Page 36 of Graced
Bending over the handlebars, he doubled down on the pedals.It no longer mattered that he didn’t have access to the car.Miss Lockhart had her own vehicle they could use.
All he needed was the product, and now was the time to obtain it.
CHAPTER18
Truth
Rather than spend the night in one of the nurses’ lounges, Norris went home and set his alarm for an early wake-up call.The following morning, he made it back to the hospital before the ladies who worked in admissions arrived.Remaining in his car, he waited, keeping an eye out for Grace’s car.
At exactly ten minutes before the hour, the dark red Eagle pulled up in the employee lot.Getting out of his vehicle, he made a beeline toward her.
Grace was aware of someone approaching before he reached her.Whirling around, her look of fear softened when she recognized him.
“Goodness!Norris!You scared me there for a moment!”She stared at him, curious.“What are you doing here so early?Did you change shifts or something?”
“No.”He held up his hands to stop her from continuing into the hospital.“What I’m about to tell you, you have to believe me.You gotta believe me.You need to go back homeright now.”
Her curious expression deepened.“Why?What’s wrong?”She glanced at the hospital as if to check to see if it was on fire on something.
“Miss Lockhart…Grace, that guy Welsh?He approached you, didn’t he?”
“H-how did you…”
“He’s Rhyne’s roommate.”
“What?”
“But they don’t get along,” Norris rushed to assure her.“Rhyne didn’t know Welsh had met you until the guy admitted it.Now your life’s in danger.”
If there was a facial expression for “you’ve totally gone off your rocker,” hers would match it.“What are you talking about, Norris?”
Taking a deep breath, he took the plunge.“I know this is going to sound like I’ve been watching too many horror movies, but Rhyne, Welsh, and Nash, he’s the third guy, they all live together.They’re vampires.Not the kind of vampires you see fabricated on TV or in the movies, but honest to God, real live vampires.”
Grace gave a little grunt and tried to walk past him but he grabbed her by the upper arms and held on.“Just hear me out!Please!I’m trying to save your life, goddamnit!”
His heartfelt plea stopped her.
“You’re going to make me late clocking in.”
Norris realized it was now or never.
“Every evening, one of those guys shows up here after my shift.I give them the emptied blood bags from that day, and they give me the same number of blood bags back so my count’s not off.But the bags they give me have been cleaned out because they add a little water to them and that way they can suck out the last drops of blood still inside.That’s how they get their supply of blood.They don’t bite people and suck ‘em dry like we’ve been told.
“Well, one of those bags was AB negative, and Rhyne drank from it.And…” He shook his head.“Holy shit, I know how crazy I sound, but it’s the truth.All of it’s the truth.But he told me after he drank it, he could see in color again!”
Grace slowly shook her head.“I gotta admit, you tell a fascinating story, but?—”
“He brought me the bag back and asked me whose blood it was,” Norris continued, trying not to stumble over his own words.
Her eyes widened in alarm.“Did you tell him?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Norris!” Her anger was swift and fiery.
“Because… Because… Aw,shit!Miss Lockhart, listen, what I’m trying to tell you is this.We don’t know how Welsh found you.It had to have been a coincidence, but when he came here to the hospital to find you, he somehow got a taste of your blood.And now he can see in color, too!But he’s not going to be satisfied with just that little bit.Rhyne believes Welsh is coming to kidnap you and keep you prisoner somewhere.”
He noticed her looking at her hand.“You gotta go someplace where you’ll be safe.Look, you still have Rhyne’s phone number, don’t you?”
