“You took a very serious head wound,” he said solemnly, and dropped her nightgown to cup her face between his hands. “You must never allow yourself to be so harmed again. I thought my heart would stop when I found you after the van crashed.”
Dante leaned down to kiss her gently and Mary sighed against his lips. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. I accidentally broke Bert’s neck when Ernie went for the dart gun.”
“Bert?” he asked with confusion. “One of the men was Ernie, but the other was Bob, not Bert.”
Mary smiled crookedly. “I didn’t know his name so I gave him a nickname.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “Bert and Ernie are dead.”
“Both of them?” she asked with surprise, and then grimaced. She’d seen her own head wound. Surely it would have killed a mortal? Why would she think Ernie would have made out any better?
“Yes, both are dead,” he said quietly, then raised his eyebrows and said, “You broke Ernie’s neck?”
“No, Bert’s,” Mary corrected. “Couldn’t you tell when you saw the bodies?”
“There was not much to see,” he said solemnly. “The van exploded on impact. If you had not flown out the windshield and into the post, you too would now be dead. Immortals are highly flammable.”
Her eyebrows lifted at this news, and then she bit her lip and asked, “And Tomasso?”
His shoulders drooped and he shook his head silently. “Lucian has people looking in Venezuela, but nothing yet.”
Mary sighed and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, I am the one who is sorry. I promised to keep you safe and failed you. Twice. You have nothing to be sorry for,” he assured her quietly.
“Yes, I do,” Mary said unhappily. “I killed Bert, which led to Ernie dying too. And you needed one of them alive to find out where Tomasso is.” Raising her head, she added quickly, “I was only trying to make them stop. It was all a trap. They were leading you to a warehouse about a block away from the crash, or maybe a half a block by that time. There were two men waiting there.” Mary paused and then muttered with frustration, “They said their names, but I can’t remember. I think one was Jack or something.”
“You took a lot of trauma to the head,” Dante said soothingly. “The nanos are probably still making repairs. Your memory may be shaky for a while until the repairs are finished.”
“Right.” She took a deep breath and then continued, “Anyway, they set it up for you to follow. Once at the warehouse, there were men waiting to shoot you and Russell and Francis with darts, and then we were all going to be shipped to wherever with Tomasso.”
“Tomasso was there at this warehouse?” he asked sharply.
“I’m not sure, but I think so,” she said unhappily. “I was going to tell you what I’d heard once I forced them to stop the van. I thought maybe we could drive in, in the van. They wouldn’t have been expecting that. But then dumb Ernie ignored my warning and went for the dart gun. I tried to grab him and broke Bert’s neck and we crashed.”
Sighing, she dropped her head to his shoulder again. “I’m sorry, Dante. I messed up. It’s all my fault.”
“No,” he said firmly, wrapping his arms around her. “It is not. If you had not done what you did, we might all now be in the same position Tomasso is in. Instead, we are alive and safe and able to help look for him.”
Mary thought it was sweet of him to try to soothe her conscience, but she still felt guilty. Relaxing against him, she closed her eyes, then glanced up with surprise when Dante pulled back. But he merely scooped her up in his arms and carried her back out to the bedroom.
Bailey was still lying on the bed and Mary frowned with concern as she noticed the cast on her leg.
“She is fine,” Dante said softly. “She has had her pain killers and the cast barely slows her down. She is not even limping anymore.”
“Oh,” Mary murmured as he carried her around the bed and set her down next to Bailey.
Dante quickly covered her with the sheets and blankets she’d tossed aside just moments ago, and then straightened and turned to open the cabinet door of the table on his side of the bed. Curious, Mary watched as he bent to retrieve something, her eyes widening when he turned to set two bags of blood on the bed.
Catching her surprise, he smiled and said, “It is a hidden fridge. Mortimer,” he paused to explained, “He’s the head of the rogue hunters. He had them custom-made. Now everyone wants them for their homes,” he added with amusement as he retrieved two more bags to set next to the others. He closed the door as he straightened, then scooped up the four bags and set them down right next to her before leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead. “I have to go tell Lucian what you told me. He will want to send someone to search the warehouses in the area and see if there is any information that might be of use.” He straightened, and then asked, “Is there anything you want me to bring you when I return? Something to eat or drink?”