A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)

“Oh, now I feel relieved,” I muttered sarcastically as I followed them up the stairs.

I was in for a long evening, and there wasn’t much I could do about it, other than bite my fist and keep my uneasiness to myself. We had a mission to go through with. Innocent people to find before it was too late.





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





We reached Azure Heights and followed Darius on his horse all the way up to the second level, where a large white building sprawled, with square, shuttered windows. Six Mara females in pale blue dresses and white head covers came out.

“This is our infirmary,” Darius said as he got off his horse.

The Mara nurses rushed over to us, and helped get our wounded off first, carrying them inside. We followed them, except for Hansa, who stopped in the doorway and frowned.

“I’ll go get the others,” she said, then ran back to her horse and rode up to the Broken Bow Inn.

We reached the first room, which held several beds and medicine cabinets. Clean bowls and stacks of white bandage rolls cluttered a table in the corner. The nurses went to work fast, and Scarlett and I took out all the healing pellets and additional herbs we’d stuffed into the pouches on our leather belts.

“These are healing packs we brought with us,” I said, handing mine over to one nurse, while the other took Scarlett’s.

“Thank you,” the nurse said, and put them all inside a bowl. The other mirrored her movements with interesting precision.

The Iman girl was breathing heavily, lying on one of the beds and white as a sheet of paper where she wasn’t covered in blood. One nurse cut her ragged clothes off, motioning to Jax and Darius to take a few steps back. Another nurse helped Patrik out of his shirt before she helped him climb onto another bed. She used a knife to cut open his pants, revealing a deep cut on his thigh, about eight inches long and two inches wide.

The nurses with the bowls cut into their palms and squeezed them over the mixture of herbs and pellets, crushing and mixing with their bare hands, while two other nurses used wet cloths to clean out Patrik and the Iman girl’s deep wounds.

“The girl is in terrible condition. We need more,” one nurse told the other.

Jax took out more pellets and herbs from his belt pouches, and handed them over. The nurses nodded and added them to one of the bowls. One of them started applying the resulting paste to Patrik’s chest and thigh wounds, filling the gashes and spreading some around the wounds as well.

Scarlett and I watched quietly, holding our breaths, while Jax and Darius kept to the side. It took the nurses a couple of minutes more to prep the Iman girl for the same treatment.

“More blood,” one nurse said as she continued mixing the healing paste in front of the Iman girl. Her colleague nodded and cut deeper into her palm, pouring more blood into the mixture.

“Will she live?” Jax asked.

“It’s too early to tell,” one of the nurses replied, “but we’ll do our best.”





Scarlett





(Daughter of Jeramiah & Pippa)





My heart thudded in my chest. I was unable to take my eyes off Patrik, as one of the nurses treated his wounds with that paste made from our healing herbs and their Mara blood, which had similar properties.

My stomach twisted itself up in painful knots. I moved closer to his bedside, until I stood right next to him. He looked up through half-mast eyes, and I held my breath again.

“He’ll be okay,” the nurse said, noticing the concern on my face.

“You heard that… I’ll be okay,” Patrik mumbled, then brushed his knuckles against my forearm before he passed out.

“Patrik!” I called out, my skin still tingling from his touch.

“Shush,” the nurse whispered as she bandaged his treated wounds. “Let him rest, milady…”

“But he’s passed out,” I replied.

“He’ll be okay, trust me,” she said gently, giving me a reassuring smile. “His pulse is steady, his breathing is even. He’s just lost some blood and he needs to rest, that’s all.”

I didn’t budge. I didn’t want to leave his side. I’d seen him get hurt, but I hadn’t been able to immediately go to him because I’d been busy keeping those shadows away from the Iman girl.

“Your blood heals.” Harper stated something we’d already learned from Jax, but had never seen in action.

“Our blood, our saliva, yes,” Patrik’s nurse said. “It can’t save lives, I’m afraid, but it helps with physical wounds. It isn’t enough to cure these cuts fast enough on its own, however, which is why we’re grateful you packed your own healing supplies. I realized this the moment I saw the Iman girl, the poor soul… It’s a miracle she’s still breathing…”

“How long before you can tell us if the girl will live or not?” Jax asked, his expression firm and his eyes cold. I couldn’t exactly fault him for it. We’d nearly gotten ourselves killed to save her. And chances were she had answers to our many questions about the Valley of Screams.

One of the nurses glanced at Darius, who stood behind Jax, by the doorway. Caspian had joined him. I hadn’t even seen him coming, and, judging by the surprised look on Harper’s face, neither had she.

“Probably at some point tomorrow, provided she wakes up,” the nurse by the girl’s bedside said.

Hansa came in, accompanied by Heron, Blaze, Fiona, Avril, and Caia. They were all quiet, taking the whole scene in, one individual at a time.

“You’re hurt,” another nurse said, noticing Harper holding her side, blood dripping through her fingers.

“I’m fine.” Harper shook her head, glaring at Caspian and Darius.

Of the two Lords present, Caspian was the furious one. Darius, on the other hand, looked worried, his gaze fixed on the Iman girl.

“Shut up and let the nurse look after you,” Hansa barked.

Harper nodded, unzipping the top of her combat gear as the nurse came to her with a bowl of water and cloths. She set both aside on a stool, then helped Harper free her arms, revealing her black sports bra and the rest of her bare torso, including the cut across her right ribs. It looked painful and deep.

The nurse frowned, then proceeded to clean her wound.

“One of the creatures did that?” Darius sighed.

“Yeah, so where were you when this was happening? I wasn’t quite happy with your earlier response,” Harper shot back, visibly annoyed.

Caspian scoffed, his darkened jade glare settled on her ribs. “He was being smart and keeping his distance, unlike you all,” he muttered. “You needed to be heroes for an Iman girl. Look what it got you.”

Harper opened her mouth, but Hansa beat her to it.

“It’s what we do!” the succubus growled. “We help people! We don’t cower in our safe spaces up a mountain, while hundreds die because of… of whatever those things were! That’s our job—that’s our mission! We know what we’re getting ourselves into!”

“Do you?” Caspian shot back, raising a mocking eyebrow.