A Warrior Wedding (The Protectors #7)(10)

“When did this start?” Slade took off his leather jacket as he replaced Sid and knelt next to Pam.

“I haven’t been feeling very well for a few weeks. Real run down.” Pam glanced at Duncan. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think it was anything.”

“You should have told me.” Duncan’s voice was gentle, edged with worry.

“You guys have been so busy with the funerals and I just didn’t feel it was important. Daniel has his days and nights messed up again so I thought I was just worn down, but then...” She looked over at Jill.

“But then what?” Duncan demanded.

“She can’t keep blood down,” Jill answered for her. Everyone looked at her, except for Duncan who continued to stare at Pam until he finally looked over at Slade.

“What does this mean?” Duncan’s face indicated he was at a loss and wasn’t happy about it.

“I don’t know, yet.” Slade frowned without looking Duncan in the eye. His focus stayed on Pam.

Jill knew Slade had an idea of the problem. His inability to keep eye contact with her was a dead giveaway. Slade always made eye contact...always.

“But I do need to take some of her blood.” Slade stood. “Can you get her to my office?”

Duncan’s answer was to pick Pam up carefully. “I can walk now.” Pam wrapped her arms around Duncan’s neck.

“No, you can’t.” Duncan ignored her protests, his love evident in the way he held her.

Jill watched Duncan carry Pam out the door, her eyes going to Slade, not knowing if she should stay or go. “Do you need help?” she asked, at a loss.

“No.” Slade glanced at everyone before his eyes came back to hers. “I thought I told you to rest.”

“I wanted to see if some crackers would help my stomach,” she answered. “And Sid fixed me some rice.”

“Which she didn’t eat,” Sid told him and didn’t look like he regretted doing it one bit.

“But I did eat some crackers and kept them down.” Jill crossed her arms around her stomach, trying to calm the churning, hoping to keep her statement of keeping it down true.

“Try to eat a little more if you can and I’ll be back as soon as I finish with Pam.” Slade walked over, placed a kiss on the top of her head, and then turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Jill watched the door shut behind him before looking at Sid and Steve, who had busied themselves with something other than watching her and Slade’s little moment. Blaze, on the other hand, had sat back down and was staring at her. Before she could say anything at all to Blaze, because in all honesty his quiet staring was really starting to unnerve her, Sid stepped into her line of vision.

“Slade is not going to let anything happen to you.” Sid stared down at her. “So get that worried look off your face and eat some rice. I just warmed it up for you.”

With a small smile, Jill nodded and headed toward her seat at the table. The warm steaming bowl of rice looked disgusting at the moment. Steve sat down across from her and openly stared. His face pinched in concern.

“You’re going to be okay, Jill,” Steve said, as if by him just saying those words it was a done deal. “We’re vampires. Nothing can bring us down, right?”

Jill nodded, her tongue feeling like it was glued to the roof of her mouth. “Right,” she replied, but her heart told her she was far from right.

******

Slade opened the drawer to his medical cabinet and noticed his hands shaking. He stopped and stared at them as Duncan and Pam talked softly behind him. Closing his eyes, he balled his hands into fists, trying to get a grip on his emotions. Out of every horror he had faced in his thousands of years, nothing had terrified him more than the news he had received today.

“Hey,” Duncan called out. “You going to take her blood or what?”

Slade’s eyes opened. A tick pulsated in his jaw from clamping his mouth shut tightly against the bellow of rage he felt. Slowly, he un-fisted his hands, grabbed what he needed and moved his jaw back and forth. No need to alarm Pam until he had more answers.

Going through the motions of taking Pam’s blood, Slade felt Duncan probing his thoughts, but he shut them off with a warning to wait until they were alone. Duncan backed off and focused on Pam.

Once the three vials of blood were taken and safely in the envelopes, he turned to them both. “I’ll take these to the hospital and let you know the results as soon as I know anything.”

Pam nodded, but her eyes searched his. “It’s not good, is it?”

Slade didn’t know what to say, he really didn’t because she was right. It wasn’t good...for any of them. “You need to rest, Pam. Have Katrina help with Daniel when Duncan’s not around. You need to preserve your energy and try to eat, but only a little bland food. Don’t feed until I tell you.”

Watching them leave the office, Duncan threw Slade an ‘I’ll be back’ look over Pam’s head. Once alone, Slade glanced down at the envelopes containing Pam’s blood. Bleak rage consumed him. Undeterred, he grabbed the envelopes, headed out of his office and back to the kitchen. But seeing Jill gone, and Sid telling him she went up to their room to rest, Slade hurried to Sloan’s office.

Finding Sloan alone, he knew by the angry expression on Sloan’s face the news he was about to hear was not good.