B. Donna - Blood Pool

Solaris saw Raven’s mouth open, but no sound came forth. Raven heaved, her arms steadying her as dark crimson blood spewed out. Blood soaked her white lips, blood that seemed to flow like a fountain. Hekate stood silent as she watched the transformation take place at her feet.

She will die if she loses any more blood, Solaris thought, and in that moment, she heard the Crone speak. “It is the Lamai blood she is purging.”

“Raven!” Tobias appeared from the haze as mysteriously as Hekate had. “Stop now, Kate,” he demanded.

The goddess turned and looked at Raven’s frantic father before casting her gaze back to the young woman writhing on the grass.

Solaris whispered, “Tobias, don’t. It’s her choice. She’s not a little girl anymore.”

Solaris didn’t have to ask how Tobias had found them. The connection between this father and daughter was exceptionally strong, and when Lamai were involved, the bond tripled.

Blood red sweat poured out of every pore as Raven bucked and heaved more and more blood, leaving her energy level vastly depleted. Raven collapsed on her side while Solaris watched helplessly. Raven’s spasms wracked her fragile form. The veins in her face and neck began to fade from dark crimson to pale pink.

Eventually, her skin took on a slightly healthier tone as the blood settled into the normal channels. Periodically, she would cough up bits of blood.

For an hour Raven lay in the blood-soaked grass, as still as the statue of the goddess. The winds had calmed, both inside the circle and out. Solaris studied Raven’s skin. It was of a deeper tone-not at all like the ivory complexion she had only a few hours earlier.

Raven’s eyelids fluttered open, and Solaris saw that they, too, had changed from icy grey to blue-green. Solaris stared as Hekate placed her hand on Raven’s bloodstained shoulder.

Tobias dropped his head and clenched his hands into tight fists. Pure anger filled him, wrath flooding his very being. Why had his daughter acted so irrationally?

“Your love will be recovering. Go to him. You’ve paid a great price,” Hekate whispered to Raven. The old woman looked over to where Tobias stood, hunched over as if in physical pain. “Tobias, do not try to change her back, or you’ll surely kill her. She must love this man more than life itself. She’s just like her father in matters of the heart.”

Raven, finally relieved, sighed deeply and lost consciousness.

“His pressure is normal?” Ian asked for the second time. Maureen, the night nurse, watched the blips on the monitors surrounding Bo.

“We just triple-checked, and his blood count is normal, too. Look at him. His pallor is healthy, and his temperature is one-hundred. It’s…”

“Magick. Do another blood panel,” Ian ordered, scratching his head in wonder. He had attempted to conjure a spell to relieve Bo of his symptoms, and Nat, his brother, brewed an infusion. Neither was successful. They only temporarily relieved his symptoms.

So what form of magick was this?

Bo’s grandfather smiled as he stood to inform the rest of the family, but there was also deep concern hidden behind his eyes.

At what price did Bo’s health return, and would his grandson be able to live with the sacrifices made on his behalf?

“ Kagi Taka …” Bo whispered.

“He’s awake. Check his vitals again,” Ian said. “Maureen, find Dr. Strigoi.”

Courtier de Sang made certain that his daughter was resting comfortably back in New Orleans before he returned to Hannah’s Vineyard. Indignation invaded his every thought. His heart beat only for revenge.

How could that heathen bitch hurt his precious baby that way? They were sisters. His hatred for Tobias was intensified by the horrendous act perpetrated by the ancient vampire’s offspring. Laroque wanted retribution more than ever, and he would extract his pound of flesh, but not the way he originally had intended.

The hour-long ferry ride from the mainland to Hannah’s Vineyard gave Laroque plenty of time to think about what had transpired. It also allowed him to psychically summon his latest victim, the shape shifter Raul. The tall, newly infected shifter had been waiting in the shadows for Laroque to arrive home.

Both men gave each other a nod as they headed inside.

“How many have you infected?” Laroque asked, placing his luggage on the tile floor in the foyer.

“I managed to get a half-dozen. The festivities are postponed until the thirty-first. No more Nights of the Parades. Also, a curfew has been imposed.”

“Excellent.” Laroque smiled as he poured himself a brandy. He sensed there was more that the shape shifter had to report. It annoyed him to have to quiz this fledgling. “What is it? Speak up!”

“The word out there is that some other magickal beings are getting sick-Sirens, plus the fae and Empusas.”

Laroque spun around, studying Raul’s aura. He would be showing signs of the virus soon. It took only a few days at most before the symptoms were evident. He wondered why the disease was affecting other beings. He’d been very specific when encoding the DNA of the virus. It was to attack only shifters and Lamai.

Laroque snapped, “And Tobias?”

Raul caught the fury in Laroque’s eyes. “He dropped off the radar. No one knows where he is.”

The bokur’s eyes continued to burn with a hateful fire. “Find him and his bitch daughter.”

“Yes, sir.”

Solaris started her car as Tobias carefully took his daughter out of the boat and placed her in the backseat of the car. A cool breeze blew off the water, and the sun had begun its descent into the early evening sky. Solaris turned on the heat in an attempt to get some of the chill out of the air.

Tobias had cleaned as much of the blood from his daughter’s body as he could. All he could do was pray to his gods that the change did not kill her. He knew of only one other person in his hundreds of years of existence who withstood the transformation-only to die a few hours later.

“Let’s get her to the hospital,” Solaris said, watching Tobias cradle his daughter’s head on his lap in the back of the car.

“Where is she?” Bo demanded, struggling to get out of bed. “She’s in trouble, I know it. I can feel it. Tell me…is she…dead?” His voice choked up at the thought of his beloved, gone forever. Throwing off the covers, he tried to stand.

“Bo, don’t make me sedate you. You’ve already been through a lot. We’re trying to locate her. Relax,” Ian said, nudging his patient back onto the pillows.

“I feel fine. Really,” Bo said as he grabbed his faded jeans draped over the back of chair in the corner of his room. “I have to see her.”

“And you will. Soon enough.”

His eyes flashed to gold. Words pounded in his mind, reaching out to Raven’s. Mine. I must get to what’s mine. My mate . “I’m good, believe me.”

The old man smiled. “I’m sure you are, but you’re still staying right there.” Ian’s beeper began to sound as he had the technician draw more blood from Bo’s arm.

“You were near death, young man. Just hold still and I’ll be back,” the doctor called over his shoulder as he headed toward the ER. Bumping into Bo’s grandfather on the way, he warned, “Keep that stubborn grandson of yours in bed.”

The ER was especially busy this morning. Dr. Odin’s pale blue eyes scanned the area. He spotted his co-worker limp in the arms of her distraught father.

“Take her to exam room one, Jennifer.” He barked out the orders as he headed for the room, his white hair like a cloud atop his head.

Tobias was in the room before Ian, using his preternatural abilities to move faster than human eyes-or wizards-could see. After Tobias placed her on the bed, Jennifer stood beside them with gloves and mask on. She held cotton cloths, ready to wipe Raven down.