CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO || ELI
The next hour passed with a dreamlike quality, as though it were happening to someone else. Most likely, that was the shock from everything that had taken place. Nicolas’s blood had healed my wounds, but it had been a close call. Another few moments and I would have been gone. Or a vampire, had I died with Nicolas’s blood in my system.
Harris and Sam both woke from the hypnotic spell Magnus had placed them under. The moment she could move, Sam immediately went to Sadie’s side. Magnus had broken the blonde vampire’s neck. He almost certainly would have done worse, but Harris had opened fire with silver bullets at the same moment Sadie attacked, forcing Magnus to react. Harris had likely saved her life, even if he hadn’t managed to hit the ancient vampire.
Sam seemed surprisingly put together, especially given everything she’d just witnessed. The only question she asked was, “Is she really dead?”
To which I replied, “No. She’ll wake back up.”
Sam let out a long breath, relief etched across her features. She plopped down next to Sadie to wait, drying her eyes with the hem of her sleeve.
“Good.” Then she paused and frowned at me. “Also, there’s a pretty solid chance you’re buying me an apology dinnersometime soon. And possibly cleaning the house for the next month to make up for this. I haven’t decided yet.”
“Fair,” I said, grinning. She returned it, causing relief to flood through me.
By the time everything was said and done, the top floor of the hotel was trashed. Three guests had been bitten by Magnus’s vampires. Two recovered well enough—Godric had healed them both. But while he was doing that, Simone found another: a man in his early thirties, so close to death that she had been forced to turn him.
“I have walked this earth for three thousand years,” Simone said, staring down at the unconscious man in dismay. Her voice was deceptively soft, but her eyes were filled with grief. “I’ve seen civilizations rise and fall. I’ve experienced almost everything the world has to offer. But I’ve never created another vampire.”
“What happened is that you saved his life,” Poppy said, placing a soothing hand on her back. “He would have died otherwise. He was an innocent. You couldn’t let that happen.”
“Quite,” Thierry agreed. “He will thank you, eventually.”
Simone blinked away the wetness in her eyes but let Poppy draw her into a firm embrace, holding her tightly.
“I love you,” Poppy whispered, resting her chin on Simone’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this out together. And he couldn’t have asked for a better maker.”
“You are love, darling,” Simone whispered, her eyes drifting shut. “My one and only. Fate brought us together.”
“I knew it,” Thierry muttered, mostly to himself. “Fated mates all around, then.”
I surveyed the ruined hotel floor. It was filled with unconscious vampires and stone statues that had once been vampires. The walls were cracked in several places, the windows at both ends blown out and shimmering with magic—some sortof spell cast by Poppy, no doubt—and the floor was stained crimson, like the final scene of a particularly gruesome horror movie.
“In terms of cleaning this up, arson is an option,” I suggested.
“No, we’ll need to hypnotize everyone in the hotel,” Simone said, pulling away from Poppy. “And arrange for cleaners—”
“The fuck we will,” Poppy said. “We’ll call Nathaniel and have him coordinate with the vampire Queen of Los Angeles. Or he can send a team himself. That’s literally his job.” Then she paused and added, “We need to find a safe spot for him.” She nodded to Simone’s unconscious progeny. “So when he wakes up, he’ll be less likely to freak out. Or snack on a helpless victim.”
Simone hesitated, then nodded. “Very well.”
“And Eli and I will be leaving,” Nicolas said. He still looked shell-shocked. “We cannot remain here.”
I slid an arm around his waist, pulling him close.
“I’m okay,” I murmured. “Everything is going to be okay.”
He swallowed hard, nodding. Through the bond, I still felt his panic, his desperation.
Harris joined us, tucking his phone away. “Well, the LAPD are on their way.” He glanced at Nicolas. “I don’t even think you could mind-control your way through all of them. This place is trashed beyond the reach of hocus-pocus.”
Godric snorted. “Hardly. Leave them to me.”
With that, he set off for the stairs, stepping around bodies and statues frozen mid-motion by Poppy’s magic—presumably to wait for the authorities. Scowling, Harris followed him.
Thierry sighed, caught Jeremy’s eye, and said, “We ought to do some damage control. The guests and staff will need calming. We ought to help him.”
I caught my vampire’s gaze. His expression was hollow, his lower lip trembling.
