Oliver grimaced.“I’m not entirely sure.It almost felt as if I got pushed out of my own mind.Became a passenger who could only watch, not control.”
At his explanation, I muttered, “Fucking Nessie.”
“Wait, you think she made Oliver attack?”Davina exclaimed, hands clasped to the bloody streak on her chest.
“I don’t think, Iknowshe’s behind this.”
“I thought she could only do her mental tricks with the simple-minded?”Davina reminded.“Oliver is too smart, surely.”
“He is, and it shouldn’t have been possible unless….”I rubbed my chin.
“Unless what?”Davina huffed.“You can’t tease us like that.”
“Unless she somehow managed to find a way to override my usual protections,” Oliver replied.“Even in the early years of my curse, I always remained somewhat in control.Could prevent myself from attacking innocents.But tonight…” He paused.“I could do nothing but watch.”
“The question is how she managed to influence you,” I muttered.“It’s not as if you ran out to visit her.”
“Most definitely not, but I was smoking a pipe with a mixture she’d sent just before bed.”
“You were dumb enough to smoke weed given to you by Nessie?”I exclaimed.
“How was I to know she’d poison me?”Oliver huffed defensively.“The filling for my pipe arrived along with the bottle of scotch in a thank-you basket after I managed to debunk some water-penetrating radar findings that showed her swimming.”
“And how often does she usually send gifts?”I crossed my arms and fixed him with a stare.
“This would be the first since she turned moody,” Oliver’s sullen reply.
“Okay, so we know the method; however, I’m a little confused.Why would Nessie take over Oliver and try to kill me?What happened to bringing me to her?”Davina looked and sounded puzzled, understandable, given what happened.
“It would appear she wants you dead or alive, which probably doesn’t bode well for your prospects if you visit in person.I would advise you to cancel the meeting,” I suggested, knowing better than to try to give Davina an order.
“Oh no.I’m still going.I want to know what Nessie’s problem with me is.”
“Is this still about seeing the Jacobite Gold?”I snapped, annoyed at her stubbornness.
“Honestly, given everything that’s happened, I don’t give a damn about it anymore.However, I would like Nessie to stop sending monsters after me.”She glanced at Oliver, apology in her eyes.“Sorry, present company excluded, of course.”
“Don’t apologize.I’m surprised you’re even willing to be in the same room with me after what I tried to do.”
“That wasn’t you,” Davina reassured, being kinder than most in this situation.
Oliver scrubbed his face and, a second later, glanced down before groaning.“Apologies for my lack of attire.”
To her credit, Davina hadn’t looked or remarked upon his partial nakedness.Unlike a dragon shift, Oliver managed to retain his sleep shorts.Still, he did have a muscular chest that ladies would likely admire.Not Davina, though.A good thing because my simmering annoyance at Oliver’s attack, combined with jealousy, might not have boded well.
When Oliver left, I addressed the next pressing concern.“Let’s take a look at your wound.”
“Oh, it’s just a scratch.”
“That’s bleeding rather copiously.”
Her eyes suddenly widened.“Am I going to become a wulver?”
“Depends.Did he bite you?”
She shook her head.
“It takes a certain amount of saliva or wulver blood, entering through a wound, to begin the change in your DNA.”
