Single White Vampire (Argeneau #3)(69)

Biting her lip, she glanced down at the knife in her hand. He couldn't feed off her. But could she feed him?

Acting before she could think about it and change her mind, Kate slashed her wrist, then she held it over his wound, allowing her blood to drip freely into it. She stayed like that, stopping only when she started to feel a little lightheaded. Then she quickly grabbed the slip of T-shirt she had ripped free. Using that, she tightly bandaged her wrist. It was an awkward procedure, but she managed.

At last, Kate sat back and cast a glance at the man who had attacked Lucern. He was where she had left him, still tightly trussed. If he had fought the binding, it was holding fast. Noting that with relief, she turned her attention back to Lucern. His eyes were still closed, his face pale and still. He didn't open his eyes or smile at her as she had hoped. The wound wasn't closing miraculously. It wasn't anything like the movies. She wished it were.

Kate resolved herself to a long vigil. She wasn't at all sure he would open those silver eyes again, but she wasn't going to give up either.

Weariness overtaking her, Kate shifted to lie beside him and rested her aching head on his uninjured shoulder. She lay there in silence for a moment, listening, but no heartbeat met her ears. The stake had stopped his heart. She just wasn't sure if it had stopped it for good.

"Come back to me, Lucern," she whispered, closing her eyes to shut out the light. "Please."



Chapter Fifteen



Lucern woke with a gasp, his body sucking oxygen deep into his lungs and just as quickly forcing it out again. The sound of his heart was like a drum in his ringing ears, and his eyes saw only darkness. That darkness slowly gave way to blurred color. Lucern lay still for several moments as his body struggled to recover, knowing he had come close to death.

He slowly became aware of pressure on his shoulder, and he glanced down, relieved to find that his eyesight had returned. He was able to see the top of a head. He couldn't see the face, but he recognized Kate's honey-blond tresses and felt an odd warmth flow through him to know she was with him.

Letting his eyes drift closed, he took stock. There was no brain damage from what he could tell; his memory was intact. Kate had saved him. The idea was a bit mind-boggling. He was used to being the warrior, the savior, the hero. But Kate had been the hero today, fending off his attacker with—of all things—a pillow.

He would have chuckled if he had the energy to do so. The woman had felled their attacker with a pillow, an attacker who had got the best of him. It really did boggle the mind. Her courage and cleverness were a formidable combination. He tried to lift his hand to caress the soft strands of her hair, wanting that further connection with her, but didn't yet have the strength.

Frustrated by his weakness and lack of control, Lucern forced himself to be patient. His body would be working like mad to send blood to repair his brain and vital organs first. Once they were in working order, the blood would concentrate on the rest of him. Then some of his strength would return.

As he lay there, he wondered about his attacker. Who was the man? It was a question he would like answered, but Lucern also wondered what had become of him. He could only assume that Kate had tended to the matter, or she surely wouldn't have fallen asleep on him. If she was asleep.

His eyes popped open again.

From prior experience with injuries, Lucern guessed that he had been unconscious for perhaps half an hour. It seemed a relatively short period of time for Kate to have handled their attacker, removed the stake from his chest and fallen asleep. This time, when he tried to move Lucern was able to raise his hand and rest it weakly against the side of her head.

Much to his relief, Kate murmured sleepily. She cuddled kittenlike against him, snuggling into his body. The action managed to relax Lucern. She was alive. Everything else could wait. He closed his eyes and fell into a light rest as his body finished its repairs.

When next he opened his eyes, it was hunger urging him back. His strength hadn't fully returned—Lucern was still weak, comparatively speaking—but his weakness was equivalent to an average man's strength. Moving carefully, he shifted out from under Kate, easing her head to the floor before sitting up and peering around. He immediately spotted his attacker lying on the floor by the closet. The man was trussed like a turkey.

Luc's eyes went to the refrigerator and he noted the four slashed bags. He twitched with realization. Four bags. There had been eight left after his last feeding. Standing up, he moved to the refrigerator, pulled the door the rest of the way open and peered inside. A breath of relief slipped from his lips at the sight of four intact blood bags. He must have interrupted the fellow's work before the man got the chance to destroy the whole supply.

Lucern grabbed one of the pints and stabbed his teeth into it as he turned to survey the room. There would be a bit of work setting it to rights. He had to clean up the blood on the carpet and take care of the gentleman now imitating a bear rug on his floor.

He contemplated what to do with his assailant as he went through two more bags of blood. At last, he decided he would have to find out more before making a decision. He needed to know if this had been an attack on Luke Amirault the vampire author, or Lucern Argeneau the vampire. The difference could affect the safety of his family.

Lucern felt pretty good once he'd finished his third bag of blood. He decided to leave the fourth and final bag for later, and he closed the refrigerator door and set to work. He took care of everything as best he could—including handling his assailant—then turned his attention to Kate, who still lay sleeping in the middle of his floor. He debated whether to take her back to her room, but the last he had seen she had hit her head on the closet rod. He didn't like the idea of leaving her alone all night. What if the injury caused her some difficulty later? She should sleep here in his room, though not on the floor.