“What happens if I’m wrong?” There was so much anguish in his words. A despair she didn’t think possible to come from one person. “What happens if I take you from here and you...you leave me?”
Alice sat up straighter. “Then I leave behind a man who is stronger than he thinks. Certainly stronger than anyone else dared dream. One who will endure, no matter how hard it might seem in the beginning.” Her voice lowered. “But for now, let’s believe you and I have a chance. Let’s go, sweetheart.”
Sebastian stared at nothing, his eyes glazed over. Lost in thought, perhaps. When his phone sang a soft tune, she wasn’t certain he’d even heard it. By rote though, his hand found the device. He flipped it over a second later, scanned the screen, and Alice watched his face crumple.
“What?” She couldn’t keep the alarm from ringing through. “What is it?’
His brow furrowed before he closed his eyes. He opened them again and in the dark depths she found a decisiveness that hadn’t been there only moments ago. “That was Drew.”
“Yes? What did he want?”
“He wanted to let me know that the Council has it out for me. They’ve pretty much already decided my fate, which means that nothing I say or do will ever convince them to allow me to turn you.” A thunderous cloud of emotion covered his face. “We’re getting out of here.”
* * *
God, he didn’t know what they would do or where they would go, but he would not and could not accept that the Council had deserted him. Not now. Not over this.
“What about Stavrou?”
As if he’d heard his name, the executioner tapped against the door, opening it before he’d done knocking. “Has a decision been reached?” he asked, his tone insinuating he didn’t care one way or the other. The time for talking and hesitating reached its end.
It physically pained him to say the words, but Bast replied, “She’s coming with us.”
He had to admit that Antaeus remained patient while they notified the nurse on duty, who then insisted Alice’s doctor be notified. Truth be told, he kind of hoped the man would come in and insist that Alice stay, giving Bast just a little bit of ammunition to perhaps rehash the argument. Instead, while the physician wanted to continue to monitor Alice, he agreed with her in not being able to predict when the next seizure might occur.
Technically, the nurse explained as she unhooked IVs and helped Alice get ready, all they’d be doing is running additional tests if she stayed, which might or might not be useful. There was no way to be sure. All that, and Alice might never have another seizure again. However, she wanted Alice’s promise to see a neurologist and an oncologist within a week. While Alice might have placated her by agreeing, Bast would be certain she kept her word.
When she’d been dressed in clothing he’d had the foresight to bring, he took one look at her wan face and almost rescinded his decision right then. But when he realized that if she stayed behind, there was a possibility he wouldn’t be allowed to come back to her, he reluctantly retrained his mind.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked Alice. He’d insisted on rolling her wheelchair downstairs himself; however, a bored-looking aide trailed behind him. Antaeus followed not far behind all three.
“A little tired, but I’ll make it.”
“Don’t push yourself, you hear me?” He meant every word yet couldn’t help scanning their surroundings. Nothing but patient rooms seemed to flank them on both sides. Some doors were propped open, eerily dark inside. Others resonated with faint beeps and clicks, the sounds of equipment hard at work on saving lives. Most of the patient rooms had been left closed, allowing their visitors to rest comfortably in the late night.
Bast looked for some way out and pledged that making her leave the chair was a very last resort. Still, he had to leave that option there. With Antaeus so closely on their heels, they’d get one shot and one shot only.
How had his life come to this point? Walking the green mile with a vampire executioner at his back. While Bast was a warrior, the executioners specialized in taking down vampires. Bast realized he’d spent so long doing his service with a gun that trying to defend himself against a blade and stake would be clumsy at best. If he made it out of this, he’d refocus his skills.
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