"What happened?" she asked a weeping woman.
"He just collapsed. He complained yesterday of being tired, but we hadn't slept well the night before, worrying about the children; we just chalked it up to that." The woman wiped her eyes.
"What's your name?" Ellie asked gently.
"Carina Sanchez. This is my mate, Julio," Carina replied.
"Okay Carina, this is what we're going to do. We're going to have the warriors place Julio on this blanket for just a little bit. Then they are going to go down to Level One and bring up a few gurneys. We'll get your mate hooked up with some fluids and medicine. Is that okay?" Carina nodded, looking scared, all the while brushing Julio's dark black curls off his forehead.
Grant grabbed spare a blanket and laid it on the ground. The warrior holding the man placed him down gently.
"Sulis wasn't it?" Ellie asked.
The warrior nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you."
"No worries. If you'll excuse me, I'll gather some men and bring those gurneys up for you. How many did you need?" Sulis asked.
Ellie chewed on her lower lip. In truth, she wanted to get the children out of the cots and into beds as well, but she wasn't sure they had enough to go around. They had stocked an infirmary not a hospital. She gasped and looked around.
Grant cursed, and Sulis muttered under his breath. They had come to the same conclusion. They didn't have enough room. Three to five children were one thing. But the new group consisted of five more children and now an adult. They had more than doubled their patient load.
Sulis nodded. "I'll bring up the gurney for Julio and then contact the city estate. I'll have more gurneys and supplies here as soon as I can, but I'll need someplace to put everything."
"Leave that to me," Grant volunteered. Without saying another word, Sulis turned and ran out of the courtyard.
Ellie felt a hand on her back, and she spun around. Her grandmother's smile was wan. "Adora is getting the new children set up and showing the parents what forms to fill out." She smiled at Carina. "Dr. St. John will ensure your mate is comfortable and show you what we need."
The odd doctor stepped forward and took over Julio's treatment.
Her grandmother steered her off to one side. She looked around the courtyard her head bobbing as if mentally counting.
Ellie held up a hand. "We know," she said.
"Ellie, I'm not sure we're going to be enough," her grandmother admitted quietly.
"We'll have to be."
Just as her grandmother was about to respond, they heard more shouts coming from the other side of the houses that faced the street.
"Good gods, what now?" her grandmother asked.
Ellie and Grant stood and hurried to see what was going on.
When they ran out of the Garcia's front door, they were shocked to see a mob of people forming at the entrance of the wolves' housing. Kari, Declan, Adriel, Eva, the prince, Elizabeth, Gavriel, and Aiden stood as a barrier against the angry vampires. Behind them, the wolves gathered to keep the vampires away from their homes and children. Kari and Eva were trying desperately to keep things from escalating. Adriel and Aiden looked like they just wanted to beat the rowdy vampires into submission. Gavriel was staring down anyone who got too close to his mate, and Declan kept hissing at the more unruly citizens.
"We want them gone!"
"They brought sickness and disease!"
"And we will not abide sickness in our city!"
Ellie ran up behind Kari. "Everyone please calm down!" she shouted over the noise.
"Send them away!"
"Please! Everyone listen! There's no evidence that the wolves brought this sickness to the city. We're still working on determining the cause."
"Maybe if you were not such a fat, lazy pig, you would have discovered the cause by now!"
Ellie tried not to collapse in on herself. She fought back humiliated tears. When she looked up, she saw that the one who had insulted her was the same nasty tunnel escort who had made the snide remark earlier.
One moment the jerk was sneering at her, the next he was flat on his back on the ground. Ellie knew that if she had blinked she would have missed it. Grant had moved so fast even the man's friends looked surprised to see their companion staring up at them at their feet. Her mate had punched his jaw so hard he'd literally flown back several yards.
No one besides her gram had ever defended her before. Her tears of humiliation were replaced by ones of joy. She finally knew what it felt like to have someone in her corner.
Grant rubbed his knuckles. "Does anyone else feel like insulting my beautiful mate?"
The crowd murmured under their breaths.
When a man dressed in a three- piece suit stepped forward, the crowd parted to let him pass. He walked right up to the prince. "Your humanitarian efforts will see this city destroyed. Tell them to leave."