Free The Immortal Greek by Monica La Porta

danger?”
    Samuel turned to face him and opened his arms to the side. “She’s an enforcer. And why the interest?”
    Alexander shrugged. “Just to make conversation.” He wanted to ask several questions, but resigned himself to look outside the window and let his mind wander to the recent events that had disrupted his usually easy life.
    When Alexander looked back inside the kitchen, Samuel held a cup of fuming coffee over a saucer and appeared deep in thought.
    “She was upset in my office,” the angel said.
    Alexander straightened on the chair.
    Samuel brought the cup to his lips and drank the coffee in one draw, then put cup and saucer in the sink and washed them. “She has a personal reason to investigate Immortal Death’s suicides. Her brother was one of the first opting out of immortality using the potion.”
    The doctor and the nurse chose that moment to come out of Ravenna’s bedroom.
    “How is she?” Alexander asked, once again realizing a moment too late how that sounded.
    Samuel echoed his question a fraction later and gave him a raised eyebrow.
    “She’s fine. As suspected, she was poisoned. We had to flush the poison from her system and the practice is rather taxing. She needs to drink small sips of water every half hour or so.” The doctor, a gentleman in his fifties whom Alexander had never met before, talked in a low monotone, gesticulating with his gloved hands.
    “Do you know what kind of poison she was injected with?” Samuel had left his chair and was now towering over the doctor, who had moved to check on the body lying on the kitchen floor.
    The doctor opened the dead’s mouth as Samuel had already done. “The same the assailant died from, but in a smaller percentage. A paralyzing mixture. Possibly curare. My guess is that he didn’t mean to kill her right away.”
    “But she will be okay. There won’t be complications.” Alexander inched closer to the bricked archway, wanting to see with his own eyes that she really was fine.
    “We pumped her stomach and it hadn’t passed enough time for the poison to do any serious damage. So, yes, my professional opinion is that she will recuperate from this ordeal. She’s a strong woman. She’s been in worse situations and she kicked back in no time.” On his way out, the doctor passed by Alexander and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry.”
    Samuel walked the doctor and the nurse to the door, then came back, and looked at Alexander with a grin on his face. “I’m assigning a detail to look after her tonight.”
    “I can stay.” Alexander realized, yet another time, he had spoken too fast, but the words were out.
    Samuel’s grin became more pronounced, a strange sight on the fallen angel’s usually composed face. “I’m sure you have things to do. Parties to attend. Women to ravage.”
    Alexander inwardly groaned. His friend could be such a pain in the ass sometimes. “I won’t leave her alone.”
    Samuel stepped forward, his serious self back. “Be careful. She’s different.”
    “And you would know because?” Alexander couldn’t help but raise his voice.
    The angel sighed and shook his head. “Because we are good friends.”
    Alexander wanted Samuel gone.
    “I’ll send the detail anyway. They’ll be outside.” Samuel tipped his head and turned to leave.
    Alexander didn’t wait for his friend to close the door behind him and headed straight to Ravenna’s bedroom. She was lying in the middle of her big bed, over the sheets, sleeping. The coverlet he had covered her with was gone. Her head rested high on two pillows, and her hair fanned all over the white linens. The nurse had changed her because she was wearing black silk pajamas, one of those sets resembling a man’s shirt and matching pants. Pearls of sweat crowned her forehead. He leaned over her and wiped her cold, clammy skin with the palm of his right hand.
    Looking around the room, he saw the armoire in the corner. He opened it and found a quilt to wrap her