On the Edge of Humanity (37 page)

“Damon, should you give her a sedative?” my father asked.

I spun around, curious who Damon was. Then I remembered it was Dr. Vieira. I forgot when he had introduced himself over a week ago that he told me his first name.

“I can, but I’d prefer not to in case we need more of her blood.”

“Jo, you have to relax,” my father piped in.

“I can’t. Why hasn’t anything happened or changed?” I asked as I bit my nails. I hated biting my nails, but there wasn’t anything else to do.

“He’s improving. His heartbeat is stronger. It’s going to take longer than it did for you. Remember, he lost a lot of blood,” Dr. Vieira said. “We could try at least one more blood transfusion. It wouldn’t hurt.”

As Dr. Vieira prepared the necessary items to draw my blood, I sat down on the bed and rested my head in my hands. I prayed Sam would make it through this. I had been praying for the past ten hours, but it seemed like no one above me was listening. Did I lose my human existence for nothing?

I gave more blood and again Dr. Vieira attached it to Sam’s IV, and again I downed a pint of my father’s blood. As I was drinking the last drop, a loud bang sounded outside the room. My father jumped out of his chair and Dr. Vieira stopped mid-stride with his clipboard in hand.

I threw down the blood container and jumped out of bed.

“What is it?” I asked, standing at my father’s heels.

“Get back,” he snapped.

My father pulled open the door and Ben appeared, standing in the doorway in a hospital gown.

I gasped. The neck bandages were gone and a row of stitches traveled from his earlobe down to his collarbone along his jugular. What the heck did the Plutariums do to him? They didn’t bite him—they mangled him. I was pushing my father out of the way to get to Ben when Sam’s heart monitor beeped loudly.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder. Was my brother waking up? I looked at my father, then at Ben. Ben cocked his head, shifting his glance to me, then behind me.

“Jo? What’s going on?” Ben asked, his voice cracking.

“Um…um…”

“Young lady, I’ll take care of Ben. You need to help Dr. Vieira.”

I froze. I was relieved to see Ben, but a blend of burnt sugar and a hint of cinnamon filled the air. My eyes shifted. I breathed in and my fangs dropped. Ben’s scent made my mouth water. I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to clamp down on his neck and suck out all his human blood.

My father’s voice filled the air, but I didn’t understand what he was saying.

“Jo? Jo?” Ben’s voice won out over my father’s.

I snapped out of my trance and found Ben staring down at me.

“You need to go with my father,” I said.

“This is your Dad?” he asked, pointing to my father.

“I’ll explain later. Just go with him,” I said.

My father was right. I needed to get as far away from Ben as possible. Besides, I needed to help Sam.

I turned on my heel but Ben grabbed me. His touch sent a shiver of something through me. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I knew one thing for sure: I wanted his blood.

“Wait,” he said.

“I have to help Sam. Please, Ben. Go with my father.” I pulled away my arm and ran to Sam’s bed.

My father’s voice sounded overhead. “Lt. London, report to the medical facility. Lt. London, report to the medial facility.”

When I reached Sam’s side, Ben was looking at me with a confused expression on his face.

“Dad?” I called.

My father stepped into the doorway and pulled the door shut. When he did, I let out a sigh.

“Ben is fine,” Dr. Vieira said as he lifted one of Sam’s eyelids.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

I wasn’t about to tell him that it was me that wasn’t fine, and how I wanted to drain Ben of all his blood. I guessed that was the reason my father didn’t want me anywhere near Ben when I first turned.

“It seems the second bag did the trick. His heart rate is picking up well,” Dr. Vieira said.

I released another sigh.

Sam’s body jerked and reacted to the change. His eyes fluttered open and then closed several times as he moaned—the first signs of him losing his humanity.

Dr. Vieira looked at me and handed me an ice-cold cloth. “Run this over Sam’s face and forehead. Keep doing it to so he stays cool. I need to get your father in here.”

He opened the door and I caught a glimpse of Webb, Ben and my dad. Ben was nodding his head as if he were agreeing with my father who was saying something to him. Was my father trying to compel Ben or erase his memory?

“Commander? Let Webb handle that. I need your help with Sam,” Dr. Vieira said.

My father ran his fingers through his hair, walked into the room and closed the door.

I was wiping Sam’s forehead when he suddenly sat up and inhaled, gasping for breath. It was like he had awakened from the dead. Then he fell back onto his pillow. He curled his legs up, then turned into a fetal position, grabbing his stomach. My father sprinted into action as if he were a medic working in an ER room. He grabbed one of the cloths from the bowl of ice water and wiped down Sam’s arms. Sweat poured out of Sam’s body, soaking his t-shirt. I lifted it so my father could wipe down his back. We did this for an hour when Sam grabbed his ears. Was this what I went through? Did my father take care of me the same way?

“Shut the monitor off,” my father said.

I turned and searched for the off button, but Sam was screaming and moaning so loud my own eardrums were hurting, so instead I pulled the plug out of the wall. When the sound ended, his body relaxed. As I sat watching him, I remembered the pain I went through, but seeing it happen to another person was like reliving the process all over again.

“Dad, how much longer?” I asked.

“He should be through the worse in a few hours. Then there will be the thirst,” he said.

“Whose blood can he drink?” I asked.

“It will have to be yours for at least the first day.”

Jeepers, again? “Do I have that much blood to give?”

“He won’t need much. And after the initial thirst, he’ll be able to drink mine.”

“But you said when we walked in earlier that you were worried about me not having enough blood.” I drew in my eyebrows as I looked at him.

“You’re right. I thought Sam was going to need a lot more than the two bags though. Besides, you’ll be able to replenish your system with my blood, which helps you to regenerate the nutrients you need. It’s crucial for the next few months that your blood sustenance comes from me. You cannot drink any of the garbage we have in the refrigerators around here. Both you and Sam are too young for that.” He stared at me as if he were waiting for my acknowledgement of his command or waiting for me to protest.

I nodded. “But where do you get your blood?”

“I still have a good bit of my blood stored for you and Sam.”

He didn’t answer my question, but I didn’t want to push the issue. There were too many things going on around here and my curiosity was pinching me about his conversation with Ben.

Since Sam was quiet for the moment I asked, “Is everything okay with Ben?”

He nodded. “Ben’s a little upset.”

“Do you think? He’s been through hell too.”

He let out deep breath. “I thought you were...”

“You thought I was what?”

“Going to attack him. I smelled your excitement and your trepidation.”

“Believe me. I wanted to.”

“I’m proud of you. Showing that much restraint as a two-day old vampire is a huge accomplishment.”

I couldn’t tell my father how hard that was for me. Something told me I didn’t have to.

“A human can’t be turned. Can they?” I asked.

Based on everything I knew about natural-born vampires, which wasn’t much, I had to be sure.

My dad’s eyebrows lifted. “Not unless they carry a vampire gene.”

I let out a sigh. Ben didn’t want anything to do with vampires. He probably wouldn’t want anything to do with me. My stomach churned at the thought of having the initial conversation with him.

“But what if the Plutariums find a way to change humans?” I asked.

He looked at me and something flashed across his face. Was he worried or more surprised that I asked the question? I couldn’t tell. Whatever it was he didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy.

“Patrick is behind bars,” he said in a low tone that was almost a whisper as he kept wiping Sam’s body. “The Plutariums can’t follow through on their plan without him.”

I prayed he was right. We both continued with our orders from Dr. Vieira to keep Sam cool. My father wiped along Sam’s back while I patted his head and chest.

We watched Sam as he went through the pain of the change. When he finally stopped moving and fell asleep, I plugged the monitor back into the wall on my father’s instructions. While Sam slept, it was crucial to make sure his heart was getting stronger, that he was out of danger.

I didn’t know how long Sam would be out, but I figured I had some time to clear a few things up with my dad. I made my way over to the corner chair and plopped down. My dad was already sitting on the empty twin bed. I stilled for a moment, listening for voices outside the room—nothing. I guess Dr. Vieira and Webb were able to appease Ben. While I wanted to see him, I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure if I could trust myself, not to mention that I wasn’t ready to have a conversation with him—no way.

“Dad?”

He raised his head. His eyes had silvered.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “Why?”

“You’re eyes. They’re...”

“What is it, Jo?” he asked. His tone was stern.

Whoa! Did I do something? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ask him anything now. He might bite off my head.

“Can we talk?”

“What do you want to talk about?” His words were clipped.

Now who was being emotional? I paused, debating whether to continue.

“Who’s Neil Foster?”

He blinked a few times. “Not for discussion.”

I crinkled my forehead. “Why not?”

“It’s classified. When and if the time comes, I’ll explain. Until then, he’s off limits.” He rubbed his eyes.

“What about Dr. Case? Can you talk about him?”

“What do you want to know?” he asked. His voice softened a bit. His eyes shifted to green and he let out a deep breath. Whatever was plaguing him seemed to have disappeared.

“He tried to kill me because he said you killed his sister. Is that true?”

He dropped his gaze. “It was an unfortunate accident. Dr. Case’s sister, Ella, was a Navy medic. Both Ella and Dr. Case served under me. They weren’t trained as SEALs but were trained for combat. During a mission in Afghanistan, things went horribly wrong. She was trying to save one of our team members when she got caught in the crossfire and was shot.”

“Did you shoot her?” I asked.

My father pulled his hair back behind him. “I didn’t, but one of our Sentinels did. It was an accident.”

“Why does he think you did it, then? I mean, he said
you
killed her.”

“As a leader I take a lot of heat for what my team does or doesn’t do.”

“Does Dr. Case know it was an accident?”

He nodded. “He’s been looking for revenge for a long time. His only recourse is to take it out on another human close to the Sentinels. He knows he can’t kill a vampire. I imagine when you showed up in the hospital that night, he probably thought he’d won the lottery.”

“So, wait Dr. Case is not a vampire, then?” At the funeral home I couldn’t tell if he was or wasn’t, although his speed seemed to suggest he might be.

“Affirmative. He knew who we were when he worked on my team. Anyone on my team other than the Sentinels is a human with high top-secret clearance. It was unfortunate that Dr. Case chose to leave the military. He’s an excellent doctor. But he’s made his choice and now he’s helping the Plutariums. He also knows that any breach of information he secured while in the military will result in death.” He yawned. “It’s three a.m. I’m tired and you need to get some rest as well.” He rose from the bed. “Sam will be out for a few more hours. Why don’t we switch? You take the bed and I’ll take the chair.”

Without thinking, I rose and walked over to the bed, while he sat in the chair.

“Dad?”

“Mmm?” he muttered as he reclined.

“What about the people locked up in the prison wing? What are you going to do with them?”

“They’ll be dealt with in due time. Don’t worry. It’s secure and we have guards stationed in and around the building twenty-four/seven.”

I wasn’t worried. Okay, I
was
worried. Dr. Case and Patrick were human so I didn’t believe they could escape; they didn’t have the power of a vampire. But Edmund, Jonah and Fernando? They probably had combined strength of several WWF wrestlers each. I didn’t know how they kept a vampire behind bars, but it had me a little concerned.

“So we’re safe?” I asked, apprehension oozing out as I said the last word.

“Honey, Patrick is still human and doesn’t have my blood for his research. Therefore, he is useless. How we punish him is still up in the air. As for Dr. Case, the human military will deal with him. The vampires are a different story, and as you will learn in school, we have laws that are enforced for crimes among vampires. They won’t get out, trust me.”

“School? What are you talking about?”

“I want to get some shut-eye before Sam wakes up. We’ll talk about school then. I don’t want to have to repeat myself.”

I flopped on the empty bed and yawned. What the heck was he talking about? A vampire school? I wanted to laugh. Every time I asked a question, five more piled onto the list. My head was spinning with all this information. Did he mean I wouldn’t be going back to Durfee High School?

His breathing grew heavier as I stared at the ceiling, taking in a deep breath and releasing it. Warmth washed over me as I closed my eyelids, relieved that my brother was on his way back to the living, even if it were as a vampire.

Chapter 21

I
woke up hours later to
a suckling sound and tightness in my wrist. I jolted upright and screamed, trying to pull my arm away from the creature that had his teeth sunk into my flesh. Then someone pushed me back down onto the bed. My predatory instinct took over and I used all my power to sit up, but my dad was stronger than me.

“What the fu—Get him off me.”

“Jo, calm down. Please, it’s just Sam. He needs blood,” my father whispered.

Sam peered at me through hooded lashes while he sucked on my wrist. His eyes were liquid onyx.

I cocked my head to one side. My brother was alive.
Oh my God!
I wanted to jumped out of bed and hug him, but…

“It’s just gross. Please get him off me.” I wiggled, trying to sit up.

“If you move too much he’ll tear your flesh,” Dr. Vieira said from a distance.

“What happened to the bag?”

“He woke up and you were sleeping. You don’t wake a vampire in the middle of a deep sleep,” my father said.

“Huh?” He wasn’t making any sense. Did he think I would kill him if he woke me up?

Suddenly, my throat burned, my eyes shifted and hunger was boiling inside me, rising to the surface. Then my fangs shot through my gums.

My father must’ve noticed. “A few seconds longer.”

“I need blood,” I snapped.