ENTANGLED (17 page)

They didn’t.

He gave me a goofy grin and the polar cap heart inside me melted a fraction more. “You came.”

I shrugged, trying for nonchalance. “This was the lesser of two evils.”

He grabbed a nearby guitar and held it up like a peace offering. “Want to hear the song I’m working on?”

At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to feel Rad’s music ripple across my skin. I moved closer to pick up the smell of warm, human male. It was there and so was that look in his eyes. Hunger, passion, desire.

Peace offerings. More dangerous than a wooden stake any day. “Yeah,” I said, wild human emotion clogging my throat. “I’d love to.”

Misty is the multipublished, award-winning author of the Witches Anonymous and Super Agent series. In her teens, she lost an aunt to breast cancer and recently had a childhood friend go through a double mastectomy. While working in public health, Misty managed a breast and cervical cancer screening program for uninsured women, and is a strong advocate of early screening and self-breast exams. For more information about Misty and her books, including the upcoming release of Revenge Is Sweet, the first novel in her Kali Sweet Series, visit
www.readmistyevans.com
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Act natural. Act natural
. The mantra repeated inside Sian Tallant's mind. It might have rattled on endlessly for all the attention she paid to it. How could you act natural if you focused on
being
natural?

Besides there was nothing natural about what she was doing today.

The security gates to the blood processing warehouse loomed ahead. She had a two-week contract living and working down here with two more horrible days left to get through. Not that she'd be here to finish it off if things went according to plan.

At over 300 feet below the surface, the temperature was warmer than she'd expected. Ideal for the blood donors, though. She stifled a sob. Poor Taz.

The stone-faced guard watched her approach. She swallowed. Hard. Her fingers clenched on the small purse jammed into her lab coat pocket. She'd never been checked... yet. Straightening her spine, she gave the oversized, black suited vampire a brief smile. Cold and assessing, his narrowed gaze stared at her as she passed. Her back crawled until she turned the corner out of range of those frigid eyes. She shuddered. These past weeks, her nerves had gone from a controlled calm to a
she-was-being-watched-every-moment-of-the-day
edginess. If anyone found out what this group was doing, well...it would be bad...for everyone.

Coming here had been risky. Yet, she'd had no choice. Taz had to be saved.

Sian strode down the pristine white hallway. White tiles on the floor. White tiles on the ceiling. White paint on the cement walls. She winced. The color failed to put an innocent spin on the dark activity going on inside.

Crossing to the second hallway, she checked her watch. On time, as usual. Good. Everything had to appear normal. Everything. Descending to the last heavy metal door, where the carved stone walls started, Sian steeled herself for what was to come. With a deep breath, she tugged it open and stepped through. The smell assailed her first. Warm, metallic with a faint antiseptic overtone. She hated it. Despised her fellow vampires for creating this nightmare but had no way to change it. Not today. Not alone. The operation was too damn big.

The offices lined the far side of the cavernous room. In the second one, at the far left, her desk waited for her, groaning under the waiting stack of lab reports. The other desks were empty. Shit. Rounds had started without her. Picking up a pad of paper, she grabbed her pen, then hurried out to catch up to her coworkers. Walking through the rows of hanging bodies to where the group had started discussions, she avoided looking at the many faces staring down at her. So much pain. So much loss. Human loss. Vampire gain.

It was almost over. Thank God.

As she caught up to the others, the team leader, Dr. Magnus, was saying, "We need to increase the dose for #376. His vitals are holding, but his last series of tests came out deficient again. It's the second time we've tried to correct this. We'll give it one more attempt. If that doesn't work, we'll move him to the medical center and make a final decision then."

A shudder whispered down Sian's back. Since when had 'make a final decision’ become a euphemism for pulling the plug permanently and killing a man? Keeping her gaze on her clipboard, Sian refused to let her eyes reach #376's face. She'd made that mistake on her first day. She'd been naive enough to think that studying, memorizing the human suffering would help her get these people out. Instead, those faces, twisted under their plastic casing, permanently haunted her psyche. Realizing the enormity of the problem had grounded her in reality.

She'd come for one person. Not thousands. She couldn't help all of them. Not right now. Later. Oh, yes. Later.

The team moved ahead of her, discussing various cases. Sian followed. Tubes moved in and through each of the sealed units, carrying nutrients in and wastes out. Small computerized units determined the correct amounts each person needed and kept detailed records of the outgoing waste.

Her scientific mind could appreciate the simplicity of the system. That the group who'd been cruel enough and evil enough to put the system in place, and to pull the necessary supply together were her own people, astounded and horrified her. Acceptance would never happen.

Vampire and human relations had come a long way. Societies lived apart. Treaties governed all economic and social behavior between the two. Mixed relationships were a sticking point, frowned on by both sides. Obviously not everyone was on board. This...manufacturing system only went to show how much her people had learned from those they secretly considered cattle.

Bastards.

Sian finished rounds with her teammates laughing and making Halloween jokes around her. She hadn't forgotten what day it was. And didn’t need the reminder that it wouldn’t be the intimate celebration she'd originally planned. She kept a smile on her face, even managing to come up with a small laugh of her own, while her heart ached. Checking the time, she excused herself and headed back to her piled high desk. The lab reports needed to be checked, cases needed to be flagged and notes needed to be added. In other words, everything had to stay normal. For a little while longer. Her gaze landed on the photo on her desk. Taz, his back turned to the camera, held her in a close embrace. Had it really been taken at his birthday party barely over a month ago?

Soon. Bending her head, she tried to refocus on the stack of reports. And failed miserably. Anytime now, the first stage would begin. She rubbed her sweaty hands on her lab coat. Her nails itched to lengthen, the tips vibrating as instinct told her to stay alert, wary. She'd done them in a deep golden color before coming here. For Taz. It was his favorite color to match his favorite saying, "Pure gold, just like you."

"Sian. Can I get your help back here, please?"

Shit. Her shoulders hunched. Anytime had become
now
. She was
not
ready for this.

Spinning around, Sian saw Dr. Harvard waiting at the back door. Nervous, yet knowing he couldn't have any idea of her plans, she closed the file in front of her. The acids in her stomach awakened. "On my way." Brushing her hair back, she pulled the mother-of-pearl hair clip out of her pocket and swept her hair up out of the way. The delay didn't help settle her nerves at all.

Please let this work.

Her stomach acids sizzled as she approached the door. With several steps to go, her nostrils flared. Death. Disease. Body fluids. Walking into the room, she could hardly see what the problem was for the staff crowding around a single bed.

Please let it not be. Not yet. It was too early. Her heart swelling against pain to come, Sian worked her way to the front of the crowd. Taz lay on the bed, his plastic casing open, his stunningly muscled body nude for everyone to gawk at. She reached out to see if he was alive when her arm was grabbed from behind.

"Don't touch. We don't know what's wrong with him." Dr. Lawrence dropped her arm to stare down at the barely alive man. "He's new. Just over four weeks. His vitals are off. Blood count is low, dangerously low, and he's not breathing properly. Whole system failure in progress."

Sian gulped, closing her eyes briefly. Surely Taz was big enough for the dose of medication she'd given him. That had always been her comfort. Big, uber healthy Taz. Indomitable Taz, brought low by a predator he hadn't seen coming.

Please let the dose be right. Her heart seized. She loved this man with everything she had. To think she might have inadvertently killed him through the act of trying to save him was too much.

"Hey, are you alright. You look a little pale."

Her eyelids popped open. Pale? She was a fucking vampire. Dead people wore her color every day of the year. She bit back her scathing comment. Normal. Everything had to remain normal. Mustering what little control she could, she said to the woman who'd spoken at her side, "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Have you feasted this morning? I know you've been working hard helping us out. As much as I need you here, I can't have you end up as a patient causing us more work. Go. Get a snack." Dr. Harvard nudged her shoulder.

Stumbling backward slightly, Sian breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't help Taz at this point. Nor could she stand there silent while they worked on him.

Heading back to her desk, she opened one of her sister's platelet bars. Sian always kept a dozen or so on hand. She'd brought three times that many here. The thought of where the blood offered freely in the downstairs lunchroom came from turned her stomach. Those poor people.

Washing her hands afterward, she sneaked back inside the medical center. Two steps inside, she halted. Her snack threatened to revolt. Taz had been moved to a gurney. Dr. Lawrence pulled the sheet up over Taz's head and dropped it.

Sian's heart stopped. She stared down at the still form.

"Sian. Good, you're back. You missed all the action. Unfortunately, it's pushed us for time. Take this trolley downstairs to the cooler. The orderlies will deal with it later."

Ripping her gaze from the still form, she managed a professional smile and a nod. Inside she screamed.
It?
He'd said
it
. Like Taz was a slab of meat. Not trusting herself to speak, she held the metal end bar and pushed the gurney toward the elevator. Was it her imagination or did an uncomfortable silence fill the space she'd left behind? A test? See if she had the stomach for this after her earlier exit?

Rotating her shoulders, she let them slump once the elevator doors closed and locked behind her. Thankfully the camera hung above and behind her, letting her close her eyes for a second. She didn't dare touch the motionless shape in front of her.

Not yet.

The doors opened to a blast of cold air hitting her in the face. She crossed into the huge, stark white room full of metal drawers on the left side, a complete autopsy table setup on the right back and desks in close on the right. Taz would call it the morgue and he should know. A doctor, a savior of human souls and a raving advocate for change and equality—now a captive on a blood farm. Ironic. And her fault. Guilt twisted her insides. He should never have followed her. She'd broken it off, pushed him away. She hadn't wanted him to find out her secret. He'd be better off without her. Relationships like theirs were frowned on in both societies. He was important in his. Everything he'd built would be destroyed if people knew about her.

Taz hadn't listened, hadn't believed her lies, knowing her better than she did. How naive to think a strong man like Taz would leave it at that. That he'd let her have her say and leave him like a discarded puppy. Not Taz. He'd followed her deep into vampire territory, tracked her down. Her, a vampire tracked by a human.

And he'd been taken.

She'd seen it happen, only hadn't understood exactly what she'd seen—until later. When she'd tracked down the truth.

Staring down at the white sheeted body before her, she blinked back tears collecting in her eyes. Thankfully the morgue was empty. Swiping at her eyes and cheeks, she pulled the trolley over to the line of steel drawers. Walking to the front, she pulled the sheet back from Taz's head.

She shuddered and couldn't stop the tears from falling. She stroked his chilled forehead. Lifeless and white, Taz's icy skin was a reminder that his eternal rest wasn't the same as hers. Holding the sheet over his head, she paused, taking one last look. Impulsively, she pressed a soft kiss against his icy lips then dropped the sheet and walked away.

Straightening, she turned her back on her one true love and hurried into the elevator. Back up in the medical center, it appeared to be business as usual. Hoping to remain undetected, Sian grabbed the stack of files waiting for her and carried them to her desk.