Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 11-15 - Laurell K. Hamilton [308]
Clair tried to help him into the chair but seemed unsure where to grab him, since he used his good arm on the table to brace himself. She sort of hovered uncertainly by him, as if she wanted to help but wasn’t quite sure how. “But you don’t have to stay in animal form for eight hours, and you don’t pass out when you shift back.”
“He is your Ulfric,” Fredo said, “no one’s king is that weak.” His voice was deeper than his chest was wide.
Clair gave him quick eye flicks, as if he made her nervous. Maybe it was the knives. “Do you pass out when you come back into human form?” she asked in a voice that matched the nervous eyes.
“No,” he said.
“I do,” Nathaniel said. He smiled at her. “Don’t ask the rest of them, they’ll all make you feel bad, because they don’t pass out either.”
“How long have you been . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“A wereleopard,” he finished for her.
She nodded.
“Three years,” he said.
I did quick math in my head. “That means that Gabriel brought you over when you were seventeen.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“That’s illegal,” I said.
“It’s illegal in most states to contaminate anyone willingly with a potential fatal disease, regardless of age,” Richard said.
I shook my head. “I guess I’m starting to treat lycanthropy the way the law treats vampirism. If you’re eighteen you can choose.”
“The law doesn’t treat it the same,” he said.
I knew that, but I’d spent so much time among the shapeshifters, that I just sort of forgot. Careless of me. “I guess I forgot.”
“And you a federal marshal,” he said, but the biting comment lacked snap, because he hunched with pain at the same time.
“How hurt are you?” I asked.
“I’ll answer that,” Dr. Lillian said. She smiled, but her eyes were serious. “If he were human he’d stand a very good chance of losing the use of that arm. Maybe he’d regain 50 percent, maybe less mobility. Your vampire severed muscles and ligaments all through the shoulder and upper chest region.”
“But he’s not human,” I said, “so he’ll heal.” I let the “your vampire” comment go. I liked the doc, and I didn’t want to fight.
“He’ll heal, but it will take days, maybe weeks, if he refuses to shift.”
“I promise that I will shift to wolf form when I get home.”
She looked at him like she didn’t believe him.
“Just because I can shift back to human form almost immediately doesn’t mean that it doesn’t come with a price. I’d rather not be exhausted for the rest of the day. If I shift and stay in animal form for a couple of hours, it will be less of a drain when I go back to human form.” I think he was lecturing more for Clair’s sake than anyone else’s. She really was new. “So I’ll wait until I get home, so Clair won’t have to explain why she’s driving around with a werewolf in the car.” That last sounded a tad bitter.
“He won’t say it, so I will. I’m new enough that if one of my pack switches form, sometimes it brings on my change, too. And I’m not trustworthy when I first turn animal.” She looked down, not meeting anyone’s eyes.
Richard took her hand. “It’s alright, Clair, everyone has problems at first.”
Everyone nodded, some said “yes.” That seemed to cheer her a little. She looked younger than I’d thought at first, maybe twenty-four, twenty-five, maybe a little younger. If she hadn’t been Richard’s new girlfriend, I would have asked. But it seemed like prying and none of my business.
“Even if you shift at home, I’ve never seen you heal this much damage in forty-eight hours,” Dr. Lillian said.
“So?” he said, sounding defensive. Had I missed something?
“If you go to school on Monday with your arm useless and then by Friday it’s usable, don’t you think some of your fellow teachers might wonder about your remarkable recovery?”
“I’ll make up a less traumatic injury, something that could heal that fast.”
She shook her head. “If they find out you’re a werewolf, they won’t let you teach children.”
“I know that,” he said, voice fierce, and the