by Aliya DalRae
He then turned to Rachel, oblivious to the blood, Jessica’s blood, now covering his gloved hands. Rachel swallowed hard.
“She needs surgery.”
Rachel nodded, swallowed again. “Can you do it?” she asked.
“It’s been a lot of years since I practiced obstetrics, and many things have changed in that time. I did try to stay up on new medical procedures. However, I’m afraid I wouldn’t begin to know my way around a D&C, let alone be able to repair the ruptured uterus that’s causing her to lose so much blood. I could remove the uterus, but I must go under the assumption that, given the choice, she would choose the option of being able to conceive again in the future.
“Are you saying we should have brought her to a human hospital? You know why we didn’t do that. Her blood work would have the entire staff talking.”
“I’m saying I can save her life, but not her future.”
The doors burst open and Harrier was there, his protective fury preceding him into the room.
“You’ll not ruin her,” he stated with a hard glare at the doctor. “Tell me what you need, and you’ll have it.”
Allon glanced again at Rachel, then back to the Warrior, and told them what he required.
“But Harrier, there’s not much time. We’re giving her blood, but it’s leaking out of her almost as quickly as it’s going in. If we don’t take care of her soon, we will lose her.
“No,” Harrier turned to the door but glanced back over his shoulder before pushing through. “No, we won’t.”
Chapter Forty
R achel sat in a stiff chair next to Jessica’s bed trying to read a novel, but the words weren’t making sense. After rereading the same paragraph a fourth time, she slammed the covers together and put it aside.
Two days had passed since Harrier brought Jessica to them. Two days since she lost the baby, since their lives were turned upside down yet again. Two days, and Jessica had yet to regain consciousness.
It wasn’t that long ago that she’d sat in this very same room, wondering if her niece would survive the act of selfless bravery that had saved the life of that bastard, Raven. As things stood now, it would have been so much better if she’d let the ungrateful male die. If she had, Malcolm would still be alive and perhaps this terrible loss might not have occurred.
Jessica moaned in her sleep, turned a little, and Rachel was out of the chair and by her side at once. Brushing a chestnut curl from Jessica’s brow, Rachel started at how warm she was. No, warm wasn’t quite right. Jessica was burning up.
After the surgery, performed by a doctor Harrier had “procured” and equipment he had “borrowed” from the nearest hospital, they were instructed to give Jessica antibiotics and to watch closely for more bleeding. Harrier gave the human doctor a complete memory wipe and dropped him near where he’d been conscripted.
They followed his directions to the letter, Allon triple checking he had written them down correctly. The good news was, the bleeding had stopped and her uterus was repaired; however, this fever was out of control.
Rachel pushed a button on the control panel attached to the bed railing, and Allon was there within moments. He had chosen to sleep in the clinic, near his patient, rather than return to the comfortable quarters the Legion had provided him. He rarely left Jessica’s side, and had only gone to sleep a few hours ago with Rachel’s promise to call should anything arise.
“She’s on fire,” Rachel told him the minute he walked in the door, and he went right to work, checking her vitals. Her temperature was one hundred and five, and her blood pressure was dangerously low.
“Damned infection,” Allon muttered as he continued to care for her. “The antibiotics should have taken care of that.” He was talking to himself more than Rachel, and she backed out of his way to give him room to work.
Rachel leaned against the wall, watching, thinking. She knew what had to be done, but it wasn’t a decision she could make without her brother’s input.
She stepped into the hallway and made the call. Harrier was on patrol with Martin again, still looking for those kids, but he would want to weigh in on this.
“Harrier,” she said in response to his mumbled “hello.” “No, she’s not. In fact, she’s getting worse. I think it’s time…I’ll be fine on my own. I’m afraid you’d only complicate matters…Don’t be like that, Harrier. I’m telling you, it’s the only way. I just couldn’t do it without talking to you first…I know, I know…We’ll worry about that when she’s well.”
She took only a moment to steady her nerves, then Rachel marched down the hall in search of her quarry.
~~~~~
R aven and Nox were in a corner of the Club lifting weights. Raven lay prone on a bench, the barbell he pushed above him loaded to its maximum capacity. Nox hovered behind, spotting Raven, though it probably wasn’t necessary.
Raven had to admit that Nox’s “therapy” was doing well in keeping his beast quiet. The odds of him killing anyone who didn’t deserve it had dropped dramatically, especially since he’d stopped fighting the program.
As Raven rested the heavily laden bar in the rack, the double doors to the Club burst open, and Rachel exploded into the room. Her red hair was a mess of curls, and her jaw was set in determination. And those narrowed eyes were boring right through him.
Raven sat up and snarled at the woman. He’d not forgotten the role Harrier’s sister played in using human methods in treating Jessica all those months ago. Jessica nearly died, by Raven’s hand no less, and despite his insistence to the contrary, Raven had not forgiven himself.
To counter this self-loathing, he transferred his feelings of contempt onto Rachel and her brother, blaming them for the near death of the woman he was now completely over.
“Raven.” Rachel marched up to them and addressed him straight on. “We need you.”
“Why?” Raven asked, feigning indifference.
Rachel hesitated, a brief shadow clouding her eyes, but she straightened her back and soldiered on.
“Jessica needs…”
“No.” The cold tone of his voice spoke louder than if he had screamed it.
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask!”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said, then laid down on the bench and reached for the bar.
“She’s dying!” Rachel looked to Nox for help, but the male wisely kept his mouth shut.
Raven’s hands tightened on the metal bar, a reflexive response to the news that, with the help of Nox’s mental manipulations, he was able to ignore.
“Jessica’s always dying of one thing or another,” he said as he resumed lifting the weights, pushing them above his chest, lowering them, repeating the process. “What was it this time? Sorcerers? Ferals? A new shifter boyfriend lose control on her? Tear her to shreds? Hmm?” And he slammed the bar down on the rack.
“Don’t be an ass,” Rachel screamed. “This is serious. Modern medicine has failed her. Vampire blood is the only way.”
Raven shrugged. “So, give her your blood. She’ll not be getting mine.”
Rachel’s distress was almost palpable and Raven watched from the corner of his eye as Nox took a step toward her. Doing his best to ignore the two, Raven lifted the heavy bar again and continued with his reps.
“What is it?” he heard Nox ask. “What’s happened?”
Rachel glanced at him, then returned her attention to Nox as Raven focused on his workout.
“She’s lost the baby,” Rachel whispered. “We had a human expert here to help, and I suppose he did as far as the surgery was concerned, but she’s developed an infection. We’ve given her antibiotics, but they’re not working. She’s dying, Nox, and he’s the only one who can save her.”
Raven paused in his lifting, not wanting to care what Rachel said about that traitorous bitch. Yet, he found himself unable to close his ears to the conversation taking place a few feet from him.
“What happened?” Nox was asking. “How did she lose the c
hild?”
“We don’t know,” Rachel replied. “Harrier went to check on her and he found her unconscious. He brought her here directly, and Allon was able to determine the problem, but didn’t feel he could do the surgery she needed. Harrier took care of that, but that was two days ago, and she’s still not awake. She’s burning up with fever. Nox, we’re desperate. It’s the last thing she would want, but I’m to the point where I don’t care. I’d rather have her around to hate me, than to lose her like this.”
Raven wasn’t sure, but it sounded like Rachel was crying. He still didn’t understand why the Scottish contingent had become so invested in Jessica, didn’t care, but the female had gotten herself pretty worked up. He spoke before he could stop himself.
“Why did you bring her here in the first place?” he asked. “Wouldn’t she have been better off at a human hospital?”
“Have you even bothered to talk to her?” Rachel parried. “Have you tried even once to understand what’s been going on in her life? Or have you been too busy wallowing in your own misery, hating her for having human emotions and blaming her for everything that’s happened?”
“She fucked the cat,” Raven stood up, words low and menacing.
“So, she fucked the cat,” Rachel mocked, and Raven nearly laughed at the look on his twin’s face. “She got pregnant, she hurt your feelings. Obviously, it’s all about you, only this time, Raven, it’s really not. This time she’s going to die, to pay with her life for making one mistake. Sorry, a second mistake. Her first would have been getting involved with the likes of you!”
They were nose to nose at this point. Even though he towered over her, she’d stretched to her full height, her eyes sparking a bright emerald in her anger. Nox was at his side in an instant, the hand on his shoulder a reminder of what his brother would do if he didn’t back down.
Not wanting to deal with the literal headache his twin’s “help” would leave him with, Raven took a step back.
“Why my blood?”
Rachel’s chest was heaving, but she stepped back as well. “Allon feels that since it was your blood she ingested the first two times, it would be best if we not change things up at this point. It would be…better for her.
Raven regarded her, searching for some sign of deception, but he felt none. She genuinely believed the shit she was feeding him. He tried to imagine what he would feel should Jessica die. However, because of the influence Nox had placed upon him, it was simply impossible for him to work up any level of concern. Somewhere, deep inside, he knew he should be worried, terrified even, but thanks to his brother’s unusual magic, he felt nothing. And because he felt nothing, it was easy for him to walk away.
He sensed both pairs of eyes burning into his back as the Club doors slid closed behind him.
Chapter Forty-One
“C an I help at all?” Nox asked, but Rachel was too busy staring green daggers at the spot where his brother had disappeared for conversation. “Rachel?”
“What?” she tore her eyes from the settling doors and looked at him.
“Can I help? Is there anything I can do?”
“I don’t know what it would be,” she huffed, kicking at a dumbbell in frustration. “She needs his blood. Any other could be disastrous.”
“I’m his twin.”
“I’m aware of that.” Rachel was in no mood for idle chat, especially not with a male who looked identical to the current object of her disdain. Wait…
“You’re his twin.”
Nox frowned. “Yes, I just said that.”
“His identical twin!”
“Right…”
“Nox, you’re brilliant!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek with a noisy muah.
“Come on!”
She grabbed his hand and pulled, nearly dislocating her shoulder when he didn’t move with her. It took a quick moment and a second tug, but he was soon on the move as she raced them both to Jessica’s room.
Allon jumped when they burst through the door, Rachel first with Nox still in tow.
“Question,” she gasped, dropping Nox’s hand and grabbing the doctor by the shoulders. “Will his blood work?”
Allon’s forehead creased as he glanced between Rachel and the male behind her. Rachel knew the moment realization struck him. His eyes widened, one silver eyebrow rose in an arch, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Perhaps,” he said. “Nox, this is something you are willing to do?”
“Of course, if it will help. I’m not sure why it is so important that she have the same blood, but I don’t see why mine wouldn’t work. You’ll not find closer to Raven’s without bleeding the male yourself.”
“If you’re certain, I can’t tell you how imperative it is that we begin at once.”
“Of course, Doctor. Whatever it takes to save her life.”
~~~~~
R aven wasn’t sure where he was going. After leaving the Club, he walked the halls aimlessly, roaming from wing to wing, through the residential halls first, then down to the Sub T level and the Legion offices. The thought of going to his quarters was unappealing, though he couldn’t put a finger on why that would be.
Had he not been under his brother’s influence, he would think his feelings for her were re-emerging, but of course that wouldn’t happen. That was part of what he’d had Nox take care of, dulling anything that would have softened him to her. Not erased, no. He wanted to remember everything, especially the betrayal, but the feelings that went along with it? The pain, the anger, the desire to turn himself over to the beast and let it tear through the countryside wreaking havoc on anything living—these were things best left on mute.
And yet…
His wandering took him through the tunnels, around the underground garage, up the elevator and down another hallway. Raven looked up to find himself in the Clinic. It was as though some unseen tether had pulled him there, led him to the one place he knew he didn’t belong.
The door on the left was open a crack, and he had moved to peek inside before he was consciously aware of what he was doing.
Jessica lay unconscious on a hospital bed, the blankets pulled up to her chest, her face flushed with fever. Allon stood on the far side of the bed. Rachel stood opposite him leaning close to Jessica’s head, murmuring softly as she brushed a lock of hair from the girl’s forehead.
The surprise was the presence of his brother standing next to Allon. The doctor was explaining something and Nox nodded his consent. Allon produced a pad of gauze and a bottle of alcohol, the caustic smell of it carrying across the room to assault Raven’s senses.
Raven pushed the door open for a better view, unable to wrap his mind around what was happening.
Allon wiped the antiseptic gauze across Nox’s wrist, then grabbed a plastic-wrapped packet from the little hospital table between them. He tore the packet open and revealed a sharp scalpel, its metal glinting in the fluorescent glare of the overhead lights.
It wasn’t until the doctor made the cut, until Raven smelled his brother’s blood as it welled in the wound, that he understood what was happening. Rachel told them Jessica was dying, and apparently had recruited Nox to provide the healing blood she needed.
Fine, he thought, refusing to let the thought of his brother’s blood entering Jessica’s body bother him. If Nox wanted to play the hero, it was no skin off Raven’s ass.
He turned away and had taken several steps when he heard her moan. It wasn’t the sound of a dying woman, crying out in pain. This was the sound of a woman in ecstasy.
He swung around to see his brother standing over Jessica, his wrist to her lips, her throat moving up and down as she swallowed his blood. Nox was making an obvious effort not to enjoy the sensations Raven knew he was feeling. But even his stalwart brother couldn’t suppress a groan of pleasure when Jessica sunk her blunt teeth into his wrist. Raven knew how that felt, remembered it well. It was a feeling unlike anything he’d experienced in his nearly six
hundred years. Now, his brother was on the receiving end.
Jessica moaned again, raised her hands to clasp the wrist more tightly to her mouth, and began to feed in earnest. Nox lowered his head to rest it next to hers, his breathing heavy. Raven could smell his brother’s arousal.
The sting of a fang biting into his bottom lip brought Raven to a point of clarity. His vision had taken on a purple haze, but that did not change the scene before him, nor how it was affecting him. A low growl rumbled up the back of his throat as his body shook with vivid awareness.
Jessica Sweet was his.
Chapter Forty-Two
N ox was in heaven. Never had he felt something so exquisite, so intoxicating. When her tiny teeth broke his skin, making the scalpel cut a moot point, he’d nearly lost his legs. Leaning his head next to hers, it took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to sink his aching fangs into that soft V at her neck. That, of course, would have defeated the purpose, so he restrained himself—just.
He reached out to her mentally, trying to make contact with her unconscious mind. When a boulder slammed into him, it broke the seal her lips had formed on his skin, and he hit the far wall with a driving force. The collision knocked the instrument table over, scattering plastic covered tools across the linoleum floor.
He should have known his brother would not be able to stay away. This female was the other half of his heart, whether he was mentally able to handle their issues or not.
His reaction, however, made it clear that Nox’s psychic influences had been overridden by an emotion as old as time. Jealousy.
Happy as he was to see Raven breaking out of his morose, Nox was not willing to pay for the return of his brother’s senses with his life. When the claws came out, Nox grasped Raven’s arm and shot him with a bolt of mental energy. Raven jerked back, grasping his head as the pain shot through it.