Blood Rites

Jen's voice was soft. "It's no big thing, he's not an option." She swung back to the other end of the drunken spectrum and was spinning in circles with her arms out, singing, "He's not an option," over and over in the same tune she had been singing earlier. Sally grabbed Jen and helped her into her clothes and then hollered for Decebel to join them again. When he walked back into the room, Jen immediately walked over to him and leaned on him, looking up at him dreamily. He walked over to the bed as Jen continued to keep herself attached to him. When they were both seated he looked up at Sally, "So what exactly happened last night?"

Sally closed her eyes and rubbed her face roughly with her hands, trying in vain to remember what happened but there was just a black spot in her mind.

"I don't remember, Decebel," she answered honestly.

"Okay, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Jen and I had decided to sneak into the ICU to see Jacque. We wandered all over the hospital until we nearly got caught by some guy in scrubs. Jen made me go on without her and said she would stay and distract the guy."

Decebel growled. "What do you mean she was with a guy?" He looked down to ask Jen about it but she was sound asleep, her head leaned against his arm. Decebel gently laid her back and swung her legs up on the bed, then covered her with the blankets. He turned back to Sally and pinned her with his gaze. "What the hell were you two thinking? Did I not specifically say to not do anything stupid?"

It was clear to Sally that nothing she could say would calm the pissed off werewolf in front of her, so she didn't even try. "Look, Jacque is our best friend, she's all alone in a room with tubes and crap stuck to her, she's in pain, and she's scared. We were not just going to leave her like that all by herself."

"I understand that, but you could have asked for help instead of attempting it on your own," Decebel told her.

Sally's jaw dropped open, baffled by what she had just heard. "Are you saying you would have helped us?"

"I'm not going to say that I wouldn't have tried to talk you out of it, but knowing this one," he nodded his head in Jen's direction, "she wouldn't have relented. So yes, I would have helped you."

"Wow. Well, next time we want to break some rules we will definitely recruit your expertise."

"Good, now do you remember anything else? Did you make it into the ICU? Do you remember coming back to your room?" Decebel fired question after question at Sally.

"Hold up, Dec. Let me think," Sally told him, holding her hands up in an effort to get him to stop. "I remember standing in front of the ICU doors and I was trying to figure out how they opened and then..." Sally furrowed her brow, trying so hard to remember what had happened.

"Hold on, you guys got past Skender, right?"

Sally nodded her head yes and watched as Decebel got up and walked to the door. He stuck his head out and she heard him ask Skender to come in. Skender walked in, shoulders slumped forward, and Sally could tell he was getting ready for his butt to be chewed on by his pack Beta.

"Skender," Decebels' voice was low and demanded truth. "Could you please explain to me how two teenage girls were able to get past you?"

Skender looked at Sally and then at Decebel. "It must have been when I went to the bathroom. I wasn't gone that long, and the room was so quiet I figured they had gone to sleep." Skender stumbled over his words as fear rolled off him.

"Why didn't you call me and ask me to come and take over for you?"

"I don't know, Decebel. I just didn't think they would try anything."

Decebel snorted. "Have you not been around these girls for the past month? Surely you've noticed their pension for trouble."

"Hey now, there's no need to be hating on us," Sally frowned.

"Speaking the truth is not hating, as you call it, it's just stating a fact," Decebel informed her.

"Okay, so we know how they left, now we need to know how they got back." Decebel glared at Skender. "Did you happen to be at your post when the girls returned?"

"Yes, I was here both times," he answered, no less nervous than before.

"What do you mean both times?"

"I mean both times. They didn't arrive back together at the same time," Skender explained, "they arrived separately. Sally was the first one back."

"I don't remember coming back," Sally told him.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to. I found you knocked out in the elevator."

Sally gasped and covered her mouth. Decebel didn't say anything, he just waited for the wolf to continue.

"The elevator doors opened and no one stepped out, so I ran over before they could close to see if someone was in there, and there you were on the elevator floor. So I picked you up and put you back in the bed. That's when I realized that Jen was gone as well." Skender flinched at the low rumble coming from Decebel.

"Pray tell, why did you not call me at this point, Skender? Don't you think it was a pretty big deal that you found Sally unconscious in an elevator and Jennifer missing?" By the time Decebel was done talking, he was pacing the room, looking like he was on the verge of throttling the poor wolf.

"I should have called you right away, but I decided to wait and see if Jen made it back on her own. If she hadn't returned shortly I was going to call you then. I see now in hindsight that wasn’t the best idea."

"You think?" Decebel asked. "When did Jennifer get back?" he growled.

"She came back about an hour ago in the company of a guy in scrubs, she said his name was Matty. She was pretty drunk when I inquired her about the guy. He got scared and hurried off. Then I helped Jen back into their room and I've been sitting out here ever since," Skender finished.

Sally was convinced if he had been in his wolf form he would be cowering with his tail between his legs. Then again, as she looked at Decebel and the obvious rage he was battling, Sally had to admit she felt like cowering as well.

Decebel finally looked at Skender. "You can go."

Skender let out a breath that Sally didn't think he even realized he had been holding. He turned to go but before he could make it out the door Decebel told him, "Skender, I will not forget this, and it will be dealt with once everything else has been worked out. Understood?"