eyes, or . . .” She shrugged. “But with Allie it seemed to be her stomach.”
“Yeah,” Mabel said with amazement. “Her stomach was jumping like one of Sigourney Weaver’s Alien babies was about to burst out of it.”
“It must be where she needed the most work,” Magnus said, glancing at her stomach now. He’d kept his gaze on her face until then. She’d looked at him with such anger and betrayal when he’d forced his wrist to her mouth . . .
“Probably ulcers from all her worry,” Elvi said solemnly. “Tybo said she was running and hiding from Abaddon for years. That must have been stressful.”
There were grunts of agreement from everyone around the bed and then they were all silent again until Mabel shifted restlessly, and asked, “How long do you think she’ll be unconscious before the pain wakes her up again and—”
Her question died abruptly as Allie’s eyes shot open and she began to shriek again.
It was going to be a long night, Magnus thought grimly as he watched Allie, helpless to do anything to end her agony. He’d take it for her if he could. She was his life mate. His wife . . . and this was their wedding night. Every prospective bride and groom no doubt hoped their wedding night would be unforgettable, and his certainly would be . . . Just not in the way one would expect.
I woke up feeling like I’d been dunked in a vat of slimy grease. And the stink . . . Woo-ee.
Those words ran through Allie’s head as she woke up. Probably because they described perfectly what she was experiencing. The first thing she became aware of, even before she opened her eyes, was the smell surrounding her. Wrinkling her nose, she opened her eyes and shifted restlessly on the bed, grimacing when her legs slid together with a squelching sound and a slimy feel.
Lifting her head, she looked down her body, noting that the chains were gone. So was the IV stand. She didn’t see any of the gear they’d set up for her. The nightgown was still on her, though, and she was on the same old sheet Katricia had put on the bed, but both the gown and sheet were now soaked with liquid the same color as the ear wax she’d once removed from the infected ear of a dog she’d had as a child.
Oh, God, the smell was unbearable, Allie thought with disgust, and shifted her attention to the room. At first, she thought she was alone, and then her gaze landed on a chair that had been set next to the bed. Magnus sat slumped in it, eyes closed and mouth open, sound asleep. Allie stared at him for a minute, wondering how long he’d been there, but then she couldn’t stand her own smell anymore and sat up on the bed. Much to her amazement, she managed the move without any difficulty at all. She wasn’t experiencing any weakness, or pain. No aftereffects at all from the turn. In fact, other than the slimy feel and smell, she felt pretty great.
That fact made Allie curious about how she was different now, and she raised a hand to poke at her teeth with her fingers. It was a bit of a disappointment when her teeth didn’t feel any different than they had. There were no pointy incisors or anything. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. Liam’s teeth looked normal until he got hungry, or when he was feeding. She supposed that meant she’d get them too when she was hungry.
Another odiferous cloud of stink wafted up to her nose, turning her stomach, and Allie lost interest in anything but getting rid of the aroma presently enshrouding her. Sliding off the bed, she moved quickly to the bathroom door, a little startled when she moved at double speed like a film in fast-forward. Pausing at the bathroom door, she glanced back to be sure Magnus was still sleeping, and then slid into the room and quietly closed the door.
Allie turned on the shower and then stripped off the ruined nightgown, bra, and panties. She then stood there, shifting from one bare foot to the other as she waited for the water to be warm enough to use. In the end, she stepped into the bath and pulled the curtain closed before the temperature was really where she wanted it, but it was good enough.
Grabbing up the unicorn soap, Allie quickly started to clean