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SEBASTIAN’S INSTINCT that Eden was in danger grew as he searched the Vampire District for her. He figured she had to be riding around in a carriage, so he peered into each vehicle he came across. He occasionally caught her scent, but it always faded before he could tell which direction she’d been traveling in.
His enhanced hearing picked up on what sounded like a battle in the distance. It didn’t concern him, so he began to sprint to another suburb to continue his search. He took two steps, then skidded to a halt when a gust of wind drew Eden’s scent to him. He spun around and flashed into motion when he heard a shrill scream. It had come from a man rather than a woman, but he knew Eden was in trouble.
The master vampire followed the sounds of fighting and Eden’s scent to a derelict building. Fledglings were clawing at each other to try to enter the doorway. The scent of spilled blood had made them frantic with hunger.
Another scream rang out. It was female this time. His fangs descended when he knew with utter certainty that it had come from Eden. Roaring in rage, the master vampire began tossing fledglings out of his way. They cringed away from his fury and raw power, scattering once he’d broken them from their dazed bloodlust.
Sebastian waded through the wounded, hungry lesser vampires as Eden’s scent and the smell of blood flooded his senses. She was lying on the ground, hidden by the creatures who were feeding from her. Fresh rage made him see red and he became a whirlwind of motion. Bodies flew through the air, hit walls and slid to the ground. The fledglings fled before he could lose control completely and tear them apart.
When he tore the lesser vampires away from their victim, Sebastian dropped to his knees in a pool of blood. Most of it was black, but some of it was red. Eden was covered in bite marks and her skin was pale. Her breathing was shallow and her heartbeat was labored. He grabbed hold of her shoulders, feeling helpless and afraid that he was going to lose her. She went limp and she lost consciousness before he could tell her that she would be safe now.
Scooping Eden into his arms, Sebastian took off running. He knew the Vampire District well after spending the past few months living here. He sprinted to the closest hospital and carried Eden inside. Night Cursed nurses in their short, tight white dresses came running to assist him. “Oh, dear,” one of the sexy blonde nurses said in horror when she saw the bleeding patient. “She’ll need a transfusion, doctor!” she called out as a hot doctor in a white lab coat trotted over.
The doctor examined his patient with a grim expression as he used his stethoscope to listen to her heart. “Get her into a treatment room, stat!” he barked. Sebastian took a step after the gurney as it was rushed away, but the Night Cursed doctor put his hand on his chest to stop him. “We’ll take it from here, sir,” he said firmly.
“Don’t let her die,” Sebastian said. It sounded more like a plea than an order.
“We’ll do our best to save her life, but she’s lost a lot of blood,” the doctor replied in an accusing tone. He turned and hurried towards the surgical ward after his harem of nurses.
Sebastian kept his hood up to cover his face as he paced up and down in the waiting area. Sexy nurses kept giving him frightened glances, as if they expected him to attack them at any moment. Night Cursed police officers patrolled the hospitals in this District. They all carried holy symbols to keep the famished fledglings from entering the buildings. Usually, drained victims were dropped off by the ones who had fed from them. Vampires didn’t usually hang around to see if their food lived or died.
“Excuse me,” one of the sexy nurses said timidly when it became clear he wasn’t going away.
“Oui?” he asked in a tone that was harsher than he’d intended. “What do you need, mademoiselle?” She was holding a chart in front of herself like a shield.
“We need some information about the patient you brought in,” she explained. “Can you tell me anything about her?”
“Her name is Eden,” he replied and she jotted it down on her chart. “She’s half fairy, but I don’t know what her other half is.”
She wrote that down as well, then looked at him expectantly. “Is that all?” she asked. “You don’t know her date of birth, her next of kin or her address?”
He knew Eden had been born in Nox, but that was all. Her past was a mystery to him, but he intended to learn everything about her. If she lived, that was. “I don’t know anything else,” he said bleakly, then resumed pacing the waiting room.
Wary eyes remained on him. He listened to the whispers of the Night Cursed staff as he kept up his vigil.
“Do you think he drained that poor woman?”
“Probably. I bet he wants her to get a transfusion so he can drain her to the point of death again.”
“All vampires are evil. I don’t know why they’re allowed to live in Nox.”
“Lord Kreaton is a vampire. They have to let bloodsuckers live here.”
“I wish he’d wait outside. He’s making me nervous pacing up and down like that.”
Sebastian ignored their desire for him to leave. He had every right to be there. He’d been the one to bring Eden in to be treated, but he could understand their nervousness. She’d been covered in bite marks and the black blood of his kind, after all.
That made him pause for a moment. “Why had so much of their blood been spilled?” he murmured. The fledglings had fought each other, but he’d seen steam coming from some of them. That meant they’d been cut by a silver blade. Silver was too dangerous for his kind to wield. “Did Eden use a silver weapon against them?” he whispered. A sexy nurse glanced at him as she hurried past, probably wondering if he’d lost his mind. Only crazy people talked to themselves.
As he waited for the doctor and his harem of nurses to save Eden from death, Sebastian ran the images he’d seen in the decrepit building through his mind. He’d been in a frantic rush to rescue her, but he recalled seeing most of the fledglings who had made it into the building had been wounded. Eden had been the only person in the building who hadn’t been a vampire, so she was their only victim. No one else had been there to fight them off. She was lovely, delicate and looked fragile, but she was far stronger than she appeared.
A thought occurred to him and he turned to face the ward where she’d been taken. “It can’t be,” he murmured in denial, but he couldn’t shake the idea now that it had entered his mind. “It isn’t possible. Eden can’t be an assassin!” Had she been stalking him this whole time? Was she a spy for the Immortal Triumvirate? Lord Kreaton must suspect he was here in Nox by now. Had he sent one of his secret killers to take him down? The only way he would get his answers was to question Eden when she woke up after her transfusion.
