"Did you call the cops or anything?"
He hesitated. "No."
"Right. Clearly, you're in on the whole magical community thing then, or you would have."
Doc raised an eyebrow, but he nodded, smiling. He had known.
"Well, yeah. Since you never brought it up, I didn't think you wanted to talk about it. Some people don't."
That seemed reasonable enough. I knew Doc could hear Alex's side of the conversation and shot him a questioning look.
He shrugged. I took it to mean he thought it could be reasonable, too.
"Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?"
"I'm safe. Thanks. Did you know Ash was with the magic mafia?"
"The what? Uh, oh, no. I didn't. I didn't even realize the black market was active in this area, or I might have warned you."
I kept my eyes on Doc. He frowned, but again, shrugged.
"Can we talk in person?" Alex asked.
Doc clenched his jaw at that question, but again, shrugged as if it were my choice.
"Yeah, I'll see you Monday, right?"
"I had hoped we could talk sooner."
"If you're okay, I'm safe, and I would really rather stay away from town right now."
"You with the werewolves?" Alex didn't exactly sound happy, however, he also didn't sound annoyed.
I raised my eyebrows. Doc smiled slightly and nodded.
"Yeah."
"Well, I guess as long as you're not allergic to dogs, you'll be safe enough with them."
I actually laughed, though Alex's tone wasn't exactly humorous.
Doc was smiling too and shook his head in amusement.
"No, I don't have any animal allergies."
"Too bad," Alex replied voice flat. "Yeah, I'll see you Monday then. Enjoy yourself, I guess."
"They risked a lot to save me," I said tightly.
"Yeah, I know. And they'll treat you decently. I'm glad you're safe, Sofia."
"You too, Alex."
He hung up, and I put my phone on the table near the outlet so it could continue to charge.
I looked back at Doc. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"
"It's a lot easier to tell in person," Doc answered. "I don't think he was blatantly lying about anything."
"Does he think you're a werewolf, too?"
Doc frowned and glanced out the window for a moment before looking back at me. "I'm not sure what he thinks I am. It really depends on if he knows more than he's saying about the black market."
The unasked question of what Doc actually was hung between us. Neither of us addressed it. He clearly wasn't comfortable talking about it.
I wasn't surprised when he changed the subject. "Why don't you go see if you have a shirt or something you can swim in and try those on. We're almost ready to head out."
I grabbed Allan's swim trunks and headed for Doc's bedroom. I lucked out; Victoria had grabbed a dark colored sports bra. I changed into that and pulled on Allan's swim trunks. I had to pull the drawstring tight, but they fit well enough to go swimming in. I took the oldest T-shirt from my backpack and put that on, then I grabbed socks since all I had for shoes was my hiking boots I had changed into last night.
Doc knocked on the doorframe before I could leave the bedroom. "Can I take a look at that cut on your back? We probably should see if we can seal it up a little and keep the lake water out."
"Sure, thanks." I hesitated for a moment then pulled my shirt off. I was going to be swimming in my sports bra later anyway.
Doc's eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. I must have surprised him.
"Why don't you lay down on your stomach," he prompted, his voice a little husky.
I blushed but did as he asked.
Doc whistled softly through his teeth. "Your back is pretty bruised up. You sure you want to swim?"
"I took some more pain killers, and I don't want to ruin all the plans."
"Okay, let me look at this. I'm going to pull the bandages off."
I shivered as he touched my back lightly, my heart suddenly racing.
"Are you all right?"
"Yep," I replied shortly, face buried in the comforter. Could he tell he had set my heart racing? He was my teacher, damn it. My body clearly didn't care, and I was pretty sure I was in agreement.
I tried not to gasp when he gently pulled the medical tape Victoria had applied off. I didn't want him to think he was hurting me.
"I'm going to clean this again, and then I have some bandages that should keep this relatively safe from the water for the afternoon."
"Thanks." The comforter muffled my words.
Doc went into the bathroom and came back a minute later. The bed shifted as he sat next to me.
This time I did gasp when he brushed something across my back, but it was from pain.
"Sorry," he said.
"Just stings a little."
"I imagine it does. You probably shouldn't get in the water, but as long as we clean it again tonight, you'll be okay. I'll leave it up to you. I'm going to try and close this a bit more with some butterfly bandages."
The combination of pain while he worked on my back, and the things his soft touch was doing to my insides, had me all sorts of confused, and I clenched the comforter in my fists.
"Am I hurting you?"
"Not exactly," I muttered then cursed my word choice.
Before I could say anything else, the guys burst into the bedroom. "What are you two...oh, ouch," Ed exclaimed when he came over.
"Be careful with her today," Doc told them firmly.
"Damn, her entire back is a giant bruise. Can't you heal that or something?"
"Which one of us are you asking?" I grumbled into the bed.
"Uh, well, I guess you. Doc's version of healing things is awkward. You gotta be bleeding out before he'll do it."
Doc grunted, and I really wanted to know more, but I didn't ask.
"You're still swimming today, right?" I could imagine Ed's sky-blue eyes wide and imploring, just like a puppy. I couldn't
