Nick glanced down at the man under the computer. Even as Nick listened, the bastard’s heart gave one last stuttering beat, then stopped.
Marcus and Roland appeared outside the hole, looked at the dead man in the hallway, then looked at Nick.
“Sooooo,” Marcus said slowly, “does this mean we’re not taking prisoners?”
Nick leapt over the desk and ducked through the hole. “I’m killing them all.”
Roland chuckled. “I like him.”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “You would.”
The two British immortals continued along the hallway while Nick caught up with Imhotep and Seth.
Imhotep stopped outside a door. He grasped the doorknob and turned it.
Bullets tore through the door and peppered his chest. A couple missed and hit Seth.
“Cease!” Seth thundered.
Silence descended.
Imhotep didn’t even stagger backward. He just turned the knob again and pushed the door open.
Oliver stood inside, weapon raised, Kayla draped over one shoulder. Relief washed across his features as he lowered the gun. “Sorry, man. I thought you were one of them.”
“No worries,” Imhotep replied in his baritone voice. He was so ancient and powerful the wounds carved by the bullets were probably already closing.
Nick pushed forward.
Oliver looked like shit. His face was bruised and bloody and battered all to hell. And Kayla wasn’t moving. She didn’t rise up and send him a relieved smile or reach a hand out or burst into tears. She didn’t acknowledge them in any way. She just hung limply, her hair and arms dangling down Oliver’s back.
Nick reached for her.
Oliver grunted in pain as he leaned forward to facilitate Nick’s claiming her.
Cradling her in his arms, Nick studied her. Her face was pale, her skin clammy. “What’s wrong with her?”
Oliver shook his head and gripped his side. “I’m not sure. They drew some blood. I think maybe they took too much. Or maybe they gave her too large a dose of the tranquilizer. She said she was dizzy, then threw up. I’m dizzy, too, so I guess it could be the drug. But mine could just as easily be from a concussion.”
Eliana, Dana, and Aidan appeared in the doorway. Their faces filled with concern when they saw Oliver and Kayla.
Dana looked up at Seth. “We had to knock out the security guards. And we killed two armed hostiles on our way here. As far as we can tell, no one called in reinforcements. Aidan found Richard Roubal and a big hulking guy with bloody knuckles in a back room. Roland and Marcus finished sweeping the building and joined him. Roland is scaring the living shit out of them while Marcus keeps him from slitting their throats and Aidan reads their minds.”
Seth gripped Nick’s shoulder with one hand and Oliver’s with the other. “I’m taking these three to network headquarters in North Carolina. Henderson and his crew will be here shortly. Hold down the fort until then. I’ll take care of Roubal and the other man when I return.”
The room darkened. Then the bright lights of a state-of-the-art infirmary surrounded them.
Nick recognized it. It was nearly identical to the one in the network headquarters in Houston. But this one was larger and boasted advanced electronic exercise equipment in one corner.
Two men with glowing blue eyes currently ran at preternatural speeds on the modified treadmills.
Nick stiffened. He had forgotten the East Coast headquarters housed several vampires who had surrendered to the Immortal Guardians, hoping network doctors would be able to stave off the insanity that would soon plague them.
They slowed to a halt when Seth, Nick, Oliver, and Kayla appeared.
A petite, slender woman about Kayla’s size rose from a desk nearby. She wore blue jeans and a Tar Heels T-shirt beneath a white lab coat. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her gaze swept over them, lingered on Oliver, then fell to Kayla, lying unconscious in Nick’s arms. “What happened?”
Seth motioned for Nick to lay Kayla on an exam table. “Kayla and Oliver were kidnapped and tranqed, not with the drug that affects immortals, but with another one. They drew some blood from Kayla. Then she began to feel ill. You have more experience with tranquilizers than the network doctors in Houston, so I brought her here. I can heal wounds. But I can’t remove a drug once it’s been absorbed into her system.”
Nick lowered Kayla to the table and stepped back. Oliver moved to stand at his side, his bruised and bloody face full of concern.
Seth rested a hand on Kayla’s forehead and the other on her chest.
Dr. Melanie Lipton moved to stand beside them.
The two vampires stepped off the treadmills and watched from a distance, faces sober.
After a moment, Seth swore. “The tranquilizer isn’t making her ill. She’s been poisoned.” Shifting his hand to Kayla’s arm, he ripped the bandage off and held it out to Melanie. “Whatever it is has been leeching into her from the white pad.”
Melanie took the sticky tan bandage, careful not to touch the white gauze pad in its center, and sniffed it. “I don’t recognize it.”
Seth shook his head and returned his hand to Kayla’s chest. “Nor do I. But she’s going into cardiac arrest.”
Alarmed, Nick took a step closer. “Can you stop it?”
“I’m working on it.”
Aidan appeared, one hand on Eliana’s shoulder.
Before he could teleport away again, Melanie held the bandage out to him. “Smell this. Can you tell me what poison it is?”
Aidan’s brows drew down. “She’s been poisoned?”
“Yes.”
He sniffed it, thought a moment, then shook his head. “At first I thought it might be cyanide. But I’m not sure. I’m afraid I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to poisons.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Melanie turned to the open door and called, “Jared.”
A blur entered the room. Then a man who stood at least six-feet-eight-inches tall stared down at her. Nick had only met Jared once. The powerful immortal was as ancient as Seth but had only recently joined the ranks of the Immortal Guardians.
“Yes?”
“Get Alleck.”
Jared vanished.
“I’m going to head back to Brightwood and keep an eye on things,” Aidan said, then he disappeared as well.
Jared reappeared with an immortal about Nick’s height.
“Alleck.” Melanie crossed to him and held out the bandage. “Smell this. She’s been poisoned and is going into cardiac arrest.”
Alleck took the sticky bandage and sniffed it. His brows drew down. “At first I thought it was cyanide.” His voice carried a German accent. “I detect a hint of almonds. But…” He sniffed again. “If it is, it’s been mixed with something else.” Another sniff. “Aconite? Perhaps antimony?”
Nick took in Seth’s grim expression and looked at Alleck. “Is there an antidote?”
“Without knowing the combinations of toxins?” Alleck shook his head. “We could try hydroxocobalamin in case it is cyanide.” He looked at Melanie. “Maybe activated charcoal for the other?”
Kayla’s body stiffened, then went limp.
“What happened?” Nick blurted. Was she having a seizure?
“Her heart stopped,” Seth murmured. “I had to shock it.”
Absolute terror swept through him. “Is it beating?” There were so many other heartbeats in the room and the building that Nick couldn’t isolate hers.
“Yes. I’ve stopped the damage from progressing but am having difficulty reversing it.” He sent Nick a look that cut like a knife. “I’m afraid I’ve little experience with countering poisons. I’m usually called upon to heal injuries. And the poisons I’ve dealt with in the past were never a combination of multiple substances.”
This was a nightmare. He couldn’t lose Kayla. Couldn’t be the cause of her death. That bastard Roubal had been using her as bait to lure him and had clearly deemed her expendable.
; “Why the fuck would Roubal even have something like that lying around?” Nick demanded.
“I don’t know,” Seth said. “Henderson is still looking into the man’s business dealings.”
Melanie and Alleck continued to debate treatments, then set up two IVs. One replenished the blood taken from her. The other delivered whatever antidote they had decided to administer.
Seth’s hands began to glow, which only terrified Nick more. That only happened when he was healing a lot of damage.
Again Kayla stiffened, then went limp.
Nick’s throat thickened as he blinked back tears. He rubbed his palms on his thighs, wishing he could at least hold her hand. But he couldn’t touch her while Seth was healing her.
Helpless fury careened through him, colliding with despair. “Kayla,” he murmured.
Oliver moved closer and rested a hand on his shoulder.
Silence reigned in the room. Conversations spawned by the hundreds of employees in the building formed white noise in the background.
Seth withdrew his healing touch and stepped back.
Nick didn’t like the look on his face and hastily glued his gaze to Kayla’s chest. It still rose and fell with shallow breaths.
He looked at Seth. “Well?”
“She’ll live. Stopping the progression of the damage gave whatever Melanie and Alleck administered time to work. But I was unable to repair all the damage to her heart.”
Nick stared at him. “What does that mean?”
“I’ll try to heal her again once the last of the poison has been neutralized and once her blood volume has been restored. But…”
“But?” He had thought the powerful ancient immortal could heal or reverse anything save decapitation.
As if he’d heard the path Nick’s thoughts had taken, Seth said, “Some things are beyond even my healing capabilities. Most illnesses I can heal. Most injuries, too, save some that affect the brain.” He shook his head. “But this poison appears to have weakened her heart in ways I may not be able to remedy.”
This couldn’t be happening.
He glanced from Seth to Melanie to Alleck and back. “What does that mean? Is she going to die?”
“Not today.” Seth’s voice was soft and carried regret. “Perhaps not even a year from now. But her risk of heart attack and stroke has increased considerably.”
Nick stared at him. “You’re saying she could drop dead of a heart attack or stroke at any moment?”
“If I cannot reverse more of the damage done, then… yes. I’m afraid so.”
Fuck.
Nick took one of Kayla’s cold hands in his. The backs of his eyes began to burn.
It had taken him four centuries to find her. He couldn’t lose her now. They’d had so little time together.
Eliana cleared her throat. “If Nick transformed her, could the virus repair the damage?”
Nick looked at Seth.
The Immortal Guardians leader pondered it. “I believe so. Immortals have suffered some grievous head wounds in recent years. Ethan’s mind is wired differently and so difficult to navigate that I couldn’t heal all the damage he suffered when he and Aidan were attacked. But he eventually made a full recovery. So the virus must have healed what I could not and may very well be able to do the same for Kayla.”
If Nick transformed her.
He had never broached the subject with her. Hell, he hadn’t had time really. They might have known each other for several years, but they had only been lovers for a short time. He had hoped to work his way up to asking her if she would transform and become immortal.
And he hadn’t been terribly confident she would agree.
Roland Warbrook had suffered greatly after his transformation, not from the violence that had followed but because he had been forced to watch his beloved children grow old and die. Then his grandchildren. Then their children and grandchildren.
Would Kayla want to do the same?
If she said yes, she and Nick could spend the rest of eternity together. Kayla would never grow old. She would be strong and fast and would never get sick.
But she would have to watch Becca grow old and die.
How many times had he heard grieving men and women say parents should never outlive their children?
“Jenna transformed for Richart,” Seth murmured.
Was he listening to Nick’s thoughts?
Nick shook his head. “Jenna had no choice.” Vampires took that from her.
Eliana touched his back. “There’s always choice. You should ask her, Nick. Having decades more with her daughter may offset the grief Kayla will eventually experience.”
Nick hoped like hell it would.
Because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
Chapter Fifteen
Kayla sighed as consciousness beckoned. Damn, she felt tired. She’d been spending too many hours making love with Nick instead of sleeping. Not that she regretted it. Nick was an amazing lover. But it was really starting to take a toll.
She tried to open her eyes and couldn’t. Her lids were too heavy.
At least the nausea was gone.
Wait. What nausea?
Alarm shot through her. She and Oliver had been kidnapped! They’d been drugged. That woman had taken her blood. Then Kayla had vomited and gotten dizzy and…
She couldn’t remember. Had she passed out?
She finally managed to pry her eyes open. Dim light bathed her from the white ceiling above.
She looked to the left. Machines monitored her heart rate, which increased as she watched. Crap. Oliver had been planning an escape. They hadn’t made it out, had they? Those A-holes were taking more of her blood or—
“Kayla.”
Startled, she looked to her right.
Nick sat beside her. His hair stood up on one side as though he’d run his fingers through it one too many times. And his eyes glowed faintly.
Something squeezed her hand.
She glanced down. His long fingers were curled around her hand where it rested on the bed.
And it was a nice bed. Comfortable mattress. Cushy bedding. Definitely not hospital grade.
She glanced around. Yet they appeared to be in some sort of infirmary. “Where am I?”
“Network headquarters in North Carolina.”
Her gaze shot to his face. “We’re in North Carolina?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?” She and Oliver had still been in Houston when she’d passed out, hadn’t they?
Nick’s grip tightened. “Eliana, Seth, and I—along with some of my other immortal brethren—tracked you and Oliver down and freed you. You were being held by a man named Richard Roubal.”
Where had she heard that name before? “Is he the old man you told me about?”
“Yes. He’s the one who recognized me at the hospital. Roubal is dying. He has metastatic lung cancer that has spread to his liver. And he apparently saw in me not just a way to beat the cancer but a way to reverse the aging process so he could remain young forever.”
“He told you all that?”
“No. Seth read it in his mind.”
“I thought you said that had been taken care of.”
Regret flooded his handsome features as he brushed her hair back from her forehead with his free hand. “We all believed it had. But Roubal found a way around it. Because he’s aware of the dementia and mental confusion he suffers, he sometimes writes himself little notes to remind himself of things he doesn’t want to forget. And he did that after seeing me in the hospital. He did it again before he went to see me at my home. Then again before he sent those men to capture me. Seth didn’t find any memory of those notes in Roubal’s mind because of the dementia, so neither he nor the network erased the trail Roubal left himself to follow.”
“Where is Roubal now?”
“Dead.”
She swallowed. “You killed him when you rescued me?”
“No. The network cleaned up and eras
ed all traces of what went down at Brightwood Industries. When Seth took Roubal home, another network crew met him there and eliminated every note and piece of evidence Roubal had gathered in his quest to capture and use me to cure himself. Then Seth put him to bed and stopped his heart so everyone would believe Roubal died peacefully in his sleep.”
She swallowed. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about more sneak attacks in the future. “Is Oliver okay?”
“He’s fine.”
“They beat him really badly.”
“He’s all healed now, sweetheart.”
“Good.” She had a vague memory now of Oliver tossing her over his shoulder. He had risked his life to free her, refusing to leave her behind even though he could barely stand and knew lugging her weight around would slow him down.
She took stock of her body. Other than feeling a little tired, she was okay. Her stomach no longer roiled. Her heart wasn’t racing. Clammy sweat didn’t chill her skin. “I’m all healed, too?” They must have given her blood. Or maybe the drug had simply worn off.
“Not completely.” The faint glow in his eyes intensified.
Her pulse picked up. “What do you mean?”
He closed those amber eyes a moment, then opened them. A muscle leapt in his jaw. “They poisoned you, Kayla.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“Roubal thought they could obtain my cooperation by dangling an antidote in front of me. And if it didn’t work…” He shook his head. “He didn’t want to leave any witnesses behind anyway. The bandage the woman put on your arm after she drew your blood was soaked in poison.”
She stared. “I wondered why she was using such a big bandage. It was because it could hold more poison?”
“Two poisons actually. The network had a cure for one, but not for the other. Seth was able to halt the progression of both poisons. But your heart stopped twice. And he was only able to heal some of the damage done to it.”
Kayla willed herself not to panic. “What does that mean?”
He leaned closer. “Sweetheart, it weakened your heart. Seth tried again to heal you after doctors here at the network infused you with blood and administered the antidote. But he couldn’t restore your heart to what it was before. Both he and Dr. Lipton believe the damage has left you at far greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke.”
Broken Dawn Page 25