She grabbed his arm. "You're worn out. Let's go to the silver room."
"Not enough time." He looked around the lab. "I'll be all right in the closet."
"No. I don't want you sleeping on the floor."
He gave her a tired smile. "Sweetness, I won't notice any discomfort."
"I'll have the daytime staff move you to the bed in the silver room."
"No. They don't know about me. I'll be fine." He stumbled toward the closet. "Close the blinds, please."
She rushed to the window. The sky was lightening to gray with a pink tint in the east. Just as she closed the blinds, a ray of golden sun shot over the rooftop of Romatech.
Roman had made it to the closet and was opening the door.
Suddenly a loud blast deafened her. The ground shook. She grabbed at the blinds to steady herself, but they swayed, causing her to stumble. Alarms rang out. And another sound that Shanna realized was people screaming.
"Oh my God." She peeked out the window. In the glare of the morning sun, she spotted a plume of smoke.
"An explosion?" Roman whispered. "Where?"
"I'm not sure. All I see is smoke." Shanna glanced back. He was sagging against the closet door, deathly pale.
"They timed it this way, so I couldn't do anything."
Shanna peered through the blinds again. "It's the wing across from us. The cafeteria! Radinka was there." She ran to the phone and dialed 911.
"There … will be many people there." Roman pushed away from the door, stumbled forward a few steps, and fell to his knees.
When an operator answered, Shanna yelled into the phone, "There's been an explosion at Romatech Industries."
"What is the nature of your emergency?" the woman asked.
"It's an explosion! We need ambulances and a fire truck."
"Calm down. And your name is?"
"Will you hurry it up? There are injured people here!" She hung up and rushed toward Roman. The poor man was crawling across the floor. "There's nothing you can do. Go and rest."
"No. I have to help them."
"I called the paramedics. And I'll go over there myself, just as soon as I know you're all right." She pointed to the closet and tried to look authoritative. "Go to your room."
"I can't bear to be helpless when people need me."
With tears in her eyes, she knelt beside him. "I understand. Believe me. I've been there. But there's nothing you can do."
"Yes, there is." He grabbed the lab table and pulled himself to his feet. He reached for the beaker of greenish liquid.
"You can't! It hasn't been tested yet."
He gave her a wry look. "What could it do to me? Kill me?"
"That's not funny. Roman, please. Don't."
His hand shook as he raised the beaker to his mouth. He swallowed down several large gulps before setting the beaker back down.
Shanna curled her fingers around the crucifix he'd given her. "Do you even know what a normal dose is?"
"No." He stepped back and swayed on his feet. "I feel … strange." He collapsed on the floor.
CHAPTER 24
Shanna fell to her knees beside him. "Roman?" She touched his cheek. He was cold. Lifeless. Was this his normal deadish behavior for daytime, or had he actually killed himself with an experimental drug?
"What have you done?" She laid her head against his chest, listening for a heartbeat. Nothing. But then normally he only had a heartbeat at night. What if it never started up again? What if he was gone forever?
"Don't leave me," she whispered. She sat back, pressing her fingers to her face. She'd tried so hard to convince herself their relationship wouldn't work. But now he looked so … dead. And it was killing her.
"Roman." His name seemed to wrench itself from her soul. She bent over, strained with emotion.
She couldn't bear to lose him.
There were people in the cafeteria who needed her help. She needed to go. Now. But she couldn't budge. She couldn't leave him. It had been so hard to lose Karen, but this-this was like her own heart was being crushed. And with the pain came a searing realization.
She could no longer pretend that a relationship with Roman was impossible. It already existed. She was in love with him. She'd trusted him with her life. She'd allowed him inside her head. She'd fought her fear of blood for him. She'd always believed he was a good and honorable man. Because she loved him.
And he was right. She understood his guilt and remorse like no one else. They were connected emotionally and mentally. Cruel twists of fate had hurt them in the past, but now they could rise above the pain and despair by facing the world together.
Something grabbed her wrist.
He was alive! His chest suddenly heaved with an intake of air. His eyes opened. Bright red.
Shanna gasped. She tried to move back, but his grip tightened. Oh God, what if he'd turned into a Mr. Hyde?
He turned his head to look at her. He blinked once, twice, then his eyes slowly returned to their normal golden-brown.
"Roman? Are you okay?"
"I believe so." He released her and sat up. "How long was I out?"
"I – I don't know. It seemed like forever."
He glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's only been a few minutes." He looked at her. "I scared you. I'm sorry."
She scrambled to her feet. "I was afraid you'd done yourself serious harm. That was a crazy thing to do."
"Yes, but it worked. I'm awake with the sun." He stood and headed for the closet. "There should be a medical kit in here." He grabbed a white plastic box. "Let's go."
They rushed down the hallway. The alarm was still blaring. People scurried about with frightened faces. Some stared at Roman, while others did a double-take.
"Do they know who you are?" Shanna asked.
"I guess. My picture's in the employee handbook." Roman looked about curiously. "I've never seen the place so crowded."
They rounded the corner to the corridor that connected the laboratory wing to the cafeteria. It was jammed with people and bright with sunlight from three east-facing windows. As Shanna passed by the first window, she heard Roman wince. An angry, red burn mark had sliced a path across his cheek.
She grabbed his arm. "The sun's burning you."
"Only my face burned. You must have blocked the sun from the rest of me. Stay by my side."
As they rushed through the second shaft of sunlight, Roman lifted the medical kit to the side of his injured face. The sun burned a red streak across his exposed hand.
"Damn." He flexed his burned fingers.
"Let me hold the box." Shanna took the medical kit and perched it on top of her head to give her added height. People looked at them strangely, but they made it through the last shaft of sunlight without Roman receiving more burns.
As they entered the cafeteria, Roman gestured toward a man. "That's Todd Spencer. Vice president of production."
Shanna hardly noticed. She was too shocked by the scene before her. Injured people were lying on the floor. People rushed about. Some were sweeping away debris. Others hunched over the injured, wrapping them with gauze bandages.
A large hole gaped in the wall where concrete columns and glass windows had once stood.
Overturned tables, mangled chairs, and food trays were scattered about. The hissing spray of fire extinguishers masked the moans of the injured. And Radinka was nowhere in sight.
"Spencer." Roman approached the vice president. "What's the situation?"
Todd Spencer's eyes widened. "Mr. Draganesti, I didn't know you were here. Uh, we have the fires under control. We're seeing to the injured. Paramedics are on their way. But I don't understand this.
Who would do such a thing?"
Roman surveyed the scene. "Is everyone alive?"
Spencer grimaced. "I don't know. We haven't found everyone."
Roman headed to a spot where the walls and ceiling had caved in. "There could be someone under there."
Spencer accompanied him. "We tried lifting that mess, but it's too heavy. I sent for some special equipment."
A concrete column had fallen and crushed a table beneath it. Roman seized a huge hunk of concrete, lifted it over his head, and heaved it into the garden.
"Oh my God," Spencer whispered. "How could he-?"
Shanna winced. Roman wasn't bothering to conceal his super vampire strength. "Maybe it's traumainduced. I've heard of people lifting cars after an accident."
"Maybe so." Spencer frowned. "Are you all right, sir?"
Roman was bent over. Slowly he straightened and turned.
Shanna gasped. His proximity to the garden had exposed him to more sunlight. His shirt was smoldering, black and scorched. Smoke drifted from his wounded chest, carrying the smell of roasted flesh.
Spencer winced. "Sir, I didn't realize you were injured, too. You shouldn't be doing this."
"I'm fine." Roman leaned over to grasp another chunk of concrete. "Help me clear this."
Spencer tackled some smaller chunks of concrete. Shanna gathered up ceiling tiles and tossed them in a heap. Soon the crushed table was exposed. Luckily, chairs beneath the table had kept it from being completely flattened. There was a small pocket of air beneath the table. And a body. Radinka.