Unsure who to call, she checked his texts. A dinner invitation from someone named Astrid.You there?… You okay?… Please call me back.And another from someone named Ryan…Hey, my flight is delayed so I’m stuck in Seattle overnight before my deployment, can I crash at your place?
Risking it, she clicked send on Ryan’s name. He answered right away, a deep rumbling voice, “About fucking time. Where’ve you been?”
She paused, then said, “Hi. This… um, my name is Adair. I–”
“The vampire?”
A whoosh of relief filled her lungs, plus an ill-timed glimmer of thrill that her name was familiar to Bennett’s friend. “Are you… part of his team?”
“Yeah. What’s going on?”
“I saw your text. Are you still in town?”
“Yeah. He didn’t answer me, so I’m at a hotel next to the airport.”
“How quickly can you come to his loft with a few pints of blood?”
“Blood? As in…”
“Not human. It will be tough enough for him to fight the cravings. Cow or pig or something a butcher might have.”
She heard him already on the move, grabbing a bag and a door slamming behind him. “You have five seconds to tell me what’s going on.”
“They changed him.”
“As in…?” His voice went thready.
“Vampire.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. I know. I found him. He’s chained himself up, but I won’t be able to stop him if he gets loose. He needs blood, fast, or he’s going to hurt someone.”
“I’m coming. Call Astrid and Bodie. Have Astrid stop to get blood. He won’t want to feed off Bodie and I’ll need help if he breaks free, so have Bodie come straight over.”
“Okay. Hurry.” As she hung up, a niggling curiosity tickled her brain as she wondered why Bennett wouldn’t want a taste of Bodie. Despite their lack of scent, there was something about demon hunter blood that appealed–Bennett’s in particular, but she knewthatwas her own personal bias.
She clicked off and dialed Astrid. From the closet, a deafening crash rattled the building as iron and steel ripped apart. She inched back as she held the phone to her ear, cringing as she saw that Bennett had busted one chain. Her heart thundered in her chest, dreading the impossibility of holding him back if he got loose.
“About time you called, I was about to come knock down your door,” an edgy soprano said.
“Astrid?” Adair asked hopefully.
“Who is this?” Astrid’s tone was clipped at the unexpected person on the line.
“This is Adair. Yes, the vampire. Can you get blood to Bennett? Like, now?”
On the move, Astrid sounded to be getting dressed. She whispered to someone else,Bennett needs help.“Why does Bennett need blood?”
“They changed him. Please, hurry. He’s chained up now, but it won’t be long before he breaks free.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It’s not supposed to be. He needs help before he hurts someone.”
Astrid seemed to catch her breath before speaking again, her feet still pounding the pavement. “We’re fifteen minutes out. Can he… would my blood help? I have no idea where to get blood on short notice.”
“No. If we can do this with only animal blood, that will help him control it. There’s a butcher off Ninety-Nine. I can call him and see if he can have some waiting for you. Ryan is on his way and said to send Bodie straight here. Hurry.”
