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Chapter 12
Piper
Pretending to be out for longer than a few minutes was torture. I had never been the most patient person. If it came to being eaten by a bear or playing dead, I'd be eaten seconds into it.
Tristan took me to the infirmary and before he could even lay me down, I started to get antsy. My nose itched. I was going to sneeze. I couldn't hold it back. It was coming. I couldn't...
ACHOO!
I jerked in Tristan's arm and groaned when I smacked my forehead on his chin. "Ow, fuck!"
Tristan's head whipped back and his arms dropped slightly before he held me tighter. "Well, at least you're not dead."
He sat me down on the nearby bed and stepped back. "So, are you really hurt or are they telling the truth?"
"What?" I held my head, my eyes squinting at I looked up at him. "What are you talking about?"
Tristan huffed and moved over to the door, shutting it quietly before coming back to kneel in front of me. "Did you help that vampire escape?"
I blinked. "Why would I do that? He fucking bit me." I gestured to the wound on my neck.
"But you're still alive. Breathing." Tristan sat back on his haunches. "You have to admit it's suspicious."
"What? Because the evil vampire didn't kill me, I must be in cahoots with him?" I shoved as much self-righteous anger into my glare as I could.
Tristan placed his hands on my arms. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just...I don't know you that well and as much as I want to believe it, things just don't add up." He paused and looked me straight in the eyes. "Why were you even down there? I thought you were going to get a better look?"
I winced as he parroted my words back to me. "I know. I lied." I ducked my head and sighed, trying to find some way to explain without giving myself away. Thankfully at that moment someone came in the infirmary door. An old man in a white coat, who had to be the doctor, bustled in with a tablet in his hands.
"Ah, Mr. Parrish. What brings you in here? I thought I was told a young lady was hurt." The old man looked over the rim of his glasses, glancing between Tristan and me. "And you are?"
"Oh, hey, Doctor Colton." Tristan stood up and stepped away from me, putting some space between us. "This is Piper. She had a run-in with the captured vampire."
"Ah, yes. Miss..."
"Piper is fine," I told the doctor before he could ask. "And I'm fine, really."
"Nonsense. It's protocol for anyone who has been bitten to see the physician. We want to make sure you've haven't been enthralled." I held back a snort as he came to a stop before me.
Enthralled. Ha. A little late for that. I didn't need to be bitten by any of the Durands to be obsessed with them.
I sat still while the doctor poked and prodded at me. He checked my wound before pouring liquid on it that tingled, but that was it. Tristan and Doctor Colton seemed to sigh in relief when I didn't react. I guess I passed whatever test that had been, because the doctor worked on patching me up next.
"You're a lucky one. The vampire must have been in a hurry to have left you alive and not enthralled." The doctor seemed quite happy about it as he went about writing on his tablet.
I exchanged a look with Tristan, who seemed even more suspicious, and murmured, "Yeah, really lucky."
We sat in silence while Doctor Colton finished up his report and then shuffled to the back of the room. He returned with a medicine bottle and handed it to me. "Take these if the pain becomes too much and drink plenty of fluids. And no hunting." He gave me a pointed look and then to Tristan, said, "I mean it. You hunters think you're invincible because you're sturdier than the average human, but you're still mortal. You'll die just like the rest of us if you push it too hard."
I nodded but had no intention of doing what the doctor advised. I had a job to do and not much time left to do it.
Once the doctor left the room, Tristan moved back in front of me. "You let him go, didn't you?"
Staring down at the ground, I contemplated lying again, but Tristan didn't seem like the type to go running to the president to tattle on me. If he was, then I'd already be dead or worse, in Marcus's place.
Lifting my head, I stared him dead in the eye. "Yes."
Tristan turned his back on me. "Fuck. Fuck. Damn it, Piper." He spun around and glowered at me. "I put my neck out for you. If they find out you actually let him go and I defended you, they're going to think I had something to do with it too."
