The way he said it made it sound personal.
“You’ve done this before?” she whispered.
He clenched his jaw. The only sign that he didn’t like how easily she could read him. “It’s a form of torture. We did it to our enemies or in interrogations. It’s a power play.” He paused and then continued, “It’s what was done to Sydney.”
Reyna sucked in a harsh breath. “She came out stronger for it.”
“That’s why I respected her.”
“She was uncommon?” Reyna guessed.
Beckham’s curt nod was enough to confirm everything she feared. Sydney was the exception. Her strength was rare. It was more likely that Brian was broken and might never recover from this.
“What do we do?” she demanded, shucking off all the fear and moving into action.
“Blood. He needs a lot of blood.”
“Where do we go? A blood bank? The hospital?”
“It’d be better to bring him back to Washington’s, where we can monitor him.”
“We have enough blood there?”
“Genevieve keeps us well stocked. You know his blood type?”
“Of course. He’ll be okay on the drive back?”
“He’ll be unconscious for a while,” Beckham said with a hint of regret.
“You did what you had to. Now we have to do what we can to save him. Harrington won’t win this.”
Beckham didn’t say anything for a moment as they both observed Brian. “Do you want to tell Drew and Laura?”
Reyna inhaled sharply. “No. No, I don’t want anyone else to know what he’s going through if I can help it.”
“Okay.”
Reyna loved that he didn’t argue with her. He didn’t try to comfort her. He didn’t try to soften the blow. They both knew it was dire. There was no use lying.
Chapter 17
Reyna called Gabe while they waited for Gerard to return with the van. He answered on the third ring.
“What?”
“We have an emergency here. We found Brian.”
“That’s great, Reyna! Why is that an emergency?”
“He’s a vampire.”
“Fuck!”
“And starving and…he did some things he’s not going to like if we can get him back to himself. We have to take him home to get him fed. Are you coming?”
“No. I can’t. I think this is going to take a while anyway.”
Reyna sighed. “Okay. Well, call when you want us to come pick you up after your meeting.”
“Will do. Take care of yourself. I’m sorry about Brian.”
She choked back her anger and tears. “Me too.”
She hung up the phone.
“Gabe is staying,” Beckham said. “That’s probably for the better.”
“He’s going out on a limb for us.”
“If I haven’t heard of this contact of his, then he’s not legendary.”
“You think very highly of yourself.”
Beckham brushed a kiss to her forehead. “With good reason.”
Pompous ass.
When Gerard arrived, Beckham untied Brian and handed Reyna the ropes. Then he tossed Brian over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They piled into the van. Beckham tied Brian up in the backseat just in case and then they were off. Reyna kept glancing over her shoulder at Brian, watching him breathe softly. She wanted to brush his dark hair out of his eyes. Comfort him the way he had always comforted her. But it was a risk. She didn’t want him to wake up and attack her, without even knowing who she was.
There’d been absolutely nothing in his eyes when she’d looked into them. He’d just snarled and screamed like the monster he was. Completely lost to the virus. He hadn’t even recognized her. She had been just another blood source. Not his sister. Not the girl he’d raised into a woman and fed and clothed and protected and taken care of for much of her life.
She turned away sharply as her heart ached for the brother she felt slipping away behind her. She hoped the long road ahead of them would be worth it.
* * *
—
Beckham dragged Brian’s body into an empty bedroom upstairs. He upgraded from rope to chains just to be sure Brian couldn’t get free when he woke up. In fact, he seemed a little too comfortable with tying someone up.
“How many times have you done that?” Reyna asked.
Beckham clicked the lock into place. “Many many times.”
Beckham winked at her as he left her alone in the room. She sank into a chair against the wall and watched Brian until Beckham came back with a cooler full of blood. Reyna’s eyes rounded.
“That’s a lot of blood!”
“He’s going to need this and more. I just sent Genevieve out for some.” Beckham set the cooler down. “A positive, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How did he and Drew end up with such a common blood type and yours is so incredibly rare?”
“I ask myself that every day.”
It was only a few minutes before Brian finally woke up. Reyna jumped to her feet as he roused. Beckham must have hit him really fucking hard for him to be out for over an hour. She didn’t want to think about it. But at least he was awake.