Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (22 page)

“Are you sure?  Cold turkey?  Is that really the best way?” he said. 

“Probably not, but that’s the way I’m going to do it.”

There was a knock on the door and then Cameron poked his head in.  He
went to work right away.  “What have we got?” he said as he began examining
me.  He sniffed near me, “Strung out?” he asked.  Carlos and I both nodded our
heads.  He began his exam at my head.  “Head looks good, eyes look good.”  He
moved down to my arms.  “Arms are fine, lungs are clear.”  I winced as he
prodded my belly.  “How long ago did you deliver?”

“I’m not sure.  Ask Carlos.  It was the last day I talked to him.” 

Cameron looked at Carlos who said, “Seven days ago.” 

Cameron nodded and moved his exam lower.  “Do you want Carlos to step
out?” he asked.  I shook my head and held tight to Carlos’ hand.  I wasn’t
about to let him go anywhere.  Cameron pulled my knees up and began a painful pelvic
exam.  I was still extremely tender and sore.  Carlos felt every wince, felt
every pain, and he gently caressed my forehead and tried to soothe me.  “Not
too bad, Sarah.  You had some tearing, but it has healed fine.  When was the
last time you ate?”

He shouldn’t have mentioned feeding.  Suddenly I was struggling to sit
up.  I pushed on Carlos’ chest as hard as I could.  I kicked my feet at
Cameron.  Luckily, they both were ready for this.  Cameron had a firm grip on
my ankles while Carlos had a firm grasp on my wrists.  I was in a panic.  I was
naked and flailing around like a fish out of water, but I didn’t care.  My eyes
were darting everywhere then they locked on his window.  There were people out
there, walking through the courtyard.  Coming to and leaving from, the clinic. 
Humans who thought they were safe milling about with a bunch of vampires. 

“I have to, let me go, I have to feed damn it,” I yelled.

“No, Sarah.  Not that way.  You don’t want to do that.  I’ll get you some
blood,” Carlos softly said.  The word blood broke my concentration on the
people in the courtyard. 

“Now?  Please?  Now?”  I begged as I looked desperately into his eyes. 
He nodded and I relaxed into his arms.  I curled into a ball and buried my head
in his chest.  He and Cameron let go of my arms and legs.  That’s what I was
hoping for.  Before either of them could react, I pushed away from Carlos,
leapt over his head and flung myself at his window.  My sole intention was to
crash through it and drain anyone I could find.  That was the only thing I
could focus on.  And so I crashed into the window, which held firm because it
was the strong, bullet-proof glass that I had installed after Malina had
kidnapped Matt.  I screamed a horrible, ear-piercing, scream as soon as I
realized that the glass wasn’t going to break and I crumbled into a sobbing
heap on the floor. 

“Sarah!” Carlos yelled as he ran over to me and pulled me into his arms. 

“Ummm, Carlos, I’m going to have a full-size fridge brought in here.  You
cannot leave her side to feed her, understand?  Don’t leave her alone at all,
not for anything,” Cameron said. 

Carlos nodded and Cameron stood up.  Suddenly Cameron’s cell phone rang. 
“Yes?” he said.  “He what?  Okay, I’m on my way.  Is he crazy?  No, don’t let
him do that.  I’ll be there in a minute.  Yes, she is.  Yes.  Okay,” he said
then he tucked his phone back in its holster.  “Something’s happened in the
clinic.” Cameron said as he glanced quickly at Carlos – a look that I missed
because I was too messed up.  “I have to go.  I’ll have Keith bring the fridge
right away.  And I’ll be back to check on her later this afternoon.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Carlos said.

Cameron ran out the door, through the halls into the clinic and into
Matt’s room.  He was shocked to see Matt awake and sitting up.  And Matt looked
pissed as hell.  “God damn it, Cameron.  She’s here, I know she’s here.  And
she’s hurt.  She’s in pain.  I heard her scream.  You have to let me go help
her,” he said.

“Matt, you’ve been in a coma for two months.  You can’t just wake up from
that and go prancing down the halls.  Let me check you out first.  Susie?  Can
you bring me four pints please?”

“First of all, I don’t prance.  And two months?  That’s not funny,
Cameron.  I haven’t been out for two months.”

Cameron stared at him for a few moments then slowly nodded his head. 
Matt’s mouth fell open.  His face showed the pain of realization.  “Has she,
has she been gone that entire time?  Was she with Aquila the whole time?” he
whispered.

“I should let her tell you, Matt.  But she’s in bad shape right now.  The
only blood Aquila has access to is from blood banks, which means it’s mostly
good blood.  She’s strung out and it’s really bad.”

“Doc, you have to let me go help her, please?  Where is she?  Is she here
in the clinic?”

Cameron shook his head.  “Too many humans around here.  Carlos has her
locked in his room with him.  She tried to bust out through the window to get
to the humans outside when I was in there checking her out, Matt.  I really
mean it when I say she’s bad.  Let me examine you first, then you can go to
her, but only if you promise not to strain yourself.”

Matt leaned back on the bed as Cameron began his exam.  “Doc?  Did she? 
Did he?  What happened to her?” he whispered.

Cameron shook his head.  “No.  She’s my patient, Matt.  I can’t tell you
anything.  You need to ask her yourself.  But do her a favor.  Tell Carlos
you’re coming first.  Don’t just show up.  She’s a mess.  He might want to try
to clean her up first…”

Which is exactly what Carlos was doing in his room.  He had a firm grip
on my shaking hand as he turned off the water in the tub.  He lifted me up and
gently set me down into the warm water full of wonderful smelling bubbles.  I
stared at him even though I couldn’t see him very well.  My eyes were still
changed and my fangs were still down, and my body was beginning to scream at me
that I really, REALLY needed to feed – on the good stuff, even though Carlos
had already helped me feed several times in the past half hour.  I whimpered
and Carlos leaned down and kissed my forehead.  I was shivering and my teeth
were chattering.  He tilted my head back and poured water over my head then he
started washing my hair – filthy hair that I hadn’t been able to wash for two
months.  It took two washings but he finally managed to get it clean.  I pulled
my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, trying to get my shivering under
control.  I turned my head to the side and tried to smile at him, but it was a
pretty hopeless attempt.  “You ready to get out now honey?  Or do you want to
stay in the warm water for a while longer?”

“I, I, I think I want to lie down for a while and maybe try to sleep.”

Carlos nodded and held open the towel for me.  Using shaky arms, I
managed to stand up.  I gripped Carlos’ arm tight for balance as I stepped out,
then I melted into his arms, getting his clothes soaking wet.  I started
sobbing again, hard, and he caught me when my legs gave out and carried me to
bed.  He helped me put on the large t-shirt that he had waiting on the bed for
me, but I shook my head when he handed me the sweats.  “Not yet.  No pants
yet.  I’m still pretty sore, they might hurt,” I whispered.  Carlos nodded and
helped me lie down, climbing in right behind me and swallowing me up in his
arms.  I noticed his breathing stop for a minute and I turned and looked at him
– his eyes were closed. 

When they opened next he said, “Matt’s on his way, sweetie.”

At first I was happy.  “He is?  I was wondering where he was.  He must
have been busy in the office.  How long has he been up and around?”

“Honey, he just woke up from his coma today, when you screamed.  He heard
your scream.  That’s what brought him out of it.”

My face fell and my heart began racing.  “He’s been in that coma this
entire time?  You mean he doesn’t know?  He doesn’t know anything?”

Carlos kissed my forehead again and said, “It’ll be okay, Sarah.  He’ll
understand.  But, no, he doesn’t know anything that happened to you.”

“But, I can’t, I’m not ready, I can’t talk about it, Carlos.  I can’t do
it, not yet.  You have to tell him.  Please?”

“I’ll tell him what I know, Sarah.  But I don’t know everything.  At some
point you’re going to have to tell us both what actually happened.  It’ll help
you to heal.”

I nodded and tried not to cry again.  “I know and I will, but not now.  I
need to at least break this addiction first.”

Suddenly there was a knock at Carlos’ front door.  My whole body tensed
up and started shaking.  “Come in, and lock both deadbolts behind you,” Carlos
said.

I curled into a ball and buried my face in my hands.  “It’s okay, Sarah. 
Everything will be okay.” he whispered.  I held my breath as I heard Matt’s
footsteps as he approached the bedroom door.

Chapter
Seventeen

He didn’t say a word when he opened the bedroom door.  He just walked in,
pulled off his slippers and climbed into the bed next to me.  He reached down
and coaxed my head up to look at him, and I saw the surprise on his face when I
finally opened my eyes and looked at him.  “She’s been stuck in hunting mode
since she got back here,” Carlos whispered.  Matt had his arms wrapped around
me and Carlos was gently caressing my back, as if they both needed to be
touching me in some way.  And I was glad because that’s exactly what I needed
too. 

“Tell me what happened, please?  Somebody please tell me,” Matt
whispered. 

“Not out loud.  Please?” I groaned.

“Okay, hun.  Look, Matt, I’ll tell you what I know, but she hasn’t told
me everything,” he said then he quickly linked with Matt and continued the
conversation silently as I desperately tried to fall asleep.

‘Aquila flew off with her to a cave, I think somewhere in
Siberia.  I’m not sure exactly where.  I tried to find her.  I tried
desperately to find her, but I couldn’t.  He kept her away from the mouth of
the cave so she couldn’t see any landmarks or anything,’
Carlos began. 

‘What about her tracking device?  You never even got close
enough for that?’
Matt
thought.

‘Aquila knew about it and took it out of her before they
reached the cave.’

‘But how did he know about it?’

‘He speaks English.’

‘No!  So he knew what we were planning the entire time? 
Fuck!’

‘She must’ve known that I wouldn’t be able to find her,
because she lied to me Matt.  But I’m getting too far ahead.  Okay, so he took
her to this cave, and then, and then, when she was unconscious he, he, he raped
her.  He impregnated her.’

‘Jesus, no.  So you found her before that thing tore out of
her belly?’

Carlos ignored Matt’s question and went on,
‘So, she was pregnant. 
And she didn’t want, or she wasn’t ready to tell me.  But I guessed.  I could
hear it in her voice.  You know she always sucked at lying.’ 
Matt smiled a
bit at this then waited for Carlos to continue.  
‘Well, then she lied one
more time, and it was the one time she was good at it, because I completely
fell for it.  I feel like such an idiot.  God, how could I be so stupid?’

‘What did she say?’

‘When I guessed that she was pregnant, I asked what the
gestational period was for those things.  I didn’t know.  Well, she must have
really thought that I wasn’t going to find her in time, so she lied and told me
it was seventy-five days, when the truth is it’s only sixty.  When Bahiti told
me that it was actually only sixty days, Sarah had been gone for sixty-five.  I
thought she was dead.  For a few minutes I thought she was dead.  And then
Aquila showed up with her in the courtyard.  He showed up with her, and their
son.  He had Sarah’s eyes Matt.   Jesus, that baby had Sarah’s eyes.’

‘But, how?  How is she still alive, Carlos?  Was her belly
torn open?  Did Cameron save her?’
Matt thought.

‘No, Matt.  It didn’t tear out of her belly.  She delivered
it.’

Matt gasped, he couldn’t help it.  ‘
Oh, God, no.  Carlos?  Are you
sure?’

Carlos nodded his head. 

‘But how?’

‘That I don’t have the answer to.  We have to wait until
she’s ready to tell us the answer to that one.  Right now she’s not.  Right now
she’s too strung out to think about healing or anything else.  Right now she
needs us to get her through her withdrawals.’

‘She’s not going cold-turkey, is she?’
Matt said, and then he answered his
own question.  ‘
Of course she is.  She wouldn’t do it any other way, would
she?  Nothing is ever easy with her, is it?’
   That comment from Matt drew
a grin from Carlos.  They both knew too well that nothing was ever easy with
me. 

Suddenly I shot up in bed, something neither of them was expecting.  They
both reached for my arms, but I was faster than both of them.  I pushed Matt
down with my elbow, then threw a right hook, punching Carlos in the eye and
struggled to the end of the bed.  When my feet hit the floor I made a beeline
for the door, but they were both ready for that.  Matt was blocking the door,
and Carlos had me blocked from behind.  I tried to move left, but they moved
with me.  I tried to move right, but Carlos grabbed my arms from behind and
kept them pinned.  I screamed at him as I kicked my legs at Matt.  “Let me go
you son of a bitch.  I’m mother-fucking hungry and I can smell them out there. 
I can smell them all.  I have to feed, you assholes.  Let me fucking go right
now!”