Page 14 of The Hawk and the Nightingale

“What?” Amalie asked, since he obviously wanted to say something.

“I was going to suggest calling the nurse in, but something tells me she won’t be much help.”

Despite everything, Amalie smiled. “You’re very kind,” she said, as she placed her hand on his jaw. He hadn’t shaved that morning, and she liked the feel of his stubble. “And you’re right, we are beyond what help mortal doctors can offer. I will heal Iveta myself.”

“How?”

Amalie went to the medical cabinet, and found a scalpel. “With my blood.”

Chapter Ten

Hawk - Prague, Present Day

Hawk looked on in mingled horror and fascination as Amalie sliced her wrist open with the razor sharp scalpel, and pressed the dripping wound to Iveta’s mouth. “Come, darling,” Amalie murmured. “Drink for me. You need your strength.”

“Your blood heals?” Hawk asked.

“It does,” Amalie replied. “It can heal my kind, and yours as well.” Iveta, roused by the blood, licked at Amalie’s wrist, then she bit into the wound. Amalie swayed on her feet, and grabbed the wall with her free hand for support. Hawk rolled over a nearby chair and helped Amalie sit.

“What does this healing cost you?” he asked.

“I’ll be weak for a time, but it will be worth it.” Amalie withdrew her wrist from Iveta’s mouth, and Hawk was ready with a roll of gauze to bind her wound. “If we’re to face Marek, I’ll need Iveta at her full strength.”

“What else will you need?” Hawk asked as he bandaged Amalie’s wrist. Once that was done, he dampened what was left of the gauze and cleaned Iveta’s face.

“Need?” Amalie repeated. “An army, perhaps?”

“How can I help you?” Hawk amended. “Right now, what can I do for you?”

“I’ll be fine.” Amalie stood, only to lose her balance and steady herself against Hawk’s chest. “Just give me a moment.”

He scooped Amalie into his arms, and laid her on the cot next to Iveta. “Take all the time you need,” he said, as he pulled a blanket over both of them. By the time he straightened up, Amalie had curled up on her side and fallen asleep.

He watched her for a moment, counting the heartbeats it took for her chest to rise and fall, and marveled at this new, protective urge he felt. Hawk had always been a caretaker, that much was true, but those he looked after tended to be his employees, or his customers. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this way toward a single person. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had a non-business partner in anything but the most basic sense, yet here was Amalie.

A week ago he hadn’t known her name. Now, he couldn’t imagine what he would do if she was taken from him.

Hawk shook his head to clear it, then he left the infirmary. He debated locking the door, but he didn’t know how long it would be until Amalie and Iveta woke, or how they would react to being trapped in such a small space. He also didn’t know how his staff would react to the news of two vampires asleep in the back room. Then again, his staff had seen some crazy shit in the clubs he ran. And if Marek’s forces tracked Amalie here, they would need to know the truth.

“There you are,” Peter, the club’s manager, said to Hawk as he jogged over to him. “I’ve been trying to call you all day.”

“Sorry,” Hawk began, but Peter waved it away.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got all good news, boss—what they’re calling a gas line explosion a few blocks over clearly wasn’t,” he continued. “I don’t know what happened to the glass shop, but there’s no danger to the club. We can remain open as usual.”

“That’s great,” Hawk said. “We need to close down.”

“Excuse me?” Peter said. “Has something happened?”

“What hasn’t happened?” Hawk countered. “Amalie, the owner of the glass shop? Her ex-husband is the one who destroyed it. She and her assistant are in our infirmary, and I fear the madman might come after her.”

“If the ex-husband is a threat, then we will keep him out,” Peter said. His mind worked lightning fast, and he’d never met a problem he couldn’t beat. It was why Hawk paid him a small fortune to keep his businesses running, and Peter was worth every koruna. “Any idea when this guy might be coming by?”

“After dark,” Hawk replied. “Also, he’s a vampire, as are Amalie and Iveta.”

Peter blew out a breath. “Of course they are. Having to protect regular people would be boring, right?”

“If there’s anything we don’t do, it’s boring,” Hawk said. “Ideas?”

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