Janie nodded. “I know.” For really, what else could go wrong?
Chapter 16
Zane opened his eyes, instantly alert. Talen Kayrs hit like a truck. Not a sturdy Ford or even one of those new Mack haulers he’d seen on the highway. Kayrs hit like a rusty, well-formed, farm truck made from solid steel.
A groan tried to erupt from his gut, but Zane bit all weakness down. He’d never have a daughter because vampires only had males, but he could imagine how pissed a father of a mated female would feel. Take into account the fact that Zane was half-demon, and thus an enemy? Yeah. Talen had the right to hit him.
Once.
A quick glance down at his arms confirmed the vampires had cuffed Zane to thick rings permanently set near the bed. Jesus. How often did the Realm give medical care to the enemy?
Better just to go for a quick kill.
He jerked on his restraints, testing their strength. Strong. Very strong. Well, he’d have to teleport.
“I wouldn’t,” came a low voice from the doorway.
Zane turned his head.
A blond vampire leaned against the wall dressed in dark jeans and a pressed T-shirt, a weapon pointed between Zane’s eyes. “I’ll shoot you in the head, and I doubt you’ll reach your intended destination.” Casual boredom hardened his hazel eyes.
Zane lifted an eyebrow. “Chalton Reese. Don’t you have a computer to play with?”
The vampire didn’t react in the slightest to his name. If anything, he appeared even more bored.
Zane drew on strength to teleport. His research on the Kayrs organization had included a full dossier on the vampire who was not only the Realm’s prime computer expert but a deadly assassin. Something about numbers lining up evenly. Though Chalton would certainly shoot him, Zane had no choice but to jump.
He gathered his strength and paused as a commotion sounded by the door. “What the hell?”
A bloody Garrett half-carried in a groaning Logan. Cuts marred Logan’s neck, and a wicked piece of re-bar stuck out from his right shoulder. “What happened?” Zane growled.
Janie hustled in from the other side of the infirmary, her eyes wide. “I heard there was a bombing.”
Garrett dropped Logan onto an examination bed. “I was showing Logan the perimeter along the western forest, and all of a sudden, we detonated a bomb.”
Zane glared at his brother. “You didn’t scent the bomb?”
Garrett glared at Zane. “Neither one of us smelled anything.”
How odd. The young vampire was defending Logan.
Logan hissed and reached for the re-bar, Garrett leaped forward to stop him, and Chalton came off the wall, his gaze hard on Zane. Zane gathered deep again to teleport, knowing he was about to be shot—
“Stop.” Janie held both hands up. “Everyone freeze right there.”
At her soft order, four dangerous, deadly, well-trained warriors all froze.
She moved toward Logan, her face calm, her voice soothing. “First things first, let’s remove the steel from your chest, sweetheart.”
Logan blinked.
Janie paused at a cabinet and drew out bandages, tape, and a syringe. “I have a painkiller here, but if your metabolism is anything like Garrett’s, it won’t work for long.”
Logan shook his head, agony etched into his face. “Just get it out.”
The scent of blood filled the room. Vibrations of terrible pain echoed through it.
Janie nodded. “Garrett, hold Logan from behind, and keep him still.” She turned to glance at the bindings around Zane’s wrists. “Chalton, unbind Zane.”
