Her mouth was running away from her. When she got nervous, she talked and anything in her head came out of her mouth. She pressed her lips closed, willing him to understand.
His eyes softened at her ranting, but she could tell he wasn’t finished with the topic. “We are too exposed here. We have to get back to the cave. That one has friends.”
“We need to get you to a doctor, Andre. You need a transfusion. Seriously. This wound can kill you.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pinned her to his side. “Close your eyes, Teagan.”
“What?” She pressed her hands tighter to his chest now that she had both of them. “Andre, you’re in shock.”
“Close your eyes.”
She huffed out her breath in total exasperation. He was really annoying when he went all He-Man macho on her. She wasn’t certain all that gorgeous was worth the attitude. Still, she closed her eyes to humor him. She had the feeling healing him was going to be up to her anyway. How could they climb down the mountain at night? Especially when there were wild animals everywhere and he was bleeding so much. Her shirt was soaked with blood. It had been useless tearing it. Now she was in her bra, and he could see she had no curves whatsoever.
She had that floating sensation again, the one she got when he kissed her. She lifted her lashes just a little and saw the ground was gone. Gone. Completely gone. As in she really was floating. Well, flying. Technically she wasn’t flying. Andre was flying and just carrying her along for the ride.
She closed her eyes again because if she didn’t, she was going to scream very, very loud. “This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.” She chanted the denial, hoping she was caught in the throes of a terrible nightmare.
Just in case it was real, she continued to press both hands tight against the hole in his chest. The wind on her body told her it was true, that she was flying through the air, with his arm locked around her waist. If he was flying, what did that make him?
Um. Andre. What exactly are you?
Teagan peeked at the earth below her. Yep. Still flying. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to ask him. What if he realized she peeked and he just dropped and smashed her body against the rocks below? She knew how to fall, but not from this kind of height. It made her a little dizzy to look down so she closed her eyes again and pressed her bloody shirt tighter into the wound on his chest.
I hunt the vampire.
A monk and a vampire hunter. A monk, a law enforcement bounty hunter type and a vampire hunter. She hadn’t really expected that from him.
She bit her lip. He really wasn’t very good at vampire hunting. Maybe he hadn’t been at it long, with his career change and all. He didn’t even carry holy water with him. Or stakes. Or a bible. She had seen her grandmother’s vampire-hunting kit, straight off the Internet, and in spite of the fact that, at the time, she thought her grandmother was absolutely bonkers, the old case with all the hunting tools inside was very cool. Surely if he really hunted vampires he’d have all kinds of weapons.
May I make a teensy observation? She didn’t want to upset him, but he needed a little help.
I cannot wait.
That sounded a little sarcastic but she forged on. If you had the proper gear, such as the stuff Grandma Trixie has, you wouldn’t have to get so close to that horrible creature and you wouldn’t get so torn up.
The only way to destroy a vampire is to remove his heart and incinerate it. Even if you chop off his head, he can repair himself. He is the undead.
She kept her eyes closed tight. She would have put her hands over her ears and sang la la la at the top of her lungs to keep from hearing him. Unfortunately, he was talking in her head, so that luxury was impossible and she had to keep her hands pressed to his chest to keep more blood from spilling out at such a high altitude.
Is that really true?
Yes.
Well. That was bad news for her grandmother. She’d been swindled on the Internet. So many people preyed on the elderly. She’d have to check into that and maybe find a way to put those people right out of business.
Andre landed lightly and ducked inside the cave, still holding her to his side. She didn’t open her eyes to see how the two of them managed to fit through the narrow entrance, because if she had any more surprises she was going to just scream. Hysterically. Scream at the top of her lungs. She needed to focus on healing him so he wouldn’t die.
“Andre.” She kept her eyes closed as he carried her through the various chambers. She was fairly certain they were headed back to the room where he had a bed. “You’re going to need a transfusion. Do you know your blood type? I might be able to donate my blood if we’re compatible.”
He paused at every entrance, just for a few moments, and she risked peeking. He seemed to be the one setting up shields, because right before he turned away, she saw notes and strings shimmering for one moment before they disappeared.
“We are compatible.”
He was still angry. She opened her eyes and glared at him. “Are you still angry with me? I’m saving your life. I sacrificed my shirt and I only have a couple, which necessitates going into town to buy more. And I need to find the stone to heal my grandmother.”
“Your grandmother is not in need of healing, although I am beginning to suspect you are.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, giving him her most fierce scowl. “That wasn’t nice. You can put me down anytime, Andre.”
He paused to weave another shield over the last entrance before his hidden chamber. Ignoring her squinty eyes and really mean scowl—the one that always made her nephews behave—he carried her right on through to his living quarters. Only then did he set her on her feet.