Chapter 9
Serenity
I stood aghast at the sight before me. Poor Rico, a nice teen boy who had been coming to the shelter for a while now, was writhing on the ground among thick smudges of blood, foam billowing from his mouth.
The bloody stink of iron in the air flashed horrific memories through my mind, of Billy, who’d been about the same age as Rico, sprawled out in his own blood in the feeding den. My neck turned cold and clammy as images from the past flooded me.
I forced myself back into the present. Billy was gone. Rico was here and he needed help. Luckily Sebastian was able to move where my own feet felt cemented to the ground.
He shook off his frozen, horrified look and dropped to his knees beside the boy. As Sebastian leaned in closer, his fangs peeked out from his lips and his slacks slid on the steadily spreading pools of blood. I almost slipped back into the past again, but fought against it.
Sebastian rolled Rico to his side to stop the choking and clear his airways, calling out, “Mom! Call 911!”
Rico’s convulsing turned to twitching, then his body went slack, not moving at all.
Oh no! I managed to stumble forward to do something—I wasn’t sure what—but thank God for Sebastian.
He started doing CPR. His chest compressions were steady and precise, his rescue breaths for the boy were gentle yet determined.
It was like he was a paramedic not a news reporter.
I had to admit, despite him being a vamp, he couldn’t be showing more care.
As he was compressing Rico’s chest, Sebastian looked up at me, glancing at my hands. Oh, they were shaking.
He spoke in a flustered but soft tone. “Serenity, are you okay?” I didn’t answer. “Maybe you could get the kids back into the main room. Try to keep them calm and away from the doors. Sound good?”
Kids were beginning to crowd round, trying to see what was going on. Sebastian was right. The less obstacles for the paramedics, the better. And the kids shouldn’t see this. I took a deep breath. “Yes, of course.” I turned to Franco. “Help me get these kids out of here.”
Franco spread his tree-trunk arms wide, firmly but politely telling the kids to go back to the activity room.
Helped by the hulking Franco, I managed to clear the pathway to the kitchen, hoping the ambulance would turn up fast. My legs felt shaky too, and I was slightly dizzy, but I gritted my teeth and put on as calm a facade as I could.
The paramedics arrived shortly after, bustling in with their lime green jackets, giving calm confident directions to each other as they took over from Sebastian, stabilizing Rico and lifting him onto a stretcher.
They carried him away with brisk strides.
One of them paused to thank Sebastian for his help, and his modest and caring answer surprised me.
“Don’t mention it. Just please make sure the poor boy will be okay. ”
With Rico and the paramedics gone, my composure melted.
I felt my eyes glazing over and I collapsed into a chair.
Beatrice sat down next to me and clasped my hand gently, saying, “I think it’s best we cancel classes for today.
I’ll see the kids get calmed down and settled.
Why don’t you go home and try to relax? It’s been a horrible shock for everyone. ”
“Yes, please do that, Serenity.” Sebastian knelt down beside me, looking into my eyes as he spoke, clearly concerned about my distress.
“Get some rest. You handled that very well, by the way. Thank you so much.” He was either an Oscar-worthy actor, or he was being sincere and also had my best interests at heart.
I still didn’t trust him and his fangs one inch though.
“Thanks.” I turned to Beatrice. “Please call or text me with any updates on Rico, okay? No matter what time.”
She smiled kindly. “Absolutely. I’ll keep you posted. Go on home. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”
Still shaken, my half-soaked blouse sticking to my back and shoulders, I pushed myself to my feet—ignoring Sebastian’s outstretched hand of assistance.
He drew back, rubbing both his palms on his bloody slacks, and hung his head.
I asked Franco to drive me back to Hunter’s place, hoping he was there. God, I needed to see him.
Seeing Hunter when I got back to his loft, I immediately felt a release of tension.
As I told him all about what had happened to Rico, I started feeling safer again too.
Though thoughts of blood, vamp fangs and Billy’s ravaged body still haunted me.
And I was so worried if Rico was going to be okay.
We were sitting on the same leather sofa, and Hunter was perched on the edge, shuffling slightly, his body making subtle lurches as if he wanted to reach out and reassure me with a hug.
I was half hoping he would just do it, not giving me too much time to tense up or think about a man touching me again.
I’d been a hugger as a child, could remember doing running leaps into my dad’s arms when he came home from work, being rocked in my mother’s embrace as she sang away the tears I’d spilled over scraped knees.
But I couldn’t be sure Hunter’s hulking arms would bring me the same warmth.
I hadn’t been hugged in years, and when I thought about muscled limbs wrapping tight around me from behind, I was back in the den, wrangled into submission by a forearm around my neck, fingers digging deep into my shoulder, my head yanked sideways to expose my neck.
“So there was a fair amount of blood, right? The poor kid tried to slice his wrists? Some piece of shit stabbed him?” Hunter asked, brows scrunching in concern when he noticed me shudder.
“I don’t think either of those things happened.
Rico was foaming at the mouth, convulsing.
I think he might have accidentally cut himself while trying to slice some bread, due to whatever attack happened.
It was like epilepsy, except Beatrice always tells me if any of the kids have medical things to be aware of.
She’s never mentioned anything about him.
The kid’s always seemed healthy as a horse. ”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed as he mulled over what I’d said. “Foaming at the mouth, convulsing… I see.”
“What do you think?”
He leaned back into the sofa, letting out a long sigh.
“Well, apparently there’s been a rising drug problem in the city.
It’s gotten bad. With teens too. Though I hate to think that’s what happened to this poor kid.
” He sank deeper into the soft leather. “Let’s just see what the doctors say. No news yet?”
I shook my head. The uncertainty was torture. As were the memories of Billy, still lingering at the back of my mind.
“I’d like you to stay home tonight,” he said and I started to shake my head, but he straightened up on the sofa and his expression tightened.
“Rest. You’ve earned a night off. You won’t lose any pay.
But you need to de-stress, get an early night.
Got me?” He arched an eyebrow, like he was expecting me to protest.
I thought about it, but admitted, “That sounds like exactly what I need. Thank you, Hunter.”
He slipped his phone from his pocket and called someone.
It soon became clear he was talking to Bryce, teasing him about being in the office on a Sunday.
Then his tone turned serious. “Hey, Serenity is staying home from the club tonight.” A brief pause.
“No, no, she’s fine. Just shaken up. Had a traumatic event while volunteering at the shelter down on Fifth. ”
There was another pause as Hunter listened to whatever Bryce had to say.
“Perfect. That’s what I was hoping. Let me make sure.”
He suddenly pulled the phone away and looked at me. “Bryce is coming over, sound good?”
I nodded. I was always happy to see him. And maybe having him here would help my jangled nerves even more, like seeing Hunter had.
It did. Bryce arrived from the Midas building in record time, walking in just as Hunter had to leave for the club and bringing a smile to my face as I saw he was wearing a designer suit and tie on a Sunday night. I was so thankful to see him, I didn’t bother teasing him like Hunter had.
After he asked how I was and I gave him the barebones of what happened with Rico, Bryce swapped the suit jacket for a chef’s apron.
He made the best mac and cheese I’d ever had, with three different types of cheese and bits of bacon.
It filled my stomach with warm comfort that loosened my body language and my tongue.
Talk turned to how we’d each met Hunter, and I told him the short version, the one that didn’t involve too much about how I’d ended up outside his club with a growling stomach and skittish eyes.
“How’d you two meet?” I asked quickly, before he could express the sympathy I saw in his face. “It sounds like you go way back.”
“Oh yeah. Elementary school. My powers were erratic back then. Hunter and his brother Dagger saw me accidentally catch the school’s property line on fire when a bully chucked a dodgeball at my head. Hunter chucked that sucker right back.”
I smiled. That sounded like Hunter. Sticking up for the little guy.
“My parents were panicked and tried to reach out to their parents with some made up explanation—this was before paranormals were widely known. Anyway, that’s how our families discovered each other.
And my parents also learned Dagger had already given the administration a cover up story of his own to save my ass.
” He chuckled, eyes wistful. “It was wildly elaborate. But it worked. Classic Dagger.”
I hadn’t realized I’d scooted closer to him on the big sofa as I listened. When I noticed, I inched back, not wanting to cause him anymore pain.