She nodded. “Thank you, Kyo.”
As dawn approached, Angus came in periodically to check on Gregori. And he brought some visitors to meet her. She met Yoshi and Yuki, two of Kyo’s friends, who had answered Angus’s call to battle.
“I had only an hour to get an army together,” Angus explained. “And I had to draw from areas that were in darkness. Luckily, we had a few volunteers from Down Under.” He introduced Rick, Steve, and Bryan from Australia.
“Thank you for coming, lads,” Angus said.
“No worries, mate,” Rick said. “We’re always looking for a good fight.”
She smiled and shook hands with them. “I’m delighted to meet you. I’m Abigail Tucker.”
“Oy, anyone with the name Tucker has got to be good,” Steve said.
“Nice place you have here, mate.” Bryan rested an arm across Kyo’s shoulders. “Have you got any more of that Bleer?”
Kyo laughed. “Come with me. We find it before Yoshi and Yuki drink it all.”
Rajiv and Howard dropped in to see her, and she started crying again.
“Don’t cry, Miss Abby. We okay, see?” Rajiv smiled, but tears glimmered in his eyes, too. He hugged her, then quickly left, no doubt to keep from crying.
Howard patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, then lumbered from the room.
The room grew silent once more. She sat beside Gregori, and thought about how close and caring the Vamps and shifters were. They were like family.
It was a family she wanted to be a part of.
Shortly before sunrise, Angus and Robby returned to see how Gregori was doing.
“If he makes it to his death-sleep, then he’ll be fine,” Robby said.
“But what if he really dies?” she whispered. “How would I know the difference?”
“He would turn to dust,” Angus said. “Just a few minutes to go, lass. Once he falls into death-sleep, he’ll be fine.”
They left the room.
“How could death-sleep make you fine?” she asked Gregori, but he just lay there.
It was hard to know exactly when the sun rose, for the thick aluminum shutters on the window blocked out all the sun. But she did notice when he stopped breathing.
“Gregori,” she whispered and stroked his hair.
She pulled a blanket up to his shoulders, then lay beside him, wrapped in a comforter. Hours of fear and sheer terror had left her exhausted, so she fell into a deep sleep.
She woke when Gregori’s body jolted beside her. He dragged in a deep breath. He’d been lying on his stomach, so when he sat up, he was in the middle of the bed.
She blinked. “You’re all right?” She sat up, grinning. “You’re all right! Oh, thank God.” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
His body trembled. “Stay back.” He grabbed her arms and pushed her away. His eyes glimmered an intense green. “Hungry.”
“Oh, right.” She probably looked like breakfast in bed. She scrambled to the ice chest and pulled out a bottle.
With a groan, his fangs shot out.
She twisted the cap off and handed him the bottle.
He guzzled it down, even though his fangs were in the way, and some of the blood trickled down his chin and neck.
She grabbed another bottle and removed the cap. He was so hungry, he didn’t seem to care that the blood was ice-cold. When he tossed the empty bottle aside, she handed him the next one.
She eased around him to check his wounds. The paste was dry and flaking away.
She couldn’t find the wounds.
He turned toward her. “I’ll need another bottle.” His fangs had retracted, so he finished off the second bottle without drizzling blood down his chin.
She handed him another one. “Are you really okay?”
“Yes. Just hungry.” He drank some more.
She went to the bathroom, washed up, then brought a damp towel to clean off his back.
“You don’t need to do that,” he grumbled.
She ignored him and climbed onto the bed behind him to wipe off the paste. The wounds were gone. As if they had never happened.
She skimmed her hand over the smooth skin. “You’re completely healed. How?”
He shrugged. “It happens during our death-sleep.”
She recalled how Robby and Angus had said he would be fine if he only made it to his death-sleep. “How can such a miraculous change occur when you’re dead?”
“I don’t know.” He drank more blood. “It’s a vampire thing.”
“But to have such healing abilities . . .”
“Abby, don’t question it. Just be glad we’re both alive.”
“I’m so grateful for what you did.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him from behind. “It was very brave and noble of you.”