"There's no sign of Ileana outside, no scent either. All of these people came from different places in different ways. Nee… that guy had his heart ripped out of his chest." Xany's face grayed.
"I know, Xee, but I can't think about that right now," I said just as Dr. Nylar led the woman into the room. She took a seat on the table then did a double take at Xany and me. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
"Erm…hi," she said.
"Laura," Xany spoke first. Her eyes were almost as wide as the patient's. Laura stared as us with the same gaping expression she wore in the hoarder's cave where we first met.
"Doctor Nylar, will you and James return to room one and prepare Oliver for transport? Xany and I will take care of this together," I tried desperately to hold onto my poker face.
"All right," Nylar sounded suspicious but she left with James anyway. I closed the door behind her and Laura burst out talking.
"It was a vampire. A female, she said that you would get the message." Laura held out her arm. The same arm that I had healed over the summer. Her break wasn't nearly as bad as the last but it was the same glyph-wielding arm as before. I placed my hands over her wrist and the heal happened effortlessly, as if my flesh recognized hers. Laura sighed, as relief seemed to flood her. I lifted my hand and brushed my fingertips over the puncture wounds in her neck.
"Shawnee, you're healing too much," Xany lectured.
"Laura, Xany's going to take you outside to Caden. You have to tell him everything, okay?" I ignored Xany's warning.
"Yeah, okay. Gee, you really are a doctor," Laura said. She looked a lot better than the last time I saw her. With a fuller face and a clear complexion, I could tell she'd been taking care of herself. My heart pounded in my ears. Don't lose it, Shawnee. Stay focused.
"How are you doing?" I asked, bandaging up her healed neck. I wrapped up her wrist in a bandage with a splint. She didn't ask questions. Laura was a Breeder and she knew that we would have to mask the heals.
"I'm doing okay. Thinking of rejoining a pack now after this…"
"It might not be a bad idea for now."
"We can talk to Caden about it," Xany said, her eyebrows lifting.
"Take her now, Xee, before people start asking questions."
Xany escorted Laura the short distance to the front door to hand her off to Caden. I paced the floor of the empty room. Every victim, minus the kid, I knew. How dare she feed on a child? I clenched my teeth and fought the urge to punch something. And Oliver, dead. I saved his life once, and she made sure I couldn't do it a second time.
Another guy came in DOA, Nylar's voice echoed in my head.
Who was it? Who did she kill? Images of the Sept ran through my mind, and all the people that I cared about. We would know already if it was one of us. I had to find out who it was. Xany returned and swung open the door.
"We have to go to the morgue," I said straightaway.
"Cool. Not like we haven't seen enough dead bodies already." Xany shook her head and looked a little green around the gills.
"Xany, isn't it odd to you that every one of these people was attacked by a vampire and is known to me? We have to see who the dead guy is. She found Laura, god only knows how. What if Dylan is down there?"
"No he can't be." Xany ushered me out and I led her down the hall toward the elevator.
"We'll take the elevator, it has cameras. The stairwells don't, only the entry and exits."
One floor down and we found ourselves outside the morgue. The medical examiner wasn't in when we arrived. I swiped my identification badge and tugged Xany inside.
"There are a million dead people in here." Xany frowned as she looked around the room, gripping her stomach as if suddenly nauseated. Only two bodies lay out on the tables covered in sheets. The M.E. wouldn't be gone for long.
"There are two. Stand by the door and keep watch for anyone," I said as I moved toward the first body.
"Happy to." Xany held the door open as she stepped out into the hall.
The first body was that of an overweight middle-aged white man. He had no visible wounds on his body and his toe tag read, "Steven Albertson." I replaced the sheet and moved on to the next corpse. This one sat much smaller on the slab. I tugged back the sheet and, at first, I didn't recognize the skinny man beneath it. He seemed about my age, but unlike the other victims, the puncture wounds on his neck were clean and even. A set of matching wounds adorned both of his wrists. Pallor gray-washed his skin, and his cheeks appeared sunken. His blood must've been completely drained. Save for a single drop of blood on his bottom lip, he looked peaceful. A bag of belongings sat beside him. I glanced over my shoulder at Xany, who stayed on lookout in the hall, before searching the bag. His wallet fell to the floor, dropped by my jittering fingers. I crouched to pick it up and shuffled through credit cards to find an I.D.
"Robert Hawkins," I read aloud. The name sounded familiar but he sure didn't look familiar. I stood up. Xany was no longer in the doorway. I turned back to the body on the table and found the man sitting up where he once lay. He rubbed his eyes while frowning.
"Shit," he said. "Where am I?"
I shrieked and stumbled backward, tripping over a tray of equipment and landing on the floor. The man looked at me oddly, tilting his head. He met my gaze, his deep brown eyes softened the moment he caught sight of me.
"Shawnee?"
I gasped as the panic caught my throat. Turned, he's turned!
"Shawnee, hey. It's me, Robbie. Jeeze you look the same." He stood up from the table. The sheet tumbled around his feet. "Your scar is gone. Hey…" He crouched down in front of me.
"Robbie?" I choked, pushing myself away from him. "Oh god, how? How did she find you?"
"Who? What are we doing here?" He looked around then suddenly froze. He glanced down at himself, then at me. "Did we sleep together? Man, I need to lay off the X…"
"No… Robbie, you're dead." I struggled to stand, he followed me.
"I'm not dead. Naked, yes, dead… no." He shook his head. "And really fucking hungry." At the last word, his voice dropped an octave and his soft doe eyes were no more. He stared at me, his tongue flicking out over his bottom lip, licking away the droplet of blood. "You smell good."
"Robbie, stop. Just… just think about this." I dropped my eyes and focused on his chin. "Xee!" I shouted but Xany didn't come.
"Shawnee, what have you done to me? I'm so hungry." He stalked toward me.
"Please, Robbie. We… we can get you something to eat." I backed away until I hit the doors of the cooler. Robbie's arms shot out and hit the wall on either side of my head. I shrieked and dropped to the floor, scuttling away from him. My elbow clipped the gun at my side and I reached beneath my jacket.
"No, I need to eat now. Feed me, please," he hissed.
"I'm so sorry," I cried and drew the gun. He paused, only a foot away and let out a painful shout. Robbie's top lip curled back and two razor-sharp fangs slid down, pushing out his human teeth. They clattered to the floor by my feet surrounded in tiny bloody pools. Robbie grabbed for me, I ducked and kicked his knee as hard as I could. He flailed and I took my chance. I pulled the trigger and a small hole burst open in his bloodless chest. The blast knocked both of us backward and I dropped the gun. Robbie fell to his knees as his shriek echoed off the walls like the mournful cry of a falcon.
I shot up and raced for the door, shoving them open.
"Xany!" I shouted, but she was nowhere. I ran down the hall toward the elevator nearly killing myself on something round that rolled beneath my foot. Xany's stake. "Xee!"
"Over here, NeeNee," Xany's dreamy voice echoed from the open door of the stairwell.
"It was Robbie," I sobbed. "She turned—"
"Hello again, Doctor Twofeathers," Ileana said as she held Xany from behind. Xany wasn't fighting her. Instead, a dazed expression had her wide-eyed and smiling. I'd seen her like that once before.
"You thralled her," I spat.
"Of course I did.
" She smiled a honeysuckle-sweet smile that I wanted to smack off her ancient face.
"You're a monster."
"Haven't you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, you're the abomination, Doctor Twofeathers? That Gaia intended to make vampires and dark ones? That you and yours are the mess up? That maybe you came from something else? You've been worshiping the wrong god, Doctor. It's time you figured that out," she said, her tone soft and romantic as she bent forward and sank her fangs into Xany's neck. Xany gasped only slightly.
"No!" I rushed at her and Ileana dropped Xany to the floor, a trickle of blood dripped from her fang. Ileana caught me as if in a warm hug. I punched at her over and over and all she did was laugh at me. Something heavy fell into the palm of my hand mid-punch and warmth enveloped my fingers when I connected with her stomach. Ileana stopped laughing and shoved me to the floor. When I fell, the bloodied dagger clanged against the tile.
Vanessa's sharp presence appeared behind Ileana, towering over her at least a foot. Ileana either paid her no mind or didn't notice. Caden appeared a second later.
"My army is much stronger than yours, Doctor Twofeathers. I will see you at the fall," Ileana said, taking a step sideways in the same creepy stop-motion shimmer that she did last time. Vanessa took a swipe at her and a splash of blood ribboned in four lines along the wall. A piercing scream shrilled through the hall and, in the wake of blood spatter, Ileana was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Caden picked Xany up off the floor and Vanessa licked her neck before he could turn her away. The wound faded in an instant. Trembling, I pushed myself to stand while gripping tightly to the dagger. Ileana's blood lingered on the blade for a moment before the metal seemed to absorb it like a sponge. Vanessa looked from me to the dagger then back again. I tucked the spotless blade into the back of my jeans.
"Whoa, that was fun." Xany giggled as she hugged Caden. He didn't say a word but his grip on her trembled.
"She's thralled," I said.
"It will fade in a minute. Where's the gun? I heard it." Vanessa's husky voice shocked me back to the dire nature of the situation and reminded me of Robbie.
"In the morgue. She turned Robbie. I shot him." A sob caught in my throat.
"Go get the bullet out of him. Hurry," Vanessa instructed and ushered me down the hall. Caden bended away with Xany. I raced ahead with Vanessa and used my badge to get back in the morgue.
"Get him back on the table," I said as I picked up the gun off the floor and replaced it in the holster. Vanessa lifted Robbie's corpse and reset him on the slab. I pulled the sheet back over him. "Will removing the bullet make him rise again?"
"No. It doesn't work like that. Hurry," she said, glancing over her shoulder.
"Where's Mal?" I asked as I used whatever tools I could find to dig the bullet out of Robbie's chest. With no blood to cloud my vision, it was relatively easy to extract from his heart. The bullet remained largely intact. "Got it." I pocketed it.
"Being the diversion."
"I'm sorry, Robbie." I pulled the sheet back up over him and glanced at Vanessa. "He knew me."
"They always do." She glanced over her shoulder again. "We need to go." Vanessa rushed me from the room and back to the elevator, scooping Xany's stake off the floor on the way.
"Take me home," I said as she pressed the button for the second floor. My walls began to crumble in her presence and again I grew acutely aware of our mate bond.
"Hold it together a little longer, baby. You need to walk out the front door. I will meet you right outside. Mal's in the emergency room," Vanessa was steadier and more focused than I'd ever seen her.
"You called me baby."
"Because you're mine." The doors opened slowly. "Go." She disappeared before I even stepped out. I took a deep breath and walked back into the emergency room.
"There's a patient asking for you," Doctor Nylar said as soon as I returned to the nurses' station.
"Who?"
"His name's Michael, in room one."
Sure enough, Mal was sitting on the exam table in the first room. He looked ready to explode and I felt ready to explode. We were the perfect pair.
"I'm feeling better now. I think I'll go home," he said to no one in particular.
"Hey, me too," I said, offering him a light smile. Dr. Nylar looked at us as if we were a pair of nutters and walked off.
Vanessa waited for us outside the front door just like she promised. She led the way to the woods where Caden and the others waited.
"Xany," I said, relief flooding me when I saw her. "I'm sorry, are you okay?" All semblance of control left me at that moment and I pulled her into a hug. Tears streamed down my cheeks and she gave me a squeeze.
"I'm okay, NeeNee." Xany returned my hug at the same time that Caden had a grip on both of us. By the time our embrace ceased, we were back in the kitchen surrounded by several members of the Sept.
"I'm sorry, Xee. It's my fault. Robbie turned and I didn't see her go for you," I said, through a handful of sobs.
"Me either." Xany sounded a lot more chipper than she should. I looked her over, letting my hands move along her torso. She was healthy and unharmed, knowing this didn't soothe me any. I looked over at my mother who entered the cabin in a rush. Adia followed a step behind. She came to a halt at my side and her eyes scanned Xany. "Quit lookin' at me funny, peeps. It was just a little nibble."
"Check her," Caden said, his eyes on Vanessa.
"I did. She's fine. The thrall was the worst of it." Vanessa placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. Up until that moment, I hadn't noticed my pounding heart and trembling hands. Caden nodded as he wrapped his arm around Xany's shoulders. Mal watched us, his breathing even. Our mate bond told me more about his worry than his demeanor. Not just for me but for his sister as well.
"You have blood all over you," Baron's rich baritone boomed as his nostrils flared. He looked me up and down then glanced at Xany. She must've smelled like blood as well.
"Caden said you knew all those people, Miss Shawnee. Is that right?" Hank's question sobered my thoughts and I nodded.
"Except the kid. I didn't know her. I killed Robbie." I glanced between my mates. Both appeared somber and cooled as if my tragedy belonged to them. In a way, it did.
Caden gestured for everyone to sit at the kitchen table. Adia and my mother remained standing as they listened. I broke away from Mal and Vanessa to hug Xany again. She patted my back until I released her.
"I'm really okay, NeeNee," Xany whispered. The plea didn't stop me from examining her. Nothing met my healing hands and no amount of doctoring was going to find anything wrong. Xany was truly fine. I hadn't noticed my silent tears until she brushed her hand over my cheek. My fear for her was the only thing that remained. The others stayed silent, allowing us our time.
"She is all right, Dodi." My mother placed her hand on my shoulder.
"I know," I whispered and swiped at my tears. Redness flushed Vanessa's cheeks with her upsurge of emotion and Mal's furrowed brow hinted at concern and anger. I returned to my mates and hugged them both. Their arms found their way around me and I sobbed. Vanessa kissed my neck while Mal rubbed my back. In time, their embrace and affections calmed me and I turned to address the waiting Sept.
Adia and my mother joined Hank, Barron, and Caden at the table. Hank's eldest son appeared beside him a moment later.
"Hospital's safe. Manny said to report," Henry said.
"Thank ya, son." Hank clapped him on the shoulder.
"No problem." Henry turned his gaze to me and everyone else seemed to follow suit.
"Miss Shawnee, I know this is difficult but we've got to ask ya about the victims." Hank's gaze met mine. Mal laced his fingers with mine and Vanessa guided us back to the table.
"I know." I took a deep breath. "I worked with Samantha at Mercy General, the Andrus-infested hospital."
"Oliver was a patient of hers at the hospital here," Xany jumped in. "That newbie doctor said so."
/> "Yeah. He came in with a bowel obstruction and I diagnosed it. The surgery saved his life—"
"Slow down." Adia lifted her hands. "How did each die?"
"Samantha didn't," Xany answered, shooting a glare in Adia's direction.
"She was bit on the neck and the femoral artery. She'll be fine," I said, swiping at another stray tear. "Ileana tore out Oliver's heart."
"Clear out of his chest. You shoulda seen the look on the newbie's face." Xany opened her eyes wide, mimicking a deer-in-the-headlights expression. Adia smirked.
"And Laura. She was one of the people we rescued from the hoarders this summer," Caden added. "She didn't die. She was given a message to deliver."
"What was it?" Hank asked.
"That I would understand the reason behind the attack." I glanced over his shoulder at the darkened window. "That all of this is about me. All the patients, the deaths. She's doing this so that I give in to her and name someone for her to turn." I returned my gaze to Hank. "Laura, who was one of the first more public people that I healed. Ileana found out how I healed her and broke the same arm. Where is Laura now?"
"With my mate," answered Barron.
"Who were the others?" Adia pressed.
"One was a kid. I didn't know her but leeches don't usually attack children. This one was just to piss me off I think."
"Children don't survive the embrace and don't have enough blood to satisfy," Vanessa's sharp voice beside me startled me a little.
"I'm the other one." Xany jabbed herself in the chest with her thumb.
"And Robbie." A lump rose in my throat as I said his name. Images of him rising from the table sent a shudder through me, rattling my bones.
"He was the most personal," Caden's tone deepened which drew my attention to him.
"Everyone else was public information. It's no secret where I work now or in the past. Patient records and employees can be found with a little hacking. Laura was in the newspaper. The kid was random. But not Robbie. How could she have known about him?" I sunk down into a chair, dropping my head down in my hands.
"Did you know this Robbie person?" Xany asked Caden.
Bound (Legacy Series Book 4) Page 23