Black Magic Rose (38 page)
“When did you get back?” She tried to sit up but the room tumbled. “Uuh.”
“Just lie still and rest.” Dragomir pressed her back into the pillow.
The large room was barely lit, but she could see IV poles and metal trays holding instruments. There was a monitor beside the bed where she lay and beds on either side of hers. Across the room was another row of beds, some of which were occupied, though Sofia didn’t know who lay in them.
“This isn’t the ER,” she said.
“No, it’s the infirmary. We’re in the Lower Level.” Dragomir straightened the sheet covering Sofia. “It’s noon. I couldn’t leave you upstairs.” He smiled.
“What happened in your fight?” She remembered quite vividly what occurred with the nurses. For some reason the squishing sound of the IV pole stabbing into both vampires played in her mind. She swallowed hard. “Wait. Who were those nurses?”
“Rachel and Lisa were Bas Dubh informants. They’d gone over to the other side shortly after you started here.” Dragomir held Sofia’s hand. His skin was cool against hers.
She nodded. “I killed them.” She looked up at him. She’d never killed anything bigger than a stinkbug before last night. Her stomach twisted and she looked at her hands. Killer’s hands.
“So much for nonviolent responses.” Dragomir watched her. She felt him sizing her up, waiting for her reaction.
“It was one of those necessary moments. A me or them situation.” Even though she said the words and knew them to be the truth, she still fought to keep the tears from her eyes.
“Hey.” He turned her chin toward him. “It was the right thing. They had lost all sense of reason and moved to the other side.”
She nodded.
“Sofia, they’d have killed many more people, first humans and eventually, when they were strong enough, vampires and werewolves. Your act was a justice for society. Don’t forget that. Don’t let your feelings about the action cloud your judgment.”
Squeaky wheels and clanging trays drew Sofia’s attention. Osgar and Rick pushed a table with a giant potted plant. A multitude of slender spikes covered in small spiky yellow flowers spiraling up the stems waved with the motion of the table.
“The mignonette,” Dragomir said. The word rolled off his tongue and Sofia smiled.
“My favorite flower. How did you know?”
“I did not. But this is the fragrance I smell whenever I’m near you.” He turned to face both Sofia and the flowers. “One greenhouse held several of these spiky little things.” He slipped a stem of flowers through his palm then smelled his skin and smiled. “The Little Darling.”
“Oh, so you know about flowers, do you?”
“Just my little darling.” The smile on his face widened.
Sofia blushed.
Osgar groaned. “Okay. There’ll be plenty of time for that when you’re home.” He plopped onto the bed, yanking the file folder out from under his arm. “You’ll be pleased to know we have edited, approved, signed, and posted the new Workplace Violence Policy.” He opened the file and held it for Sofia to read.
She sat up. “Wait. Edited? Edited? How? Which draft is this? Posted? I haven’t signed anything.” She pulled the paper toward her.
Dragomir turned on the light above the bed and Sofia squinted against the brightness. As her eyes became accustomed to the light she read the draft. It was clearly the one she had written, edited, reedited, rewritten, and nearly given up hope for getting approved. But here it was signed by Fergus and Osgar. Two empty lines remained. One for her signature and one for Dr. MacDuff.
“Here.” Rick pointed to a paragraph on the second page. “Wolves and vampires not suitable for front line positions will be reassigned to other duties within the stronghold.” A slight smile curved his lips but vanished before anyone could have tried to prove it happened.
“So Louis?”
“He’s learning how to understand the monitoring system for now. Eventually, he’ll go back to college, probably become an engineer and find himself a nice job at Cader.” Rick handed Sofia a pen. “Your turn.”
“Wait a minute.” She closed the folder and turned to Dragomir. “Jefferson? What about him?”
“You’ll have your chance to meet with him. Guarded, of course.” Dragomir’s eyebrow crept up and his lips pulled into a tight line.
She squared her shoulders, knowing full and well guarded meant with him plastered to her side and probably Noelle, Osgar, and Rick restraining Jefferson. But it was a start. “I knew you’d see it my way.”
“I’ll admit I didn’t believe you when you included the line ‘Deadly force will only be used in extreme situations involving imminent danger and clear threat of death,’ but then you killed those two bitches. Now I have to believe you’re a woman of your word.” This time the smile on Rick’s face was unmistakable.
Sofia frowned and took the pen.
“Still coming to terms with what happened.” Dragomir rubbed her back. “She’ll get there.”
“I’m not killing anyone else.” Sofia made one minor edit and signed her name then closed the file on the policy.
“Well, she’s awake.” Noelle’s voice came from behind Rick and Osgar. “You were a more difficult patient than most.” She stepped between the men and handed Sofia a glass of juice. “Complaining about your head and telling me not to bother with you. Where’s my husband? Go take care of Amy. Ah, Amy’s fine.” Noelle waved her hand at Sofia. “This is why I like the vamps and wolves better. They know better than to give me shit.”
Amy sat up in the bed across from Sofia. “I’m fine. Who needs to sleep during the day when you’re only twenty? Certainly not someone who was attacked and chained in silver by two of the most horrible coworkers a girl could have. Her curled red hair bounced all around her head. “And let me just say, they were not our best nurses.” She flopped back onto her pillow. “I deserve a raise after last night.”
“Go back to sleep, little one,” Dragomir whispered the words and Amy stopped grumbling and sighed. Faint snores came from her bed.
Sofia looked at Dragomir in a quizzical way.
“She is mine.” He raised his eyebrows. “Nice kid, but talks too much.”
Sofia knew from the powerful rumble of energy entering the room Jankin and Fergus were headed toward them.
Jankin smiled, looking much less worried than he’d appeared in the past few days. His eyes were brighter, face gentler, shoulders relaxed. Sofia wasn’t sure she’d seen him look this relaxed since she’d started at Cader.
“You’re looking well,” she said.
“As are you, Sofia. Thankfully, you’re looking radiant.” He admired the mignonette. “Yes, this is the one.” He nodded to Dragomir and chuckled.
All around Sofia she felt powerful ribbons of energy coursing. The currents coming from her husband, Noelle, and Jankin were smooth as glass though fluid as water. The werewolf energy vibrated. In her mind’s eye she pictured a lightning storm where brilliant bolts shot along the skyline one after another.
She wanted to ask about it but remembered the way Fergus had reacted when he learned Sofia could sense the wolves.
“What is it? You look confused,” Noelle asked.
Sofia glanced at Dragomir. “I can tell when certain people are around but not others.” She frowned, unsure of how to proceed.
“Do you mean the wolves?” Dragomir’s voice lowered.
“And some vampires,” she said.
“You will be able to sense anyone bound to me,” Dragomir explained. “Our union gives you access to my progeny and any of my wolves. So you’re now linked to Osgar and Amy and others.”
Sofia nodded and briefly glanced toward Rick and Fergus and then looked away.
“Ah, the werewolf whispering. That’s what troubles you.” Jankin clapped a hand on Fergus’s shoulder. “I’ve explained how I bound you to me when you started at Cader in order to ensure your loyalty to our cause. I apologize for not allowing you to remember the incident but it was for your own good.”
Jankin gazed at Sofia and though his face remained expressionless Sofia felt him coaxing her into agreement. The hazel fleck in his green eyes sparkled and he appeared more like a mischievous college boy than a thousand-year-old vampire.
“Oh,” was all she said.
“I believe there is a policy awaiting my signature.” Jankin held out his hand.
Sofia handed over the file and pen.
“The prisoners are ready.” Laurent strode into the infirmary. “I believe at least two of them can tell us about upcoming attacks and possibly know the whereabouts of Kiernan’s lair.”
“Very good. We use whatever force is necessary.” Fergus cleared his throat. “They aren’t employees. They’re war criminals. Osgar, Rick, let’s get going.” He stepped aside to let them pass.
“See ya, Sofia.” Osgar followed Rick. “Hey.” He turned around and walked backward toward the door. “Before you come back to work, make me some more cookies.” He grinned.
“Okay.” She laughed.
“Dragomir, take care of your mate. Sofia, don’t be so rough on him. We need you both.” Fergus smiled. “I’ll see you soon.” He left the infirmary, getting the full report from Laurent as he went.
Jankin perused the policy. “Very well done, Sofia. It took some doing, but I think you might even be learning patience. It was never one of your strong points.”
Sofia couldn’t argue. She sighed.
“Plenty of time for learning patience, love.” Dragomir stroked his fingers up and down her arm.
Jankin flipped to the signature page and smiled. “Congratulations, Dragomir.” He signed the last empty line and handed the file back to Sofia. “Petrescu. It’s a good last name. Strong. Very fitting for our Employee Relations Manager.”
Dragomir’s gaze met Sofia’s. He couldn’t quite stop the smile from appearing on his lips.
“Well, we are married,” she said.
“That we are, love.”
Thank you for reading Black Magic Rose, Book 1 in The Alliance Series. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, help other people find my book by writing a review.
Look for these other stories by Jordan:
The Demon Mistress
, Book One in The Eva Prim Series
The Eva Prim short story collection:
The Vampire Hand Guide: Myths, Tips & Advice
Also available in print and ebook from Amazon
Perpetual Light
About Jordan
Jordan loves vampires. But if you know anything about Jordan, you already knew that detail. What you didn’t know was it wasn’t long ago that she began writing about them.
A few years back Jordan received a copy of a popular vampire story from her husband as part of an anniversary gift. Eight weeks and eighteen vampire books later the idea for her first book, Perpetual Light came to her followed very quickly by Eva Prim.
Jordan is a member of the national Romance Writers of America organization and several chapters.
When she’s not writing about one vampire or another Jordan enjoys spending time with her husband, Ken and their lovable Labrador, Dino on the beautiful beaches of New England.
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