was falling for. She couldn’t have both. But first she had to help Campbell. Then she’d let him go.
Chloe screeched to a halt right outside the diner.
Olivia gestured to her that she’d be right out. “I’ve got to go. Help with this and I’ll never put you in this type of situation ever again.”
Tears pooled in Mindy’s eyes but she finally nodded.
“Okay. Be back soon.” Olivia hurried through the dining room out to Chloe’s car.
“Buckle up,” Chloe said as she zipped away from the curb.
Olivia got the impression that even if New York City traffic equaled what it had once been, Chloe would have found a way around it or possibly over the top of it. She very nearly took the right-hand turn at the corner on two wheels.
“Um, we won’t do Campbell any good if we kill ourselves getting to the blood bank.”
“You said he was bad off.”
“He is, but he doesn’t seem to be getting worse.” At least she hoped not. Would she be able to tell? Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure and fear swelled in her. When she met Chloe’s eyes, the rush of concern in her own must have been evident because Chloe floored the SUV, honking at anyone who dared get in her way.
Chloe parked behind the blood bank, the same one the team had taken Campbell to after he’d attacked her. “Come on,” she said as she hopped out of the SUV.
Olivia followed as Chloe swiped a card through a reader at the back door and stepped inside. Chloe walked into the first office at the back, one totally devoid of windows or any way sunlight could reach it.
“Hey, big brother,” she said, and proceeded to hug a tall handsome guy with reddish-blond hair.
“Hey, sis. What are you doing here?”
“Ethan, this is Olivia.”
Olivia shook his cool hand and noticed the silver bracelet around his wrist. A quick glance revealed an identical one on his other arm. So that was how he could stand to work in a blood bank. His sister was supplying holy water to more than V Force.
“Seems Campbell got himself a bit scorched trying to protect her this morning, so she needs some AB-neg so he’ll heal,” Chloe said.
Ethan made a pained expression. “We’re running really low. And I have half a dozen vamps coming in who got turned away last night. Two nights in a row of no blood and we could have a serious problem on our hands.”
“Take mine.” Olivia startled herself with her words.
Ethan looked at her. “How long since you last gave?”
“Long enough.”
Ethan hesitated only a moment before leading her to a chair and pulling out the necessary equipment. As he looked for the vein in the crook of her elbow, he met her gaze for a moment. “I’ve never seen anyone other than my sister give blood to a specific vampire.”
“Campbell saved my life this morning. Time for me to return the favor.”
“I think it’s a bit more than a favor,” Chloe said from where she’d seated herself on the countertop that lined the far wall. “I’ve never even heard of a vampire exposing himself like that for a human, for anyone.”
Olivia had known what Campbell had done for her was huge, but it hit her anew. She winced as Ethan inserted the needle into her vein and started the blood flowing through the tubing. The momentary pain was nothing compared to how it must feel to have your flesh burned as if you’d walked through a fire. Regardless of the fact that Campbell was a vampire, it had to be beyond painful.
“I admire your open-mindedness, but you need to be very careful,” Ethan said. “You’re now in more danger than you can even imagine.”
“Ethan!” Chloe said.
He glanced back at his sister. “It’s true, and you know it.” He returned his attention to Olivia. “You know it, too. The man Campbell is at his core might not want to hurt you, might even care for you a great deal, but he’s going to always be battling the vampire side of himself. We all do. Even if he’s not hungry, your blood will call to him. That’s never going away. Ever.”
Olivia swallowed hard at the thought of seeing Campbell in full bloodlust again. She didn’t want to think of him that way, but Ethan’s words kept echoing off the walls of her mind. Was her kindness and acceptance enough to change him, to keep the vampire at bay, or was she the world’s biggest fool? She shifted her gaze to the blood draining from her arm, blood that would feed the vampire who might end up killing her.
Campbell’s mouth watered before Olivia even opened the door to the freezer. His fangs ached to descend but couldn’t. He needed to feed soon so he could get out of these cuffs. He was nearing the max time confined before the blessed silver started poisoning him.
When she opened the door, his nostrils flared at the scent of the blood. It was fresh, still faintly warm. And it was...hers. His gaze flew to hers.
“I had to,” she said, evidently reading his expression correctly. “They were running too low.”
He nodded and reached for the first bag. “Go outside. I don’t want you to see this.”
“No, I’ll stay.” She sat on a box of bacon, but she did avert her eyes.
He understood. After all his years of drinking blood, he could still remember his initial revulsion after being turned. It’d taken him a couple of years to get over it.
Unable to wait any longer, he drained all the bags she’d brought him, thankful that no fangs were required for the consumption of bagged blood. He felt his body start to heal as soon as he swallowed the first time.
“Is it helping?” she asked after he was finished drinking.
“Yes. Thank you.”
She looked at him then, and her mouth fell open. “I can see a difference already.”
“Hopefully I don’t look like charcoal anymore.”
She slipped off her box and moved closer. “Definitely not.”
There was that weird phantom heartbeat again, memories of how his human body would react to a beautiful woman. Truth be told, his vampire body reacted much the same way.
“I’ll leave as soon as it’s dark,” he said.
Her eyebrows scrunched. “There’s no rush. You need to heal more.”
He lifted his hands. “When the sun sets, I’ll need you to take these off. We can only wear them for a max of twelve hours before they begin to slowly kill us.”
Her eyes widened and she reached for the cuffs. He pulled them away. “Not yet. I want to make sure that I can leave as soon as you release me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. Chloe’s brother had on blessed bracelets, and he was fine.”
“He takes them off as soon as he leaves the blood bank. By the time he goes back to work, he’s healed of their effects and can put them on again.”
“Why don’t all vampires wear them?”
“Some of us need to be able to fang at a moment’s notice. The Soulless wouldn’t dream of it. The rest? They just don’t like how they make them feel, as though you’ve been sapped of all your energy. And as long as they feed regularly, it’s not a problem for the Souled. But they really can make you feel like crap.”
She wrapped her hand around his, now more healed than burned flesh. “I’m sorry you were hurt so badly because of me.”
He turned his hand over to clasp hers. “This was not your fault.”
“But if you’d never met me—”
“I would have missed out on knowing a remarkable woman.”
She smiled, and he was unable to believe they were touching each other, that she was close enough that he could feel her breath wafting across his cheeks, warmth against the constant cold. She moved closer and lifted her hand to his cheek. “You’re almost completely healed.”
