AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Castor’s callous expression turned to one of fear and anger as he snarled, “Renata! Don’t come any closer!”
She ignored him and threw herself in front of me, much to his bewilderment and mine. I froze, both because I knew the others were waiting only on the slightest provocation to shoot, and because I was afraid I would hurt her in my heightened state of arousal. I didn’t know how far beyond Castor my selective self-restraint extended and I wasn’t going to risk finding out.
“You can’t kill him!” she cried, panting as she held her arms out in an attempt to shield me as much as possible with her tiny form. “I won’t let you.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Castor snarled. I’d never heard such pure, blinding rage in his voice, but it was clear it was love that motivated it. He beckoned for her to come to his side, all the while keeping a sharp eye on me. “Get away from him.”
“No,” Renata said firmly, staring her brother down. “He’s not going to hurt me.” She sounded far more certain in that fact than I was at the moment. “He didn’t kill West, the Order did. Eddie saved us.”
Castor’s eyes narrowed as he looked from her to me and back again, as if he didn’t believe what she was saying. He stopped to look at the corpses beyond his fallen comrade, and while the blood made it hard to distinguish the actual color of their uniforms, I could tell the moment he realized she was right.
He still didn’t seem convinced about my innocence, though. After everything I had done, now that the adrenaline and bloodlust were fading enough to leave room for my conscience once more, I wasn’t sure about it, either.
Before Castor could respond, I heard footsteps coming from behind me and tensed up, only to find Dr. Kelly and an injured but newly conscious Logan coming toward us. She was holding her right shoulder as her arm hung limp at her side, so I assumed she had dislocated it when the intruder threw her into the wall, but I was relieved neither of them seemed seriously injured.
“She’s right,” Dr. Kelly said, his voice hoarse and strained. He cast a glance over at me and was clearly still wary, but he stood next to Renata, even if it was also for the sake of putting himself between us. “Renata freed him when they attacked.”
“You what?” Castor seethed, looking back at his sister.
She gulped audibly.
“It’s a good thing she did,” the doctor continued. “None of us would be alive if he hadn’t killed them.”
“All of them?” Castor asked in disbelief, looking over the other three corpses.
“And three more in the clinic,” Logan added. She looked over at West’s body, a pained grimace on her face. “They killed West. No telling how many others.”
Castor turned to the hunter at his right and muttered, “Get a team and do a full sweep of the Abbey to make sure there are no lurkers. I want a full body count.”
“Yes, Father,” the man said, casting one last wary glance at me before he disappeared down the other hallway.
Castor walked over and grabbed his sister by the arm, yanking her back behind him. “There are more wounded down the hall,” he said pointedly.
She lingered, looking back at me. “What about Eddie?”
Castor gritted his teeth in irritation. “I’ll have him restrained until Father Marius gets back. Then he can figure out what to do.”
That answer didn’t seem to satisfy her, and it certainly didn’t put me at ease, but I wagged my tail in hopes of reassuring her. She gave me a faint smile and waved before she went off to tend to the others.
Castor reached for something at his side the moment she had rounded the corner, and I flinched, fully expecting him to pull a gun. Instead, he withdrew what looked like a short silver baton from one of the holsters strapped to his thigh. With a flick of his wrist, it extended to the length of his blade, with a short loop sticking off the end that looked like a wire noose, judging from the way it glinted in the light.
I froze as he slipped the lead around my neck and gave a tug. The wire tightened around my throat, but while I thought it was going to decapitate me, it was merely uncomfortable, and I could tell from the way my neck tingled that it was either enchanted or made of some silver alloy.
Castor gave it another tug, pulling me onto my feet. I took a step and my knees buckled.
“He’s badly wounded,” said Dr. Kelly. “If I don’t get the silver bullets out soon, the blood loss could be fatal, and the silver poisoning might go septic. If you want me to save him, I should act now.”
Ifyou want me to save him.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that was still up in the air. Logically, I knew the primary reason was merely the fact that I still had utility as a blood donor, but given the way Castor had responded even after finding out I hadn’t killed anyone from the Sanguine Church, he seemed unsure of whether I was a resource or a liability.
Castor didn’t answer right away, and the fact that he was considering it was more of a blow than anything those hunters from the Order had thrown at me. He finally nodded. “Do what you can. Just make sure his blood is still viable. We’re going to need it with all the casualties.”
“Understood, Father deLeon,” Dr. Kelly said, nodding to me as the other hunters behind Castor walked over with fresh shackles.
All of a sudden, I wasn’t even sure I could stand on my own, and while I had been blissfully oblivious to the pain before, every wound in me was suddenly a point of agony. Including the blade that was still embedded in my shoulder. Nonetheless, I stood by and held my hands out to allow them to bind me once again. As passive as I was, the hunters still acted like they were afraid to touch me.
Even Dr. Kelly seemed newly wary as he walked back to the clinic and instructed the others on where to put me. I was sure the fact that he injected me with a sedative was more about their safety than my comfort, but when I felt the warm surge of relief washing over me like a wave, I was grateful all the same.
