Page 85 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

His phone vibrated seconds later, his sister’s name appearing on the screen.

“Dani’s been hurt,” he said in a rush, not bothering with pleasantries. “There was an explosion at Cavalieri Industries. She hit her head—”

“Rebels hit the railway station.” His sister was half-shouting to be heard over whatever was happening where she was. “Emergency responders and hospitals are overwhelmed. They put out a call for anyone with training to get to the site and help. That’s where I am now. It’s bad, Alex.”

He swore. “I can’t take her to the hospital. You know there are too many administrators in Cavalieri’s pockets. I don’t trust what they might do. They could easily arrange an accident, some sort of medication overdose, and no one would realize what was happening until it was too late.”

Sera seemed to be walking away from the noise. “Tell me her symptoms, then hand her the phone.”

After Alex described what had happened, the heavy shelving unit coming down on her head, the bleeding that hadn’t quite stopped, he put the phone on speaker and passed it over to Dani.

“Dani, what day is it?”

Frowning, Dani blinked. “Um, Thursday?”

Alex glanced worriedly to Henri, even as he kept a steady hand on Dani’s shoulder.

“That’s very good,” Sera lied. “Now what’s the last thing you remember from before the explosion?”

“I was… um.” Dani blinked. “Sorry, my head hurts. It’s all kind of blurry.”

“That’s okay. Take your time.”

Alex felt the pressure in his chest getting tighter and tighter as Dani stumbled her way through a few more questions in Sera’s neurological exam.

“Okay, here’s what I think we need to do,” she said at last. “There are concerns with taking you to a hospital right now because while I trust the doctors, we can’t be sure that someone loyal to Cavalieri wouldn’t do something.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“I can’t tell you that without scans, but it’s possible you have a head injury or internal bleeding from when the shelving fell on you. I want Alex to take you back to the castle and give you some of his blood. That should stabilize you until we can get you to a facility where we trust the staff and I can go with you to monitor what’s being done.”

“Won’t that—”

“A little bit won’t make a difference at this point and vampire blood has healing properties, especially for physical injuries. If you have some hemorrhaging, your symptoms will resolve.”

“Blood addiction?” she slurred weakly.

By then, Alex was already scooping her into his arms, ending the call. “I won’t lose you. Sera’s right. Your life is more important. Hang onto me now.”

Shadows swirled around them as he scattered into particles, traveling across the city. Seconds later, he was reforming in his bedroom. He laid Daniela on his bed, then unbuttoned the cuff of his sleeve.

“Your Highness, what can I do?” Henri asked.

“Can you find Daniela some clean clothes? I’m sure Sera has something that would fit.”

“Of course.”

Gently, he helped her to sit up so that she was leaning back against his chest.

“I feel terrible,” she mumbled. “What’s wrong with me?”

“You have a head injury.” The words came out shaky. He couldn’t lose her. Couldn’t. The thought of life without Daniela—

And in that instant, he realized how ridiculous their plan to remove the mating marks had been. He could no sooner give up Dani than he could stop breathing. They had grown so close in just a matter of days and weeks that it felt like they had known each other for lifetimes. She was his. Only his.

“I need you to trust me.”

“You know I do,” she answered weakly.