Maddie had never realized how unnervingly quiet he moved. The shift of the mattress shook her, and if she could have jumped up and away, she’d have done it.
“You’re acting weird. I had to do something. A nurse came in and hooked you up to a monitor. Nothing else though. If we don’t know what he did, we can’t treat it. I didn’t let them draw blood, not yet.”
Her eyes flew open at the blinding light. Blinking a few times, she finally focused and saw Donnie was way too close for comfort.
“Yeah. You better not have let them draw my blood. They are crazy. Right? All of them; are nuts? Talking about aliens.”
The bed shifted as Donnie moved closer. Maddie attempted to back away, managing a few inches.
“Maddie, don’t be like that. They are here to keep us all safe. Well, I should say we. I signed on to help them.”
Of course he did.
“Right. You always did make dumb choices.” Maddie moved her arm. The fact he was so close gave her the drive to move the stupid appendage.
Maddie? Which room are you in?
Her breath hitched, and Maddie tried to cough to hide it. Kal. Of course he was here. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t relieved.
“Maddie. What has gotten into you? I get it. You’re mad, but it’s only because you’re not yourself. That alien did something to you.”
She tried to laugh, but it hurt. She couldn’t let Kal walk in with Donnie here. That was all she needed, some kind of male pissing contest. Donnie would lose, but she didn’t need that on her.
“Fine, Donnie. Fine. Do you want me to admit he’s not from here? Fine. He’s not. But stop assuming he did anything. He has not hurt me.”
Deep breaths. One, two. And up she went.
“See. I’m sitting up, just like a big girl.” Well, shit. Now she wanted another nap.
I don’t know where I am. Donnie’s here. Maybe search for the scent of deceit?
She could practically feel the laugher in Kal. Hell, maybe she really could.
Through the exhaustion there was something new, maybe some kind of energy. Was her magic recovering? Bits of energy, like a leak in a dam trickled through her. Thank God. Kal. It had to be Kal’s energy finding its way to her.
“Maddie? Are you listening?”
Ugh. Could she just say no?
“Sorry. What?”
His hand rested on her leg. Her eyes narrowed.
“I asked you, if you remembered what happened. What he - I mean, when did you start feeling this way?”
She bit her lip, trying to stop from swearing at him. At least until Kal got there.
“Can you move your hand, please?”
He smirked.
“Do you even realize the only reason you're not a guinea pig is because they believe you to be my fiancé still?”
She sat there thinking of how it would look when Kal punched him.
“Which, I know you’d change your mind if he weren’t here brainwashing you. So, before you yell. Yes. I know. You haven’t agreed to anything yet.”
Wow. He just didn’t get it. All the missed calls that she never returned. The returned Christmas gift. The holiday card she’d sent with a picture of her and her TV crew with no mention of coming home. Nothing. And yet, nothing had told him she’d meant it when she’d said they were wrong for each other.
“Donnie. Stop. Please. Stop lying to yourself. I appreciate your attempt to save my life from something you delivered me to. Which, we will need to talk about in a second. It’s sort of backhanded to say that I’m safe because of you. I’m also in deep shit because of you. I think that sort of outweighs it all.”
His hand slid a little higher. She twitched her leg, and he didn’t move. Donnie’s face twisted into something much more fae than human. More sinister than she’d ever seen.
“You don’t seem to understand. He, your alien, put you in this position. He put me in this position. That alien took you from me and gave me no choice. I would have left him alone, I wouldn’t have joined this stupid group. But, I didn’t have a choice now, did I?”
Maddie dug her nails into the bed, trying to pull herself away.
Donnie twisted from where he sat and began to climb up the bed. One hand on either side of her. She lay back, avoiding his face. He hovered over her, her heart rate kicking up in panic.
“What does he have that I don’t? Is this what you want? A man to take what he wants? Some alpha a-hole prick? I’d be more than happy to play this little game.”
Fear gripped her. A spell, something. She tried to cast a transformation spell. Nothing. She tried to conjure up the fire that Kal had taught her to manipulate, but all she could feel was a sputtering of sparks on her fingers. Crap.
“Donnie. No. That’s not what he’s about.”
He pushed a knee between her legs.
She couldn’t breathe.
“Donnie. I can’t fight you off. This is rape. I’m not willing.”
He smirked.
“Is that the way you like it? I saw you run from him in the alley. And yet, you were still back with him? He’s an asshole. Maybe all those experts are right. The nice guy finishes last. Not this time, Madeline. Not this time.”
Donnie lowered his head, his eyes flashing a creepy inhuman gold.
Maddie turned her head, his words a sickening heat against her ear.
“Do you think he will still want you with another man’s scent on you? Do you think he’ll still want you with another’s magic flowing within you?”
She squirmed. “Ew, gross. Get off, Donnie.”
Pushing him, he didn’t move. She was no match, not in her still-drained body.
“You didn’t think I was gross a few years ago.”
The sour in the pit of her stomach came back, the same as it had every time she’d been with him or any man for that fact. She had known deep down they weren’t right for her, her own version of her mother's power, maybe.
Okay. This wasn’t working. Maybe she could
