Black Magic Rose (12 page)

The man on the floor with Osgar growled. “Get off me!” His deep voice held an almost demonic tone.
 

Osgar wrapped a length of chain around the man’s neck, across his chest, and around his knees. “Damn that burns.” He stood up and blew on the palm of his hand. Blisters oozed and the skin peeled.
 

A pair of gloves flew over the desk. “Use these,” Betty yelled from her cubby.

“Thanks, Betty.” Osgar grimaced and slid the gloves on.
 

“What’s your name?” Sofia asked the patient on the floor beside her.
 

“Ollie.” He managed to answer. His teeth chattered and his body shook. “What’s wrong with me?” Sweat poured down his face and neck. His short salt-and-pepper hair matted to his head.
 

“I don’t know.” Sofia wiped her sleeve across his face. “I’ll get a nurse.”
 

“No. Don’t leave me.” He glanced back at Sofia. The pupils of his wide brown eyes constricted to pinpricks. The fear in his voice frightened Sofia. He was a big, rugged man, yet his voice cracked and his jaw quivered.
 

“I won’t.” She reached up for a towel and settled back behind him, dabbing his face and neck. “What happened to all of you?”
 

“We were taking a break out behind the barn. Two wolves came—” His teeth chattered, and he groaned when his body jerked into a giant cramp.
 

Sofia rubbed his arm. He tensed with such force she couldn’t comfort him.
 

The spasm lasted about half a minute, though it seemed like an hour. When it ended Ollie gasped and choked. Sofia worked her fingers under the chain around his neck, trying to wiggle a little breathing room for him.
 

“I ain’t seen a pack of wolves around in twenty years.” He coughed. “Water. Can you give me a drink?”

“Yes, of course.” Sofia grabbed a cup from the counter around the tiny sink behind them. She cradled Ollie’s head as she held the cup for him. Just a few sips were all he took. “Were you bitten?”

“Yeah. All of us.” He closed his eyes. “I didn’t think rabies took hold so fast.” He panted.
 

Poor guy. Even Sofia knew they didn’t have rabies. This was something far worse and with no known cure or vaccination.
 

She wet the towel in her hand with the remaining water and pressed it to his forehead.

Convulsions gripped him again, only this time, they didn’t let up. He remained cramped for several minutes at a time, getting only a few seconds of relief between each attack. His eyes remained wide. His breathing stopped and started in short fits. Sofia rested her hand on his chest. His heart pounded so fast she thought he might have a heart attack.

“Janet! Janet!” Sofia yelled, not willing to leave Ollie alone to suffer.
 

Ollie screamed a low guttural roar. His body contorted, head twisting back to stare at her, a look of raw terror. He curled back his lips and his face changed. His body thrashed against the chains that bound him. Right in front of her Sofia watched him begin to morph into a wolf.
 

Trapped in the damn little room, she scooted as far away as possible.
 

Ollie’s body stiffened, veins bulging in his neck, muscles constricting over bone. He howled. The chains around his feet came loose, and he jerked into a seated position, spinning toward Sofia, eyes fixed on her. He twisted his body, wriggling his shoulders and banging his hands back and forth against the chains until the metal slid down his chest.
 

His head jerked back and he howled at the ceiling. When he lowered his chin and his gaze returned to Sofia’s, his face was anything but human. His jaw had elongated to a snout. Fur covered his face. And drool dripped from his snapping jaws. He lurched forward.
 

Chapter Eleven

“Again, on your ass.” Dragomir yanked Ollie from the room, securing the silver chain around him and clamping a padlock into place. The noises Ollie made alternated between grunts and bloodcurdling screams. “Osgar, take this one.”
 

Osgar and Jamieson gathered the new werewolf onto a stretcher and wheeled him into the elevator.
 

Dragomir helped Sofia to her feet.
 

“For your information, I put myself on the floor to help
him
.” She pointed toward the elevator. “Ollie.” Her eyes filled and she turned away. “He was afraid,” she whispered.
 

“Naturally.” Dragomir tossed his gloves onto the stretcher and retrieved her shoe from underneath, holding it for her to slip into. “The idea is to stay off your ass and keep your shoes on your feet. You never know when you’re going to need them.” He stepped aside to allow Sofia to pass. “Did you practice?”

She swiped at her cheeks then squared her shoulders and stepped from the room, looking both ways like she was preparing to cross a street. “Yes. All day on the wolves.” She straightened her blouse and dusted off her pants. Half her hair fell around her shoulders with the rest still trapped in a very loose bunch at her neck. She tugged the fastener free and let the rest fall in black waves sending that floral scent wafting.
 

Dragomir quietly inhaled.
Lilacs? No. Berries—yes. But what is that damn flower?

“Though it didn’t require much effort today.” She looked around, eyes wide, head shaking.
 

The Emergency Room was quiet, and though it didn’t appear to be able to handle more patients any time soon, Dragomir was certain they’d see another round like this one before dawn.
 

“I imagine not. Jankin has asked that you attend the debriefing on this afternoon’s events.” Dragomir motioned toward the open elevator where Ollie lay on a stretcher flanked by Osgar and Jamieson.
 

Sofia sighed. Dragomir knew she’d only been asked to attend one other meeting. That was her first introduction to The Board. And she’d been very clear about never wanting to be invited again. Dragomir understood how meeting with them wasn’t the most relaxing or welcoming experience.
 

They didn’t trust anyone until you’d proven your loyalty and even then they reserved judgment for a few hundred years. Then there was the little issue of the power contained in the room when they were all assembled.

It didn’t bother Dragomir and never had. By the time he’d attended his first meeting with The Board, he’d been a master for several hundred years and was closely aligned with Jankin, thus they accepted him fairly quickly. He’d heard newer, weaker vampires describe it like being forced to sit in a high voltage room with live wires sparking.
 

Dragomir nudged her forward.
 

“I thought we had other things to practice tonight.” She stepped into the elevator.
 

“We do.” Dragomir pressed the button marked “LL” and down they went.
 

“Hmm. So you’d rather spend a night alone with the dead guy than go to a board meeting. Interesting,” Osgar commented, staring straight ahead.
 

Sofia tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Be quiet.” She glanced at the wolf strapped to the gurney. He twisted and howled. Sofia flinched and her breath caught.
 

“Don’t worry, Sofia. He can’t get loose.” Jamieson yanked a strap.
 

She nodded. “I know.” Her words were merely a breathy acknowledgement, barely concealing her emotions.
 

Still in the throes of changing, Ollie’s face was partially morphed and his hands and feet had turned to claws. In a few hours he’d be a fully developed werewolf with little to no self-control and more than slightly terrifying.
 

Sofia reached over and rubbed his arm. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Ollie.” Then she swiped her sleeve across his sweaty brow.
 

“Sofia, once he gets through tonight it will get easier,” Osgar explained, handing her a handkerchief.
 

She nodded and dabbed Ollie’s forehead.
 

“I gave that to you for these.” Osgar brushed his fingers over her cheek and wiped away the tears running from her eyes.
 

Dragomir clenched his jaw. He shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from removing Osgar’s hand and not just from Sofia’s face. The sudden desire to rip Osgar’s arm from his shoulder was almost too much to bear.
 

Sofia wiped the back of her hand over her cheeks. “It’s awful, isn’t it?”
 

“The first change is always the worst. They fight it. It’s instinct and fear, but once he’s done it and found he’ll live through it, he’ll be able to do it faster and with less pain.” Osgar patted Ollie’s back.
 

Dragomir had seen hundreds of humans change, knew it hurt, but never thought much of it. It was part of the process, like becoming a vampire, which hurt like hell and lasted longer than the wolf transformation. This guy would be physically fine in a few hours. Vampires took a full twenty-four hours to change, and if you’d been bitten just before dawn it could take another eight to twelve hours depending on the time of year. New vampires always rose in the dark.
 

Would Sofia have shown this much concern for a “dead guy?”
 

Before the elevator doors opened to reveal an awaiting medical crew, Osgar and Jamieson began chanting. The low hum was meant to calm and guide a wolf through the transformation. Janet, Meg, and Dr. O’Rourke’s voices filtered into the elevator, and the five wolves escorted Ollie down the hall to the room where he’d spend the rest of the night and most of the next couple weeks.
 

“This way.” Dragomir motioned for Sofia to take a right out of the elevator. He knew the moment she felt The Board. Her back stiffened and her pace slowed like a prisoner walking those last steps to the guillotine. He placed his hand on the small of her back. “It shouldn’t be a long meeting.”
 

At least it wouldn’t be, if they didn’t get sidetracked again. Lately, board meetings seemed to run amuck with members bickering over foolish points and aligning based on history and old wounds being reopened. Jankin had long tried to run this branch as a democracy, but the truth about vampires and werewolves was they required a dictator to tell them what would be done. Someone had to be the supreme master, super alpha, or everyone fought for control.
 

Jankin hadn’t risen to this position by playing childish games. He’d come into power driven by an almost consuming need to destroy Bas Dubh. But Dragomir no longer knew if Jankin wanted to destroy the rebels because he believed in a higher, more important cause, or if he sought only to protect the woman he believed to be his heir.
 

Sofia turned her head toward Dragomir. Her green eyes were wider than before and a crease formed above her nose. She took a deep breath as though to steady herself and nodded before stepping into the room.
 

The entire Board had assembled, all thirteen members. This was a change from the typical sixty to seventy percent attendance rate. A debate was in full swing. Commodus stood at one end of the giant table banging his fist on the mahogany as he yelled, “We can wait no longer! We must advance.”

Seamus argued, “We are not prepared. We need more time. Our allies have not sent enough support. Our brethren from the British Isles have pledged warriors. We need them.” He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Behind him his second in command snickered. The other wolves around the table knocked on the wood and a few echoed his sentiments.

“Bah! Our newest recruits are nearly ready. They can go to battle now. Let them learn in real war.” Commodus pointed at a woman seated at the far end of the table. “Josette, too long silent on this issue. What say you?”

The ravishing blond very slowly blinked heavily mascaraed eyelids and turned her head in equally as slow a manner until she’d locked gazes with Commodus. Her crystal blue eyes nearly glowed. “I see no point in rushing. Again Commodus, you’d have our fledglings and pups die unnecessarily.” Her voice coated the room like soft, plush velvet.
 

Knowing Josette’s approach better than most, Dragomir prepared for what was next. He’d always admired her way of handling Commodus. She was forever one of a select few to convince him of rational thought. Though she looked the part of the lady, her technique was all warrior. Dragomir tensed his own energy, wrapping it around Sofia and himself, then he watched.

Josette’s slight smile never wavered, but her power shot toward Commodus like a whip being cracked at the back of a slave.
 

Commodus bristled. He stood straight, head tilted toward the ceiling, but gray eyes focused on Josette, a sly grin on his lips. “Ever the voice of reason, sister.” He bowed his head. “I acquiesce to your perspective.”
With as much grace as any master could display after having tasted another’s power, Commodus backed to his seat, quiet until his next opportunity for an argument.
 

Tonight’s display was more effective than usual, and obviously designed to influence the rest of the room. Have finished with Commodus, Josette turned her power on the other masters, testing each one. Though most were prepared for her approach, one by one the leaders not focused on her discussion with Commodus flinched or glanced at Josette with an irritated expression.