He stayed by Tessa’s side until they wheeled her into the examination room. Stepping into the hallway, he called Bailey and told her what had happened.
And then he returned to the scene of the accident.
Cloaking his presence from the police officers who were still on the scene, Andrei walked around the car. The scent of vampire was strong. He was about to track the man when Katerina strolled toward him.
Nostrils flared, she lifted her head and sniffed the air. “Fee fi fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. No,” she corrected with a throaty chuckle. “A fledgling.”
Andrei nodded curtly. “I was just about to go after him.”
“No need. He’s already dead.”
“You killed him?”
“Yes.” She ran her bright red fingernails down his chest. “But not before he told me something very interesting.”
Tension coiled like a serpent in Andrei’s gut. He knew what was coming.
“Very interesting, indeed,” she purred, her voice deepening to an angry growl as she curled her hand around his throat. “It seems one of the women who was in this car is the very female I’ve been searching for.” Her fingernails dug into his skin. “Can you guess which one?”
* * *
For Andrei, the world and everything in it fell away. There was only his sire—his very angry sire—staring into his eyes, her own blazing like the flames of an unforgiving Hell.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You know why.” He hissed the words, barely able to speak. She couldn’t choke the life out of him. He didn’t need to breathe. But, angry as she was, she could easily separate his head from his body.
“Indeed.” Her fury enveloped him, sizzling through the very fiber of his being. He had looked death in the face on several occasions, but never had it seemed more imminent than now, at the hands of his maker.
Tessa. He had failed her. With his destruction, she would be at Katerina’s mercy. Her only other protection was Luke, but he was no match for Katerina. Sooner or later, she would catch Tessa alone.
Andrei? Where are you?
Tess?
What’s happening? You’re in pain. I can feel it.
Nothing for you to worry about. Be careful. She knows who you are.
Katerina stared at him, her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing?”
“Doing?” He grimaced. “Mostly choking.”
“Something’s different.” Her expression turned to one of curiosity, and then confusion.
Andrei felt it too, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He had the strangest feeling that he could easily free himself from her grasp. Before he could put that belief to the test, a deep-throated growl sounded from the shadows. A moment later, a black panther sprang into view, yellow eyes glowing, teeth bared in a feral snarl.
Katerina’s reaction was surprising and immediate. One minute her hand was wrapped around his throat. The next, she was gone in a shimmering cloud of blood-colored motes.
Andrei rubbed his throat as Bailey trotted up to him, her lips peeled back in a catlike grin. “You’ve got great timing, kid.” Turning his head to the side, he removed his long, black coat and held it out in front of him while she shifted to human form. “What are you doing here?”
“Tessa was worried about you,” she said, wrapping his coat around her nakedness.
“Is she okay?”
Bailey nodded. “Scared for you.”
“I was a little scared myself,” he admitted. “She’s afraid of you.”
“Katerina? Why?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never known her to be afraid of anything. But you worry her. Come on, let’s go see Tess.”
* * *
It was late when Andrei and Bailey arrived at the hospital. They had made a side trip to Tessa’s condo so Bailey could get dressed. Now, walking down the wide, puke-green corridor, Andrei’s nostrils filled with the tantalizing scent of blood—some contaminated, some freshly spilled. The stink of fear and death and hopelessness lingered in the air.
He paused outside Tessa’s room before opening the door and stepping inside. She was asleep, her face almost as pale as the pillow beneath her head, her breathing slow and shallow. But her heartbeat was steady and strong.
A nurse paused in the act of making notes on a chart when they entered the room.
“How is she?” Andrei asked.
“Are you family?”
“No. Is she going to be all right?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t give you that information,” the nurse said, hanging the chart on the foot of the bed.
“Yes, you can,” Andrei said, his gaze holding the woman’s.
“Doctor said she’s going to be fine. There’s no concussion, although the cut in her head required several stitches. She also has a couple of bruised ribs. If there are no complications, she should be able to go home in a day or two, although it will take six weeks or so for the bruising to heal.”