Fractured (Deep In Your Veins, #5)(42)

I snarled at Marco. “I think it was you. You’re her Sire, and she escaped you. I think you’re so obsessed with her that you’d see her dead before you’d see her with another guy.”

Marco’s eyes blazed with anger. He spoke through his teeth. “I’d never harm Imani.” He looked at Lazarus. “I would never do this. Never. When I find out who did, I’ll obliterate them.”

“No, I’ll do that,” I growled.

His jaw clenched. “We’ll see who finds them first.” His harsh expression softened as it went to Imani. “She needs to be in bed.”

“She will be,” said Sam. “Butch, we’re leaving. Get Imani.”

I scooped up Imani, holding her close.

“You can’t take her away from here,” objected Marco, but Lazarus blocked his path before he could advance on us.

At that moment, Ian and the rest of the two squads appeared, no doubt summoned telepathically by Jared. Within seconds, they had Marco, Tait, and Juliet restrained. Strangely, Marco didn’t struggle. His attention was solely on Imani.

“Take them straight to the containment cells,” ordered Jared, to which Tait and Juliet gasped. “Be sure to put them in separate cells.”

A panicked Paige asked me, “What’s wrong with her?”

I ignored her, moving to Jared who then teleported me, Imani, and Sam straight to the infirmary at The Hollow.

Though I was reluctant to part with Imani and didn’t really see what Mary Jane—who was a nurse in her human life and liked to act as one at The Hollow—could do for her, I laid Imani on the bed and let Mary Jane fuss over her.

Jared then telepathically contacted Antonio, Luther, and Sebastian. They arrived at the infirmary quickly, and he told them about Imani’s condition. Luther pretty much beat himself up for not foreseeing any of this, despite Antonio’s assurances that he couldn’t expect to see everything.

Meanwhile, I sat on the chair beside Imani’s bed, her hand in mine as I stroked her pulse with my thumb. It wasn’t easy to keep my touch light when fury was still pumping through me. I’d only just got her back, and now I had people telling me I could possibly lose her. No. It wasn’t going to happen. “You’ll live,” I told her, voice gruff. “You have to.”

Pacing and clearly frantic with worry, Sam said, “I admit I wanted a bit of action. I didn’t want Imani hurt and in chance of f*cking dying.”

Sebastian spoke to Sam and Jared. “Do you think it will be necessary to put Imani in a containment cell?”

“I doubt it will come to that if she has Butch with her at all times,” replied Jared. “But if she becomes too wild, it’s a possibility.”

It would happen over my dead f*cking body.

“I’ll do what I can to ensure that never happens,” Sam promised me. “I’ve been in a cell. It’s absolutely shit.”

“Chico may be able to help,” said Antonio.

My brow furrowed. “Chico?”

“Obviously he cannot heal her,” allowed Antonio. “But if she gets out of control, Chico’s darts can put her unconscious.”

That was better than locking her up.

“She’s going to have a serious case of bloodlust, Butch, which means she’ll need more than just your blood,” Jared warned me. I growled, and he raised his hands. “Hey, I get it. I’m too possessive of Sam to share any part of her. But I’d suck it up if it was about her health. You’ll need to do the same. Some of the most powerful vampires in the world live at The Hollow. Feeding from them might just get Imani through this alive.”

He was right. “She can’t die.” My words were like gravel. “She can’t.”

Expression fierce, Sam said, “She won’t. We won’t let it happen.”

Imani’s hand shook within my grasp as another tremor ran through her. Releasing her hand, I stroked her hair soothingly. “Did you contact Mona and Cedric?”

“Yes. They’re looking into whether there are any vampires who might be able to help with something like this,” said Jared.

Antonio patted Imani’s leg. “I wonder if Lena can be of any assistance.”

Lena was the mate of Antonio’s Sire and had the gift of genekinesis. That meant she could manipulate a human or animal’s DNA. When Reuben used his gift of amplifying power to strengthen hers, it enabled her to work on vampires. She had helped Sam when she went through the transformation from Sventé to hybrid.

“Maybe she could halt the transition,” suggested Antonio.

Sam pursed her lips. “I’ll contact her and ask. I don’t know enough about the workings of Lena’s gift to know whether this is something she can help with. Maybe—”

The door flew open and nearly all of mine and Imani’s squads rushed inside. The girls surrounded the bed, all in varying levels of distress. But no one came too close, eying me warily. I never showed my anger. Never lost my shit. I could look cool and collected even while I was raging inside. But right then, with Imani unconscious beside me, I no doubt looked as rabid as I felt.

Pale and jerky, Paige kept her eyes on Imani as she said, “Tell me she’s okay.”

Well obviously she wasn’t f*cking okay. Was the woman blind? I clamped my mouth shut to stop any of the harsh words running through my head from escaping. I didn’t want to take my anger out on her, but I really didn’t want all these people who had been *s to Imani in here. They had no right, as far as I was concerned. They hadn’t given their support when she’d needed it, and there was no way I’d give them a free pass because she was now hurt.