Ignoring Stanton’s disapproval, I head toward the rear of the SUV and pop the hatch. Not waiting for it to open completely, I duck under the gate and grab the cooler we keep in case of emergencies. I flip open the lid and grab two of the blood bags.
“Milo—don’t get any closer,” Stanton warns, but I ignore his order. He’s an ancient, forgetting what it’s like to be a fledgling. The need for blood is an agony no amount of blood can appease.
I drop next to the girl and shove a bag of blood into her hands.
She’s so far gone, she’s practically in stasis.
To go hungry so early can drive a vampire insane.
No wonder she’s so confused.
She turns the blood over in her hands and blinks at it in confusion. I take it from her and rip open the top before handing it back. As the scent of blood fills the air, my gums ache, and I breathe a sigh of relief when my fangs don’t drop down like some adolescent vamp.
The girl gingerly sniffs at the blood, then rears back with a grimace of distaste. I frown in sympathy but gently nudge up the arm holding the bag. “I know it’s nasty compared to fresh blood, but it will help with the hunger pangs. At least for a little while. Trust me.”
She gazes up at me with her eyes washed completely black. It should give her a soulless appearance, but her expression is too raw to ever mistake her for a monster.
I nudge her arm again. Eyes locked with mine, she brings the bag to her mouth and drinks. She gags on the first swallow, and I force her to continue drinking when she would’ve lowered it, not stopping until the bag is empty. She’s panting by the time she finishes and drops the empty plastic to the ground.
Her throat works hard against the need to eject the blood, and she gags twice more before she manages to keep it down. A trail of bloody tears stains her cheeks, and she looks at me like I betrayed her. I grimace, heat searing my cheeks, and I rub the back of my neck. “Sorry, the first time is bad. But it will get better. I promise.”
I offer her the next bag, knowing she needs more blood if she has any hope of holding back the cravings. My heart leaps as she reaches for it, but then she stills, her hand halfway to the bag. Before I can ask her what’s wrong, she wraps her arms around her torso and hunches over herself.
I reach for her just as her body convulses, and I swallow hard, frantically grabbing for her when she collapses. I pull her tight against my chest, as if I can hold her together.
Then she leans over and spews the blood she just drank all over the ground.
Only, the blood is almost completely black and chunky.
Congealed.
I rear back from the sour stench, then grab her hair and hold it while she heaves over and over again, expelling the blood until she’s only throwing up slimy mucus.
My stomach cramps in sympathy, and I hold her tighter as she shakes. I shoot a pleading look at Stanton. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know,” he replies, and my heart jolts when uncertainty cracks his normally impassive expression. He’s either lying, which is troublesome in itself, or he honestly doesn’t know, which is even worse.
He’s an ancient, over two millennia in age, and so old, I can feel it in my bones whenever he’s nearby.
What could be so wrong with her that he wouldn’t know the answer?
Feeling protective of the girl, I wrap myself around her and offer her my strength. She’s barely breathing by the time she collapses, and I scoop her up in my arms, then stand and head toward the SUV.
“Milo—”
“Forget it,” I snap, not slowing my steps. “I’m not turning her over to Gibbs and his reprogramming unit. Not while she’s weak and vulnerable and has no one to protect her. They’ll pump her full of blood, then sell her to the highest bidder without even bothering to train her.” I fling open the backdoor of the truck, my soul aching at the thought of anyone taking her from me, and I nearly drown at the familiar feeling of helplessness.
I tuck her into the backseat, the girl barely conscious, then step back and glare at the fuckers. “You can stay here if you want, but I’m going to help her through her transition. No one deserves to go through this alone. She deserves a choice in her future.”
“You’re recently turned, only a few decades old as a vampire, so you’re empathizing with her plight, but she’s dangerous,” Stanton protests, shooting a dark scowl toward the unconscious girl. “If my guess is right, she slaughtered everyone inside the mansion. She’s—”
“She’s newly turned,” I argue, cursing that I’m not strong enough to shake some sense into the bastard. He’s so rigid in his beliefs that I’d swear he’d snap if he tried to unwind. I throw my arms out in exasperation. “She’s barely strong enough to stand, let alone fight a master vampire and head of the house. There’s no physical way she’s capable of that type of violence. If you think she’s dangerous, then help me save her! Isn’t that supposed to be our job?”
I know what it’s like to be helpless, stuck at the bottom of the food chain and struggling against a near ravenous bloodlust.
It’s a nightmare I almost didn’t survive.
Something I said must have registered, or maybe he finally realized I plan to help her with or without his assistance. He rubs his forehead, then heaves a tired sigh. “Very well. We’ll take her to the holding cells beneath HQ, but don’t get too close to her. She is an unknown. She’ll need to be thoroughly investigated. Even if she’s cleared, you don’t stand a chance at claiming her. Female vampires are too rare to be given to someone without a clan.”
