Anarchy (Hive Trilogy, #2)(42)
The doctor shrugged again, and if the POS did it one more time, I was going to punch him in the throat. “There is an experimental vampire plasma that works in twenty percent of cases like these.”
Twenty percent wasn’t good enough. Tessa’s life was worth more than mine. I extended my arm. “Use my blood, it’s the—” Before I could say “cure,” Sam’s gun came out of nowhere and cracked me on the back of my head and blackness took me.
The moment consciousness returned, a sense of panic surged in strong waves through my body. I could feel the rapid beat of my heart, the pulsing of blood in my veins, but I didn’t remember why that was—for the first few moments anyway. Then all of reality came flooding back, and despite a raging headache and an incessant thirst, I forced my heavy eyelids open and wrenched my body up.
“Tessa!” My words were supposed to be strong, angry. The panicked rage inside of me needed a place to go. But my dry throat produced nothing more than a rasp of my best friend’s name.
I looked around, finding two enforcers up against the wall of my room in the hospital wing. No Ryder though. Kyle and Oliver were the stooges today.
I swung my legs off the side of the bed, relieved to see I was still fully dressed and didn’t appear to be hooked up to any machines.
“Where the f*ck is my best friend?” My voice gained strength as I stalked forward, ignoring my blood hunger. Although, if someone didn’t start talking soon, I was going to let the red haze consume my mind.
Kyle straightened, taking a step toward me. As he stopped inches away, I flashed back to the hours we had sat and prayed here together when Ryder was injured. It reminded me there was a bond between us, and I did not want to hurt him.
“She’s okay, Charlie. They gave her the vampire plasma and it counteracted some of the virus long enough for her cells to start the transformation. Ryder and Jared stayed behind to make sure no one screwed anything up.”
My relief allowed some of the hot rage to die down. Of course that made way for the true sorrow. I turned to the boys. “How was this permitted? The Quorum rarely allows for new vampires, and with the young girl being turned…”
I rubbed at my temples, trying to relieve the pounding ache. I understood why Sam had hit me. I’d almost outed myself to every vamp in that room, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still painful.
Kyle’s golden features hardened. “Sam and Markus are investigating now, but we think that maybe this was allowed because of you. Somehow the vamps know how important Tessa is to you, and now they have her exactly where they want.”
Shit! I had never even thought about that, always just assuming and hoping that the normal rejections would happen with Blake’s request.
Blake! “I’m ripping that bastard’s throat out. What the hell was Blake thinking? He almost killed her.”
The rage was back. I didn’t even care that he said he loved her, you don’t do things like that to people you love. Blake was a vampire. He should know that it’s not all perfect nighttime strolls and blood milkshakes. His emotions had blinded him and he put his own needs before Tessa’s. Not good enough for me, and not good enough for my BFF.
No one tried to stop me as I stormed from the room. In the hallway I glanced around, trying to orient myself. I’d been spending enough time here lately that this place was becoming way too familiar. I was pretty sure I was at the far end from where Tessa had been. Ryder probably stashed me there in the chaos and told the boys to keep an eye on me. By the time I made it to room five again, Kyle and Oliver were right on my heels. Both of them had their hands resting close to their guns.
“Is there something else I need to know?” My words were hard. I was at the limit of my niceness today.
Kyle’s eyes flicked to Oliver for a second, and I was just about to scream some more when they both met my flinty gaze.
“The vampires want to test your blood again. They want to know why you think your blood would help Tessa when the doctor clearly said they needed vampire plasma, not ash.” Kyle sounded sympathetic and a little pissed on my behalf as he explained.
Shit. Damn. Shit.
Okay, I totally didn’t regret trying to save my best friend. I would have cut my arm off if that was what it took. Though now that she was going to survive all on her own, all I had done was raise suspicions about my blood and cast attention back on me and the enforcers.
“Is it safe for me to walk into this room?” The hallway was empty. If we had to run, I could do it, but we’d be grabbing Tessa and bringing her too.
Oliver nodded, lowering his voice. “So far there were just some comments, but Ryder shut them down pretty fast. Hopefully once the excitement dies off, they’ll forget about your little slip.”
Sure, because that sort of luck just happened for me. Sucking in a deep breath, I clicked the door open and stepped inside. The room was a lot emptier now, just a few nurses scattered around. Ryder and Jared were standing vigil either side of Tessa’s bed, and it kind of warmed my heart to see how much they cared, how much diligence they were putting into her safety. That was for me. I knew without any doubt the boys thought of me as one of their team now, and since I loved Tessa, they protected her for me.
I jerked as I realized Lucas was also in the room. He was sans his usual white trench coat, wearing just a dark shirt and slacks. I almost hadn’t recognized him. He rose from his chair and crossed to my side.