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“Hi,” Cody said, voice thick with sleep and very sexy.
“I love you,” Demetrius said, feeling it well up from deep down inside him.
Tears flooded Cody’s eyes, and he looked about to get up when the door pushed open and Zenona entered the room. The dying light of day gave her skin a healthy glow, and with her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, she looked better and younger than she had in a while.
“Hi.” She saw Cody get to his feet, his eyes still locked on Demetrius. “Oh, good. You’re both here.”
“Hi, Zenona,” Demetrius said. Cody came up the side of the bed opposite Zenona, and Demetrius reached out to him. His grip felt warm and familiar, and it sent a wave of calm through him.
“I want to keep you one more night for observation,” Zenona said. “None of the tests show anything unusual, just a little low potassium we’re working on bringing up with the IV. But because it was the second time you were resuscitated, I’m erring on the side of caution.”
Demetrius nodded and squeezed Cody’s hand. “Okay. But I can go home in the morning?”
“Once your potassium levels are in the normal range, yes.” She smiled and put her hand on his arm. “You worried me.” She looked across the bed at Cody. “Both of you did.”
“Get in line,” Cody said, voice deep and heavy with emotion.
“What was it exactly?” Zenona had lowered her voice even though she’d closed the door behind her.
“Something called a nix,” Demetrius said. “Oliver and Clarabell found out about it at the library.”
“It was a nasty motherfucker is what it was,” Cody said. “Shapeshifter. Although, I have to say, it tended to lean toward the heavier side of a person when it mimicked them.”
Zenona and Demetrius shared a smirk.
“I saw that,” Cody said, placing a hand over his belly as if protecting himself.
“Any idea where it came from?” Zenona asked.
“All we know is it seemed to have staked a claim on the pond,” Demetrius said. “I can’t imagine it’s been out there for very long, but who knows?”
“Scary to imagine that,” Cody said. “It living out there and impersonating anyone in town for as long as we’ve all been here.”
“God, I hope not.” Zenona shuddered, then looked down at Demetrius. “You get some rest. That’s the best thing you can do for yourself now.”
“Well, that’s good, because I’ll have a lot of time,” Demetrius said.
“What’s that mean?”
Cody gave his hand a squeeze. “Our business license was pulled for a year.”
“What? Oh, no. I hadn’t heard about that. When did it happen?”
“Yesterday,” Demetrius said, then, automatically, because it was his nature, he added, “But we’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. You two have given so much to keep this town safe, to make sure every person in town can sleep at night without knowing about the unimaginable things that wait for them outside their doors.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t seem fair, you know?”
Cody huffed quietly. “Oh, we know.”
“Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Maybe a discount on this hospital stay?” Demetrius said.
Zenona gave him a sad smile. “I wish I could. Get some rest.” She gave Cody a pointed look. “You cannot stay overnight.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” Cody said, voice going up a bit in defensiveness.
“I know you, Cody Bower.”
