Page 107 of Warrior Unraveled

“Too late… Watch over Cinead… keep him safe…”

“Deirdre, no you can’t leave us.” She looked up at Zane. “Help her. Heal her.”

The vampire crouched down. “She’s dying. She can’t be healed. She can only be turned.”

Virginia felt a hand on her shoulder and snapped her head to the side.

John looked at her. “I’ll do it, if that’s what you want. I’ll make her a vampire.”

Virginia stared back down at Deirdre. Her eyes were starting to close.

“So tired,” she murmured, almost inaudibly.

“Do it, John. I won’t let anybody else die on my watch ever again.” Too many had died in the past because of her mistakes. “Save her.”

“I’ll hold her,” Zane offered and gently took Deirdre from Virginia’s arms. Then he motioned to Wesley. “Stay with Wes.”

Virginia moved to Wesley’s side, taking his hand, and looked to where the battle had taken place. The fighting had stopped. Demon bodies were strewn over the entire street. Streaks of green blood painted the ground, making it look like fresh grass. At least two dozen vampires were busy checking the demon bodies, making sure they were really dead, while others were loading bodies into their truck.

There was red blood among the green, too. Some of her rescuers had been injured. She searched for the wounded, and found a few of them sitting by the side of the street, gulping down bottles of red liquid, while a beautiful woman with long dark hair and a doctor’s bag tended to them.

“That’s Maya,” Haven said. She looked up. He was walking toward her. “She’s our in-house doctor.”

Haven crouched down next to Wesley, opposite her.

“He jumped after the demon. They fought in the vortex,” she said to Haven.

“He’ll be alright.” Haven ran his hand over Wesley’s head, where the wound was already closing.

“John gave him his blood.”

Haven nodded. “It’s healing him. He’ll be as good as new.” Haven chuckled unexpectedly. “He’s probably just playing unconscious so he won’t have to help with the cleanup.”

Virginia met Haven’s eyes, and despite the lighthearted words, she saw worry in them. “I don’t know how to thank you all. You and your colleagues have done more than I ever expected.”

He smiled and glanced at his brother. “Family is everything to us.” He lifted his hand to wave at somebody.

Virginia looked over her shoulder. Samson was heading toward them. There were green and red blood splatters on his jacket, but he appeared uninjured.

Virginia rose and stretched her hand out to him. “Thank you, Samson. You saved our lives. Without your people we wouldn’t have made it.”

Samson shook her hand and glanced past her. “Is Wes alright?”

“He’s good,” Haven said. “We’ll have Maya check him out at HQ.”

Samson nodded, then swung his gaze back to Virginia. “Sorry that it took us so long to get here. There were a couple of accidents on the freeway due to the rain, one right at the exit ramp. The hybrids’ car got stuck there, so we had to send them ahead on motorcycles. Together with Luther.”

“That was Luther? In that dark suit? But it was still daylight when he got here.”

“It’s a special Kevlar suit they use at the vampire prison. It shields him from the sun,” Samson explained. Then he motioned to where John and Zane were taking care of Deirdre. “That’s the human you were tracking?”

Virginia nodded.

“Since you saved her, I’m assuming she wasn’t a traitor?”

“They used her. She didn’t know. At the destruction of our council compound, the demons got hold of a council member’s cell phone and used it to send her a message. She thought it was from the council member—her brother. She was leading them straight to his compound without knowing it.” Virginia swallowed hard. “The cell phones; we don’t know how many more names and numbers the demons have. I have to call the Baltimore compound.”

Samson nodded. “Let me know what else you need, okay?”