Page 63 of Fangs and Family
‘Too late for that, so leave me a car and bugger off. It really does smell like wet dog here.’
Chapter 22
Adam had left, and I was stuck here, a virtual prisoner, which did nothing for my feelings of helplessness and failure. I hated having others fight my battles, but while I couldn’t fault his reasons, I still wanted to punch the damn vampire for pointing them out. I didn’t have Sara’s foresight or time manipulation abilities and no special skills or magic like the Elder Races. Except for a few boxing moves and self-defence classes I’d taken after Kosovo, I didn’t even know how to fight.
I was a boring, ordinary human who had fallen in love with a vampire that, for whatever reason, returned those feelings. Talk about feeling inadequate. Adam treated me like a strong, independent woman right up to the moment my safety was involved, then it was off to my ivory tower like a fairytale princess. It made it very difficult to be angry at him, but I was managing.
My phone chimed with a message just as my pillow took another punch to its smug vampire face, and I instantly grabbed it.
Has Adam found my brother already?
The message came from the hospital service, and I frowned while reading it. I’d told the team I was off to deal with a family crisis, and that was the one time the staff would never disturb you. Yet, the message was definitely from the clinic.
‘Hi Nina, sorry for asking, but we have a problem. Please call ASAP.’
It was a simple, brief text, but I was calling without hesitation. If the clinic staff were disturbing me, then the shit must have really hit the fan. Of course, it didn’t hurt that this was the perfect opportunity to take my mind off my own situation.
The call was answered in record time, and I nearly jumped at the greeting.
‘Hi, it’s Nina. Please tell me no one’s eaten a patient.’
‘Nina? Thank the gods. I mean, really, thank you for calling back. I’m so sorry to bother you, but we have a problem.’ I heard the edge of panic in the manager’s voice and instantly sat up straighter.
‘What kind of problem?’
‘I don’t know how, but a water pipe burst in the basement. Before we knew it, storage and the archives were flooded. We lost everything. I had to report us as closed, but no one informed the ambulance service, and they keep turning up with patients and… fuck Nina, it’s such a mess.’ I slowly exhaled at the explanation, as garbled as it was.
‘Set up a fast triage area and send away anyone able to walk under their own steam. I’m on my way.’
I ended the call, a shiver of foreboding running down my spine, but it didn’t matter; this was too important. If this were some ploy to get me out of the apartment, then they’d get Matron Nina Zalewska, and Lord help them if they tried to stop me.
I quickly changed and went to the living room.
‘Lori, when Adam returns, please tell him I went to the hospital,’ I said to the Spirit, pulling my heavy boots on. My gaze fell on the carved box containing the dagger capable of killing a vampire. I smiled at my thoughts. Adam gave it to me to help me feel safe in his company and for his surprisingly sexyvampiric matingritual, but I didn’t need protection from him. My personal bloodsucker may be brutal to his enemies and may have a talent for being an arsehole, but for me, he was always gentle.
I picked up the knife and the leather scabbard I noticed beneath the fabric padding. It looked very mystical, covered with swirls and runes. Witches preferred to wear their athames like necklaces with the blade resting over their hearts rather than as knives at the belt, and I copied their style.
‘Nina, you must stay! Master won’t like it. I can’t let you go.’ Lorelai appeared in front of me, looking at me with a deep frown on her ageless face.
‘Did he tell you to keep me imprisoned?’ I asked, trying to find out the truth before I jumped to conclusions and killed him with the very knife he gave me.
‘No,’
‘Then what exactly were his instructions?’
‘To guard the penthouse and prevent anyone other than him and the Forest Lord from entering,’ she answered, and I felt I could breathe again. Adam would protect me with his life, but he hadn’t imprisoned me, and I wholeheartedly welcomed such possessiveness.
‘See? You’re doing nothing wrong. Follow his orders, but please pass on my message and let him know I took the dagger just in case,’ I said, throwing a leather jacket on my back. ‘Oh, and that I took the bike again.’
The feeling of freedom as I rode Adam’s bike was cathartic but far too brief. If not for the fact that there was an emergency, I would have simply let the road carry me wherever it chose; the rush of the wind and salty tang of the Baltic always took me on the greatest of adventures.
I parked the bike in front of the hospital and promised myself that as soon as my life had some semblance of order, I’d take Adam to the cliffs and have a picnic there, looking out at the stormy sea.
In the meantime, I had to tackle the problem at hand. The hospital entrance was heaving, people rushing back and forth with building materials or water-logged supplies, storing them in old army tents that must have been borrowed from the surplus store around the corner. All of this was being watched over by hulking men and women openly carrying highly illegal automatic weapons who scowled at anyone they didn’t recognise.
‘Right!’ I said, diving right in, nodding to the relieved personnel as they greeted me.
It took us the whole day to organise the chaos, and although I worked hard, it was a blessing in disguise. I didn’t think about Adam or my brother once, trusting my vampire to do what he promised while I did my job.
