Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Wheeler stood near one of the cleanup vans, parked just outside of the loading area of the gallery, holding a container with a pop-up oversize straw sticking out from the top. In the container was blood, something the PSI-Emergency Med teams carried on hand in the event it be needed by a vampire op member. Their ambulance was parked off to the side and had Sammy sitting on the back end of it, wrapped in a blanket as one of the paramedics took her vitals.

Normally, he'd have been happy to have the blood, especially with not feeding for three days, but he didn't dare drink from the container. Not with Sammy nearby.

If he did, she'd only see him as a bigger monster than he already was.

Auberi was near her, staying close but giving the paramedic room to work.

Wheeler locked gazes with the fellow vampire and tapped into the mental pathway used by the operatives.

How is she? asked Wheeler.

Auberi glanced over at him. Come and see for yourself, pussy.

Wheeler flipped him off quickly. Bite me, asshole. Just tell me if she's okay or not.

She's lost a lot of blood. I can sense as much on her. I'm sure you can as well, said Auberi. And the paramedic keeps trying to talk her into being taken to the nearest secured care facility. He wants her checked by a doctor.

You're a doctor , stressed Wheeler. You check her over.

So demanding , returned Auberi before tapping the paramedic on the shoulder and speaking briefly with him. He then took over checking Sammy.

Wheeler clutched the container for dear life, holding his breath as he did, fearful something serious might be wrong with his woman.

And she was his woman.

He felt it deep in his bones.

But she saw him as nothing more than a gargoyle-vampire. A hybrid monster. He couldn't exactly hold that against her. He had torn someone's head off in addition to killing four other men in seconds.

Auberi checked Sammy's head and paused.

Did she sustain a head injury?

Yes , said Wheeler. She hit her head on me while I was still stone. The impact jolted my senses. I felt her pain and then smelled all the blood. Then suddenly, I was a man again. Why? Oh Gods, how bad is she hurt? I thought she healed herself with Fae magik. I swore I felt it, and then I didn't sense her being hurt anymore. I missed something.

The lid to the container popped off and blood spit upward like a geyser before landing all over his arm and part of his chest.

A member of the cleanup crew walked by and stopped to glare at him. "I kind of hate you guys."

Wheeler shrugged. "Sorry. It was an accident."

"Can someone get the Shadow Agent a new sippy cup?" asked the cleanup crew member snidely.

He still hadn't wrapped his mind around the fact he was technically part of PSI now in an official capacity. He'd spent so long on the run that he'd given up hope he'd ever be part of anything again. He knew Landros must have pulled a lot of strings to make it happen, and he was grateful for that, even if it did mean the bad guys had found him through PSI's resources.

Auberi, one of the men I killed said they located me through PSI. That they have people on the inside still , pushed Wheeler, staring down at his blood-covered arm.

I'll make some calls , returned Auberi.

Swallowing hard, Wheeler glanced over to find Sammy watching him.

Great. Of course he was covered in more blood. Why not?

She touched Auberi's hands, moving them from her hair, and then eased off the back of the ambulance. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her and walked straight for Wheeler.

He stood perfectly still, waiting to be told how sick he made her. How wrong he was that they were mates.

Sammy eyed the container and his arm full of blood, looked a little pale, and then came right for him, pushing in and wrapping her arms around his waist. She put her cheek to his chest, seemingly unconcerned with all the new blood. She held him and squeezed him tight.

Confused, he stared at Auberi with his arms out wide.

Auberi rolled his eyes. Hug the woman, moron.

Wheeler wrapped the arm without the blood all over it around Sammy and returned her embrace. He closed his eyes, taking in her scent before rocking her in place.

"I'm sorry I said what I did," she whispered. "You should know that had you been a dragon-shifter, I'd have been just as shocked. Basically, anything and I'd have been shocked. Nothing against you or what you are. Hey, for all we know I'm a rat-shifter or something."

He chuckled. "Nah. I know one of them already. You don't smell anything like him."

She jerked back a little. "Get out! Rat-shifters are a thing?"

He nodded. "They are. Don't tell him I said this but he's a great guy. Smart-ass but great guy all the same."

"I have a lot of catching up to do," she said before looking at the mess on his arm. She reached for the container and pulled it toward her. She then took it from his hand and brought it to his lips. "It's still about half full. Drink up or I'll stake you."

He tried not to smile wide like a big dork, but it happened anyway. "Okay, Buff."

She shivered against him despite the warm Savannah night air. He knew it was from shock, and he hated that she'd seen and gone through all she had.

He wanted to get the show on the road and Sammy somewhere she could clean up and get warm.

Wheeler drank from the container mindlessly as he kept Sammy close to him. He wasn't sure at what point he'd polished off the remaining blood but did notice he was slurping at nothing. He stopped and turned his head, wondering how much blood he had on his chin and mouth. That happened if he wasn't careful and he'd been too focused on Sammy to pay attention to drinking.

She reached up and wiped the corner of his lower lip and then sighed. "I'm exhausted. Are you tired? You're probably not since I'm guessing night is day to you and day is night, or is it just a myth that vampires can't be in the sun?"

"Your mind is a very busy place, isn't it?" he asked.

She nodded. "Crowded too. All the voices."

"You hear voices?" he asked.

She gave him an amused look. "Yes. Yours. Remember?"

Auberi approached. "I'd like to get some images of her head to rule out any issues. I don't see a wound but the amount of blood in her hair says it was a good one. Better to be safe than sorry. I know she kept refusing to let the paramedics take her to the nearest PSI-run clinic, but maybe she'll go if you agree to go and get looked at as well."

Wheeler nodded. "She's going if I have to put her over my shoulder and carry her."

"Uh, who is that and what is he doing? And is that a guy holding a helmet with a head in it?" Sammy pointed off to the side where Bill was currently running in circles, making two cleanup team members chase him. He had a handful of what Wheeler suspected might be fingers and was shouting, "You'll never take me alive!"

Auberi sighed. "He makes me tired."

"Same."

Gus was standing a few feet back from it all, looking off at nothing as he rocked in place with Mona in his arms.

Wheeler stared over at the man. "I take it you and Mona made up?"

Bill stopped running. "He took her back. I said he was better off without her."

The cleanup crew members grabbed Bill and de-fingered him.

Then they stared over at Auberi, exasperation etched clearly on their faces.

Bill gave them both the stink eye. "Those were mine."

Rurik came out of the warehouse and hopped off the loading area to the concrete below. He took note of the cleanup crew members near Bill and the fact they had hands full of other people's fingers. "Let the little annoying American keep them. The bad guys have no need of them anymore."

Bill stood as tall as Bill could, jutted out his chin, and nodded approvingly in Rurik's direction. "You're all right for being ex-Red Army."

Rurik sighed loudly. "When is it we get to send you and the other one back to where you belong? We should use the same shipping company you and the McCracken twins used for Wheeler. Then we'll be sure you get lost in transit."

Bill slid his feet out wider, crouched some, and then gave Rurik a two-finger salute, that said, in no uncertain terms, that Rurik could go fuck himself. "Yeah, asshole, I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

Wheeler couldn't help but laugh at the movie reference.

Rurik seemed lost.

No surprise, since the man wasn't exactly up on pop culture references.

"You have very strange friends," said Sammy.

"Don't I know it," returned Wheeler.