Page 28 of Twice Bitten
Marinka was booked out for two full weeks, forcing me to keep the bandage on my elbow and wear long T-shirts and sweaters for the duration. A week later, I went back to work.
I still wasn’t feeling a hundred percent. The daily headaches were still there, presenting with a persistent pounding behind my eyes, and my rare steak habit was starting to affect my bank account.
Regardless, I was back at the shop, and that was something to celebrate.
Quinn spotted me the moment I walked in. She sucked in a gasp and zipped down from her perch in a shower of sparkles. Hovering in front of me, her eyes drank me in. “You’re alive!”
I let out a surprised bark of laughter. Quinn had no idea how close I’d come to being a statistic. “All in one piece,” I responded.
She swallowed hard. “Good.”
Silence fell between us. “Well.” She cleared her throat. “No one else will give me syrup, so I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Right,” I said with a somber nod. “Priorities.”
Quinn rolled her eyes and zipped away, this time heading toward the back of the customer area. She landed on one of the shelves holding a pothos plant and tucked herself underneath the dense canopy of leaves, disappearing so well all I saw was the faint glow of her purple eyes.
Addy greeted me when I ventured in from the back, tying my apron around my waist.
“Alex! I’m so happy to see you!” She grimaced and leaned closer. “You’re the best server we have. Our customers have been asking for you every single day, so expect a serious upswing in tips.”
Nice. Maybe I’d have to miss work more often.
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you feeling alright?”
I blinked. “Err. Yes?” Would she know about the headache? “Do I look different or something?”
She waved a hand. “Something about you is off.”
“I have no idea how to respond to that. What’s off?” I lifted my arm and sniffed my pit. “I remembered deodorant. My hair is clean.” I glanced down at my clothing. “I even remembered to wash my apron and my vest.”
Washing the vest had been a herculean effort due to my enamel pin obsession, but by the end of my forced leave, I was going mad with boredom and had spent an hour taking pins off. Once the wash was done, I spent another hour and half putting them back on and rearranging because I couldn’t remember how I had them.
Addy sighed. “Forget I said anything. There’s a catch-up debrief for you under the register. Read it. Know it. Love it.” She handed me a freshly counted register and breezed past me on her way to the back.
I finished tying my apron and walked over to Harriet, who didn’t bother to greet me. She shoved a sheath of papers at me, grunted, and pulled her register out.
“Good luck,” she muttered before disappearing to the back.
“Friendly as always,” I said under my breath as I slid my register inside the drawer with aclick.
The shop was slow right after lunch and picked up around four, when everyone was struggling to stay awake. For the first couple of hours, we sold only a few drinks to a local witch’s bookclub who met weekly, so I spent most of my time refilling supplies and wiping tables.
The problem started when a group of humans wandered in around three.
They smelled delicious. Not in an “oh, what’s that perfume you’re wearing?” No. More like an “I want to bite your face off” smell. A faint, rhythmic pounding sounded in my ears when they stopped at the register, followed by a swooshing noise.
My mouth watered, and I could barely pay attention to their words. One of them said something about steamed milk, but I was too busy staring at the pulse beating like a butterfly in the smooth skin of her neck.
“Excuse me? Miss. Are you listening?”
I blinked. “Err. Yes. Sorry.” I swallowed hard and tore my eyes away from her throat.
“Are you alright?” The girl was young, maybe in her twenties, and had a friendly face. There was nothing super special about her, and there should be no reason why I was so focused on her neck or her pulse.
Or…oh shit. That swooshing noise wasblood. Inside her veins. And that drumbeat was her heartbeat.
What was happening to me?
