Revolution (Collide, #4)(56)

But she kissed Daniel. Or he kissed her. That was something I'd have to deal with later. She wasn't a cheater. After what I went through with my fiancé', Lillian wouldn't do that. But letting him kiss her…

A sharp pain growled its release through my throat and my arm was on fire. I looked to see the flames, but it was a bottle of clear liquid, not flames that I saw. I looked at the Doc's face. He was all business. "I'm awake," I told him and he poured more of that demon liquid on my arm. "I'm awake and can totally feel that!"

"I know," he said calmly. "That's how I wake my patients up." He laughed at his own joke.

"Dude. Comedy school, pronto."

"Are you saying my jokes aren't funny?" he asked even as he still laughed. I didn't answer him, I just groaned like a sissy and tried not to curse like a sailor. "My patients usually don't mind. All done. I put you under because it was not going to be fun to clean that arm." He pointed to the nice clean bandage and sling. "Here's some ointment and bandages. Keep it dry and clean."

"Gotcha, Doc. Thanks."

"So…where are you from? Not from around here, huh?"

"Why do you say that?" I said with caution. Doc was acting weird.

"Well…we're an animal clinic." I jerked my gaze to Daniel. He looked confused. "The people hospital is about three miles on the other side of town." He grinned in a teasing way. "I didn't turn you away 'cause you were in bad shape and we weren't busy, but my patients used to come in on four legs."

"Nice going, Daniel," I said and glanced at him before settling back on the Doc. "Thanks. Sorry and yes, we're just passing through."

"Not a problem. I'm surprised the front door was unlocked. We usually lock it. Now we just run blood tests and do analysis for the Enforcement centers since animals are no longer around. We also stock pile meds for the hospitals since they've had so many break-ins. Well, uh, there's a motel that takes cash next door," he offered.

I eyed him. Man, if only Sherry were here, she could decipher this guy. "Ok, thanks."

"I'll let you guys get back to…passing through." He smiled and gave the nurse the papers. "Felicia will handle this for you at the desk."

I nodded, but had no intentions of staying and filling out some papers. And I didn’t have a dime on me, so that didn't matter either. We followed her out and I was amazed at how much better my arm felt. It hurt, oh yes, but the pain was more of a good pain now. It was no longer life sucking, it was manageable.

When she turned to go back to the front desk, we turned right and kept right on going. Swiftly we got back to the car and I wondered how I missed it. Right there in big letters on the sign it said "Meyer Clinic - K9s are our specialty". I glared at Daniel as he put us in drive once more.

"I know, I know," he said. "But you're bandaged and better now, so I think anything other than that is irrelevant."

I huffed and stared out the window. We passed the motel the Doc had told us about. "We'll need to stop somewhere to sleep eventually."

"Not there," he said. "He may have been nice enough for a human, but I got a strange feeling about it."

"Nice enough for a human?" I scoffed. "Really?"

"Humans have never been anything but hostile to me."

"You took over our freaking planet!" I yelled, the jolting of my voice squeezing a pinch through my arm.

"Yes, I know. And I'm not saying humans weren't founded in their actions to me, but they remain the same."

"Sometimes you can't just spout things even if they are true. Some things need a little bit of explanation," I told him.

"I will try to remember that," he said wryly, like it didn't matter.

"Did you say you were going to die earlier?" He stayed silent. "I could've sworn I heard you say you were heading to die."

"My death is my burden."

"Fine." I yawned into my good hand. "I'll look out my window and pretend that I never asked."

"You'll know everything soon enough," he grumbled. I ignored him and we rode on.

Tag-along



Chapter 24


Merrick



"Hey, gorgeous," I told her as I watched her from the corner. It was night time again. She was changing her clothes and looking at her stomach. It was so thin and I knew she was getting self-conscious about it. But it wasn't her fault. Everyone was struggling with that part.

"Thanks," she said half-heartedly and then tried to change the subject. "I'm glad you shaved. You look like you again."

"I'm being completely serious." I put my arms around her from behind. "I never loved you for your looks anyway, but you're still beautiful."

"I know, but…" she sighed, "it wasn't like I had a lot to lose anyways."

I turned her to me and took her fingers in mine. I pushed her back to the wall, lifting her easily and wrapping her legs around my waist. I pressed her hand to the wall by her head and took her mouth roughly. She gasped into my mouth, which was tinder to my fire. I used my free hand to run strokes from her cheek, to her neck, to her chest, to her stomach, to her hip, to her behind. I growled as she tightened her legs on me and I tried to find places in her mouth I had yet to discover.