TheSmallPrint

by Barbara Elsborg

  He’d left Devlin downstairs with instructions to call him when Turner showed up while Victor slept in the motor home in the car park. Gabriel could hardly begrudge him that when he’d been awake all day keeping watch as they slept, but having one non-vamp as support wasn’t enough. Once Gabriel had the missing pages, he’d go back to his VRB apartment and regroup. Of course he couldn’t leave any witnesses to what he’d done, so several would have to die.

  A nurse came into the room followed by a gray-haired man in a suit. Gabriel and Nick were ostensibly visiting—what was the name of their snack?—Mike Reynolds, in the other bed, but Gabriel had put a thrall on the nurses and a shadow over their presence in the room. Mortals would pay them no attention.

  “Any change?” the man asked.

  Ah, not her doctor, but her uncle. Gabriel recognized his voice.

  “We took her off the ventilator again an hour or so ago but she only managed a few breaths on her own.”

  “I’d like you to try again. If I talk to her while the tube is out of her mouth, it might help.”

  “Usually we wouldn’t try again so soon. I’d have to ask the doctor. He has her written up for a transfusion. Her blood count is low.”

  The nurse left and Bernard Strachan slumped in the chair at Matty’s side. “Why can’t you just fucking die?” he whispered.

  Gabriel smiled.

  * * * * *

  As they walked to the hospital entrance, Matty recognized a face from the previous night. She tugged at Catch’s sleeve.

  “Devlin.” Catch changed direction and pulled Matty with him.

  Turner followed.

  “How’s Seth?” Devlin asked.

  “He’s okay,” Catch said. “Turner saved him.”

  The black man smiled. “Thank you. Gabriel’s upstairs with that arse-licker Nick. I’m to call when you arrive. I could look the other way.”

  “Where’s Golding?” Turner asked.

  “He’s supposed to be asleep in the motor home but he’s gone back to London to speak to someone on the Council. I’m to stick with Gabriel until I hear otherwise.”

  “Call Gabriel and tell him I’m on my way up,” Turner said.

  “You sure?” Devlin asked.

  “He’s expecting us. It keeps you in favor,” Catch said.

  “Yeah, well, I’m sort of hoping his visit to the hospital was permanent.” Devlin laughed and took out his phone.

  Matty chewed her lip and hoped the opposite was true for her.

  “So what’s the plan?” she asked as they walked into the building.

  “Give Gabriel these,” Turner held up the loose pages, “and wave goodbye to him. But you two are to stay out of sight.”

  Catch bristled. “I’m not letting you face him on your own.”

  “He won’t let you walk away,” Turner said. “He thinks you’re VRB and have to report in on him. I’d guess he’s already broken the terms of his release and yet he’s still at large. The SBI are letting him run on their leash and they don’t want anyone tangled up in it. You’re expendable. He might still want me around as insurance.”

  “Might?” Matty whispered. “I don’t like that word. Nor expendable.”

  “I’m not leaving either of you,” Catch said. “If he’s holding the other Matty hostage in some way, you need us both.”

  Turner hesitated and then nodded. Matty had a feeling Catch would have followed no matter what Turner said.

  At the door to the ward, Turner pressed for entry and they were allowed through, visiting time not yet over. The nurses on the desk paid them no attention as they made their way to Matty’s room. Her heart raced.

  As Catch reached for the door, it swung open and a middle-aged man swept out.

  “Uncle Bernard,” Matty whispered.

  He glared at Turner and Catch. “Where are you going?”

  “Visiting our friend Mike,” Turner said. “What business is it of yours?”

  “She should be in a room on her own,” her uncle muttered as he stormed toward the nurses’ desk.

  This time when they went into the room, Matty’s gaze flew straight to the bed. Gabriel lay next to her, the blood transfusion that should have been entering her vein, instead going into his mouth. Matty felt tension race through Turner and Catch. The other vampire stood in front of the window, watching them. Gabriel slurped the last drop from the bag and tossed the tube aside.

  “The missing pages?” he asked.

  Turner took them from his pocket. “Come and get them.”

  “I don’t think so. Nick, check they’re all there.”

  “Get away from her,” Catch said.

  “You know, I’ve become rather attached to this Matty. There’s a lot to be said for women who can’t talk back.” Gabriel slid his hand over her breast.

  Catch vibrated with anger and Matty stroked his clenched fist. “He’s probably fed up with women telling him he has a small dick,” she said.

  Gabriel snarled and Catch laughed.

  “They seem to be all here,” Nick said. “But how do we know he hasn’t doctored them in some way?”

  Gabriel spread his fingers over Matty’s breathing tube. “What a good point. We don’t. Have you been writing fairy stories, Turner?”

  “You mean like the one where you’re related to Captain Kirk?” Turner snapped.

  Matty couldn’t take her gaze away from Gabriel’s fingers. Without the ventilator, how long before she died?

  “Say goodbye,” Gabriel quipped, and yanked out the tube.

  Oh shit. Matty gulped as the room erupted in chaos. As Turner threw Gabriel off the bed, Nick launched himself at Catch. Matty jumped out of the way and stared down at herself. She flipped the switch to shut off the buzzing monitor. Matty didn’t need to hear that she wasn’t breathing as well as see it. She’d already started to feel it.

  “Breathe,” she urged the other Matty. “Please.”

  Her fingers hovered over the motionless hand. If she went back inside herself, maybe she’d be able to breathe. The pain increased in her chest and another monitor started to bleep. Was this why she had the pain? Matty flipped it off. The doctors couldn’t fix her. She had no choice.

  And no time.

  The pain wouldn’t stop if this Matty didn’t start breathing again. Matty had wanted to say goodbye in case she couldn’t wake up, but Turner and Catch were fighting for their lives.

  Time was running out.

  Before thinking could stop her, she lay down on top of her other self.

  Matty expected warmth and light. Instead she felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into nothing.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Catch ducked Nick’s kick, caught his leg and twisted him over. Before the vampire had time to get to his feet, Catch picked him up, slammed him back over his knee and heard his spine crack. Nick fell limp in his arms and Catch dropped him. He spun round to see Turner pinned, Gabriel’s fangs about to sink into his neck as Turner struggled to hold him. Catch yanked Gabriel back by the hair and fixed him in a choke hold.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” snapped a nurse. “Do I have to call security?”

  “Lover’s tiff.” Turner scrambled to his feet.

  “What happened to her breathing tube? Why are the monitors switched off?”

  Catch kept Gabriel on the floor as Turner moved to stand in front of the nurse. “There’s no problem here. Go back to work.”

  “No problem here,” the nurse muttered, and left.

  “Do it,” Turner said, staring at Catch.

  “No,” Gabriel pleaded.

  Catch twisted hard and snapped Gabriel’s neck. He thrust the floppy body away and pushed himself to his feet. Neither Gabriel nor Nick was dead, but they wouldn’t be regenerating anytime soon. Never, if Catch had anything to do with it.

  “Where’s Matty?” Turner asked.

  Catch looked round. “Where’s she gone?” His gaze moved in the same direction as Turner’s. Her clothes lay on to
p of the bed over the other Matty, as though her body had dissolved. His heart went the same way. “Oh hell.”

  “Matty, Matty,” Catch whispered. “What the fuck have you done?”

  “She’s breathing without the machine,” Turner said with a sigh. “That’s got to be a good thing.”

  “Not if she doesn’t wake up. Matty, can you hear us? Squeeze my hand if you can.” Catch held her fingers and waited, willing her to move. Nothing happened. “No,” he shouted. “No, no, no.”

  He flung himself away from the bed and leaned against the wall, yanking at his hair. Turner held her hand.

  “Make her wake up,” Catch choked out. “I promised her it’d be okay. This is my fault for not watching her. Oh fuck. We can’t lose her. Turner, do something.”

  Catch felt something wet on his cheeks and dashed the back of his hand over his face. When he saw Turner looking, he faced the wall and leaned on his arm. Turner moved up behind him, encircled him with his arms and pressed his face into Catch’s shoulder.

  “Maybe she’ll wake now she’s breathing on her own,” Turner whispered. “She might just need time. Before anyone else comes into the room, we have to deal with those two.”

  “Ask Devlin. He can help. I’m not leaving Matty alone. I promised.” Catch turned to face him and didn’t try to hide his tears.

  Turner ran his thumb up Catch’s cheek and licked the salty drop. “Okay.” He pulled Catch back to the bed. “Talk to her. Maybe she can hear us.”

  When he left the room, Catch took hold of Matty’s hand and sat on the chair by her side. “Stupid girl,” he whispered. “You’re more impetuous than me. We should have talked about this.” Catch sighed. “You never got the chance to see the other side of me. My wolf. I never got the chance to tell you how much you mean to me. I used the word fucking but it was always more than that. Much more. I love you. Turner loves you.”

  Catch carried on babbling when Turner and Devlin came back into the room with wheelchairs. Once they’d gone, he told her stuff he’d never told anyone. How when he was younger, he’d been with men and women for money, punters who liked to hurt him because Catch healed quicker than most. How he might look tough but he wasn’t. How Feynman had given him the name Catch and how it had stuck. How after he’d stopped sleeping around, a threat to reveal his past to a jerk he loved had forced him into the SBI only for Catch to find the guy didn’t love him back anyway.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  Catch spun around at the sound of the voice. Matty’s uncle glared at him. Behind him stood a doctor and nurse.

  “Did you do this?” the guy in the white coat snapped and lifted the detached breathing tube. He began to work on Matty while the nurse switched on the monitors.

  “No, I didn’t. It was like that when I came in,” Catch said.

  “Who are you?” Strachan asked.

  “A friend of Matty’s,” Catch said.

  “You told me you were visiting him.” Strachan nodded toward the other bed.

  “And Matty,” Catch said.

  His gaze slipped to the doctor examining Matty. “Is she all right? She’s breathing on her own. Shouldn’t she wake now?”

  “Will she?” Strachan asked.

  “She is breathing on her own, which is good, but—”

  Catch didn’t want to hear a “but”. If it wasn’t childish, he’d have stuck his fingers in his ears.

  “I’m worried about her heart,” the doctor said. “The beat’s very erratic. We need to—”

  “No,” said Strachan. “She’s a do not resuscitate. Let her go.”

  Catch’s hands were round the guy’s throat before he could stop himself.

  * * * * *

  Turner and Devlin pushed Nick and Gabriel through the hospital in wheelchairs. It might have been possible to move around carrying them while using their thrall but this was easier.

  “Should I ask what happened?” Devlin muttered.

  “They were trying to kill two mortals and us.” Near enough the truth and enough to deserve a death sentence. “You won’t get into trouble for this?”

  “I’m on my own. How could I get them back to headquarters? This is the only option.”

  They took the elevator to the top floor and carried the pair up the final flight of stairs to the roof. Gabriel glared at Turner but couldn’t speak. Nick mumbled incoherently.

  “Over there,” Turner said.

  They put the two down behind an air-conditioning unit. The chances of anyone stumbling across them before dawn were very small. Turner removed the pages of the books from Gabriel’s pocket and stood.

  “Don’t be too disappointed,” Turner said. “You promised your congregation a life in the sun and it’s only right that you should try it first. Maybe you wouldn’t recommend it.”

  He shook Devlin’s hand and the pair walked away without looking back.

  When Turner opened the door of Matty’s room, he found a snarling Catch with his hands around Bernard Strachan’s throat, and dragged him off.

  “The bastard wants her to die,” Catch blurted.

  Turner switched his gaze to the horrified people standing by Matty’s bed. Strachan rubbed his neck.

  “She’s DNR,” Strachan snapped.

  Turner glared. “While Matty’s uncle might have the legal right to determine her treatment, actively pursuing her demise and inheriting over a million pounds from her estate appears to me to be highly unethical—if not illegal, especially if the hospital colludes in the action.” Turner stared at Strachan and used his thrall. “I feel it’s in Matty’s best interests if you never see her again.”

  Strachan walked out without another word.

  “What the—? Is that true?” the doctor asked.

  “Yes,” Catch said as he paced up and down.

  “Did her uncle take the tube out? Should we call the police?” the nurse asked.

  “No police,” Turner said. “You need to check on other patients.”

  The nurse nodded, her face slack. “I need to check on other patients.”

  The doctor eyed Catch and Turner warily. “What’s going on?”

  “What’s wrong with her heart?” Catch asked.

  “I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve seen this activity from her. The odd blip, but not this sustained arrhythmia.”

  Turner clenched his fists.

  Catch licked his lips. “Is is dangerous?”

  “Yes. But we can try drugs, maybe surgery.”

  “But she still might not wake,” Turner said.

  “No, she might not.”

  Turner felt his heart crumbling to dust.

  “Could we have some time alone with her?” Turner asked. “You have other patients to see.”

  “I have other patients to see,” the doctor repeated, and left.

  Catch lifted his head and stared straight into Turner’s eyes. “We can’t let her die. You can save her.”

  Turner shook his head. “Don’t ask me that.” He couldn’t do it. Panic rushed through him at the mere thought.

  “She doesn’t need to die,” Catch said in a firm voice.

  “Oh God.” Turner took her hand. “I can’t.”

  “Yeah, you can. We can.”

  “We didn’t ask her. She doesn’t know what’s involved, the implications. We can’t just take her out of the sun without knowing that’s what she’d want.”

  Catch choked back his gulp. “She might never see the sun or moon if we don’t do something. Even if she continues in a coma I don’t trust her uncle. He could hire someone to kill her. What choice do we have? We going to keep coming night after night, begging her to wake, and then one day, we’ll turn up and find there’s no more hope? This way we can be together forever.”

  “I don’t know how to do it. I’ve only had it done to me.” Turner sagged. “And the day after, my father— Oh Christ.”

  “What’d he do?” Catch asked.

  Turner dropped his head. “When I stagg
ered home and told him what had happened, he pinned me out in the yard to wait for dawn.” The disgust on his father’s face lingered in his memory, the unfairness of it still tore at his heart.

  “Oh fuck. Look, we’ll protect her, look after her. She only has that prick Strachan and his family, and I’ll rot in hell before I let them get anywhere near her.”

  “But making her like us?” Turner whispered. “What if it doesn’t work and we kill her?”

  Catch straightened his shoulders. “Makes no difference, does it, if she’s dying? We have to try.”

  “Stop arguing and get on with it,” said a voice in the corner. “I know what you are and if you don’t want to do it to her, you could experiment on me. I’ve got nothing to lose.”

  Turner shot Catch a glance.

  “You know what we are?” Turner asked.

  “Those two guys you took out, they fed on me and I wish they’d kept sucking. I’d give anything not to be lying here helpless, but at least I can speak. What if she’s lying there listening to you argue? Tell her you love her and save her.”

  Turner felt the weight of responsibility like a lead collar around his neck. Catch might be able to help, but Turner was the pure vampire, without him it couldn’t work. He stared at Matty lying there, still and helpless, and felt a rush of affection so strong his knees quaked. Before he fell down, Turner lay next to her on the bed and Catch settled on the other side.

  “I love you, princess,” Catch whispered.

  “I. Love. You.” Turner choked the words out and dropped his mouth to her throat. One sniff and his head swam. One lick and his fangs dropped. One mouthful of Matty’s sweet, rich blood and his cock went rock-hard. Sheer, undiluted pleasure flooded his mouth but even in the midst of exquisite bliss, he became consumed with anxiety about when to stop and how much to let her take from him. Turner didn’t dare to think about what she’d say.