“He’s a vampire.”
“Fuck!”
“And starving and…he did some things he’s not going to like if we can get him back to himself. We have to take him home to gethim fed. Are you coming?”
“No. I can’t. I think this is going to take a while anyway.”
Reyna sighed. “Okay. Well, call when you want us to come pick you up after your meeting.”
“Will do. Take care of yourself. I’m sorry about Brian.”
She choked back her anger and tears. “Me too.”
She hung up the phone.
“Gabe is staying,” Beckham said. “That’s probably for the better.”
“He’s going out on a limb for us.”
“If I haven’t heard of this contact of his, then he’s not legendary.”
“You think very highly of yourself.”
Beckham brushed a kiss to her forehead. “With good reason.”
Chapter Seventeen
When Gerard arrived, Beckham untied Brian and handed Reyna the ropes. Then he tossed Brian over his shoulder like he weighed nothing. They piled into the van. Beckham tied Brian up in the backseat just in case. Reyna kept glancing over her shoulder at Brian, watching him breathe softly. She wanted to brush his dark hair out of his eyes. Comfort him the way he had always comforted her. But it was a risk. She didn’t want him to wake up and attack her, without even knowing who she was.
There’d been absolutely nothing in his eyes when she’d looked into them. He’d snarled and screamed like a monster completely lost to the virus. He hadn’t even recognized her. She had been just another blood source. Not his sister. Not the girl he’d raised into a woman and fed and clothed and protected and taken care of for much of his life.
She turned away sharply as her heart ached for the brother she felt slipping away behind her. She hoped the long road ahead of them would be worth it.
Beckham dragged Brian’s body into an empty bedroom upstairs. He upgraded from rope to chains to be sure Brian couldn’t get free when he woke up. In fact, he seemed a little too comfortable with tying someone up.
“How many times have you done that?” Reyna asked.
Beckham clicked the lock into place. “Many, many times.”
She sank into a chair against the wall and watched Brian until Beckham came back with a cooler full of blood. Reyna’s eyes rounded.
“That’s a lot of blood.”
“He’s going to need this and more. I sent Genevieve out again.” Beckham set the cooler down. “A positive, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How did he and Drew end up with such a common blood type and yours is so incredibly rare?”
“I ask myself that every day.”
It was only a few minutes before Brian finally woke up. Reyna jumped to her feet as he roused. Beckham must have hit him really fucking hard for him to be out for over an hour. She didn’t want to think about it. But at least he was awake.
He was no better than when they’d first gotten him though. He woke with a fiery vengeance. He snapped and snarled and yelled. He tried to kick and bite and claw his way out of the chair. But with the chains in place, he wasn’t going anywhere. Especially not as malnourished as he was.
“You should go downstairs,” Beckham told her.
“No, I want to be here for him.”
