Page 23 of Guarding the Doctor
Closing my eyes, I tried to recall everything I’d seen as I went through the lab. Then I described seeing several windowed rooms.
“Were there people in all of them?” Cassie asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw Seth and my focus was on him until I heard someone come in. Then I got out of there.”
“Who came in that night?” Lois asked. “Xi?”
I shook my head. “No, it was a male voice I heard.”
“Describe what you noticed about Seth,” Darla asked, her hand going to my thigh underneath the table. “Every detail you can remember.”
“He said he was feeling unwell before he left for the lab and that Dr. Xi advised him to come in if he was feeling side effects. He was obviously dizzy and sweaty. I noticed that he seemed to have more arm hair and facial stubble than he normally did,” I recalled. “I thought it was just a trick of the light but when I saw him in the lab, he definitely had… fur on his arms and legs. Hispants were on his waist and hips, but the legs were in tatters. His legs were probably twice the size as they usually are.”
I paused, closing my eyes again to better concentrate. “His arms were larger too, covered in fur, but he still had human fingers, curled like he was trying to scratch something and froze there. When I looked up, his hair was longer and thicker, and part of his face was covered in fur, but the rest of it was…” I paused, willing myself not to cry. “It was still his human face. His mouth was twisted in pain, and his eyes were open wide, but he was definitely dead. He wasn’t breathing, and rigor mortis had already started.”
“We need to get into that lab,” Wanda said. “It’ll be easier to access the files from the inside.”
“I agree,” Lois said. “We’re going in. Let’s make a plan.”
“I’m going too.”
Darla
Icould feel Kathryn’s sorrow through the tenuous mate bond that connected us. Along with sorrow though, there was determination. She wanted to avenge her friend’s death. And while I didn’t blame her, I also couldn’t put her in danger.
“No,” I told her. “You are not coming with us. It’s not safe.”
We’d sketched out a plan to access Xi’s lab Sunday evening, when hopefully no one would be around. Wanda and I were going in, with Yuri on lookout. Martha and Lois would be holed up in another part of the hospital, listening on comms. But my mate still wanted to come with us.
“What if someone is injured in there?” she asked. “What if they need medical help?”
I pointed to my chest. “Trained medic, remember?”
“But --.”
“There will be no civilians on a recon mission,” Lois interrupted sharply, her voice brooking no argument. “We’re being paid to protect you. You need to stay in the safehouse with Bella and the newbie.”
I appreciated Lois assigning my sister to protect my mate. I trusted her more than anyone else. I locked eyes with Bella, and she nodded, silently promising me to protect Kathryn with her life.
“But…”
“No arguments,” I told Kathryn. “Let’s get home. It’s been a long day, and you didn’t sleep well last night.”
That caught her attention.
“How do you know I didn’t sleep well last night?” she asked.
“I could hear you tossing and turning. Vampire hearing, remember?”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I want pizza for dinner then.”
My mate was cute when she was cranky.
“You got it.”
We drove down to the safe house alone. Cassie was joining us tonight, but she’d been tasked with picking up our pizza. As soon as we hit the freeway, Kathryn turned to me.
“I want to apologize again. I shouldn’t have kissed you last night.”
