Tempered (Et Lapis Sanguis Book 1)

by Dawn Ibanez

  She didn’t say anything as the EMU draped a blanket over her shoulders. She looked at Shawn and Henry. “My phone,” she said.

  Shawn nodded. “I have everything under control. You look after Mel.”

  Gus climbed into the ambulance, careful not to touch any of the machines connected to her sister. The EMU turned to Gus and tilted her chin up. Gus shook her head.

  “Look after her,” she ordered.

  The EMU was a small woman with her red hair twisted up in a bun. “We’ve done everything we can until we get her to the hospital. You’re covered in cuts, and one of your friends said you were thrown through plate glass. We need to check you too.”

  Gus didn’t want anyone poking at her. It was bad enough they had Mel. “I’m standing. I’m fine.”

  The redhead’s hand came forward and poked at the bruise forming under Gus’s bra. When she hissed, the woman raised an eyebrow. “You’re standing. But probably not for long,” she said. She leaned in close to Gus’s ear. “There’s been some weird stuff going on the past few nights. The Glaive is going a little nuts. Let’s get you treated, and then you can sit with your sister until they come see you. I really don’t want to have to get you your own room.”

  Gus sat back and hissed as her back touched the side of the ambulance. The redhead moved around her and lifted the blanket. “That glass is going to have to come out. I’m amazed you didn’t feel it until now.” She touched Gus’s hand. “We’ll be at the hospital in no time. Trust me. You’re safe.”

  Gus leaned forward and put her forearms on her knees. She would never feel safe in the clutches of Vampires. It didn’t matter if they were trying to help or not.

  Chapter 2

  The North Sector was in disarray. Not only was a disgraced member of his Guard recently found beaten within an inch of his life, but a woman’s body had also been found mutilated. Her murder was one that brought back unpleasant memories. The man that ruled over the sector frowned as his second in command spoke quietly on his phone.

  Elijah hated the idea of chaos rearing its ugly head in his sector. He would deal with the problems Warren raised in time. After he gained information on the ones that put him in that hospital bed, Elijah would have his execution carried out. First, his main concern needed to be the reports of the woman who was found without most of her reproductive organs.

  Edmund finished his call. “There’s been another attack. This time it looks like the victim tried to fight back.”

  His second’s tone wasn’t a pleased one. “What happened?”

  “The report says that this woman was found in an abandoned meat market in the old warehouse district. There were signs of a struggle, and her sister was the only one conscious after the fact. They are both being taken to Kilmer right now.”

  Elijah rose to his feet. “Why would anyone go there?” he asked absently. The abandoned district was just that. With the rise of technology and the imports and exports of foods and meats, the area had shut down nearly a decade ago. He had intentions on rebuilding the area, but his attentions were taken other places.

  “I honestly have no clue,” Edmund said. He stood on the other side of the desk as Elijah went to where his overcoat hung. “Are you seriously going to investigate this yourself?”

  Memories danced in his head. His mother’s soft caress. Her sad laugh because she needed to leave him to his own devices as she made money to put food on their table. The vision of her blood-soaked dress when he came home with the news of a new job at the palace.

  Elijah closed his eyes for a moment. “Yes. I need to see this through.” He pulled on his coat and adjusted his collar before leaving his office.

  Edmund’s footsteps chased him. He knew the younger vampire meant well. But while Edmund knew of blood, he hadn’t been scarred by murder from a young age. He would have questions that Elijah wouldn’t answer. At least not until he had a chance to investigate the body of the unknown woman, and speak with the women who survived the attack.

  When they reached the elevators, Elijah glanced back at his secretary. Their eyes met as she hung up the phone. The human woman nodded her head before going back to her duties.

  “Do you think she called a car?” Edmund asked in a whisper.

  Elijah nodded. “She is efficient in that way.” In the years she worked for him, Christine had come to know his moods. The human woman had gone from being a simple employee to being a woman to whom he gave every protection freely. “Gabriel asked to train to become a Guard. But he wants to be transferred to a different sector.”

  The elevator arrived. As the doors opened, Edmund glanced at Christine again. “He could learn a lot abroad. Will she let him go?”

  “If I request it, yes. But I don’t think she will be happy with me if it comes to that.” Elijah didn’t want her angry with him. Christine was essential to his running the sector. “I will tell her his reasons and hope for the best.”

  “Out of curiosity, why does he want to leave? I would have thought he would have wanted to stay near his mother.”

  “Gabriel wants to thrive on his own. If he is here, who is to say he won’t receive preferential treatment because his mother is a part of my inner circle? Who is to say the opposite won’t happen? If he goes to one of the other sectors, he will be just another human guard.” The boy, who was really a man now, wouldn’t have to explain why he was treated as if he were a prince. And that fault laid at Elijah’s feet. He sighed as the elevator doors opened. “I will deal with Gabriel and Christine in time. At worse, I will put out a call to Lady Victoria and send him to live with her.”

  Edmund’s lips pressed together at the sound of her name. “You don’t have to involve her. She just wants to live in peace.”

  The former monarch was special to Edmund, just as Christine was to him. As they walked out of the building, Elijah saw his car in front of the building, as expected. What he hadn’t expected was the young man he had just been talking about sitting behind the steering wheel. “Gabriel,” he acknowledged.

  Gabriel looked at him with a grin and got out of the car. “Sire,” he said as he bowed low at the waist. It was a public display. Everyone that worked for Elijah knew it. Especially when most of them remembered the feared Chevalier of the North carrying the boy in front of him on his shoulders. Gabriel straightened and ran to the rear door of the sedan. When Elijah was close, Gabriel leaned close. “I know you said you would talk with mom, but she and I spoke last night. She’s cool with me joining the Guard.”

  Elijah climbed into the car and waited for Edmund to join them. Christine had never been cool with her son in any sort of danger. But he would have to continue the conversation in the car. It didn’t take long for Edmund to join him in the rear seat. When Gabriel sat behind the wheel again, he asked. “What did you and your mother agree to?”

  “It was really weird. But I need to know where we’re going first. Mom would skin me if I don’t take my responsibilities seriously.”

  “Kilmer General,” Edmund supplied.

  Gabriel nodded as he pulled away from the sidewalk. “We got this phone call. It was this gargoyle named Beecham. He’s out in Europe. Well, he said he works for Queen Victoria, or former queen at least. She retired.”

  Elijah looked at Edmund, who had the sense to look out of the window. “I know Beecham, and we call her Lady Victoria now.”

  “Okay, well, he offered me a job in the Guard in the Yard! After my training, I could even become a member of the Queen’s, I mean Lady’s house! Mom saw how excited I got and said she would talk to you about it, but if you clear it, I can go.”

  Elijah knew it ripped Christine’s heart out to say that. But he could not stifle the boy’s enthusiasm at the thought. “I will speak it over with your mother,” he said with a nod.

  Gabriel was a bundle of energy as he drove through the city. Elijah glanced at Edmund and saw that his second was focused on the human behind the wheel. Elijah knew what he had done. Edmund took it upon himself to
call his Sire, the Lady. He’d probably told her about Gabriel’s zest for life and his connection to Elijah. With Lady Victoria so old and powerful, the safest place for Gabriel to serve would be under her eye.

  Gabriel cleared his throat as he turned on to the highway. “Um, if you don’t mind my asking, what’s going on with the vampire they found the other night? I know a few of the younger officers were talking about it. They don’t know if it was a random attack or something worse.”

  “Let them know that we are investigating and the best thing they could do is stay out of our way,” Edmund said sourly.

  “Yes, Sir,” Gabriel said with a nod.

  Elijah looked at the cityscape as they drove. This city was his to rule. It had been for the past hundred years. This was his home. But his mind continued to wander to a different city. A different home. He needed to find out what and who was behind the mysterious woman’s death, as well as the attack on the woman they were going to visit.

  Gabriel approached the front of the hospital with ease. He stopped the car at the curb before he could block the lowered section for those in wheelchairs. Elijah nodded at the boy he helped raise. “Park the car. We will contact you when we are on the way down.”

  Gabriel smiled. “Yes, Sire,” he said with a hand over his heart.

  Elijah climbed out of the car and closed the door behind him. Edmund was already waiting on the sidewalk in front of the hospital doors. “If you don’t like him, why did you call Lady Victoria?”

  Edmund turned and walked to the hospital doors. “Because she’s lonely, and I can’t think of anyone better for her to dote over than an eager puppy like Gabriel.”

  Elijah looked over at where Gabriel parked the car. “If Gabriel is an eager puppy, then what does that make you, my friend?”

  Edmund glanced to where Gabriel was before turning his attention to the hospital doors. “I was the puppy that has become her fiercest guard dog.”

  “Even while in my service?”

  “You knew that when she sent me to you.”

  Elijah nodded. He did know that. Edmund’s first loyalty was to Victoria and her happiness. In many ways, he was the son she never had, and she the mother he always needed. “I will tell Christine tonight of my approval. The Lady will treat Gabriel as a foster son, since I have the one she calls her own here with me.”

  Edmund was quiet as they walked to the welcome desk. That was fine. Elijah knew Edmund’s feelings where Victoria was concerned were erratic at best. But that was something he needed to deal with on his own.

  When they reached the welcome desk, the man sitting behind the computer screen glanced at them and quickly did a double take. He cleared his throat and hid a delicate cough behind his hand. His pulse was a rapid staccato in his neck. “Sire, Lord Captain. How can I help you?”

  Elijah looked at the human male. He was close to panicking, and that was something he could not have in the hospital. “We need to speak with Dr. Levy,” he said. The human nodded and picked up his phone to call the chief of staff. Elijah turned and moved away from the desk.

  Edmund stayed at his side, just behind his left arm. He knew the other vampire carried a gun hidden under the overcoat signifying his rank as a member of the Glaive. Elijah no longer carried a weapon when he went on the streets. No Chevalier did. If he needed to carry a weapon at all times, it spoke of weakness.

  “She’s going to go on about Warren, isn’t she?” Edmund asked in a low voice.

  Elijah pressed his lips together as he thought back to the report Dr. Levy gave him the day before. “Monica and I have reached an understanding.” The history he had with most of his high-ranking people bothered others, but Elijah didn’t give a damn. He kept people he could trust in positions of power so there would be less for him to worry about.

  A pair of doors opened down the hall, and a woman with short blonde hair kept back with a large blue headband walked through. Her sneakered feet were silent as she moved to where he stood. Monica Levy had served as the chief of staff at Kilmer General for the past three years, and this hospital had never run smoother.

  “I heard you have a new patient. We need to speak with her,” Elijah said.

  Monica looked between him and Edmund. “Forgive my bluntness, Sire, but your timing sucks.” She looked around the lobby and frowned at the awestruck face of the man at the reception desk. “I have more than enough to deal with without you two showing up here trying to play detective.” She walked over to the main desk and spoke quietly to the man there.

  Edmund leaned closer to Elijah’s ear. “Does she realize more powerful vampires would kill her for that remark?”

  Elijah knew Edmund and Monica would never be friends. He gave his second a disapproving glance. “And they would be fools. Sometimes, you need to let those under you flex their muscles to stand up to you. As long as they know when to back down, there is no harm. Monica blows off steam with her words. And if you notice, she is only so vocal when she and I are either alone or with you.”

  Edmund folded his arms over his chest as he backed away from Elijah. “She still takes too many liberties.”

  Monica walked back over to them. “You both need to come with me. I’ll take you to the ICU.” She didn’t wait for their approval. She turned on her heel and went back to where the doors stood. As she used her keycard to open the doors, Elijah noticed the receptionist had his head down and he was focused on the computer in front of him. “And please forgive him, Sire. Roberto never expected to see you in the flesh.”

  Elijah nodded as he continued on. “As long as it is not a common occurrence, he will be fine. Now, tell me about the victim.”

  Monica blew a hiss of air between her teeth. “Two sisters were brought in. One is in surgery. She was lucky we got to her when we did. She coded once, and at this point, it may take a miracle for her to pull through.”

  “What about the other woman?” Elijah couldn’t lose the lead to finding this monster. He would not have the people in his sector live in fear the way they did in Whitechapel. “Is she able to speak to anyone?”

  Monica laughed, low and without humor. “Is she able to speak? Yes. Will she speak to you? I have no clue. Two men showed up saying they were family friends.” She shook her head. “I’ve barely been able to get a word out of her besides her sister’s name.”

  They walked through the corridors of the hospital. It was quiet as a pair of doors opened leading to a wing intended for authorized personnel. Monica frowned as she spied her patient, fully clothed sitting with her two friends. “You were supposed to be in the bed resting, Miss. Vega.”

  Elijah watched as a woman with olive-colored skin and thick black hair pulled back in a braid turned to Monica. “As I said before, I’m fine. My sister is the one you need to worry about.” Her eyes darted to Elijah and Edmund before returning to Monica. “Doctor.”

  The two men standing at the window looked as if they wanted to hide in the shadows. The woman looked at him with an assessing gaze. Elijah could ignore the two human men, but Miss. Vega held an aura that drew his attention.

  Monica stepped to the side slightly. “Miss. Vega, I would like to introduce you to Lord Elijah, the Chevalier for the North Sector, and Captain Edmund Albert of the Glaive. I believe they have some questions for you.”

  Elijah was trapped in the woman’s hardened gaze. He found himself wanting to know more about her instead of the attack she survived. Elijah gestured to the doorway. “Would you care to move down the hall?” he asked.

  “I want to know what’s going on with my sister.”

  This was no damsel he had to treat with kid gloves. Her voice was completely clear of the fear he was used to. “She is in surgery. If there are any changes, the hospital knows to alert me.”

  Now. There had been no such order, but the key to gaining her cooperation was her sister.

  Monica pulled the medical chart off the foot of the bed and looked it over. She then frowned at Miss. Vega. “Where are the notes an
d orders I wrote here?”

  “It was just a few scratches. I’m fine.”

  The way she blew off her own injuries was either a testament to her pain tolerance or her idiocy. Elijah needed to speak with her about the attack to determine which. He looked at the Vega woman. “Give her the notes. She will only make your stay here miserable.”

  Her eyes turned into chips of amber. “I don’t have to stay here.”

  He stepped closer to her, intrigued by the way she didn’t back down. “But your sister is here and will be for the foreseeable future. Now, you can either give the good doctor her notes back and be a good little patient, or I can have you thrown into a cell and forgotten about for the rest of your years.”

  A flicker of something crossed her face. “You can’t do that.”

  “I am the Chevalier of the North. I can do that and worse.”

  She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a pair of pages. She was silent as she held them out to Monica. After Monica looked over the notes and put them back in her file, the brunette turned her attention back to him. “What questions do you have?”

  Once again, he was struck by her complete lack of fear. He turned to the men against the wall. “I believe my captain has a few questions for you both as well.”

  Edmund stepped aside and gestured to the door. The men looked at the Vega woman. They were unsure about leaving her alone. Something that raised Elijah’s opinion of them. When she nodded, they left without argument. Elijah waited for Edmund and Monica to exit as well.

  He took the time to assess the woman in front of him. She was not as tall as he was, but her confidence added to her height. With her shoulders held back and her raised chin, her posture spoke of someone willing to fight for their beliefs. The spark in her eyes made Elijah feel something he hadn’t felt since he came into service as a vampire under the Ruling Gargoyle, Dominic.

  This strange woman made him feel as if he were prey.

  Chapter 3

  Gus leaned against the window and folded her arms. She wouldn’t sit on the hospital bed, and there was no way she would let the Chevalier of the Sector tower over her. The door clicked shut as Dr. Levy made her exit.