by L. R. Potter
~X~
She woke with a jerk. She strained to see into the darkness, but there wasn’t a shred of light to help her. Her heart began to pound. Wherever she was, it was unfamiliar to her. She struggled to focus her mind and catch her breath as feelings of claustrophobia crashed in on her. She reached out her hand to see if she could tell where she was in that way. Panic rushed over her like a tidal-wave when she felt the cold metal of the metal coffin. God! It was just like her dream. Her stomach clenched painfully. No, no no! She didn’t want to die like this. Her body was already so weak and her heart beat erratically in her chest, plus it was freezing cold. She couldn’t stop her body from shivering uncontrollably.
The side of her head throbbed where the nurse she’d known as Cal had punched her. He’d been so kind to her when she’d been desperate to get in to see Drew. She had a hard time reconciling this monster, with that caring person. She hadn’t truly make the connection between Nurse Cal and her attacker until he’d stepped up behind her in the elevator and whispered in her ear, “Here, Kitty, Kitty.” She’d opened her mouth to scream inside the elevator, knowing no one would ever hear her when he’d punched her solidly in the side of the head. She’d gone out like a light.
This was it, the end. Tears leaked out of her eyes. She should have listened to Lynx. He would be so worried… if he even looked for her. He’d told her to stay in bed. He’d called and told her how stupid she was… right before she hung up on him. No, she doubted he’d be looking for her anytime soon. Sadly, no one would even miss her. How pathetic was that? Sobs bubbled up and echoed in the closed-in walls of her prison.
With as much strength as she could muster, she began to yell and beat against the metal box. Almost immediately, as in her glimpsing, her fists were cut open as they hit against the protruding screws. She blanked her mind to the pain and continued hitting against the box and calling out, begging… hoping someone would hear her.
~X~
“How long ago did she leave,” Lynx demanded of the very short of patience, Ms. Caruthers.
She pursed her lips, and he thought for a moment she wasn’t going to answer him. “You haven’t missed her by much… only five minutes, or so. In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t pass them in the elevator.”
One word caught his attention more than any of the others. “Them?”
Ms. Caruthers lowered her reading glasses and eyed him steadily. “Yes, them.”
“Who was she with?” he asked, trying to maintain control, when he felt anything but control.
She closed her eyes as she thought. Raising a hand, she tapped a finger against her bottom lip. “He’s a hospital employee. Umm, what is his name? It’s odd, like maybe it was short for something else. Something like Cam… I don’t know. I just can’t remember. Sorry,” she said, with an apologetic smile.
He scrubbed a frustrated hand through his hair. He turned to run back to the lobby, angry at himself for not waiting for the damned elevator. He’d probable just missed her. He had a very bad feeling about all of this. He stopped suddenly when he got to the office doorway. “Do you know where this person works in the hospital?”
She smiled hugely, “Oh yes. He’s a surgical nurse. But I think, right now, he’s been temporarily reassigned to the ICU.”
When she’d said ‘surgical nurse’, it’d made him think immediately of Arabella’s brother, Ian, who’d died in surgery. Which made him think of his poor, little, lost Arabella going down to the morgue all alone to see her brother, while he’d sat in a bar, drowning in his sorrows. His blood ran cold. The morgue! The vision she’d told him about. She’d said she’d been placed in a metal coffin! “Where’s the morgue located?” he demanded.
She lifted a hand nervously to her chest at his raging emotions. “It’s… it’s in the basement.”
Turning quickly, he ran down the hall, which seemed much longer, until he reached the elevator. He punched the button and thankfully the doors slid open. He punched the button for the basement. The elevator seemed to take an interminable amount of time to reach its destination and the music grated on his nerves. His muscles hurt from being clenched for such a long period of time.
His body tensed even further when the door slowly slid open. He took a moment to take in the area before he stepped off the elevator. The area looked empty. He stepped toward the electric sliding doors leading into the morgue and watched as the sensor automatically opened the doors. He stepped into the room lined with empty stretchers. The room was clean and extremely organized. There were metal shelves holding trays of assorted items. In one corner was a desk, complete with computer and printer.
The instant he walked in, he could smell blood. But not just any blood… her blood. Rage roared through him. If that little bastard hurt her, he was going to kill him – not that he wasn’t planning on killing him, already. He stopped and inhaled deeply, he swallowed hard as saliva filled his mouth when the sweet aroma of her hit him.
He glanced around the room and it was then what the metal coffins in her dream were… the morgue freezer lockers. He moved swiftly to the stainless-steel doors and began opening them systematically. He reached the fourth one and bent to open it when a small noise had him turning in time to see a metal pan slamming down. He moved just in time for it to catch him against his left shoulder, he spun around and moved forward to tackle the vamp he’d seen at her house at the first attack.
“I’m going to kill you this time,” Lynx growled.
“I told you, she’s mine!” the vamp yelled.
“Like hell!” Lynx said as he charged the vampire once more. He caught the vamp with so much force, it propelled them both against the line of metal gurneys. They fell in a tumbling mess of scattered equipment and overturned gurneys.
“What is she to you anyway?” the vamp growled.
“She belongs to me,” Lynx roared.
The younger vamp leaped to his feet and began to circle Lynx, who stood watching his movements. With a sneer on his lips, the vamp taunted, “She had a lot of blood left in her when I took her the last time. I think you’ve gone soft.”
Lynx waited until the vamp circled to his right, his dominate side, before sliding his leg and catching him with a roundhouse kick. The vamp moved to jump out of the way. Lynx’ s kick caught him squarely in the jaw. The kick knocked the vamp backwards into a stainless-steel cabinet, shattering the glass and sending its contents scattering. The vamp yelled and struggled to get up. As he did, his shoes slipped in some anti-bacteria sanitizer which had fallen and spilt out onto the floor. He teetered back and landed hard, hitting his head on the corner of the cabinet. The hit seemed to stun him and he lay there for several seconds.
While he was incapacitated, Lynx grabbed a scalpel from the floor, where it’d been dropped, sometime in the course of their fight. He grasped the handle and thrust the blade, burying it deep within the chest of the limp vamp. The vamp immediately began to wallow and howl as he clutched at his chest, trying, ineffectively, to pull the scalpel from his chest.
Slowly, as he writhed on the floor, he began to grey and appeared to shrink before Lynx’s very eyes. Soon, all that was left was his scrubs and a pile of ashes. A movement in the adjoining alcove caught Lynx’s attention. He immediately stood to defend himself. Langston Warrington held his hands up to his fellow vampire. “What happened here?” he asked.
“This asshole kidnapped my… my girl,” Lynx said, not sure how to describe the overwhelming emotion he felt for Arabella.
Langston eyed the pile of grey rubble. “Who is it?”
“A nurse from the surgical ward… or ICU."
Langston looked about the room. “Umm, where is your… girl?”
Lynx pointed to the metal drawers.
Langston slowly nodded. “Okay. You get your girl and I’ll ‘clean-up’ this mess.”
Breathing heavy, Lynx gave a curt smile, turned, and frantically began opening all the doors to the drawers. He’d gotten near to the end of the row and was nea
rly frantic, when finally he opened a door and saw a body wearing tennis shoes and heard rasping sobs. When he slid the drawer open, she began to scream for help and hit out with her bloodied hands. Before he could react or get her attention, she flipped herself off the drawer onto the opposite side of where he stood. She hit the floor hard and immediately began to try and crawl away, but her shivering body made it difficult.
“Arabella!” he tried to say over her screaming cries. He moved to her swiftly and grabbed her from behind. “Arabella!” he said again. But she appeared to not to have heard him as she twisted her body and began to kick out at him. He absorbed the kicks and a slight smile crossed his lips. His girl wouldn’t have gone down without a fight. He was proud of her. “Arabella!” he said with more sternness. The command in his voice made her stop instantly. She looked up finally and saw him. Her lips began to tremble and tears slid in a silent stream down her face.
He knelt down in front of her and gathered her close to him. He inhaled her scent and was glad he’d just fed as her blood was almost too intoxicating. He glanced quickly in Langston’s direction to ensure the other vamp could handle the smell of the blood on her hands. But he didn’t appear to notice it as he busily finished sweeping up the ashy remains. He pulled back and cupped her face in his hands.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked.
Without taking her eyes from his, she shook her head. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. “It w… was Cal, the n… nurse from the I… ICU. He’s tall…” she broke off as a sob rose up and she buried herself against him once more as she cried. “I was so s… scared,” she cried. “I… I didn’t think you’d come. I… I hung up on you… and I didn’t think you’d come. I didn’t think anyone would come,” she sobbed.
“Oh Arabella, I’m so sorry. So very sorry. Let’s get you cleaned up and go home, okay?”
“What about Cal?” she asked in her watery voice.
“I’ve taken care of Cal. You don’t have to worry about him. He won’t be bothering you again. I promise.”
She drew back and looked up into his face, searching for truth. “How?”
He traced the line of her jaw with his finger. Raising his eyes back to hers, he stared intently. “It doesn’t matter. Okay?”
She blinked several times before nodding her head. “Okay,” she finally answered once the gazing had overtaken her.
Slowly, he helped her rise up on shaky legs that kept threatening to buckle beneath her. Finally, he picked her up and carried her to the same metal chair she’d sat on the day Ian had died. He turned to find Langston standing off to the side with some wet gauze in his hands. “For her hands,” he said.
“Thanks,” Lynx murmured as he took it from him. Looking around the room, he said, “Sorry about the mess. I’ll pay for the damage.”
Langston simply shrugged his shoulders. “Never had this much excitement before in the morgue. Don’t worry about it.” With a nod of his head in Arabella’s direction, he asked, “She gonna be okay?”
“Yes. I think so.”
Langston nodded his head. “Good. She seems like a real nice lady. Was real tore up over her brother.”
“Thanks,” Lynx said, indicating the gauze in his hands. He turned to find Arabella watching him closely as if she was afraid he’d leave her. He smiled at her reassuringly and squatted down in front of her. Gently, he took each hand and cleaned the blood from them. She flinched at each swipe, but didn’t make a sound. “Arabella, my Arabella,” he murmured to her. “You are so cold. I say we go home and have a nice hot soak in the tub. What do you think?” he asked with a smile. She swallowed but didn’t answer as she watched him clean the gashes on her hands. “Just look what you’ve done to yourself,” he tssked. “What am I going to do with you? Huh?”
Her body began to tremble. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
He tangled one hand in her hair and pressed his lips against her forehead. He swallowed past the lump in his throat as he thought of how this might have turned out if he’d not found her. Shaking it off, he whispered against her ear,” Wrong answer. You’re supposed to say: whatever I want.”
After a hesitation she whispered back, “Whatever you want.”
Pressing his lips against her head, he murmured, “That’s my girl.”
Chapter 11
Lynx hated leaving his motorcycle in the hospital parking lot, but he didn’t think she’d be able to hold on in her current shaky state. So, he’d snatched her keys from her purse and driven them to Night Shade in her car. He groaned when he pulled up in the circle drive. The drive was filled with cars. The others had finally returned. He’d hoped they’d have stayed away for at least another week. Arabella looked at him expectantly.
“The rest of my family has returned from Cape Horn,” he told her.
She lifted hesitant eyes to his. He pressed a kiss into the palm of her bandaged hand, before saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you situated in my suite. You can meet everyone when you’re feeling up to it. Okay?”
She gave him a small smile. “Thank you,” she said softly.
He nodded and turned to slide out of the car. When he came around and opened her door, she sat with her head bowed as she plucked at the bandage on her hand nervously. He held out a hand to her and waited patiently for her to place hers in it.
She eyed his hand for a moment before lifting her gaze to his. “Maybe it’d be better if I just went home. You need to be with your family and since you don’t have to babysit me anymore…” she trailed off.
“No!” he said emphatically. “You’ll stay with me for the next couple days. On Sunday, if you feel up to it, you can go home. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. You need a chance to deal with it. And I want to be with you while you do so.”
Slowly she nodded her head and placed her hand trustingly in his.
They made it to his suite without running into the others. They both heaved a sigh of relief… just for different reasons.
“Why don’t I run you a bath, then I’ll need to go and greet my siblings. Will you be okay here for a little while?”
“Of course”
He went into the bathroom while she sat wearily on the bed. While the water ran, he returned to find her head once again bowed. He stood in the doorway and just stared at her. If anything would have happened to her, he didn’t know what he’d have done. That, in itself, scared him.
Without looking up, she said quietly, “You were right. It was stupid.”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” he said.
“I should have waited until you came home. I’m sorry.”
“It’s over and you survived. That’s all that matters. Now come soak in the tub for a while. I’ll go down to meet and greet and grab you something to eat. Okay?”
She rose and her body ached from so being cold. Her head ached from where Cal had hit her. When she reached the doorway filled with Lynx, he opened his arms and she stepped into him. He wrapped his massive arms around her and hugged her tight. His care of her put a catch in her chest. Tears of relief sprang into her eyes. “I was so scared.”
“I know,” he said as he rubbed his face against her hair. Pulling back, he pushed her gently into the bathroom. He shut the door and went to sit where she’d sat. He scrubbed a hand over his face. What a day. First the sad barfly, then, having to kill the vamp. Now, he’d have to contend with his family. They were not going to be happy about Arabella being in the house. Too bad! They’d have to deal with it until he felt she was able to be on her own.
He sighed at all the things that still needed to be done in preparation for the Blood Haze. He desperately needed for it to come. He could already feel the venom inside him building up. He was in need of the bleeding that would correct his body’s balance and stop the venom from overtaking him. Without the healing properties of a significant amount of blood and the power of the moon while it was at its biggest and brightest, they’d all be destroyed by their own bodies. He figured he had time to
feed one more time before he would be required to fast.
Rising to his feet, he made his way downstairs. He found his ‘so-called’ siblings gathered in the den, catching Karmyl up on their exploits. His ‘brother’ Nicolas was standing behind the settee with a crystal tumbler in one hand. His other hand rested on top of his wife’s shoulder. Nicolas was an old soul and came from the vampiral mindset that all humans were good for was feeding. Everything was very departmentalized in his mind. He was going to be his biggest headache in regard to Arabella. Nicolas’s wife, Felicia was a beautiful woman with her Latin dark, wavy hair and dark eyes. She always presented herself stylishly as that was what Nicolas dictated.
Nicolas moved toward him. “Lynx,” he said,” it is good to see you, brother.”
Lynx returned his quick hug and patted Nicolas on the back. He leaned down to brush his lips against Felicia’s icy cheeks. He couldn’t help making the comparisons from her cool cheeks to Arabella’s scorching hot ones. “You’re looking well, Felicia.” She smiled at his comment. “How was your trip,” he asked Nicolas.
“Uneventful for the most part… at least for us. You’ll have to get Talon to tell you how many women he helped get into the mile-high club before feeding. I bet it was upwards of a dozen,” Nicolas said with an icy smile. “Stupid human females.”
At his name, Talon rose to his feet and grasped Lynx in a firm embrace. “Pay no attention to Grandpa Moses over there. He’s forgotten what it’s like to young and single. Of course, he’s never known what it’s like to be this good-looking!” Talon said with a grin.
“None of us have… not even you, only in your mind,” Lynx said with a smile. “Where’s Selena and Tara?”
“They decided to come later. Don’t worry, they’ll be here in plenty of time for the Blood Haze. Karmyl and Felicia have been busy making plans all afternoon,” Nicolas said.
