As we passed through a hallway, a doctor in a white coat with a deep frown stalked up to the procession. “What’s going on—”
“No,” I said, putting my will behind it.
The doctor blinked, his eyes glazing over, and he abruptly turned around and walked back in the direction he’d come from.
Rupert eyed the man, his eyebrows crawling up his forehead.
“Do you have something to say?” I asked him.
“No sir,” Rupert said. I must have unconsciously been still using some of my command because he blurted out, “I was just thinking the Second Knight was wise to warn you it wouldn’t help to daze the entire hospital.” He snapped his mouth shut and sucked his neck in when he glanced at me.
I shrugged. “As long as they fix her.”
Rupert was silent for a few steps. “They will,” he said, his voice confident in a way I wished I felt. “Vampire slayers are among the toughest of humans, and she was designed and trained to deal with blood loss. With the right medical care, she’ll be fine.”
Thinking of the way Gisila’s eyes had lingered on Jade’s revealed face, I shook my head. “I’m not so certain of that.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Jade
Iwoke up slowly, sensory details slipping through the fog that clouded my mind.
There was a pinching sensation on my fingers, the air smelled funny—both sterile and kind of sour—and the sheets of the bed I was in were rough on my skin.
This isn’t my bed. And I’m definitely not in my apartment.
I tried to open my eyes, but they felt heavy. My body in general felt heavy—as if a troll was sitting on me.
Something—or someone—shifted, and I heard the creak of a plastic chair. I finally peeled my eyes open and stared up at a tiled ceiling.
I’m in the hospital.
The room was dark—the only lights came from the display unit of the probe attached to me and a slice of florescent light that pried its way in through the cracked door.
I’d been in the hospital my fair share of times. This one was nicer than any I’d been to before. There was a big window that overlooked a parking lot, a big TV screen, and even a few framed paintings hung on the standard beige-y walls.
I managed to twitch my fingers, and I recognized the clip clamped over my finger as a probe that measured my vitals. I was stuck in a flimsy hospital gown without a single weapon on my person.
How did I get here?
At least, I was feeling a lot better than I did when I passed out. The lightheadedness, the ringing in my ears, and the general head pain were completely gone.
I managed to roll my eyes to the side with a great deal of effort, surprised to see Connor sitting in a plastic chair scooted close to my bedside. He stared blankly across the dark room looking at the still darkened sky. His dark hair didn’t have its usual tousled look—it almost seemed flattened, like he’d been wearing a hood—and he was wearing uncharacteristically dark clothes.
He lowered his gaze, and when his dark red eyes met mine, he surged out of his seat. “Jade?”
“Hey, Connor.” My voice sounded as rough as I felt. I struggled, trying to turn on my side.
“Take it easy,” Connor said, his voice low and silky. “The doctors said you’ll be fine—you have a concussion and the gunshot wound needed surgery, but your healing powers have kicked in and I’ve been administering high grade fae potions, so you’re healing up, fast.”
That’s right… I got shot. And I fell off that ladder. No wonder I don’t feel great.
“Thanks.” I held in a groan as I tried to adjust my body—my brain was so fuzzy it felt furry, even though I was gradually waking up. “Did you bring me in?”
Connor took several seconds to reply. “Yes.”
“Thank you,” I said.
He shrugged.
“I mean it—thank you,” I repeated. “I remember being in my apartment, but that’s it. If I’d stayed alone and passed out, things would have gotten ugly. I was trying to get to my potion stash…” I trailed off as my brain finally started to kick in.
Wait…how did Connor know I could safely take a high grade fae potion? Those aren’t safe for non-magical humans to consume.
I craned my neck to peer at Connor again. Maybe my eyes finally sharpened or maybe my brain was operating at a more normal level, but I recognized the dark shirt he was wearing and more specifically I could feel the spark of fae magic that radiated from the spelled hood.
“Considine,” I said, the name dropping from my lips before I could think. “You’re…Connor is Considine?”
Connor—Considine—raised both eyebrows and a slight smile that I hated because it was unfamiliar on Connor’s face twitched across his lips. “You figured out who Ruin was? Impressive.”
Maybe it had been impressive at the time, but now it was dangerous.
I was in a hospital room, alone, with the Considine Maledictus. Did my team even know where I was? Did anyone know I was here?
I might die.
I’d been getting along with Ruin at night, but he didn’t know I knew he was Considine. There was no telling how he’d react to me knowing who he was—there was no telling how much Connor and Ruin had been a lie.
I’m an idiot—I should have told my family the second I figured his identity out, and now I could possibly die because of it.
Or… would I?
Why had Considine Maledictus brought me to the hospital?
Considine folded his arms across his chest as he stared down at me. “What, no threats or cursing me now that you know my secret identity?” He smirked—it was the same one he’d given me as Connor whenever we shared a joke and I used to like it, but now it felt like a lie.
There were a million things I wanted to know and most of them probably weren’t safe to ask. But… I didn’t get it. He obviously knew Jade O’Neil was the slayer he fought at night.
“Why?” I asked, the word coming out as a croak.
“Which why?” He asked, a mocking tone to his voice that was very foreign matched with Connor’s face.
I shut my eyes and pushed my head back into the pillow, misery knifing through me.
More than the concussion—more than the gunshot wound—my heart ached. I’d counted Connor as a true friend—a rare friend. And it had been a lie.
It’s a wonder he didn’t break a rib holding in laughter every day we hung out.
My eyes burned with tears I refused to shed—that would really make Considine Maledictus laugh.
“I saw you were wounded in the fight.” The smugness was gone from Considine’s voice, and when I opened my eyes again he was staring outside. “You didn’t know it, but backup pulled up shortly after you left—it’s why Gisila didn’t follow you. When you didn’t circle back to join with your team… I knew it would be bad. So, I followed you back to your place.” He pulled his eyes away from the window and glanced around the room. “Then brought you here.”