Page 9 of Love Lives
"As well as I can be, I guess." Clarity slowly returned to my thoughts as I studied the bandages covering my right arm. "The burns are healing pretty well, or so they tell me. It's slow, though. And it itches."
Jared nodded. "Aldrich brought me here because you had a pretty high fever."
I glanced at the door, wondering if the vampire really was standing right outside. "He worries."
"I'm glad he does." Jared's expression turned serious. "If he hadn’t pulled you out of the fire…"
“He… what?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
I searched my memory, which was a lot easier now that my head wasn't hurting so much. Funny how all the things the hospital had been pumping into me for days weren't as effective as one small dose of my brother's blood. He should bottle that shit and sell it. I'd be first in line. "Aldrich never said anything.”
"I thought he would have told you for sure..." Jared turned to look at the door, maybe wondering if the vampire could hear our conversation. "He was the one who saved you. If we had waited for the firefighters..." He shook his head.
I swallowed, overwhelmed by what my brother didn’t say.I owed Aldrich my life. Why hadn't he told me? I would have expected him to brag for sure. About how amazing he was, running into a burning building to save me.
Holy shit.
Had he really run into a burning building to save me?
Something in my chest expanded, then drew tight a second later. How was I ever going to repay him?
"Maybe he doesn't want you to read into it," Jared suggested, even though I hadn't voiced my questions. "But I thought you should know." As he spoke, he pulled a small bottle of blood out of his inner coat pocket and drank. "Can't give you blood without refilling," he explained. "Silas would be mad."
A smile tugged at my lips. "Things are going well between you two?"
"Pretty well." He paused. "Has anyone told you about the baby?"
The baby?
The look on my face must have been enough for Jared, because he spoke on. "I'm pregnant," he announced without much fanfare.
"You... what?" I was going to need a minute or two to process that. "You mean like Collin? When he had Nix?"
Jared nodded.
"I can't believe that I'm going to be an uncle again..." Or that we were going to havetwobabies with fangs, but I didn't say that part out loud.Jared didn'tlookpregnant yet. I wondered how long that was going to take. Collin's pregnancy had progressed pretty quickly.
"It's not the best timing," Jared admitted. "But we'll handle it somehow."
"Yeah, of course." I swallowed, because I didn't knowhowwe were going to handle this. Or everything else.
"Have you had any dreams?" Jared asked.
I glanced aside, almost wishing I hadn't confided in my brother about the premonitions."I can't tell what's real and what's a fever dream," I claimed, which was mostly true. I couldn’t trust my abilities in this state.
"I understand." Jared leaned forward a little. "Just let us know if you see anything important. People are going stir-crazy back home, and we don't have any idea what to do."
I grimaced, picturing that. "That prophecy..."
"We can't really make sense of it."
"Have you seen Vlad?"
"Not since the fire." Jared remained quiet for a moment, then added, "Puck believes he might have been the vampire father of the first dhampir. But he gave up that memory in exchange for the prophecy. We haven't heard from him since."
That... was a lot to wrap my head around. I lay back in my bed, looking up at the ceiling without really seeing it. My eyelids were starting to feel heavy. Even though I'd slept the day away, I was still tired. I shouldn’t complain, though. Considering what had happened to me, I was in great shape. A small sigh escaped my lips. "How did we get caught up in all of this?"
