Nurse Ingrid had helped her in and out of the bathroom and the shower and got a bit of food into her each day as well.
At two days full blood-free, she got good news.
“Forty-eight hours with no bleeding. I think it might be safe for you two to be reunited. Interesting timing, too. Happy twenty fifth birthday,” Adrian was all smiles. She wanted to punch him in his stupid James Franco face.
“What day is it?”
Pretty bad that she had no idea when her actual birthday was.
“July 29th. I’ll be back shortly.”
“With Tristan?”
“With Tristan.”
Her heartrate picked up.
Ingrid got her to drink some orange juice and eat half a banana and half a piece of toast with peanut butter and then Kyla asked her to help her with her hair. The woman efficiently French braided it.
But then it was hours of being alone, waiting. Hours. What was happening?
Sam was there, in her doorway.
Sam?
“Hi, love. How are you keeping?”
She frowned, “What are you doing here?”
“Tristan sent me to get you.”
“He sent you?”
“He did. He’s at the main house, still laid up, until he feeds. He’s not strong enough to come down here without feeding first. We attempted bagged blood but that wouldn’t do. He probably would’ve been okay but he depleted the balance of his strength laying out Adrian the minute he was un-daggered. He beat the daylights out of him and then daggered him with Adrian’s own dagger.” Sam chuckled.
“What?”
“Adrian’ll live. He’s just in a world of hurt right now. Tristan needs you. Looks like you need him, too. Shall I carry you or can you walk?”
Kyla didn’t trust Sam. No way, no how. Even though she wasn’t bleeding.
“I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Trust me, you’ll both feel a whole lot better when you’re in the same room. I’ll have you there in a jiffy.”
She heard Tristan’s voice loud and clear in her mind,“Besides me a lone vampire will never be alone with you. Ever. Not even Sam. If you find yourself alone with any vampire for any reason, any reason whatsoever, it’s a problem, and against my wishes.”
“No, Sam.”
“Sorry, darling. You haven’t much choice. He needs you.”
He went to lean over and lift her but she screeched and tried to struggle.
He sighed and put her down and backed up. He put his hand over his forehead a second and then lifted his phone from his jeans pocket and tapped the screen, then put it to his ear, “Tristan. She’s resisting. Yeah. Alright. Okay.”
He glanced at her, “Word of advice. Not a good idea to struggle against a vampire who is already fighting his predatory urges. Okay? You’re teaching an old dog patience; you know that?” And then he left.
She was alone. She took a few slow calming breaths and another sip of the orange juice on the bedside table.
Not long later, she was still wondering what the heck was going on and wishing she had the strength to run, but then Sam was back.
She felt strong enough to stand. She put a hand up to block him,
“Stay back. I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Sweetheart, save your strength. Here. Take this dagger. I ran to fetch it. If I get out of line, shove it in me and then carry it with you. Any vamp gets near you, poke him or her and they’ll be out like a light. Okay?” He passed it to her.
She held it up and inspected it. It felt heavy, old, and like power emanated from it, which was an odd sensation.
“For how long?”
“Stick it in, just a quick jab, yank it out and they’ll go down long enough for you to run away if you’re quick about it. A few minutes. Stick it in and keep it in and they’ll stay down until it’s removed. I’ll carry you. Faster that way and less exposure for you to others.”
She was hesitant, “Why don’t you carry Tristan here?”
“He’s a vampire but he’s still a guy. The only way a guy’d let another guy carry him is if he were unconscious.”
She chewed her lip. She didn’t have a good feeling about this.
“Alright, I hate to do this to myself but jab me quick and then wait so you can see it works and know you’ve got the upper hand. Just not the heart, please. That would be the end of me. And don’t think about going it alone without me. You need me. If you want, call Tristan to confirm---” before he finished she jerked forward and jabbed him with the dagger quick, poking him in the ribs with it. Barely any force at all and it jabbed him as if she’d plunged it with all her strength. He grunted and went to the floor and was out.
She leaned forward and got into his jeans pocket and pulled out his phone and went to the last number dialed and hit it.