CHAPTER 37
I awoke hooked to all sorts of machines by an endless array of tubes and wires, IV’s in both arms. My right leg hung in traction, suspended above the bed. Tightness and pressure across my shoulder indicated a brace. I hurt like hell, but I was alive.
I wasn’t alone.
“Hey doll,” Raf held a straw to my lips. “About time you woke up.”
Water soothed my sore throat. When had they pulled the intubation tube? “How long?” I croaked as my eyes filled.
“A week. It’s December.” Raf sat the water glass on the table. “How do you feel?” He stared at me strangely, like maybe he wanted to ask a different question.
“She dead? Lil?” I motioned for the glass and he held the straw to my lips, waiting until I finished before answering me.
“Well and truly,” He told me without the hint of a smile.
Panic seized me. “Tom?” I remembered his cry of pain.
Raf pointed to the other side of the room. Tom lay in the other bed. He appeared dead. It must be daylight, but there was no way to tell. No windows in the vamp ward.
“He okay?”
“He’s fine. He refused to leave you. Once I convinced them to let me put the IV tube in his mouth instead of his arm, he came around pretty fast. He had some broken bones but they’re all healed now.”
I sighed. “Good.” I waited for the lump in my throat to clear. “Willy?”
Raf avoided my eyes and the tears slid down my cheeks. I couldn’t wipe them away with needles taped in my arms. I waited for the answer.
“I’m not sure what to tell you, doll,” Raf started. “It was touch and go for the little guy. He was all broken up and in so much pain, Dr. Smith thought it might be best to put him down, but, I couldn’t.”
“Raf, what did you do?”
“I gave him some of my blood.” He waited for a sign before continuing, “His injuries healed and he isn’t in pain anymore.”
I started to laugh, choked, and then laughed some more. “A vampire dachshund? You’ve got to be kidding me!” A thought occurred that made everything less funny. “Please tell me he doesn’t require dog blood?”
“He seems pretty happy with the RR and rare steak.”
“He can eat?” I asked in disbelief.
“So far, and sunlight doesn’t bother him. I don’t think he turned.”
“Raf, have you ever tried to eat solid food or go out in the light?” I had a curious notion.
“Not since Tom found me.”
“But before?” Was I on to something?
“I’m not sure. That was so long ago … ” Raf was interrupted by a tap on the door.
Dee and Jimmy came in. “Oh you’re awake! Get that nurse in here,” Dee ordered. “She said she’d pull out those needles as soon as she woke up. Get her butt in here.”
Raf pushed the buzzer and the nurse called back and said she’d be right in. About three minutes later, Band Aids over gauze pads replaced the IV needles. Jimmy followed her back to the nurses’ station for a banana Popsicle to sooth my throat. It didn’t take him long. Dee looked like she might boil over.
“So spill,” I told her as I sucked on the Popsicle.
She gave a happy little hop, “We’re pregnant!” Jimmy stood beside her, arm around her waist grinning like a proud Poppa.
I tried to squeal, choked, got slapped on the back, winced at the pain in my shoulder and choked more. “Wonderful, I’m so happy for y’all!” I finally said in a heartfelt whisper.
“So you’ve got to hurry and get all better so you can spoil me rotten like I deserve.”
“I will if Jimmy will get me another Popsicle.” As Jimmy stepped out Bianca stuck her head in.
“You’re awake! Better late than never … ” She sheepishly held out her hand opening it to reveal a round orb a little smaller in circumference than a quarter. It glowed green as it sat in her palm. She placed it in mine. The green transferred from the orb to surround her like an aura. Dee didn’t glow.
“Look at Tom,” Bianca suggested. “What do you see?”
I turned my head as much as the shoulder brace would allow, finding Tom still sleeping, encased in a red haze. “Vampires are red,” I told her just as Jimmy returned with my second Popsicle. He glowed green! I stared at Dee and everything clicked into place. “Werewolf?”
Jimmy took my hand, “We wanted to tell you. We were just scared.”
“A wolf was there that night,” I said aloud. I thought I had hallucinated. I hit his arm causing my IV puncture to bleed again. Another thought occurred to me. “You weren’t in costume!” I accused. “You cheated!”
“My every day wear. I’m all wolf at the full moon.” Jimmy explained.
“Well, that explains the shorts.” I said. Jimmy blushed.
Dr. Raf bit his finger and dabbed it on the bloody hole in my arm to stop the bleeding. I stared at him as his fangs retracted. “This thing’s busted.” I passed the orb back to Bianca.
“No, it isn’t. Why would you say that?” She handed it back.
I gazed deeply into Raf’s eyes. His aura was gold with red highlights.
CHAPTER 38
Just when you think your life is as strange as it can possibly get …
After my visitors left, the handsome young resident assigned to my case sent me for another MRI. No one seemed particularly surprised to find both my broken leg and clavicle healed — except me.
Raf had supplied my medical history, which included the fact I ingested a lot of his blood what with the torn femoral artery and all. The doctors’ little scientific brains concluded that if I woke, I would be a vampire. They had given me several pints of human blood in the hospital. Did that dilute Raf’s? I’m asymptomatic and so confused.
After our release from the hospital, I started introducing “solid” food into Raf’s diet, nothing too heavy, and only in minuscule quantities. He ate one small bite of my baked potato last night. His reaction? As to the finest French cuisine, he rolled the bite in his mouth like expensive wine. When swallowed, it stayed down. Tom tried a bite and hurled, poor guy.
We took Willy walking at four P.M. Sunset was at five. Raf didn’t smoke or smolder. While his eyes are a little sensitive, that’s to be expected after all these centuries. Ray Bans solve the problem. Tom’s so jealous. I need to work on him.
My human best friend is having a baby, cub, or possibly a puppy. Hell, I don’t know! I’m not sure they do either. Jimmy’s Mom and Dad are both werewolves, from a long line of werewolves, his brothers, ditto. But a cross between a Were and a human witch, doesn’t happen often. So we’re all trying to read up. Especially Nancy, as she will be bringing the little one into the world. In the meantime, Dee’s craving very rare meat. Urgh! But who am I to talk. I bite a vampire most every night. What can I say? I love him! Whether it was Dee’s influence or Lil’s that got me to drop my force field, what I feel for him is the real deal.
Dee says she needs to tell me something. I’m sure she’ll get around to it when things calm down.
Detective Becki Elms thinks John Doe’s demise is linked to S.E.T.H. She speculates they caught “John” and tortured him until they found what killed him permanently. But, how does that explain the magic surrounding him?
Vampires can take a lot of abuse and recover but they still feel pain. Had his killers pulled out his brain while he was still alive? Had they cut out his heart first? Dear Lord!
Some humans are less than happy Tom is “harvesting human blood” for vampire kind. The harvesting being not only consensual but also lucrative for said humans only incites them more. Human donors are merely being “fattened for slaughter” according to their propaganda. Well, Tom’s company has gotten no complaints from the “cattle”. In my opinion Harley and his cohorts are the more likely minions of S.E.T.H., but then, I’m not a detective.
Whatever the case, someone wants us safe from S.E.T.H., and any other weirdoes who lurk about. The bodyguards have been with us sinc
e our release us from the hospital. What a pain.
Tom says the house repairs will be finished before the redbuds bloom. I can’t wait!
Terrell called to say he’s coming back this weekend and is sorry he freaked out. He doesn’t realize how close he came to losing Raf for good. Raf won’t let me tell him. He’s all a-twitter with T’s homecoming, Christmas Eve karaoke at the salon, plans for Christmas dinner, furniture shopping with me, sunsets …
At the time of our deaths, my dog and I may or may not become vampires. Only one way to be sure, so we aren’t rushing to find the answer.
Raf is still a mystery. I haven’t seen anyone with a gold aura — much less with red highlights.
My life, could it get weirder? Don’t answer that!
About the Author
Debbie Vaughan lives in rural central Arkansas with nine dogs and two horses, all rescues. The dogs keep her feet warm and plot bunnies at bay so she can concentrate on the romance at hand. Occasionally, one of the hounds slips into the storyline!
She is a member of Romance Writers of America as well as her local chapter, Diamond State Romance Authors.
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A Sneak Peek from Crimson Romance
(From Explosion by Berinn Rae)
U.S. Extra Terrestrial Restricted Zone, AKA the “Etzee”
1500 hours
“It’s just been confirmed. Fourteen minutes ago, we shot down a Boeing triple-seven a hundred miles shy of landing at LaGuardia,” General Jerrick announced to his officers at the emergency briefing he’d called five minutes ago. “We are at threat level Delta.”
The briefing room broke out into murmurs of questions and curses. Captain Jax Jerrick muttered under his breath as he watched his father for any sign of emotion, which, of course, there was none. The ever-stoic general wasn’t one to show any type of weakness.
Their world was turning into a cluster fuck before his eyes. Jax glanced over the twenty-odd officers in the room. None looked happy and everyone looked pissed. Each person already knew exactly what this meant. The U.S. had just made its stand, making a declaration to the rest of the world that they were on their own.
“I take it there were suspected cases of Omega on board, sir?” Colonel Sommers aka “The Six”, the general’s second-in-command asked.
Jerrick nodded. “They refused orders to change course, just kept repeating over and over that they were running low on fuel.” He paused. “It was an international flight from Hong Kong.”
Ah. No further explanation necessary. Hong Kong had been hit hard by Omega. All of Asia had turned into a mass exodus overnight. This wasn’t the first plane to be shot down, only the first to be shot down by the U.S.
China had bombed several of its own towns to prevent the spread of the virus. Tokyo had quarantined itself, only to be decimated within days by Omega. What was first believed to be a strange recurrence of the bubonic plague turned out to be a toxin that could morph into a virus. Worse, when mixed with water, it brought on plague-like symptoms but with a much higher death rate, putting even Ebola’s mortality rate to shame.
Once infected, Omega would begin innocently enough, like a case of the flu, but as the body attempted to fight off its invaders, the lungs would fill with fluid. Lack of enough blood to the extremities would quickly bring on gangrene. The brain would swell, causing bleeding from all orifices from the neck up. Intense fever would bring on raving delusions. Within a day or two, victims would drown in their own blood. It was brutal.
So far, they knew two very important things about the Omega virus.
First, the superior science that created Omega could not be human.
Second, Omega’s starting point was on the exact opposite side of the planet from the Etzee. It was as if someone had skewered the Earth at the center of the Etzee and shot the virus out to the other side. No one doubted the clear message. It was germ warfare, plain and simple. And, the starting point was a signature of the terrorists who created Omega.
The Etzee had just become the safest place on Earth to be human and the worst place on Earth to be an alien. Modeled after the Native American reservations, the Etzee was a desolate, one-square-mile quarantine for Draeken and Sephian immigrants. Tall prison-style fences lined the perimeter, and U.N. American troops were posted every fifty yards. To top things off, the Etzee was placed in the middle of a U.S. military operations area, which meant a whole lot of heavy equipment and troops could be called in at a moment’s notice.
Jax had seen the truth the very first day. The Etzee was no quarantine. His people were afraid. The Etzee was a prison to keep control over every alien on the planet.
“We’ve been given a new directive in response to this terrorist threat.” General Jerrick waited to continue until after the murmurs died down. “The U.S. is officially closing its borders and shutting down the airways, effective immediately. So far, we have no cases of Omega here in the continental states, and we’d like to keep it that way.”
“What about the non-continental states, like Hawaii and Alaska, and the territories?” Sommers asked.
Jerrick shook his head. “They’re considered no longer viable. We have to focus our resources on what we can save.” He paused. “Troops are being moved to police the borders, which means that we need to evacuate all units from the Etzee at zero-eight-thirty tomorrow morning. Inform your troops to load only essentials. No communication is to be made with Eztee’s residents regarding the evacuation.”
That brought everyone’s attention front and center. They had less than a day to load up and pull out with no replacements? And, all this was to be done on the down-low? Chills darted across Jax’s skin.
“The Etzee is no longer going to be policed by the U.N.?” Sommers asked. “Has the Triad been advised? Hell, has the U.N. been advised?”
“The U.N. has their hands full, so they’ve turned over full responsibility of the Etzee to the U.S. This evacuation is purely a U.S. Army initiative and does not concern the Draeken or Sephian delegates to the U.N.’s Triad.”
Sommers shook his head. “There’s a significant risk involved if we leave the Etzee unpoliced. While the Sephian and Draeken delegates of the Triad will be pleased to have control, those two races will be at each other’s throats in a day.”
“The Etzee is no longer our responsibility,” the general replied, a bit too quickly.
“Then whose it is, sir?” Jax asked his father. “The Etzee is on American soil. Are the residents to be given autonomy?”
“The General of the Army has been invoked and has assumed authority of the Eztee, as well as all military forces.”
All dozen men in the room took a collective inhalation of breath.
Sommers came to his feet. “The General of the Army is invoked only in a time of war. The last time I checked, we’re not at war.”
“Our country is facing a terrorist threat, the like we’ve never seen before. As you are all aware, it’s U.S. policy to not bow down to terrorists,” Jerrick said sternly. “We have reason to believe the terrorists are located somewhere in the Etzee, and therefore it has been declared enemy territory as of twenty minutes ago. The Etzee residents are to be considered hostiles. We are now at war, gentlemen.”
“What’s going to happen to the Etzee’s residents? Most of these people are good folks. They came here in peace,” Ace said. Jax’s best friend had climbed the ranks quickly in his twenties, but was still a Lieutenant at the age of thirty-eight because he never knew when to keep his trap shut. Basically, they were a lot alike. Jax had been thinking exactly what Ace asked, but was smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself. Besides, he already suspected the answer and didn’t want to hear it.
General Jerrick’s li
ps pursed. “The loss of six hundred eighty-five illegal aliens in order to save billions has been deemed an acceptable loss.”
Ace hit the table. “They’ve shared their knowledge. We’re decades, no, centuries, ahead with what they’ve shared with us over the past twelve months.”
“And now some of them are using that same knowledge against us,” a staff sergeant said from the back of the room.
“Can you blame them?” Ace snapped back.
“Sir,” Jax said, steering the rising hostility levels of the room away from Ace. “Does the General of the Army realize that if the Etzee is destroyed, any chance for a cure will likely be destroyed?”
Jerrick narrowed his eyes on his son. “All the risks were analyzed in the making of this decision. The General figured that if they were willing to offer a cure, the terrorists would’ve made their demands by now. So they have to assume that Omega is simply an act of war. At this time, our best defense is to keep Omega outside our borders. The U.S. has drawn a hard line. This is a crisis situation. General orders have been placed. Any infected — near or on our soil — are to be eliminated immediately. Then, we wait out Omega. Aside from that, I have no further information. These decisions were made well above all of our pay grades.”
Jax sensed the bitterness in his father’s voice at the last bit of his statement. He was clearly ticked off about the recent chain of events as well, but, especially as a general, he couldn’t raise dissonance. His father had always been a soldier first and foremost, even on the cusp of genocide.
“What about the Leashes?” another officer asked. Every Etzee resident was assigned, or “leashed”, to a human soldier upon entry to the Etzee. The soldier served as a guide and was responsible for that resident’s behavior. More often than not, the soldier simply served as a probation officer, staying out of the way unless that resident was causing unrest. Only a few actually did their job to help their resident acclimate to Earth. Jax wasn’t one of those.
Midnight Sun, Inc. (Crimson Romance) Page 28
