Chapter 13: burning up
1478 Words
Esmeralda
I woke up happy I hadn’t had another visit from death, and even happier waking up in Lucans arms. He was still asleep, and I couldn’t help staring at him, he was so beautiful, I wasn’t kidding, he was that kind of beautiful that either made you want to cry or have that irrational urge to squeeze and pinch them.
When he started to stir, I quickly sat up and stopped staring at him like a creep. He gently stroked my back and opened his eyes. “You alright babe?”
“Yes,” I smiled.
He sat up beside me and kissed my shoulder, making me feel all warm and happy. He acted so cold and scary on the outside, but when you got past that you found he was actually a very sweet, loving and kind man.
He leaned in and kissed my neck, then got up. “Come on, let’s have breakfast and try to find the witch who made me what I am.”
“What if we are wasting time just chasing a ghost?” I asked.
“It’s the best and only lead I have right now, if another idea comes up we’ll check that out too, right now, this is all I’ve got.”
“Ok,” I got out of bed and joined him. I helped him with the breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. He seemed good, I didn’t know how fast it took for a werewolf bite to turn you, but he seemed fine for now.
When we were finished, we got dressed and left. We went to work first, he wanted to do some of the appointments with his clients for half a day so the appointment log didn’t get too full. He chose the ones who only wanted to talk to their loved one.
When lunchtime came, he called his friend William, he didn’t know anything much, which wasn’t surprising, but Lucan thanked him and hung up.
The next few days were the same really, he tried calling Azura the female necromancer, but she didn’t know anything either. He was becoming agitated and restless, and I forced him to calm down and take a few days to just relax and let any ideas come to him. “I can’t relax until you’re safe,” he snapped.
He had never snapped at me before, but I stayed calm and said, “I know, but sometimes trying to force it makes it more difficult, just relax, I haven’t even had any visits from death since you sent it away.”
I saw his hands clenched into fists and I touched him lightly to comfort him, but quickly yanked my hand back, he felt hot to the touch.
“Lucan, are you feeling ok?”
“I’m fine.”
“You are boiling up.” I touched his forehead which was burning with a fever and he pulled away from me.
“Lucan let me check your arm.”
“It’s fine, quit babying me.”
This wasn’t like Lucan at all, and now I was really worried. I grabbed his arm, forcing him to stay still and firmly said, “let me look.”
Sighing, he dropped himself into the kitchen chair and let me check. I pulled back the bandage carefully and gasped. “What?” He asked.
The wound looked terrible, it looked badly infected and was still bloody and looked like it was leaking fluid, but it didn’t smell infected, which was strange. I looked closer and saw what looked like a pattern of moonlight colored veins spreading from the wound and up along his arm.
“Lucan, I think you’re changing.”
He frowned at me and I explained, “the bite, it isn’t healing, and you have these strange veins spreading along your arm, look.” I showed him, and he muttered, “shit.”
“Is there a way to stop it? Maybe a witch you know that might have a spell?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, once it’s done it’s done, wait, no there is one way, there’s a spelled potion I could take, but I’d have to drink it before I shift.”
“Do you want to cure it?”
“What do you mean?”
I looked to the floor, then back up at him. “Well, would it be so bad being a werewolf? I’m guessing a witch as powerful as the one who made you a necromancer different from any other would have made it so that even if you became something other than human, you would still be a necromancer.”
He shrugged, “most likely.”
He was quiet after that, so I asked, “well?”
He looked at me and then quickly looked away again.
“What’s wrong?” I asked gently.
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“Why would you lose me?”
“How do you feel about werewolves?”
I blushed and mumbled, “I like them.”
He seemed more relaxed and said, “so you’d still want me if I choose to follow through with the change?”
I nodded and said, “I would support you, no matter what you choose to do. Why? Are you wanting to not cure it?”
He ran his hand through his hair and said, “I’ve always had a good relationship with the wolves, I like them more than any other wereanimal so yeah, I wouldn’t mind being one, I could do with the perks being a werewolf would provide, the strength, the being hard to damage and kill, plus I’d still have my immortality.”
“You’d be almost invincible,” I joked, and he softly laughed and nodded.
“So, werewolf it is?” I asked.
“Werewolf it is,” he laughed.
He pulled me onto his lap and said, “you might not like werewolf me, though.”
“Why not?”
“Well, they can be quite rough, and you’ve seen how s****l they can be, if they aren’t in bloodlust they’re just in lust.”
I laughed and said, “you told me Clayton isn’t usually like that.”
“He isn’t with strangers, but don’t tell me you didn’t notice the two females all over him.”
I nodded, and he said, “I might not always be the gentlemanly guy you’ve gotten used to.”
I blushed and mumbled, “I can live with that.”
He laughed and kissed me. “I almost forgot you like it rough too, I suppose you’ll enjoy my more wolfish dominant ways,” he teased.
I blushed harder and hid my face against his chest, making him laugh more.
“You should speak to Clayton about it, he can help you through the change.”
“I’d rather do it alone.”
“Lucan,” I pulled back to look at him, and he grumbled, “fine, I’ll ask him about it, but I don’t want to be a part of his pack or anyone’s pack.”
“Why not?”
“Because that means following their rules and I follow no one’s rules but my own, I’d rather be a lone wolf.”
I nodded and cuddled in against him.
I think I lasted five minutes before I had to pull away and climb off him, he was making me sweat. “Let me get you a cold cloth.”
I came back and put it against his forehead, and he grabbed it and threw it across the room. “Sorry babe, it f*****g burns right now,” he gritted.
He fell to the floor and I dropped to my knees beside him. “Lucan! What’s wrong?”
“It f*****g hurts, it feels like I’m on fire, but also like there’s a thousand tiny razor blades spreading along my f*****g arm.”
“Don’t you enjoy pain? Can’t you use that to help?”
He managed a laugh and winced, “I’d rather it with s*x involved.”
I helped him to his bed and he laid on top, not wanting to be under the covers. He was sweating a lot, and I was shocked at how fast it had spread, the veins were running up along his arm, across his shoulder and down his left pec. Now the veins were both that moonlight color and black. “Are you sure you want this?”
“Right now? No, I want that f*****g cure, but it’s too late, you wouldn’t make it in time, and I’m probably only wanting it to stop the f*****g pain.”
He gripped the bedsheets and I grabbed his phone. “I’m calling Clayton.” He only nodded, so I found Clayton’s number in his contacts list and rang.
- Writer
