He nodded. “You would have, yes, but my blood will heal everything, just as it will take everything. You’ll seem better to your dad and the doctors for a few hours, maybe days. It will be long enough to get you out of here in time.”

I did feel better instantly. I felt strong again. I looked down at my hand where the I.V. was and frowned. It was annoying me, like my skin was trying to heal it over.

“When you forgive Aleks, tell him he owes me a LOT—he owes the Roses.” His emphasis on lot scared me, as did the dark, sinister look he got in his eyes.

Things were different inside of me. I felt a hot wave of healing rush through me. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t hate Aleks as much. I knew I would forgive him. Even more, I hoped he would forgive me for saying the awful things I had said. I wanted to see Shane.

“Dorian, I don’t understand Aleks. He has powers, he kind of flies, he’s beautiful, his touch soothes me, he can be invisible, and he will live forever, but he won't tell me how he became this way. He said a werewolf or shape shifter killed him before it was his time. What does that mean?”

Dorian wiped his mouth and then mine. He was extra careful with my lips as he wiped them.

“It means that.” He sighed and continued, "Exactly that. A shape shifter killed him.

"Why did he have to come to my family?"

His eyes sparkled like the stars in the night sky, as his lip twitched into a smile. “Well, surely you know the part about his dad? Whenever his father kills someone, Aleks is responsible for the family. Like punishment for his father's sins, he must heal the family. It's a way to ensure he suffers for all of his life. Blah, blah, blah."

I was frozen. “My mom? His dad killed my mom?”

“Yup, I guess Aleks left that little chestnut out, did he? Well, I’m sure you’ll want to ask him about it when you next see him.”

I trembled in disbelief.

He looked pleased with what he had caused inside of me and clapped his hands together. “On that lovely note, your dad is early, and so I will leave you for a while. I will be back, so don’t worry, I won't let you change alone.” He left quickly, before I could ask what he meant by the statement.

My dad came rushing in seconds later. “Aimee, oh thank God. You’re still awake.”

I frowned at him. “Yeah, why?” My dad's face made me sad. Had my mom had an affair with Aleks's dad? How had he been involved in her death?

He shrugged. “Oh, uhm, no reason. We just thought you’d be sleeping.”

I looked at Shane, who came into the room directly after my father. Shane looked relieved as well. I smiled seeing him. He made me feel happy and safe.

“Did the doctors tell you I would be in a coma before you made it here?”

Shane nodded behind my lying dad's shaking head. “No, kiddo. How are you feeling?”

I nodded. “Really good.”

I felt sick as I saw hope in my dad's eyes and then watched as it extinguished. “Well, you’ve had that before. It might be the liver dialysis. Has a doctor been by to see you?”

I shook my head. “Not recently.” I remembered the attack I had had hours before. Mostly I remembered everything I said to Aleks. I had broken his heart. I wasn’t certain I was sorry for hurting him with all the truths he’d kept from me.

“You look better.” Shane came and sat on my bed, holding my hand. I licked my lips, smelling him—he smelled delicious. Something about him was making me hungry for something I couldn’t explain.

I felt disgusted with myself. I was becoming a super slut. Something about all the guys in my life was making my hormones go crazy. I chalked it up to inactive hormones for too many years. My hormones had been released late and they were desperate to catch up.

“Where’s Alise? She didn’t come?” I asked trying to divert my thoughts from kissing Shane and thinking about Aleks or worse, Dorian.

My dad shook his head. “She isn’t taking the news very well.”

Shane shot my dad a look. My dad's face flushed as he stumbled over his words. “You know, of you being sick.”

I nodded knowingly. They were speaking of Jaime’s death. "It’s okay, Dad; I know. I know she passed. She came and said goodbye.” I had said it before I thought about it.

My dad frowned. “You saw her?”

I nodded slowly. “In a dream. I had an episode a few hours ago and I dreamed of her. She said goodbye. I just knew.”

"A dream?"

I nodded, but my eyes wandered out into the halls. I hoped to see Aleks, but he never came back. I wanted answers more than I wanted anything. Well, except to touch Shane and pull our clothes off, possibly rubbing our naked skin against each other. I blushed, trying hard to focus on the anger and worry and the other things I was facing.

AFTER . . .

Chapter Twelve

Never trust anyone with obsidian eyes, just saying.

I wanted to go back to sleep, but for some reason I wasn’t tired anymore. The doctor came in and took my vitals. “Wow, you really are taking to the dialysis. We may get some regeneration out of this, my dear. You might not even need a transplant at this rate.”

My dad had fallen asleep in the chair next to my bed, and Shane was passed out on the bed for parents.

I nodded at the doctor. “That’s great news. How’s Giselle?”

He nodded. “Her liver will be here in about five hours and then, she too will be on the road to recovery. What a brutal experience you young ladies have had. I heard they caught him. Your science teacher, I heard?”

I nodded, finding myself drawn to the doctor. He wasn’t even attractive, but something about him was making me want to pull his face down onto mine.

I thought about the blood I had swapped with Dorian and sighed. I knew it must have been some side effect of his dirty blood. I didn’t know Dorian, but he seemed to be a lady's man; it would figure for his blood to be some sort of aphrodisiac.

“Well, I’m running your blood again, and then I think we will do another ultrasound and X-ray. Then if things are looking up, we may do another biopsy.” He wrote on his clipboard and walked out of the room.

Another biopsy? I hadn’t realized they had done one already.

I was starting to feel like I was completely better, when Dorian walked back into the room quietly.

He looked menacing as he stood in my doorway. “Ready?”

I nodded. “Do I have to leave my family?”

“Of course, unless you want them dead too.”

I frowned and wondered why he would threaten them. “Are you going to hurt them?”

He shook his head. “That’s not my gig, love; it might have been, but rules are rules. I’m sure you don’t want to hurt them.”

"I would hurt them?"

He nodded. "Yes. You would kill them and love every second of it."

I gulped. “How do I leave without them becoming suspicious about me leaving?”

He smirked ominously. “Leave that little detail up to me.”

"I don’t want them to think I’m dead—my dad can’t take any more death.”

He nodded. “They will think you’re safe. Now we need to get going, so let me get this.”

He appeared beside me and took my I.V. out and turned the machines off. He pulled the monitors off of me. His warm fingers brushed along my neckline and skin, touching more than necessary to remove the pads. He looked down on me as if I were a snack and raised one side of his mouth. “You’re very sexy, Aimee. Did you know that?”

I shook my head, mesmerized by his beautiful obsidian eyes.

He bent down very close to my face. I could very nearly taste the musk on his breath. “You’re a lucky girl that I need to get going or I would lock you away and savor a hundred years of alone time.” His words made me weak. His black eyes made me even more frightened of him than I already was, which was a lot.

He turned away from me and walked to my dad. He touched his arm and woke him gently. “Mr. James, I need to speak to you.”

I watched as my dad stirred slowly, finally waking up. He looked up at Dorian and frowned. “Who are you?”

Dorian looked deeply into my dad's eyes.

“I’m your daughter's specialist. We are transferring her to another hospital. She’s going to be fine, but she needs to go and heal alone in this hospital. You need to go home and tell everyone she is going to be fine. She just needs some rest. The hospital is in California; it’s a secret celebrity hospital.” I rolled my eyes at Dorian and waited for my dad to laugh in his face.

My dad nodded like a zombie. “Oh, okay. That’s great news. Thank you, doctor.”

My chin hit the floor as Dorian closed my dad's eyes. “Go back to sleep.” My dad fell back into a deep sleep in his chair. Dorian's powers were scary; there was no doubt about it.

He turned around and held his arms out. “See, that’s how it’s done. So easy to mess with their tiny brains.”

I frowned. “My dad's a genius.”

He nodded. “Neat. Even with his brainpower, he doesn’t stand a chance against me. Watch this one with the doctor.” He smiled like a kid showing off his new toy. He stepped out of the room and into the hall, tapping my doctor on the shoulder as he was walking past. “Doctor, I am a specialist from California. I am taking the lovely Miss James to my hospital, where she will recover. Tell everyone it’s fine that she left with me. She is going somewhere to heal and be okay. Get rid of any records and fill in the blanks you need to so that no questions are asked. If anyone ever calls and asks about her, tell them you have received word she is doing better everyday.”

The doctor nodded, as my dad had. “That’s fantastic. I will tell everyone.”

Dorian laughed. “Go jerk off in the supply cupboard, thinking about me.”

The doctor walked away smiling a dirty smile.

I grimaced. “You’re the devil, aren’t you?”