Free Kissing Phoenix by Shona Husk

touched his cheek. “Then don’t tell me.”

Chapter Four
     
    Aidan fingered the vial of blood. The red syrup didn’t look as if it had the power to change lives beyond all recognition. He wanted to crush the fine glass and let the blood spill. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t come in contact with the blood. If it entered his system, he would be driven mad with blood lust as his body fought the infection. If he was lucky, someone would kill him quick.
    While Vampire bodies had the etheric wrapped tight like a second skin, Weres, much like humans, wore it loose. It was how they shifted between forms, like fluid taking the shape of the container it was held in. A Vampire infected with Lycanthria would have their etheric body torn away. The damage would trigger the need to feed and take in liters of blood to heal. Except the Vampire wouldn’t be able to heal no matter how much blood they drank. Between the pain and hunger, they went mad and killed everything that crossed their path. Reading about the known cases had been horrific and he had no intention of becoming a victim. As long he didn’t bite Lil, everything would be fine. The prickly uncertainty of what they were doing remained tied around his heart.
    Lil had ignored Theo’s, and his, recommendation to become a Were-snake. Of the four suitable blood types Theo had available, it was the choice that required the least effort. Snake shifters stayed home in front of a nice log fire. They didn’t require a special habitat.
    Wolves and bears both needed forest. Wolves needed a pack. For a human becoming a wolf was hard, they would always be bottom of the pack—assuming they found a pack to accept them. Lil had dismissed both of them. She’d opted for seal. So they’d concocted a story about being bitten at the beach while trying to help a wounded animal. It was barely believable.
    He filled the syringe, his hands remembering the actions of another life as if only moments had passed instead of decades, and placed it on the table next to the bed. They had decided her vet surgery was the best place. Plenty of medical equipment ready to go and drugs, and if she died, Aidan wouldn’t be held responsible. She was writing the suicide note now, just in case it all went bad. She was already sick… he pushed away the thought and swallowed the rock lodged in his throat. Lil would live.
    Theo had examined her and pronounced her fit, but they’d better do the transformation as soon as possible. So here they were, a Vampire, a human, two dogs and a cat sleeping off a spaying and a vial of Lycanthria infected blood. Everybody’s idea of a good night out. While Theo had assisted, he wasn’t doing it for free. Lil had had to agree to regular checkups to make sure the cancer had indeed been halted. What Theo would do with the research was anyone’s guess; maybe it was just to satisfy his own curiosity. It wouldn’t be the first time his research had walked a very fine ethical line.
    Like any doctor, Theo had done everything he could to make sure his star patient would survive. He’d given Aidan the name of a Fendrake shrink who would be able to help her afterward and one for him because he was obviously temporarily insane for thinking this was a good idea as well as a reminder of the optimum conditions for transformations. Transformations might be illegal, but if a human got bitten, they needed help fast.
    His sleep had been haunted by the screams of the other transformations he’d attended. True, they were more than a century ago and much more was understood now, but of three he’d attended, only one had survived and he’d killed himself after the first shift. Those memories had made for bitter music the first time round. He’d shared none of the compositions Lil had inspired with his friends; he doubted Lucinda’s Lover wanted anything so painful on their first album.
    He checked the temperature in the room, forty degrees Celsius. Another five degrees and it would be