Tainted Blood (62 page)

Kiera and I stood to the side watching Oliver and Felix with Laney. I was mad at Oliver for leaving Laney, and I was feeling very protective of her, though I knew I had no right. She wasn’t mine. I held Kiera closer to me and she hugged me around my waist.

Felix assessed Laney’s limp body while Oliver brushed the hair from her face and examined the holes in her neck. He whispered apologies and I love yous.

“She’s lost a lot blood,” Felix said. “She’s going to need too much,” he said to Oliver.

“I don’t care if it kills me you take what you need to save her.” While very heroic, it didn’t make sense for Oliver to die to save Laney. It would kill her if that happened.

Felix had his own little black doctor’s bag with him and he pulled out some weird contraption with a bag, tubing, and a couple of needles attached. I cringed at the sight of the needles. Oliver sat on the floor so that his side was against the couch and he could talk to Laney and touch her. He straightened his arm out onto the coffee table and Felix jabbed a big-ass needle into a vein in Oliver’s arm and taped it down. Then he attached the tubing that hung from the bag to the needle, and thick, dark blood began to flow into the attached bag. I got lightheaded, called myself a pussy and forced myself watch.

Felix was much gentler with Laney when he inserted the needle into her arm. There was also some mumbling about her being so low on blood that her vein was hard to get the needle in. Eventually he got the needle on the other end of the contraption into the vein in the crook of Laney’s arm, and Oliver’s blood began to slide up through the tube and into Laney. Felix situated the device so that Oliver could move and face her.

Oliver held Laney’s hand to his lips as he stared at her. He brushed her hair from her face, and as I watched him with her, I had a pang of guilt. So many times I pushed her and told her that he wasn’t good enough. So many times I thought that he didn’t love her like she thought he did or like she loved him. Or like she deserved. I had been so wrong. I had no idea. I’d been an idiot. I’d never seen anyone more in love in my life. The way he looked at her, his little whispers of not being able to survive without her. She was his whole world.

I felt guilty for another reason too. What if I could never love Kiera that much? What if her someone was still out there?

I listened to more of Oliver’s whispers. “Please don’t give up, Laney. I have nothing if I don’t have you.”

Felix took me outside right after that. The sky was calm for once in a long while and the cool breeze felt great considering I’d gotten a little heated with emotions in there. I think Felix had heard my thoughts. Sometimes I projected them a little too strongly. We leaned against the railing outside the apartment.

“We love differently, Carter.” Felix told me. “If she dies, he will too, bonded or not.” He looked out across the grass area where Laney had been walking the damn toaster only a few hours ago.

“But I have that gene too. Why don’t I love Kiera the way he loves Laney?”

“It’s just different, and in time, it might happen, but for now, just know that you and Kiera, it’s a very good thing.”

I didn’t say anything in response. I was full of guilt, anger, and frustration. And sadness. I wasn’t sure
I’d
survive if Laney didn’t make it.
But what about Kiera?
How messed up am I?

Felix gave me a gentle pat. “You need to calm yourself, friend. Your thoughts are so loud right now I’m surprised Oliver hasn’t heard them.” I looked up at him. “She’ll be fine, but for now, we have another problem.” He nodded toward the open grass area and I followed his gaze. Ashton was making his way across the open space. I felt my temper flare. My fists balled at the sight of him and I knew where my frustrations were going to be taken out.

Felix made me go back inside the apartment and he closed the door. I paced like a caged animal. There was a knock on the door and Felix had to physically hold me back as Kiera answered it. I’m not real clear on what happened next, it’s kind of a blur.

I knew that Ashton stepped inside; I don’t think Kiera invited him, and that might have been my final straw. I was already fighting my way past Felix when Ashton saw Laney on the couch and Oliver sitting on the floor beside her. It was when he saw Oliver, or maybe that contraption that connected them, that he screamed like a little girl and took off.

We all paused for a moment when Laney giggled and then Felix said, “Go get the bastard. I’ll send for someone to collect him.” I didn’t even put a second thought into it. I took off after Ashton.

I was running so fast I felt like I was flying. When I caught him, I beat his ass, then I sat on him while I waited for the vamps to show up and haul him off. But the best part was when they tazered his ass. Damn, that was fun to watch! I was so happy at that moment, I could’ve wet myself.

Once I got back to the apartment, Felix grinned at me like he was proud. I sure the hell was. Seeing the surprised look on Ashton’s face when I tackled him to the ground was priceless, and when I easily beat his ass, it was one of the greatest feelings I’d ever had. It ranked right up there with sex! And seeing Ashton get tazed. These were all currently in my top five best moments.

Felix took me outside again and told me he had another task for me. He said that he hadn’t heard from Vance or Gwen in a few days, and that they hadn’t reported in for their scheduled duty that morning. He told me that he’d asked them to watch over Laney while he was gone the past couple days. He also told me he had a pretty bad feeling about it. So the two of us set out to search the tops of the apartments for clues.

We stayed together when we searched the first rooftop. It was the same roof I’d found them passed out the night Oliver had paid Laney an unwanted visit. I’d found them while I frantically tried to keep Kiera safe and not give away our hiding place. Oliver had somehow knocked them out that night. That boy was smart and clever, and it sucked to watch them cart him off that next morning.
But honestly, then, I felt it was just
ified for what an ass he’d been being and for what he’d done to Laney. Now I knew it wasn’t truly his doing. But while we were taking care of a heart-broken Laney, I didn’t feel any sympathy for the guy.

Felix and I split up after that first rooftop and we searched the rest separately. I knew it was a bad idea. I’d learned plenty while watching
Scooby-Doo
and tons of scary movies throughout my lifetime; I knew that you should
never
split up. That’s when all the bad shit happens.

It was me, alone, who found their bodies. This time they weren’t just knocked unconscious. I called for Felix, or maybe screamed, and then I dry heaved for a good ten minutes.

Felix deduced that Gwen and Vance had been dead at least thirty hours which explained why they never came when Laney screamed multiple times a couple nights ago. Had I known they were watching over us and listening for us… I don’t know what I would’ve done. Nothing, I guess. I’d probably have just kept calling Felix, not knowing Oscar had messed with my phone.

Thanks to all of the bad weather we’d been having most of the blood had been washed away and the sun hadn’t done as much damage as you’d expect, but it was still stomach turning. Their hearts were removed but not gone. We found them only a few feet from their bodies and I heaved again as I looked down at their shriveled organs. Felix assumed Oscar had taken their lives and I had no problem backing him on that one.

I didn’t know the two dead vampires very well at all but it was still sad that their lives were over. I was curious how Felix was feeling about the whole thing considering he and Gwen had hooked up. He seemed only ticked off that he’d lost two good vamps. Whatever, I was starting to feel the effects of no food and little sleep. After Felix called whoever you call to clean up vampire bodies, I headed back to the apartment while he waited for the cleanup crew.

I told the others what we’d found. Oliver seemed overly concerned when I told him the news—took it kind of hard actually. I think mostly because it was his brother who’d done it.
But t
hen I wondered if he’d known either or both of the dead vamps very well. Amber didn’t seem concerned at all. She just sat close to Oliver, on the edge of the coffee table, quietly keeping an eye on the blood leaving him and entering Laney. It crossed my mind for a minute that maybe Ambrose had taken Gwen out in a jealous rage, but then I thought it was a ridiculous idea and immediately dropped it. It was Oscar, I didn’t doubt that.

Laney was already looking better. The blue tinge she’d had that morning was gone but she was still rather pale.

Kiera and I sat at the dining table and picked at our bowls of cereal. My stomach didn’t want anything to do with food. I just kept picturing those dead vampires on the roof. After we attempted to eat, Kiera and I tried to carry on with our day as usual, but it was hard. Especially for me. I suddenly felt useless. Laney, who I’d come accustomed to looking out for, didn’t need me. Oliver was back and as long as his blood agreed with her she’d be fine.

So, I went back to my life as best as I could. I was worried but there was nothing I could do so I went to work that night and classes the next day and I was even able to hit the second half of the angel topic in our paranormal class. Cyrus had been helping Professor Amber with the Paranormal Studies class that week and Kiera and Zoey were now in our class. Granted, Kiera hadn’t started off so great, missing her first class and all to help me deal with Loony Laney.

Cyrus didn’t rub me the wrong way this time, like he had that night at the Pancake House. Back then I’d felt he was trying to woo all the girls. I didn’t like it. Now, he was just teaching with big, massive, black wings. Crazy stuff!

I learned quite a bit about angels that contradicted what I thought I knew about them, but I really felt like I was missing some pieces. I made a mental note to go back and read up on them as soon as I could. It also didn’t help that I was distracted. Laney was improving but she still hadn’t become fully coherent. She had little waking moments here and there, but she was still saying things that just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I was afraid she wouldn’t come back as herself, if she came back at all.

They’d stopped giving her blood when Oliver started looking a little worse for wear. Felix had said Laney had received enough, and that she’d be fine, but I wasn't sure how much of that was for Oliver’s benefit. And possibly mine.

When I got home that night, Oliver was asleep on the floor in front of the couch and Laney was turned on her side, still asleep. Her arm was hanging over the side of the couch, and her fingers were locked with Oliver’s and resting on his chest. I think that was the first time I hoped she’d be okay for his sake instead of my own.

Felix was at the dining table with a laptop. He was working on something I was obviously not supposed to see. He closed the lid as I went to the kitchen for a snack.

“She getting any better?” I asked as I made myself a sandwich.

“She is. Her pulse and blood pressure have both steadied to where they should be, and her body temperature has regulated. I foresee her returning to us very soon.”

I sat at the table with my sandwich and ate while we talked about Laney some more. Once I had finished with my snack, I dumped my plate into the sink and hoped someone else would wash it because I was so over doing dishes.

I slumped in the chair near the couch and watched TV super quietly while also keeping an eye on Laney’s breathing. I was relieved to see it had steadied and become regular.

I fell asleep there and woke very early in the morning to hushed voices. I rubbed my eyes and stretched. Felix was behind the couch, looking down at Laney, and Oliver was on his knees in front trying to gently wake her. He got a response and I sat forward in the chair to watch.

She smiled like a goof at him, her eyes hardly open. “Hi,” she whispered. Oliver smiled down at her and returned the greeting. “Laney, I need you to tell me the ABC’s,” he said in a gentle voice.

“Why?” she asked, her eyes losing the battle with her eyelids.

“I forgot them,” he told her and she giggled. “Silly,” she said.

“Will you please help me remember them?”

As she struggled to keep her eyes open, she nodded while lying there on the couch. “It starts with A, right?” Oliver asked, and I was seriously curious where this was going.

She nodded again then very quietly she said, “A B C 4 5.” That was as far as she got before drifting off.

Oliver looked up at Felix, as did I. “She’ll be fine, you two. Stop worrying so much,” Felix said before heading back to his laptop at the dinner table.

Oliver rested his head on Laney’s chest, held one of her hands to his lips and whispered how much he loved her. I went for a run. It was the only way for me to cope, to clear my head.

When I got back I took a quick shower and then had some breakfast. I sat in the chair again for a while and watched over Laney while Oliver took a shower. He had a quick conversation with Felix then he lifted Laney off of the couch. She mumbled something incoherent as he carried her to their room. I followed. He settled her on the bed, covered her, and sat on the bed beside her. “Can I get you anything?” I asked him.

“No, but thank you,” he told me.

“No prob,” I was about to turn and go when he continued. “No, Carter. I mean thank you for keeping her safe in my absence and for taking care of her. You have no idea what it means to me.”