Heather screamed.
Ethan dropped his dagger and wrapped an arm around her as her knees buckled and she crumpled toward the floor. Fear and fury flowed through him, battling for dominance even as they lent him strength. Roaring his rage, Ethan swung at the vamp with his sai, limping forward, Heather still clutched to him, forcing the vampire back.
That malicious smile fled as the vampire stumbled over one of his fallen companions.
Ethan struck a killing blow, then struck another and another until the vampire fell to the floor and breathed his last breath.
Panting, Ethan wrapped the arm wielding the sai around Heather and held her close. Tried to listen for more vampires over his own labored breathing.
No sounds came to him from outside the house. Even the insects and nocturnal animals had been silenced by the violence.
Afraid to trust his senses—they sure as hell hadn’t warned him that a couple dozen vampires hid in the damned bushes earlier—Ethan backed into a far corner of the living room, away from the windows, knelt, and lowered Heather to the floor.
“Heather?” A crimson stain spread rapidly across the front of her T-shirt as more blood pooled on the wood floor beneath her.
Ethan tore the material open and examined the ragged hole in her abdomen. Had the vamp severed her abdominal aorta? Ripping the rest of her shirt off, he wadded half of the soft cotton into a ball and pressed it to the wound, then wadded the other half up and tucked it beneath her back.
She moaned. Her eyelids fluttered, then opened. Dazed brown eyes rolled around, then struggled to focus on his face.
Ethan set his sai on the floor beside him and drew his cell phone from his back pocket with a hand that shook. “Shh. Just lie still. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Hurts,” she whispered.
“I know it does, honey.” He dialed Seth’s number, brought the phone to his ear. “Why did you do it?” he asked her while it rang. “Why did you throw yourself between us like that? I’m immortal. Stabbing won’t kill me.”
“C-couldn’t let him . . .” she wheezed as blood stained her lips cherry red.
“Heather?” he called as she seemed to fade. “Heather, I need you to stay with me, honey. Can you do that? Just stay with me a little longer and I promise I’ll bring you coffee and a newspaper every night until you grow to hate the damned drink.”
“Yes?” Seth answered.
“Seth,” Ethan nearly shouted with relief. “I need you. Now.”
Seth appeared a few feet away. As soon as he saw Ethan and Heather, he rushed forward and knelt beside them, pocketing his phone.
“She’s lost a lot of blood,” Ethan told him as Seth nudged Ethan’s hand aside and peeled back the wadded-up T-shirt. “She was bitten by a vamp, then was run through with a blade.”
More blood welled and spread out to pool in her belly button.
Seth splayed a large hand on her pale, slick stomach. His hand began to glow.
Heather hissed in a breath and stiffened. Her legs moved restlessly on the floor as though she wished to scoot away from Seth.
Ethan took one of her hands in his and leaned down until his face hovered just above hers. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “Just look at me, Heather. Focus on me and it’ll be over in a minute. I promise.”
Her eyes opened and clung to his. Her fingers tightened to the point of pain.
Ethan could feel the heat radiating from Seth’s hand as he worked.
Then Heather’s grip loosened. Her shoulders relaxed. The tension in her face eased. But she didn’t look away. Not until her eyelids grew heavy and closed, her head rolling to one side.
Seth sat back. “I healed her wounds, but she isn’t out of the woods yet. She needs blood. A lot of it. We need to take her to the network.”
Ethan didn’t hesitate to gather her into his arms. When he rose, the pain of his own wounds rushed back, sweeping over him like a tidal wave. He staggered and would have lost his balance if Seth hadn’t grabbed his arm to steady him.
“Give her to me,” Seth ordered, concern darkening his features.
“No,” Ethan growled through the pain.
Seth opted not to argue.
Heather’s living room darkened, then vanished, replaced by the bright lights of the network’s infirmary.
The network’s empty infirmary. Where the hell was everyone?
Ethan opened his mouth and drew in a breath to bellow for help, but ended up grunting when his ribs and lungs protested.
“Melanie,” Seth spoke in a normal voice. “We have an emergency in the infirmary.”
Melanie rushed through the doorway. “What’s up?”
“Miss Lane needs a blood transfusion. Chris probably has her blood type on file.”
“Put her there.” Melanie pointed to a hospital bed, then rushed away in a preternatural blur of motion.
Dimly, Ethan was aware of her speaking in the background, probably consulting Chris, as Ethan limped over to the bed and carefully deposited Heather atop the covers.
A breeze ruffled his hair as Melanie zipped up beside him and set up an IV in record time. Blood slithered its way down a tube and into Heather’s arm.
Seth curled a hand around Ethan’s biceps and gently drew him back. “I can’t heal you while you’re touching her.”
Ethan released Heather’s hand with great reluctance.
Seth flattened his other palm on Ethan’s chest.
Heat flowed into Ethan and spread to his head, fingers, and toes. He gritted his teeth as broken bones shifted back into position and fused together. Wounds closed. Punctures sealed themselves. And, at last, the pain abandoned him.
He sighed with relief.
Seth patted his back, then withdrew his touch. “What happened?”
Ethan reached over and reclaimed Heather’s hand. “Heather threw herself between me and a vampire to keep him from stabbing me.”
Melanie glanced at them. “Is it okay if I hear this? I need to remain here for a bit. I’m not liking her vitals, and I want to make sure—”
“Of course,” Seth assured her.
Ethan again felt panic rise. “I thought she was going to be okay.”
“She will be,” Seth promised, all calm assurance. “Once her blood volume returns to normal, she’ll be fine. Now tell me what those vampires were doing at her home. And in such large numbers.”
“I don’t know,” Ethan said, baffled. “The rain completely eradicated the scent of our skirmish a couple of weeks ago. I checked twice to be sure. So they couldn’t have come looking for the others or seeking retribution and followed the scent to her door. Yet . . . Heather lives far enough from town that I just can’t believe it was a coincidence. Two vampire attacks in a half-mile radius out in the sticks?”
Seth crossed his arms over his chest. “What were you doing there?”
“I was . . .” Ethan fought the urge to shuffle his feet. “I was . . . Ah, hell. I was trying to date her.”
He saw Melanie glance at Seth from the corner of her eye.
“Could they have followed you there?” Seth asked, no condemnation in his tone.
“Not at the speeds I was driving.” Unease trickled through Ethan. “It was odd, though. Nothing tipped me off that they were there. I didn’t see a single blade of grass flattened by a shoe that would’ve indicated that one or more of them had crossed her front yard. Didn’t see a broken branch or dislodged leaves that would’ve told me someone hid in the bushes. And you know—with my gift—I wouldn’t have missed visual clues like that. I didn’t hear their heartbeats. If they didn’t arrive until after I did, I didn’t hear them approach. Didn’t hear footsteps. Didn’t smell them either.”
“Were you upwind?”
Ethan thought about it. “Yes. But that would only explain why I didn’t smell them, not why I didn’t hear them.”
“No.” Seth’s brow furrowed. “Even had they avoided crossing Heather’s lawn and been there, lying in wait, you should have heard their heartbeats, the slightest shuffling of their feet or clothing when they changed positions.”
Ethan agreed one hundred percent.
“How distracted were you?” Seth asked.
“I wasn’t that distracted,” Ethan protested. Sure, his mind had been on Heather. But that wouldn’t have shut down all of his senses.
“Were the vampires after you or her?”
“I think they may have been after her. Had they wanted me, they would’ve remained outside and simply overwhelmed me with their numbers.”
Melanie glanced at Ethan. “Not if they thought they could use her against you.”
Seth nodded. “Did they seem to want to kill you or capture you? Bastien mentioned that some vampires think they’ll live longer and be stronger and faster if they exist solely on the blood of an immortal.”
“I’m pretty sure they wanted me dead. They scored enough hits that I would’ve bled out if I had been a vampire. And toward the end there, I don’t think I was far from having my head removed.”
Heather sighed suddenly. “Threw my gun,” she mumbled.
Ethan moved closer to her, stroking the hand he held. “Heather?”
It took her several tries to open her eyes. Then she seemed to have trouble focusing. “Can’t believe . . . threw my gun.” Her words slurred as though she were drunk. “Can’t believe I . . .”