An Angel Among Vampires (28 page)

After moving Tyler to the secure room, Christien leaves to rejoin the fight requesting that I stay inside and take no further risks by trying to go outside.

Minutes pass but it feels like hours. The noise outside from the fighting seems to be dying down. Staying by Tyler’s side, I hold his hand, listening for worsening signs of distress. Kayle is keeping his distance by leaning in the doorway glowering at me.

If Tyler gets worse, I will just open a vein to heal him.

I am still waiting in the secure room with Tyler when Christien returns. Kayle immediately leaves the room. Christien looks a little battered, but it just gives him a rugged sexual appeal. He walks towards me. I don’t stand to greet him, but I do look up and meet his eyes.

Christien searches his thoughts. He nods in understanding. “Turning you into a vampire resolves the problem we were previously facing. Your mind will be stronger. You are still very weak though. It is possible you will not survive the process. In addition, I am a little busy right now with all the vampires trying to get to you and Jessica. I will not be available for a few hours to assist you.”

“You are not a vampire, Tyler.” I interrupt.

“If you search his mind, you will see that he is.” Christien admits.

When I search Tyler’s open mind, I see that he has wanted to become a vampire for some time. He has been struggling with a way to ask me to turn him for years. I pull out of his mind and look him over.

Christien turns to me. “I cannot stay and finish the change with an imminent threat on us all, but I will have him very well cared for until I can return.”

I shake my head in uncertainty. “Christien, are you sure you want to do this? You don’t even know him.”

He looks at Tyler then back at me. “You trusted him with one of the biggest secrets in your life and he has told no one in all the years you have known him. He has been a loyal and good friend to you. If this is all he asks in return, it shall be done.” He kisses me on the cheek and walks to the door.

I move to follow and he stops me. “Take care of your friend. I will take care of you,
ma chatte petite
. Do not let him feed from you.” He leaves, shutting the door behind him.

Kayle returns moments later with an older woman in tow carrying pillows and blankets. I watch as she fusses over Tyler, doing her best to make him comfortable.

“He probably will not survive the change anyway. He is too weak.” Kayle remarks callously.

I move in blinding speed and punch Kayle hard in the face, breaking his nose and jaw. “What in the hell is your problem?”

He turns to face me, blood flowing freely from his nose. He is holding his jaw. His eyes flash silver in anger. We stare at each other and I watch his nose slowly stop bleeding and straighten.

“How can you heal so fast? I can actually see the bones reforming.” I ask completely fascinated, forgetting the animosity between us.

I flinch at the reminder. I refrain from responding because it’s the truth. I ignore Kayle’s parting shot and sit on the floor next to Tyler.

Chapter 35

The attacks finally stop around midnight.

Roman enters the room and throws himself on to the couch across from Tyler’s bed. He has blood caking all over his body. Scratches and bruises cover his face, chest, and arms.

“Are you okay Rome?” I ask, crawling across the floor to his couch.

He pats my head roughly and sighs. “I am just exhausted. Everything okay here?” He asks looking at Tyler.

“I think he might have a collapsed lung or something. I’m not a doctor, but I’m trying to keep him comfortable. He seems to be in a lot of pain.”

“I know how close you and Tyler are. I knew you would not take it well if he were killed protecting you. If Tyler wants to be a vampire, then we are all spared of guilt.” Roman confesses.

Christien, Kayle and two other vampires come into the room. The two vampires move to the bed with Tyler on it and lift it, carrying it and him out of the room. I begin to follow but Christien stops me.

“They are only taking him to a more secure holding room to prepare for the final transformations. Please do not interfere. We have much to discuss and very little time to talk. Are you sure no one could have pulled the location of your blood storage from Tyler’s mind?” Christien’s face is full of concern.

“No one knew anything about it so they wouldn’t have a reason to look for it, until now. Tyler doesn’t even know anything about it.” I reason with him.

“They could have obtained the information and not know what it was until they put the information together.” Christien tries to explain. “I told you, Demetri and Jacques are not stupid. They are very cunning and are excellent strategists. If you have even hinted to Tyler about its location, they’ll be able to figure out where it is. Has he ever been to your house?”

I shake my head for emphasis. “No. He doesn’t know where I live. Even if he did, he would not have known how to get to the storage room anyway. No one, except me, has seen the actual place where I have stored my blood. Not even Roman. I had the warehouse modified for another reason and used it later for this purpose. It’s supposed to be used for hiding.”

“A warehouse?” Christien says with obvious contempt in his voice.

My face reddens in embarrassment.

“Exactly how much blood are we talking about,
ma chatte
? You gave me the impression it was only several bags of blood.” He says with an anxious look on his face.

Roman studies me for nearly a minute. I squirm under his scrutiny. He looks back at Christien and sighs. “It must be really, really bad. She doesn’t usually take a defensive stance unless she knows I am going to be angry.”

I cross my arms defiantly. “Hey, that’s not true. I am not defensive. It’s my blood. I should be able to do what I want with it. No one knows where it is and vampires cannot force me to tell them, so the location is safe. I will admit Tyler knew more than he should, but I’m not stupid.”

“Okay, it’s going to be very bad. We’re talking a lot more than a few bags here.” Roman says translating my rant.

“Rome, stay out of this!” I snap at him.

“Jessica. There were hundreds of vampires out there. Can you imagine the war or chaos my sire, Hassan, could create with an army of angel-blood powered vampires? Even if he only uses the blood for himself, Demetri and Jacques, it could end up with the same results. We have to destroy the blood and you know it.” Christien explains, holding firm in his belief.

Christien throws up his hands and groans. “Roman. See if you can figure out what she is talking about and decide how we should handle this. I need to go to Tyler. He is weakening. He will need strength for the transformation.”

He and Kayle turn to leave.

“I want to watch.” I demand weakly.

Christien looks over his shoulder at me, anger still evident on his face. “Only after you give Roman the location of the blood and figure out a way to destroy it. It will take at least a few days for the entire transformation to be complete.” He walks out the door with Kayle close on his heels.

Roman tries without success to get me to confess how much blood I have stored. I do finally admit to him that Tyler and I have been harvesting my blood for nearly five years. After many relentless interrogations with no results, he and I decide to move on to discussions about Hassan.

For hours, Roman and I debate on different strategies on how to kill Hassan. Without an idea where Hassan, Demetri and Jacques are hiding, deciding on which strategy we will use is coming together slowly.

Running out of brainstorming ideas, I return downstairs to check on Tyler while Roman goes to bed, most likely not alone.

On my way down the stairs, I hear Tyler screaming. I sprint the rest of the way down, skipping many of the steps along the way. I get to the room where they moved Tyler to find Christien holding and rocking Tyler in his lap. There are bags of blood spilled all over the room. Christien and Tyler have blood on them too. Christien picks up another bag of blood from a nearby tray. I watch through the window as he holds Tyler’s hands with one of his and pops the bag onto Tyler’s fangs using his other. Tyler calms immediately. He finishes the bag of blood then starts thrashing around and screaming again. Christien is speaking softly in Tyler’s ear while smoothing down his bloody, sweaty hair tenderly. Christien glances up and sees me watching them through the window.

Kayle exits the room and comes to stand beside me. “My master does not wish for you to watch right now. Your friend would not want you to see him like this. Christien will join you in his chambers when he can.” Kayle waves a hand towards the stairs, in a very direct way, that he wants me to leave.

“I’m not leaving.” I say half-heartedly, unsure if I am being stubborn or if I’m feeling guilty.

If I had not spent so much time with Tyler, would he even have been a target for Hassan and his vampires?

Kayle must see the guilt on my face. “Our master will not leave him. Your friend will be very well taken care of.”

I take a last look at Christien and Tyler then walk towards the stairs. With my back facing Kayle, I ask him pleadingly. “Will you come and tell me if his situation changes?”

“Christien will keep you informed of any changes.” Kayle walks me to the bedroom upstairs.

I walk inside and Kayle shuts the door behind me. I shower, dress for bed then pace around the room. I try lying down, but my body will not shut down. A knock at the door stops my pacing.

I open the door. To my surprise, Kayle is standing outside the bedroom door. I move over and motion Kayle inside.

He keeps far away from me after giving me a once over. I realize that I am in my nightgown so I grab the robe off the bed and cover myself.

“Several of our vampires followed the vampires that attacked us tonight to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Christien believes this is where Hassan and his vampires are staying. He requests that you and the lycan formulate a plan of attack. We will receive blueprints of the building soon.” Kayle finishes with annoyance in his voice.

“What’s the matter with you now?” I ask, sensing his annoyance.

“We have been hunting Hassan for centuries.” Kayle informs me bitterly. “There is no logical reason Christien should be thinking that a half-breed abomination and a lycan can do a better job at eliminating Hassan than we can.”

I can feel my anger rising. “So
that’s
what your attitude is about? Do you
really
think we are pissing on your territory? Or, could it be that you are afraid that a ‘half-breed abomination’ and a ‘lycan’ are going to do a better job at eliminating Hassan than you have not been able to do in the centuries you have been hunting him?”

“We, of Christien’s line, are perfectly capable of eliminating Hassan and his get without you and your pet wolf’s assistance.” He says sarcastically.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and try to speak diplomatically with Kayle. “I’m sure you vamps can handle Hassan. I think Christien knows that we will not sit idly by and do nothing if you go after Hassan and his get. If you could work with a half-breed abomination and a lycan, I’m sure we can offer you valuable input in a plan to take Hassan out.”

“What could you possibly offer that could be of use to us? The only thing you bring to the fight is more problems. At least the lycan has proven that he can be useful. You are just the master’s…” He stops abruptly.

My mouth drops open in shock. “The master’s what Kayle?”

Kayle grinds his teeth to stay his tongue.