Kiss Me Deadly

Chapter Thirteen

Orange flashes of light dance behind my closed lids. Every time I try to stare at one spot of color directly, it dances out of my line of vision. I stare at the back of my lids for a good fifteen minutes before the memories begin to flow back. Images flash before my eyes. Leilani missing. Being abducted by Antonio. My escape. Ryder.

My heart clenches. Oh, god. He was really there. For the first time in two years, I'd laid eyes on the only person I'd cared about growing up. I wonder how much of our shared history he remembers. Does he remember training with me? Giving the damnable nickname darlin' to me? How about two years ago when he'd kissed me for the first time? When he said he loved me?

What would he have done if I'd been down there when Antonio brought him to see me? If he had found me down there, chained to the wall and brutalized as I was, would he have saved me? Or would he have used me like Antonio intended him to? Who is he now?

Groaning, I pry open my eyelids and squint at the way-too-bright light emanating from the ceiling light fixture. A little overwhelmed by the sudden brightness, I press the heels of my hands to my eyes and try to rub the sleep away. The motion causes my entire body to ache, reminding me of how severe my wounds had been when Archer found me.

"Viridian?" The voice that speaks is the voice of my savior. However, it has lost the fearful edge it had when I'd been moments away from dropping dead on the street, only to be replaced with warm concern that causes butterflies to take flight in my stomach.

My tired eyes search for the owner of the voice. When my gaze finds him sitting on an old chair next to my bed, the fluttery feeling in my stomach intensifies.

"Archer." My lips form a smile around his name. Relief and warmth flows through the single word. He saved me. He could have left after Leilani escaped but he saved me.

His green eyes brighten at the sound of his name on my lips. Despite the brightness of his gaze, there are dark rings beneath his eyes. How long has he been sitting there waiting for me to wake up?

The chair he sits on groans as he leans closer to rest a cool hand on my hot forehead. Familiar sparks fly at his touch, leaving a small, contented smile on my lips in its wake. I thought I'd never feel his electric touch again. "Your temperature seems to have gone down a bit," he reports, "you were burning up earlier."

"I'm actually kind of cold now," I say with a meek smile, unable to take my eyes off of the hybrid's relieved face. I suspect that my chill has to do with the fact that I'm still dressed in the lacy white -well, it used to be white. It's now more of a dark red with claw marks all over it- dress in an air conditioned room.

Doing a self inspection, I happily note that the blood has been washed from my skin, though there is nothing to be done about the blood stains on the white dress. Not that I particularly care about Antonio's clothes. I reach up to brush a strand of my hair from my face and find it both stringy and greasy. Not only that, but it's matted with blood. Gross. Unfortunately, the small amount of succubus blood I inherited from my mother does not give me the gift of eternally flawless hair. The perks of being a hybrid.

"Ugh, I'm disgusting," I groan, more than a little embarrassed to look so gross in front of a totally un-gross guy like Archer.

"There's a fresh set of clothes in the bathroom there if you'd like. You'll have to take a bath if you want to clean up though. You shouldn't be on your feet for too long. I did my best to clean up the blood but I'm sure a bath would help you feel better," he says helpfully, thankfully sparing me even more embarrassment. I nod my thanks and go to get up but Archer stops me with a frown.

"And just where the hell do you think you're going?"

I frown in confusion. "Uh, to the bathroom?"