Conquer the Highland Beast: The Vampire Dylan Macgregor (Hearts of Darkness) (20 page)

“I’m taking you to get help. Hang on, my heart.”

He manipulated the human minds around them and cloaked Caitlin and himself. He cleansed the human minds of her memory and traced Caitlin to the hospital.

To his surprise, the strange mixture of mortals and immortals making up the emergency crew responded as if they saw this thing every day. When, and if, she regained consciousness, he hoped it would be long enough to accept what he offered. Even if she loved him as much as she claimed, he believed there was no way the unconscious woman would agree to his plans. Never-the-less, if her condition didn’t improve, he’d never know. She couldn’t agree if she didn’t wake up.

Max greeted him at the entrance to the emergency room, where Kyle was already shouting orders at the staff. Shelby took vitals, looking too stern, as they whisked Caitlin onto a gurney and rushed her to surgery. “Max, take care of him while we take care of her,” she shouted back at them. “I’ll keep you updated.”

~~~~

Max stayed by his side through the whole ten hours she was in surgery. Shelby came to them first and hugged Dylan. Tears streaked her cheeks. “She’s still fighting, but it doesn’t look good.”

Kyle slammed out from the OR, his image as dark and angry as his mood. He looked whipped, tired, and frustrated. “The damn bullets are designed to rip a human’s insides apart. There’s so damn much damage all I could do was put her insides back together like a shredded puzzle. This gives us some time, but she won’t survive her injuries.”

“Then we have to bring her around long enough to let her make the decision,” he said.

“What decision, buddy. She’s your life mate. There is no decision. It’s not the same situation as mine,” Kyle said. “Besides, look how well I’ve adjusted.” He wrapped an arm around Shelby’s waist and drew her close.

“But Dylan,” Max stepped forward. “…you can’t be the one to change her.

~~~~

Dylan perpetrated the lie. They assumed Caitlin roused enough mentally to agree to the change even though she couldn’t speak and he allowed them to believe it.

The round-the-clock staff kept her weak heart beating, but she was losing the battle little by little each hour. While the nurses’ random thoughts drove Dylan crazy, Caitlin hung on to life for less than two days before deteriorating badly.

To his frustration, her mortal wounds kept her comatose despite the blood he’d given her and Kyle’s superhuman efforts during
surgery. She was slipping away, and soon he’d have to make the decision for her—the one that he’d once made for himself.

Occasionally, he thought he caught a wisp of a memory or a lingering thought softly touch his mind. Was it wishful thinking on his part to hope she wanted this? Maybe. Through it all, he found he couldn’t be apart from her—neither sleeping during the daylight hours as he agonized over turning her, nor feeding.

After sunset the next day, Dylan went to the nurse’s station to glean more information about Caitlin’s condition by catching bits and pieces of their thoughts. The floor nurse believed it was a shame for someone so young and vibrant to die. So did he.

The head nurse thought if she didn’t regain consciousness soon, and no one thought she would, there was always the issue of brain damage from the blood loss.

Shelby, usually a bubbly natured female, frowned when she checked the chart outside the door with Caitlin’s vitals. Then she went into her room to examine her. The furrow in her brow deepened as she met Dylan’s eyes, and he noted she spoke slowly and carefully, “If you’re contemplating turning her, there isn’t much time left.”

“I haven’t told anyone else. Her brother went insane when he tried to turn. He killed himself and his parents in the fire he set when he lost his mind.” She would never forgive him for making this decision for her, and how much better off will she be if she’s brain damaged?

“I can’t advise you. All I can say is where there is life there is hope. I’ll leave you two alone. Call me when you’re ready.” She paused and smiled. “Call me if there’s anything I can do...” Her smile faded when she turned and left the room.

Death for both of them or immortality. As soon as her condition weakened so much he couldn’t wait any longer, the decision would be made for him. There was his promise to Niccolai to consider. Jackson wasn’t ready to take over yet. If someone like Niccolai couldn’t go through eternity alone, neither could Dylan—not if there was even a slim possibility of saving the woman he loved.

He’d allowed everyone to believe Caitlin had given her consent to his plan because facing their contempt would make his decision that much harder. Hell, there wasn’t any other choice, not when he held Caitlin to his chest and inhaled her unique scent.

He called Shelby back into the room. “I would have you
participate in her change.”

“How can I
participate
?”

“I’ll need your blood. Bagged preferably. We’ll hook her up to an IV, and
after I drain her, it will be your blood that returns her to life. I’ll take it from there. Her feedings, her metamorphosis, etcetera.”

“So my blood will sire her, but you will do the rest?”

“Yes. But I’ll have to feed first. Please, keep her safe until I return.”

“You’re weak from hunger, and you won’t fare well if the sun catches you.” She held out her wrist and made the formal offering. “Take my blood to reinforce you, my lord.”

“No, thank you. I’m grateful for your offer—” he responded ceremoniously. “Kyle will be—”

“Don’t be stupid. Kyle owes you. As we all do.” She was a tough young female. Probably had to be to deal with all this. “You’ll need the strength for the hunt.” Again, the young woman offered her wrist to Dylan. “Take it. I don’t need two patients to care for.”

He took what she offered, sipping a small amount of her vampire blood, and then bowed to her in the ancient tradition. “I am honored.”

“It is my honor to serve, my lord.” Her stern look and the prerequisite response made Dylan smile, especially when she finished her thought, “Now go. Leave. I’ll watch over your mate until your return. ”

Her generosity would sustain him, tonight. When he risked leaving to hunt and feed, he’d have to be quick. The added blood would have to sustain him during the time he and Caitlin would be underground completing her transition.

~~~~

Shortly before midnight, Dylan sifted into the room using his fae ability. Without a sufficient fresh blood supply, he couldn’t trace and he didn’t want to waste any energy Caitlin might require.

Shelby adjust
ed the machines, and he waited before making his presence known. After she noticed him, she gave him a quick professional appraisal and returned to her task. “You look better. Strong enough too—”

“I’m going to do this now. Please have a limousine prepared for our departure.” What was wrong with him? “Shelby, thank you again for your support and generosity.”

“No problem, my lord.” She bowed at the neck, not the waist. Good, not too reverential he noted, but still trained in the rituals. She was a modern vampire with a new master who wasn’t much older than she was.

“The IV
with my blood is hooked up, but turned to the off position.” Shelby hugged him and dropped the formality when they cut to the necessities. “Turn this valve when you’re ready to jump start your honey.” She winked at him. “Stop worrying. The three of us made it, and we had no idea what we were doing. The transportation will be ready when you are. Where are you going? To the estate?”

“Yes. Will you and Kyle be able to come by?”

“Of course. Everyone will be there to support you—both of you. We owe you our lives. This is nothing compared to all you’ve given us.”

“You’re wrong.” He glanced back at Caitlin, the woman who meant more to him than his life. “It is everything.”

He bowed and kissed Shelby’s hand and she warned him, “Be careful you give her enough of my blood to turn her before you feed her.”

“I won’t forget what happened to you and Max. Is it so bad?”

She almost smiled. “No, of course not. Except he thinks he gets to boss me around now. No, really I was worried about him, but Genevieve may be the ‘one’.”

B
efore she left him alone to handle his deed, he almost told her the truth. Even if he screwed this up, Caitlin would not feel the sire bond. She never gave her permission to be turned— therefore all bets were off.

Dylan locked the door behind the good doctor. The action was no more than a formality to ensure their privacy. It wouldn’t keep out an immortal.

Dylan stared at Shelby’s gift—the bagged blood. In the three hundred years he’d lived, he’d never created another vampire, nor had he ever wanted to. He’d given his permission to Niccolai, never dreaming he’d contemplate making such a decision for someone else, especially not the woman he loved. Being selfish might be a mistake, but after all the lonely years, he intended to take this risk. Sometimes the process didn’t work. She might die anyway, or like her brother, go mad. Then the responsibility would be taken from him. If anything happened to her, he didn’t want to go on.

He approached her slowly studying every detail about her. She looked beautiful, pale
, and ethereal against the white sheets. Soft and frail. That was a façade. She was strong, capable, and iron-willed. Dylan had to believe she would survive this.

He kissed her softly on the lips and placed a hand on her belly. If only they’d
met in a different time, they might have made babies. They would have been beautiful, strong, and gifted. She’d never mentioned whether children were important to her, and now the circumstances and his decision made it an impossibility. Made vampires—those brought back from the dead couldn’t breed. Life did not grow from death.

He wished she could tell him this was what she would choose. Even when his hand skimmed her breast on the way to her chin, she didn’t react. He nipped at her lips hoping she’d respond with
the quick surprised intake of breath he’d grown to love. There was nothing to encourage him, nothing but a faint pull at his memory, and her sweet scent in the air.

He would do this. Something told him he had risen from the dead for this purpose alone. She was meant to live, and he was meant to make her immortal.

Discarding his doubts with his clothes, he deliberately unhooked the machines and then the tubes keeping her alive. After he took off her hospital gown, he climbed into the bed beside her, and wrapped her in his arms. She felt so small, so right beside him.

He bent his head and whispered in her ear, “Caitlin, believe me when I say I can’t live without you.” He moved to her mouth. “I love you beyond measure. The words, he whispered against her lips, but he sent his feelings straight to her mind.

His fangs extended when he relaxed. Determined to go through with the process, he knew once he started there would be no turning back. She would die and live to be reborn.
Please let my emotions penetrate her thoughts so she knows what I’m thinking, feeling.

When his tongue teased her throat
, had he imagined that small caress of her mind in his?

Mine.

“Forgive me if this isn’t what you want, but it’s all I know to do.”

When his sharp teeth sank deeply into the satin skin of her neck
and she moaned, his hope soared. He fastened himself to her carotid, his arousal greater than ever before. Linking his mind to hers through her blood, he felt her desire for him. She wanted his touch. She wanted him.

Discovering
her sexual response to him was more than merely a reflex, made him more determined than ever to make the act of turning into an act of love making for her. Although all humans had an increased response to the vampire’s kiss no matter how physically weak they became from the blood taking, he wanted to pleasure her into his world.

Her nipples were tight pointed pebbles, begging for attention beneath his palms. Squeezing them with the pressure that drove her wild, he waited for a res
ponse.

He
sensed she was still connected to him. He dragged his index finger over the tip of one nipple and watched it pucker. So responsive. So exquisite.

When she arched her body against his and spread her legs for him, he couldn’t help believing her instincts were still emotionally driven. After all, they loved one another, so all this was merely a formality. Just because the flavor of her rich sweet blood unhinged him, didn’t mean
they couldn’t take the time to enjoy this moment.

Every moment inside her was ecstasy—her love a precious gift.
Gods, she was perfect, and now she would be his forever.

He moved his hardened cock between her thighs and penetrated her. She sighed as he pressed high inside her, and something like peace settled over him.

Caught up in the pleasure of her taste, her scent, and her tight sheath gripping his hard length, he had to remind himself to listen for her heartbeat. Once it stopped, and this would be fast since she was already so weak, he would have to open the valve to send Shelby’s blood through her veins quickly.

His heart quickened with excitement, and his body tightened with expectation against her cooling flesh. He began the rhythmic pistoning of his hips, waiting for her cry of satisfaction. As he caressed her peaked nipples, he grew determined to give her
la petite mort
, the small death of pleasure, while she experienced her true human death.