Chapter Seventeen
Vlad tossed the Shaman away from him and hurried to Nita’s side. He laid his fingers against her neck, but her pulse could barely be felt.
Snapping the ropes that restrained her, he gently lifted her limp form into his arms and ran with vampiric speed up the mountain.
Once he’d gotten far enough away to stop, Vlad freed his cloak and dropped it on the ground, placing Nita’s nude body in its center.
The blood had stopped flowing from her wounds, and her lips had turned blue.
“Don’t you fucking die on me,” he snarled, biting into his own wrist and pressing the open wound against her mouth.
He tilted her head up and massaged her throat to prevent her from drowning. “Swallow it, Nita. Come on. I know you can do this.”
Satisfied that he’d gotten some blood down her throat, Vlad wrapped her in his cloak, scooped her up, and stood in one fluid motion.
“Stay with me,” he demanded, running toward his home with every ounce of power he possessed.
Vlad burst through the door a few minutes later, barking orders as he flew up the staircase to his room. “Angelo? Go tell Mordecai that you need syringes. Bring them to me. Quickly.”
Placing Nita in the center of his bed, he turned to Shon who now barreled through the doorway.
“Jesus, Vlad. What happened?”
“There’s been a change in plans. I need at least ten vampires, strategically placed around the grounds. And I need them as quickly as possible.”
Shon’s gaze raked over Vlad’s body. “Shifters, I assume. If the smell is any indication.”
Vlad nodded. “They were killing her.”
“Her own people?”
“Yes,” Vlad ground out between clenched teeth.
“It looks like they succeeded. She has no heartbeat that I can hear.”
“Go get the backup,” Vlad snapped, turning back to stare into Nita’s lifeless face. “The shifters will be coming.”
“I’m on it.” Shon’s footsteps echoed down the hall, disappearing on the stairs.
Angel rushed into the room, carrying the syringes, his face pale with worry. He set the items on the bedside table and leaned over Nita’s ashen face. “Is she gone?”
“She is not gone,” Vlad snarled, pushing Angel aside and snatching up one of the syringes.
Ripping the package open, Vlad plunged the needle into his vein and pulled the stopper until the syringe was full.
He yanked it free and inserted it into a vein in Nita’s neck, only to repeat the process.
“Grab that other one and transfer as much from me to her as you can. Hurry, Angelo.”
Angel did as Vlad instructed. The two of them worked together, continuously filling Nita’s body with Vlad’s lifesaving blood.
“Sire?” Angel’s voice penetrated Vlad’s anxiety-filled brain. “It’s not working.”
Denial surfaced along with rage as Vlad stared down in disbelief at Nita’s beautiful features.
“Get out,” Vlad demanded, unable to meet Angel’s gaze. “And shut the door behind you.”
Vlad waited until the click sounded, signaling he was alone in the room with Nita.
The syringe he still held rolled from his fingers to land at his feet. She was gone. He would never again hold her in his arms, taste her passion, see the fire flash in her amber eyes as she promised retaliation for something he’d done.
His legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees beside the bed.
“I’m sorry, Nita,” he whispered, taking hold of her cold hand. “Forgive me.”
Vlad had no doubt that he was partly responsible for her death. Had he not given her his blood to begin with, her own people would have had no cause to bleed her out.
Then again, she would have died without it. His blood was the only reason she’d survived being shot.
A gasp suddenly rent the air, and Nita’s back bowed off the bed.
Vlad was on his feet in an instant, cupping her face. “Nita? Look at me.”
Her eyes flew open on command, and Vlad’s breath caught. Her once amber-colored eyes were as black as onyx.
“Where am I?” she rasped, staring back at him in confusion.
“You don’t remember what happened?”
She shook her head, her gaze searching his. “I…”
Tears sprang to her eyes, pulling at the heartstrings Vlad wasn’t aware he even had.
She jerked her hands up, turning her wrists from side to side. “How?”
Vlad noticed with no small amount of relief that the cuts were nearly healed. “It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you are alive.”
A small indention appeared between her eyes. “You saved me. On that table. I— It was you. The hooded figure.”
Vlad simply nodded, allowing his hands to drop away.
Nita pushed up higher against the pillows, forcing him to sit back and face her. “How many died?”
He shrugged. “Not nearly enough.”
“Those were my people,” she whispered, blinking back tears.
The hurt coming from her pissed Vlad off. “They tried to kill you, Nita. No. They did kill you. They do not deserve even one of your tears.”
The onyx color began to swirl in her eyes, giving way to her normal beautiful amber. Vlad decided not to mention the black he’d seen upon her waking.
“What is happening to me?” She lifted her hands, turning them left and right.
“It’s the vampire blood in your veins. I’m assuming that it’s sharpened your vision.”
“You’ve turned me into what you are?”
Vlad shook his head. “I don’t think a shifter can become vampire, Nita.”
“You don’t think?” she exclaimed, continuing to study her hands.
“To my knowledge, a vampire has never attempted to turn a shifter. Perhaps you have the gifts of both monsters.”
Nita lifted her gaze to Vlad’s. “Shifters are not monsters. We are born to protect, not harm.
“My mother,” Nita suddenly gasped, moving to get up. “He’ll hurt my mother.”
Vlad gently pushed her back against the pillows. “Who will hurt you mother?”
“Miles Castro. He promised that if I didn’t survive to mate with him, he would make my mom suffer.”
Castro would die, Vlad silently vowed, brushing Nita’s hair back from her face.
He fished out his cell from the pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. “Call her. Tell her to meet you at a motel near the edge of town. I’ll send someone to pick her up.”
Nita’s mouth fell open. “She would never come here, Vlad. She sees you as the enemy.”
“What about you?” He wasn’t sure why he asked, but the words came out before he could stop them.
“You’ve saved my life. Twice, and I’m grateful to you for that. But it doesn’t change the fact that you are a vampire.”
“As are you. In a sense.”
Nita stilled, staring up at Vlad in defeat. “I can never return home,” she murmured as if the reality of her situation had finally sunk in. “My people would never allow me back in the fold.”
He didn’t respond.
With trembling fingers, Nita took the phone from Vlad’s hand. She dialed her mother’s number and brought the cell to her ear.