On the pallets this time was a woman holding a small body in her lap. She was facing away from the door, her shoulders hunched protectively as she sniffled over the limp bundle in her arms. Gabi froze in shock. A mother and child, in these conditions? Her stomach rolled nauseously but her anger burned white hot. She unfroze and moved closer to the pair, wanting to see if there was any hope of saving the child, though she could only hear one heartbeat besides her own.
As she bent towards the woman, she heard Julius say, “No Gabi, I don’t…” and in that instant the woman struck. Hurling the body of the child off her, she spun and plunged a splintered piece of wood straight into Gabi’s side.
“No, you can’t have her!” the woman shrieked. “Child of Satan. She’s mine. You can’t have her.” The woman was raving now, screaming as she gathered up the pitifully small body and backed into a corner like a brutalised animal.
“Gabrielle,” Julius shouted in alarm. He reached her before reality did and caught her as she swayed towards the dirt floor, her hand clutching at the crudely made stake protruding from just under her right ribs.
“Fuck,” she said slowly as she felt hot, sticky blood seep onto her hand.
Chapter 18
“No,” thought Julius desperately, ‘this can’t be it, this isn’t right; it’s not the same as the vision.”
“Gabrielle,” he breathed, gathering her up with infinite care, his mind torn between knowing it was better to leave her where she was so as to limit the damage, and needing to get her out of that filthy hole with its dreadful inhabitants. He looked into her eyes as the reality of what had happened registered in them. He could see the emotions lick over her face: confusion, shock, pain and then indignant anger. When he saw the anger, he knew he would take the chance and get her out.
“Kyle,” he yelled, louder than necessary for the comlink, “Gabrielle’s been injured, we need a stretcher and medics.”
“Shit,” Kyle cursed, then, “Charlie, send the medic back here fast, we’re almost done so it’ll be safe enough. Julius, do I need to send men down there? How bad is she hurt?”
“No, don’t send anyone, we can clean up down here later,” Julius replied. “I’m going to need some help getting her out the last section of the passage. It’s very narrow, and I won’t fit through carrying her.”
He stopped at the intersection and glanced up to see Kyle already manoeuvring himself sideways down the narrow passage. Alexander was at the top of the staircase peering down into the gloom. Gabi was lying quietly in his arms, but he could feel the tension in her body as she braced herself against the pain, one hand clenched around the offending shard of wood. She obviously knew enough about penetrating injuries to not try and pull the stake out, though he knew it was always a person’s first instinct and she had to be fighting it hard. Kyle slowed and worry filled his eyes as he got close enough to scent the blood and see the stake protruding from her bloodied fingers.
“There’s a door here I think leads to the warehouse,” Julius snapped at Kyle. “See if you can find a way to open it, otherwise we’ll have to take her out through there,” he nodded back down the tight space behind Kyle.
“I can walk,” Gabi said irritably, starting to wriggle in Julius arms, but a sharp, hissed intake of breath said clearly she wouldn’t be.
“Hellcat, just lie still and behave,” Kyle grumbled, as he squeezed through the cramped space of the intersection and worked his way to the metal door. “How the fuck did you get yourself staked anyway?” The surface of his tone was mildly admonishing and slightly exasperated, but Julius could hear the genuine concern underlying his teasing.
Gabi flicked him the bird with her free hand, knowing he would see it even in the gloom.
“What? Now I’m not Vampire enough to get staked?” she asked snarkily, and then coughed; a hoarse, rattling sound. She wiped her hand across her mouth and tried to hide the evidence of the blood smear as she tensed her body trying not to cough again. Alexander had reached them now, his slighter build making it easier for him to navigate the narrow space than other two men with their height and broad shoulders.
“Clever Vampires learn how to NOT get staked,” Alexander retorted, “your basic training seems to be sorely lacking.” He had his face set in a disapproving frown, but his eyes betrayed his own concern. He gave Julius a look loaded with meaning.
Julius shut his eyes and sighed. “Let’s get her out first and see the damage,” he told his second in command.
“Are you two talking like Siamese twins again?” she asked a bit breathlessly. “Do you know how annoying that is?” She ran out of breath after that, and the three men could hear the gurgle of fluid in her lungs as she tried to draw her next breath.
“What’s with that door, Wolf?” Alexander asked.
Kyle snorted in disgust. “No fucking way in from this side, it’s smooth as ice, no way to even wrench it from its moorings.
“It might cave the place in if we tried.” Julius pointed out.
“I could go around, try to find a way to open it from the other side,” Kyle suggested.
“Give her to me,” Alexander said, “I’m smaller than you two, maybe I can get her through.
Passing her to Alexander proved difficult to do in the narrow space. Julius couldn’t hand her directly across without driving the stake further into her body. It took Gabi a full minute of arguing to get Julius to set her on her feet so Alexander could take his place. He only gave in to stop her from talking; they all knew her right lung had collapsed and she was fighting for every breath. She was on her feet for less than a second before Alexander took her weight in his arms, every bit as gently as Julius himself had held her. Then he put his back to one side of the narrow passage, holding her as close to his body as he could, keeping one watchful eye on the stake, and began to smoothly crab-walk her out of the underground house of horrors.
“Still want to knock my fangs out?” he teased her with a toothy leer as Julius heard her painful, rasping breath becoming more laboured.
She smacked Alexander around the head half-heartedly with the hand that was draped over his shoulder. “Anytime Lex Boy…… just give me a few minutes……..to recover.”
It was only seconds later that they all reached the open air and saw that the medic was already there with a stretcher. Alexander laid her on it with utmost care and then backed off as Kyle rushed to her side, crowding the human medic who was trying to assess the damage. Julius moved to her other side.
“Gabrielle,” he said taking her hand, and then pausing until she drew herself out of the haze of pain and focused on him. “Let me give you blood. You’ve seen now how it can heal; you’d be back on your feet tomorrow.” He could see in her eyes that she wanted to say yes, but there was still a trace of fear in her expression. He was fairly sure her apprehension had less to do with the physical effects of his blood and far more to do with the fact that she knew she craved his blood; she would be terrified of the consequences of allowing herself to taste it, knowing it could make her want more. “I swear it will not bind you to me in any way you do not wish it to. I offer it freely and without obligation.”
Pain tightened the skin around her eyes as she concentrated on dragging in another rasping breath. “I’m not sure,” she said, shaking her head, “can’t think clearly.” The loss of blood and oxygen was starting to affect her; her hand felt cold in his.
“Gabi,” the medic interrupted, “I really need to get you to the hospital, you need to go directly into surgery.” He looked a little wild-eyed at the group of Vampires surrounding them and edged closer to Kyle. “I’m sorry, but I have to move her now.” He made a gesture to get the Vampires to move out of his way and looked to Kyle for help.
Then Gabi sighed, closing her eyes. “No,” she said, softly but clearly, opening her eyes to look at the medic. “We’re going to try this his way,” she whispered, turning her head back towards Julius.
The medic began shaking his head, looking determ
ined and tugging on the stretcher, but the Vampires closed ranks around them, and the man bit his lip, torn between doing what he thought was the right thing and trying to take on a horde of threatening Vampires to do it.
Kyle came to the rescue, quickly put a calming hand on the man’s shoulder. “It’s ok, Harry. They know what they’re doing.” Kyle reassured him. “I think you might be about to witness something close to a miracle.”
The stockier man subsided, but his worried expression didn’t ease.
Julius felt the choking aura of tension, which had been suffusing his body, ease and he held her eyes with his as he began to give orders. “Harry,” he said, his voice smooth and calming, “I’ll need your help.”
Harry bit his lip, his anxiety still tangible in the air, but he stepped back towards Gabi’s side.
“Whatever I can do to help, of course,” he murmured.
“Good,” Julius said shortly. “I’ll need you to carefully remove the stake when I tell you to. You’ll only have a few seconds to do it, and you’ll need to make sure there are no large splinters left behind in the wound. We don’t want her flesh to heal around the pieces or we’ll have to cut them out later. Can you do that?”
Harry’s eyes were as round as saucers, and his pattering heartbeat was clear to everyone standing nearby, but his nod was sure and his hands were steady as he reached for a pair of scissors and began to cut Gabi’s shirt away from the wound site.
“Kyle, Alexander,” Julius called the other two closer; “I need to you hold her still when Harry pulls the stake free.”
They moved to either side of the narrow stretcher, Kyle opposite Julius near Gabi’s shoulder and Alexander next to Julius near her thighs. They nodded they were both ready. Julius pulled a small switchblade from one of his pockets and bent close to Gabi.
“I’m sorry, Lea, this is going to hurt,” he murmured in tight voice, then he dug the blade into the flesh just at the base of his thumb and sliced deeply, through flesh and vein and tendon. As the blood welled up, as bright red as any human’s, he crouched down to her eye level and held his hand to her lips. He used his free hand to turn her head in towards his bleeding palm, cupping the side of her face with his fingers, shielding her from seeing what Harry was doing, and holding her jade green eyes captive with his own.
The world around her had been blurring in and out of focus. The air was thick with an oily smoke that stank of burnt flesh and hair and other things. Getting air into her lungs was like trying to breathe in water. She knew she had just made some kind of life-altering decision, but it was difficult to remember exactly what through the haze of pain and blood and smoke and spinning. A pair of deep sapphire pools gilded with golden halos caught her gaze and held her in place. The world seemed to stop shifting focus, and she heard his velvet voice, it sounded…. regretful. She felt his cool, smooth skin press against her face and blinked as his eyes swooped closer and his other hand slipped into her hair and turned her face towards him. She found herself wondering who Lea was, and why she was going to hurt. The thought was barely formed when a cool, thick liquid touched her lips, it was delicious in scent and she opened her mouth to lick at the wetness. She closed her eyes in relief. It was intoxicating, heavenly, it chased all awareness of pain and anxiety from her. She suckled, trying to draw more of the liquid into her mouth. She heard a voice and opened her eyes again, the beautiful face surrounding the sapphire pools gave a slight nod, and her world exploded in pain.
There was a horrible ripping, tearing agony in her side. She closed her eyes and tried to scream, tried to twist away from the torture, tried to find a way to end the pain. Firm bands held her in place, some cool, some warm, and a gentle vice held her mouth to his hand and the warm sticky liquid oozing from it. Black spots and glittering specks danced in front of her closed lids as a calm, velvety voice spoke, trying to soothe her. She forced her eyes open, fighting the darkness trying to pull her down. She didn’t want to be drawn into the abyss, but the voice was hypnotic, encouraging her to let go, assuring her they would take care of her. Who would take care of her, her confused mind wondered. As the flow of liquid at her mouth slowed, she felt a trickle of annoyance, nuzzling into his flesh for more, licking at the last few smears. The pain had begun to ebb slightly, narrowing down to an aching burn in her right side. The hand was pulled gently away, but tender fingers stroked her hair and her face; she could hear excited murmuring around her, could feel someone covering her with a blanket and tucking it in around her, but the mesmerising eyes still held hers. Her lids felt heavy, her body felt heavy and the darkness pulled at her again.
“The worst is over, Lea. Sleep now and heal. We’ll take it from here.” The soothing voice told her. And she, for once in her life, obeyed without argument.
When she opened her eyes, she was in a room, on a bed, under a luxurious blanket, and it was dark. It took her a few seconds to remember what had happened at the warehouse. Where was she? Had she slept only a few hours or an entire day? She had no idea. She definitely wasn’t in a hospital, unless they had started designing hospital rooms to look like something straight out of a five star hotel suite. As she took in her surroundings in the flickering light of a, glass-fronted fireplace, she felt an eyebrow rise in reluctant appreciation of the beautiful decor in the room. The huge four-poster bed was solid wood, and the soft furnishings and bedding were in dark, masculine colours. As she lay curled on her side, she faced a wall boasting a magnificent oil painting of a rearing chestnut warhorse in strong shades of red, orange and black. Large pieces of dark wood furniture filled the corners of the room, and two large over-stuffed armchairs sat close together near heavy, velvet curtains, drawn back from French doors to reveal a clear, star-studded night sky. A man sat in one of the chairs, his pose relaxed but attentive. One of his legs was propped up on a tapestried foot stool and one hand cradled a large, half-filled wine glass. He watched her with calm interest.
“How are you feeling?” his voice purred, vibrating down her spine.
She felt like a cat that had just been stroked in exactly the right way but that probably wasn’t what he was referring to, she thought with suppressed smile. She sighed and tried an experimental stretch, bracing herself for the pain. Surprise drenched her as the stretch yielded nothing but a mild stiffness. No pain at all. She threw the blanket off herself and pulled up the silk shirt covering her, then craned her neck to look at the site of her wound, her fingers reaching tentatively to probe the area. There was no wound at all; the area was completely healed over, not even a scab, just a dark pink area where new skin had formed. Her probing fingers told her the healing wasn’t just skin deep, the flesh felt whole and undamaged underneath, too, and completely pain-free. Not even a hint of bruising or swelling remained. And her lung, she thought worriedly, remembering the awful feeling of not being able to get enough oxygen. She drew a deep, experimental breath and felt it come easily, no fluid rattling, no need to cough. She’d either been out for weeks, or something miraculous had happened.
“The blood seems to have had the desired effect,” Julius murmured. He’d removed his leg from the stool and sat forward facing her while she made her assessment, but he made no move to come any closer. “I hope you’ll forgive me for forcing your hand while you were confused and in pain.” He looked down into his wineglass, waiting for her reaction.
She could feel his tension now, radiating through the room. She remembered the thick, delicious liquid that she had sucked from his hand; she had been so far gone that she hadn’t even made the connection at the time. Of course, it all made sense now. She felt a lazy smile turn up the corners of her mouth as she settled back onto the mattress, propping her head up on one hand.
“Somehow I think I might find it in me to forgive you for that one,” she said, absently rubbing her other hand over her newly healed flesh. The same languorous, sensual lethargy that had affected her the first time she’d tasted Julius’s blood cocooned her now. A strange, urgent need swelled up ins
ide her, and she realised she wanted him closer to her. “Why don’t you come over here?” she asked him casually, patting the space on the bed in front of her. “By the scent in here this must be your bed?”
Julius paused for a heartbeat before answering. “I don’t think that would be a good idea right now.”
The flames in the fire-place suddenly surged brighter, as though hit by a blast of oxygen, and in the brief surge of amber light Gabi saw Julius’s eyes flare with their own dark flame. He quickly dropped his gaze from hers and turned his head to stare out into the night. “In fact, I think it is probably a good time for me to leave. I just needed to know that you were okay.”
The need inside her flared more insistently, resisting the thought of him leaving, and demanding she act to keep him nearby. “Why should you leave, it is your room isn’t it?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from betraying her desperation.
He turned his face back towards her, a strange kind of anguish sharpening his features. “I,” he began, then broke off, as his eyes stroked down the length of her body and legs, lying sprawled across the bed.
Gabi suddenly realised she was wearing only a loosely buttoned man’s silk shirt and nothing else. All her clothes must have been covered in blood.
“I’m not sure I could…. resist,” he continued finally, “if I come any closer to you. You call to me like a siren.”
She watched him swallow convulsively. “I said come here,” she enunciated the words slowly and forcefully.
He closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly. “I’m not sure exactly what is happening right now, I’ve never felt anything like it, but I don’t want you regretting your own actions in the morning and hating me for it.” He forced out the words through a tightly clenched jaw. “I need to go.” He set the wineglass on a low table and stood up abruptly, as ungracefully as she’d ever seen him move. and headed towards the closed bedroom door.
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