Desperate, she decided she had no choice. If she managed to get out of the room, she had to make sure no sun could reach Sephina’s tender skin. She’d been gathering wallpaper bits and shredded cloth to make a cover for the baby. Two days ago she’d found a piece of metal wire from inside the rotting mattress, but as hard a she tried, she couldn’t pick the lock on the door. She was exhausted from lack of sleep, but she had to try again. She had to get out of here today.
She glanced at the door where she’d been chiseling at the wood around the deadbolt for days, she’d already tried the door hinges, but they were rusted and frozen in place. Suddenly, she sucked in a breath and held it. She blinked and focused on the door. Was it her imagination, or had James left the door ajar?
Maybe that tiny portion of him that was hanging on wanted her to escape. Or, more likely, he’d just been so focused on turning her into a vampire that he’d simply forgotten.
After wrapping Sephina completely in newspaper and cloth bits until not an inch of her little body showed, she was ready. She didn’t dare leave her baby behind. The other vampires would be awake before she could return with the Black Ops team. They might take their anger out on her child. Even like this, going out in sunlight would be too risky for the baby. Her skin was so sensitive and Terry worried that the papers weren’t dark enough, or heavy enough, to protect her.
With the derelict hotel full of vampires, staying until nearly dusk would be too risky. It nearly tore her heart out to think they had tricked James into selling his soul back to the devil.
If she waited, the nest of vampires in the hotel would also be waking. No, she couldn’t risk waiting until dusk.
They’d been out searching again all night. Jess should be able to track her friends better than anyone else. So why couldn’t she find them? She’d gone to stasis again, feeling hopeless.
Britt was already working out in the gym when she woke.
“Wanna lift a few weights to take your mind off things?” he asked, leaning against the door casing, a barbell in each hand.
“Not much point is there,” she said a little more sharply than she’d meant to. Her strength would make barbells as light as pillows. “Weights don’t weigh anything to me, and the effort will be useless. I wish I could do something like that. The only stress relief that will work for me will come in the form of finding James. We’ve looked everywhere, Britt. Where the hell could he be?”
Britt moved into the living room, rubbing chalk off his fingers. “What say I grab a quick shower and then you and I can go out trolling again?”
She heaved a breath. “Thanks, that’s exactly what I need to do, even if we come up with nothing—again.”
“Will you let me keep up with you?” He ran two fingers along the line of her jaw seductively.
A tiny frown edged between her brows and she gently pushed him away. “I’m sure you’re capable of keeping up with me all by yourself. You seem to have most of the abilities I do, only you get to eat real food.” She feigned disgust.
He laughed at her. Could read her well.
“Go get ready, “ she said.
He pressed his bare arms across his T-shirt, giving her a glimpse of his ripped biceps. Britt had always been lean and mean. She’d just forgotten how good he looked in the flesh. “It’ll only take a couple of minutes to shower.” He disappeared down the hall and within seconds she heard water running in the shower.
She paced toward the gas fireplace and leaned both hands against the mantle so she could stare at the flames through the glass. Regent’s office had a real fireplace with lovely hardwood burning in the grate. One thing about this cold penthouse, she could have the fire on no matter what the season. But then with her condition, no matter how warm it was, the fire couldn’t warm her.
The doorbell buzzed and she pressed the intercom. Who would be ringing at this time of the day? It was an hour before night fell, and her colleagues knew enough not to bother her this time of the day.
She pressed the intercom button. “Yes?”
“Jess.” The voice sounded faint. Hoarse, but instantly recognizable.
“Terry, dear Lord, where have you been?” she said, then blurted, “Never mind, I’m ringing you up.” She pressed the button, opened her door and waited in the hall outside the elevator.
It seemed to take forever before the elevator door opened. Terry stumbled out and collapsed the moment Sephina was safely in Jess’s arms. “I had to hide in the bathroom of a gas station until I could safely get Sephina here. The sun was burning her,” she panted. “If only I could have reached you sooner.”
“You’re here now, Terry. You saved her.”
“Help James … please,” she said, then passed out.
Jess listened, the shower wasn’t running. “Britt,” she called, “get your ass out here. Hurry!”
Moments later Britt rushed out dressed only in jeans, his hair and chest still wet.
“What’s going on? Oh shit!” he said, when he saw Terry. He dropped to his knees beside her and felt for a pulse. “She’s alive, Jess. She has a pulse, but it’s faint.”
Jess glanced down at Sephina, wrapped in dirty newspapers, in her arms. Her heart sank. The baby was awake, her black eyes glistening and her baby vampire teeth fully extended. She’d been feeding. The prayers Regent had begun on her had lost their influence over her soul. She looked from the baby to Terry’s pale skin and knew instantly where that blood had come from.
“Terry just made it here and passed out,” she told Britt as he lifted Terry into his arms and carried her toward Jess’s apartment. She followed him. “I think she’s very anemic, and probably dehydrated.”
Britt carried her into Jess’s living room and to the sofa. He laid her down gently and pushed her matted hair out of her face. “What’ll we do, Jess? Take her to the hospital?”
“No, we need Sampson. Regular medicine can’t help her now.”
Sephina started to cry, tiny hitching sobs. She was hungry again. She tried to press her face against Jess’s arm, making it obvious that Terry had been feeding her that way.
Jess went to the fridge, got one of her own containers of blood and warmed it for ten seconds in the microwave. A plastic packet just the right size for an adult appetite.
She pressed the plastic bag to the baby’s tiny teeth. They pierced the plastic and she started suckling right away. She was so hungry Jess could hear the liquid hitting her stomach when she swallowed. She was full very quickly.
Jess put the blood away and picked up the phone. Sampson answered after three rings. She could hear a bone saw running in the background before he shut it off.
Jess told him about Terry. “She needs you immediately, Sampson. Please hurry, I’m very worried about her condition.”
“I’m on my way. Can you at least get her hydrated while I’m in transit?”
“I’ll try, but I think she’s unconscious now. I’m not sure she’s going to make it.”
“Sometimes we have little to say about it,” Sampson said seriously. Probably trying to prepare Jess for the worst.
Jess turned to Britt, who had taken Sephina from her while she was on the phone. She noticed how good he was with the child and wondered if he wanted to have children of his own. Would that even be possible for him now that he’d died and his genes were changing?
It certainly wasn’t possible for her.
After what felt like forever, Sampson arrived, carrying two duffel bags that looked to be heavy.
“Thank heavens you’re here,” Jess breathed when she opened her door to let him in. “Her pulse is growing weaker. I wasn’t sure she’d last until you got here.”
“It took me a few minutes to get her blood type from the database and to gather the necessary equipment and blood.” Sampson nodded a quick greeting to Britt. “Where is she?”
“In the living room,” Jess said, leading him inside.
Britt kneeled beside Terry with a worried expression and Sephina comfortable in h
is arms. Her pallor was disheartening. Her face so white she almost blended into the white leather fabric of the sofa, except for the red slash of her mouth and the dark circles under her eyes, she could almost be a ghost.
After he’d done a quick examination Jess asked worriedly, “What do you think, Sampson?”
He ran a hand over his bald head. “I’m beginning to think I’m seeing too many patients who are hanging on the edge between life and death. “You were right, she’s in bad shape, Jess.”
“I know,” she said, her heart breaking for her friend who had obviously sacrificed her life in order to save her baby. “Should we take her to the hospital? Was I wrong about her needing a vampirologist?”
“No, unfortunately, you weren’t wrong. I’ll do whatever I can. I just don’t know if it’ll be enough. She’s barely hanging on.”
Still nestled in the crook of Britt’s arm, Sephina fell asleep. Jess admired how carefully he put her on the sofa and wrapped her in a soft throw from the back of a nearby chair. Britt probably didn’t know the poor little doll didn’t understand the difference between cold and warmth, but maybe her baby skin would appreciate the softness.
Jess stepped away from Terry. Britt picked up Sephina and rocked the baby in his arms while he paced back and forth in front of the fire. She noted that he’d quickly glanced at her, probably to see how she was holding up. Another sign it was Britt. The only human beside her brother who treated her like she had honest to God feelings.
“I’d never seen James so happy until Terry and Sephina came into his life,” she said. Jess looked at the girl’s petite little body and soft eyelashes fanning her cheeks. “I’m afraid the lapse in time since Regent’s treatments has damaged the possible results he can achieve. It’s been so long between prayers, who knows if he can still salvage her tiny soul.”
Britt inwardly cringed at Jess’s words, at what they might mean for the child’s future—or lack of one. He let his fingers trail across Sephina’s fine blond hair. “Hang in there, little girl. We’ll find some way to help you.”
“We’ll certainly try, but first we have to help Terry.”
Britt noted the fear in Jess’s voice before she turned back to Terry. Crouching down and taking her friend’s hand, she talked to her in low tones while Sampson worked with vials and tubes. Even though she appeared unconscious, Britt saw the moment Terry gripped Jess’s hand with pale fingers. Had actually squeezed back.
“We’re going to help you, Terry,” Sampson said, as he pulled IV equipment out of his first bag, assembled an IV pole, and gathered his gauzes and needles.
Terry’s eyelids fluttered and her eyes opened for the first time since she’d collapsed in the elevator.
Britt’s heart twisted.
“Sampson?” Jess asked with a heart-wrenching plea in her voice.
Sampson shook his head and continued with his ministrations. He inserted the IV needle into Terry’s arm and started a bag of blood dripping.
“My baby. Sephina? Is she okay,” Terry asked through chattering teeth. Britt knew enough about physiology to figure she was probably in shock. Or something worse. And from Sampson’s and Jess’s reactions he knew just what that “worse” was.
“She’s right here, Terry,” Britt said as he carried Sephina to Terry’s side.
She tried to sit up, but Sampson pushed her gently back. Britt leaned down, offering the baby to her. She took Sephina in the crook of her arm and crooned over the baby.
“Is it too late to help her? Where’s Regent?” Terry asked with a pleading look.
Jess’s jaws clenched. “He’s on his way, Terry. Don’t worry,” she lied.
Britt knew Regent was in Europe and wouldn’t be coming soon enough. Obviously Jess didn’t want to upset Terry any more than necessary.
“It’s so hard to believe that James did this to us.” She sobbed and pressed her lips against the baby’s forehead. When she regained her control, she continued, “Sephina and I were in the park. I take her out at dusk and walk her around the commons. Normally there are lots of people around. I should have noticed things weren’t right when we had the area all to ourselves. We were ambushed by vampires. They set up a sting. Made James find a human about to rape me.” She swallowed. “He nearly did rape me, but James arrived before he could. James was so angry. I’d never seen him that mad.”
Britt leaned over the sofa, his fingers digging into the expensive leather. “What happened next, Terry?”
“They let him kill the human There were a dozen of them. They watched from the shadows, and when the man was beyond help, they moved in. I tried to stop him, but the vampires held me back and James was too far gone to hear me shouting. By the time James realized what he’d done he’d tried not succumb to the vampire inside him, but he’d crossed the line. It was too late.”
She swallowed again. “May I have a drink of water? I’m very thirsty.”
“I’ll get it,” Sampson said.
When he headed for the kitchen, Terry sniffed, fighting back tears. “It was James who locked me in a vacant hotel room with no way to feed Sephina except with my own blood. I’ve kept her alive for three days, knowing every time I fed her that she’d become more entrenched in the vampire world. And I was growing weaker and weaker, not knowing if I’d survive long enough to save my baby.”
“Momma,” Sephina said and stuck her thumb out to her mother.
Terry pretended to share her thumb and kissed her again.
“Here’s your water,” Sampson said, holding out a half glass of water.
She leaned up a little and took a drink. At the same time Britt watched Jess grab a decorative wide mouthed vase, yank the dried flowers out of it and shove the container forward.
Terry retched then threw up into the vase. “How did you know I’d be sick, Jess,” she asked.
Britt watched Jess’s face. Tried to read her, but her expression was as bland as white on white.
“It’s been so long since you’ve eaten,” she said. “I figured water might be hard on your stomach.” Jess and Sampson exchanged serious expressions when Terry looked down at Sephina.
Britt chewed on his lower lip. Even though Jess’s expression didn’t falter, he knew she was merely comforting Terry. Jess had known Terry would be sick. It was too late for her. She’d been turned by her own baby which was surprising really, because not all vampires could turn their victims. One had to have an instinctive sense for taking most of the blood, but leaving just enough behind to transform a human into a vampire.
And that’s what was happening to Terry. She was transitioning into a vampire. She probably didn’t have much time left. Her human body would die, and she’d come back and be in excruciating pain.
“James. He’ll be coming for us. He won’t stop until we’re with him again. He’s mad, and he’s driven to keep us together. And he’s not alone. There are at least a dozen other vampires with him. He can’t see that they’re using him to get to you, Jess.”
Jess nodded, and looked at Britt. Her expression more desolate than any he’d ever seen. And he knew her sadness was as much for James as it was for Terry. James had lost his soul and would have to die. There’d be no reprieve for him.
Poor Jess. James was her friend. Her partner. Her blood kin, who had a much deeper connection to her than he’d even realized until now. Until he saw the expression of utter futility on her face.
Britt cursed under his breath and stalked into the kitchen so he could think clearly. There had to be a solution to this damned mess. They couldn’t just let Terry die and become a vampire and then kill James because he was evil now. They were their friends. Fellow members of the team.
“Are you okay Britt?” Jess had followed him into the kitchen.
No, damn it to hell, he wasn’t okay. There were advantages to amnesia, and he wished he could forget again. The last thing he wanted to do was make things more intolerable for Jess.
“What happened to that baby was my fault. I should�
�ve been more savvy about vampires before my ex-wife killed Sephina and turned her into a vampire,” Britt said.
“Your ex-wife? So you remember her?” Jess asked.
He rubbed two fingers across his brow. “Unfortunately, yes. And believe me, I’d rather not remember.
Jess touched his arm then drew her hand back. “Your ex couldn’t help herself, Britt. Evil got hold of her. It makes people do horrible things.”
“And some people do wonderful things,” he said staring down into her beautiful eyes. “Like you.”
She held one hand up. “Don’t!”
“It’s true.”
“No, if it weren’t for me none of you would be in this mess. Everyone in this room has had their lives ruined by me personally. How does a person live with that kind of guilt hanging over them?”
“By realizing that not one person in this apartment blames you and by remembering all the people you’ve helped.” Truth, pure and simple. Surely she’d see that.
She didn’t look appeased.
He gripped the edge of the counter and felt the muscles bunching up in his shoulders. He’d been sent to help her. What in God’s name could he possibly do to make her realize how important she was?
Images morphed through his memory. He had the ability to wipe out vampires, could turn them to ash with a mere thought. What if it happened again when she was nearby? He’d kill her too.
Sampson joined them in the kitchen with Sephina in his arms. “Terry’s gone.” A lump lodged in Britt’s throat at the thought of the baby being taken from her mother’s dead arms.
A sob broke from Jess that made Britt’s chest feel like it had been cracked wide open. He reached for her, but she turned quickly and left the kitchen. He and Sampson gave her a minute, then went back into the living room to find her near the fireplace staring into the depths of the gas powered flames.
Sampson shared a sympathetic glance with Britt.
When Jess finally lifted her head and turned back to them, all emotion had been hidden.
Grave New Day Page 14