Past Life (20 page)

After a few paces his distressed breathing changed to huge gulps of air and after a few more paces, he began struggling to get to his feet. Frankie released him.

“
Feel better?” she asked.

“
Yeah,” Will nodded as they continued back to the trees. “I don't understand it.”

“
Magic,” Frankie said, turning back to the building. “It's some kind of repulsion spell, designed to keep prying eyes away. The closer you get, the sicker you'll get.”

“
Why didn't it effect you?” he asked.

Frankie had been wondering that herself.

“
Chalk another one up for the freak,” she said, though she didn't feel as jovial as her words sounded.

“
So what now?” Will asked.

Frankie knew he wouldn't like this, but she could see no other options.

“
You go back to the car and wait for me.”

“
You can't go in there alone!” Will argued.

“
I can and I will,” she said turning to him. “And you promised to do what I said, remember?”

“
Not if your actions are reckless.” he argued.

“
Reckless is taking you with me,” she said. “Right now you're more of a hindrance than a help and if you do manage to make it to the hospital, there's a good chance that this spell is strong enough to kill you.”

Will still looked stubborn, but his resolve was weakening.

“
This is my job, Will. Now go back to the car. Please.”

“
Frankie-”

Without warning Frankie kicked the back of his knee, making him fall. Before he'd had time to recover she pulled his handcuffs from his jacket pocked and snapped one bracelet around his wrist.

“
Don't make me cuff you to the tree,” she said, her sense of urgency building every minute that they stayed out here.

With her point made she didn't hang around, but got up and ran towards the hospital. Will got to his feet, winded and still slightly shocked by the speed and effectiveness of her attack. He didn't want her to go in alone but he knew that if he followed, he'd fall sick again, and this time there would be no one there to drag him away.

Reluctantly he turned and headed back to the car. At least he could keep an eye on the road and phone Frankie if he saw anyone heading to the hospital.

Chapter Fifteen

Frankie made her way around the building until she found a window what had already been jimmied open. She climbed inside and looked for a set of stairs, sensing that Dante was above her.

At least she hoped it was Dante, and not some other random vampire who was crashing here. That was ridiculous, of course, since a vampire couldn't have performed the spell that made Will sick. She found a staircase off the main hallway and followed it up. She could tell that Dante was in the room at the end of the hallway so she made her way towards it, pausing outside to search for other auras before she entered. Still unable to feel anyone else in the vicinity (and pleased that Will seemed to have followed her order) she tried to open the door but it was locked.

She didn't have her lockpick gun with her, and even if she had, it wouldn't work on a mortice lock, so she pulled her regular gun out instead and fired two shots, destroying the lock. The door swung open and Frankie felt something in her head, like a scratching inside her skull. She knew that meant that a vampire was trying to enter her mind.

“
It's me,” she said, and the scratching sensation stopped but Dante didn't speak.

The room was longer than it was wide, and the walls had been coated with some kind of black foam. The windows had been painted black, save for one pane that had been broken. The fluorescent lights overhead were on but only one was working. In the middle of the room was an old-fashioned hospital bed, facing away from the door with its top half raised. At the end of the bed was some kind of camera and TV screen, though neither appeared to be on at the moment.

Dante still hadn't said anything and it was with some trepidation that Frankie approached the bed.

“
Holy shit!” she gasped as she finally glimpsed his face.

The right side was black and charred, his right eye fused closed. His grotesque façade was only worsened by the perfection of the left side of his face.

“
'Cos I'm sure you look like a million dollars in the morning,” he said, his light words belied by the ruined flesh that crumbled and fell from his lips as he spoke.

“
Jesus!” She undid her cuff and offered him her wrist, holding it just above his lips.

“
No,” he said softly, turning his head away.

“
Dante, you have to feed.”

“
It's what he wants.” His voice was weak and broken.

“
He's not here, Dante. Now for God's sake feed, because I can't drag you out of here and keep you protected from the sun at the same time.”

His good eye flicked over to her, hope shining in it.

“
He's not here?” he asked.

“
No. Now for Christ's sake drink!” She pressed her wrist against his lips, trying not to shake with revulsion as his charred flesh touched her skin.

“
Undo the cuffs first,” he said, still unable to quite believe his ordeal was over.

The silver shackles were kept closed with a bolt which she was easily able to undo and remove. Though the cuffs were lined, in his struggles to get free, he had torn the padding and the silver had burned into his skin. On his left wrist especially, she nearly gagged as she glimpsed bone.

Next she freed his ankles from the shackles, pleased to see that the padding and his socks had protected him from further damage.

Once he was free she went to the side of the bed again, this time his good side and once again offered him her wrist. She looked away as she saw his fangs run out and a moment later, bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as his fangs sank into her flesh

Not only had his whole body been damaged by the poison that he'd ingested, the sunlight had wreaked havoc on his chest and face and as a result of all this damage, Dante had never felt so ravenous before. As Frankie's blood began to heal him, he brought his hands up to hold her wrist in place as he began to feed more deeply.

“
Dante,” Frankie suddenly realised how risky her actions were. She had never seen the frenzied look that Dante had before, and she soon realised that her life was in real danger. His eyes sought hers and she thought she could see him pleading with her to stop him. She struggled against him trying to free her wrist, but he was still a hundred times stronger than she was and her struggles were useless.

“
Don't do this,” she pleaded. “Dante, please stop!”

Her vision was just beginning to darken at the edges when she suddenly felt his foot in her stomach, kicking her away and out of his grip. It hurt like hell as his fangs tore through the skin on her wrist and she fell hard to the floor, but at least she was alive.

Dante sat up and sat on the edge of the bed, his breathing was fast and shallow.

“
Frankie, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.”

Frankie pushed herself into a sitting position and shook her head to clear the cobwebs that were forming.

“
Are you okay?” he asked.

“
Just a little light headed.” She took a few deep breaths and then slowly got to her feet. Dante was looking worriedly at her, almost as though he was afraid of her. She made it to her feet but as she took her first step she swayed and almost blacked out. Dante was at her side in a flash, supporting her. He offered her his wrist.

“
I took too much,” he said. “Drink.”

“
No,” she shook her head. “Just get out of here. Will has a car waiting.  When you get to the trees, turn left and follow the tree line until you see a car.”

“
You're coming too.”

She shook her head. “I'd just slow you down. I saw some blankets downstairs, use those to shield yourself from the sun. I'll be right behind you.”

Dante didn't look impressed by the idea and the next thing she knew, she was being lifted off her feet. The room blurred around her, adding to her vertigo and she closed her eyes, too tired to care what happened any more.

When she passed out, Dante transferred Frankie to his left shoulder, her head hanging down his back. Downstairs he found the blankets she'd spoken of and wrapped one around them, holding it almost closed with one hand in front of his face, so that he still had a crack to see through.

He kicked the locked door open and used his vampire speed to follow the path that she had described. He could see her friend, Will, waiting behind the wheel of his car. Dante threw open the back door and got in as quickly as he could.

“
Drive!” he ordered as he tried to reposition Frankie without exposing himself to the sunlight.

Will did as he said and drove away as quickly as he could. Slowly Dante managed to move Frankie out from under the blanket so that she was sitting beside him, though still unconscious.

“
Is she okay?” Will asked, able to see Frankie in his rear view mirror.

“
She will be.”

“
What did you do to her?”

Dante didn't answer.

“
I swear to God, if you've hurt her, I'll find a way to make you pay.” Will glared at him in the mirror.

Once again Dante didn't answer, for if indeed she was seriously hurt, he would deserve it. He had promised Josh that he would keep her safe and if she was seriously hurt by his hand...

Will drove straight to the hospital; he didn't care if Dante needed to get out of the sun. He skidded to a stop outside the accident and emergency department, got Frankie out of the back seat and carried her into the hospital.

While the attention of passersby was on Will, Dante rushed out of the car and into the hospital, appearing as little more than a blur to most people.

Dante was glad that Will had brought Frankie here, not just because Frankie needed help, but also because a hospital contained just what he needed to finish healing. He found the locker room and quickly changed into hospital scrubs, then he captured the mind of the first nurse that he saw and had her guide him to the blood bank. Six units of blood later, Dante was beginning to feel normal again.

He remembered what he had endured at Pietro's hand, and a sudden determination to kill the son of a bitch overcame him.

Then he remembered Frankie and his blood lust fled for a moment. Pietro would still die, slowly and painfully, but not until he knew that she was okay.

“
What happened?” a nurse asked Will as she checked Frankie over.

“
She needs blood,” Will said again.

“
Why, sir, what happened?”

Will could see that the wound on her wrist was gone and as far as he and the nurse could tell, she had no other wounds that could cause blood loss.

“
I don't know,” he said, sighing.

“
Then how do you know she needs blood?”

“
She told me, before she passed out,” he said, though he knew that his answer wouldn't satisfy her.

“
Her pulse is fast and her blood pressure is low,” the nurse confirmed. “But there could be a number of reasons for that.”

“
Please, just give her a transfusion; it's what she needs.”

The nurse had finished setting Frankie up on a heart monitor and looked up, seemingly sympathetic.

“
The doctor will be here soon, if he says that she needs a transfusion, she'll get one.”

The nurse pulled the curtain back to leave but Will grabbed her arm.

“
Why won't you listen to me!”

“
Problem?”

Will glared at Dante, who had appeared over the nurse's shoulder, dressed as a doctor.

“
She won't give Frankie a transfusion,” Will informed him.

“
Not until a doctor has seen her,” the nurse reiterated.

Dante looked into her eyes and Will noticed that his usually icy blue eyes turned a deep, dark shade of blue.

“
Nancy, it is Nancy, isn't it?” Dante said, his voice as smooth as silk. “Why don't you find us a doctor and tell him it's urgent.”

“
Of course,” she said. Will released her arm and she scurried off. Dante entered the cubicle, where he and Will proceeded to have a staring contest until a doctor appeared a few moments later.

“
What's the problem?” the Doctor asked, hurrying to Frankie's side. He shot Dante a quick look, probably wondering why a doctor that he didn't know was in his department.