Black Magic Rose (37 page)

“My home.” Her eyes glistened. “All my parents’ things. Every memory. All the mementoes. Gone.” She cleared her throat.
 

“No, love. We salvaged as much as we could from the top floor before the fire.” Dragomir reached for her and she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “The boxes are in receiving. We’ll get them down to our quarters soon.” He rubbed her back and wanted nothing more than to take her to retrieve her things then sit back with a glass of wine and watch her unpack herself into his quarters.
 

If she was set on remaining in Rhode Island, he would. He’d go wherever she wanted. He’d do his duty for The Alliance from whatever location made her happy. But, if she was willing, he’d take her to Romania and show her his home, his land, his world. She would light his castle like no one ever had.
 

“My mother’s things,” she whispered. “That’s all I had left of her.”
 

Dragomir squeezed her tight. “I’m sorry, love.” He sighed and glanced at Jankin.

“Sofia, did you touch the roses, remove them from the vase?” Jankin’s voice was strained as though he was trying not to demand the answer.
 

“One. I held it by the stem.” She sniffled. “Then I put it back in the arrangement.”

“Were there thorns?” Jankin asked.
 

“Yes. Quite a few. I pricked my fingers several times.” She dabbed at her eyes.
 

“Hmm. That’s why the roses took hold so quickly. They tasted you.” Jankin nodded. “I thought the scent of the roses at the farm was much stronger than usual. He’s perfected his poison.” Jankin removed his cell phone and sent a text message.
 

“It would seem so. That’s only a few drops of her blood over a twenty-four hour period.” Dragomir kept his arm around Sofia. “Love, the entire first floor was overrun with pulsing rose vines. They’d begun to creep up the stairs.” He tilted her chin up and placed a soft kiss to her lips. “We had no choice.”

She nodded, though tears flooded her eyes again. “It’s just that was my parents’ home, and my dad grew up there. It’s the only home I’ve ever really had.”

Dragomir’s heart ached. To see his mate distraught was worse than any other punishment. His vision faded to black and white. He closed his eyes. Kiernan would pay for hurting her.
 

The phone in Dragomir’s breast pocket vibrated when the text Jankin sent to The Board arrived.
Eventide. Moontide.
 

The wolves would succumb to the poison of the roses much easier than the vampires, especially if the roses recognized any of them. The eventide meant the first wave of the attack would be the vampires. The wolves would follow. “I’ll lead the assault,” Dragomir said. “She is my wife. I want to ensure Kiernan gets the message.”
 

“We go together. She is my family.” Jankin stroked Sofia’s cheek. “I’ll be in the war room.” With a curt nod he left Dragomir alone with Sofia.
 

“Where are you going? I thought you took care of the farm.” Sofia reached for a tissue on her desk.
 

“There seems to be a camp within twenty miles. We go to destroy it and take prisoners.” Dragomir picked up his coat. Though it was weighted down with several stakes, silver throwing stars, and four knives he slipped into it with ease.
 

“That’s a lot of stakes for prisoners.” She sniffled.
 

“I like to be prepared.” He smiled. “I’ll be back before dawn. There’s no need for you to stay up all night.” Dragomir placed a small skeleton key in Sofia’s hand. “This will unlock the first lock on the door to our quarters.”
 

“I’ll wait. I have a lot of work to catch up on.” Sofia pointed to the stack of envelopes piled on her desk.
 

“Yes, but you are not a vampire. You need sleep.” He curled her fingers around the key. “You don’t have to remain awake.”
 

“As if I could sleep with you and Jankin and everyone else out there.” Sofia looked toward the darkened window.
 

“Do your best. When I get back, I’ll want you well rested.” He nuzzled her neck. “We’ll be fine. After using the key, place your left hand flat above the knob and the second lock will release.”

“Just come back.” Sofia wrapped her arms around his neck.
 

“I will always come back to you.”
 

Chapter Thirty-six

The troops left the stronghold just after midnight. Sofia watched them go from her darkened office. She was no help in a battle, and in all truthfulness, she was frightened. She hadn’t bothered to offer to go even though she wanted to mete out some sort of vengeance for her family. There would have been no point to attempting the argument. Plus, she knew her presence would simply be a distraction to everyone.
 

When the last of the team disappeared into the woods, Sofia wandered downstairs to the inpatient units. She still hadn’t met all the staff and figured now was as good a time as any. The highlight of being in the employee relations position was getting to know people when they weren’t in trouble.
 

It was a slower than usual night on the second floor. Of the sixteen beds only four were occupied. A nurse sat behind the desk and one walked the floor.
 

“Can I help you?” the pretty redheaded vampire seated at the desk asked with a toothy smile. She clicked a couple keys on the computer and the screen went blank.
 

“I’m Sofia Engle, the Employee Relations Manager,” Sofia answered. “I just came by to say hello and introduce myself.”
 

“Engle or Petrescu?” The blond coming up the hall asked. Her fangs were descended and her blue eyes glowed.

“I haven’t quite decided…shouldn’t you put those away?” Sofia knew very well the Professional Appearance Policy required everyone to always appear human with no traces of supernatural presentation. Fangs and glowing eyes certainly did not work.
 

The blond frowned and let her fangs slide under her gums. “So sorry. I’m Rachel. This is Lisa.” As she extended her hand her eyes became crystal blue.

The gleam in her stare stood as a warning and Sofia suspected the vampire would break another important rule, the one about unleashing even a flicker of vampire power on humans.
 

Sofia braced herself then grasped Rachel’s hand. A mild sizzle of power hummed up Sofia’s arm. “I’m fairly certain that’s unacceptable as well,” she said.

“Is it? I hadn’t realized we couldn’t be ourselves in front of you.” Rachel released Sofia’s hand. “It’s a pity. We had hoped you’d be fun.” She leaned on the counter beside Sofia. “We get so few visitors up here at night. It’ll be especially boring tonight with everyone out.”
 

Sofia noticed a monitor on the desk showing two flat lines. “Are those monitoring the patients?”

Lisa followed Sofia’s gaze. “Oh, yeah. But they’re fine.” Lisa stuck a pencil under her cap and scratched her head.

“Nothing to worry about,” Rachel said. “I was just down there. They’re all set, tucked in for the night.” She tugged at the collar of her white uniform.
 

“Where’s the nursing assistant?” Sofia asked. It was odd that the nursing assistant was nowhere to be seen with so few patients. She focused on the floor, trying to sense any vampires or wolves that might be present. Though the two nurses stood in front of her, Sofia registered none of their energy. But down the hall she sensed a young vampire. And she knew from the aching energy the vampire was in distress.

The two nurses glanced at each other.
 

“Break,” Rachel finally said. “Be back in a bit.”

“The census is low tonight. So what’s the caseload like?” Sofia asked. She waited to hear if either nurse could give her any idea of what the patients’ needs were.

They glanced at each other again.
 

“We don’t want to bore you with medical mumbo jumbo.” Lisa walked around the desk and reached beneath. “Flower?” She pushed a bouquet of roses into Sofia’s face.

The moment the flowers touched Sofia’s skin they sprang to life, puffing an unnaturally fragrant aroma into the air.
 

Sofia gasped and backed away.
 

“Come here, girl.” Rachel jumped over the counter and barreled toward Sofia. The front of her white uniform was covered in blood from her waist to her feet. “We’ve been waiting for you all night.” Her fangs descended beneath amber glowing eyes.
 

“He said it would be easy. I just can’t believe they really left you here alone.” Lisa held up the bouquet of roses. “Taste one. They’re delish.” She made a show of licking her lips.
 

Sofia roundhouse kicked Rachel and the vampire flew backward over the counter into Lisa. She didn’t wait to see if she’d done any damage. She bolted down the hall and into a patient room only to come face to face with the nursing assistant. She was strapped to the bed in silver. The smell of burning flesh stunned Sofia.
 

“Help me. Let me up. Please. Please. My skin.” The poor girl’s skin bubbled and blistered. Puss and blood oozed where the silver touched her.
 

Sofia covered her mouth and peeled away the silver, trying not to lose the contents of her stomach all over the girl. “I’m so sorry.” She tried to be as gentle as she could.

“Just hurry. They’re coming.” She staggered to her feet and pulled up her pant leg to remove a stake from a shin strap above her calf. “I knew there was something wrong with them. They’ve been awfully happy these past couple nights. When they arrived tonight they were practically giddy. They’re usually so miserable. I can’t stand them. Rotten wenches.”
 

The nursing assistant tore a strip from the bed sheet and tied it around her neck. She did the same with her waist. “You’re Dragomir’s mate, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. Sofia.”
 

“I’m Amy. I know you hate fighting, but you’re going to have to help me. I might be able to handle one, but never two. Not like this.” Her wounds had stopped bubbling but the oozing puss ran down her neck, hands, and scrubs.
 

“There’s blood in the lab,” Sofia said. “If we can get down there and—”
 

The door blasted in. “Come here, you.” Rachel stood in the doorway. Blood oozed down her face and smeared across her cheeks. “You’re going to pay for this.” She held up a fang. “These don’t grow back.”

Lisa snorted behind her.

“I’m so sorry. I hadn’t meant to hurt you.” Sofia stepped backward.
 

“No? What did you think kicking me in the face would do?” Rachel sneered. Blood dripped from the spot where her fang should have been. “You’re mine. If he thinks I’m bringing you in, he’s crazy after that move.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Sofia said.
 

“Yes I do.” Rachel licked the gap created by her missing fang. The look of hatred on her face said it all. Sofia would pay with her life.
 

Sofia remembered what Dragomir taught her.
Stake through the heart
.
 

“You’re going to wish you’d never heard of vampires when I’m through.”

Sofia grabbed the IV pole beside the bed and hurled it like a javelin just like she’d seen Melanie Andrews do in the Emergency Room.
 

Rachel’s voice silenced. A high-pitched keening cry sounded behind her. The bodies of both vampires dropped to the floor in the doorway. They landed on their knees, mouths open, eyes holding only vacant stares.
 

“That could not just be adrenaline,” Amy said. She slumped back onto the bed still gripping her stake. “If I hadn’t seen that with my own eyes, I’d never believe it could happen. Man I wish I’d gotten it on video.”

Sofia’s hands shook. She’d killed someone. Two people. “They were going to kill me. It was the right thing to do.” Her voice quaked. She couldn’t catch her breath. Her heart pounded so loudly it was all she heard. Amy’s lips moved, but Sofia couldn’t hear a thing. The room began to spin and darken until finally all was quiet.
 

*****

Something cool rested on Sofia’s forehead. “Open your eyes, love.”

Sofia whimpered.
 

“You’re fine. Wake up.” Dragomir’s voice was steady, but it didn’t hide the emotion behind it.
 

Sofia felt his concern and something else. She couldn’t quite recognize the other feeling. It was powerful and edgy and coursed through him like raging water. After several minutes studying the feeling she understood. Dragomir fought to hide his fear and worry and anger.
 

She opened her eyes. His face was the first thing she saw. Dark hair hung above her just barely tickling her skin. Midnight blue eyes gazed at her above a smile to melt her heart. That edgy power ebbed, receding until finally it disappeared. Sofia tried to smile, though her head throbbed.
 

“You did quite well.” He kissed her forehead and she winced. “Put a nice knot on your head when you passed out, too.” He placed an icy gel pack on the sore spot.