Dragon Blood

Chapter 33

Rhia came to slowly. A sharp pain cut through her temples and her shoulder burned. When she opened her eyes, there was nothing but blackness. Slowly she pushed herself onto her hands and knees, gasping as her arm wouldn't hold her weight. She struggled to open her bag. She groped around for her flashlight, clicked it on, and aimed it into the void. She could see the beam cutting through the black but didn't see anything. "Dáithí!" she called. Her voice echoed like she were in a tunnel. "Nova! Church!"

She turned to look around, and pain shot through her shoulder where the demon had bitten her. She touched the wound and hissed. Her flesh was a ragged mess, like the demon's teeth had been serrated and did more damage on the way out than in.

Cursing under her breath, she carefully pulled her arm out of the shirt and pushed the strap of her bra and tank top to the side so she could treat the wound.

"Hello?" a female voice called out from the darkness.

"Hey!" Rhia waved her flashlight, not sure where the voice came from. "Over here!"

She heard someone running from her left and aimed the light in that direction. A glowing... something moved with the woman jogging towards her. She didn't get a good look at the tall thin woman until she was crouching beside. She was wearing some kind of athletic skinsuit and no shoes. Her long hair was tied in a thousand miniature braids. "Are you okay?" she asked staring at the wound on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine. Hold this." She handed the woman the flashlight and noticed thick black manacles on her wrists. Every time they moved glowing white chains shimmered to life. "I'm Rhia."

She gritted her teeth against the pain as she pressed gauze against the bitemark.

"I know." The woman said slowly. Rhia looked up sharply to meet her big brown eyes. "I'm Nova. Maddox's dog."

She blinked a few times before laughing harshly. "Right, okay, sure."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "The day after you spent your first night with Nolan Wes, you told Nova how you couldn't believe that-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Rhia shouted over her feeling panic rise in her chest. "Okay! I get it, you're Nova!"

She stared at her, her jaw slack, and her mind racing. She had said a lot to that dog when she didn't think anyone else was listening. Intimate details she never told anyone. "I know this is a bit of a shock." Nova said gently.

"A shock!?" she blurted. "You're... You've been... Does Maddox know?!"

"Yes." She shrugged. "He figured it out rather quickly."

"How... you know what..." Rhia shook her head and finished patching up her shoulder. "Alright. Can we agree that anything I ever told you while you were in your animal form is between us and will never be spoken about again?"

"On a personal level, yes."

"Personal?"

"H.I.P.A.A. prevents you from discussing patients outside a professional manner, I have my own regulations."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily. "You're on the Counsel, aren't you?"

"No. But I work for them."

"Great. More interspecies politics. My favourite."

Rhia scowled at the shifter before ripping an adhesive bandage open with her teeth and slapping it over the wound as best she could. "Here, let me help."

Nova moved closer, but Rhia stood up quickly, slinging the bag over her good shoulder. She took out a spare flashlight and did a full, slow circle. The darkness was disorienting to say the least. "Where are we?"