“I’m here.” Mathew Lucas.
“Two minutes out. Any joy with Brent?”
Lucas snorted. “You’ve maybe got fifteen minutes, twenty if you’re lucky, before he locates you, so whatever you’re planning, make it fast.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
“Yep.”
The line went dead just as the headlights of my car lit up the entrance to the secure building where the SICB medical lab was kept. Make it fast. I mulled that over. I couldn’t do much for my sister beyond bottling my sorrow up tight to deal with later. The forensic results would tell me more as soon as they were available. My focus needed to be waking up the guy and figuring out his role. I swept my hand over my face and groaned. I was tired, so beyond tired I was running on what little steam I had left. After a quick rummage around in the debris scattered on the passenger seat, I came away victorious with a high-sugar, high-caffeine drink that I needed to help me push through. I chugged it down before I arrived at the gate.
Showing my badge, passing through the retina and fingerprint scanner, I finally made it to the building. I parked as close to the entrance as I was able, jumping out my vehicle as soon as possible. Not knowing if the guy’d woken or not, I wanted to be there before he could get his wits about him.
I reached the rear doors of the ambulance just as they were opened. My gaze lingered on my sister’s prone form for a moment. Bile churned in my gut, and I looked away. Not yet. The grumble of a deep voice had my eyes darting to the man strapped to the stretcher.
“W-What?” He moved slightly, but without force. Not enough to put any pressure on his binds. All ambulances were kitted out with a range of supe- and human-friendly paraphernalia, just as EMTs had basic training for a variety of species. It meant that the binds holding him down would take a lot of energy to break free from.
The department doors slid open, revealing Lucas. He nodded at me. “Rooms three and five are free.”
I bobbed my head in understanding and directed the EMTs to place my sister in room three, and then followed them to room five. Once free of the EMT staff, and the man securely strapped to the bed, I glanced over at Lucas.
He looked tired as hell too. “Was that…?”
My jaw tightened, and I refused to answer. Lucas, as my only friend in this sorry life I lived, had seen enough photographs of her and my niece. He’d even stumbled in on a few video calls.
“I’m sorry,” he started, “about—”
“Nope. We’ve got fifteen minutes.”
He nodded his understanding. “What gives?”
“Grant here was trapped in a lab, covered in blood.” I’d finally taken a look at the name tag on his lab coat. “The same lab I found my sister in.” In my peripheral, I saw Lucas nod. “He has a bite.”
“No shit.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“Your sister’s?”
“No idea. It’s what we need to find out.” Though I supposed when the man woke, he’d be able to confirm that too.
Lucas was a vampire. The only vamp I’d actually come across who I liked. Hell, he was the only guy who I called friend these days. Most ran when they learned my last name. It was why I went by my first name, unlike every other person in the bureau. His vamp skills did come in handy every now and then. Sometimes it beat science. “Can you cross check his blood with hers?” I looked over at him.
“I should be able to. It depends on how recently the bite occurred.”
I knew that the shorter time period from the point of bite and wolf shifter’s death, the easier it was to determine who the actual person was that made the bite. Plus it would tell us if the person bitten would transform.
Lucas got straight to work collecting a blood sample to taste it. The taste test would forever gross me out, but it came in handy. He then went to do the same to my sister. It left me alone with the man who’d remained quiet since his stuttered one-word question. I stepped to the side of his bed and peered down at his face. His eyes were half-lidded and struggling to open. I saw specks of green in his deep brown irises. High cheekbones aligned perfectly to his nose, and admittedly, he was handsome, beautiful in fact.
“Hey.” I tapped his cheek. “Grant, wake up.” I tapped again, a little rougher. “Grant, you hear me?”
His eyes finally opened fully, his gaze darting around the room. They didn’t fix on anything, which I did not have the time for.
I tried again. “Grant, focus.” I clicked my fingers in front of his face. Annoyance threatened to surge forth. Just as it built, the red heat of frustration growing, his eyes met mine, and it diminished. Moss. Green, luscious, and stunning; that was the shade of those specks. I swallowed hard, knowing I really needed to look away. I closed my eyes and turned my head. After a quick breath, I refocussed. There was not a chance I’d let myself get distracted or lost in the eyes of this man.
“Grant?”
His forehead wrinkled, nose scrunching, making him look younger than I’d previously thought. “Who?”
My eyes shot to the badge on his coat, then back to his face. “You not Dr Grant Creaser?”
Understanding seemed to register, and his eyes widened. “No.” He shook his head. “Thatch. Liam Thatcher.”
“The tag.” I refused to look away this time. I was usually good at scenting a lie, and whoever this guy really was was too important.
He winced when he turned his head. “My neck. What happened?”
“The tag,” I pushed.
Frustration flared in his eyes until something else registered. Panic. “Holy shit. I was bitten.” He pulled against his constraints. “Get me the hell off this bed. Now.”
I pursed my lips, ignoring the
