by HELEN HARDT
“Maybe,” Erin said. “You still had bruises and lacerations when you changed.”
They all looked to me, as if I were supposed to make some grand declaration or announcement.
“You’re welcome?” was all I could come up with.
“We need to find you some clothes,” River said to Lucy.
“There should be scrubs around here somewhere,” Erin said. “If it’s a real hospital, which it seems to be. Logan will know. Lucy, go back to the records room. He’s probably still there.”
“Okay.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me,” River said.
“We should all go,” I said. “I want a look at those records. Then I want to check on Em. We still haven’t located the others.”
A baby’s cry pierced the air.
Erin turned. “Patty and the baby.” She ran off.
Chapter Eighteen
Erin
Dante grabbed me. “You’re not running off alone.”
“But the baby! Didn’t you hear her?”
“Of course I heard her. My hearing is better than yours.”
“I need to find her.”
He sighed, cupping my cheek. “This is important to you.” A statement.
“Yes.”
“We’ll go together. I’ll see the records another time.” He turned to the others. “You go ahead. Find clothes for Lucy. I’m with Erin.”
River nodded. “Got it.”
Dante took my arm, and we raced toward the sound of the wailing infant. We passed several rooms with locked doors. No windows in the doors.
Were the women we searched for behind them? I had no way of knowing. Right now, I followed the wails.
Dante stopped at one of the doors. “She’s in here.”
I put my ear against the door and could hear the infant’s cry on the other side. “Yes! Can you open it?”
“I can.” He quickly picked the lock and opened the door.
The girl in the bed let out a shrill scream.
Patty Doyle. In her arms was a bundle. A crying bundle.
“Patty, it’s me. Erin. From the hospital. We’re not here to hurt you.”
“You can’t take my baby! You can’t take her again!”
“We’re not here to take her,” I said. “We’re here to help.”
Patty’s face was red and her eyes swollen from crying. “I just want to go home!”
“I know. I know. Dante, could you get me a cool washcloth?”
He nodded and went to the sink. When he returned, I wiped Patty’s face.
“They take her sometimes,” she said.
“We’re going to get you out of here.”
“Now?”
“As soon as we can figure out how.”
“I can get her out,” Dante said. “I can shield her.”
I nodded. “I need to check her out first. Make sure she’s physically able. Is that okay, Patty? May I examine you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do remember me, right? I was there when Isabelle was born.”
“Yeah. I remember. Thank you for remembering her name.”
I smiled. “It’s a beautiful name. May I take the baby? I need to have a quick look at both of you.”
She held on tight at first, but eventually let me take the infant, who had stopped crying, from her arms. “She’s beautiful, Patty.”
Indeed she was. Pink skin, a nub of a nose, full red lips, and a tuft of black hair. Tiny ears and delicate features. She would be a beauty.
Holding her felt nice. Like a comforting slice of warm apple pie. I turned to place her in the bassinet, but Dante stopped me.
“I’ll hold her.”
I smiled again and handed him the bundle.
He was so big and strong but took great care handling Isabelle. I couldn’t help but stare at him for a moment as he gazed at the baby. Dante would be an amazing father. An amazing father to our children.
“Is he…?” Patty asked, her voice shaking.
“He’s fine. He’s my boyfriend. He won’t hurt her.”
Patty nodded as I removed the sheet and began to examine her. I felt the lymph nodes in her neck and then listened to her heart with a stethoscope I found on the table next to her. I checked her vitals, and all were normal.
“All right, Patty. You’re in good health as far as I can see.”
“What about Isabelle? She had surgery.”
“She had a hernia repaired. The doctor told me about it. I’ll check her incisions before we go, okay?”
She nodded, chewing on her lip.
“Dante,” I said. “She’s okay to go. I’m going to see if I can find her some clo—”
I gasped. Dante was touching the baby’s lips, forcing her into a pucker.
“What are you doing?”
“Just check—” He stiffened.
“What is it?” I moved toward him, peering at the baby’s sweet face.
“Erin,” he said softly so only I could hear. “This baby is vampire.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dante
Little white nubs on her upper gum line. They would grow into vampire canine teeth. My father had taught me long ago how to recognize a vampire baby. Most humans wouldn’t even notice.
Erin’s eyes shot wide open. She motioned me to be quiet. “Don’t alarm Patty,” she whispered.
“She might already know. She must be a vampire.” I looked over at her. “If River were here, he could tell us if she has a scent. But—”
Erin took the baby from me and set her gently in the bassinet. “Patty, Dante and I are going to step outside for just a minute, okay?”
“I thought you were getting me out of here!”
“We are. We’ll just be a minute.”
“Well…I guess.”
She pulled me out the door and closed it. “I saw Patty’s records, Dante. She’s VO positive and descended from a vampire, which seems to indicate that she herself is not a vampire.”
“We still don’t know what VO positive means.”
“It’s some kind of genetic marker,” Erin said. “That part seems pretty obvious. All the women Bonneville has brought down here are VO positive, and those that have some kind of genetic abnormality are returned. Somehow, Patty gave birth to a vampire baby. How is that possible?”
“Don’t look at me. I have no idea how our genetics work. I have a genetically impossible blood type.”
“Damn!” She pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. “Her baby must have been fathered by a vampire. I think she said his name was Liam, and that he wouldn’t marry her.”
“But that wouldn’t— Oh.”
“Right. This VO marker in a B positive human woman with vampire ancestry must mean she will produce a vampire child when she mates with a vampire male.”
“Bonneville is keeping breeders. You were right. And Patty was a test case.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think this happened naturally. She came to the ER in labor. Wait! I remember Dr. Bonneville checking the baby’s sucking reflex by putting a gloved finger in her mouth. At least that’s what she said. Could she have been checking for vampire teeth?”
“The nubs? Yeah. They’re almost always present at birth.”
“How would she have known to check? Is there any other way to tell?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Not that I ever learned, anyway. But remember, I was gone for ten years.”
“Something about this baby made Bonneville check,” she said. “Then Patty and the baby disappear— Oh my God!”
“What is it?”
“Dante, Bonneville has a file on me. I’m VO positive.”
The beautiful image of Erin handing me a baby boy surged back into my mind. The dark hair, the sweet cherubic face…and the canine nubs.
He was vampire.
“No wonder Bonneville took my pills. No wonder she wanted me pregnant.”
“Not just pregnant,” I
said. “Pregnant by me.”
What did all of this mean? Especially considering the new powers I’d developed? If I made a baby with Erin, it would be vampire.
My son.
My vampire son.
Erin interrupted my thoughts. “You said vampire females are rare.”
“Yeah, eighty percent of vampire babies are born male. Shit.” I ruffled my fingers through my hair. “We’ve got to get the baby out of here.”
Would I let the Hope Diamond go if I possessed it? The crown jewels of England? The Mona Lisa?
She had eventually let me go, and she never did anything without a valid reason in her own mind. Did she know I’d find Erin? That I’d form a blood bond?
No. My father was certain that she hadn’t counted on the blood bond. Perhaps it was the bond that was helping me force the dark energy down. Perhaps it was the bond that was keeping me from metamorphosing and then dying.
I didn’t know whether any of those things were true, but I did know something.
She would not let this vampire baby girl go without a huge fight. This child was way more precious than the Mona Lisa. Way more precious than I was.
“See if you can find clothes for Patty,” I said. “I’ll stand guard out here. We’ve got to get them above ground as soon as possible.”
Erin nodded and went back into the room.
God. Patty probably had no idea her child was a vampire. Someone would have to tell her.
But not now. Right now, she had to get out of here before Bonneville found out what we were up to.
She would not let the baby go.
“You’re right, Dante.”
I gasped.
She stood before me. She must have come down the hallway quietly as a mouse.
Had I been speaking out loud?
Didn’t matter. She was here, and I would protect that woman and her baby with everything I had.
“I’m taking the baby and her mother out of here,” I said on a growl, my teeth lengthening and sharpening.
“I’m afraid you aren’t. I’ve allowed you to think you might be in control here. It was a fun little game, actually. But it’s over.”
“You’ve allowed me?” I snarled, my skin burning. “The power balance has shifted here, my queen. I know what you’re up to.”
“It was never a secret,” she said.
“Was Levi Gaston working with you?”
“That fool? I already told you he was an alchemist. I’m a scientist.”
“Who then? Who is helping you? You couldn’t have done all this alone. You said this place took decades to build. How old are you, anyway?”
“It’s rude to ask that question of a woman,” she said wryly.
“Are you related to the hematologist Zarah Le Sang?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Did she help you build this place?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Why are there no records of you anywhere? You’ve been working above ground at the hospital. According to Erin, you’re a gifted physician. Why aren’t you anywhere on the internet?”
“I choose to be discreet, for obvious reasons.”
“I want answers, damn it. What does VO positive mean?”
No response.
“What does vampyr omega mean?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Where did you hear that?”
A-ha! That got to her.
“Vampyr omega,” I said again, this time slowly with exaggerated enunciation. “The end. What are you planning, my queen?”
“Sarcasm does not become you, Dante.”
“You’re no queen. Yet you consider yourself royalty. Why?”
“I’ll speak no more of this until you’re back in your right mind. For now, you will not take that woman or that baby anywhere. They are vital to what I’m accomplishing here.”
“It’s a vampire baby. How? Who’s the father?”
“Did you not just hear me? I said I’ll speak no more—”
“Dante!” Erin opened the door. “I need help. Patty’s hemorrhaging.”
Bonneville whisked past me into the room. “What the hell is going on?”
“She… When she got up,” Erin said.
“She shouldn’t be getting up!” Bonneville hurried to Patty’s bedside. “What’s happening, Patty? Where does it hurt?”
“Everywhere,” Patty sobbed.
“Vaginal bleeding,” Erin said, going into nurse mode. “It began quite suddenly.”
I looked away as Bonneville examined the woman. “It’s most likely from the birth,” she said.
“I’m a nurse,” Erin said indignantly. “I know what postpartum bleeding looks like. This isn’t it. She’s going to need to go to the OR.”
“I’ll decide what she needs,” Bonneville said.
“What about—”
“Quiet, Erin! You’re not even supposed to be here yet. But you are here, and I need your assistance. It’s probably placental remnants. Crown will operate.”
Yet. She had said Erin wasn’t supposed to be here yet.
She had plans to bring Erin here.
This was going to stop now.
I blew into the room like a raging wind, the small pouch of my father’s ashes in hand. With a mental gesture while I still held the baby, I threw her across the room.
She landed with a thud, her mouth dropping open.
“Dante!” Erin said. “I need a doctor. Patty is bleeding!”
I quickly fingered a pinch of my father’s ashes and then touched them to the baby’s and then Patty’s foreheads. That would shield them from her. Then I closed my eyes and pictured Logan Crown in my mind, forcing him to come to us. He appeared in the room a few seconds later.
“What the—” he began.
“No time to explain,” I said. “You need to help this woman. Erin can assist you.”
I grabbed the baby. What would I do with her? No time to worry about that. I’d figure something out.
“That baby is mine!” Bonneville shouted, still sprawled on the floor, immobile.
“We need to get her to the OR, Erin,” Logan said. “Come on. Help me. There are other nurses and assistants here.”
“Where?” Erin asked.
“In another wing.”
“There’s another wing?” she said.
“Yeah. We need to hurry.”
They wheeled Patty’s bed out of the room.
“Put the child down, Dante.”
“Think again.”
“Release me!” her voice rumbled in a low, demonic tone.
Damn! I should have shielded Erin while I had the chance. What had I been thinking?
“What has happened to you?” she demanded. “How are you able—”
My rage boiled, and I forced energy toward her. She stopped talking and just lay there. I had no idea how long whatever I’d done would last. I needed to get the baby out. But who would care for her? Her mother was being operated on.
I was able to control her. Now I had to figure out how to control my control of her.
Only then could I put a stop to all of this nonsense.
I knew how to shield and get people out of here, so I’d do it. I’d find someone who could take the baby to the surface. Emilia. My sister could care for the child, or maybe one of the other women.
I had yet to find the other women, but I was sure they were behind the locked doors. Right now, my priority had to be this child.
The baby began wailing. Now what?
Chapter Twenty
Erin
Logan led me to yet another wing of the hospital, and this one was bustling. While the other wings had been sterile and isolated, clearly this was where most activity happened down here. Scrubs-clad people milled about, all with glazed looks in their eyes.
A glamour. They were here to do a job, and they’d been glamoured into doing it.
“Coming through!” Logan shouted. “I need OR one!”
“Yes, Doctor.” An
orderly led us into an operating room.
Logan and I scrubbed up quickly while two others prepped Patty for surgical intervention.
“Get a transfusion ready,” Logan said.
“Uterine atony?” I asked.
He shook his head. “She’s several weeks postpartum. The uterus should have already contracted back to normal size. It’s most likely placental remnants causing the bleed. She needs an immediate D and C.”
I was gloved and ready to go. “I’m not an OR nurse, Logan,” I warned.
“You’re what I’ve got. You’ll do fine, Erin. Just listen carefully and do what I tell you.”
I nodded, swallowing a lump in my throat.
“Let’s give her some Pitocin, twenty milligrams,” he said. “Get the IV started. I want her on fluids now.”
“Erin,” Patty said. “What’s happening to me?”
“We’re going to take good care of you, Patty,” I said.
“My baby!”
“She’s in good hands.” I prayed I was right. Dante had incapacitated Dr. Bonneville—for how long, I didn’t know—so he was likely caring for Isabelle. He knew nothing about babies, but he could find Lucy. She would take care of the child.
“Point five milligrams of Versed, Erin. She needs to calm down.”
“I’m going to give you a sedative,” I told Patty.
“No! I need to stay alert for my baby.”
“Your baby is fine, but we need to take care of you right now, okay? Please let us do what we have to do, so you can go back to your baby.”
My words seemed to calm her, and she nodded. I administered the medication, and soon she was relaxing into sleep.
Logan worked diligently, dilating her cervix and then beginning to scrape Patty’s uterine lining.
I held back a gasp. Too much blood. The curettage wasn’t helping.
“I don’t understand,” he said. “Get her transfusion ready. Add plasma to help with clotting.”
An orderly handed me a unit of B positive blood, and I set up the transfusion.
