Chapter Thirty-One
SOMEONE CARRIED ME—either that or I floated—out to the carriage. Whatever the case, I was sprawled across the lap of one very angry vampire. The carriage swayed back and forth, and I hoped I wouldn’t throw up all over anyone. Aldwin was kneeling on the floor, hovering near me and arguing with Soren. I absently wondered what they were angry about—must be something important, I thought. I felt light as a feather and wondered how I could feel so wonderful after I’d lost so much blood; maybe the hole in my chest wasn’t as bad as I had thought. I tried to lift my hand to smooth out the worry lines creasing Aldwin’s face, to tell him it would all be okay, but my arms were as heavy as lead. Maybe I was having an out-of-body experience or something.
Someone slapped my face.
Really? After the day I’d had, they had to go and slap me? My eyelids were so heavy. Was it so bad to just sleep? Another slap, and my eyes cracked open to see whom I’d have to kill as soon as I was up to the task.
Aldwin was saying something; his lips were moving, but his words were echoing around somewhere in a far-off tunnel. His expression was urgent. Soren shook me, and my head lolled back. Words I couldn’t piece together came from Soren or Aldwin… or both, I couldn’t be sure.
“Blood… dying… consequences…”
Aldwin grabbed Soren by the throat, and with a wild look in his eyes, screamed at him.
I wished I could figure out what was going on. Maybe they’d tell me later. My eyes fluttered, and everything blurred again. I felt so peaceful and serene. I could have stayed like that forever, surrounded by the two people who meant the world to me.
Someone grasped my jaw, and the scent of wet pennies assaulted my nose. Funny, I don’t remember licking any pennies.
I swallowed to get the taste out of my mouth, but instead, I choked on something sliding down my throat. I tried to close my mouth, but my jaw was once again pried open and more of the warm, metallic liquid invaded my mouth. I squirmed, trying to get free. The hand that had forced my mouth open let go to hold my arms down.
From somewhere far away, a familiar voice spoke, “Her heart is beating faintly.”
And another voice, “She will be okay now, I’m sure of it. Thank you.”
A pause. “I didn’t do it for you.”
“I know, but I am still thankful you did, no matter your reasons.”
I tried to open my eyes, but the sea that I was floating on swept me further toward total abandon and merciful peace. Who was I to fight the tide?
The first thing I saw when I woke up was the face of Dr. Aldwin Blake asleep next to me. I closed my eyes and counted to ten before opening them again. He was still there. How did I go from a bloody fight to being in bed with the man who was possibly the love of my life? I hoped I hadn’t missed any action. I reached over to push his hair away from his face as a contented sigh escaped me. I could get used to waking up to this sight.
Aldwin nearly catapulted off the bed when I touched him. Wow, he was a light sleeper. I jerked my arm back and felt a pain in my chest. Oh yeah, Elaine had run me through with a dirk. I grasped my chest at the fresh wave of pain her memory invoked.
Aldwin took my hand and kissed the back of it almost reverently. “You nearly sent me to an early grave worrying about you. It took us almost eight hours to find where Elaine had taken you! I’m not sure we ever would have if we hadn’t had help from a coven of witches.”
I smiled at him. “But you did, and just in time. Thank you.”
Aldwin helped me sit up and propped two pillows behind my back.
“Tell me everything,” I demanded as soon as I was comfortable.
He sat on the bed next to me and began to tell me all the things I’d pretty much figured out, but it helped to hear the truth spoken out loud. All the deaths Elaine had caused, all the chaos that had ensued. None of it made me feel better about having to take her life, but one day I hoped to be able to come to terms with it.
Zachary had alerted Aldwin when I hadn’t shown up at the townhouse, and an all-out manhunt had begun. Evidently Aldwin, Soren, Travis, Dwennon, and about two dozen other preternaturals joined in the search. At first, it had been assumed that Elaine was missing, too; but a witch told them answers would be found in a trusted servant’s room. It wasn’t long before a diary was unearthed from under a loose board in Phoebe’s closet.
Phoebe had kept a meticulous accounting of Elaine’s treachery and also detailed how Elaine had blackmailed Phoebe into doing things against her will by threatening to harm Travis if she refused. Elaine had played on Phoebe's love. I shook my head in disgust. Phoebe named several places that Elaine used for meetings, and after finding two of them abandoned, they discovered the warehouse where I had been kept prisoner.
I held up my hand. I didn’t need to hear any more; I knew the rest of the story.
Aldwin looked pained, and I reached out to touch his arm when he spoke in a whisper.
“There’s something else.”
I grasped onto my blanket. His bleak tone sent chills up my spine, and I wasn’t sure I could handle much more. My mind raced with possibilities. I knew Soren had made it out alive—I had a vague recollection of him and Aldwin in the carriage… I wondered if Travis had made it out okay or not. Swallowing, I asked him to tell me.
He stood up and paced to the window and back to the bed again, his eyes pleading with mine to understand.
“Aldwin, please. I need to know what happened. Is Travis… all right?” I blinked back tears at the thought of losing someone else.
“No… I mean, yes. Yes, Travis is fine. This is something else.”
My heart thumped irregularly, and I put my hand over it. I looked up at Aldwin, ready for whatever he had to say.
“You were dying.”
I blanched at the bald-faced statement.
“You were dying. Soren heard your heart slowing, and I felt your soul leaving me.” He said it in such an anguished voice that I longed to hold him tight and make promises that it would never happen again.
“But I didn’t die, Aldwin; I’m right here in front of you. It all worked out.” His pained expression chilled my heart.
“You are here because I begged Soren to save you.” He swallowed and dropped to his knees beside the bed. “I couldn’t live without you, Sage. You were seconds from being beyond even his help when I had him give you his blood.”
The metallic taste. Vampire blood had healing properties, I knew that, but how much blood had I consumed to be brought back from the brink of death? I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I cleared my throat and tried again.
“Will I become a vampire?” I didn’t feel like a vampire. At least, I didn’t have a sudden urge to bite into his neck… that was good, right?
“No, you won’t become a vampire; the whole process is more complicated than that. It’s just with you being a warper, we are not sure if there will be unforeseen consequences. Also… we are not positive, but you and Soren may form some sort of bond.”
A bond? I shook my head, too many ifs and maybes for my taste.
Aldwin looked like he had told me a car had hit my favorite pet.
“Aldwin, you saved my life. No matter what happens as a result, I would rather deal with those consequences than be dead. I owe you my gratitude.”
He searched my eyes, hoping what I said was true, and the next thing I knew, I was at the receiving end of a toe-curling kiss. I must have made a noise when he pulled me closer to him because he broke away and apologized for manhandling the patient. I winked at him and told him I’d love to be manhandled like that any day.
Aldwin finally left to tell everyone that, after almost eighteen hours of rest, I had come to, and to have someone prepare me a bath. Even though he had suggested I stay in bed, I was itching to get up and brush my hair. I made my way as slowly as a ninety-year-old woman over to my dresser, sat down in front of the mirror, and looked at my pale reflection.
Turning my h
ead to the side, I saw a fading bruise on my jaw. I frowned at my reflection; the bruise looked nearly healed. Unbuttoning my nightgown to examine the wound above my heart, I gasped when I saw the two-inch scar was barely pink around the edges. It looked weeks old. If the only consequence of consuming vampire blood was super-fast healing, well then, I had nothing to complain about. I closed my eyes as I brushed the tangles from my hair. It felt good to do something so normal.
A few minutes later, Aldwin came back to check on me, and I asked him to have a dinner prepared for several people. He argued that I needed my rest, but I got my way. I wanted to see everyone—to make sure they all looked healthy and to show my appreciation for everything they had done for me.
After I had soaked about thirty minutes too long in my bath, I dressed in a loose-fitting, Roman-inspired dress and decided to defy popular fashion and wear my hair flowing down to the center of my back. I only wore my sgian-dubh in my boot and my stone pendant. I had lost my smaller dirk and the butterfly cuff bracelet.
When I made my way downstairs, a slight flutter in my chest alarmed me, and my eyes were instantly drawn to the door just as someone used the knocker. Zachary appeared and opened the door to admit Soren. His eyes found mine instantly. I made my way down the last few steps to meet Soren for the first time since the night of the battle. I had so much to say to him, so much to be thankful for.
He looked so intently at me that I unconsciously put my hand over my heart. I stopped directly in front of the vampire; he held out his hand for mine and brought my hand to his lips to kiss it. Meanwhile, his eyes never left mine.
“I’m glad to see you looking just as beautiful as ever.” His eyes roamed over my hair and my black gown as if he were soaking in my features for future reference.
“I felt you right before you knocked,” I whispered, watching his face for a reaction.
“Did you?” he asked without so much as a hint of what he thought about the situation.
I reached up and touched his face tentatively. He grabbed my hand and rubbed his cheek against it like a cat rubbing its body against his owner. Suddenly, he closed his eyes as if the contact brought him pain.
“Soren, I can never thank you enough for saving my life. I will be forever in your debt.”
He looked into my eyes and then tucked my hand into the crook of his arm, murmuring, “There is no debt, Sage. My reward is having you on my arm and in my life for however long we have.”
I frowned over his choice of words, but Soren led me into the dining room where Aldwin, Travis, Dwennon, and his mate all waited to celebrate our victory.