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“He can’t be the only doctor in the hospital,” Nicky said.
“True. Let’s find a new one.”
“No one has my expertise on vampires.”
“Right now, we need someone with expertise in treating burns,” I said.
“We need the burn debrided,” Kaazim said.
“I am more than capable of doing that,” Dr. Boden said, indignant.
“Then do it; doc,” Nicky said. He stood up straighter and moved a little closer to the doctor. Boden didn’t like that. I realized that Nicky had already sized up the doctor as one of those men who would be easily intimidated by someone his size and build, so he’d hung back until he could use the reaction for us instead of against us. Or until it amused him; sometimes he, like me, couldn’t resist poking at arrogant men who thought they were God’s gift to everything.
I heard the familiar voice of Lieutenant Rudolph—Dolph—Storr through the curtain. Dr. Boden opened the curtain to call for a nurse to help him, but Dolph standing there made him startle enough he stopped in midspeech. Dolph was six-eight with his dark hair cut close so that it didn’t dare touch his ears; anytime it got that long he’d head to his barber. He matched the termwhitecloser than Boden did, but Dolph didn’t suffer from white man arrogance; he was just Dolph, a quiet force of nature that had taken a task force that was meant to fail and turned it into the first and best preternatural unit in the country. He’d been invited to lecture all over the country on how he did it. It’s not arrogance if you really are that good. His tie was knotted tight and perfect over his crisp white shirt. The whole suit looked freshly pressed like his workday had just started, but six hours from now he’d still look neat. It was like a magic power; nothing dared muss his clothes, and if something did, the rest of us would be covered in gore while he barely had a spot of blood on him.
I smiled and said, “Dolph.”
“Anita.” He gave me a nod and the edge of a smile. He’d have smiled more if the doctor hadn’t been there. He knew most of the others with me, but he’d assume they were working as my bodyguards, and one thing you try to avoid is naming your guards publicly. If strangers know their names, they can shout out and distract them. Dolph knew the rules, so he just nodded at Nicky, who nodded back. He hadn’t been formally introduced to anyone else.
Boden turned back to me and demanded, “Who is this? We can’t allow you to bring more people to clog the ER.”
“Lieutenant Dolph Storr, meet Dr. Christopher Boden.”
“Dr. Boden,” Dolph said, looking down at him with a pair of brown eyes that showed no emotion, everything hidden behind his blank cop face. Normally he would have smiled or tried to win Boden over, but he’d wait for me to guide him in since I’d been on site longer. We’d worked together eleven years now.
“I’m so sorry, Anita,” Dolph said, and his face showed the sympathy in his voice.
I nodded. “Thanks, Dolph, it’s, well, you can see for yourself.” He was tall enough to see everything; for once I was glad I was too short to see any of it. All I could see was the untouched side of Wicked’s face, and Truth’s hand was hidden behind the rise of his brother’s body.
“Dr. Boden was just going to get a nurse to help him debride Wicked’s and Truth’s burns.”
“If you need to be with them while that happens, questions can wait.”
“As long as they stay unconscious, Echo and Fortune can stay with them.”
“I thought they were your live-in boyfriends,” Dr. Boden said, instantly suspicious.
Kaazim said, “We had holy water thrown on us in the same attack that injured our comrades. If you will be caring for any other vampire patients tonight, you do not want to touch any of us.”
“We’re holy water free,” Fortune said.
“The four of us are not,” Kaazim said, motioning at Nicky, Ethan, and me.
“Ms. Fortunada and Ms. Constantine told me that Marshal Blake was here to help the injured vampires. If she can’t touch them, how can she help?” Boden asked.
I had a second of wondering if it was Echo Constantine on herlegal ID, or something else, because I knew that Fortune’s passport name was Sofi Fortunada.
“We need to shower off and change into clean clothes before we can do anything,” I said.
“We have showers here and scrubs that should fit most of you.” His gaze flicked past me to Nicky. “You may end up in a hospital gown.”
“I’ll deal,” Nicky said.
“Thank you, Doctor,” I said.
“I’ll have someone take you to the showers while I treat your boyfriends,” he said. He glanced up at Dolph. “Unless the Lieutenant says he needs to talk to you before you clean up?”
I asked Dolph, “Can it wait?”
