“Now,” growled the voice. “Send the newborn first for evaluation. Then present yourself and your humans in two hours.”
“No. Take me instead. Leave them out of this.”
“Don’t you dare try and dictate terms to me. You involved them in the first place. Two hours, or they all die. Make your choice.”
Dante put the phone down and lowered his head, thinking.
“Who was that?” Lauren asked.
“Vincent Kent, the vampire king of Sydney.”
“There’s a king?” Lauren asked. “Holy shit. What does he want?”
“He wants you to go to his estate for evaluation, tonight.”
“What’s evaluation?”
“It’s like a register of a birth. Everyone is required to report to the king after you have become a vampire. It is both a sign of respect and also that they can monitor numbers correctly.”
“So what will you do then?”
“I’m not going with you.”
“What?”
“I’m not going with you. I have to bring Alex and Michelle in along with myself two hours after you. This makes me think you will be held and questioned.”
Lauren suddenly stood rigid. “Questioned?”
Dante grabbed Lauren’s shoulders. “Listen to me, this is very important. Whatever you do, do not lie. Whatever questions they ask, tell the truth. They are not the police where you can try to get away with little things. They will have mind readers in the room questioning you. Nothing you have done would matter to them, only that we have made a public display of power tonight, something expressly forbidden.”
“Dante I won’t let you—”
Dante closed her mouth with his fingers. “We don’t have time for this. Get dressed in the clothes you wore tonight. They appreciate evidence of violence. Tell Justin at the bar that I want him to drive you to the Kent estate in Darling Point,” Dante said.
Lauren took a fleeting look at him before drawing Dante in for a hug.
“I’m scared,” she whispered. “I didn’t think vampires did get scared.”
“Everyone does. Just remember what I said. Don’t lie and you’ll be fine.”
Dante let go quickly but she still held his hand. “What about you?”
“I’ve done this before. I’ll be fine,” he smiled.
Dante left the room having to lie to Lauren, the very thing he told her not to do. Dante did not think it would be fine. He remembered Julian’s last words to him, weeks ago, that there would be consequences for his continued defiance. This had obviously been the last straw. The personal battle between Dante and Julian would come to a head, he could sense it.
Dante stepped into the parking lot, where he was met by the long black limousine that would take him to Vincent via the hospital. He wondered who would pay for his choices out of the two women closest to him, Michelle or Alex?
Chapter Twenty Seven
Home Sweet Home
The doors to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital slid open and Dante passed through. He approached the desk with all the dignity he could muster. With blood covering most of his face, his shoulder hanging out of place, clothes ripped to shreds, he tried to ask through a severely swelling jaw where he could find Matt Carrington. The young man sitting in reception didn’t even realise a question had been asked.
“Randal,” he hollered, bolting around the desk to grab Dante. “I need a wheelchair now!”
“That is not necessary,” Dante croaked.
“Sir, just sit down here, ok…” He led him gently toward a waiting chair and shrieked again over his shoulder. “Randal! Where’s that wheelchair?”
“Thank you but I…”
“Do you know where you are? Has someone attacked you? It looks like you have a fractured cheekbone. Can you see? You look like you’ve been in a car wreck.”
“Something like that. Please, just tell me—”
“Mate, I have to let a doctor see you. Let me get you an admissions form.”
“Enough of this,” Dante said, calmly pushing the receptionist away. Even weakened and barely standing, Dante could easily move the young man back. Perhaps it was his strength that caused the receptionist to pause his frantic diagnosis. Dante stood slowly, adjusted himself, and gazed directly into the young man’s eyes. “Your concern is noted, but as I said, unnecessary. I’ll be fine. Now, Matt Carrington?”
The receptionist backed away. He didn’t looked intimidated, just intrigued. “Sure mate… Here we go,” he said, scanning the computer screen, with a patronising air. “7 South…but you really need a doctor—hey!”
Dante didn’t wait around for Randal or the wheelchair. He wasn’t certain he had the energy to deal with them both.
*
The lift doors opened and Dante checked the signs before staggering down the left corridor. He turned into the room and saw only Michelle and Alex sitting in the visitors’ chairs. No Matt and no other beds. Alex had her head to the side, leaning on her palm. Michelle was thumbing her other hand. It was she who spotted him first.
”Jesus!” Michelle looked him up and down, taking in the damage. Alex looked at Michelle and then in the direction she was staring.
“Oh…my—”
“Are you all right?” Dante interrupted her.
“No, I’m really not.” Alex took a deep breath and let it out. There was pain in her eyes.
“How is he?” Dante nodded toward the currently empty bed.
“He’s been in surgery for over two hours,” Alex said.
“Alexandra, I am so sorry.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Alex snapped, flinging her fingers upward.
“Well, you are going to have to. I have several things to say and very little time. Firstly, I’m sorry for not letting you know I was alive. By not telling you, I was trying to keep you safe, as were Michelle and your mother.”
“I watched you take a fucking stake through the heart! The one thing all the stories say is a sure way to kill a vampire. Why didn’t
