Divine Savior (10 page)

“
I’ll tell him you...I’ll tell him you totaled it. See how pissed he’ll be about that!” Dominic shouted at him.

“
Are you serious? He’ll be able to see that I didn’t once we get back to the estate.” Colin was advancing on Dominic; he would bloody knock Dominic down if he tried that. Then he grinned to himself. Oh yeah, that could be fun too.

“
Yeah, but until he sees it, you’ll be in trouble.” This argument was getting more stupid and ridiculous with every second they stood out on the sidewalk yelling at one another.

The two men went in the hospital through the emergency room still bickering at one another like good friends, or small children. It was a toss-up to which described them better.

As soon as the doors opened to the outer emergency room doors, the odors hit them—blood, death, gunshot residue, fear, hate, all these and more. The odors were strong and made stronger because a vampire’s sense of smell was powerful. And underlying it all, Colin could smell the woman. Her scent, rich and strong, still lingered in the air. He staggered and grabbed for the wall before he fell.

“
Colin, my man, are you all right? Shit, you either need to get control or you need to turn around and leave right now. You’re turning; your eyes, they’re turning.” Colin let Dominic shield him until Colin regained control of his emotions.

“
It’s her. Christ, I can smell her. She’s been here, recently too. Let me see if I can find who she’s been with. Can you follow me if I shadow?” Dominic assured him that he would.

Colin pulled the shadows from around the room and moved in and out of the curtained areas, following her scent. He found the woman who his mate had talked to recently. As strong as the scent was, he thought it had been within the last couple of hours. Diana Ridge had been the nurse his mate had been with, spent a great deal of time with it, seemed.

Colin wanted to rush the woman and demand answers, but he knew that wouldn’t work, so Dominic did the questioning for him. But Dominic didn’t seem to be getting anything helpful, so he told Colin that he was going to search Diana’s mind and find what they were looking for. When he was finished, they would be about to trace her better and hopefully it would lead a path right to her.

Colin hoped Dominic was right. He was becoming desperate and hungry. Not a good combination for any vampire, but add in a missing mate and the situation got exponentially worse.

About twenty minutes later, the two men were outside in the parking lot again. Dominic had asked if they could take it outside to speak. Colin was afraid of the news. He knew it wasn’t going to be good from the look on Dominic’s face.

“
Your mate, her name is Shade Doe. She has been to the hospital nearly every day since the young male woke up, but not up to his floor. She, the nurse, thinks because it will upset the boy more and she agrees with this assessment. The nurse has been giving him whatever Shade brings in for Brent, usually snacks, books, and small toys. Small things that delight the male and the nurse is…Ms. Ridge is worried about Shade, concerned for her health as well. It seems that Shade has been trying to work whatever job she can find to try and pay for a grave marker on her own for the little female. Neither woman, it seems, believe the mother, Brenda, will do anything for her own child. The nurse also believes your mate is homeless and only able to work jobs that require no identification. Diana thinks the girl is on the run from something or someone. I assume that would be you?”

“
Yes, more than likely. Shade Doe.” Colin tasted her name on his lips several times before he looked back at Dominic. “What else? There’s something else, what is it?”

“
The male’s mother is coming to take the boy home in a couple of days. She isn’t going to be charged with anything in the death of her daughter, which Diana has a few choice words about that. Because of some
‘lily livered idiot who doesn’t have the brain God gave a bug,’
and I quote, Brenda has been set free. I like this nurse,” Dominic said, grinning. “Apparently, the judge thought that the mother had suffered enough losing her only daughter to a monster. They’re going to give her back her son, Colin.”

“
And? You’re keeping something back. Please, Dominic, what is it? I cannot live without her. If you know something, please tell me what it is.” For her, Colin would get on his knees and beg if that was what it took.

“
Diana believes that Shade is planning to take Brent out before the mother can get to him. Make him safe so that Brenda can’t hurt the boy again. Not out out, but out of the hospital out. Again, both women agree that this will be the only way the young male will survive. From the images I’ve gotten from Diana’s memories of the recent times the boy’s been in here, I’d think they’re on the right track with that notion.”

“
I understood what you meant, Dominic; I’m not totally stupid yet. Did Diana know when? I’m betting that the entire hospital will be looking the other way when it happens too.” Colin smiled. Shade was a smart little thing; he would give her that.

“
No, Diana isn’t even sure of the removal one hundred percent. But knowing what I know about Shade’s breed and the little I am beginning to understand about her, I’d say there’s a good likelihood that’s exactly what she’ll do. It’s what I would do. We have at least two days, maybe less, before Shade has to make her move to get Brent out and to a safe location. That’s when the little boy is being discharged.” Dominic huffed. “It’s not right. Humans have such a precious gift in their children and they toss them away. This is why I will never settle down.”

“
Right, if she was going to rescue the boy, it would have to be while he was still in the hospital. Shade would most assuredly have help from, if not all, than a goodly portion of the staff to pull this off, correct? This nurse might not know right now when or even if it happens, but the closer Shade gets to the actual execution of the plan, the nurse would be a part of it. I’d stake my life on it, no pun intended. Wouldn’t you agree?” As Colin spoke, they moved back toward the car. “And for the record, I’m not even going to comment on your mate thing. When it happens, I plan to be front and center when you tell her no.”

“
Fuck off. But, yeah, I do agree, Ms. Ridge will be helping her. But seriously, this mate of yours? Shade? She has an advantage over us that could keep us from being able to intercept her. She can come and get the kid during the day and we can’t. And you know as well as I do how dangerous this will be under the best of circumstances. He is still weak, and a kid to boot. Shade will need his cooperation as well. The logistics of this are amazing. If she can manage this, and I’ve no doubt she will...well, I’d have to shake her hand. She will need someone who can carry him and whatever else he’ll need to get out of here safely and remain unharmed too. We need a couple of daylight walkers, and they need to be capable enough to help her if things get dicey. Agreed?”

Colin smiled for the first time in a month. “Yeah, I know just the two we can get too.”

~
CHAPTER NINE~

“
No! Absolutely not! I forbid you to participate in this. Do you hear me, Sara?”

Aaron was pacing and gesturing wildly with his arms. Duncan, with his ever present tray, just stood back and watched.

“
The entire state can hear you, Aaron. Now, be quiet. I want to make sure I have the plan down before we leave in the morning,” Sara said as she patted Aaron on the cheek.

Melody watched Aaron pace. Then saw Sara turn to Dominic and ask him again how they were to get to Shade and then what they needed to do to bring Shade home for Colin.

“
Did you hear me? You are not helping with this? It’s one thing to involve the queen, but you’re pregnant, pregnant with our child, my child. I forbid it! Tell her, Melody. Tell her she is too delicate for this. What if something happens? How will I protect her? I can’t move about during the day that well yet. I need to know you are safe.”

Mel had not wanted to like Aaron. But damn it, she thought, when he got all protective like this, she couldn’t help it. He really did love her cousin. But that didn’t mean he had to know she liked him. This was way too much fun, watching him squirm.

So Mel snorted at Aaron when he suggested that Sara could be anything even close to “delicate.” Good heavens! The woman was a fighting machine. Practically able to leap tall buildings with single bound, stop bullets...where had she heard that one? Oh yeah, that show on the television she and Duncan started watching. “Super dude,” or something like that. No, man! That was it.
Superman.
That show cracked her up. Reruns, Penny had called them.

Penny made fun of the two of them every time they got together and watched those old black and white shows. Just this morning she and Duncan had started to watch this show called
Mr. Ed.
Mel still didn’t understand what the big deal was. Horses talked to her all the time, yet these humans seemed to think it was funny. Go figure.

“
I’ll be with her, and if it makes you feel any better, we’ll take a troop of guards with us. How many do you suggest, twenty, thirty? I’m sure no one will notice them tramping down the hall in full armor and armed to the teeth. Maybe they could leave the swords at the castle. Think that would make us less conspicuous?” She was having fun, and having fun at the big vamp’s expense made it all the more delicious. “I know,” she said excitedly. “I’ll have them go ahead of us and set up the Royal Cannon for you.”

Plus, when he growled, like he was doing now, she couldn’t help but laugh. Men! Did he honestly think she would let anything happen to her friend and her baby? Mel was going to be the baby’s godmother for heaven’s sake!

Sara was not any better, Mel noticed. She simply leaned over and whispered something no doubt sexual in Aaron’s ear and shut him up. Melody wasn’t sure what it meant, but something about if he behaved himself Sara would eat a cheeseburger and fries with him later. That did the trick. He wasn’t happy, but he did shut up about her not going. Hummm, Mel would need to ask Sara about that—and soon.

“
So, Mel and I will just hang out at the hospital all day and wait for Shade? That seems easy enough. Then what? We convince Shade we are her friends, that we come in peace—nanu, nanu, what?” Sara, always the practical one, wanted all the Ts crossed and the Is dotted.

Mel remembered once when Sara and a troop had gone to China to bring back a rogue pixie. While a rogue pixie would not sound dangerous, this one had killed eighteen humans in a two hour killing spree. She had poisoned them. Sara made each man learn the phrases,
“Where’s the door?”
and
“Where’s the hospital?
” And also, how to call the police. As it turned out, it was a good thing Sara had or Mel might have lost all the guards and Sara as well. As it was, all of them had returned alive and unharmed with the rogue. Who knew a pixie knew how to use dynamite?

“
If you need to, just bring Shade and Brent here, Sara, please?” Colin begged her with a tremor in his voice.

Poor Colin
, Mel thought. The man really needed his mate. Mel hoped that they would be able to convince Shade to come back with them.

All kidding aside, Colin was hurting. Mel knew firsthand what it was like to be without your mate. And Mel had been with Sara when she and Aaron had had a shaky start, and almost lost each other several times over the course of their relationship beginnings. Mel would not wish that on anyone. Plus, she really wanted to meet Shade Doe, and figure out how she fit in the magical realm.

“
I will do my best, my friend I will do my very best.” Sara hugged Colin tightly to her.

~~~

The next morning, Mel and Sara went to the hospital to meet the little human boy, Brent. He really was a little guy, even for a kid. He was instantly wary of them. Sara could tell that he thought they were there to make him go back to his mother. Sara felt his horror at that thought immediately, and felt sorry for him. To think that a child would be so terrified at the thought of going with his own mother had saddened Sara on so many levels.

Mel and Sara had worked out their own plan about what they would do once inside the hospital. Of course, it would depend on Brent. But they would win him over with charm and wit first. And if that didn’t work, the backup plan was due to arrive about an hour later. A great big trunk of toys, enough to melt any kid’s heart. Or so they hoped. Neither of them had a great deal of experience with children, so they were guessing.

But soon after they began talking to him, Melody stepped out of the room to cancel the toys. This little boy wouldn’t know what to do with that sort of kindness. He needed love, and lots of it, and toys were not a way to his heart.

“
Who are you? What do you want?” Defensive little thing put his guard up immediately after they had walked in. Sara liked the little scrapper immediately.

“
We’ve heard about your sister, Brent. We’re so very sorry about your loss. No one that little should be lost.”

Sara had made sure he was aware of what had happened, not wanting to upset him if it was not necessary to.

Brent had figured out long before anyone had sat him down and told him that Becca had died. Sara saw in the touch of his mind. He had sensed her death. Much like a vampire would their mate, Sara thought. Brent’s heart was broken, and he blamed himself for not being able to save his little sister. Which was sad, really, considering his mother probably had no such thoughts of guilt or remorse.