Dying To Be Heard (Book 1): Outcry (28 page)

A tear rolled down her cheek, and she nodded.

Camden leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. “I will never leave your side again.”

She nodded again and forced a smile through the tears. “Promise?”

He chuckled. “I don’t care if it kills me.” His lips went to her forehead, careful not to hurt her already injured head.

A knock at the door made the two of them jump.

He grunted and pulled away. “Come in.”

Rayne pushed herself up even more to get a view over the footboard of the bed and a glimpse at who entered the room. She was more than surprised to see Dr. Brennan slip inside.

“You remember Dr. Brennan?” Camden asked.

Rayne’s eyebrows furrowed in question as she nodded.
How did he get here? Why is he here? What have I missed?

Another knock.

This time, it was the young, blonde-haired vampire.

“Christophe?”

Now she was really confused. Her eyes darted to Camden, and a sadness washed over his features.

Why is he here? I thought he was ripped apart while Layla and I escaped….
Her heart stopped beating. Her eyes frantically searched the room. “Where’s Layla? Why isn’t she here?”

Camden’s large hand closed over hers and he looked down at the ground, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“No, tell me where she is. Where is my best friend?”

The room grew eerily quiet, and no one would make eye contact with her.

“You’ll have to see it for yourself,” Camden finally spoke up.

With some difficulty and a lot of grunting on Rayne’s part, Camden easily lifted her from the bed and helped steady her shaky legs. She wrapped her arm around his neck and allowed him to assist her from the room.

“Why won’t you just tell me?” she asked, unable to hide the fear in her voice.

He didn’t answer.

It seemed as though it took a lifetime for the two of them to make it downstairs to the main floor of the house and then through the kitchen to a narrow door in the back.

Swinging it open, he carried Rayne into the darkness and down a flight of stairs. His advanced senses easily adapted, but she continued to struggle through the dark.

As they neared the bottom, every part of Rayne’s body failed. Her heart stopped beating and her breath hitched in her throat. Her stomach felt as though it were a boulder threatening to fall from her body.

The gurgling, hissing moans reached her ears, and she knew without a doubt, before the light came on, what she was about to see.

Her best friend was chained to a column in the basement of Camden’s house, parts of her flesh melting from her body. Muscle and bone were exposed, and the room reeked of decaying flesh. Very little of her black ringlets remained, and her body was no longer pudgy, but rotting and slowly falling away.

“No!” she screamed. “No!” She tried to push away from the strong arms holding her and reached for her best friend. “What happened to her?!”

Camden tightened his hold on her and buried his face in her auburn hair. “I know, Rayne. I know. I’m sorry.”

“Not Layla!” she sobbed incoherently. “She’s all I have!”

Camden turned and carried the inconsolable Rayne back upstairs.

She kicked and screamed with what little strength her healing body could produce. Exhausted and barely able to move, she screamed into his hard chest. “No! Don’t leave her like that!” She looked at him, eyes wild with panic and pleading. “Don’t leave her like that, please!” More tears fell.

As they emerged from the basement, Camden nodded to Paul who returned the gesture and disappeared down the stairs.

Her frail body nearly was limp as Camden carried her back upstairs to her room. A fresh trail of tears streamed down her cheeks and she began to hyperventilate. Dr. Brennan rushed to her as the vampire laid her back on her bed.

“Breathe,” he said calmly, and took deep breaths to show her how.

Eyes wide and full of moisture, she nodded and tried to mimic his actions. After several minutes, she finally managed to calm herself to little more than a quiet sob.

There was no imagining what she felt. Camden stared at her and refused to leave her side, holding her as she cried for hours on end. He couldn’t change what had happened, couldn’t right his wrongs. All he could do was be there for her when she needed him, for as long as it took.

Epilogue

Rayne sat at the table across from Dr. Brennan, eating a salad that she’d whipped up for the two of them.

It was odd being only one of two humans in the house. She didn’t mind it, but she noticed that he was more than nervous about the whole situation. He was coming around though, slowly but surely.

It had been almost two months since her kidnapping, and she took it all one day at a time. Tears still stung her eyes every time the thought of Layla entered her mind, but it was getting easier to cope. Going back to Washington to give the news to Layla’s mother was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. The look of her face as the two held each other and collapsed in the floor into a hysterical pile of uncontrollable sobs was an image that she would never forget.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the slender, blonde vampire passed through the kitchen and headed towards the basement door, raising his hand in a small wave.

Rayne smiled and returned the gesture, staring as he disappeared down the darkened staircase.

She was surprised that Christophe had become as much a welcomed asset to their little team as he had. He took on shifts to help keep things locked up tight, and made sure everyone was safe. He’d given all the information he had on Vergall, the one behind it all, and had pledged his loyalty to “the cause,” as he’d come to call it.

Camden was understandably cautious around the new vampire. He never left him in the house alone with Rayne, and Christophe was not allowed to leave the property on his own just yet. She thought he was being a little overprotective, but knew that he eventually would come around.

Things between her and Camden were the same as they had been before, which she found slightly frustrating. His speech when she’d first woken up had seemed to promise more, but it could be that she was just reading too much into it.

Dr. Brennan looked down at his watch and sighed as he moved to place his plate in the sink. “It’s been a week since your last donation,” he said with a wink. “Ready to go again?” he asked.

Rayne swallowed her last bite and nodded, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Gotta keep the reserve going, right? Gotta save the world?” she said, and dropped her fork.

The two left the dining room and disappeared around through the main entry hall.

Shortly after awakening, Rayne had questioned Camden on the specifics of her grandfather’s death. He’d hesitated, but eventually told her the truth, that Martin Slade’s death was a suicide. Theory after theory had gone around the group, but after seeing the vision of him, Rayne was convinced she knew the answer; Martin Slade had given himself the serum. He was the source of the treated blood.
He wouldn’t have given me something if he wasn’t sure it was safe. He tested it on himself first.

Dr. Brennan had agreed. It explained why he would have drained his own blood, to be absolutely sure that it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. It was still difficult for Rayne to accept, all of it was.

She shrugged the thought away as she followed Dr. Brennan to his room. As a whole, the team was working out fairly well. They were coming up with a plan of action now that they knew who Vergall was. Christophe had said that he wouldn’t stop until he’d gotten what he wanted. He was calling out for the vampire race to stand up against them and all humans alike, to take what he believed was rightfully theirs, complete dominion over the entire human population. It was an outcry for war.

She shook her head at the enormity of it all.
One day at a time Rayne, one day at a time.

Coming Soon

Watch for the next books in the Dying to be Heard series!