Chapter 69: Little Doggy People Heads

Blair slowly blinked her eyes open.

Her mind was blank. There was a bright light shining above her, but strangely, it didn’t burn her eyes or make her squint. It just felt warm and fuzzy.

She could hear voices, but they sounded very far away. It was as if she were submerged deep underwater, the sounds muffled and distorted into a garbled string of meaningless syllables. What language is this? Blair wondered lazily.

Suddenly, the bright light was blocked out from three directions.

Three heads popped into her field of vision, hovering above her face. Their lips were moving rapidly, but Blair wasn’t paying attention to the noise. She was mesmerized by the sight of them. All three heads shared the exact same dark blue hair, the same striking silver eyes, and the same fluffy, twitching ears resting on the tops of their heads.

Trapped in a hazy, dreamlike daze, Blair watched as the heads seemed to detach from their bodies entirely, bobbing and floating around her in a slow, dizzying circle.

A wide, goofy smile stretched across Blair’s face. She reached a trembling finger up into the air, pointing at the floating faces in wonder.

"Little doggy people heads," Blair giggled, her voice breathy and light.

Standing around the bed, Daemus, his mother, and Luna all stopped talking. They slowly turned to look at each other, exchanging expressions of bewilderment as the human girl continued to giggle and point at empty space.

Daemus pulled his phone from his pocket, instantly dialing the doctor and putting him on speakerphone.

"She woke up," Daemus announced the second the line connected.

"Oh, that is wonderful news, Your Highness—" the doctor began.

"But she is acting strange," Daemus cut him off, staring down at Blair. "Really strange. She’s just staring at the ceiling, giggling and pointing at nothing."

"Okay, I need you to check her vitals," the doctor instructed. "Feel her pulse, check the dilation of her pupils, and monitor her breathing,"

His mother immediately leaned over the bed. She pressed two fingers to the inside of Blair’s wrist, then gently pulled her eyelids back.

"Her pulse is racing," his mother reported loudly toward the phone. "Her pupils are very dilated, and her breathing is quite erratic."

Silence fell over the room as the doctor was...thinking about it? The only sound was Blair’s breathy, continuous giggling.

"Well?" Daemus pressed impatiently. "What is wrong with her?"

"Well," the doctor finally hummed, his voice crackling slightly through the speaker. "I think... she is high."

Daemus froze. "High?" he questioned, his voice rising in disbelief. "As in, on drugs? How the hell would she get drugs while she was unconscious?"

Daemus immediately whipped his head around, his silver eyes locking onto his sister.

"Luna," Daemus accused instantly. "What did you give her? Cocaine? Molly? Mushrooms?"

Luna gasped loudly, taking a stumbling step backward. She looked nervously toward their mother, holding her hands up in frantic defense. "I don’t do that stuff! I swear! I didn’t give her anything! I promise!"

"Wait," the doctor’s voice interrupted the brewing sibling fight. "Prince Daemus, you called and asked me if it was safe for your mother to burn healing herbs in the room. Did she proceed with that?"

The mother bristled immediately. She crossed her arms over her chest, her chin lifting in stubborn defiance. "Those herbs are traditional pack medicine. They are strictly for healing and purification. They are not to blame."

"Of course not, Your Highness," the doctor backpedaled quickly, doing his best not to offend the matriarch of the Wintercrest pack. "But could you please just list the names of the herbs you are burning? Just to rule them out."

His mother stubbornly refused to speak, turning her head away.

"Mom," Daemus pressed, pointing at the giggling girl on the bed. "Just tell him the names."

She let out a frustrated huff. "Fine. It is merely a simple, harmless blend. Dried pine needles, frost-fern, whisper-leaf, and moon-root. That is all."

The doctor hummed again in realization. "Ah. Yes. I see it now."

"See what?" Daemus demanded.

"Individually, those herbs are perfectly harmless," the doctor explained calmly. "However, when you burn whisper-leaf and moon-root together in an enclosed space, the smoke creates a chemical reaction. It acts as a highly potent hallucinogen."

Luna immediately snatched up both of the smoking herb pots, and hurried out of the room claiming that she was going to throw them away.

Daemus pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, exhausted breath. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes, she will be perfectly fine," the doctor assured him. "The effects will wear off once she gets it out of her system. For now, just make sure she stays hydrated and start feeding her rich, nourishing foods to help flush the toxins out."

"I will get the kitchen started on a broth right away," his mother said quickly, eager to fix her mistake. She hurried out of the room.

Daemus hung up the phone.

The quiet settled over the bedroom. It was just him and Blair now. Daemus walked over to the side of the bed, looking down at her. Her cheeks were flushed a deep pink, her chest rising and falling steadily as she stared up at the ceiling in awe of whatever her mind was conjuring up for her.

From Blair’s perspective, she wasn’t looking at a ceiling at all.

The colors around her were impossibly bright and vivid. The sky above was made of fluffy, cotton-candy pink clouds. Tiny, colorful bunnies in shades of yellow, blue, and green hopped playfully around her, while the flowers on the ground swayed and danced to a silent, happy rhythm.

Blair smiled brightly. She felt so light and happy.

Then, a handsome man stepped into her magical wonderland. He had dark blue hair and striking silver eyes. A sparkling golden crown appeared on top of his fluffy ears, and he was dressed in a fancy, princely suit.

"Are you a prince?" Blair asked, her voice filled with innocent wonder.

Daemus sat down on the edge of the bed right beside her. He looked into her wide, hazy eyes.

"Yes," Daemus answered quietly.

"Are you here to steal me away from my friends?" Blair asked softly.

Daemus didn’t say anything at first. He just sat there, his silver eyes tracing the soft lines of her face, staring at her for a long moment.

"Yes," Daemus said.