33. Addie

33

ADDIE

A ddie sighed in relief as she stepped under the warm spray of water…then yelped in pain as it stung her many cuts and abrasions.

"Ouch!" she muttered as she made herself stand still and endure it. After all, she had to get clean—she didn't want an infection in any of the many cuts.

Wish I could ask Drago to heal me, she thought sadly. But after she'd drained so much of his blood that she nearly killed him, she doubted the big Kindred would have any further interest in healing her—or being anywhere near her, for that matter. He had nearly died because she'd taken too much from him. He probably wouldn't ever want to see her again after this mission was over.

The thought made her so sad she wanted to cry. But she couldn't take back her actions. As her Grandma used to say, "You can't saw sawdust." Meaning, the past was in the past and you couldn't change it.

Addie tried to push the sad thoughts to the back of her mind. She was helped by the fact that her back was itching again, just like it had been that morning.

"Ugh—this is crazy! Why am I so itchy?" she muttered to herself. Then she remembered that the spider web marking was still on her back—was that what was giving her the problem?

Making sure she was thoroughly rinsed off, she shut off the water and dried herself with a clean towel. Then she stepped out and pulled her hair aside to examine her back in the 3-D viewer.

Sure enough, the web was still there. Even worse, it had gotten bigger.

Addie stared with wide eyes at the black markings that now wrapped around the sides of her rib cage and covered her ass. What was going on with her? When the fangs had disappeared, she'd assumed that she was completely free of the spider's venom. But now she saw that it wasn't true. Drago might have neutralized most of it the night before but it was clear there was still some of it in her system.

The question was, how in the world did she get rid of it?