Page 17 of Witchbane
If he wouldn’t let Sean touch him or comfort him, could they fix this? I needed to talk to my mate about getting them all into couple’s therapy or something. There had to be a way to make this right. Dylan and I might have survived similar things, but not everyone healed the same way. I wasn’t even sure I’d healed as much as buried it. Pain meant loss of control, it meant running again because the world quickly became overwhelming. And I wanted to stay with Liam, whatever that involved, for the rest of eternity.
Dylan left and Liam threw a slight reassuring smile in my direction. I wasn’t fooled. We were both worried.
A batch of cakes on cooling trays appeared, and I realized I was behind on the glaze. I set back to working, trying to sort through the usual millions of things in my head. The smells of the bakery began to make my stomach churn. The maple glaze seemed intense enough that I thought I might throw up. Did I get the measurements wrong?
I called Liam over. “Does the maple glaze smell off to you?”
“Smells amazing.” He found a spoon and took a tiny sample. “Tastes great. Not overpowering at all.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re not saying that to make me happy?”
“No. What’s in it?”
“Maple syrup, brown sugar, coconut cream, cinnamon, and a few other basics. Nothing weird.” I found a new spoon and sampled the mix myself. It tasted okay, if a bit strong. “Really? That’s not too strong for you?”
“Not at all. It’s pretty mild actually. I was expecting it sweeter, more intense maple. This is a good balance.”
Were my taste buds off? I stirred it again, glad that the strawberry compote wasn’t giving off any unwelcome odors. But the strong scent of maple hit me again and suddenly my stomach was ready to rebel.
I turned, trying not to gag, and had to race to the bathroom. I made it just in time to throw up, though there wasn’t much in my stomach yet. Not even much coffee. Bile. Yet my stomach rolled, gurgled, and churned. And my head began to throb.
I heard Liam behind me, opening the door and kneeling down beside me. “You okay?” He asked, his hands on me feeling good, calming.
“I think something in the maple glaze is off.”
“Okay,” Liam agreed. “We can remake it. Let me get you some water.” He disappeared for a few minutes while I sat curled around the toilet, thankful they kept the employee bathroom super clean. When he returned it was with an ice-cold bottle of water. He wrote the recipe for the icing on his phone, promising to throw out the other I’d made.
“Everything smelled okay when I made it the first time,” I told him.
“Have you ever gotten sick from food before?” Liam wondered.
I knew what he was thinking. Werewolves didn’t get food poisoning, not without extreme issues with the food. Even meat slightly gone off wouldn’t affect them. Adding actual poison to their food might make them sick for a few hours but they’d get over it. My stomach wasn’t quite as solid as that.
“Once or twice.” Both times on the run when I’d been searching for cheap food. “Ate a bad squirrel once.”
“Squirrel,” Liam said, amused. “Not much meat on those.”
“I have little teeth!” I protested.
“Rabbits?” Liam inquired.
“Are crazy fast. Squirrels are dumb, run in the wrong direction, or give themselves a heart attack from fear.”
“You ate heart attack squirrels?”
“Only when starving,” I admitted.
“I will have to make sure that doesn’t happen any time soon, yeah?” He patted me on the head.
“Go work. I’m fine. I will be fine. I won’t eat any heart attack squirrels while you’re gone.”
He stared at me a few minutes longer. “Maybe lie down in the office? Let your stomach settle?”
“Sure,” I agreed without moving, but he went back to work, and I slowly made my way to the tiny back room he called an office. I wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten the desk into the room. The office was little more than the size of a walk-in closet. There was a desk, a giant plush rug beneath it, and lots of paperwork pinned all over the walls, including the work schedule. I laid down on the cushy rug and thought it might not be a big deal to rest for a bit. Technically Liam was giving me very limited hours while I tried to sort out this kitsune thing. I was supposed to work the tea shop tonight, but they had staff to cover if I didn’t.
We’d argued about it. I felt I needed to be working more. Liam said he wanted me healed and whole first. Was that even possible? I rolled over onto my stomach, turning my head to the side and resting it on my arms beneath. I shouldn’t have been this tired. Or nauseous. But nothing had been normal of late. And that fast, I fell asleep on the floor. At least it was a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 5