by Lynsay Sands
Once through he immediately ducked into the jungle outside the fence and then hesitated. It would be faster to cut back on this side of the island and Sarita was injured and needed immediate tending. However, Asherah had warned him that route was too dangerous.
Cursing, he turned and followed the longer route, rushing through the small strip of forest that ran between the fence and the bluffs over the beach, following them around the fenced-in labs and then behind and past the big house. He had to stop only twice to avoid being spotted by the few searchers in this area. As Asherah had said, it appeared they were concentrating on the other side of the island in front of the house, expecting him to try for one of the boats.
Domitian continued on a straight path along the cliffs until he was a good distance through the forest between the big house and the cottage where Sarita's grandmother and Mrs. Dressler lived. He then cut into the forest, avoiding the paths, but making a zigzag trail of his own toward the cottage. Domitian saw a pair of men to his left at one point, but both men were looking the opposite way and he continued on, moving as silently and swiftly as he could, hoping they wouldn't turn and look in his direction until he was well past. When no one shouted or started shooting at him, he was sure he'd avoided detection.
It seemed to take forever to reach the cottage, and Domitian spent the entire trip listening anxiously to Sarita's heartbeat, afraid it would stop at any moment. Nothing in his life had ever terrified him as much as the possibility of losing Sarita did during that interminable journey back to the cottage. He didn't slow as he reached the edge of the clearing, simply raced forward down the path. When the door opened before he reached it, he thought Thorne must have been watching for him, but it was Sarita's grandmother.
"Is she all right?" Maria Reyes asked with alarm as Domitian hurried inside.
"She will be," he assured her grimly in passing and rushed up the hall to the stairs.
Domitian carried Sarita straight up to the guest room she'd slept in earlier, kicked the door closed behind him and settled on the bed with her in his lap. He didn't think about what he was doing, or that he should lock the door or tie Sarita down first, or that he would need blood to help her with the turn, Domitian simply shifted his left arm under her neck so that her head dropped down to hang off it. When her mouth then fell open, he tore into his other arm with his own fangs and pressed the gushing wound to her mouth.
When the bleeding stopped, he repeated the action. Domitian was just finishing doing it for the third time when Sarita's grandmother finally caught up to him and bustled into the room.
"Is she--?" Maria Reyes drew up short halfway to the bed as her eyes telegraphed what they were seeing to her mind. She stared at the blood soaking Sarita's side and hip, the blood smeared on her lips and face, and the bloody wound now stretching from Domitian's wrist to his elbow, and then her eyes rolled up in her head and she just keeled over.
Domitian sat up slightly, craning his head to see the woman, worried he'd killed Sarita's grandmother, and then was distracted when Sarita began to scream and thrash in his arms. Obviously, she'd had enough blood. The turn had begun. Cursing as he realized how unprepared he was for it, Domitian scooped Sarita up, stood, set her on the bed and tried to hold her down.
He could hear shouting from below, recognized Mrs. Dressler's anxious voice, but didn't have time to answer her questions. He was in the middle of a battle royale with his life mate. Sarita was bouncing, thrashing, kicking, and hitting. She was also screaming her head off the whole time, in obvious agony and need and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. He didn't have any blood.
After taking a third kick to the groin and having her nails raked across his cheek twice, Domitian, out of desperation, threw himself on top of the wild woman, hoping to pin her down with his weight. It didn't exactly work as he'd hoped. Instead of pinning her down, Domitian found himself holding on for dear life as she bucked and bounced around on the bed like a wild bronco.
"Oh dear . . . What . . . ?"
Domitian wasn't sure if he actually heard those words over Sarita's caterwauling or if Maria Reyes was so distressed she was shouting her thoughts. Whatever the case, he glanced around then to see the woman sitting up on the floor, looking both dazed and horrified as she watched him and Sarita hump around the bed. At least until Sarita gave one great heaving hump and kick that sent them turning and tumbling off the bed onto the floor next to the woman.
Tightening his grip on Sarita, who was now on top, Domitian tried to offer the older woman a reassuring smile, but his head was bouncing repeatedly off the floor, sent there by Sarita's breasts as she thrashed on top of him, and he suspected what he actually managed was a rictus of pain.
Eyes wide, Maria Reyes dragged a golden cross out from the neckline of her dress, clutched it between her hands and began to pray. It wasn't until she started yelling "Out devil! Out foul demon!" that he realized she thought Sarita was possessed.
Domitian closed his eyes and began to pray as well, but he was praying that he would survive Sarita's turning with at least one testicle still intact. He was quite sure that one of them was ruptured.
"What the hell?"
Domitian opened his eyes with hope to find Thorne standing in the doorway to the room with a very alarmed-looking Mrs. Dressler in his arms.
"Oh, gracias a Dios," Maria Reyes cried and rushed to stand next to the pair in the doorway, chattering away in Spanish so quickly and frantically even he couldn't understand it, and Domitian had been speaking Spanish for centuries. When she finally wound down, the three of them just stood there watching in horror as Sarita continued to rock and thrash on top of him as if he were a rocking horse. With Domitian's hands locked around her waist, she was now throwing herself forward, smashing his head into the floor with her breasts, and then throwing her upper body back and bringing her knees down, pow, right between his legs. And they were just watching, he thought with disbelief. As if this was some WWF bout.
"Help," Domitian whimpered in a voice he was sure was too low to be heard. Fortunately Thorne seemed to understand. He glanced around a little wildly, and then set his mother on the bed. Maria had followed and settled beside her so that the two women could clutch each other's hands as they watched and prayed. At least he was quite sure Maria was praying, Elizabeth Dressler was shouting advice to her rather confounded son as he tried to sort out how to help Domitian.
"Quick, grab her around the chest when she swings up!" Mrs. Dressler shouted.
Thorne straightened his shoulders, straddled Domitian and Sarita and tried to wrap his arms around her chest as she threw herself up and back, slamming her knees into Domitian's much-abused family jewels. Stars exploded behind his eyes, a buzzing sounded in his ears and he closed his eyes on a groan as he waited for the agony to end. But when he could hear again, Elizabeth Dressler was saying, "Oh dear, Thorne, no I don't think--Oh, that isn't working at all."
Forcing his eyes open, Domitian saw that while Thorne had started out wrapping his arms around Sarita's chest, she was thrashing and bobbing around so much that he now had her only by the breasts, one hand clutching each. It brought a growl from Domitian just before the man muttered, "Sorry," and released her.
"Her legs, Thorne! Try her legs!" Mrs. Dressler suggested.
Nodding, Thorne stepped to the side, and then moved down to grab Sarita's feet as they flew up in the air. That was all Domitian saw before his head was smashed into the hardwood floor by Sarita's upper body. But he soon realized this was not going to work either. With her legs in the air, Sarita's mobility was restricted to a short up and down. Basically, her breasts were playing patty cake with his head on the floor.
"Oh, dear, no that isn't going to work either, Thorne," Elizabeth Dressler said with dismay. "Let go of her legs."
Domitian bellowed when Thorne listened to his mother, released Sarita's legs, and they promptly slammed down into his groin together.
"Out Devil! Out spawn of hell!" Maria Reyes roa
red in response.
Domitian closed his eyes in misery as he realized he wasn't going to get out with even one testicle intact. He'd felt the second one pop this time. God help him, but he was grateful to be low on blood in that moment. The thought of his testicles healing only to be crushed again . . . Well, it was really more than any man should have to endure, he thought.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Domitian blinked his eyes open and stared at the man now towering in the doorway, and then Sarita's breasts obscured his view. But when she rose up again, and the ringing in his ears ended, he opened his eyes and peered at his uncle once more. All he managed to get out was "She was dying," before Sarita's upper body slammed into his head again. Fortunately, it was a mere bounce this time, because Sarita was suddenly lifted off him.
Opening his eyes, Domitian saw that Lucian had grabbed her under the arms and was now holding her out in front of him as far as his reach would allow as if she were a child with a dirty diaper. Releasing a sigh of relief, Domitian scrambled to his feet, took one unsteady step, and then fell over as the world tipped.
He was quite sure he heard a sigh from his uncle and then the man began barking orders.
"Bricker, run back down to the boat and get the chain we brought! Jo, go with him and fetch the blood! Nephew, stay down!" he added when Domitian opened his eyes and tried to move. "The back of your head is hamburger. You need blood before you try to rise again. And, Basha, please control and remove these ladies so I can set Sarita down!"
"On it," three voices said at once and Domitian watched as the room burst into activity. Justin Bricker and a pretty young woman who must be Jo rushed from the room to fetch chain and blood, and Basha stepped in front of Maria Reyes and Elizabeth Dressler for a moment as Thorne looked on with concern. She then turned to say something to Thorne that Domitian couldn't hear over Sarita's continued screeching and then stepped aside to allow Thorne to pick up his mother. Taking Sarita's grandmother by the arm, she then led her from the room too.
Domitian stared after the woman, trying to focus, and then asked, "Is that--?"
"Yes. Your uncle Felix's daughter, Basha." Lucian nodded.
"I heard she was found," he muttered, closing his eyes again to avoid having to watch the room spin. "Is she a hunter now?"
"Yes. As is her husband, Marcus."
Domitian nodded and then winced when it caused him pain to move his head on the floor. He then pondered the fact that he could hear his uncle despite Sarita's screaming. And then realized the man probably wasn't talking at all, but transmitting his thoughts to him.
Justin Bricker was the first to return with his booty. The rattle of the chains brought Domitian's eyes open again, and ignoring his uncle's orders, he rolled onto his stomach and crawled to the bed as Lucian laid Sarita on it and began to chain her down with Justin's help. Halfway through the process Sarita finally stopped screaming and went silent.
Concerned, Domitian managed to pull himself up to kneel at the side of the bed, and then flinched in surprise when a bag of blood was slapped to his mouth, which was open on a breathless pant.
Domitian raised a hand in thanks, the best he could do with a bag of blood in his mouth, then watched as Jo carried a cooler full of blood around to the other side of the bed and set it down.
"Dani's sending someone with drugs to help with the turn," Jo announced as she straightened. "They found Nicholas and the others. She said most of them are all right, but Santo is in a bad way. His hand was cut off and is partially sealed over and they can't find the hand."
"And Dressler?" Lucian asked.
"No sign yet," Jo said grimly. "They're still searching."
Lucian finished chaining Sarita down, then straightened and considered her briefly, before asking, "Is she sending an IV?"
"Yes," Jo said, grabbing another bag of blood and moving out of his vision.
"Then all we can do is wait," Lucian said.
Domitian flinched as the now-empty bag was ripped from his mouth, but raised a hand to catch the next bag as Jo went to pop it on his fangs.
"How did you know where the island is?" he asked, and then popped the bag on himself as he waited to hear the answer.
"A little birdy told me," Lucian said dryly, bringing a snort from Justin Bricker as he finished locking the last chain on his side of the bed and straightened.
"A big damned bird, man," Justin said and then grinned. "Hey, get it? Birdman? Bird, man?"
"Please. Spare us," Lucian said dryly.
"No sense of humor at all," Bricker complained and then glanced to Domitian and grinned. "You should have seen Lucian jump when Thorne came swooping out of the air and perched on the rail of the balcony at the villa like a big damned vulture."
"He is part eagle not vulture," Lucian growled.
"Yeah. Whatever. You should have seen your face, though. That was the first time I've seen you surprised by anything."
"It is the first time I have been surprised in many centuries," Lucian admitted. "Are you saying you were not surprised?"
"Oh yeah, I was surprised all right," Bricker admitted and then glanced to Domitian and told him. "Lucian damned near killed him before we knew he was a friend. Fortunately, Thorne blurted your name and then explained everything. He led us back to the island as soon as we could round everyone up and arm them. About three miles out he made us stop and wait, said he could see hybrids in the air ahead. I thought he was kidding, but Jo pulled out the binoculars and sure enough, there were a couple of them flying around. They were far enough apart Thorne was able to take care of them one at a time. He flew up really high in the sky so he could approach unnoticed," Bricker said, raising a hand upward as far as he could reach. He then brought it swiftly down adding, "And then he swooped down and sucker punched the first one in the back of the head as he flew past." He slammed a fist into his palm with a smack. "The guy was still falling through the air when he swung around and gained height again to go after the next one."
Bricker shook his head. "When he flew out of sight around the island, we didn't know what was happening. Turns out there was one patrol on each side of the island. Ten minutes later he flies back around with a bird hanging from each hand. Literally," he added with a grin. "They were chicks. Both unconscious but alive. Lucian had them locked in the hold of the big boat, and then we picked up the two in the water. One had landed on his wings on his back and was unconscious, but still alive. One landed facedown, though, and drowned before we got to him."
"After locking them in the hold with the other two, we continued forward for another mile, but then Thorne made us stop again, and warned us he could see gilled hybrids in the water about a mile out from the island. Again, I thought he was kidding, but--" He paused to wait as Jo ripped the second bag of blood from Domitian's mouth and replaced it with a third. And then he continued, "Anyway, after some discussion, it was decided Thorne would take Basha up in the air with him. He held her around the waist and flew, and she picked off the gilled hybrids with one of our dart guns. We put them in the hold too, but aren't sure how they'll handle our darts. They're strong enough to knock out rogues, so . . ." He shrugged grimly, not needing to say they might be deadly to the hybrids depending on how strong their constitution was.
At least they'd tried not to kill them, Domitian thought. Although, if these were the ones that Mrs. Dressler had mentioned were loyal to her husband, he wouldn't feel too bad about their deaths. They'd been complicit in Dressler's activities, some of which had been directed against his own people.
"After that, Lucian sent the other boats to raid and search the house and labs, and we followed Thorne around to the cottage to make sure his mother and Sarita's grandmother were all right."
"Because of me." That comment came from Basha as she entered the room and joined the conversation.
"It was not because of you," Lucian said calmly. "Someone had to check on Domitian and Sarita and we had the blood on our boat. If anyone would have needed
it, it would have been them."
"We did not even know they were here," Basha argued shortly. "And what we had on our boat was me." Holding up her hand to silence him when he would have argued, Basha asked pointedly, "When before have you ever delegated the battle to others and taken the safer task, Uncle? Never," she answered herself.
"Basha," Lucian began.
"Uncle," she countered, interrupting him. "You really need to let go of your guilt over what you think of as failing to protect me as a child, and stop trying to protect me from everything now. If you do not, I will suggest to Marcus that we move to Italy full-time to be near his family."
Turning on her heel, Basha left the room then and silence briefly reigned.
"Well," Bricker said brightly, avoiding looking at Lucian who appeared to have turned to stone. "Where was I? Oh yes, we followed Thorne back. Of course, flying, he got here faster and . . . well, you know the rest."
Domitian nodded slightly, wincing as the action sent pain radiating through his head. He stopped moving his head in the hopes of ending the pain, but instead it just built and grew, focusing mostly on the back of his skull. The healing had begun, he thought grimly just before he lost consciousness.
Seventeen
Sarita woke up in the guestroom she'd been given in Dr. Dressler's house and for one moment thought that everything had been a mad, mad dream. After all, who would believe in vampires and winged men? No one, of course, she thought, and then a warm arm slid around her waist, and the scent of the man now spooning her assured Sarita that it hadn't been a dream. All those wild memories crowding her mind had really happened. Including the first time when she'd woken up and Domitian had told her what had taken place after she'd stumbled into his arms outside the lab.