Dr. Wolf, the Fae Rift Series Book 2- Demon Spiral (11 page)

“My car?” he asked with a hint of hesitation.

“It’s fine,” Aleric told him. “The police will be bringing it back shortly.”

The orderly stared at the werewolf. “The police? Why?”

Aleric thought of the Archdemon and everything else that had happened since he borrowed the orderly’s car. “It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in sometime. But thank you for letting us borrow it. It’ll be as good as new when it’s returned.”

Gregory gave a relieved smile. “Alright. Thanks.”

A thought occurred to Aleric. “Oh, Greg.”

The red-head poked his head back through the door. “Yes, Doc?”

Aleric brought out the envelope and withdrew most of the money. He left in enough he figured would cover a few replacement shirts and some meals, then held out the rest. “For your ring fund.”

Gregory’s mouth fell open. He looked from the money to Aleric.

“Dr. Wolf, that’s too generous. I can’t ask you to do that!”

“You haven’t asked,” Aleric replied. “It’s more than I need, and I can tell she’s worth it. I’m happy to do whatever I can to help you get that much closer to your dreams.”

Gregory crossed back to the couch Aleric leaned against. On his face was a dazed expression. He accepted the money as though he barely saw it.

“A-are you sure, Doc? You really don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Aleric told him. “You both deserve to be happy.”

Gregory put the money in his wallet with as much care as though the few hundred dollar bills were thousands. Aleric watched him leave, then sat back on the couch with a satisfied sigh. He opened the to-go container and took out the sandwich. He took a bite and another sigh escaped him.

“How can something taste so good?” he mused.

“Will this improve relations with the fae?” the reporter on the television was saying. “Can Dr. Wolf’s heroics help the citizens of Edge City be less afraid of this strange flood of creatures? Can this one fearless werewolf be enough to protect us against the new dangers we’re finding outside our doors?”

Aleric pushed the channel button. The television flipped to a new station.

It showed a man holding up a book entitled ‘When Fairytales Attack- A Professional’s Opinion on the Fae Outbreak’.

“In answer to your question, Amy, I do feel that this supposed doctor could in fact do more harm than good,” a man with salt and pepper hair and a monotone voice said. “If we allow ourselves to fall into a false sense of security, we are only setting ourselves up for more terror. That is what spurred me to write this book so quickly, and what’s driving it to fly off the shelves as fast as any store can keep it in stock. Who knows what lurches in the shadows?”

The blonde-haired woman sitting next to him asked, “But Dr. Jeagerson, do you believe in the possibility of an alliance between these fae creatures and our citizens? Has Dr. Wolf’s selfless actions given us reason to trust him?”

The doctor’s face took on an even more flat expression if possible. “No, I don’t, Amy. First of all, I feel that the werewolf’s actions were calculated. For all we know, he put the gargoyles in the Capitol Building in the first place.”

“He nearly got killed,” Amy pointed out with an incredulous look. “You can’t tell me he expected that to happen.”

The man smiled, but the expression was entirely without humor. “It seems you have also fallen beneath the spell of Aleric Bayne’s good looks and projected want to bring peace to our society. It’s a textbook case of Stockholm syndrome.”

She looked completely annoyed at his verdict, but he didn’t allow her to speak.

“We are the captives, and so many have failed to see that this Dr. Wolf, among others, is our captor. You, like so many of your fellow citizens, have fallen for this supposed werewolf knight who has come out of the shadows to save Edge City. But don’t be fooled, Amy.” The man turned his gaze to the camera. “Don’t any of you be fooled. If our biggest ally is a wolf, what’s to say he’s actually not just a wolf in sheep’s clothing?”

“Well, because he’s a wolf, Dr. Jeagerson. We all saw that.” A picture of Aleric in wolf form next to the police officers on the steps of the Capitol Building flashed up on the screen. “He’s not pretending to be anything else.”

“Exactly,” the man shot back. “And shouldn’t that make us suspicious?”

Aleric rolled his eyes and turned off the television. As hungry as he had been, he realized he had eaten the entire sandwich without tasting it.

“Great,” he said to himself. “A perfectly good meal ruined by horrible programming.” He stood and carried the container to the garbage can. “He nearly died. Shouldn’t that make us suspicious?” he said in an imitation of the man’s droll voice. “Your breath almost killed me; shouldn’t that make me suspicious?” he asked back, lifting his voice to sound more like the woman who had done the interview.

Feeling frustrated, Aleric pushed open the door. Nurse Eastwick had suggested a shower. That sounded like the very best thing in the world. Aleric had nothing at the moment to do besides go goblin hunting again, and if he didn’t take a break, he was going to fall over. That wouldn’t help the hunting of goblins one bit.

He grabbed a clean set of scrubs from the supply room and made his way to the employees’ locker room. Most of the hospital staff did their showering at their homes, but the locker room was there in case emergencies made long shifts with the inability to run home for a break.

Containers on the walls were labeled ‘shampoo’ and ‘soap’. A basket with folded towels sat in one corner and two discarded towels lay in the bin next to it.

Aleric pulled off his clothes. The movement pulled at his tight back muscles. He glanced in the mirror behind him.

Purple and black lined his skin where he had landed on the concrete steps. Other blotches showed where he had hit the walls and floors compliments of the gargoyles. By the look of things, he was amazed he could move at all. His hand throbbed. He looked at the fang marks on his wrist and the gash along his palm. Fortunately, the fast healing that came from his werewolf heritage was already taking effect. Though the wounds throbbed, it was with a healing ache. With any luck, they would be mostly gone by the next day.

Aleric turned the water as hot as he could stand it and stepped beneath the spray. A sigh escaped his lips. As much as the beat of the water hurt at first, the warmth chased away the pain of his bruises.

Aleric leaned his forehead against the tiled wall and let the water fall on his back. He couldn’t remember the last time he had taken a real shower. Nurse Eastwick was right in her guess that he had scrubbed with paper towels in the bathroom near the D Wing. He hadn’t felt right using the showers without permission, and he didn’t want to jeopardize his position at the hospital by asking for such a luxury.

A shower for the orphaned children in Blays was something they joked about as they scrubbed in the runoff from the mermaid towers. If they were lucky, they found a bit of peppermint soap that had survived its run through the pipes. Because the alleys were usually cold and damp most of the days of the year, the orphans generally put up with the stench of each other until the very warmest days drove even them out to enjoy the chance at getting clean.

After the Fallow Conflict, not showering became a must. With the vampires and demons using tiangou, their long-nosed black hunting dogs, to bring werewolves in, it was necessary to smell like anything but a member of his race. When Aleric turned mercenary, those he served hid his scent with their dark arts to protect him, though he didn’t count the things he had been forced to do as actual protection.

Aleric shied from the dark thoughts. He had patients counting on him and a lot to do if he was going to catch enough goblins to save them all. He had already taken longer than he had planned. Aleric hurriedly washed his black hair which was getting shaggier than he liked and gingerly dried his back with the soft towels. He wished he had a knife to shave the black scruff that was growing on his jaw, but that would have to wait. Dressing in fresh scrubs made him feel more human than he had in a very long time. He tossed the towel in the bin and wandered toward the D Wing. He entered the Dark Fae side and paused.

“You really turned this into your own private laboratory,” he said, staring around at the tables, pile of syringes, the two unconscious goblins on the closest table that had been covered in sterile paper, the gloves, scrubs on hangers, and even a hazards box for the syringes. Aleric glanced at the cage of goblins that hissed and growled from the corner. Another cage had been added.

“I feel like a scientist,” Dartan said. Aleric couldn’t tell if the vampire was smiling behind his doctor’s mask, but it was obvious Aleric’s reaction pleased him. “I figured if you were off catching more goblins, I’d better be able to handle them. Come look.”

Aleric followed him to the cages. Small pieces of the gray tape had been fastened around each goblin’s first claw.

“See. The numbers correspond to the serum samples,” Dartan said. He showed Aleric the table near the far wall. Small syringes, all of which were carefully numbered and set in order, had adjoining scales in tiny glass dishes. “This way if we have a match, we know which goblin did the biting; the antidote is administered, and the victim is cured. Nurse Eastwick provided smaller needles which she said were used for insulin. They’re easier on the patient because the test sample can be so small, and the poke isn’t as painful. We also save a lot of serum that way.”

“Genius,” Aleric said. “Who would’ve known a vampire would turn into a goblin venom specialist?”

“Exactly,” Dartan replied. He pulled down his mask to reveal his pointy-toothed smile. “The things we don’t learn in Blays, right?”

Aleric thought of the wolf in sheep’s clothing comment on the television. “Some things don’t change.”

Dartan gave him a closer look. “What’s going on?”

Aleric took in the vampire’s exhausted state, the fact that he was working on extracting goblin venom while still healing from his very serious burns, and the hard work he had done in the D Wing. He decided that his issues shouldn’t impact his friend.

“Nothing.” He forced a smile. “Just tired, I guess, but I want to see if the serum is a match for Lilian. I’m worried about how long it’s taken.”

“Me, too,” Dartan replied. “Luckily, I’ve got the samples from the two goblins ready to go. Want to come help?”

“Definitely,” Aleric replied.

Chapter Eleven

Aleric sat in Lilian’s room after Dartan and Dr. Worthen had left. Unfortunately, Lilian hadn’t responded to either of the sample serums. She lay unmoving in the bed, the monitor beeping along with her heartbeat in a rhythm that was slower than ever. Her chest barely rose and fell enough to move the sheets. The worry on her father’s face had gripped Aleric’s heart in a tight fist when Dr. Worthen kissed her forehead before leaving the room. Aleric had promised again that he would find the goblin.

Dr. Indley had gone to another clinic to pick up additional tranquilizer guns. Aleric had nowhere to go until she returned. The helplessness he felt in the face of the poison that was slowly claiming Lilian’s life pressed against him from all sides.

He thought of her sparkling blue eyes when he had fumbled over his responses to her questions. She had caught him off guard, and he told her he was a janitor. He didn’t know what made him lie; he could never remember tripping over his tongue so much in the presence of another person. Maybe it was the way she had looked at him, her gaze teasing and compassionate at the same time. Perhaps it was the tip of her head that sent her black hair dancing over her shoulders. Maybe he was just an idiot who saw a girl and completely forgot that he was also a person with the ability to carry on a normal conversation.

Aleric felt like it was the latter. He didn’t know why she had gotten into his head with such a short encounter. There were many other patients in the hospital, and more than a dozen other goblin-bite victims, but yet here he was, moping around her room like some doe-eyed pup.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said aloud.

It felt better to speak the words that swirled around in his head. Perhaps if he said them, he could get rid of the feelings and be done with them.

“I don’t know why I’m here, or why I think of you when I’m not,” he continued. “It’s silly, really.” He looked down at her. The stillness of her face bothered him. He wished he could see her smile again the way she had in the hallway as though she knew exactly how she unnerved him. “Maybe I feel responsible,” he said, his words quieter. “Maybe it’s my fault you’re here.”

He thought about that. Guilt felt very akin to the emotions that held him. “If the fae hadn’t come to Edge City, you wouldn’t be fighting death right now. But I had nothing to do with that,” he said quickly as though she had questioned him. “Trust me. Life would be much easier right now if the Rift had never happened.”

He fell silent for a moment, then admitted the words that almost scared him to say aloud. “But I’m glad it happened, because I’m here. I have a purpose, even if it’s a purpose that will probably eventually kill me.” He smiled, feeling foolish but also happy when he said the next words, “I’m helping people. Who would have thought that I, Aleric Bayne, lone werewolf reject who would never amount to anything in Drake City, would be Dr. Wolf, rescuer of fae creatures here in Edge City Hospital?”

He shook his head. “Not me. If you told me a year ago where I’d be, I would have laughed.” He looked back at her. “Of course, you wouldn’t have said it because we never would have met.” His eyebrows pulled together as he watched her. “My life would have been less without knowing you. Even speaking to you for a minute, maybe two, has given me something. Call it inspiration, drive, the want to be a better person. There is something about you that makes me want to make you smile again.”

He let out a breath and rose. “But I can’t do that sitting here. I’ll find more goblins and we’ll get the cure, I promise.”

The green marks that streaked up her arm were darker and thicker than the last time he saw them. They ran up her neck and beneath her gown. Aleric knew they would reach her heart, and he feared that they would do so sooner than he could find the goblin he needed.

“I’ll find it,” he vowed again. “Hang in there, Lilian. Don’t you leave me.”

They were the same words he had said to Sherian when he carried her bleeding and on the verge of death to the wood nymphs. He pushed down the swarm of memories the words brought and left the silence of the room that was broken only by the slow, steady beeping of the monitor and the rise and fall of Lilian’s shallow breath.

“She hasn’t returned yet,” Gregory said when Aleric asked him about Dr. Indley. “She said something about having to head further south to one of the smaller veterinary clinics. Apparently they use a lot of tranquilizers in the country.”

“Anything else you need me to help with?” Aleric asked.

Gregory shook his head. “No other fae cases at the moment. The troll is resting from the surgery to remove the metal spikes. I imagine he’ll be moved to the D Wing in an hour or so. Should he go to the Light or Dark fae side?”

“Light fae,” Aleric replied. “He’ll heal better with the sunlight.” At the orderly’s surprised look, Aleric said, “You’ll be surprised at his cheerful demeanor when he doesn’t have metal spikes sticking out of him.”

“I guess I will,” Gregory said. “Nurse Eastwick also added another bag of saltwater for the selkie, but she hasn’t responded yet. We’re figuring out how to get a bathtub here.”

“Maybe they could bring one with the gargoyles,” Aleric joked.

Gregory grinned. “We should put in our order now. Therese has been gathering all the UV lamps she can. They’ll be ready for the gargoyles when they arrive.”

“Thank you for the report,” Aleric said.

“Anytime,” Gregory told him. “I dropped off an extra bag of blood for Dartan. It seems like he heals a lot faster if he keeps it fresh in his system.”

“Very true,” Aleric replied. “Good of you to keep up on that.”

Gregory smiled. “Happy to help. With all the goblin victims, Dr. Worthen’s been asking their family members to donate, so we have a fresh supply. With all of the city’s strange cases being sent here, the other hospitals have also shipped over extra supplies. Now I’m off to stack boxes of bandages in storage. Holler if you need anything.”

“Will do,” Aleric said.

The orderly hurried off between the sectioned rooms. Aleric crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He envied the fact that the human had somewhere to go and something to do. Without the tranquilizer guns to hunt goblins, Aleric felt worthless. Dartan was handling the goblins, the patients were as good as they could be considering, and Aleric couldn’t get himself to sit down with the thought of those who still needed him.

He made his way to the Light fae side with the thought of preparing a room for the troll to recover in. It was going to have to be a big one. He pushed open the door and paused at the sight of a young woman standing near the window.

“Can I help you?” he asked. She turned and he caught a slight, fishy scent. He couldn’t help staring. “You’re the selkie!”

She blushed prettily and ducked her head to hide her face behind her long brown hair. She had wrapped the hospital sheet around her and detached the I.V.; Aleric noted with an inward smile that she had used the tape to stop the blood from the needle’s tiny prick the same way he had when he first awoke at the hospital.

“I am,” she said. Her voice was musical like water bubbling over rocks.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

She gave him a curious look as though wondering why she should tell him.

He cleared his throat. “I’m Dr. Wolf. I’m the physician taking care of you here.” He gave a self-deprecating smile. “I’m not actually a doctor, but they keep calling me that. I’m really a werewolf trying to help out the fae. My name is Aleric.”

“You’re a werewolf?” she repeated hesitantly.

Aleric nodded. “Fortunately, the only one I know of around here. The rest of my race isn’t so kind toward others, if you know what I mean.”

“I do know,” she said in a tone that indicated so much more than her words.

Aleric hated that just the mention of his race was enough to make her doubt him. He didn’t have any way to encourage her to trust him except for the truth. His words were quiet when he said, “I apologize for whatever my kind has done to you and yours. I wish I could take it all back, especially after what I’ve seen here, but I can only vouch for myself. I promise you that I am whole-heartedly interested in your well-being and the care of the other fae at this hospital, and I will do everything in my power to get you home healthy and whole.”

She watched him for a moment, her brown eyes taking in much more than he wanted her to see. After a few long seconds, she nodded and gave him a small smile. “I am feeling better, and I’m in your debt for the care you have given me.” Her dark brown eyes took on a troubled look. “Where am I?”

Pity filled Aleric. He crossed to her and stopped a few feet away so as not to impose on her space. “We’re in a human city. There was a Rift, a tear in the divide between our world and this human one, and many of us became displaced here. I think you were caught when you were changing form.” At her blush, he looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re right,” she said after a moment. “I was changing, and then I remember pain. I couldn’t breathe. I-I think I blacked out.”

Aleric nodded. “You were unconscious when you were found. I didn’t know what to do to help you come around. A friend, a fawn named Braum, suggested saltwater. I think that’s what helped.”

“I am very grateful,” she replied. She paused, then said, “Do you know when I can go home? My husband will be worried sick.”

“I’m working on that,” Aleric reassured her. “As soon as we have it figured out, we’ll get you back, I promise.”

“Thank you,” she said with another pretty smile.

Aleric made sure she was comfortable and promised to send some crackers and tuna fish. She perked up at the sound of fish for dinner. Happy to see her awake and doing well, Aleric made his way back to the Emergency Room. He wandered between the sections. One of the curtains had been pulled aside. Aleric glanced in to see an older man sitting on the bed holding his arm.

“It’s you!” the man said.

Aleric looked behind him to see if the patient was referring to someone else.

“You’re Dr. Wolf,” the man continued, his voice filled with eagerness.

Aleric nodded. “I am.”

The smile that spread across the man’s wrinkled face was so infectious Aleric found himself smiling back.

“I wish the guys could see this,” the man said. “If I knew falling at the shop and getting stitches would result in me meeting Dr. Wolf, I would have done this months ago! Of course, you weren’t here months ago, so that doesn’t make much sense, but just the same, totally worth it!”

The man’s enthusiasm made Aleric chuckle. “Though I don’t condone getting hurt just to gain entrance to the E.R., I’m glad we get to meet,” he told the patient.

“Can I get a picture?” The older man’s voice wavered with hope at the question.

“Uh, sure?” Aleric replied as more of a question than an answer.

The request caught him off guard. He couldn’t decide if the picture would be a good idea or not, but the eagerness on the man’s face was something he couldn’t deny. He walked to the side of the bed and bent down to make it easier on the man to take a picture of them both with his small phone.

“I don’t mean to be forward, and you can say no if it makes you uncomfortable, but would it be possible for you to be in your, um, other form for the photo?” the old man asked.

Aleric couldn’t deny him. “I guess there’s no harm in it,” he said. He pulled the curtain closed completely, took off his shirt, and phased.

“Just like that!” the man said as if Aleric had shown him magic. He supposed, given the circumstances, that he had.

Aleric trotted to the side of the bed. The man leaned over, his bandaged arm holding his phone while he wrapped his other thin arm around Aleric’s shaggy neck.

“Say cheese, or whatever wolves say,” the old man told him.

Aleric gave a huff. The man snapped the picture.

“Oh, that’s just perfect,” the man said, looking at his phone.

Aleric hurriedly changed form again and pulled on his clothes while the man was occupied with the phone. He walked back around the bed to see the picture.

“I look terrifying,” he noted.

“Nonsense,” the man replied. “You look resplendent. Look at that coat. You must stay warm on winter days, I imagine. I can’t wait to show the boys. They’ll be so jealous!”

“I’m glad I could make that happen,” Aleric replied.

“Thank you very much,” the man said.

Aleric left the room feeling slightly better about things.

“Dr. Wolf!” Dr. Indley exclaimed. She hurried up the hallway toward him. “I saw you on the news. Are you alright?” She paused. “You took a shower. You clean up quite nicely.”

She looked him up and down with such close scrutiny that Aleric wondered if he should be blushing.

“I’m fine,” he protested. “Really. Just fine. Don’t worry.”

“I had to worry,” the veterinarian replied. “You rode a gargoyle out of a second story window. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking, ‘This is really going to hurt’.”

Dr. Indley laughed and touched his arm. “Of course you were.”

She stayed like that, beaming up at him as though he had just saved the world or something. The silence between them grew uncomfortably long. Aleric cleared his throat.