Avenge (27 page)

James reached for me as Elizabeth flew
to capture the weapon, but Alastair was able to get in another
stab—this time to my neck.

I couldn’t focus my eyes as they
fogged over. The weight of Alastair was removed, making my body
much colder. The only warmth was trickling down my neck. I brought
my shaking fingers to the wound in order to inspect it. My body
felt lighter, weightless like I was floating. The sounds around me
hushed, and my eyes closed of their own volition.

This was nice. It was
peaceful now, and I didn’t hurt as much.
I
think I’ll stay here for a while
, I
thought.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“
Lucy!” A sharp sting
struck my cheek and my eyes flew open. “Thatsa girl! Stay with us
now.”

I blinked trying to figure out what
was happening. Several hands were touching me and I was being
moved. White ceiling tiles swirled above me as my vision focused,
so I knew I wasn’t in the underground room in St. Augustine
anymore. A tube down my throat prevented me from asking questions,
and the only person I could make out was Cassie.

How did she get here? Wasn’t she
supposed to be with my sister? Oh, crap on a cracker. That meant I
was back on my realm. I turned my head to catch Cassie’s eye, but
she was talking to another Patronus in a white coat.

“
She needs more blood.
She’s lost too much. That damn thing hit her carotid. She’s
healing, but not fast enough. Give me two units and push 20mg of
Lasix.”

More movement came from above me. My
heart raced, but I couldn’t move. Before I could think about any
more, the darkness washed over me again and I faded into
it.

*****

Slowly, I became aware of a methodical
and melodious sound that grew stronger the more I focused on it.
The steady rhythm kept time with my heart and I knew I was back in
the medical wing. My eyes fluttered open to see Cassie and Adam
standing next to me. I smiled seeing their faces, but they were
turned toward each other, deep in conversation. I wiggled my index
finger, happy I had movement at all. It emboldened me to raise my
entire arm, thrilled I was able to. When Cassie and Adam finally
noted the movement and caught my gaze, relief flooded their
faces.

I opened my mouth, which was parched.
No matter, I needed to know. “Where’s Jessica? Did we get Alastair?
Tell me someone found Max.” The questions poured out of me. I’d
waited too long already for the answers and wouldn’t wait a minute
more. The memories of what happened slapped me back to reality and
panic at having lost either of them filled my chest, making it hard
to breathe.

“
Sweetie, you lost a lot of
blood trying to save Elizabeth. You need to stay still until your
body heals a bit more.”

“
No, not gonna happen.” I
pushed myself to a sitting position as Adam strode up to me. “Adam,
I know you think you’re doing what’s in my best interest. But the
only thing that is in my best interest is Max and Jessica. So
either give me answers or get me out of here.”

Adam looked at Cassie with an “I told
you so” look, and gave me an exasperated sigh. “Give us two more
hours of recuperation. Then we’ll help you.”

I pulled the IV out of my hand and
scooted forward on the bed. “I can’t, Adam.” I closed my eyes for a
moment before the dizziness swallowed me and I tried to focus on
Max instead. Since I’d met him, I’d always had a warm sense of home
and belonging when I was around him. But now, I felt nothing.
Hollow. I choked out a panicked sob at the realization. “I can’t
feel him. I know he’s not still here. I have to find him,
now.”

Adam took my hand, helping me stand
while Cassie handed me a fresh set of clothes she’d kept in a neat
pile on a chair behind her. I could see the hesitation in their
eyes, but a smile brushed across my face. They knew me so
well.

“
You okay?” Adam asked,
making sure I was steady on my feet. I nodded, but still clung to
the bedrail just in case. “I’m going to step outside while you
change.”

I leaned forward and gave him a quick
hug before he backed out the door, muttering about how stubborn I
was until he was out of earshot.

“
Cass?” I turned to her as
she held out a worn pair of jeans. She didn’t even need the rest of
my question.

“
Waiting in the Commons
with Lola and Zander. She’s fine. I would have brought her, but I
didn’t think you’d want her to see you unconscious. It might
terrify her, and she doesn’t need any more of that.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I
was holding and fell back onto the bed. “Thank you.”

Cassie grasped my arm, tugging me into
a standing position and held me steady as I slipped the jeans on.
As I tugged a wobbly leg into the tight just-out-of-the-dryer
jeans, she explained, “Elizabeth is fine, thanks to you. She and
James have taken Alastair directly to the Alpha and Omega for
questioning and sentencing. After you,” she paused, her eyes
rolling up and to the left as she thought about how to word
whatever it is she was trying to say, “passed out, James went a
little nuts. He flew at Alastair and wrapped that silver rope so
tight around him I was sure he’d strangle him. That silver covered
every inch of that monster. He wasn’t going anywhere ever again,
trust me.” A swarm of emotion crossed her face, clouding her eyes.
“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to help when you needed me.” She
handed me the tee shirt and hugged me tight.

I hugged her back for a moment,
ignoring the pain in my ribs. I pushed her away and forced her to
look at me. “I need you to hear me on this. You were exactly where
I needed you. You are like a sister to me, and there was no one I
trusted more to watch over Jessica when I couldn’t. Thank you for
that.”

Cassie wiped a tear, then turned back
around to hand me socks and sneakers. She swallowed hard a few
times, breathing in through her nose and was blinking rapidly. I
changed the topic before we both ended up in a ball of mush on the
floor.

“
What about Amelia? What
happened with her?”

“
Ugh. Don’t even get me
started on that bitch. I’ve never seen someone spew so many lies in
that short a period of time. We all knew she was lying, and after
we got your note, we searched her place, bracelet GPS and
correspondence. Turns out, she was in New Orleans when our team was
first sent there, when you were kidnapped. And she’d gone there
several other times when she had a few hours free from her duties.
She told everyone else she was going to her room to rest after
working such long days. No one doubted her, because she was working
so much.

“
She finally admitted that
she hadn’t been sleeping at all, that the vampires were mixing
their blood with hers and it was giving her some sort of energy
boost. Between that and the Big Gulp iced lattes she was downing
every few hours…” Cassie trailed off, bending to help me tie the
sneakers, since my ribs were still so sore. I took a few long, slow
breaths, making sure my lungs were no longer injured and popped two
of the pills sitting on the side table for pain until my body
healed itself.

“
Anyway,” Cassie continued.
“We found evidence. The idiot deleted the hard drive, but forgot
about the back up on the mainframe. When we showed her the
evidence, she started squealing like a pig. Names, locations, you
name it. She begged for mercy.”

“
Why would she do it? For
revenge? Could she really hate me that much?”

“
I think it was a power
thing. She kept getting passed up for positions of power here, and
they offered her a ton wrapped up on a silver platter. Their blood
gave her physical power, and spying gave her a sense of power over
us.”

“
What happened to
her?”

“
I don’t know what
ultimately happened to her, but the last I saw her, she was
sweating something fierce as she walked to the Council
chambers.”

“
Don’t you mean
glistening?” I asked her with a wink.

Cassie laughed. “Oh, I’m so glad
you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done without
you.”

“
Me too. But right now,
more than anything, I need Max.”

“
Is it safe to come in
yet?” Adam called from outside the curtain. “I brought
company.”

“
Yes! C’mon in. I’m ready
to go.”

“
Without us?” a voice
called, tossing the curtain back. Standing at the entrance way of
the room was Adam, James, Elizabeth, Lola, Zander and Marco. All of
their faces contained bright smiles, but Elizabeth had tears in her
eyes. As soon as she fixed her gaze upon me, she pushed through the
group, knocking a tray over to get to me before she wrapped her
arms around my shoulders and held on tight.

“
I was so worried. I can’t
believe you did that. If something had happened to you...” She
loosened her grip and took a step back, only to take my shoulders
and shake me. “Don’t you ever worry me like that again!”

“
I’m sorry?” Since when did
Elizabeth become like a doting mother? I half wondered if she had
been turned or was possessed.

“
What Elizabeth means to
say is…” James prompted, clasping her by the elbow to get her to
release me.

Elizabeth took a step backwards and
composed herself, tugging at her jacket and clearing her throat.
“Um, yes, what I meant to say is thank you. Thank you for helping
me during the battle.”

James nudged her a little with his
shoulder. She huffed, rolling her eyes before she continued. “And
thank you for saving my life.” She turned, staring me in the eyes.
Her expression changed slightly; she was more determined for a few
moments. “Really. I would probably not be standing here today. What
you did was brave, and selfless, and I’m very proud of
you.”

I kept my mouth clamped shut for fear
of my jaw dropping to the ground. I blinked several times to make
sure I wasn’t hallucinating. I wanted to say how much her words
meant to me, but they caught in my throat. Before I could get
anything out, she turned on her heal and began leaving the room.
“You have two days to recover, Donovan. Then I expect you back at
the training center. I can’t have you going soft on me.”

She didn’t wait for a reply before she
marched out the door and down the hall, disappearing out a side
door.

“
Did anyone else see that?
Or was that some sort of side effect from the meds?” I asked the
group.

James chuckled, “C’mon, let’s go get
your boy back.”

*****

We were in the large meadow, walking
toward the realm doors when Zander pulled to a sudden stop, causing
the group to backtrack a few yards to catch up to him.

“
Before we go, I want to
ask a question,” he started. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine, and it
made me nervous.

James nodded, folding his arms over
his chest like he did when he lectured. “All right, go for
it.”

Zander was fiddling with the zipper on
his jacket, not saying anything. My gut told me this was about me,
but all I wanted to do was get on with finding Max. “This is a
terrible time for a Patronus 101 lesson, Zander. Can’t this
wait?”

“
No offense, Lucy, but I
really think this should be addressed before we do anything
else.”

No one in the group argued the point,
so I sighed, making a “go ahead” gesture with my arm.

“
We’re going on a mission
to rescue Max. But how do we even know he’s still alive? Lucy, when
he was a vampire, you were constantly going off and having
tantrums—no offense. Your eyes were always clouded over, and it got
so bad we practically locked you up.”

“
I know, and I’m sorry
about that—” I started, but he continued.

“
We all knew it had
something to do with your connection to Max. It had to be. But you
haven’t gone off the deep end for a while. You fought hard for us
in that battle. And your eyes are crystal clear again.”

“
What are you getting at,
Zander?” I asked him, searching his face for some hint of a
direction.

“
I want
to know why the change. Your eyes are clear and you’re acting
normal, but you told Cassie back at the hospital that you can’t
feel him. So how do we know he’s even alive? Or worse, that the
vampire didn’t do something to
you
before we got there and you’re setting us
up.”