My Guardian (Bewitched and Bewildered Book 6) (25 page)

Damn.

She ran over to Josie's new front door and knocked. Josie opened it and smiled. "Two visits in one day? You must have missed me."

Eva forced a smile. "Hey, in all the stuff the vampires gave you, you wouldn't by chance have a flashlight would ya?"

Josie nodded. "Two in fact. It is kinda dark around here." Josie turned and disappeared into the house. She came back a minute later carrying a standard flashlight and one attached to an elastic band.

"Perfect! Can I borrow this?" Eva asked, picking up the one on the band.

"Shoot Eva Mae, you can have it. I don't need it." Josie looked around. "Is everything okay?"

Eva smiled wide. "Of course it is. Now you go back inside and get off your feet."

Josie stared at her a moment then smiled. "If you say so." She hesitated. "Be safe, Eva Mae."

"Aren't I always?"

"No. You're not. That's why I said to be safe. Usually, you're the first one to plunge headlong into danger."

Eva laughed nervously. "That's silly."

"If you say so."

"Thanks for the light." Eva held it up.

"Anytime," Josie said and closed the door.

Plunge headlong into danger? Who? Me?

Eva ran back over to the access panel and stared down. "Damn girl knows me too well." She pulled the band with the headlight over her head and put it in position. She flicked it on and squeezed past one of the three pipes to the open cavity behind them. It was close quarters, but if she could fit so could someone else. Maybe not the warriors or most vampires, but then again, not all vampires were built like her mate.

She shimmed down the pipes for what seemed like forever. When she reached the bottom, she pushed on a panel door, and it swung open easily. She hopped out and looked around. It looked like she was in a series of abandoned tunnels. She checked her map and where she was standing wasn't there.

Well hell.

She unclipped her handheld. "Hey, Menace."

"Yeah, over."

"Do you have any maps that show tunnels under the city?"

"No. Why? Wait, you're standing in a tunnel under the city, aren't you?" Meryn demanded.

"Maybe."

"Dammit, why didn't you take me? I freaking love Indiana Jones! Are there snakes?" Meryn asked excitedly.

Eva quickly checked out her surroundings. She hated snakes! "No, no snakes." She looked around. Faint light filled the tunnel on both sides. Not enough to see, but it created an eerie glow. "No snakes, but a ton of shadows. I think I'm in a part of the city that doesn't get much use. The glow spheres down here are practically spent."

"Count the shadows. Over."

Eva grinned. "Hey! Who turned out the lights?" She grinned and waited.

"Fuck! Seriously! Eva! Are you okay? Do you have any chicken legs you can throw at the shadows?" Meryn's explosive response was worth it.
 

Laughing she responded. "I'm fine, you nut. Besides, they used a chicken leg to identify a swarm not appease them."

"Right. By the way, you're awesome. Over."

"I know. Look I'm gonna peek around here then head back up to tell you all about it." Eva didn't really want to spend any more time in this dark, dank tunnel than absolutely necessary.

"
Okie dokie. Hurry up, though; I can't wait to hear what you've been up to. Over."

"Over and out, Menace."

Eva turned her head and flashed the light around the tunnel. She was about to head back into the access panel when a dark smudge caught her attention. She walked forward and bent down. She touched her fingers to the stain and sniffed. Her canines dropped.

Blood. Wolf blood.

She lifted up her handheld and changed it to channel two. "Adriel, Aiden, come in please." Eva whispered. She held her breath, trying not to make a sound.

"Adriel here, Eva is that you?"

"I'm in some tunnels under the city. I found wolf blood down here. Over."

"Eva, get back up to the levels," he ordered.

Eva looked up and saw a pair of red eyes watching her in the darkness. "Don't think that's an option anymore." The eyes blinked and disappeared. She heard the scurry of feet escaping down the tunnel.

"Oh no you don't, you bastard!" She began running after him. She lifted the handheld. "I'm going after him, Adriel. If you're facing the access panel, I'm heading left."

"No! Wait for back up!"

"We could lose him! I'm strong enough to take out a single feral, and you know it." Eva stopped and waited. To her left the sound of movement. She darted after the noise.

"We are coming. Two minutes behind you. When I catch up to you, I am going to paddle your ass," he threatened.

Breathing heavily she grinned. "Admit it. You like the fact that I don't automatically genuflect when you speak," she stopped and listened again.

In front of her, two ruby red eyes stared at her from the darkness.

"Eva, what did you just say?" Adriel demanded.

Eva stared into those crazed eyes and clipped the handheld on her belt to free up her hand. "Come on, you son of a bitch. If you liked wolf blood, you'll love tiger," she taunted.

The eyes disappeared, and she froze. Behind her she felt hot breath on the back of her neck. He whispered something, and everything went black.

*****

"Eva, what did you just say?" Adriel shouted into the handheld. He, along with the Eta and Theta units, was running through the Marketplace to the transport tunnel. When she did not respond, he roared in frustration. He clipped the handheld to his belt.

"Adriel, what?" Micah asked.

"It is what she said in my dream before I found her dead." Adriel jumped into the tunnel and flew past the levels.
 

"Not on my watch!" Micah yelled.

Beside him, Micah shouted a spell and, just before he was about to crash into the net, it disappeared. He landed hard and looked around.

"Adriel, the access panel she is talking about is this way." Dimitri pointed and the men ran after him.

"What is this place?" Declan growled.

"The Pits. The level below level one where city maintenance is done," Grant explained before coming to a grinding halt. He sniffed the air and swallowed hard. "Blood, I smell blood," he whispered.

"No," Adriel hissed. He smelled it too and ran heedlessly in that direction. At the end of the long hallway was a large wooden door. Unlike his dream, he did not even try the doorknob; he simply leaned back and kicked the door. It shattered at the force, blowing splinters of wood into the room.

Old rusted equipment was stacked along the walls and wooden crates created a maze before them.

"Where is she!" he yelled. He ran recklessly between the crates.

"Found her!" a voice called out.

Adriel levitated above the crates and immediately zeroed in on where the lights were converging. He dropped down to find Dimitri cradling Eva gently. It seemed like from the waist down, her blue jeans were dark brown, soaked in blood. A flash of pale flesh was revealed where the attacker had ripped the denim to get to her skin.

"Give her to me!"
 

Dimitri handed her off to him. Adriel lay her down, and using his claws, he ripped her jeans from her body. He used one pant leg and wrapped it around the open bite wound on her inner thigh. He tied it as tight as he could without causing damage. He looked up at his second in command. "Get Broderick ready. I am taking her directly to his lab on Level One." Declan turned and started organizing Broderick and Caspian to receive Eva.

Gently Adriel checked her other leg; it was untouched. He picked her up carefully. He looked at Declan. "Eta stay with me; you are on guard detail." He turned to Dimitri. "Find this bastard, find him and bring him to me," he ordered.

Dimitri's eyes blazed. "As you command." He lifted his fist to his chest then began barking out orders to the Theta Unit.

Adriel did not wait to see what they did. Having run the hallways, he knew the layout. He took to the air and flew. When the passage opened up to the transport tunnel, he darted upward, heading directly to Magnus' door. It was open, and an anxious Sebastian waited for them.

"They are ready for her." He called after him.

Instead of heading right toward the living quarters, he went left. Down another long hallway until he saw Caspian waiting by another opened door. "This way!"

Adriel ran in and placed his mate on the table. "She was bit; she has lost a lot of blood."

"Check for decay," a male voice suggested.

Adriel looked around the room. Aiden and a frantic looking Meryn stood next to Gavriel and an equally concerned looking Beth. Behind him, his unit caught up and closed the door.

Broderick turned to Aiden. "Why decay?"

"When Colton was bit, his wound wouldn't heal. The feral bite was decaying slightly faster than his shifter abilities could heal. Seems to be a new development." Aiden's eyes flashed in anger at the memory.

Adriel watched helplessly as Broderick swabbed blood onto glass slide and handed it off to his mate. Caspian went to the other side of the room and placed it under a microscope.
 

Broderick began cleaning the wound gently using fresh white gauze.
 

A minute later, Caspian confirmed his worst fears. "She's infected."

Adriel turned to Aiden. "What do we do?"

"Gavriel donated blood. It gave the shifter blood a boost and allowed him to heal," Aiden explained.

Adriel held out his arm. "Take mine. Take whatever she needs."

Broderick looked around the room, concern written all over his face. "She'll need quite a bit, probably more than Adriel can safely provide."

"Do not worry, love; I will donate too." Caspian offered.

Broderick looked relieved. "Lay down Adriel, we'll get started."

Adriel quickly jumped up on the gurney, and he was wheeled next to Eva. Seconds seemed to drag by but, before he knew it, the IV was in and his blood was flowing into his mate. After a few minutes, Eva groaned, and her eyes began to flutter.

"That's fine; we'll switch now." Broderick said, turning to remove his IV.
 

Adriel wrapped his hand around his arm, protecting the needle. "I can give more."

Broderick shook his head. "Adriel, she's doing much better, let Caspian donate."

Adriel knew the smart thing to do would be to allow Caspian to donate to Eva. But even though it had not been spoken, he knew that if he allowed Caspian to donate, he and Eva would be tied together forever. Adriel did not want her tied to anyone but him.

"No." He closed his eyes. "No one but me." He could easily give more; he felt fine.

"Adriel, any vampire can donate to Eva, but not to you. Please let Caspian donate," Broderick pleaded.

"No. She's mine," Adriel hissed, and his fangs dropped past his chin. Everything was getting bleary, but he remembered one thing: he could not move his hand. Broderick, Caspian, and even Aiden tried to peel his fingers away, but they could not.

"What's he doing?" he heard a heavenly voice ask.

"The damn fool is getting himself killed," Broderick answered.

"What!"
 

Adriel smiled at the sound of the voice. "My love."

"I am gonna kick your ass all over this level if you don't move your hand!" the woman yelled.

He chuckled. "So feisty." At her touch, his hand fell away. "Just going to rest for a few minutes, love."

He closed his eyes and fell into a cold abyss.

*****

"Take it out!" Eva yelled, holding up her arm.

Broderick quickly removed the IV. "He gave too much."

Eva looked around the room; she started to hop off the table and winced, her leg burned. "Fucker bit me." Grimacing, she sat up and faced Adriel. "Okay, so who can give him blood?" Everyone around her was silent. "Well?"

Broderick wrung his hands. "Vampires are universal donors. Because they ingest so many different types of blood, their own blood is compatible with anyone. However, in order to receive blood, a vampire needs another vampire of the same blood type."

"So get someone down here with his blood type." She reached out and touched Adriel's cheek. He was ice cold.

Broderick shook his head. "It's not that easy. Unlike shifters and humans, vampires have their own strains of blood, usually traceable back to their family line, their
bloodline
. Adriel has no family in the city. If he were a DuBois donating to a Fabre or Tremblay, it might work, their bloodlines have intermated over the centuries being of Noble or Founding blood, but Adriel isn't."

Eva's mind scrambled. She wasn't losing him, not now, not because of her. She looked around the room; everywhere she looked she saw resignation and sympathy. Her eyes met Gavriel's. His gray eyes, just like... She gasped.

"He's an Ambrosios!" she yelled, reaching for Gavriel.

Gavriel's brows snapped together as he frowned fiercely. "No, he is not. I would have known. My family is gone."

Eva shook her head. "No time to explain, he is. Please!" she pleaded.

Gavriel's face softened. "I know you want to save him, but if I gave him my blood and we were not related, it would kill him."

"He has the Book of Life for House Ambrosios, Gods! Look at him! You could use each other as shaving mirrors!" Eva shouted.

Beth gasped and stepped forward; white tear streaks lined on her cheeks. "She's right, he could be your brother you look so much alike. Why did I never see it?"

Gavriel grabbed her hands. "This is very important. Does he truly have the Ambrosios Book of Life?"

"Yes! He said he did, it was passed to him from his great-great-great grandmother. She was human and kicked out of Noctem Falls when her vampire mate was killed. She changed her name so they couldn't find her." Eva choked on her tears. She looked up into Gavriel's eyes. "Please save him," she begged.

Gavriel reached up and simply ripped away both his suit and shirt sleeve. "Broderick, do it." He offered up his arm.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Eva repeated. Beth wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "He'll be just fine."