by Jan McDonald
“Thought you did that years ago.” He tried again unsuccessfully to get up. Lane pushed him down gently.
“You can thank Darius for the fact you’re here and not dog meat in a dark cupboard at the club. He called me as soon as you went inside. I was on my way to Michael Rabb’s place.” She pulled a face, “I’ll still have to face the music for disobedience. Anyhow, Andrei must have thought better of an encounter with a member of the Council, especially as he seems to have plans for Kat and, in any case, I had to make a choice. Go after them or get you out of there.” She smiled at him in a way he’d never noticed before. “No contest, Handsome. And it’s hardly surprising that you feel like hell, given the thrashing your body’s taken over the last few days, to say nothing of the empty bottle of Jack. I think you have a death wish, Beckett, but I’m sorry to disappoint you, it looks as though you’ll have to wait a while longer. Now: lie still, I need to take some blood from your arm.”
“Hungry, are we? And, for the record, you need to work on your bedside manner, Doctor.”
“Not funny. Though I have often wondered how you’d taste. But again, I am going to disappoint you, I’m afraid. Now don’t be difficult, I need a syringe full of the good stuff to test it. I need to see if the Anti-HVV worked.”
“Anti-HVV? What the hell have you pumped into me? Bloody leech.”
“You know, you are so charming when you are in this mood, Beckett. I’ll explain when I’m sure you really are okay. Now, please lie still.”
She lifted his arm and attached a syringe to the needle already in his vein and withdrew the blood she needed. He didn’t take his eyes from her face, watching as she became the professional in an instant and, as she turned to leave, he caught her wrist.
“Lane, tell me what’s going on. Kat …” There was a fleeting second when he saw shadow, a hint of pain on her face.
“Rest, Beckett. We’ll talk when I’ve done the test.” She wrenched her arm from his grip.
“It wasn’t her fault. She had no choice,” he persisted.
“Beckett we all have a choice. Now rest. I won’t be long.” She turned to leave, “Do I have to lock you in? Or send you to sleep again?”
He knew that he wouldn’t be able to stand and shook his head, a movement he instantly regretted, as the room swam around him and he felt violently sick.
He heard the door shut quietly behind her and closed his eyes against the whirling walls. Kat’s image came unbidden on the screen of his memory, she was leaning over him, her amethyst eyes had been clouded with pain, but not the pain of her latency. This was a deep emotional pain. He put his finger to his lip where he remembered her kiss. It was soft and gentle and spoke of something that could be kindled into life given the opportunity. He tasted her blood in his mouth and when she bit him, he had felt the salt of her tears sting the tiny puncture in his throat. He felt his own eyes fill and squeezed them tight as the first tears slid down his face. He sniffed hard and swallowed; he didn’t hold with a man crying. It wasn’t what he did.
He turned his thoughts towards the whole scene. Andrei in a rage, manhandling her and pushing her down to his throat; he would pay for that. But not that day.
Lane returned before his thoughts took him into further misery.
He looked into her eyes and saw the relief in them, which instantly transmitted itself into his own being.
“Don’t tell me – I’m pregnant.”
Lane laughed aloud. “God, Beckett, what will it take?”
“To do what?”
“To make you take your own life a little more seriously.”
“Don’t know what you mean. So, what happened? What did you give me? And I want it straight”
“A new Anti-HVV. It’s still under development; I’ve never used it before and it was either going to bring you back safely or enhance the virus she transferred to you in the bite and kill you. I still don’t know if it’s only temporary or if we’ll have you around for a while longer. Straight enough?”
“It’ll do. So where did you get the stuff? Doctor Frankenstein?”
“I can’t go into that right now. Let’s just say I acquired some for the Sanctuary in not quite a legitimate way. Like I said, it’s experimental. You’re my first lab rat.”
“Such an honour. Now, help me up. I always think that a man falling flat on his face somehow lacks dignity, don’t you?”
Her arm was around his shoulders, supporting his abortive attempt. The twitching muscle in his cheek betrayed the clenched teeth as he tried again. This time Lane lifted him with ease. He sat on the edge of the bed, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on her and away from the carousel that was the walls of the clinic.
“So, what is this Anti-HVV then? And what the hell happened? I can’t remember anything after Kat … well, you know.”
“She drained you. Or near as damn it. You, um, well it looked as though you were starting to turn.”
He started to protest and she quashed his outburst with a look. “Hear me out. Something strange is happening, Beckett. I have never seen anyone other than a Latent turn like that, and never so quickly. The Anti-HVV is supposed to arrest the process. It gives a massive boost to the immune system, attaching itself to the white cells in the blood and attacking the virus, at the same time it actively works to kill off the mutated cells. Well, that’s the theory. The problem is that it causes such a shock to the system it can kill instantly if it takes the wrong way. Apparently, the last time it was used the patient died immediately. I had to take that chance,” she said abruptly as she sensed his outrage. “It was either that, or sit back and watch you turn. I couldn’t do that, Beckett. Not you. So, I took a chance.”
The enormity of what she was saying weighed on him like a leaden cloak. “Thank you,” he said thickly.
“It was touch and go; you had a seizure and your heart has taken a bashing. I still don’t know if it was the Anti-HVV or the virus that caused it. Beckett, I had to do it. I had to try.”
He caught hold of her hand, “Of course you did. So, is it working?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure. It looks hopeful. There are definitely less vampire cells in your blood. And there is an increase in your t cells.”
“I hear a ‘but’ coming.”
She nodded. “But there is a marked decrease in your red cells. The Anti-HVV seems to be having a detrimental effect on the cells carrying haemoglobin.”
“So, what does that mean? I’m anaemic?”
“If it continues, yes, anaemia is the result and I can treat it easily. It’s called haemolysis – the red cells are dying off rapidly and if it gets out of control, it will mean a transfusion to see if we can arrest the process. Then if that doesn't work, there’s haemodialysis.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
She was quiet for a moment, then, “It’s not good Beckett.”
He remained silent, his cheek muscle twitching.
“Like I said, it’s looking positive but I need to keep testing your blood to watch the progress of the Anti-HVV. You need to get some rest now. I’ll be right here; I’m going nowhere.”
“Lane, I’m worried about Kat. And before you say anything, I know she wouldn’t have done this unless Andrei had forced her to. “
“It doesn’t matter Beckett, she crossed the line. I don’t know how long I can protect her now. She’s turned and feeding and that isn’t the worst part.”
“What?”
“There’s a difference in the virus. It’s mutated from the original viral strain. It’s the vampire virus but it’s stronger, more resistant. That’s why I risked the Anti-HVV. Beckett, you have to know that it may come to the worst for her.”
“No! Lane, no. There must be something. ” His memory of the event played out again, there was something that bothered him and it suddenly became clear.
“There’s something you don’t know,” he said.
Lane looked at him intently, trying to probe him but failing. She was too damn close to him.
“What?” she asked.
“Before she bit me – well, took out half my throat, I should say – before that, she kissed me.”
“Goddamn it Beckett, this is no time for romance. So what? So she kissed you, I’m glad for you, I really am, now can we move on?”
“You don’t understand. She was bleeding. From the mouth. It looked as though Andrei had roughed her up a bit. Anyway, when she kissed me, her blood was in my mouth. It didn’t register at the time. But I remember it now. Her blood was in my mouth … and I swallowed it.”
Lane shook her head, biting the inside of her lip to control her emotion. Damn Beckett. If he wasn’t involved she wouldn’t hesitate when she caught up with Kat. Why was everything so complicated?
She looked directly at him, “Beckett, I’ll try, but I can’t make you a promise I may not be able to keep.”
He saw through the mask to her emotions; he knew her better than anyone else. He was the only one she’d allowed close in centuries. “Try is good enough for me. But I am coming with you and that is that, I’m feeling stronger by the minute.”
She looked serious. “That’s what is bothering me, Handsome. By rights you should be in intensive care on some goddamn machinery. But look at you. I’ve seen you look a damn sight worse.”
“So, what the hell are you saying?”
“I’m saying that either the virus or the Anti-HVV is somehow making you stronger while at the same time it’s killing your red cells. I’m saying that because you drank her blood and she infected you with her bite as well, unless I can reverse this process you may end up like her. She will have drained you to the point of death and effectively fed you her blood.”
“Holy Mother of God,” he whispered.
Lane nodded. Her heart ached for the man who had become her dearest friend. Over the centuries she had avoided forming unnecessary relationships where she could, but somehow Beckett had got under her skin and into her heart, albeit a vampire one.
“Let’s hope it works then,” he said quietly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Beckett slept in between Lane taking blood samples. He opened his eyes to find her standing at his side looking grim.
“Oh God, it’s happening isn’t it?”
Lane didn’t reply, she turned her head but Beckett had already seen the glisten of a tear on her cheek. Lane didn’t cry.
She turned to him quickly, “I don’t know Beckett. There’s still a battle going on in there. I’m afraid that if you lose any more red cells I’m going to have to set up a transfusion.”
“If you’re going to do it, get on with it. I told you, I can’t hang around here; they’ve already had a night and day’s start. He’s taking her to Greece, I know it.”
“Beckett, how can you be so sure? And, as your doctor, I should tell you that you aren’t fit to go anywhere but I know I may as well save my breath. I’m going to take one more blood sample before I set up the transfusion. Lie still a minute.”
She took his arm and attached the vial to the needle taped into his arm. The blood flowed slowly into the glass tube in her hand.
“Lane, if it – you know – well if it does go that way, I want you to take care of it.”
She took a sudden breath in and gasped at him, her eyes wide. Shocked at his meaning her hand clenched involuntarily around the tube which immediately shattered into her fist. A mixture of Beckett’s blood and her own crimson flow ran down her arm and dripped into a shiny pool on the floor.
Beckett lunged at her before she could react. His face contorted into a mask of something wild and dark, he snarled at her and the sound that came from him was dark and tortured as he grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him, his mouth wide.
Her vampire senses and strength took over and she yanked her arm free and grabbed at the chair in which she had sat vigil. She brought it easily high above her head and crashing down towards Beckett’s head.
As quickly as the insanity had arisen, it faded and she brought the chair down to the floor, instead of cracking his skull. The look of horror on his face mirrored hers. He locked his terrified eyes into hers and slowly shook his head. Lane pulled a towel over her hand and wrapped the already healing wounds inside it, then moved to his side and put her other hand onto his arm.
“Beckett…”
“Don’t. Don’t say anything. I’m sorry, Legs. Well, that’s it I guess. There’s your answer. Now, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to figure out a way to fix this. And you are going to have to co-operate. Yes, it looks bad and, as I suspected, there is something different about Kat. This wouldn’t have happened normally. Uninfected people don’t turn like that after the bite. I’ve never known it. Never.”
“Well, I’ll take comfort from that. Thanks,” he replied dryly.
She appeared to make a sudden decision and turned to the trolley beside her. “I’m putting up a unit of blood to see what that does. And … “
“And?”
“And I want to try something, but you need to agree.”
He didn’t move or say anything.
“I’m going to give you a double dose of Anti-HVV. I don’t know what will happen. It’s a risk, Beckett, and you need to make the call.”
“Do it. Do it now.” He closed his eyes.
She wasted no more time on talk, reaching for a loaded syringe, and pumped its contents into his arm. She leaned into him, listening to his heartbeat, at first erratic and weak, then pounding. Then silent.
“Beckett! Beckett, don’t you dare!”
She listened intently, her own hearing far more reliable than any heart monitor. There was nothing. Beckett’s heart had stopped. For an instant she considered full resuscitation and then instinctively knew that this was the nature of the virus in the final stages of the turning. If Beckett was brought back, then she didn’t know what he would come back as. And she remembered her promise to him. She felt a pain deep inside; the pain of grief that she had tried so hard to avoid over the centuries by not allowing any human into her heart. She allowed herself this moment of pain – for Beckett. Then, as suddenly as the silence within him had come, there was a faint flutter, then another, then – miraculously – a heartbeat. And another. Then another.
His eyes opened slowly. The glint of life in them was unmistakeable.
“Beckett? Thank God, Handsome. Thank God.” He was back, and the whys and wherefores didn’t matter to her.
“Don’t thank him. You did it, not God. I told you before; he and I don’t get on any more.”
“Whatever, Beckett. But you should know that not many survive a single dose, let alone twice that. And look at you! Goddamn it, I don’t understand it.”
“So, what now?”
“Now, we wait and see. I’m going to look at your blood again. I’ll be right back.
He hadn’t even noticed her collecting the sample. His mind was racing; pictures of Kat and Andrei tearing through him, searing into his thoughts and emotions. He clenched his fist and banged it into the bed. Lane looked up at him, ready to react to his sudden aggression.
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to do anything. But you need to know that I’m feeling scarily better.”
Lane didn’t answer him as she left with his blood.
Beckett’s mind seemed on fire, and he began perspiring. There was a yearning for something he couldn’t quite reach, a need for something he didn’t recognise. He fought it, determined to wait for Lane. He needed her now like he never had.
As if in answer to his racing thoughts, she appeared. She seemed to walk with a lighter step and there was a new light in her eyes. He read relief in them.
“It’s too soon to be sure. But there are no new vampire cells and no more red cell loss. I think it worked, Handsome. I really think it worked.”
“Of course it did. I could’ve told you that. Just wanted to be certain.”
“I said I’m not sure yet. Don’t get too excited.”
His answer
was to step off the bed and hug her.
“Beckett, get back on that bed. You have to rest.”
“I’ll rest when I’m dead. Which, thanks to you, doesn’t seem to be any time soon. Let’s go, Legs. You can tell me about that damn Anti-HVV as we go.”
He grabbed her arm and headed for the door. Lane shook her head in disbelief; he should be dead, or at least as near to it as wouldn’t make a difference to the Devil.
“Where? Where are we going?”
“Greece,” he said grimly. “Get your passport, Doc.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Santo and Nik had arrived at Thessaloniki and booked into the Presidential Apartment of Les Lazaristes, a luxury hotel just ten miles from the centre of the city and directly opposite the Moni Lazaristoni which housed the State Museum of Contemporary Art. Santo relished the proximity of the culture – and the taste of the cultured.
The hotel manager had been deferential and personally attended to Santo, dismissing footmen with a wave and escorting them in the private elevator direct to the apartment where there was a butler waiting to greet them. Nik frowned. He knew that Santo had obvious wealth, but the Presidential Apartment? He had quickly noticed that it was not listed on the accommodation list in the lobby. It wasn’t let to just anyone who had the cash; you had to be known. And the apartment itself was something that Nik had never dreamed of. His life had become surreal, being catapulted from an angry young vampire destitute and on the periphery of the vampire world to the privileged companion of Santo – the silken-masked vampire who held prominence and dominance in that world, despite his young age compared to others of his kind. Nik guessed he must have been in his mid twenties when he had become one of the Undead. Santo had chosen to mentor him and bring him to his father, the reasons for which were now apparent: he was a pawn in a dangerous game. But pawns did not have to be sacrificed to reach the king – if he played the game with Santo until he had taken from him all that was available, he would watch for the opportunity that would free him to find his father on his own.