We both lunged forward and in that second exited the ship. The Ocean looked as if it were nothing but an infinite black abyss. The only way it was possible to see anything at all was by the light of the falcon. "Cande you have something swimming to the side of you. Try and speed up if you can." Dean's voice sounded anxious. Doing what he said both Aiden and I picked up the pace and swam faster than what we had been. Though in all reality the swim was only a couple of feet it seemed like an eternity. Right outside of the entrance to the HQ something grabbed on to my leg and was refusing to let go. I couldn't see what it was I just knew that it had a strong grip on my leg and was applying an incredible amount of pressure. "Aiden!" I cried swimming frantically in every which direction, not really knowing what to do. I just wanted to get whatever had me off. Aiden ripped what was on my leg off, it was a mermaid. A very thin one at that, she looked like a skeleton by all of her bones being visible. It looked as if she were to make one wrong move one of her bones under the thin layer of skin would have poked through without a problem. With a simple fluid motion Aiden turned the head of the mermaid and snapped her neck. A cry echoed in the water as the hiding ones watched in horror as one of their own kind floated lifelessly to the surface. "They're going to be pissed and you're bleeding." Aiden pulled me to his side and pushed us through the entrance.
He gently laid me on the floor and examined my leg. "Fuck you have skin and muscle missing from where she bit. If I hadn't gotten her off when I did she would have gladly made a feast of your leg. You're lucky you had such a reliable, handsome, strong, and amazing partner with you this time." He smiled exposing his dimples once again. "Are you guys inside?" A panicked Mikaela and Dean asked at the same time. "Yeah, yeah we're in." "And both of you are okay?" Aiden looked at me, then my leg how it was torn open and bone was exposed. "Uh about that, uh. We may have encountered a starving mermaid and she may have bitten Cande on the leg ripping off the skin, and muscle. And you may or may not be able to see the bone but other than that we're fine. I took care of it and we are now on our way to the medics here." There was nothing but silence, I could just see Dean with his hands on his head and rubbing his face in frustration. Aiden leaned down and lifted me up carrying my in his arms. The way a groom usually carries his bride. Did we get married to him? Is this why he's carrying us like this? He's taking us to our honeymoon suite. This is all so sudden, I don't know what to say! But just so you know I fully approve of what's to come. My body is ready! Clearly the voice had no sense of Aiden's act of kindness and took his actions in the totally wrong way. "She's okay though right?" Dean asked not being able to hide the concern in his voice. "She'll be okay once they look at her leg and she heals. They may have to drain it though, just to be safe that the mermaid didn't release any of her toxins." I tightened my grip on Aiden's arm as he put me down not wanting to let him put me down. He hadn't said anything about draining, I didn't want that. I tried to get off of the table but instead of standing collapsed on the floor. "Oh come on, you'll be just fine. I said they may drain your leg not that they were going to. Just try to relax." He leaned down to pick me up and put me back on the exam table for the doctor and her staff that was now in the room.
"Cande what a pleasant surprise to see you. How long has it been, two, three years. And if I recall things right this is how I got you last time. You had taken on what was it? A mutated werewolf twice your size. Cande you're immortal but you can still get hurt. But since you are my cousin I suppose I will take care of you." Alana darted her eyes from my leg to Aiden. "Alana this is Aiden, he's pretty much my brother in law, Aiden this is Alana." That's right you let her know he's off limits. You know how vampires can be sometimes. I mean think of how Mikaela is with gorgeous guys. She nodded and poked around in my leg. "Ah you see you're lucky your haven't healed." She replied taking a blade making an insision where my leg had been ripped open. She pulled the skin back and one of her assistants pinned it back leaving the wound fully exposed. "You see she left a venom sack in your leg. If you had heeled fully the pressure of the skin would have put strain on it causing it to bust and making you in a comatose like state until your body was able to fight off the infection." I hid my face in Aiden's arm as she continued to dig around, letting out a little whimper. "For a second I almost forgot how sensitive you were when it came to things like this. With another yank she pulled out a tooth. Look your meat is so tough it rips out mermaids teeth. Would you like to keep it. Oh I don't know you can wear it as a mermaid tooth necklace. You know like how people used to wear shark teeth." "Alana as soon as my leg is healed i'm going to kick your ass." "Good luck with that, you need to rest until your leg closes up. Then meet me in my lab."
I must have fallen asleep because when I awoke Alana was hovering over me examining me. "Good morning sleeping beauty, your friend here never left your side for anything. I told him he could go to one of the cabins but he refused." Her eyes looked over Aiden who was sleeping in the chair right by the bed I was lying in. He didn't look comfortable at all for he was way to tall for the chair. "You're vitals are a bit off and your heart is beating erratically, I think it's just an effect from the venom. You must still have some in your blood, so i'm going to leave your leg draining for a little longer." She leaned down and wiggled the needle attached to my leg where I had gotten bit. "Oh my god! Oh my god Alana why did you do that? Why? Why?!" I could feel myself get dizzy and feel as if I were going to get sick all over. I made the mistake of looking up from the needle, following the clear tube up and finally into the bag of my blood that just hung there. I couldn't handle this at all, yes I have killed many things and some in gruesome ways but this was just too much. The little voice was buckled over and throwing up all over, I felt the same way. I felt everything coming up from my stomach and into my throat. "Oh come on Cande you're not going to be sick are you? Oh god Cande you're going to get sick!!" Alana rushed over and quickly put a plastic bin under my face pulling my hair back. I hated throwing up, it was just so ugh. If I had turned my emotions off it wouldn't have affected me but I didn't think of doing it, I wish I had though. Aiden's eyes shot open and he quickly rushed to my side. NO! Don't look at me! There's nothing less attractive than a girl throwing her guts up. You're never going to look at me the same. Abort mission good sir leave me here! Don't tell Dean what you've seen here today! "What's wrong with her?! Is she going to be okay?" Aiden asked taking the place of holding my hair back and gently rubbed my back. "Aiden what's wrong?! What's wrong with Cande?!! I'm going to head over!" "No you're not Dean it's not safe. She's just getting sick because there's still venom in her blood. She'll be fine in a couple of hours. Just stay put I've got this."
Curse you for telling him Aiden! "What you told this Dean is half true. Yes she's got venom left in her but that's not why she's getting sick. She realized that her leg is being drained and that's what pushed her over the edge. As tough as Cande may be the one thing she can't handle is needles in her skin and her own blood. She has just never been able to do it, never in her mortal life and not even in her Immortal one either. God forbid she ever get stitches or need surgery. It would be hell to get her to do, if at all. It's okay though Cande you have all eternity to get over your fear." Alana shone a light in my eyes to check how I was doing. The good thing was she covered my leg with a blanket and hid the bag to where I could no longer see it. "Your breathing is majorly off, your heart is still beating erratically and you're really pale. Don't look." She grabbed a syringe and injected the teal contents into my arm. "This is going to help fight off what ever the draining is missing. It's going to make you incredibly drowsy. Even as I'm talking to you it must be hard for you to focus." I blinked my eyes trying to take in what she was telling me. I couldn't think straight, I felt as if I were disgustingly drunk. "Is she going to be okay? I mean the venom won't do anything horrible right?" Through half open eyes I could see Alana and Aiden talking off to the side of me. "Mermaid venom is highly toxic when it gets into the blood stream. I'm hoping that with her being an immortal her body will fight off the infection. She took a while to heal, and considering all the other times she's regenerated quickly. I am going to be honest with you when I tell you i'm flying blind treating her. I've never had an immortal in my care. So i'm not going to give you false hope and tell you that yes, she's going to be okay because I don't know. But I'll tell you I will do anything I possibly can to save her. Don't worry your crew though, like you said the waters are too dangerous for them to come over here. If they radio in just tell them she's fine and just resting." I tried to focus on Aiden, he was staring over at where I was. He looked as if he were fighting back tears. I felt his hand brush back the hair from my face gently as he took his seat right by my side again. I wanted to tell him not to worry and that I was going to be just fine. But I couldn't, I couldn't even move. My eyelids got to the point to where they were too heavy to keep open and drifted off to sleep.
