“I’ve actually discovered quite a bit about Danny’s condition from that little experiment,” the doctor said as he put the pen light back into his bag and withdrew a small black device. He held it out to Dominic.
“I need a sample of his blood.”
“So, get one.”
“I’m afraid that anyone touching Danny other than you will do him more harm than good. You’ll have to withdraw the blood.”
Dominic huffed and sat down on the side of the bed. He cradled Danny carefully in his lap then lifted his hand. Grabbing the small
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device, he stuck the end of Danny’s finger, extracting a couple of drops of blood. Danny didn’t even whimper. Dominic handed the device back to the doctor then wrapped both arms around Danny.
“What’s going on, Doctor?” he asked. “What’s wrong with Danny?”
The doctor held up a finger. “Give me just a moment, sire.”
Dominic went back to stroking Danny’s hot skin as he watched the doctor press several buttons on the device then frown as he stared down at it. Dominic’s heart started beating faster. “What?”
The doctor sighed deeply, reminding Dominic of one of Sully’s sighs. He set the small black device back into his bag and turned to look at Dominic. The deep frown on his face did not reassure Dominic in the least. In fact, it made him worry even more.
“I’m afraid that there are two different things going on here, sire.”
He waved his hand down to where Danny was trying to burrow into Dominic. “The first issue is that you’ve somehow started the bonding process to mate with Danny.”
Dominic gasped. “Mate with me? How? He’s not a vampire. He doesn’t even have the vampire gene.”
“No, that’s true. He does not have the vampire gene. That simply means he will not turn into a vampire. He will remain human even if he is mated to you.”
“How?” Dominic glanced down at Danny in apprehension when the man whimpered. “Is that why he’s sick?”
“Danny is feeling the need to mate with you, and because of your ignorance in this situation, that need has been denied him. Only your touch soothes him. Anyone else touching him will only bring him pain.”
Dominic growled. He knew he was at fault here, but he didn’t like the doctor pointing it out to him. He also didn’t realize how much he was at fault until now. “You said we had two issues. What’s the other one?”
“Danny has been poisoned.”
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Stormy Glenn
* * * *
Dominic held Danny close to his chest, refusing to set the man down. It seemed that the only time Danny was calm and not crying out in pain was when Dominic held him. Dominic would hold him forever if that’s what it took to keep Danny from being in pain.
He was still reeling from the knowledge that he had somehow started the bonding process with Danny. He hadn’t even known it was possible. He didn’t know what he would have done with the knowledge if he had known, though. If he were truthful with himself, Dominic knew he might have still started the bonding process. He just would have discussed it with Danny first.
Now, he sat in the back of his SUV holding Danny in his lap as they raced toward what Dominic hoped was help. Sully was back at his estate trying to discover how Danny was poisoned and by whom.
Dominic’s concern was for Danny. Granted, he wanted to rip out the throat of whoever had poisoned Danny, and he planned on doing exactly that, after he knew Danny would live. Until then, nothing else mattered.
At the doctor’s encouragement, Dominic had broken every rule of etiquette and called the prince of another coven, Prince Zacarius Ivinovav. Covens did not associate with each other. It was kind of a vampire ground rule. They met once every hundred years, but that was about it.
This was an emergency, though, and Dominic would do anything to make Danny better and keep him safe, even break all of the coven rules. Hell, he’d give up being prince of his coven if it meant keeping Danny safe. He was considering it.
In the span of a couple of weeks, Danny had become the most important thing in Dominic’s life. If Danny would accept him, Dominic would move heaven and earth to stay with the man. He just had to keep him alive first.
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“We’re almost there, sire.”
Dominic nodded to the guard sitting in the front seat. He was apprehensive about going to the prince of another coven. It might be considered weak by some and an excuse to try and take over his coven. Dominic just didn’t care.
The doctor said that Prince Ivinovav had been poisoned once before, and he had also mated a non-vampire. His mate, Devlin, was a werewolf shifter. It wasn’t quite human, but it wasn’t one vampire mating to another vampire. The doctor believed the prince could help Danny, and Dominic would take any assistance he could get.