34. Bella - Emergency at The Cliffs
Chapter thirty-four
Bella - Emergency at The Cliffs
Darius drives very fast up to The Cliffs. Speed and the growing, uncomfortable realization that whatever this is—it’s not contained to the edges anymore.
“Who is Marcus?”
“One of mine. Marcus. His donor is Lena…”
“Oh,” I mutter. If Lena is infected, then so is Marcus.
“When we go inside, you follow my direction,” he says.
“No.”
His gaze sharpens.
“No?” he repeats.
“I’m a doctor,” I say. “I don’t take orders in a medical situation.”
“But this is different. We are dealing with an infected vampire. You must let me protect you. I don’t know how this disease infects us yet.”
My jaw tightens. “We’ll see.”
“You are mildly infuriating for a mortal … At least stay beside me,” he says.
“Fine.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Inside, the house feels different. Like something dangerous is being contained just out of sight. Probably because it is.
Two people stand at the hallway—elegant, composed, but tense in a way that doesn’t match the surroundings.
They look at me not in a hostile way, but with some neutral curiosity.
“Doctor,” an elegant woman says softly. Her voice is smooth.
“Yes, my name is Dr. Russo,” I reply automatically. “Good to meet you.”
Her lips curve faintly.
“Interesting,” she murmurs.
Darius doesn’t slow.
“Introductions later,” he says, not looking at them. They step aside immediately for Darius. That tells me everything I need to know about his standing here.
We move down the hall swiftly. The air becomes warmer and heavier. And then I hear a low sound. Not a human sound. My stomach drops.
“That’s him?” I whisper.
“Yes. Marcus.”
Marcus is on a bed and definitely not stable. His skin is very pale, his hair messy. His chest rises and falls quickly.
We approach and his eyes snap to me the second I step in the room. For a moment, they’re clear and aware. Then they become dark and change to something that is odd. Something underneath pushes forward, similar to what happened to Tom.
My breath catches.
I step forward instinctively to help him, but Darius’s hand closes around my wrist firmly. Stopping me.
“Not yet,” he says quietly.
“I need to examine him.”
“You will.”
A low sound tears out of the man on the bed—half growl, half something worse. His fangs appear. Then I see his arm. The veins under his skin are not faint. In fact, they’re pronounced and moving. Even faster than Tom’s.
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
Marcus jerks suddenly, his body arching. His eyes snap fully dark again. He turns his head toward me. He locks on, like a predator sizing up prey. With hunger.
“Bella,” Darius says quietly but on edge. “Step behind me.”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Definitely.”
Marcus suddenly moves, very fast. Towards me.
But Darius is faster. He intercepts Marcus mid-lunge, the impact controlled but violent, forcing him back with a precision that isn’t human at all.
The man thrashes, fangs bared.
I freeze but then quietly pull out the dose of sedation to be ready.
Marcus struggles. Darius restrains him effortlessly. Completely. Marcus convulses and seems to pass out. His eyes are closed and his body is jerking slightly. Now I step forward and Darius doesn’t stop me.
“Do it,” he says. I drop beside them and administer a dose of sedation. Marcus jerks but finally calms. He opens his eyes and is lying there with Darius holding him.
“Okay,” I murmur. “Hi, I’m Dr. Russo. Marcus, is that your name?”
“Yes. It’s—burning—”
“I know,” I say. “We’re here to help.”
Darius is still holding him, and I reach for the patient’s wrist. The pulse hits me like a shock. Even sedated, it’s strong and fast.
“Oh,” I whisper. I look at his arm. The dark webbing is there but slowed for now.
“You see it,” Darius says.
“Yes,” I breathe. “This is the same thing. But worse.”
I look back at Marcus. At the way his body fights itself.
“I’m so hungry,” he murmurs. “The doctor smells so good,” he says, as his fangs descend again.
“Marcus! Get a hold of yourself. Bella, more sedation, now! Vampires need higher doses than humans. It won’t hurt him.”
I have to trust Darius on this. I prepare another dose quickly and inject it.
I watch the blood vein under his skin move like it has a mind of its own, but now it slows and stops spreading. Marcus closes his eyes and his fangs retract.
After another minute, Marcus finally stills beneath Darius’s grip. Not completely relaxed but subdued.
I’m going to have to order a lot more sedation and text Finn to get on it right away, since the ferry only comes once per week.
The room falls into an awful silence broken only by Marcus’s ragged breathing and the distant waves of the Atlantic battering the island far below. My pulse is hammering. The dark veins beneath Marcus’s skin move very faintly under the surface.
The truth is a vampire is infected. And suddenly this entire situation becomes infinitely more dangerous.
Darius releases Marcus carefully but does not step far away. His entire posture remains alert, predatory, and controlled.
Ready to protect me.
Marcus’s eyes remain shut now, but his mouth moves faintly. Hungry. The word barely forms. A chill crawls over my skin.
“He fed recently?” I ask quietly.
“Yes, Lena. The day of her attack.”
“Then why would—”
“He should not still be so hungry,” Darius finishes grimly. “He also loves blood wine and drinks it often.”
I look back at Marcus. At the veins, the trembling, the loss of control, the hunger. And suddenly I understand something horrifying.
“This thing…” I whisper slowly. “It’s accelerating appetite and loss of control in vampires.”
I sigh.
“Humans become weak,” I continue quietly, thinking aloud now. “Anemic. Feverish. Hallucinations maybe. But vampires…”
My stomach tightens.
“It seems to strip away control.”
Real concern flashes openly across Darius’s face.
I stare at Marcus again, suddenly imagining this spreading through every vampire at The Cliffs.
All those elegant, controlled immortals who live here, some of them downstairs waiting for us. Vampires that could become uncontrollable, hungry, unstable and violent.
The room suddenly feels much smaller. The island feels smaller, too.
Marcus jerks weakly again and mutters: “Don’t let me hurt anyone, Darius.”
The words nearly break my heart, because underneath the disease and hunger, he’s still there. Fighting.
Darius crouches beside him then, one hand braced firmly against Marcus’s shoulder.
“You won’t,” he says quietly. “But I’m going to have to silver you for restraint. So you won’t hurt anyone. Okay, Marcus?”
He nods and agrees.
“I’m sorry, it will hurt,” Darius says quietly.
Authority rolls through the room when he speaks. Calm. Certain. Ancient. Marcus visibly settles at the sound of his voice.
I don’t know that much about vampires yet. But I understand what he is here. Powerful and responsible. The weight of this entire hidden world sits on his shoulders.
He calls Charles to the room, who carries a wooden box. He hands Darius some thick gloves, then opens the box and Darius takes out a long silver rope. He places it on Marcus.
Marcus drifts deeper into unconsciousness finally, his breathing slowing, restrained under silver.
I exhale shakily.
“I didn’t know silver did that to vampires … I just thought it repelled and that’s why we wear the necklaces.”
“You’ll have much to learn about us.”
“Darius, we’ll keep up regular sedation. I need blood samples,” I say immediately. “From Marcus. And any infected patient. I need to compare progression rates between human and vampire physiology. To try to figure this thing out. I already texted Finn to order a large supply of sedation.”
“You are not frightened away easily,” he murmurs, as I take out my kit for the samples.
I let out one strained laugh.
“Oh, I’m frightened beyond belief,” I assure him. “I’m just also medically fascinated.”
“Good.”
This is insane. I’m standing in a hidden vampire mansion discussing blood disease progression with an immortal while an infected vampire who wanted to drink me or kill me sedates behind us. And somehow the strangest part is that I trust Darius completely.
The elegant woman from the hallway appears again quietly at the doorway.
“Darius,” she says softly. “They’re gathering downstairs. They have arrived from all the mansions.”
I glance toward him.
“The others know?” I ask.
“They know enough.”
“And now they’re concerned.”
I understand the true danger here. What happens if vampires begin losing control. This could spiral out of control on the entire island.
Darius looks toward Marcus once more before turning back to me.
“You should return to the clinic. This will worsen before it improves.”
“You think I’m leaving now?” I ask incredulously.
His jaw tightens slightly. “I think you are human, Bella. Surrounded by vampires.”
“And I think I’m the only doctor you have.”
Silence. Darius exhales slowly through his nose.
“You are too stubborn for your own good. And difficult.”
“And yet you need that. Admire it even.”
Something dangerous flickers warmly through his eyes then.
“Yes,” he says quietly. “I do. But you must defer to me downstairs.”