Chapter Twenty-nine
"He's still bleeding!" Abigail cried as she tossed a blood-soaked towel into a plastic tub, then grabbed a fresh one to press against one of the wounds on Gregori's back.
Angus pressed a towel against the other wound. He'd removed both daggers from Gregori's back, but they'd had no luck in stanching the flow of blood.
"Here, we try this." Kyo pushed her hand aside and slathered a paste onto the wound.
"What is it?"
"Yunnan Baiyao. Secret medicine to stop bleeding."
"What's in it?"
"If I tell you, it's not a secret!" Kyo smeared more of the paste on the second wound. "But it has some very good things in it - ginseng, myrrh, and dragon's blood."
Instead of streaming from the wounds, the blood slowed to a trickle, then finally stopped.
She collapsed on the floor beside the bed and burst into tears.
"There, lass." Angus patted her shoulder. " 'Twill be all right."
"But he's lost so much blood," she wailed.
"Aye, if comes to, he must drink several bottles."
She nodded. She'd wanted to take him to a hospital in Tokyo, but Angus had forbidden it. Couldn't risk Gregori falling into his death-sleep there, or being put into a room with sunlight.
With a groan, she hefted herself to her feet and sat on the bed next to Gregori. "Don't die on me. We've been through too much together. I don't know how to go on without you."
He lay there still unconscious.
At least Kyo's secret medicine was working. She thought back to that terrifying moment when she realized Gregori had taken the daggers meant for her. She'd clung to him on the temple steps, crying. When Angus had tried to pull her away to teleport her here, she'd actually struggled to keep hold of Gregori.
He'd finally tugged her loose while Robby had picked up Gregori. They had teleported them both to Kyo's estate.
She wasn't sure of all the details of what had happened at the compound. She knew that once Angus had brought her here, all the Vamps had returned. They seemed to be celebrating, so they must have experienced a victory. But she'd seen only about thirty soldiers at the compound. The majority of Han's army was traveling back from the Yangtze River, so they hadn't been there for the battle.
No one, other than Gregori, had been seriously hurt. Howard and Rajiv were brought back. Howard's wounds had mostly healed when he shifted back to human form.
One Vamp did not return with the others. Russell. Angus sent a search party after him when his homing device indicated he'd returned to their first base. A sleeping bag and some bottles of blood were missing, and on the floor in a small pool of blood, they'd found his tracking chip.
J.L. led the search party to the second base. It looked like Russell had been there, since his backpack was missing. J.L. and his team had gathered up everyone's belongings before returning to Kyo's estate. She had her backpack now, but no samples of the Demon Herb or the third plant.
Kyo brought her an ice chest filled with bottled blood and set it beside the bed. "If he wakes up, he must drink."
She nodded. "Thank you, Kyo."
As dawn approached, Angus came in periodically to check on Gregori. And he brought some visitors to meet her. She met Yoshi and Yuki, two of Kyo's friends, who had answered Angus's call to battle.
"I had only an hour to get an army together," Angus explained. "And I had to draw from areas that were in darkness. Luckily, we had a few volunteers from Down Under." He introduced Rick, Steve, and Bryan from Australia.
"Thank you for coming, lads," Angus said.
"No worries, mate," Rick said. "We're always looking for a good fight."
She smiled and shook hands with them. "I'm delighted to meet you. I'm Abigail Tucker."
"Oy, anyone with the name Tucker has got to be good," Steve said.
"Nice place you have here, mate." Bryan rested an arm across Kyo's shoulders. "Have you got any more of that Bleer?"
Kyo laughed. "Come with me. We find it before Yoshi and Yuki drink it all."
Rajiv and Howard dropped in to see her, and she started crying again.
"Don't cry, Miss Abby. We okay, see?" Rajiv smiled, but tears glimmered in his eyes, too. He hugged her, then quickly left, no doubt to keep from crying.
Howard patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, then lumbered from the room.
The room grew silent once more. She sat beside Gregori, and thought about how close and caring the Vamps and shifters were. They were like family.
It was a family she wanted to be a part of.
Shortly before sunrise, Angus and Robby returned to see how Gregori was doing.
"If he makes it to his death-sleep, then he'll be fine," Robby said.
"But what if he really dies?" she whispered. "How would I know the difference?"
"He would turn to dust," Angus said. "Just a few minutes to go, lass. Once he falls into death-sleep, he'll be fine."
They left the room.
"How could death-sleep make you fine?" she asked Gregori, but he just lay there.
It was hard to know exactly when the sun rose, for the thick aluminum shutters on the window blocked out all the sun. But she did notice when he stopped breathing.
"Gregori," she whispered and stroked his hair.
She pulled a blanket up to his shoulders, then lay beside him, wrapped in a comforter. Hours of fear and sheer terror had left her exhausted, so she fell into a deep sleep.
She woke when Gregori's body jolted beside her. He dragged in a deep breath. He'd been lying on his stomach, so when he sat up, he was in the middle of the bed.
She blinked. "You're all right?" She sat up, grinning. "You're all right! Oh, thank God." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
His body trembled. "Stay back." He grabbed her arms and pushed her away. His eyes glimmered an intense green. "Hungry."
"Oh, right." She probably looked like breakfast in bed. She scrambled to the ice chest and pulled out a bottle.
With a groan, his fangs shot out.
She twisted the cap off and handed him the bottle.
He guzzled it down, even though his fangs were in the way, and some of the blood trickled down his chin and neck.
She grabbed another bottle and removed the cap. He was so hungry, he didn't seem to care that the blood was ice-cold. When he tossed the empty bottle aside, she handed him the next one.
She eased around him to check his wounds. The paste was dry and flaking away.
She couldn't find the wounds.
He turned toward her. "I'll need another bottle." His fangs had retracted, so he finished off the second bottle without drizzling blood down his chin.
She handed him another one. "Are you really okay?"
"Yes. Just hungry." He drank some more.
She went to the bathroom, washed up, then brought a damp towel to clean off his back.
"You don't need to do that," he grumbled.
She ignored him and climbed onto the bed behind him to wipe off the paste. The wounds were gone. As if they had never happened.
She skimmed her hand over the smooth skin. "You're completely healed. How?"
He shrugged. "It happens during our death-sleep."
She recalled how Robby and Angus had said he would be fine if he only made it to his death-sleep. "How can such a miraculous change occur when you're dead?"
"I don't know." He drank more blood. "It's a vampire thing."
"But to have such healing abilities . . ."
"Abby, don't question it. Just be glad we're both alive."
"I'm so grateful for what you did." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him from behind. "It was very brave and noble of you."
He patted her hands. "Any time, sweetheart."
She sat back and eyed his smooth back. It was truly miraculous. "Do vampires always heal during their death-sleep?"
"Pretty much." He upended the bottle and finished it.
She scrambled off the bed and stood in front of him. "I need to study you."
With a wince, he set the empty bottle on the bedside table. "Abby, I am what I am. And you love me, right? So let's leave it alone."
"But you have miraculous healing powers. I need to know how it works. I need a sample of your blood."
He closed his eyes briefly with a pained look. "Don't ask that. Please."
"Why not?"
"You know I have a bunch of Vamps depending on me to keep them safe. If it got out that we have some kind of special blood, none of us would be safe. We would be hunted down by blood collectors and drained dry."
An odd sense of deja vu flitted through her mind. "I - I wouldn't tell anyone."
"Abby, please. I'm alive. You're alive. We're free to go home and be together. It's perfect now. Don't mess it up."
"It's not perfect! My mother could be dying! And I didn't get any of the Demon Herb or the other plant. I got only the first one, and there's no telling if it'll be of any use to me. But here - " She motioned to him. "We have living proof that you possess amazing healing capabilities. There's no way around it. I need to examine your blood."
"I can't!" He stood up. "I told you that before."
"When?"
His face paled. "Just now."
The sense of deja vu came back in full force. She rubbed her brow. What was it she was trying to remember?
"I'm . . . really dirty. I'm going to shower." He strode into the bathroom.
She stood there, her mind racing with jumbled thoughts. It's perfect now. Don't mess it up. How could she mess things up by asking for his blood? I told you that before.
The sense of deja vu jabbed at her, and she paced about the bedroom, trying to remember. She'd met him at the White House. Then there had been the date at the nightclub and the trip to DVN. No, none of that triggered any forgotten memories.
The next night she'd gone to Romatech. She'd witnessed that scene where Sean Whelan's wife had discovered he'd been messing with her head for years.
She halted. No, it couldn't be possible. Gregori would never do such a thing.
Bits and pieces came back to her. She'd almost fainted. She'd been surprised at dinner that forty-five minutes had gone by. The stress ball had appeared in her pocket without her remembering how it got there. Laszlo had come up to her, acting like he already knew her.
A shudder skittered through her body.
She'd had this conversation with Gregori before.
She walked into the bathroom. He was in the shower stall, his back to her, his back that was smooth without any sign of the wounds he'd suffered.
With a trembling hand, she opened the door.
He turned and smiled. "Want to join me?"
Tears stung her eyes. She was afraid to ask, afraid of the answer. "Did you mess with my mind? Did you erase my memory?"
His smile vanished. "Abby, don't - "
"Did you screw with my mind?"
He grimaced. "We . . . can talk about it."
"No!" She backed away. Her heart plummeted, and a wave of nausea churned her stomach. "You did it, didn't you?"
"Abby, we can talk about it." He turned off the water and stepped out. "I had no choice at the time. And it was only a few minutes."
She pressed a hand to her mouth and ran back into the bedroom.
"Abby." He followed her, dripping wet.
"How could you?" She opened her backpack. Her hands shook as she fumbled inside.
"I told you. I have people I have to protect."
"And what about my mother? I'm trying to protect her!" She found her passport, her emergency cash, and her credit card.
"Oh God." Tears tumbled down her face. She had to leave him. She couldn't stay with someone who would screw with her mind.
She swung the backpack onto her shoulder. "We just went through hell, and we didn't have to! If you had given me a sample of your blood, I might not have needed those damned plants, and we wouldn't have suffered, and I wouldn't have met that demon, and he wouldn't have threatened to make my mother worse!"
She stormed out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the foyer. When she tried to open the front door, an alarm went off. She frantically pushed buttons, trying to get the door to unlock.
"What is wrong?" Kyo asked as he rushed toward her.
She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face. "I'm going home. Can you please call me a cab?"
"Cab?" He looked confused. "Why you crying?"
"Abby!" Gregori ran downstairs, wearing a pair of jeans. "Don't leave like this. We can talk it over."
"There's nothing to say!" she yelled at him. "You don't trust me enough to give me a sample of your blood. And I can't trust you anymore!"
"The devil take it." Angus strode into the foyer, a bottle of blood in his hand. "What is everyone fashed about?"
"I need a cab." Abigail sniffed. "I'm going to the airport."
"No!" Gregori walked toward her. "We'll work this out."
She yanked on the door handle. "I want to go!"
"Miss Tucker," Angus said. "There's no record of you entering this country. If you wait, I can teleport you west. It will take a while - "
"I don't want to wait." She wiped tears from her face.
"I have private jet," Kyo suggested. "Mortal pilot."
"Ye do?" Angus asked.
Kyo nodded. "I like it. I ride in back and sleep in coffin. I don't have to wait for sun to set." He turned to Abigail. "I get you out of Japan. My jet take you to Hawaii. Then you get plane home."
"No!" Gregori shouted. "She's not leaving. We have to talk this out."
"Let her go and think things over," Angus muttered.
"Yuki is my chauffeur," Kyo said. "I have him take you to airport." He punched some buttons on the intercom, then opened the door.
"Thank you, Kyo. You've been very kind." She stepped outside.
A black Town Car drove up, and she climbed into the backseat while Kyo gave the chauffeur instructions. As Yuki drove away, more tears streamed down her face.
She was leaving Gregori. After he nearly died to save your life. She pushed that thought aside.
He'd also screwed with her mind. Erased her memory. She might not have gone on the mission if she'd found something useful in his blood. When she thought about all they'd suffered through - Gregori's wounds and Howard's torture - more tears ran down her cheeks.
He refused to give her his blood. Refused to trust her. Refused to help her mother.
But he loves you. You love him. He almost died to save your life.
No. She wouldn't think about that. She couldn't.
He might have saved her life.
But he'd broken her heart.