Page 81 of Roman

Danny ignored an incoming call from an unknown number on the way to his car. Always with the spam phone calls.

He was feeling relieved and a little more hopeful as he drove to the hospital to pick up Gabe. Danny knew there were risks. He knew Roman wasn’t out of danger, but there was a certain relief in hearing Soren validate what Danny felt on the inside—that he and Roman were connected. They weremates.

Danny was feeling that relief right up until the moment his car was run off the road.

Danny blinked slowly, warm wetness running into his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he’d actually lost consciousness or was just stunned.

Everything hurt.

He closed his eyes and tried to take mental stock of his injuries. His left shoulder and chest were agony—probably from where the seat belt had held him in when the car crashed. And he must have some sort of head injury, because that definitely wasn’t rain dripping down off his forehead. He wasn’t crushed into smithereens, though, so that was a plus. The other car must have hit the back end of his?

Danny hadn’t even seen it coming. There hadn’t been any cars around at all when he was passing through the intersection. The other driver must have been going at practically highway speeds.

An itchy panic was building under Danny’s skin. He started to reach over to pull at the handle of his door with his right hand, but his healthcare training kicked in. He shouldn’t be twisting or moving his neck at all. What if he had a spinal cord injury? Danny needed to keep still and wait for the paramedics.

Wait, had anyone even called the paramedics? Fuck, was the other car okay?

Danny was considering reaching blindly into his back pocket for his phone to call 911 when he heard the screeching sound of tearing metal. His door was being torn open.

No, not open.Off. Torn completely off its hinges.

Danny resisted the urge to turn his head to look at whoever was currently opening his car like a tin can. He was not going to paralyze himself out of curiosity. “Roman?” he asked hopefully.

He heard a murmured “how sweet” in response, but the ringing Danny was just now noticing in his ears made it hard to distinguish the voice. It wasn’t Roman though. Danny would knowhisvoice, even through the ringing.

“Soren?” he asked.Please be Soren.

“I’m afraid not.” Strong hands ripped Danny’s seat belt into pieces and grabbed him by the shoulders. Danny whimpered and shut his eyes tight as white heat ran through his left shoulder at the rough touch.

A feeling of dread came over him, followed immediately by grief and terror. Danny knew that voice now. And if Luc was here, what had happened to Roman?

“Tell—tell me. Is…alive?” Danny tried to get the words out clearly, but his mouth was having trouble following instructions. He managed a sort of slurred whisper. Hopefully it was good enough.

He must have made some sort of sense, because the rough hands paused in pulling him out of the car. Danny didn’t exactly see because he was refusing to open his eyes at the moment. If he couldn’t see what was happening, it wasn’t happening. Right?

“Ohh, little human. You’re covered in blood. You smell delicious, by the way. Probably have some internal hemorrhaging as well. Definitely a fractured clavicle here on the left. Overall, you must be in excruciating pain, and you’re asking after the welfare of your beloved?” There was taunting in Luc’s voice, but also…envy? Danny’s stomach churned as he was lifted abruptly into strong arms. “You should worry about yourself now, Daniel.”

Danny was definitely worrying about himself, but he didn’t feel like telling Luc that. The fact was if Luc was here and Roman was…gone…then it was more than likely Danny was going to die very, very soon.

He found himself swimming in and out of consciousness as he was carried away. They seemed to be walking some distance, at least as far as Danny could tell with his eyes closed and his brain only aware half the time.

A memory surfaced. Some stranger-danger presentation in junior high, where a police officer had warned Danny’s class their chances of surviving a kidnapping dropped exponentially if they were ever brought to a secondary location by the kidnapper. Did those statistics hold true for vampire kidnappings?

Danny almost giggled at the thought, which considering his most likely imminent death, did not bode well for his mental state. Maybe he had a concussion. Or a brain bleed.

When he surfaced again, Danny was being placed with more gentleness than he would have expected onto a hard, cold floor. He opened his eyes fully for the first time since his car door had been ripped off. Gray concrete. Lots of exposed beams. Danny was in some kind of…abandoned warehouse?

How cliché.

Danny heard the rustling of clothing as Luc settled in beside him, and he decided to finally stop being a baby and face the vampire. He even turned his head to look because, hey, spinal precautions probably weren’t important at this point anymore, right?

Luc was looking completely untouched by the accident, the asshole. Barely a hair out of place. Maybe he hadn’t even been in the car. Maybe he’d just, like, tossed an SUV at Danny. How strong exactly were vampires? It felt like something Danny needed to know right about now. Why hadn’t he asked Roman more specifics?

Luc smirked down at him. “How are you feeling?”

“I hurt.” Danny’s voice might have sounded a little petulant, but it was warranted as far as he was concerned.

“Yes, well, sorry about that. I thought maybe the crash would kill you, but I suppose vehicular homicide isn’t my specialty.”

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