The antiseptic smell of the hospital wing almost overwhelmed her as she pushed open the door from the main corridor. She hadn’t noticed the previous morning. Or maybe she’d just been overwhelmed by too many other things at the time; the shower, her continued ability to breathe, and thoughts of Dunstan Eorl for a start. Now, though, the place reeked of chemical cleaning products, antibacterial soap, and alcoholic smelling sanitizer gel. She hated it.
At least nurse at the nurses’ station smiled as she approached; one welcoming thing in a cold, clinical space.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked.
“A mercurial vampire on a power trip made me an appointment with Captain Pullman for a medical. I’m new. Kalyna Kovalenka O’Cuinn-Lyall,” she explained.
The nurse’s brows jumped, then a chortle burst from her lips and she warned, “Don’t let Sergeant Eorl hear you say things like that. Disrespecting those higher up the hierarchy will get you into trouble.”
“Sorry,” Kalyna faltered, blushing. “Yesterday I wasn’t beholden to anyone. Putting up with Eorl is a shock to the system.”
The woman laughed again as she typed something into her computer, then noted, “I think you’re a bigger shock to his system. Vampires... Our strength is on overdrive. Our senses are on overdrive. And our emotions...?”
“Let me guess. They’re on overdrive too?” Kalyna offered.
The nurse nodded, agreeing, “They are. Everything we feel is a hundred times stronger. It can take a bit of time for us to learn to control themselves after the change. When we’re hungry, we feed. When we’re aroused, we have sex. When we’re angry, you run for cover. Even those who are good people – who wouldn’t hurt anyone by choice – they can still prove... stormy... to be around. Eventually we learn to temper themselves, but we all slip occasionally. We accept it as long as we don’t hurt anyone, because we can’t help what we are. Hell, we’ve all seen Otti Verdier take some guy back to his room in a moment of passion, completely ignoring that public displays of affection are banned while in uniform.”
“What happened to no fraternisation?” Kalyna wondered.
Wasn’t Ottiwell Verdier an officer?
“There’s a big grey zone in a place like this,” the nurse admitted with a shrug. “The incubi and succubae need to feed on lust. Several species need blood. Interaction between people happens, especially living together as we do. As long as no one is coercive, and as long as it doesn’t lead to favouritism and mismanagement, certain things are... ignored... that other branches of the military wouldn’t allow.
“Think about it; we’re too underground to bring home dates from a bar, and some of us have worked for the OTF for decades. We don’t have family accommodation because we couldn’t allow some species that luxury and not others, but human spouses would pose a security risk. There’s been a line drawn. No one brings civilians back here. As a result... sometimes things happen between people here. As long as it has no wider implications on the mission or the chain of command, then it’s accepted. Of course, anything beyond the occasional tryst risks entanglement, and that is discouraged, especially between those of differing ranks. It’s just not as cut and dry as it first seems.”
The nurse’s expression was kindly, like a primary school teacher explaining some difficult concepts to a child, but the point had soared over Kalyna’s head.
“What does any of this have to do with Eorl?” she wondered.
The nurse tipped her head, her jasper-red eyes sliding up and down the length of Kalyna. Her nostril flared as she inhaled her scent, then she confessed, “The Sergeant has never slipped up. He doesn’t take people back to his room. He doesn’t lose his temper. He doesn’t...”
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Where Dark Things Wait: Night Creatures Book One
ParanormalKalyna's family died, murdered by vampires. For five years, she hunted down those responsible for killing her husband and children, and the end was finally in sight. As she watched the last nest burn to the ground, she almost believed that the fight...
