by Lisa Olsen
“Is Carter waiting for you downstairs?” he asked, coming around his desk to give me a hug, and I shook my head.
“Gunnar is.”
“Good.”
“I can drive, you know.”
“I know, but I like having that extra protection around you when I can’t be there.”
I bit back my instinct to insist that I didn’t need it. If it made him feel better, I’d let myself be driven around for a while, I was used to it. “At least Gunnar’s happy to have something to do. He’s been as giddy as a school girl ever since our prankster first struck.”
He and Carter had dubbed it Operation Loki, in honor of the trickster Norse god. I’d laughed along with them at first, until it occurred to me that there probably was a real Loki out there somewhere, and I was distantly related to him. Something told me that if we ever went up against the real Loki, he probably wouldn’t look at all like Hiddleston, and there wouldn’t be anything swoonworthy about it.
“Still no sign of Amunet, or the rest of Bakareh’s staff?”
“Nope. It’s like they walked out and didn’t stop. For all we know, they kept going right into the bay.” I sure hoped not, I liked Amunet.
“Has the council been giving you any more guff?”
I made a sour face. “They’re still not happy about the way I booted Bakareh out of here, and it doesn’t help that he sent back my apology in itty bitty pieces.”
“I can understand that,” he allowed. “It probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but I get how Bakareh can work your last nerve.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I’m the right person for this job,” I sighed, giving voice to a doubt that’d plagued me ever since I took the job of Elder. “I’m twenty-two years old, of course I don’t always do the wisest thing I should.”
“It’ll come to you in time,” he said with easy confidence that I wish I felt.
“I guess so. How long did it take for you to gain some perspective?”
Bishop inhaled swiftly, but evidently thought better of what he’d been about to say. “You have to remember the kind of life I led when I was first turned.”
“Never mind,” I decided, not wanting to think about him and Carys if I could help it. I had more important things to agitate my nerves. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something. But promise me you won’t freak out about it, okay? Because I know we said we’d take things slow, but then you said those things in Italian, and we didn’t really talk about it after that, so I know we haven’t actually defined what it is that’s going on with us. And if it’s too soon, that’s totally fine…” Sweet zombie Jesus, I could not stop babbling! Shut up, Anja. Shut up! I drew in a shaky breath, trying to get a hold of myself. “So yeah, um, I thought maybe we should talk.”
Bishop did a pretty good job of hiding his amusement, but I could still see it around his eyes. “How can I say no to that?”
In for a penny, in for a pound. “Okay, so I think that things have been pretty good over the past couple of weeks. Between us, I mean. Would you agree?”
“Yes, I’d have to say that I do,” he replied with a sober nod.
So far, so good. I’d intended to work my way up to our living situation, pointing out that so far we’d both seemed more able to adjust to the relationship so far, and that we spent more time apart than we did together, and how my place was actually more convenient for his commute to the office. I thought maybe if I gave him a few talking points to chew over, the suggestion wouldn’t seem so out of the blue, but all that came out was, “I think we should move in together.”
“Move in together?” he blinked, too stunned for me to tell if it was a good blink of surprise, or a sweet Mary, how am I going to get out of this blink.
“Well… yes. I mean, I know we…”
Corazon burst in, her entire stance telling me something was wrong before she even opened her mouth. “Mason just came in, he’s pretty banged up, and he’s asking for you.”
Bishop shed the deer in the headlights expression in an instant. “What happened? Was he attacked?”
She shook her head. “Some kind of car accident. You’d better come too, Your Grace.”
“Me?” Before I could ask why, all of a sudden, I knew. “Hanna…”
I don’t remember getting down to the med bay, I just remember standing in the hallway looking in, as they hooked her up to an IV. Hanna looked wrong. Her legs were purple and swollen, one foot at an impossibly wrong angle, the skin completely gone from one thigh entirely in an angry road rash. Her bright hair was matted and stuck to the side of her head with blood, and there were a myriad of cuts all over her face, bits of glass still embedded deep in the wounds.
Mason’s face was similarly scarred, but already healing, thanks to his vampire physiology. He paced outside the room, his boots leaving bloody track marks on the floor. Hanna’s blood, from the smell of it.
Coming out of my stupor, I realized what needed to be done. “I need to give her some of my blood, it’s stronger than whatever’s in that IV.” I was halfway to the door before Mason stopped me, his face twisted with anguish.
“You can’t. She’s already lost too much blood and had way too much of mine. If we’re not careful, she could turn.”
That was what she looked like after receiving his healing blood? How messed up had she been at the crash site? If all they were going to give her was bagged human blood, she didn’t stand a chance. “Why did you bring her here then? She needs a hospital.”
“I couldn’t, not after what her body’s been through, they’d ask way too many questions.”
“So my sister has to die to keep this stupid secret? How is that fair?” I demanded, unwilling to pay that steep a price to uphold the primary vampire law. There had to be another way to get her the care she needed. Her bones needed to be set, she was probably bleeding internally and that head wound scared me. I didn’t know the “kid” who oversaw her care, but I had to think he wasn’t as qualified as a trauma surgeon. “Why can’t we take her to the hospital and wipe their memories after they treat her? Don’t you have an entire division set aside to clean up messes like this?”
Bishop shook his head, his eyes grave. “Bringing in the cleaners would be a mistake, Anja. Hanna’s life won’t be a priority to them.”
“But they work for you. You could make them…”
“They uphold the law first and foremost. All we can do is wait, keep her alive until it’s safe to give her more blood, and that will still heal her faster than they can do in any hospital.”
“Unless she dies.”
“I won’t let her,” Mason declared, his head hanging in his hands. “I don’t care about the law or my oath, I won’t let her die. Do you hear me?” His head came up, and I saw sheer panic behind his eyes.
Bishop saw it too, and he laid a calming hand on Mason’s shoulder. “I hear you, buddy. Nobody’s gonna let her die.”
For once I was right there with him. I’d always sworn up and down that Hanna should live out her life as a human, but when faced with the option of her dying, I switched tunes in a heartbeat. She looked so fragile lying there, not like my sister at all. In that moment I knew I’d do anything to keep her in my life, even if it meant turning her myself. I couldn’t think about that at the moment though, and I forced my eyes away from the window and turned to Mason.
“How did this even happen? Corazon said something about a car crash?”
“Yeah, we were driving along the coast on Highway One. Out of nowhere, this big truck came up from a side road going way too fast, and pulled out right in front of us, too fucking close to avoid. I hit the brakes, but I clipped the back of his bumper, and he started fishtailing and spun out. I tried to swerve…” His hands clenched, as though they were holding the steering wheel. “But I lost control on the gravel and we went right through the guard rail and over the side of the cliff. My Jeep rolled, I’m not sure how many times, but it was bad. We ended up on an outcropping of rocks down by the water
.”
Mason took in a sharp breath, his eyes distant as if reliving the accident again. “Hanna was in bad shape. She…” He swallowed, his face contorting with distress. “She would’ve died if I hadn’t been there to give her my blood. I wasn’t sure she wouldn’t turn right then and there, it was that close.”
I nodded, my eyes shiny when his filled with tears. “You did the right thing,” I said, my voice hoarse with emotion.
“Did I? I should’ve been able to avoid that crash altogether, but I wasn’t fast enough. You’d think being a vampire would be good for something, but I was too fucking slow.”
“Hey, you were good for something, you kept her alive,” I pointed out, wrapping my arms around his massive shoulders in a hug, and he pulled me to him with a cry of anguish.
“I’m so sorry, Anja. I’m so fucking sorry I didn’t…”
“Shh, she’ll be alright,” I soothed him as best I could. She had to be. I met Bishop’s gaze across the hall, his face somber, and even a little scared. As if maybe he was thinking about the possibility of losing Hanna or maybe something more.
The door opened, and the young vampire who’d taken over for Jenessa emerged, wiping his hands down with a wet towel. “I think we’ve got her stabilized.”
“You think? Aren’t you sure?” I demanded, not at all encouraged by his manner. “Maybe we should get a real doctor in here?” Bishop hadn’t been exaggerating when he called him a kid. The guy looked like he couldn’t be more than sixteen years old. This was who I’d trusted with my sister’s life?
“He is a real doctor, Anja,” Bishop said gently, and the guy nodded, his smile self deprecating, as though he’d heard it a thousand times before.
“I know I look more like Doogie Howser, but I’ve put in more hours than any sawbones in the local hospital, I can guarantee it. I’m Colt, by the way.” He offered a hand and I took it, shaking it briefly. “What I meant was, she’s stable for the moment, but it’s too soon to tell if she’ll continue to stabilize or if she’ll take a turn for the worse.”
“How bad is it? Is she paralyzed? What about her head? Could she have brain damage?”
He held up a hand to cut off my questions. “Her EEG is fine, and she doesn’t appear to have suffered any trauma to the spine, though her legs are badly fractured, and one of her knee caps is shattered. The biggest worry right now is that she’s bleeding internally, but I don’t think we should risk surgery. I’ve set up a shunt to drain the excess fluid, but I’m not equipped for major surgery here and Thorn’s medical training is limited.” He jerked his head toward the other vamp in with Hanna.
“I should’ve taken her to a hospital then,” Mason frowned deeply, but Colt shook his head.
“As hard as it is to hear, all we can do right now is watch and wait.”
“But the bleeding…”
“It’s a slow bleed, and I believe we can keep on top of it as long as we keep giving her transfusions. The biggest problem, I’m afraid, is that her body can’t decide what to work on healing first, so it’s all proceeding at a snail’s pace – albeit much faster than a normal human body can heal. As soon as she’s fully absorbed the blood you gave her, Mason, we can give her another infusion of vampire blood and that’ll speed things along.”
His manner was calming, but I couldn’t help but pick up on the things he didn’t say. “She is still in danger, though. Isn’t she?”
He gave me a helpless shrug. “We’ll keep a tight watch over her.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, my gaze returning to the window where she was thankfully still unconscious. Colt went back into the room, maintaining a constant watch on her vitals and overseeing the transfusion.
I had to appreciate how difficult it must be for a vampire to be a doctor and be around so much blood all the time. Then again, maybe it’d made him immune to the cravings? Maybe someday I’d ask him about it when I wasn’t scared to death I’d lose my sister if I looked away from her for more than five seconds.
“Is it just me or did it sound like she could slip away at any second?” Mason asked, his face unusually pale, and I wondered if he was close to passing out with the blood he’d given Hanna himself.
“Come on, man, we can’t think like that,” Bishop said gently. “Hanna’s a fighter, like her sister.”
“She’s just so damn tiny,” Mason wailed, running his hands through his hair so that it stuck up at odd angles. “I can’t lose her. I will fucking lose my mind if she…”
“Mason.” Bishop’s voice rang with command. “Report.”
Mason blinked in confusion at the sharp tone. “I already told you what happened. How I failed her.”
“I don’t need a commentary, I need details. Tell me about the vehicle that struck you.”
I got what he was doing, and Mason responded, his mind calming once it was given a task. “It was a big, tricked out truck. Dark. Late model, maybe a Dodge, I think. It had bright hunting lights on top that blinded me when he spun out. I don’t know if he wasn’t expecting to find any traffic on the road at that hour, or what, but the bastard was going way too fast when he merged onto the road.”
“Did you see the driver?”
“Negative,” Mason replied, sounding more even keeled. “He must’ve stopped to call for help, because the ambulance came pretty quickly, but he took off before it arrived.”
“There was an ambulance there? Why didn’t you let the EMTs help her?” I needed to know.
“I did. I fed from them so that I’d have the strength to carry her out of there after I’d given her my blood.”
“You ate the EMTs?” My mouth dropped open in surprise. “And you don’t think the cops will find that suspicious?”
“I didn’t kill them, I fed from them and compelled them to forget they’d found any sign of us at the bottom of the cliff. She was far beyond anything the EMTs could’ve done for her, trust me. I knew I had to get her back here fast, so I swiped the ambulance and drove like a bat out of hell until I made it to the city. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to move her, but I ditched it a few blocks from here and carried her the rest of the way.”
“You did the right thing,” Bishop assured him. I wasn’t quite as sure, but I understood that Mason needed to hear that in the moment, so I gave him a slow nod.
We both had work to do that night, but Bishop put everything on hold to stay by my side as I watched Hanna sleep. Neither one of us brought up the conversation I’d started in his office, it wasn’t the time or place. I made a brief call to Maggie, explaining what’d happened and asked her to shunt everything from my schedule for the time being. Some things were more important.
Someone produced a change of clothing for Mason, but he didn’t want to be gone long enough to put them on, in case Hanna woke or took a turn for the worse. So he stripped down in the hallway with us.
Eventually, Colt ducked his head out of the room, his eyes searching for and finding me. “She’s awake and asking to see you, Your Grace.”
Mason’s face tightened in disappointment, but he didn’t try to crowd the door as I approached it. “Tell her I’ll be waiting for her, whenever she’s ready to see me.”
“I will,” I said with what I hoped was a comforting smile. “Try not to read anything into this. Sometimes a girl just needs her sister.”
He offered me a tight nod, but didn’t say more.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I’ve got her on morphine, so don’t freak out if she doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Colt said in a low voice as soon as the door clicked shut behind me.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. And really, thanks for helping her in the first place. I know this isn’t your job,” I started to say, but he waved the distinction away.
“I took an oath to heal others. It makes no difference to me if they’re human or vampire.”
Finally, someone who understood that human lives were just as important as ours. “Thanks again though, she’s my favorite siste
r.”
“I’m your only sister, you dork,” Hanna called out from the bed, her voice weak, but easy enough for me to pick up.
“Nothing wrong with her hearing, I see,” I replied, pasting on a cheerful smile as I approached the bed. “You know, if you wanted to come and hang out with me tonight, you could’ve called.”
“Ha, we both know it’d take more than a phone call to break into your busy schedule.”
“I will always have time for you if you need me,” I insisted, picking up her hand as gently as I could. “All you have to do is ask.”
“I’ll remember that for next time. This way turned out messier than I’d anticipated.” Her lips curved into a weak smile, and she licked them.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck.”
“Sounds about right then. Are you in much pain? I could see if the doctor can give you more…”
“No thanks, I’m already too spinny as it is.” She licked her lips again, and I guessed she was thirsty, but probably not allowed anything to drink. “I need to talk to you first.”
“We can talk later. Maybe you should get some rest and concentrate on getting well for now.”
“No, there are some things I need to say before it’s too late.”
I kept the smile on my lips, not wanting to let on how bad of shape she was in. “Now I know you’re not thinking clearly. There is no too late, you’re going to be fine.”
“You always were a shitty liar, An. I’m not so stoned I can’t see the fear in your eyes. That’s why we need to talk.” Her head turned slowly until her gaze fell on Colt. “Alone.”
“He’s here for your safety.”
“There are some things I need to say to you in private,” she insisted, and the doctor held up his hands.
“I’ll take a quick break, I’m dying for a drink anyway. Don’t worry, I won’t go far. But if any one of these machines goes into alarm or she loses consciousness abruptly – not drifts off to sleep, but abruptly mind you – give a yell.”