Sucker Punch (First Fangs Club #3) - Kristen Painter Page 0,33
went no further. “Can I ask what you’re going to do?”
“I’m going to make the air warm—body temperature, actually—and heavy. I know that sounds like a bad combination for sleeping, but trust me. You’ll see.”
“I’m game.” Donna stretched out.
Jerabeth held out her hands and spoke so quietly Donna almost couldn’t hear her. The soft, whispered sounds started to lull her on their own.
The air warmed slowly. A minute or so later, a strange sensation came over her. She could no longer tell where she ended and the air began. It was like she was floating. Except she wasn’t.
Then the air changed again, pressing down on her slightly. Keeping her in place, like some ethereal cocoon. Giving her a sense of security. And making her sleepy. Very…sleepy…
Knocking woke her up. Mary and Joseph. Jerabeth’s magic had actually worked. She glanced at her phone to see the time. It was almost midnight. Squinting, she looked in the direction of the knocking. “I’m up. What’s going on?”
Charlie opened the door and stuck her head in. “Sorry to wake you, but we found a donor whose blood won’t exacerbate the drug in your system.”
“That’s good.” Donna squinted at her. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“Because you’re not going to like who it is, but I’m finding it pretty entertaining.”
Charlie snorted. “Sorry, Governor. I’m not making that up. His blood is the only one Dr. Fox and Jerabeth have tested that has not made the drugs worse. You can feed from him.”
Donna groaned and fell back on the bed. “How do I explain that to him? How do I face him? Of all the people… He probably won’t even agree, so there’s no point in asking.”
“About that.” Charlie sucked air in through her teeth. “He’s already in the living room, so that seems pretty agreeable to me.”
Donna noted that despite being known as the undead, vampires could still suffer from absolute mortification. She was proof of that. “I’d ask you to kill me, but there’s no point since it wouldn’t solve anything.”
“Nope. Shall I tell him you’ll be out shortly?”
She wanted to say no, but the drugs in her system resisted that response. The thought of sinking her fangs into Kace held infinite appeal to what could be described only as her inner junkie. “I need a minute.”
“Whenever you’re ready.” Charlie closed the door, leaving Donna to fight her internal battle.
She needed to drink from him. She got that. It would strengthen her. She’d be useless at the raid otherwise. She was already feeling weak and tired. Almost mortal, really.
But after all that flirting she’d done at the pool, there was no way this wasn’t going to be awkward. Stupid drugs. Stupid fae. She sat up. But the drugs gave her the perfect explanation, didn’t they? It was their fault, not hers. It was like being tipsy. He had to understand that, right? Plus, he hadn’t exactly shut her down earlier.
Or would he think she was just making excuses?
She took a deep breath. She was about to find out.
Chapter Twelve
Donna pulled herself together enough so that she looked decent. Her hair had dried in weird waves from being clipped up, but there wasn’t much she could do about that beyond running a brush through it.
She might have also added a touch of mascara and combed her brows into place. But that was it.
Too bad there was no vampire superpower for avoiding embarrassment. She walked out to the living room and found Kace chatting with Charlie.
He immediately stood when she entered, looking more serious than he had earlier. Good. Maybe all that flirting was forgotten. “Governor. We meet again.”
Or not. Bringing up the pool right away had to mean it was still foremost in his mind. At least he had a shirt on. That made it slightly easier to keep her emotions under control. Still, he made a dress shirt and jeans look incredibly good. The dress shirt helped him look closer to his age too. Which only made him seem like more of a possibility and less like a spring fling.
New heat started to climb her spine. Other bits went tingly. Down, girl. She swallowed. Stupid drugs. “I understand you’ve been made aware of what’s going on?”
He nodded. “Your admin told me that due to special circumstances, you’re in need of a new blood source, and mine is