Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
“What do you mean?” The words tumble out of my mouth as it hits me: Devon isn’t going to make it. The decision is to either let him die or turn him into a vampire.
“This doesn’t concern you,” Theo tells me.
“The fuck it does,” I snap and the lights above us flicker.
“Control your witch, brother,” Theo says snidely and Xavier growls, moving in front of me.
“Watch your mouth,” Xavier snaps, and I assume he’s drawing his fangs. My heart is racing and I clench my fingers into fists, trying not to freak out completely. A nurse walks by and Xavier stops her, asking about the status of the patient in the OR next to us.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know,” she says, looking confused. Her eyes land on me, taking in the sight of my bloody clothes. “Let me take you to the waiting—”
“Find out,” Xavier orders, catching her eye. She slowly nods and then hurries away. I swallow hard and lean against the wall, feeling like I’m going to pass out. My vision starts to fade and I slump down, trying to convince myself that I didn’t actually hear Devon’s last spoken words.
Don’t let them turn me.
We hadn’t really had time to talk about it at length.
And when I suggested he rethink this whole becoming a vampire thing, it wasn’t factoring in a life or death situation.
I don’t want to lose him. Is that selfish?
Maybe. If it is, I don’t care. I’m not able to accept that Devon would rather bleed to death and die from being shot by a wooden arrow than become a vampire.
When he changed his mind about not wanting to be turned, it was because he wanted to live his life in the sun, grow old, and die of natural causes.
We hadn’t even thought about what would happen in a situation like this and my mind is going in circles, feeling guilty for wanting him to live but then feeling even worse if I let him die.
I would always wonder. I would always regret it. Besides, being a vampire isn’t that bad. I mean, just look at the Malus family. But then there’s Mabel…she didn’t want to be a vampire and it’s quite clear. But it’s not like she’s unhappy.
I squeeze my eyes shut, unable to quiet the voices. Instead, they become louder and louder until they’re yelling in my ears, each word reverberating off my skull since the voices are inside my head.
“Wren.” Xavier’s hand lands on my shoulder and suddenly, the voices stop all at once. Blinking, I look at him, only hearing my own heartbeat thumping along inside my chest. For a split second, everything fades and I badly want to relent to him.
The OR doors swing open and the same nurse comes back out. Her face is flush and I’m sure she’s going to get in trouble for just walking into an operating room in her everyday scrubs. Xavier takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. His strong arm wraps around me, holding me up.
“He has a partially collapsed lung,” the nurse begins, still looking confused as to why she’s breaking HIPAA rules by telling us about a patient.
She has no idea who we are in relation to Devon.
“The arrow hit right below the clavicle and damaged the subclavian artery, which resulted in the rapid blood loss. The artery has been repaired and a chest tube put in place to help the lung re-expand.”
Her tone is soft and matter of fact, but each word hits me like a slap to the face. Lung damage. Chest tube. Rapid blood loss.
None of that is good.
“Currently, his heart rhythm is stable and they’ve started a transfusion, but he is in critical condition.” She blinks, not looking away from Xavier. “They will keep monitoring for internal bleeding and shock.”
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask, voice trembling.
“Answer her honestly,” Xavier orders.
“I can’t say either way,” the nurse begins. “Best case scenario is that he wakes up, but it wouldn’t be without permanent damage. Mobility issues, chronic pain, weakness. The chance of organ failure or infection is high.”
“And the worst case?” Theo asks.
“He doesn’t make it through the night,” the nurse answers.
“Thank you. Now go on your way,” Xavier tells her and the nurse scuttles off, shaking her head.
“He could be okay,” I whisper and Theo scoffs.
“Where the fuck did you hear anything about him being okay?”
“Watch it,” Xavier warns again, squaring his shoulders.
“That’s the problem with humans,” Theo goes on, turning and balling his fingers into fists. “The way they cling to the selfish delusion that everything will be okay so they don’t have to be faced with a hard decision.”
“He could pull through,” I argue, fully aware that I am being delusional.
“He could,” Theo says, almost mockingly. “And be a deformed, weakened version of himself. Is that the life you think he’d want to live?” His eyes sear into mine and I just shake my head as the voices come back.
This was the plan the whole time: Devon gets turned.
It’s what he wanted until I came along, and I haven’t known him very long.
We haven't had a chance to really dig into this, to fully play the tape through on our little fantasy of running away. He might have a real chance to escape and live a life without persecution, but I won’t. I think we both knew that.
Still, it was fun to think about, but was it only fun to think about because we both knew it wasn’t really going to happen? I blink and now I see him rushing toward me in that parking lot, face pale and eyes wide with terror.
What had he found out? What was so bad we had to run away? Does that mean he didn’t think his brothers could protect us? What’s worse than a vampire mafia?
“We don’t have much time,” Theo says to Xavier.
“I know,” Xavier agrees and paces across the hall. If I wasn’t here, I’m sure it would be an easy decision: turn Devon, take him home, and wake up tomorrow as a new, normal day. “He’s still in surgery.”
“And could die on the table,” Theo counters.
“There was stuff he wanted to do—as a human!”
“It isn’t that simple,” Xavier tells me, putting both hands on my shoulders. “I know this is hard—”
“It’s not just hard, it’s wrong!” The lights hum and flicker again and I close my eyes, pushing tears out.
“It’s wrong to…to…” To choose who lives or dies.
But I can’t say it. Because only moments ago, I realized that choice was mine and I felt no remorse when I gave Xavier Dale and Randall’s names, fully knowing what would happen.
“This…this isn’t fair.” I bring my hands to my face and Xavier pulls me to him, cradling me against his chest.
“It’s not,” he agrees. “But when is life fair?” He kisses the top of my head. “I am going to take you home so you can shower and put on clean clothes. Devon will be out of surgery by then and we can decide.”
“That’s bullshit,” Theo goes on, speaking loudly. “You know what happens if we keep him as a vegetable too long. Look at Mabel! I don’t want another half-wit sibling to look after for all eternity.”
In a flash, Xavier has Theo up against the wall, slamming him into it so hard the plaster cracks.
“You would risk him for her?” Theo says through gritted teeth.
“I would risk the world for her,” Xavier says back and my heart jumps. My eyes widen, watching Xavier press his brother harder against the wall, both flashing their fangs. “One hour. We’ll be back in one hour.”
Xavier lets his brother go and speeds over to me. He takes my hand and starts to lead me down the hall. Theo shouts something in another language, and Xavier responds by flipping him off.
“Is it a good idea to leave?” I ask, voice cracking as I talk.
“You are covered in blood and in shock. I am taking you home for a warm shower,” he says definitely.
“Okay,” I just reply and keep a tight hold on his hand. We get down to the front of the hospital and Xavier stops, suddenly turning and pinning me up against a pillar of the awning.
“You could have died, Wren,” he growls, lips brushing against mine. My body shouldn’t be responding to him right now, not with everything going on. Maybe it’s because in the back of my mind, I need a distraction.
Or, a scarier truth: I’m falling in love with Xavier Malus.
“I didn’t,” I pant back, blood-covered hands going to his head. I rake my fingers through his dark hair. It’s swept back away from his face in an effortless way that looks so good on him.
“You put yourself at risk.”
“I did.”
He replies with a guttural growl and puts his lips to my neck, tongue sweeping over the little bite wounds that he left there yesterday.
As suddenly as he started, he pulls away, taking my hand again.
He opens the passenger side door of a sports car I haven’t yet been in, which reminds me that I left his G-Wagon by the warehouse.
“You’re shaking,” he notes, turning on my heated seat.
“I think it’s from the shock.”
He looks at me curiously for a second, almost like he doesn’t understand why I would tremble from shock.
Right. He doesn’t usually deal with humans and our weaknesses so to speak.
I put on my seatbelt and lean back, eyes falling shut.
So much has happened in such little time I don’t even know where to start thinking.
Devon is the only thing on my mind.
“What if he doesn’t make it?” I whisper as Xavier starts the car, engine revving to life.
“The plan always was to turn him into a vampire,” Xavier tells me, somehow not getting emotional. Is life and death just such a part of his eternal afterlife that it doesn’t faze him? He has seen a lot of humans die over the years. Hell, he’s killed a lot of humans.
“After he knocked me up,” I can’t help but grumble.
“That plan changed the moment you became my wife.”
“What?” I turn, looking at my vampire husband.
“You think I would let another man touch you?” He takes his eyes off the road to look at me incredulously. I blink once. Twice. There is no way Xavier would let anyone touch me and live…even his own biological descendant.