The group let out a collective sigh of relief, and Dara whipped out her phone. “I’ll call an ambulance.”
“Don’t,” Kiefer said. “They’ll just call the police and we don’t want them here, remember? We can’t afford to attract any attention.”
“We can’t just leave him here like this,” Jessica countered. “He needs help.”
“I will help him,” Nathan said, touching her arm. “I will heal this man, and Kiefer can cast a spell over him to ensure he remains asleep. Then we can just…keep him here until all of this is over. If it still seems necessary, we will take him to the hospital then, I assure you.”
At Nathan’s touch, some of the tension cleared from Jessica’s face, and she moved out of his way. Nathan knelt and repeated the ritual he’d performed with Kiefer earlier, cutting himself and dribbling his blood into the young guard’s mouth. He also bled directly onto his scrapes and cuts, inducing the injuries to heal right in front of everyone’s astonished eyes.
“That’s amazing.” Jason’s emerald irises glimmered with admiration. “Can we all…I mean, do you think I could do that too?”
“Only Saint Nathan can do that,” Kiefer said, smirking as he shook his head. “Most of the time, vampires are only about the killing, not about the healing. In fact, it’s pretty much never about the healing. But for some reason Nathan can lay on hands.” He wiggled his fingers.
Nathan hung his hand on the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable again at being called a saint. “I do not know why I have this ability,” he said, avoiding everyone’s eyes, “or the full extent of its power. But at times like this, I am exceedingly grateful for it.”
Being careful not to jostle him too much, Kiefer and Nathan moved the security guard onto one of the only intact couches, which had somehow ended up halfway across the bookstore. Kiefer worked his magic to make sure he stayed asleep, and then they left him there, snoozing behind a bookcase that was still standing. Everyone resumed their search, carefully picking over debris and shoving wreckage out of their way. Lucy could see tears in Jessica’s eyes as she surveyed the damage, and she knew her friend had to be outraged.
“Celia?” Jessica called out in a sing-song voice. “Yoo-hoo, Celia? Are you in here somewhere, you loony tramp? Yeah, well, I don’t blame you for hiding from me. You won’t want to face what I’ve got in store for you for wrecking all of my stuff!”
“Jessica,” Nathan admonished her. “It is likely inadvisable to taunt the crazed master vampire.”
Jessica sneered, unrepentant. “I’m getting tired of her funny business, Nathan. I just want her to come out here and get what’s coming to her so we can all go home. Live happily ever after, like the sign says.” She pointed at the words on the wall.
Lucy saw Nathan’s lips tug into a reluctant smile. “Yes, I want that for all of you as well,” he said.
Jessica’s face fell, and Lucy guessed what she was thinking. Even if they took down Celia tonight, and Jason, Dara, Aaron, and Lucy all went on to get their HEAs, Nathan would still be stuck being a vampire. Which meant he still wouldn’t want to get romantically involved with anyone. If Jessica wanted her own happy ending with him, it would probably take nothing short of divine intervention to make it happen. And despite Kiefer’s nickname for him, and the incredible things they’d seen him do tonight, none of them really believed Nathan was a saint capable of producing a miracle.
“Hey, you guys,” Aaron spoke up, “I hear cars coming. Do you think it might be more security guards? Or maybe the cops?”
“I don’t hear anything.” Lucy tilted her head to listen.
“They’re still miles away,” he said. “A lot of miles. And it sounds like they might be stalled somewhere for a minute. Maybe waiting for something?”
“Aaron is correct,” Nathan said. “There are vehicles headed this way. But I do not think they are security or police.”
“No,” Jason said. “I hear it now, too, and these sound more like really big vehicles, maybe armored trucks. I think there are two of them.”
“What?” Jessica fisted her hands on her hips. “Are they sending the National Guard or something?” Then, with hope in her voice, “Oh, you guys, maybe it’s the National Guard!”
“I don’t think so,” said Aaron. “I hear something else. Voices. Of the creatures being hauled inside the trucks.”
“C-creatures?” Lucy touched the stakes she’d put in her back pocket.
“Vampires,” Nathan said. “At least some of them, anyway.”
“How many?” Kiefer asked him.
Nathan concentrated. “I cannot be certain, but…they are numerous.”
“Yeah,” Jason concurred. “It sounds like a lot to me, too. Couple dozen, at least.”
“What?” Jessica was incredulous. “Truckloads of vampires, are you kidding me? As if that’s what we need right now!”
“Does anyone ever need that?” Aaron asked Lucy in a whisper, and she couldn’t restrain a giggle.
“We should leave,” Nathan said. “Get the security guard out of here and go to ground and regroup. We are unprepared for this level of attack.”
“I second that motion.” Kiefer’s eyes were wide with worry.
“Wait a second, hang on.” Jessica touched the sorcerer’s shoulder. “What about Celia?”
“Yes, what about me?” another voice purred at them from a distance. “You can’t just leave me here all alone. In any case, my lovely new minions, Aaron and Jason, will need to stay behind, so that they can become better acquainted with their new master…So they may learn all the best ways to serve me.”
With trepidation prickling over her skin, Lucy turned toward the voice—and saw the most beautiful woman in the world standing in the stockroom doorway. She was petite and pale, with luminous blue eyes and glossy gold hair. She wore a
