Chapter Thirty
Ricard and Jessica remained in the infirmary, caring for the wounded. It wasn’t simply members of The Vampire Guard who returned with injuries. But for every guard who arrived, he brought with him no less than two human victims, employees from Panthera or victims who’d been trapped in the building.
Once again the laboratory was burning. Only this time the hope was that it would burn to the ground and take all the wretchedness it had come to stand for with it.
The stench of burned flesh permeated the infirmary. Vampires screamed in agony as their skin melted from the flames. For them the quickest relief was fresh blood, but in the condition they were, that would certainly mean the death of the donor.
Several times Ricard called, “Another bag for this man.”
Each time Jessica raced from the bedside to the fridge, bringing back armloads of blood. She followed Ricard and Maddie, completing any tasks they ordered.
The scene looked exactly as it was, a war zone hospital. Two hours into the fighting nearly every bed had turned over twice. They’d moved the least injured patients to the cafeteria where they all waited for news from the front.
Ricard advised Maddie to stitch the vampires with the least severe injuries and send them to their quarters to recover. “Let’s take care not to waste any blood on vampires who will be able to hunt when this is over. We will need our stores for vampires with more severe injuries.”
“Right. We could have some serious injuries. Men with far worse issues than these.” Maddie dabbed at a deep gouge in a vampire’s arm that Ricard was stitching. Her hands trembled. “They may not be able to move, never mind hunt. It could be the…”
Realizing she was worrying far more than he’d anticipated, he did his best to keep the nurse focused on the humans rather than the vampires.
“Maddie, those two women from the lab need tending. Would you see to them? It will be better for a trained nurse to do that. Jessica, can help me here.” Ricard motioned across the room where two older women he recognized from having worked at Panthera sat huddled together and dazed.
“Of course.” Maddie scurried across the room to her new charges.
“She’s very scared for Rafe,” Jessica said.
“I know. Seeing these men come back in this condition means the battle is as bad or worse than we’d expected.”
They spent the next few hours working on every victim that arrived. Three of the men were treated and placed into bariatric chambers. The treatment worked well for humans and vampires alike. Based on the extent of the burns these victims had only the bariatric chamber and a steady supply of blood would save them.
As they shut the cabin door and set the chamber to do its work, the infirmary door banged open.
“Rafe! Rafe!” Gabe rushed in, running straight for the chamber. “Where is he?” Gabe’s wild eyes, the sound of terror in his voice, and the look on his face told Ricard he’d felt his brother’s injury before anyone else had known. “Rafe!”
“He’s not here,” Ricard answered, ensuring to keep his voice as calm as possible. “You have felt something?”
“He’s fallen. I felt it. My brother. My master. He’s…” Gabe turned from the room and ran.
“No! Rafe!” Maddie moved to follow, but Ricard caught her.
“No. You must stay. You cannot follow Gabe. You are needed here.” He held her back from the door as Jessica closed it and raced to them.
“No. My mate. Rafe!” Maddie fought with all her might to break free of Ricard’s hold, but he would not release her.
He understood better than anyone what she must feel, but he also knew he could not let her run to her death. She was needed here and he knew the plans of Panthera well enough, he knew if they could capture her, they’d ferry her away from the fighting and torture her in ways she’d never dreamed.
After several attempts to make her stay on her own volition he managed to subdue her, using his vampire influence. She sat in a corner with Jessica, hands shaking and voice trembling. But there she remained as Ricard worked with the help of a couple less injured vampires and former Panthera scientists to care for the wounded.
Less than an hour later the door to the lab burst open again. This time Gabe, bloodied and wounded, carried in the body of his brother. Aurelia, too was bloody. “Help him!” Gabe growled and placed Rafe on an empty table.
The sight of her mate brought Maddie from the corner. “Rafe!”
The wounded vampire turned toward the voice. “Madd…” He reached a hand in her direction. From a gaping wound at his neck blood poured.
Ricard recognized the type of injury. This was not the work of any sort of blade. Those were fang marks. Rafe had been attacked by a vampire.
“Do we know who did this to him?” Ricard began working on the injury, putting the muscles and blood vessels back into place and stitching them closed as quickly as he could.
Jessica stood by his side, cleaning away blood and pinching the vessels closed to stem the blood loss. She worked with diligent focus, never once flinching at the gore.
“Our father did this. That bastard still lives.” Gabe bit into his wrist and placed it to Rafe’s mouth.
Ricard’s head snapped up, his attention drawn from his work. “You’re certain?”
“I saw him myself.” Gabe’s eye flashed with the hatred Ricard felt in his own gut.
He wasted only seconds considering this information. Allowing himself to focus for even a second longer would cause him to lose control of the rage he struggled to contain. “Another suture, Jessica.” He held out his hand, and when the item was placed in it, he continued working.
Rafe drank, and though the wounds began healing, the progress was not fast enough. If they could not stop the blood loss, he would die.
“He needs blood. Her blood.” Gabe pulled Maddie around the table, cutting a slice in her arm and shoving the wound to Rafe’s lips. “Do not fear. He needs you, but he will not take more than you can give.”
It is true an injured vampire heals much more quickly, more completely when given his mate’s or his progeny’s blood. But it was clear Rafe had fed from both Gabe and Aurelia and still he was on the precipice of death.
“Whatever he needs. I’ll give it all.” Maddie cradled her mate against her.
Jessica’s hand curled around Ricard’s arm. “Is he…”
“I don’t know.” Ricard pulled her into his embrace. His heart hurt with the pain of watching a mated pair so close to losing each other.
Holding Jessica, the woman he loved above all others, the woman Panthera sought to destroy, he felt the anger rise. His nemesis, the vampire who had destroyed his world was not dead as he’d thought. Somehow the most vile men he’d ever encountered, Raffaele Barone and Raymond Tyrone, had been in league together. The desire for vengeance rose again.