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“It’s probably Phoenix First General but let me check.” Rowan pulled up a web browser while Julian paced. A few seconds later, he said, “Yep. Phoenix First General.”
“Can you find me a way there?”
“On it.”
“Contact whoever we have in Phoenix and have them meet me in the hospital.”
Julian strode to the corner and opened the hatch that led down to the underground tunnels connecting to the city’s sewers. Leah’s breathing had evened, but she was still unconscious.
Which way?he asked Rowan.
Keep going straight, then make a left at the second turn.
Julian followed Rowan’s directions at breakneck speed, backtracking at several places where the maps weren’t clear. Every time he had to retrace his steps, he bit back a scream of anger and frustration. Those emotions were useless. They wouldn’t help or save Leah. His blood would keep her alive until he got her to the hospital. He’d keep his promise to her. He would wait until the last possible moment to turn her.
When he arrived at the right place, Julian climbed up the stairs and pushed open the grate, revealing a dark basement room. He was careful not to jostle Leah. She made no sound when he slung her over his shoulder.
Stay with me.
Exiting out of the only door, he entered a dark hallway with pipes lining the ceiling and walls. He dashed through the corridor, ignoring the few humans, and followed the signs to the stairs leading up to the ground floor.
The sounds and smells of a busy hospital assaulted him. Julian stopped breathing to tame the onslaught of ammonia and antiseptic and sickness.
“Mr. Blackmore!”
Three humans jogged toward him, one a middle-aged man with dark hair in khakis and polos, an older woman in a doctor’s coat, and a nurse about the same age as the man who shouted his name.
“Mr. Blackmore! I’m Max, Vegas’ human liaison in Phoenix. Rowan called me and explained the situation.”
“She’s the patient?” the doctor, whose named tag read Novak, asked in a no-nonsense tone.
“Yes. She passed out a while ago.” Julian had to hold himself still while the doctor pushed up Leah’s eyelids, studied her eyes, and traced her hands over Leah’s skull.
“It looks like a brain hemorrhage, but we’ll have to do a CT scan to be sure,” the doctor said. “Violet, go set up an operating room and get Dr. Henderson.”
The nurse ran off to carry out Dr. Novak’s instructions. Julian and Max followed the doctor through a crowded and sterile hallway and up another flight of stairs. Whenever they passed a window, Julian sped up and ignored the burning pain from the sun’s rays striking him. By the time they reached the CT scan room—thankfully, it didn’t have a window—angry red patches covered Julian’s arms and face. A surprised technician looked up when they entered.
Dr. Novak gestured to the scanning table. “Please put her here.”
Julian didn’t let go. “How does this help her?”
“We have to run the scan to see what is wrong with her. Otherwise, we’ll be going in blind, and that won’t help her or us.” When Julian hesitated, the woman stared him in the eye without flinching. “Let her go. She’ll be fine.”
Few humans dared to address him directly, so the fact that the doctor did earned her some respect. Julian laid Leah down gently.
“I assume you’ve given her your blood?”
“Yes. How’d you know?”
“She’s not dead.”
Julian followed Dr. Novak to the waiting room loath to leave Leah. Impatience ate at him as the machine took images of Leah’s brain. Helplessness was a foreign feeling, but there was nothing he could do here.
For once, his blood was not the solution.
It felt like an eternity before the brain scan showed up on the screen.
“Hmm, that’s weird.”
