“Go ahead.Do you need a hand?”
She shook her head, reached behind her, opened the lacing at the back, loosened the busk, and then popped it off.She exhaled slowly and took the structure out from under her uniform.She hummed and rolled the corset into a column.
Solor reached over and took it as the beverages showed up.He unrolled it and saw the slashes that went all the way through the layers.“This could have been horrible.”
“It wasn’t great at the time.”
“How often does a patient attack you?”
She shrugged.“Every three to four shifts.Mostly, it is getting punched.It isn’t like today when I had to launch over Demuel to avoid getting mauled.”
Solor stared at Demuel, “What?”
“I didn’t actually tell him.”
Solor blinked.“What did I miss?”
“Oh, we got a call to meet an ambulance at the hospital for a violent patient.A delayed first shift through a ton of drugs used to keep them from dying of an allergy.”He sipped his coffee.“The door opened, Nylora shot out and flew over our heads, landing on the gravel and pavement behind me.The wolf was about eighty percent shifted and flailing around in there.We got him calmed, and the hospital took care of the new werewolf.I walked over and tried to heal Nylora, and it worked.”
She sipped at her juice.“You didn’t think it would work?”
Solor sighed.“He’s a situational healer.Apparently, this is the right situation for him.How long have you been a medic?”
She counted on her fingers.“Four and a half years in Redbird.”
Demuel asked softly, “Where else?”
“Corudet City for five years.Arutrus for five.I was a teacher for five years before that.I still do the occasional appearance.I was near the old home of the gods for a while, teaching a first aid course, when I was asked to go to a party at the governor’s mansion.Zerul throws a mean party, but that is where I stood in the shadows and left as soon as the folk familiar with each other drew in against the men invited.You two know the rest.Why were you guys there?”
They looked at each other, and Solor said, “Zerul invited us and mentioned that there would be powerful extranatural women there.We portaled there, got changed at the mansion, and then went to the party.”
“Oh.I know what happened next.”Her fruit salad arrived, and she stabbed a melon chunk with her fork.
Demuel murmured, “You are chewing on that like it owes you money.”
She snorted.“Bump likes greens and fruit.”
They both grinned.She winced.“Yes, I know both of your beasts are herbivores, but it isn’t my favourite thing.Usually, the only thing green on my plate is the garnish.”
They both chuckled.
She pushed the empty bowl aside as their food showed up.She loved diners.If you were hungry, the food could keep coming, and all they wanted was money.
Solor asked, “Why did you choose Redbird City to settle down?”
“Uh, I didn’t.My foster sister lives here, and my fraternal twin, but we just connected before my shift.”
They both froze.“Twin?”
“Yeah, my mother was incredibly sneaky, and she ended up with two children.According to her father, there was one to sacrifice and one to keep.My mom thought differently and used temporal magic on me, so I got big enough to grab Isocar and run through a dimensional portal on stubby legs.”
Demuel paused.“Where did you come from?”
“Demon zone.But not demonblood.It was a fun trick.I am dark fae and something else, and my sister is dark fae and something else.Both of us have different fathers but the same maternal donor.Mom was in love.”
Solor asked, “What was your birth mother?”
“Succubus.Instead of using her own eggs, which would have bound us to her father, she got two from the woman she loved as much as a succubus can love and used two different donors as fathers.”
