He closed his eyes and fell into a cold abyss.
*****
"Take it out!" Eva yelled, holding up her arm.
Broderick quickly removed the IV. "He gave too much."
Eva looked around the room; she started to hop off the table and winced, her leg burned. "Fucker bit me." Grimacing, she sat up and faced Adriel. "Okay, so who can give him blood?" Everyone around her was silent. "Well?"
Broderick wrung his hands. "Vampires are universal donors. Because they ingest so many different types of blood, their own blood is compatible with anyone. However, in order to receive blood, a vampire needs another vampire of the same blood type."
"So get someone down here with his blood type." She reached out and touched Adriel's cheek. He was ice cold.
Broderick shook his head. "It's not that easy. Unlike shifters and humans, vampires have their own strains of blood, usually traceable back to their family line, their bloodline. Adriel has no family in the city. If he were a DuBois donating to a Fabre or Tremblay, it might work, their bloodlines have intermated over the centuries being of Noble or Founding blood, but Adriel isn't."
Eva's mind scrambled. She wasn't losing him, not now, not because of her. She looked around the room; everywhere she looked she saw resignation and sympathy. Her eyes met Gavriel's. His gray eyes, just like... She gasped.
"He's an Ambrosios!" she yelled, reaching for Gavriel.
Gavriel's brows snapped together as he frowned fiercely. "No, he is not. I would have known. My family is gone."
Eva shook her head. "No time to explain, he is. Please!" she pleaded.
Gavriel's face softened. "I know you want to save him, but if I gave him my blood and we were not related, it would kill him."
"He has the Book of Life for House Ambrosios, Gods! Look at him! You could use each other as shaving mirrors!" Eva shouted.
Beth gasped and stepped forward; white tear streaks lined on her cheeks. "She's right, he could be your brother you look so much alike. Why did I never see it?"
Gavriel grabbed her hands. "This is very important. Does he truly have the Ambrosios Book of Life?"
"Yes! He said he did, it was passed to him from his great-great-great grandmother. She was human and kicked out of Noctem Falls when her vampire mate was killed. She changed her name so they couldn't find her." Eva choked on her tears. She looked up into Gavriel's eyes. "Please save him," she begged.
Gavriel reached up and simply ripped away both his suit and shirt sleeve. "Broderick, do it." He offered up his arm.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Eva repeated. Beth wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "He'll be just fine."
Already, Gavriel's blood was making a difference. Adriel's skin, which had been ice cold to the touch, was warming. Eva lay back and rolled on to her side. She took his hand.
Behind her, Beth gently stroked her hair. "Rest Eva, we'll take care of you both. You're family."
She closed her eyes, but kept her hand on her mate; if she was touching him, then he couldn't leave her. "Just five minutes, and then I'd like some coffee and a pop tart." She heard someone chuckle and smiled at the sound; it was the last thing she heard for a while.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Eva smiled as she looked around. Her pack, true to their Texas roots, organized one of the biggest barbecues she had ever seen. The vampire vendors had outdone themselves, supplying cart after cart of food. The children played in the middle of the marketplace under the watchful eyes of both shifters and vampires. Already, the vampires were spoiling the shifter children rotten, much to their parent's surprise. When Adora heard how few children had been born in the city in the past hundred years, she organized vampire babysitters so that everyone would have a chance to play with the children; it was a huge success.
Jorge passed her another beer. She nodded and accepted it.
"So you found the bastard that killed our people?"
Eva nodded. "Yeah, but he got away."
"We'll find him, Eva. We're trying to talk Prince Magnus into letting us hunt down there in small packs."
"What'd he say?" Both she and her mate had slept for nearly thirty-six hours. When they woke, a lot had already been discussed about tracking down Augustus. She was still trying to catch up.
Jorge looked out over the crowd. "He wants to make sure that the tunnels are safe before large groups are allowed down there."
"Sounds like a good idea. I was down there, Jorge, some of the walls looked like they were about to topple over."
Jorge looked at her. "So he wasn't just trying to keep us from going down there?"
She shook her head. "Nah, I believe him. It's pretty bad down there."
Jorge sat back. "I feel better after hearing you say that. I'll let the rest of the pack know."
"I'd appreciate that."
"You do know Stefan just about came unglued when he heard you almost died."
"Shit. I'll get with him later. Though why he's so locked on me, I'll never know."
Jorge laughed. "You don't remember, do you?"
Eva wracked her brain. "Remember what?"
"Hell, he'll kill me if he finds out I told you." Jorge looked around to make sure no one else was listening. "You probably don't remember because you've made it a habit to pull wolf pups outta scrapes. But the reason why Stefan treats you the way he does is because you saved his life and mine when we were young."