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Despite everything that had happened to him, River's first instinct was to go over and heal her.
Heal his captor. How fucking pathetic he was. He never hurt females, but if she was working with his torturers, then she deserved whatever she got.
Unless she's here against her will as well.
Before that doubt could take root and poison his mind, the door opened, revealing another pale-skinned female wearing some sort of black and white maid costume.
She rushed over to the female vampire and helped her up. "Are you okay, Miss Yates? Shall I fetch a doctor?"
At the name Yates, hatred fired inside of River again. She was either related or married to the male who'd ordered River's kidnapping and torture.
The bitch most definitely deserved whatever she got.
"No, I'm fine, Sarah. But Dr. Vale has woken up. Go fetch his sister straight away."
He barely registered how she referred to him as Dr. Vale—none of the others ever had—when the maid fled the room and Miss Yates stared at him as she held her arm.
However, she didn't say anything else, just watched River, assessing him as if he were some sort of puzzle. And for a second, he wondered if she was truly as scared and hesitant as she appeared, or if it was all a fucking act.
As he debated asking if she were a prisoner too, Yesenia fled into the room in a blur of skirts and a ridiculous blouse with giant sleeves, similar to the vampire's outfit.
She skidded to a halt next to his bed and gently touched his hand. "You're finally awake."
Tears rolled down his sister's cheeks and River wished he was strong enough to wipe them away. "How are you here, Senia?"
At the use of his childhood name for her—which sounded like Sen-yah—more tears streamed down her cheeks. "Oh, River. That's a really, really long story." She leaned down and kissed a spot on his forehead that didn't hurt. "I'm just glad you're alive. And once you're strong enough, you need to tell me how you ended up looking like roadkill."
"Gee, thanks, Senia."
She laughed, and it instantly improved his mood. No matter what the fuck was going on, his sister didn't seem to be in pain or suffering.
Although that made him think of his younger one. "And Meadow? Is she here too?"
Yesenia's gaze instantly turned sad. "No, although I'm working on that, trust me."
He searched Yesenia's gaze for clues. "Now you're not making any sense."
A tall, pale-skinned male with dark hair waltzed in and stopped at Yesenia's side, placing his hand on her lower back. His fangs told him the stranger was a vampire.
Although at Yesenia's relaxing at the vampire's touch, River glanced between them, curious.
The question must've shown on his face because the brown-eyed male answered in the same British accent as the female vamp from before. "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Leo Yates, one of the Dark Lords of London and the extremely fortunate husband of your sister, Yesenia."
As the pair glanced at each other tenderly, River blurted, "Yates? When the fuck did that happen, Senia? Do you know what Derrick's done to me all these months? How could you marry one of his bastard relatives?"
His sister leaned against the male—one who looked a lot like the female standing at the far side of the room, from earlier—and answered, "It's not like that, River. If Leo, Nora, and Laurie are related, it's distantly. Besides, Derrick lives 132 years in the future from now."
A headache started to throb behind River's right eye. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Yesenia stepped away from her so-called husband and sat on the edge of his bed. "This is the year 1890, River. It turns out I didn't lack magic but had a type no one knew to look for. I'm a time-wielder."
He blinked. Time-wielders were incredibly rare, and most people thought they only existed in stories. "How in the hell did that happen?"
Yesenia brushed his hair—short strands by the feel of it—from his forehead. Before he could ask if they'd cut off his hair, she answered his question. "The short version? I used it to escape a forced marriage to Derrick Yates and ended up here." Leo put his hand on her shoulder, and she unconsciously placed hers over his as she continued, "But I'm still learning how to harness my magic properly, and can't just bring anyone willy-nilly yet. I tried to send you a warning note at Dr. Morelli's practice to let you know what was going on. But I never received a reply. Why?"
Some of the adrenaline from first waking up had faded and River struggled to put the words together. "Derrick's lackeys kidnapped me, Senia. Months ago. I've seen the inside of two rooms, and that's it, for as long as they had me."
She opened her mouth to ask another question—his older sister always wanted all the facts to craft one of her infamous plans—but the female vampire came into view and spoke first. "That's enough for now. He needs to rest."
