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“Jeremy will make an excellent alpha.”
“Jeremy will destroy our pride.”
“Give him a chance, sister.”
“You don’t know him as well as I do.”
“Oh?” Daniel turned to her. “Is there something I should know about?”
Anika quieted.
Before she could utter a word, Dr. Huang entered the room, interrupting them. “Mr. Addington? We have someone who claims to be Ms. Winters’ donor.”
They went to a private examination room where a nurse was checking vital signs of a woman in a wheelchair. Daniel saw Mary-Anne Winters for the first time, and she didn’t look too good. The woman was in her mid-forties, pale, thin, and she was shivering uncontrollably. Her vacant eyes gazed straight at him, but she saw no one.
Dr. Huang ordered the nurse to put an IV line into Mrs. Winters and to prepare a bag for her. Without the doctor telling him so, Daniel could see that Charlotte’s mother was in no condition for a serious medical procedure, let alone becoming a donor. His hopes of saving Charlotte crumbled apart.
“Where is her guardian?” Daniel asked the nurse. “I’d like to speak with him.”
“A young man wheeled her in and then left,” said the nurse.
Daniel’s headache multiplied. “He just dumped her here?”
The nurse looked uncomfortable.
Anika touched her brother’s arm. “Danny…”
Daniel fisted his hand. It occurred to him that Jeremy was toying with him. He was worried about Charlotte too much, and he couldn’t see he was playing right into Jeremy’s hands. How could his brother transfer Mrs. Winters from New York when she displayed signs of hypothermia? Anger crept into his veins.
“Doctor,” Daniel addressed Huang. “Please give Mrs. Winters the best care available and make her comfortable. After she is recovered and stable, if you could arrange for her to be admitted into a private clinic suitable for her condition, I’d really appreciate it. Money is not an issue.”
“I understand,” said Huang.
“In the meantime, I will continue searching for a suitable donor for Charlotte. Please do everything you can to keep her alive.”
“Yes, Mr. Addington.”
Daniel returned to Charlotte’s room, and Anika followed him. She seemed like she wanted to say something but decided against it. Without a word, Anika turned around on her heels and left.
Daniel called his lawyer and told him to find out where Jeremy was. He also instructed him to triple the reward for finding a donor. Buying and selling organs was prohibited in the real world, but human regulations didn’t reach the far end of the Netherworld. As an influential figure there, Daniel exercised his pride’s power to reach his objective. Still, the result was disappointing. Charlotte was as close to human as she was to Netherworlder, and her kind was the rarest of the rare.
After he finished his phone calls, Daniel leaned back in the chair, allowing himself a little luxury of relaxing. He hadn’t slept since Charlotte was hospitalized. Suddenly, all the weight on his shoulders came crushing down. He was tired to the bone. He took Charlotte’s hand and squeezed it gently.
Don’t give up, my love. I’m never giving up on you. He rested his head on the bed.
Daniel Addington was asleep instantly.
Charlotte watched her father drawing a sigil in the air. There was a spark and a glimmer in the blank space before it slowly imploded into a gateway to another reality. In this case, it was another dream. The doorway became larger until it could allow the two of them to pass.
“Where are we going?” asked Charlotte.
“To find the culprit behind your accident.”
She grabbed the Dream Lord’s sleeves and followed in his steps. The scenery changed as soon as she walked across the threshold.
They were in a bar, and a shoddy one at that. The establishment was frequented by blue-collar folks winding down after a day of backbreaking work. Several men in work clothes congregated around a table. Some harsh-looking men in biker jackets played pool, accompanied by scantily dressed women.
