“What is going on?” Nadira cried out as she rushed towards the front door of the Olaru mansion. Toma had called Nicu, informing him that they had run into versi trouble and Cooper was unconscious. Thoughts raced all throughout her mind as she watched Toma carry Cooper over his shoulder.

“Teague, what the hell happened?” She grabbed Teague as he walked through the door behind Toma.

“We don’t know, he took off in the woods after something,” Teague said, pulling Nadira behind him as they marched down the hallway. “We lost him for a minute, dealing with the versi. When we found him, he was on the ground unconscious.”

“Take him to my room,” Nadira said, shoving her way past Teague to Toma’s side.

Toma paused, looking down at Nadira. “Are you sure? He’s not the lightest thing to carry.” Nadira nodded her head quickly as they headed for the stairs. They settled Cooper on her bed. She discarded his shoes and pulled the covers over his still form. Toma paced the room while Teague leaned against the wall.

Her heart pounded in her chest at the site of Cooper lying so still in her bed. His chest slowly rose then fell. His features stilled and he looked as if he was just taking a nap. Dirt lined his face and his midnight black hair. She scrambled to her bathroom, gathering clean towels and a basin of warm water. She made her way back, ignoring the soft chatter from her brothers on the other side of the room.

She crawled into the bed, sitting next to him, gently washing his face. She took her time cleaning all traces of dirt from his face. She pulled leaves and twigs from his hair. She used the wet cloths to semi-clean his hair, removing the rest of the dirt from his short hair. Her bedroom door burst open with Nicu and her father storming into the room.

“What the fuck happened out there?” Nicu demanded.

“Two versi attacked the van. We took them out,” Teague started, looking around the room at everyone.

“They were easy to put down. The next thing we know, Cooper’s yelling and taking off into the woods,” Toma said.

“Where are the bodies now?” Vladimir asked, his eyes glancing over to Nadira.

“We brought him here right away, not knowing what was wrong with him,” Toma says firmly. “We had Viktor and Gadiel take the bodies to the containment facility.”

“Can you figure out what is wrong with him?” her father asked her softly, coming to stand next to the bed.

Vampires were known to have special skills. Nadira was a healer, hence her going to school to become a nurse and working in a paranormal hospital. For most of her almost four hundred years of life, she had been able to take aches and pain away, heal wounds faster than they would normally on their own. Her skills had come in handy over the years with her brothers being members of the Dark Shadows.

“I don’t know,” she answered, placing the basin of water and towels on her nightstand. She placed her hand on his chest, as the room drew silent. She closed her eyes, blocking out all of those in the room. She focused on Cooper and she mentally scanned his body, not finding any physical wounds. His heart beat steadily beneath her small hand. She moved her hand to his head, finding his mind was in a fog. A powerful being wrapped Cooper’s mind in a cocoon of magic, putting him into a deep sleep.

Nadira was not worried about removing the magic. She was more concerned about who was able to get close enough to Cooper to place a spell on him while Teague and Toma was not too far from him. She dug deeper in his psyche, trying to catch a tracer from the magic, taking note of the wisps of darkness and evil that had been woven in the spell. She opened her eyes and looked at her father then brothers.

“Necro magic,” she whispered. Curses could be heard around the room.

“Here, let us call a witch to remove the spell,” her father suggested. She shook her head.

“No, I can do it,” she said firmly.

“It will drain you, Nadira,” Nicu said.

“I will do it,” she snapped, gazing at Cooper. “He’s my mate. I will heal him.” The tone in her voice signaling that she would fight them tooth and nail on this. They all knew that standing in between a vampire and her mate could be fatal.

Nicu cursed, sending Teague to the kitchen for a couple bags of blood. She ignored her family, as she looked over Cooper once again. Because of her family and the war brewing between the necros, he was in this predicament. She turned back to Cooper, moving closer to him, placing her hand across his forehead. Maybe she should just erase herself from him again, setting him free from her. They have not bonded yet; it shouldn’t affect her too much. She quickly discarded that thought, knowing Xalak had set his sights on Cooper there was no telling what he would do next.

She ran her hand through his short midnight hair, wishing she could gaze into his warm brown eyes again. She stilled next to him as she concentrated. She breathed in deep, pulling the magic from Cooper into herself. Her fingers tingled as the power was drawn out of Cooper. It flowed up her fingers and was slowly absorbed by Nadira. The room spun as she fell back against her pillows, lying next to Cooper, and closing her eyes as she was pulled into the deep sleep, that a few seconds before held Cooper.

* * *

Cooper sat up suddenly, gasping for air, waking up from his deep slumber. He looked around the room quickly, taking in Nadira’s brothers and father. They were in a lavishly decorated bedroom that he recognized as Nadira’s. Teague and the queen burst back in the room, holding bags of blood and supplies. Cooper looked to his left, finding Nadira lying deathly still next to him in the bed. Nicu and Toma rushed to her side. Teague jumped into the bed, pulling Nadira into his lap to rest her against his chest as the Queen and Nicu worked to place a needle in Nadira’s arm.

“What the fuck happened?” Cooper asked the room, jumping out of the bed to make room as they worked quickly around Nadira. He stumbled for a second, his legs weak as he watched her family work on her. His heart slammed against his chest and concern clouded his mind as he forgot about what happened to him. Is she okay? He tried to move towards Nadira but her father grabbed his arm.

“She healed you,” Vladimir said, pulling Cooper to the side while they connected Nadira to a machine and started a blood transfusion.

“How did she… what happened to me?” Cooper asked, running his hands through his hair. The last thing he remembered was chasing the hooded figure, talking to him in the woods, then nothing. “Is she going to be okay?”

“She was able to detect that you were under a necromancer spell. Her healing you meant she had to draw the spell onto her, in order to heal you,” Vladimir said, gazing at his daughter.

“Why would she risk herself for me?” Cooper questioned, wanting to pull his hair out in worry.

“You are special to her,” Alin answered, coming to stand next to her husband.

“Toma and Teague brought you here unconscious. What do you remember?” the King asked.

“Toma and Teague were fighting the versi and a hooded figure stood off to the side. I ran after the person—”

“Who was it?” Nicu asked, coming to stand next to Vladimir. Nadira remained deathly pale in the bed while the blood made its way to her vein.

“He said that he was Nadira’s soon-to-be betrothed,” Cooper said looking around the room as everyone became still and turned their attention to him.

“Did he give a name?” Vladimir asked, glancing at Nicu first, and then turning his attention to Cooper.

“Yes, he said his name was Xalak.” Curses filled the room. His eyes locked on Nadira, he just had to be near her. In such a short time, she had crawled into a corner of his heart. He made his way back to her, needing to touch her, feel her, and protect her. Teague moved aside, allowing Cooper to switch places with him on the bed. He pulled Nadira’s warm body against his chest. Alin draped a blanket around them.

Cooper informed them of everything that happened when he chased Xalak and their conversation.

“How does he know you?” Toma asked, scowling, from the other side of the room.

“I’m not sure but he had a message for me to give Nadira,” Cooper’s voice was grim as he looked around the room.

“What the fuck is it?” Nicu demanded, crossing his arms across his chest.

“He said to tell Nadira, that he is coming for her,” Cooper said, pulling Nadira close. Her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

“Like hell, he is!” Teague shouted.

“Nicu, I want a member of the Dark Shadows on her at all time,” Vladimir directed angrily, standing in front of his eldest son. “The necromancers are not getting my daughter! We are calling on the Council. We are going to war!” Vladimir stalked out the room with Nicu, Toma, and Teague, leaving Cooper alone with Nadira and her mother.

“Come on, baby, wake up for me,” Cooper whispered in Nadira’s ear.

“Only she and the Gods know when she will wake up. She will have to fight to come back to us. The blood we hung on her will ensure that she remains strong,” Alin said, settling into the chair by the window.

“Nadira, baby, can you hear me?” Cooper whispered in her ear, watching her eyes twitch. “Come to me, baby,” he begged her. His heart was heavy wanting to see her ice blue eyes again. He was not sure how he knew but he felt as if he should continue to speak to her, to let her know that she wasn’t alone. Maybe his voice would help steer her back to him. “Has this happened to her before?”

Alin nodded, “Once before. She was healing her brother Teague when they were younger and she slipped into a deep exhaustion like this. By us infusing blood into her, it will provide nourishment she will need while she is unable to feed.”

“So, she’ll be okay?” He had to know since he felt so helpless right now. He pulled her closer, pushing her hair out of her face.

“She should be,” Alin whispered, looking out the window. “My husband is about to go to war with the necromancers to protect our child and this world. She has to be.”

Cooper continued to whisper in Nadira’s ear, telling her of his family, stories from his childhood, the police academy, his first beat as a police officer and his promotion to detective. He talked for hours, even after the queen left, promising to come and check in on them. He had come to terms that he was in love with this little wisp of a woman, vampirism, and all. He shifted in the bed, tucking her into his side as he drifted off to sleep with her in his arms.