The Scandalous City by Mary E. Twomey

Author:Mary E. Twomey [Twomey, Mary E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mary E. Twomey, LLC

16

Better and Worse

Relief spreads over me, though I know my body is not my own just yet. With Orlando’s blood and Rome’s in my system, I know I am on the way to recovery.

I can’t believe I am smiling.

“I think we should buy Rome a pink shirt,” I say to my brother. Though this is hardly the time for jokes, I can’t help myself. “Do you think he would wear it?”

Declan chuckles. Our macabre humor in times of duress serves us well. “I think if he does, you need to parade him around town so everyone can appreciate their dapper vampire.” He points to my legs. “But you’ll need to be able to wear those ridiculous heels if you want to really draw people’s eyes. Try to roll your ankle in a circle. Can you do that for me?”

I comply, continuing with the examination. The more minutes that pass, the more alert my brain becomes. By the time Declan finishes, I am sitting up in Orlando’s arms, his hand rubbing a slow circle across my back. My body isn’t completely healed yet, but the scariest parts are not staring us in the face.

Declan runs his hand through his hair. “We’re going to take a trip to the emergency room, just in case. We’re going to have them do an MRI just as a precaution, but for now, it seems like the worst is behind us.”

Famous last words, I want to say aloud, but I keep my grim outlook tucked inside.

Orlando’s hand on my back doesn’t feel unwelcome or foreign. On the contrary, he is part of me now. Perhaps he was even before we mated.

“It’s our blood,” Orlando explains to my brother. “Mine and Rome’s this time.”

Declan turns his head from one vampire to the other. “Do I want to know?”

Orlando doesn’t give Declan the option to be in the dark. “We’re both mated to your sister. She couldn’t form sentences. But after Rome gave her his blood, her head cleared, and she could speak.”

Declan’s breath catches. His eyes lock in on mine, telling me with his gaze how worried he is, now that I have gone deeper into the muck. “You’re in it now, Sis.”

I chew on my lower lip, knowing that even if I could undo the bond I share with Rome and Orlando, I would not dare. I love them—in different ways, sure, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“Is she alright?” my father’s voice rasps from behind Declan.

Orlando holds me tighter as Rome stands in time with Declan rising to his feet.

Rome stares down my father in a manner that causes my body to burrow further into Orlando’s. “I thought my cousin made himself clear. She is not your concern anymore.”

“It was an accident,” the sheriff explains. “I would never aim for my own daughter. I meant to hit you, Rome, but she got in between us.”

Declan slings his arm over Rome’s shoulder and turns the sheriff around toward the back of the house. “Before I take your daughter to the ER, let’s the three of us have a little chat in the backyard.

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