Page 86 of Obsessed in Blood
She considered it and, though obviously disappointed, she nodded. “I understand.”
“I might reconsider if Remus could provide a definitive answer of your blood’s impact.”
“His lab hasn’t discovered anything?”
“It seems they’ve found plenty, and that appears to be the problem. The lab is having difficulty sorting through the data in search of common markers.”
She was quiet for a long moment, her hand stroking his arm. Then she tapped a finger and sat up, his arms preventing her from rising. “I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it sooner.” She gave him a long look, and worry spread through him. What crazy idea was she plotting? He’d laugh if it wasn’t such a critical topic.
“Would it help if I gave him some of my blood?”
Not so crazy after all. He had planned on asking but then the accident and everything snowballed. He took her hand. They were small hands but not dainty. There were small scars from training and callouses from working with her dagger. But they were the most beautiful hands he’d ever seen.
“You’d do that for me?”
She snorted, but her tone was soft honey. “Of course. It’s for the cause, right? And it’s about time I understand more about who I am. And that includes my blood. What if I ended up in the hospital someday and the doctors freak about my strange blood?”
He laughed. “As long as you have your priorities. I’ll arrange for Madame Saldano to come tomorrow. She wanted to perform a last health check on Jacques.”
“I feel bad I haven’t asked about him more.”
“He’s back on full duty, but Bella has been giving him light assignments. He’s looking forward to the healer’s report to prove he’s ready for more.”
“She’s rather protective of him.”
“Hmm. Too much, I think. Anyway, the healer can take your blood while she and Remus are here on the same evening.”
“Excellent planning. Two birds, one stone sort of thing.”
“Let’s eat. Afterward, I’ve saved some sofa time with you.”
Her brow rose. “Oh, really.”
“Two birds, one…”
“Just stop. You’re too much. But I’ll make you a deal. I’ll agree to some couch time if you promise to get blood before the night’s over.”
It was such an easy request. He’d promise anything for sofa time with his thief.
The foyerof the building was typical for any middle-class home, though it was currently marred with the bodies of two vamps. Since they still had their heads, I assumed they were alive regardless of the amount of blood pooling beneath them.
Devon grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hallway—living space on the left, an office on the right, kitchen in the back. The building must have been a staff bungalow many years before. A second hallway appeared to be bedrooms, and Devon left to check and confirm no other vamps were on the first level while I moved back to the kitchen.
The door next to the pantry led down to the next level. We moved quietly and quickly until we neared the bottom and Devon held up his fist. Two voices confirmed more vamps in the basement, but there could be more.
I held my dagger in front of me as we crept down the last two steps, listening for a change in voices that could signal they were aware of our approach. Devon gave me the signal to stay put, but I shook my head. The vamps’ tone changed to whispers. Devon had taken out the upstairs guards in less than a minute, but they might have heard something unexpected.
We could wait for them to come to the stairs. The wall between the staircase and the room prevented them from seeing us but was an equal disadvantage on our side.
I tapped his shoulder and whispered directly into his ear, “Let me go first. It will confuse them.”
Based on his furrowed brows, he didn’t like it, but he eventually nodded. I held my hands behind my back, dagger still at the ready.
I stood, my black body suit not exactly attractive but still showed off some of my attributes. I did my best saunter as I cleared the last step and moved into the next room.
“Hello, boys. Since you can’t join the ball, Lorenzo thought you might like to have your own party.”
I didn’t see any more than the two vamps, who stared at me, a questioning gaze passing between them. They seemed to be wrestling between the Lorenzo they knew, who would never allow such a thing during guard duty, and the fact they were probably bored out of their mind babysitting a long-time prisoner.
