The sensation of coming down from lindorm venom was a lot like waking up from a terrifying yet wonderful dream.
When Vanessa came to, she was lying in her hotel room with Green's arms still wrapped tightly around her. She opened her mouth to tell him to ease up a little, but all that came out was a big burp.
"Glad to see you're awake," he murmured.
"I thought the blood was supposed to make me feel better, not render me unconscious."
"Mr. Sadjie said it was part of the process. Like restarting a computer by unplugging the cord and plugging it back in again."
Vanessa blinked. "Does this Mr. Sadjie realize I'm a person and not a machine?"
Green kissed her on the head. She should have been affronted by the gesture, she wasn't a child, but the casual sign of affection made her feel warm and relaxed in a way that not even the gold dust had managed.
"I believe Mr. Sadjie has a... machinist world view. It must be helpful to think of the universe and all the living things within it as a well-oiled machine when one has to keep on top of hundreds of magical beings every evening."
"It is definitely not the job I would choose," Vanessa agreed.
"Something I think we're all grateful for."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Vanessa asked, but without any real bite to her words. She was too tired and comfortable to get worked up.
"You're both too antagonistic and too trusting to last long in a place like The Watering Hole," Green said.
"Is that why you brought me there?" Vanessa asked, shifting in his arms. His words had brought back the memory of her confrontation with the faun. "Trying to get rid of me already?"
It was a relief to feel like herself again and to think without difficulty. Unfortunately most of her thoughts revolved around her worries and the reality which she had now been forced to return to which was not so great.
"I brought you there because I thought you would like it and I wanted to..." Green cut off.
"To...?" Vanessa said, urging him to go on.
"I wanted to dance with you, hang out with you, drink with you. Basically hang out with you in a place where you weren't so guarded or intent on shutting me out."
"Well," Vanessa said, trying to free herself to sit up. "I certainly wasn't shutting anyone out after a dose or two of that venom. You should have seized the opportunity."
"I can't believe that... snake was allowed inside the club!" Green said, pulling her closer. "That place is supposed to be safe."
"No place is ever safe," she said, her voice muffled against his chest. "Especially not one with magical creatures."
"No, I guess not," Green said. "But they're not supposed to be hunting there."
"Was she hunting?" Vanessa asked thoughtfully. "I think she wanted to play."
"Play? You falling to your death was a game to you?"
"Not to me, but from what she said I got the impression it would make her happy," Vanessa said, feeling her insides grow cold. What was it with her and psychopaths? She seemed to attract them everywhere she went.
"It probably would," Green agreed. "There are not many lindorms left today, the ones you come across are ancient and their sense of humor is a little twisted. Like Mr. Sadjie said, they had their formative years in an era where murder and human sacrifice were perfectly normal things. Death and destruction is their way of life."
"The fall wouldn't have killed me," Vanessa said. "She was right about that. I would have broken a couple of bones, yes, but we heal quickly. If she'd really wanted to hurt someone she'd have gone after a human."
"Are you making excuses for her?" Green asked, sounding upset.
"No, but... can I sit up for a moment? I want to see you when I talk to you."
Green hesitated a moment, but then he relaxed his arms around her and she shuffled up against the headboard.
"What I was trying to say is that I don't think she was malicious, I think she was bored. Can I get something to drink, please? I feel parched." And, she realized, a little hungover.
"Here you go," Green said, handing her a bottle of mineral water. "Mr. Sadjie said you would be feeling off for a few hours after you woke up. We should get you something to eat as well."
"Who is this Mr. Sadjie?"
"The short... being in a suit."
"Are you sure it's a mister?"
Green shrugged. "I don't think Sadjie has a gender, at least not as we think about it, but everyone says Mr. so I think we should too."
"What sort of being is he?"
"I'm not sure. Some kind of desert spirit. I do know everyone in the magical community around here has the highest respect for him so he must be powerful. Or else they just want to be sure they can get into his club."
"Mr. Sadjie is the owner of The Watering Hole, then?" Vanessa asked, finishing the bottle.
"One of them, yes."
"And what exactly is a lindorm? An ancient snakeshifter?"
Green shook his head. "I've never met one before, but when I looked it up online it says in Norse mythology the lindorms were either shape shifting giants or bewitched princes. Only, their skin was white and if you put them on top of something it would grow. Vikings also believed in a great snake that lived in the roots of the world tree and held it all together by biting its own tail."
Vanessa had a pause at the strange image that conjured in her mind.
"A snake was holding the world together?" she repeated.
"Not just this world, but the worlds of the ice giants, goblins and gods as well."
"That's a big job for a snake," Vanessa pointed out. "No wonder she wanted to let off some steam."
"There's a lot of other myths regarding snakes, although I don't know if they have anything to do with the lindorm. The Norse culture is not that old, although it's likely the vikings based their legends on more ancient stories," Green said, his face taking on a faraway expression as he pondered the potential origins of the lindorm sagas.
"I didn't know you were so interested in mythology," Vanessa said.
"Hm? Oh, yes. That's what I'm majoring in. Mythology. It's anthropology, technically, but..."
"You're studying?" Vanessa asked, surprised.
"You've seen me studying," Green pointed out. "We met in a library, remember?"
Vanessa thought back to the day when she'd decided to do some work for her clients and had seen Green at one of the tables in the library. He'd had notes out and open books in front of him. Funny how she hadn't thought of that until now. Possibly he's later threatening and forcing her to leave town had blocked out any curiosity she might have felt at what he'd been reading.
Green's thoughts must have been .... same way because he blushed and shifted awkwardly on the bed.
"I'm sorry I ran you out of the library," he said.
"Yeah, you were beyond rude."
"You weren't exactly nice to me either."
"Wasn't I?" Vanessa asked. "From what I remember I offered to take you home and be whatever you wanted me to be."
"Yeah and then you dropped the least sexy pick up line I've ever endured," Green said dryly. "Let's go howl at the moon."
Vanessa smiled at him. "I thought it was pretty apt and it worked too because you followed me across two states."
"It was the actual howl at the end that did it," Green said. "I knew you were the one for me as soon as I heard it. I thought to myself, that a woman who howls out of tune with that kind of confidence is just the sort of person I want to spend my life with."
"Damn it, I knew I should have gone for a loud mewling instead," Vanessa said. "Then maybe I'd have been able to get rid of you."
"You don't want to be rid of me," Green said confidently and pulled her back into his arms again. "You like me too much."
"Ha!" Vanessa said, her voice sounding muffled against his neck.
"And I saved your life tonight."
"We've been over this. You saved my bones. And I wouldn't have been anywhere near that snake if it weren't for you."
"No, you'd have already been torn apart by the faun you pissed off some hours earlier."
"I think," said Vanessa, " that I can handle a goat."
"Mm. Shows how little you know."
"That's not..."
Her protest was cut off by the sound of a ringtone she'd never heard before. Green reluctantly let go off her before getting up and pulling out a cell phone from his bag.
"What?" he asked.
Vanessa heard a female voice start asking him a bunch of questions, most of them centering around why he hadn't called her. There was a sudden, burning sensation in the pit of her stomach that felt a lot like jealousy.
She wasn't interested in Green, she told herself. She simply didn't understand why he would insist on following her around, telling her he wanted to be with her, kiss her and generally get on her nerves if he already had a girlfriend back home.
"I haven't had time, I'm sorry," he was saying into the phone.
He paused as his furious girlfriend tore that excuse to shreds. If Vanessa hadn't been so busy hating this unknown woman's guts she'd be cheering her on.
"Yes, I know the day has twenty four hours, but I've been busy."
Busy, was he? She wondered what he had told his girlfriend he was doing. Going on some field study. It was true she was a mythological creature, but...
"I don't know how long I'll be. This is taking a lot longer than I thought it would."
That's right. He'd thought she'd just roll over and say thank you for wanting me for a mate. Well he'd definitely miscalculated there, Vanessa thought, her incisors elongating at the thought. And what had he been planning on doing once he got back to his pack? Dump the other girl?
"No, I've found her, she's lovely, she's just... not convinced we'll suit."
The voice on the other end got so loud, Green had to hold the phone away from his ear while Vanessa listened to the other woman yell about the general awesomeness of Green and the evident lack of sense Vanessa possessed.
Vanessa wasn't insulted. She was too shocked to be feeling much of anything. The woman on the phone seemed to know why Green was here and seemed to want him to get with Vanessa. Who were these people? This went beyond normal packwolf stuff. There were packs who practiced bigamy, but she'd never thought... well, it was a good thing she'd turned him down, wasn't it?
"No, you can't talk to her... I won't have you insult her! Listen, I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Love you, bye."
Vanessa opened her mouth to tell him to get out and run home to his girlfriend and his weird harem style pack, but the only thing that came out was: "You love her?"