Page 79 of Dark Lover

Nick studied her. “Has he told you where he’s got the page hidden?”

Sam jerked. “No. I haven’t even gotten around to asking.”

“When he comes to, work your wiles and find out.”

She thought about Nick knowing about the sex tape and she almost flushed. At least he hadn’t seen it. “He’s not easy, Nick. If he was, we’d have the damned page.”

“They’re all easy for you, Sam. Besides, that’s an order. Not that I think you’ll mind having an excuse to work him a bit.” Nick gave her a disapproving look.

She was never going to live down the sex tape, she thought. “Are you going to fire me?”

“Probably. But not until I have the page safe and secure and in the right hands.”

He reached into his pocket and handed her a torn one-inch scrap of paper. Sam was surprised. Nick never used paper. Everything was on his BlackBerry, his laptop or his PC. “I’ve been meaning to give this to you since we had our little tête-à-tête with Maclean.”

Sam looked at a series of numbers. She instantly knew it was an international phone number. Her gut tightened impossibly. “What is this?”

“I’m not the sonuvabitch everyone says I am.” He shrugged. “That’s Brie’s telephone number.”

Sam stared at the scrap of paper, stunned. What was he talking about?

“Yeah, Sam. She’s alive and well in Edinburgh—and centuries old.”

Sam gasped. Then she realized that Jan had stepped out of the kitchen and was simply standing there, her expression grim.

In that instant, Sam knew that Ian was not okay. “What’s wrong?”

“His blood pressure is dropping. It’s not looking very good.”

For one moment, disbelief paralyzed her. “What does that mean?” she demanded furiously. “He’s a near-immortal! He can’t die!”

“Near-immortals can die, and you know it,” Nick said, stepping back into the kitchen.

Sam stared at Jan, still incredulous. Now, she was afraid.

“He gave too much white power,” Jan said softly. “I guess that makes him one of the good guys after all.”

With a cry, Sam charged past her.

CHAPTER TWELVE

WHEN SHE RAN INTO THE KITCHEN, they were resuscitating Ian with electric paddles. Nick seized her and jerked her back, preventing her from approaching. Incapable of drawing even a normal breath, Sam watched as the two medics knelt over him, shocking him. His entire body convulsed, and the woman said, “We have a pulse.”

Sam thought she saw color returning to his deathly pale face and she thought she saw his lashes flicker.

“He’s okay, Rose,” Nick said.

She realized he still had his hand on her shoulder. Under normal circumstances, she would wrench away. She didn’t move; she couldn’t. She watched as they adjusted the oxygen, then glanced at the small monitor on their equipment cart. His pulse looked perfect now.

He’d almost died in order to save Gerard.

“His vitals are returning to normal,” the woman medic announced.

Sam’s knees felt weak. He was out of danger. As she turned away, she caught Nick’s intent stare.

Nick followed her out of the kitchen.

She sat down on the stairs in the hallway, looking up. “Go ahead. Blast away.”