River nodded and left the kitchen.
“I think we should take you to the hospital just in case,” she said.
“No. I’m fine. I trust you to take care of it.”
“Dante, I’m not a doctor. Plus, we need to find the dog and make sure you don’t need any rabies protocol.”
How had I gotten into this? She was fussing, and I could already feel my blood coagulating. I didn’t need a doctor.
River came back in with some bandages. “I just gave Daisy next door a quick call. The dog has had all her shots, and Daisy was completely apologetic. She said the dog just gets rowdy sometimes, but he’s friendly. She’s sorry he came over. I told her it was my fault. I’d left the back door open.”
“Tell her I’m fine,” Dante said.
“I did. She wanted to pay your medical bills, but I told her there wouldn’t be any.” He handed the bandages to Erin, who removed the kitchen towel she had been holding over my wound.
River wet a towel in the sink and began to wipe up the blood on the floor.
“That’s a lot of blood, Dante,” Erin said again. “I really think we need to take you to the hospital.”
“All right. Fine. But River can take me. You need to go home and get some sleep.”
As if on cue, her face split into a giant yawn. Good. She’d see I was right.
As she was closing her mouth, a chill swept across my neck. I turned to look behind me. Nothing.
We were inside. Where could the breeze have come from?
“Are you sure?” She looked to River. “I am tired, and I’m on tonight again. We’ll be shorthanded, too, because Lucy’s off.”
River’s lips trembled, as if he were trying to hold back a smile.
“I’m still worried about the amount of blood. How will I know if you’re all right?”
“I’ll call Jay, and he can let you know,” River said.
“Okay. That will work.” She looked at me intently. “You do look fine. No worse for wear. The blood loss obviously hasn’t affected you.” She turned to River. “I still think he should go in, though. Thanks for taking him.” She yawned again.
“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Go ahead home and get some sleep.”
“Take a bite from your own flesh, and offer yourself to me. I want you to feed me now.”
“You’ve fed from me nearly every day since you brought me here.”
“No. You will open your wrist for me, so I can drink from you.”
“Rip it open yourself. Nothing has stopped you before.”
“I can take what I want. I will always take what I want from you. I’m asking you to give it to me today. Give to me freely, Dante. Show me what I mean to you.”
“You mean nothing to me!”
She gestured to her goon. Soon the cool steel of a sharp knife touched my cock.
“You’re bluffing,” I yelled. “You’d never let him hurt me there. He already told me you wouldn’t.”
“You’re smart, Dante,” she said. “Another reason why you’re so important to me.” She motioned to her goon.
The steel now cut into my ankle.
“True, you won’t be as pretty without a foot, but I’ll just cover that part of you up. It’s not like you need feet anymore anyway. You will never leave here.”
The blade sliced through my skin, and I felt my blood bubbling.
“Your choice, Dante. Do you lose a foot? We’ll cauterize it quickly so we don’t spill any of your precious blood. Or do you feed me of your own free will?”
Anger rose within me like a red rage. Nothing about any of this was of my own free will. To be forced to choose between my foot and opening a vein for her? I needed my feet to escape from here if I ever got the chance.
There was no choice. My fangs elongated in my madness, and I pulled the arm she’d unbound forward. With hate clouding my mind, I sank my teeth into my own wrist.
Chapter Five
Erin
I walked toward my car but then turned abruptly and headed toward their neighbor’s house. The mansion was on a corner, so I didn’t have to worry about getting the right neighbor. There was only one house next door.
I clanged the ornate knocker.
An elderly woman came to the door a few minutes later. “Yes? May I help you?”
“Are you Daisy?” I asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“My name is Erin. I’m an emergency room nurse, and I’m also a friend of the Gabriels next door. I don’t mean to intrude, but I think you’d better keep your dog either inside or fenced in. You could get into a lot of trouble with a dog that just goes into other peoples’ houses and starts biting.”
She narrowed her eyes, the wrinkles around them becoming more apparent. “My dog?”
“Yes, ma’am. Your dog that just bit Mr. Gabriel’s grandson who’s staying with him. He lost quite a bit of blood.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t own a dog.”
“But…” I sighed. She was elderly and maybe a little senile. “Just be careful, ma’am. Please. Sorry to have bothered you.”
“No problem, honey.” She smiled and closed the door.
I walked back to my car.
Senile? She couldn’t be. She’d told River the dog had all its shots. Something else was going on here. I marched back toward Dante’s house.
Only to see his grandfather walking out.
“May I speak to you a moment?” he said.
“I want to see Dante first. The woman next door just told me she doesn’t have a dog.”
“No, she doesn’t have a dog.” He looked into my eyes strangely, staring, and his irises… Were they moving? They looked like seawater—greenish-blue waves.
“Then who bit Dante? And don’t give me that story about the bread knife. Those were bite marks from cuspid teeth. I’m a nurse. I know what I’m talking about.”
“No one bit Dante. He cut himself with a bread knife, like he told you.”
“No, he didn’t, I told—”
“He cut himself with the bread knife, Erin.” He stared into my eyes. “He cut himself with the bread knife.”
My mind went fuzzy. His irises still swirled in teal currents. For a moment, I forgot where I was.
“Did River take him to the hospital yet?”
“No, he stopped bleeding. It was a minor cut. From the bread knife.”
Yes, the cut from the bread knife. I remember now.
“I need to go home and get some rest,” I said.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Bill said. “Go home and get some rest. It was great to meet you.”
“Yeah, you too.” I headed toward my car.
When I got to the hospital that evening for work, I found out Cynthia North had been discharged. She was staying with a friend, since she couldn’t go home after her husband’s girlfriend had shot her. So much for talking to her again, not that she’d had much information for me anyway.
Time to give Dr. Bonneville a rest. She was none of my business. Except, of course, when she was on duty, which she was not tonight. I said a thank you to the universe for the reprieve. The next time she came in, she’d be happy to see that the B positive supply had finally been restocked.
Seemed like we used a lot of B pos whenever Dr. Bonneville was on duty.
Probably just a coincidence. Or maybe she needed that blood type for her research.
B positive was my own blood type. Clearly, for whatever reason, they needed more of it here at the hospital. I made a mental note to donate soon. Two months had passed since I’d last donated, so I was eligible.
Out of curiosity, I typed in Cynthia North’s name on my computer. Blood Type: B positive.
What about that other woman who’d gone missing from the free clinic? What was her name? I’d have to check with Jay. Our hospital wouldn’t have any records on her anyway, and the clinic wouldn’t release her blood type due to doctor/patient confidentiality.
Not th
at any of this mattered.
Still…it was strange.
Sirens blared. I’d have to think about this later.
A rough night so far. I was getting ready to take a much-needed break, when the sirens bellowed again. The EMTs wheeled three patients in. I attended the first.
“Auto accident. Male, early thirties, multiple facial lacerations, unconscious. Possible concussion and internal bleeding. BP one ten over sixty. On O2 but he’s breathing on his own.”
“Broken bones?” I asked.
“Not that we can tell, but the x-ray will tell you if I’m wrong. I think this one got lucky.”
I looked down.
Oh. My. God.
Beneath the oxygen mask was a face I recognized.
River Gabriel.
He was supposed to go on a date with Lucy tonight…
My mind raced.
“Lucy! Is Lucy with him?”
The EMT looked at me strangely. “He was alone in his car. The other two are from the other car.”
I heaved a sigh of relief and looked at my watch. Two a.m. Their date must have already ended, thank God.
Still…River. He was Dante’s cousin and Jay’s partner. This was hitting way too close to home.
“River?” I said. “Can you hear me? It’s Erin. I’m going to take good care of you, okay?”
Should I call Lucy? She’d be up. Frankly, I couldn’t believe they hadn’t spent the night together.
Logan hurried up to the gurney. “The EMTs say the other two are in worse shape, so Dr. Anderson and the head resident are checking them out. What do we have here?”
“Male, thirties, facial lacerations. Possible internal bleeding and concussion. Nonresponsive, but vitals are okay. BP slightly low.”
“All right. Let’s get him into a room.”
“There’s something else,” I said.
“What?”
“I know him. He’s a police detective. He’s my brother’s partner.” And the cousin of the man I love.
Did I really just think that?
Yes, I loved Dante.
Seeing his nearly identical cousin bleeding on a gurney had zapped it into my mind. It made no sense, but I loved him.
“We need to check for internal injuries,” I said.
“I know that, Erin,” Logan said. “I’m a doctor.”
Even the nicest doctors looked down on the nursing staff sometimes. I’d tried to get used to it.
I’d failed.
Logan looked River over. “We’ll need to x-ray for fractures.”
“The EMT doesn’t think he has any. He was probably wearing his seatbelt. He’s a cop.”
“I’m ordering x-rays anyway.”
We wheeled him over to an exam room.
“Start an IV and type him,” Logan said.
I was one step ahead of Dr. Crown. I found a good vein in the dorsum of his left hand and inserted the needle. I taped it down and began the trickle of Ringer’s lactate solution. Then I drew some blood for his typing in case a transfusion was needed later. Right now, he looked okay.
Logan checked River’s arms and legs and tried communicating with him. “No evidence of fracture, but the x-rays will tell for sure. He’s got a concussion. Let’s logroll him.”
We rolled him, and Logan palpated his back to check for spinal injuries. “Looks good,” he said. “I want an ultrasound of his chest and abdomen to check for internal bleeding.”
I cut River’s clothes off, and Logan checked his abdomen while I got the ultrasound ready. I spread the gel onto River’s fair skin—so much like Dante’s.
“It all looks good,” Logan said, after viewing the ultrasound, “but let’s get a CAT scan to be sure. He’s clearly got a concussion. Get the CAT ordered, Erin, and then clean up the lacerations. Let’s make him comfortable.”
Logan left, and I prepared some antiseptic and antibacterial for River’s cuts. Finally, when I was working on a fairly deep gash in his forehead, he winced.
“River? Can you hear me?”
“Where am I?”
“You’re at the ER. You were in a car accident. You’re going to be fine.”
“You know me?”
“Yeah. It’s me. Erin. Jay’s sister.”
“Oh.” He squinted. “I can’t see very well. Blurry.”
“You’ve got a concussion,” I said. “Your vision will clear. Are you in pain?”
“Kind of. Like achy. And my face hurts.”
“Looks like your pretty face took the worst of it,” I said, “but you’ll recover. You might have a few tiny scars, but nothing that will detract from your looks. I’ll check with the doctor to see what I can give you for pain.”
“Lucy? Is Lucy okay?”
“Lucy wasn’t in the car with you. You must have already taken her home.”
“No. I don’t remember…”
“That’s okay. A few minutes of retrograde amnesia are common with a concussion. But Lucy’s fine. She wasn’t in the car.”
“No. I hadn’t taken her home yet…” He closed his eyes. “We were going to my place…”
“River, you must have been on your way back from taking her home. She wasn’t in the car. I promise. Would you like me to call her?”
“Yeah, would you?”
“Of course.”
I didn’t have to. Lucy ran into the exam room.
“Luce! Where did you come from?”
“I just heard. Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’s going to be fine.”
“And the people from the other car?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t checked on them. Wait. How did you know about the other car?”
“Steve told me when I came in.” She touched River’s cheek. “Hey, you.”
He opened his eyes. “Thank God. You’re okay.”
“I’m fine. How are you?”
He suppressed a laugh. “Been better.”
“You still look great to me.” She smiled.
“Can you stay with him for a bit, Luce?” I asked. “I need to check with Logan about some pain meds for him. Plus, I need to call his family.”
“Sure.” She sat down next to the bed.
I checked with Logan on the pain meds and administered them, and then I looked through River’s wallet for any contact information. Sure enough, there was Bill Gabriel’s number. I hated calling people, but at least I didn’t have the worst news this time.
I dialed the number.
“Hello?”
My heart skipped. Dante’s voice. “Dante?”
“Yes. Erin?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Good to hear yours too, but I’m calling because—”
“About today, and the dog bite…”
“What dog bite?”
“You know, the dog bite on my arm?”
What was he talking about? “You mean the cut from the bread knife?”
“What? No, I mean—”
“Listen, Dante, I don’t have time to chat. River’s here. He’s okay, but he’s been in an accident.”
“No. What?” Tension laced his voice.
“He has a concussion and some facial lacerations. We don’t think he has any internal bleeding, but we’re going to do a CAT scan to be sure. It doesn’t look like he has any broken bones, but we’ll x-ray anyway. He’s very lucky.”
“Thank God. I’ll get Bill, and we’ll be right there.”
“Okay. We’ll probably keep him overnight for observation. Plus, he still needs the CAT.”
“Erin?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“I’m just doing my job, Dante. I’ll see you soon.”
Chapter Six
Dante
I grabbed Bill and yanked him out of his bed. “You fucking glamoured her!”
He yawned and wiped sleep out of his eyes. “What are you talking about?” He disentangled himself from me. “And you’re a
sking for an ass whooping, Dante. You’re asking to be kicked right out of here. You know what happened the last time you got violent with me.”
As much as I wanted to kick the shit out of my grandfather for daring to glamour Erin, I drew in a deep breath. River was at the hospital. That was more important right now.
“You need to get up. Riv’s at the hospital.”
His eyes widened. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. Car accident, but he’s going to be fine, according to Erin.”
“She’s with him?”
“Yeah, she is, and I hope you told him that you glamoured her, because if he starts talking about a dog bite—”
“Shit.” Bill pulled on a pair of jeans over his pajama pants. “Let’s go.”
I called Em at work and told her I’d call again if she needed to come to the hospital. Then I seethed as I sat in the passenger seat of Bill’s sedan. My own grandfather had violated my woman.
“A glamour isn’t a violation, Dante. It’s for the human’s own protection.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up!”
Bill turned to me. “Excuse me?”
“Why did you do it, Bill? Why did you fuck with Erin’s mind?”
“Because she found out Daisy doesn’t have a dog. Did you really want her asking a bunch of questions about what happened to you? What were you thinking, anyway, taking a bite out of your own wrist?”
Take a bite from your own flesh and offer yourself to me.
Damn it, not now!
“I was trying to cover up for the steer’s blood all over the floor. I could hardly tell her the truth.”
“If you’ve indeed formed a blood bond with her, you have to tell her the truth. You need her.”
“How? How the hell am I supposed to do that, Bill?”
“We’ll figure it out. But if you want my help, you’re going to need to show some more respect and stop acting like an animal every time something happens that you don’t like.”
Stop acting like an animal? I’d been treated like an animal for the last ten years, penned up and kept for food.
I was not an animal.
Unchained: Blood Bond Saga: Volume One Page 20
