Vampire Mine - Kerrelyn Sparks [10]
Raindrops fell on her face, and she flinched.
“Doona fret,” he said softly. “I’ll take you somewhere safe.”
She moaned and shook her head.
He unpinned the length of tartan that he wore over a shoulder, then draped it over her hips.
Her eyes flickered open, then widened with horror. “No!”
He straightened. “Lass, I willna harm you.”
She shook with a sudden tremor. “Don’t touch me!” She kicked her legs, attempting to scramble away from him. When she rolled onto her back, she cried out in pain.
She collapsed, her eyes falling shut. “Don’t touch me,” she whispered, then lost consciousness.
Chapter Three
Connor approached the side entrance of Roma-tech with the woman wrapped in his tartan and cradled against his chest. Teleporting straight into the facility would have caused an alarm to go off and incited panic, so he’d arrived in the side parking lot. Whoever was in the security office should have noticed him on the monitors, so hopefully they would let him in. With his arms full, he couldn’t reach his ID card.
He paused outside the glass door and spotted Angus’s wife, Emma MacKay, zooming down the hallway at vampire speed.
She opened the door, and her gaze shifted to the woman in his arms. “You found a survivor.”
“Aye.” Connor stepped into the hall. “I’m taking her to the clinic. Can ye alert Roman?”
“Of course.” Emma touched the unconscious woman’s shoulder. “Poor thing. She smells of blood and burnt flesh. They must have tortured her like Robby. Did you find her in the caves?”
“Nay. She was attacked a few miles south of there.”
Emma gave him a confused look. “Did you see Angus? He teleported to the campground about five minutes ago.”
“Must have missed him.” Connor hurried down the hallway. “Tell Roman I’ll be in the clinic.”
Behind him, Emma let out an exasperated sigh. “You didn’t follow Angus’s orders, did you?”
He kept walking. No time to explain his decisions when the woman was bleeding in his arms. Not that he usually bothered to explain himself.
“Is Angus right, then?” Emma called after him. “Do you have a death wish?”
“Nay.” He reached the foyer and turned left. Why would he want to die when he’d go straight to hell?
He strode through some double doors and into a hallway lined with glass on one side. Through the glass, he could see the garden and basketball court, illuminated by bright outdoor lights. The children, Constantine and Sofia, were bouncing basketballs while their mother, Shanna, sat on a nearby bench, chatting with her sister.
Down the hallway, Roman emerged from his office. His eyes widened at the sight of the injured woman. “She barely has a heartbeat. What happened?”
“She was attacked. Nasty wounds on her back.”
Roman glanced out the window at his wife and children. “We’ll get Laszlo to help.” He banged on the office door next to his and called out to the short chemist.
“Yes, sir?” Laszlo peered out, then gasped. “Oh dear.” He rushed along beside them as they headed through a waiting room into the dark clinic.
The strong smell of antiseptic cleansers assaulted Connor’s nostrils. He laid the woman gently on her side on a sheet-covered gurney, then made sure his tartan covered up the essential areas while leaving the wounds on her back exposed.
“So what’s the story?” Roman asked as he hit the light switch.
Connor winced at the sight of the woman’s injuries so clearly illuminated. “I discovered her being attacked a few miles south of the campground at Mount Rushmore.”
“You witnessed the attack?” Roman asked as he and Laszlo washed their hands in a large stainless steel sink.
“I heard it. There was an angry man named Zack, a Malcontent, I believe, and he was yelling at her for no’ killing all the humans. She was—”
“Is she a Malcontent, too?” Roman interrupted, drying his hands.
“Perhaps. She was clearly rebelling, and then the man attacked her.”
“Does she have fangs?” Laszlo asked as he snapped on some synthetic gloves.
Connor felt a momentary