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“Thanks,” she said. “I seem to be telling you that a lot lately. ”
“My pleasure. ” He looked to where Nika was sleeping. “Do you mind telling me who she is?”
Andra hesitated. She didn’t know this man, and yet he’d just finished suffering in order to help the only person on this earth Andra loved. She owed him more than she could ever repay. “My sister. ”
Paul’s eyes widened with a desperate kind of hope. “Forgive me if this is rude, but do you share both of the same parents?”
Andra was so shocked by the odd question that she didn’t even consider whether or not she should answer. “I think so. Mom had a boyfriend who would come visit her every few years. We never met him, but she loved him. She said he was in the military and that’s why we never got to see him. ”
“In the military?”
Andra shrugged, refusing to let the hurt of her childhood rule her life now. “I think it was a cover story Mom made up so we wouldn’t hate him. I believed it for a few years, but eventually I started to resent him. What the hell kind of father couldn’t even send a birthday card or call on the phone once in a while? I think he was just some deadbeat who got Mom pregnant and left her to deal with things on her own. ”
“Sounds like a real winner,” said Paul, but there was no fire in his tone, only speculation.
“I figure my life was better without him in it, you know?”
“I’m sure you’re right,” he said, but it didn’t sound like he believed it for a minute.
“Do you know something you’re not telling me?” she asked.
“About your father? I don’t think so. ”
Nika let out a whimper in her sleep and Andra went to her side. “Shh, baby. Sleep. ”
“They’re coming,” mumbled Nika. “The monsters are coming. ”
Andra’s heart broke open and wept for her sister. “You’re safe here. I won’t let anything hurt you. ”
The door to the room opened and Logan and Madoc walked in as if they owned the place. Andra was starting to question the security here. “How did you two get in?”
Logan ignored her question. He was too busy sniffing the air for something. Madoc shrugged his huge shoulders and said, “Once the sun set, Logan pulled his Invisible Man routine and we walked right in. No sweat. ”
“He actually went invisible?” asked Andra.
“Not exactly,” said Logan. “It’s more of a trick of the mind. ”
“Who’s the kid?” asked Madoc. He stared at Nika with way too much interest for Andra’s comfort.
Andra took a step to the side to block his line of sight. “I think you all should leave. ”
Logan’s pale eyes brightened and he moved toward Nika as if he were floating. “You never said you had a sister. ” He pulled in a deep breath through his nose. “Her blood is as pure as yours. I can smell it. ”
Andra saw the dark spots of blood on Nika’s gown. “You can smell that we’re sisters?” That was too freaky for words.
“Logan,” said Paul in a warning tone. “Back the hell off. ”
“She’s in so much pain. I mean only to ease her mind. ” He reached toward Nika.
The metallic ring of metal on metal filled the air as both Paul and Madoc drew their swords, seemingly from thin air. Paul’s sword went to Logan’s throat, Madoc’s to Logan’s crotch.
“Touch her and die the hard way,” growled Madoc.
Logan lifted his elegant hands into the air and the unnatural light in his eyes dimmed. “The child is suffering. I can help. ”
Andra wasn’t sure what was going on. “Can he really help her?” Andra asked Paul.
Paul spared Andra a quick glance. “He’d want to drink her blood. ”
“It’s the only way to diagnose her—to find the true cause of her mental breakdown,” explained Logan.
“Don’t fall for it, Andra,” said Madoc. “You saw the way he looked at her. He wants her blood, and he’s using the excuse of helping her as a way to get it. ”
“That’s not entirely true. I do want her blood, but I also want to help her. Just let me near her to see if I can give her any comfort. ”
Andra had given the vampire her blood and it hadn’t hurt her, other than a case of the woozies. He’d mended her broken arm, too. If he could help Nika, she was willing to take a risk and let him near her. “You can look at her, but you can’t do anything else. ”
“As you wish,” agreed Logan.
Madoc didn’t want to put his sword away. He was probably going to need it any second now anyway. Logan was a fucking predator, and he seemed to be the only one who saw that.
Madoc didn’t like the idea of Logan getting anywhere near the child. He couldn’t see her face from here, but she barely made a bump in the bed, she was so thin. Only the bones in her knees and her toes stuck out enough to tent the blanket.
Logan glided forward and Andra stepped aside to make room for him by the bed. Madoc got a glimpse at the girl’s face and realized that this was no child. She was a young woman, much older than the ten or twelve he would have guessed from her scrawny frame.
The woman stirred and Andra laid a hand on her arm. “It’s okay, Nika. He’s here to help. ”
Madoc snorted in disgust. He couldn’t help it. “The only person Logan is going to help is Logan. ”
“Back off, Madoc,” said Paul. “He’s not going to hurt her by looking at her. ”
Logan placed his hand on Nika’s head. Just as he did, Nika opened her eyes as if someone had flipped a switch. Her skin was deathly pale, nearly as white as her hair. Her eyes were wide with fear, and a pure, brilliant blue like the winter sky. And there was so much blue, too. Her pupils had shrunk down to pinpoints.
She swatted Logan’s hand away and scrambled away from him, huddling into a small space against the far railing of the bed. The IV bag swayed on the stand as her flailing swung the tube around.
“He wants my blood,” she whispered, staring at Logan in terror. “He wants my blood, he wants my blood, he wants my blood. ” Over and over again, her words getting higher and more strained each time.
Andra rushed around the bed to soothe her sister. Madoc decided Logan’s time with the woman was at an end. He grabbed the Sanguinar’s thin body around the middle with one arm and hauled him across the room. He shoved him into the bathroom, shut the door, and held the knob so Logan couldn’t come out until he let him.
The door rattled as Logan pulled against Madoc’s hold, but it didn’t budge. Logan was no wimp, but Madoc was a whole hell of a lot stronger.
“This isn’t helping,” he said from the other side of the door.
As a matter of fact, it was. Nika had quieted, and was now clinging to Andra’s neck, sobbing. Madoc didn’t care much for the tears, but they beat the hell out of that frightened look on her face—the one that made him want to kill something to make it stop.
Paul shot Madoc a sour look. “He’s right, you know. He can’t help her at all from there. ”
“Girl didn’t want his help,” said Madoc. “Just ask her. ”
Paul crossed to Madoc and spoke in a near whisper. “She’s not sane. Logan scared her. That’s all. ”
“She didn’t want him to take her blood. Far as I’m concerned, that makes her the sanest person in this room. ”
Paul shook his head and turned around. “What do you want to do, Andra?”
She looked up from their hug. Tears were running down her face, and her eyes—so much like Nika’s—were filled with sorrow.
Something about seeing that pulled at Madoc. He would have thought it was sympathy, but surely he had none left.
“I can’t stand to see her upset like that. It’s going to make her sick after we finally got her to eat something. ”
“Okay,” said Paul. “How about we wait until she calms down and tell her what’s going on. Maybe if she knows who Logan is, she won’t be so afraid of him. She was
n’t afraid of me. ”
“Because you didn’t want to drink her blood, idiot,” said Madoc.
Andra sniffed and nodded, ignoring him altogether. “It’s worth a shot. ”
“The monsters are coming,” said Nika. Her voice broke as she spoke, and Madoc had the nearly uncontrollable urge to go visit Logan in the bathroom and pound on him for a while.
“Shh, baby. No monsters can get you here,” said Andra.
Nika lifted her tearstained face. Her cheekbones stood out under her skin. “They know where I am now. They see me. And you. ”
“No, they don’t. You’re safe here. ”
“I’m not crazy, Andra. They’re coming. ”
Chick didn’t sound crazy. Sad, afraid, tired, sure. But not crazy.
Madoc looked out the window onto the green lawn below. It was well lit down there, and he didn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean shit. “There’s blood on her gown,” he said. “If she is one of us, they might be able to smell it. ”
Nika turned her head and looked at him for the first time. When her eyes met his, he felt like he’d been hit in the gut with a battering ram. He grabbed the doorframe to steady himself.
Whoever she was, she had power. He could almost see it flowing through her.
Killing her.
He wasn’t sure how he knew that was the case, but he knew it, deep down. Bone deep. The same way he knew his soul was shriveling up into a heap of ash more and more as each day passed, and there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do about it.
Logan opened the door behind him. Madoc moved so Nika couldn’t see the bloodsucker.
“Her natural protection should mask the scent of her blood from the Synestryn,” said Paul.
“Not if she knows about them. ”
Paul asked Andra, “Does Nika know about the Synestryn?”
Andra gave a shaky nod. “They attacked us when we were kids. ”
Logan pulled in a deep breath, sniffing the air. “Ni ka’s right. Synestryn are closing in. Fast. ”
Madoc righted himself and let the grin fill his face. Finally, something he could kill.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” said Paul.
Andra held her sister’s face against her chest. “Not without Nika. ”
“Right. Can you carry her?” Paul asked Andra.
She nodded and unhooked the clear bag of fluid from the stand. “Come on, Nika. You and I are going for a ride. ” She handed her sister the bag and lifted her into strong arms.
Andra was ripped, and Madoc took a moment to enjoy the sight before drawing his weapon. “I’ll take point. ”
“I’ll bring up the rear,” said Paul. “Logan. You’re going to have to shield us all from sight. Are you strong enough?”
“Yes,” said Logan, though he didn’t sound convincing. He was sticking close to Paul now, as if worried he might need a bodyguard.
Smart leech.
“She’ll need to leave the bloody gown behind,” said Logan.
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