“Cherie.” I grinned at his look of exasperation. “What wouldn’t I do for you?”

“I don’t know.” But I was starting to think that there really wasn’t much.

He shook his head. “It’d be nice to have a little bit of an upper hand on something in this relationship.” The words were a little mumbled.

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him toward me. “Thank you,” I said when our lips were almost touching.

“For what?”

“For being you.”

The sight of his dimpled grin made my heart race. He went the final little bit, and our lips touched. I wanted to breathe him in. His heart pounded as I ran my hands under his shirt.

He bit my lip. “You’re playing with something dangerous.”

“Dangerous might not be so bad.”

His eyes flashed golden for a split second. “Not yet. After the ceremony, then yes.” He took a breath. “Merde, Tess. You’re making it really hard.”

“That’s what she said.”

His whole body shook as he laughed. “I walked into that one.”

“Yup.” I stood, and straightened my shirt. “Let’s go see Meredith.”

I pulled him out of the chair and grabbed my bag, tucking the books safely inside.

***

The infirmary was on the third floor of the admin building. I knew it well. When I first arrived at St. Ailbe’s I’d stayed in one of the infirmary’s rooms, but I’d been pretty out of it. Waking up with some crazy memories of being in a cage had made me jump out of the window. It probably wasn’t my smartest move.

Then I’d gotten bit by a nasty vamp and found myself back again. The infirmary was becoming my third home. One I never wanted, but that was life as a werewolf. At least that was my life as a werewolf.

Meredith’s room was like any of the other rooms in the infirmary—tiny. One window let in a bit of light. A twin bed took up the center, and cabinets lined the wall to the left of the bed.

A cushy brown leather chair took up the corner in the right side of the room. Shannon sniffled, crying softly as she slouched forward in it. Her face was pale, and her freckles stood out in stark contrast. Adrian sat next to her, his arm around her shoulders. A look of resignation was visible in his eyes.

Chris stood at the side of the bed, holding Meredith’s hand. He was the only one of us who hadn’t seen her yet. He met my gaze. “It’s worse than I thought.”

She seemed peaceful as she lay there. Her features were relaxed while the drugs kept her in a deep, coma-like sleep, but her cheekbones stood out too much to mistake her for anything other than sick. Her skin had taken on a pale yellowish-green tint. Dark circles lined her eyes. It wasn’t just the way she looked physically, but the way she smelled. Slightly sour. Slightly chemically, possibly from metabolizing the drugs. An IV ran into her arm, keeping a steady stream going into her system.

I stepped up to the bed. She’d been fine last night. Happy, glowing, and loving life. And now, she was at death’s door. What the hell happened?

Heels clicked down the hallway toward us. As far as I knew there was only one person at St. Ailbe’s who wore stilettos.

“She’s wasting away,” I said to Dr. Gonzales.

She stood in the doorway, letting us surround our friend. “There’s not much I can do. I’m pumping nutrients into her body, but a werewolf’s metabolism is incredibly rapid.”

I leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You stay alive. Give me a chance to fix it.” I rubbed my hands on my jeans. Doing this with an audience wasn’t going to be fun. “I’m not sure how long this might take or if it’ll even work.”

“Take your time,” Adrian said. “We’ll wait.”

Chris left the room abruptly. I thought he was giving me space and maybe the others would take the hint, but he came back a second later with a chair. He placed it behind me and motioned to it. “There. Just in case you need it.”

“Thanks.” I sat down and scooted it right up to Meredith’s bed. I took a deep breath, and told myself to relax. This was going to work.

Dastien stood beside me. I grabbed his hand, trusting that he would keep his own walls up so that he wouldn’t give me anything of his to ‘see,’ and blocked out everything else in the room. I leaned forward. “Show me when Luciana cursed you. Show me what happened,” I said before putting my other hand in hers. It only took a second before my surroundings gave way to the vision.

I was in a room done in pink and white. A little girl with white-blonde hair played with a dollhouse. She whispered as she moved the dolls around.