going to watch the both of you from now on, to make nice and quit shitting in the sandbox.” Delia arched her eyebrows, smiling.

“Oh, lovely thought. Satyrs are so crude and lewd that I can actually see him doing just that. Taking a poop in my garden as an act of defiance.”

“Well, stop badgering him and maybe he’ll get bored and stop badgering you.”

“He started it.” I stopped, suddenly feeling the last of the drug wash out. “Cripes. There it goes. And…right on cue.” I rubbed my temples as they started to ache. “Headache incoming. I need to get home and get to bed.”

“I’ll take her,” Sandy said. She gathered my purse and phone from Delia, then looped my arm around her shoulders and helped me out to her car. “Don’t even protest. You won’t be able to drive in a few minutes. We’ll come get your car later. It’s early enough that I’ll be able to explain to Aegis what happened—he’ll understand, even though he’s in bat form.”

I nodded, feeling queasy again. I needed gentle, bland food and I needed a bed, and I needed them now. Sandy drove me home, checking on me every few minutes.

Feeling like I had been hit by a truck, I finally whispered, “How’s Bubba doing with Mr. Peabody?”

“Bubba and Mr. Peabody have developed a brand-new game, and I was going to talk to you about it later but I might as well tell you now. Thanks to Bubba rolling over and Mr. Peabody taking the time to groom Bubba’s belly, Mr. Peabody apparently got his wish. He has scent glands again. Alex has been spending the last few hours trying to de-scent the house. Mr. Peabody is going to have to undergo a new operation, which isn’t a lot of fun, and Bubba stinks to high heaven.”

I groaned. “So not what I needed to hear right now.”

“Hey, you asked. I just gave you the 4-1-1 on it. Now, when I get you home, you promise you aren’t going to call a cab or do anything stupid and go holler at Ralph? At least until you’re feeling better? You need a solid morning of sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll save that for when I really wake up. Maybe Garret will have the hex-breaker ready by then.” By then, my head was throbbing to the point of where I couldn’t have even stumbled to Ralph’s door.

Sandy again helped me inside, where we found a frantic Aegis flying round and round the house, screeching like a banshee. Sandy shushed him as she tried to get me upstairs, but there was no way I could manage the steps and she wasn’t strong enough to carry me. So she helped me into the parlor and laid me down on the sofa, drawing the afghan over me. Then, bringing me water, she settled down in the rocking chair by the fireplace as Aegis hovered over me, anxious.

I stared up at him. He was hanging upside down from the lamp that overlooked the sofa, stretching his wings and flapping to punctuate whatever it was he was saying.

“You do realize you’re making me dizzy.” I squinted, trying to make out the rest of the room, which looked like a badly focused movie that kept moving around. Real Blair Witch stuff.

Aegis squeaked again.

Sandy reached out her finger and he smelled it, settling down. “Listen, dude, Maddy’s really fucked up because of the Rutillite, so maybe you could lay off the kvetching until Garret gets here with the hex-breaker.”

I groaned, rolling into a ball on my side, huddling against the pillows. “Can you go ask him if he’s by any chance finished early?” I couldn’t even put in a phone call.

“Yeah, I will, but not till you’re sound asleep. It’s six-fifteen, so he’s probably not going to be up yet.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t, but before I go out running any errands for you, I’m going home, taking a shower, and then getting dressed in something a little less frumpy. These are my pajamas, you know.” She leaned forward, rubbing my back. “Now go to sleep.”

“I can’t,” I whined. “I’m too tired.”

“All right. You wait here.” Sandy stood. “Aegis, you…well, if she tries to get up, you fly in the kitchen to tell me. I know what will knock her out.” She headed out of the room.