Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

“Everything okay in here?” Sean asked as he joined them.

Bastien nodded. “This wise doctor is giving us everything we need. Did you tranq everyone else?”

“Yeah. The guy at the far end might have hit his head kind of hard when he fell,” Sean said, unconcerned. “He was an asshole.”

The woman snorted. “Does he have blond highlights in his hair?”

“Yeah.”

Her lip curled in a sneer. “That’s Orson. He is an asshole. The kind that would’ve enjoyed hurting the girl in there if Silvy and I hadn’t kept him away from her.”

Sean arched a brow. “You mean hurt her more than you did? Or more than you intended to?”

Her face blanched. “I just set up an IV and took some blood samples. And she was unconscious for most of it.”

“Because you drugged her.” Crossing his arms, Sean matched Bastien’s stance.

The woman offered no response as her gaze slid away from his.

At least she seemed contrite. Most of the bad guys they dealt with lacked anything resembling moral conscience.

Bastien nodded toward the door at the opposite end of the lab. “We’ve got this. Go help Seth.”

Worried about what he might find within, Sean left them and headed toward the mystery room. All the other labs in this space boasted at least one glass wall. The fact that this one didn’t made it stand out as one in which they wished to hide something.

Or someone.

The mystery room was bigger than he’d anticipated. Two rows of lab stations extended from a center aisle like spider legs. Rows of chairs did the same behind them. Everything was white: the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the furniture. And the place bore a sharp antiseptic scent that made his nose twitch. A glass wall beyond revealed the area in which they held and studied…

Tessa.

His heart thudded with dread. She was so pale. Strapped to something that resembled an operating table, her slender form sported only a generic hospital gown. Multiple tubes were taped to her hands and arms. No blanket covered her bare legs to stave off the cold. And even with his body’s ability to control his temperature, Sean knew it was damned chilly in this room.

Tessa’s eyes remained closed with nary a flicker of movement behind her lids as Seth leaned over her.

Back in his usual form and garb, having shed his Albert guise, Seth gently brushed her hair back from her face and spoke her name.

She didn’t move.

Sean forced his feet to carry him forward. “Is she okay?”

Lips tight, Seth waved a hand. The manacles sprang open. “She’s drugged. In their exuberance, they came damned close to overdosing her.”

Sean swore. Too much of the sedative killed vampires. Would an overdose do the same to an Immortal Guardian? He couldn’t remember. “What can we do?”

“She needs blood. They have greatly depleted her supply and didn’t give her more because they wished her to remain weak. Reed and the other vampires told them immortals are stronger.” Seth carefully removed the needles and tubes from her hands and arms, healing every wound they left behind. Afterward, he drew an autoinjector from one of his pockets. “I’ll wake her with Melanie’s antidote. Once she rouses, I want you to give her blood.”

“Okay.”

Sean moved closer to the bed.

Seth flipped the lid open and pressed the autoinjector to Tessa’s thigh.

A few seconds later, her lashes fluttered and rose.

Tessa stared at the bright lights above, her gaze unfocused.

“Tessa?” Seth stroked her hair again.

Blinking sluggishly, she glanced over at him. “Seth?”

He nodded. “You need blood. I want you to take Sean’s.”

She opened her mouth to speak. Closed it. Blinked.

Her gaze returned to the lights above, then took in the room around her. “I don’t think so.”

Sean shot Seth a look. Tessa wouldn’t take his blood? Why?

Seth’s brow furrowed as he studied her.

“No,” she said, still groggy and disconnected. “I’m okay.”

Seth’s features abruptly smoothed out with relief. “Jared is talking to her telepathically.”

Oh. Good. For a moment, Sean had feared she wasn’t quite there.

“Yes.” Her voice grew stronger. “I’m just a little out of it.”

Stop distracting her, Jared, Seth said, his telepathic voice reaching Sean, too. Let us take care of her.

Tessa focused on Seth.

“Take Sean’s blood,” he coaxed.

Forcing a smile, Sean extended his forearm. “Bon appétit.”

Her lips quirked at the corners as she sat up with Seth’s aid. “I suddenly feel like we’re in a low-budget vampire movie.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. This is so weird. I’ve never given another immortal blood before.”

“Have you ever taken blood from a live person?”

“No.”

She shook her head with a smile. “That’s even weirder.” Clasping his forearm with icy fingers, she sank her teeth in.

It hurt more than he’d expected. Étienne had bitten him when he’d transformed Sean, but Sean had no memory of that thanks to the GHB-like chemical the glands above fangs released under the pressure of a bite. Fortunately, the virus rendered him immune to the chemical this time, so Tessa feeding from him wouldn’t leave him loopy.