Page 104 of Betrayed in Blood
Lyra laughed and took the empty glass. “Not at all. I need to talk to Cook about a late breakfast. We’ve been up all night waiting to hear about the mission. I think a hearty meal will be in order once we’ve all rested.”
I almost made it to the second floor but missed the last step. Devon instantly lifted me into his arms and turned for my room. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head against his shoulder, unable to keep my eyes open. The juice should have restored my energy.
I lifted my head, but it fell back. “Damn her. She drugged me.” My eyes, apparently with a mind of their own, refused to stay open.
His breath was warm against my forehead. “You should have known better. She knew you dreamwalked.”
“Yeah.” My voice was sleepy. “She must have been checking on me.”
Devon sat me on the bed, and I fell back as he removed my shoes and clothing. He repositioned me on the bed so my head hit the pillow. His kiss was soft against my lips before he threw a blanket over me.
“We need to talk,” I managed to slur. We needed to settle things between us.
“Soon.”
Devon shutdown his computer and swiveled his chair to stare out at the early dawn, the sun’s rays barely touching the tips of the sycamore tree. He leaned back and closed his eyes. A blood donation had revitalized him, but there was still so much to do.
Once he’d put Cressa to bed, he checked on Simone, who was still unresponsive. He stopped by Rachel’s room next, where he found Elijah.
“I just wanted to check on her.”
Elijah rubbed his face, and his eyes were shadowed. “She was overly feisty and refused to settle down.” If Devon had to guess—and based on his own experience with the vampires in his Family—Elijah was probably as irritated as he was proud of his beta. “I had to call in Remus. Then I asked the healer to give her a sleeping potion.”
Devon chuckled. “She’s not one to typically give a sleeping potion to someone who simply refuses to rest.”
Elijah’s smile was slow. “She changed her mind after Rachel scratched her.”
“That would do it. Let me know if you need anything. And thank you again for your help.”
“I’ll remember that if my pack ever needs a hand.”
Devon shook his hand. “Any time.”
When he returned to his office and met with the blood donor, he checked on other Family business. After finding nothing that couldn’t wait, he took a moment for himself. He must have nodded off because the knock startled him.
“Do you need more time?” Sergi asked.
“No. Just resting.” Devon turned back to the office.
Sergi dropped into his usual chair and shuffled through the folder of paperwork. “I’ve taken a quick glance over the files Harlow pulled from Underwood’s mansion. I need to read them more thoroughly, and I haven’t opened the computer or tablets we confiscated, but I think we’ll have enough to tie Underwood, April, and Jasper to Venizi.” He lifted his gaze to Devon’s. “I did check the phones, one of which was a burner. We have the Rasmussen texts that were sent to Cressa.”
“As we expected. At least that’s one issue resolved.”
“I’m curious why they delayed so long between responses.” Sergi sat back and rubbed his chin. “The best I can come up with was that they were running Cressa’s responses through Venizi.”
Devon walked to the espresso machine. “That makes sense. Do you want one?”
“Please.”
A knock on the door brought the rest of the cadre. Once Devon returned to his chair and took a sip of the espresso, he nodded to Lucas to begin the reports.
“Everyone on the mission has received another blood donation.” Lucas opened his tablet and reviewed it. “We only have a handful of donors who can donate in an emergency until the others have rested.”
“What about for Simone?” he asked.
Lucas shook his head. “Michael gave her some blood, and Madame Saldano said that was sufficient for now. She wants to see how her potions do before any more blood is given.”
“I’m not expecting any more raids unless Venizi has another surprise for us. I doubt anyone had time to contact him once the fighting started, but either way, he’ll need to regroup. If we need blood, we can ask our human staff for small donations. See that Madame Saldano provides elixirs for the donors to help rebuild their blood. And no work for them, even if they feel up to it.”
