Chapter 61
Chapter 61
The huddled shape in the middle of the street was Elena Morris. She was naked, splashed with gore, and as still as death. By the time Tessa made it outside, a small crowd had gathered around her. Tessa reached them in time to see Max Freeman gather Elena into his arms and lift her limp body from the street.
The snow–packed street was splashed with vivid red where she
been laying. That same red–shiny and slick and still steaming in the frigid air–coated the front of her naked body.
Declan, Jess, and Connor were in the process of peeling off their
jackets. Tessa stared, dumbfounded as they dumped them on the
ground and began pulling off their shirts as well.
Declan stiffened suddenly, turning to face her. His face blanched,
and he surged towards her. “Get inside, Tessa. Hurry.” He caught her
around the waist and all but carried her back into The Spruce.
“Declan, what’s p>
“I can’t explain right now. But I need you to stay inside, okay?” He
carried her across the threshold of The Spruce and deposited her
back on her feet, visibly relaxing. “Tell me you’ll stay inside p>
“I’ll stay inside,” she said, a frisson of fear winding up her spine.
“Just tell me p>
“You wouldn’t believe me. Stay inside and I’ll explain when I get back, okay? And if any strangers come to The Spruce, asking to be let in–do not let them in. Even if they’re injured, or freezing, or begging for help. Even if it’s a child. Do not invite them in p>
“What if they just walk in?” The entry doors to The Spruce were
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never locked, as far as she knew.
He held her gaze, a grim apology in his expression. “They won’t. Not
without an invitation p>
Tessa stared at him, horrified by the dawning realization of what he
was telling her.
“I have to go.” He frowned, his gaze searching hers worriedly. “Stay
inside,” he said one last time.
Tessa nodded, still speechless. Declan went back outside, and.. door thudded heavily in his wake.
Had Declan been trying to warn her about a… vampire? She’d already accepted the existence of werewolves, why should vampires be any harder to believe? And more importantly–why did the word tickle at her mind in a strange way? It was like a whisper of a memory she couldn’t quite recall.
Tessa turned away from the door. Max was carrying Elena down the hall towards the guest rooms. Tessa followed, swinging into the room as Max laid Elena in the bed. Natasha was there with a heap of towels, wiping gently at Elena’s skin. Elena’s throat was a torn mess, her normally warm tan skin bleached of color.
“She needs a doctor,” Tessa said, feeling faint at the sight of the gristle of her throat. “Is she even p>
“She’s alive,” Max said grimly. He looked to his mother. “I have to go. Tessa shouldn’t be here, in case she p>
In case Tessa… what? Or did he mean Elena? In case she… died?
“Go,” Natasha told him. “I will take care of them both p>
“She needs a doctor!” Tessa objected as Max strode from the room.
No Fecarh
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“Look at her. We need to get Harlan or p>
“Anna is on her way,” Natasha said calmly.
Anna Daaldinh was the other doctor at the Valley clinics. Tessa had
never met her, since she tended to rotate her time between Eagle Ridge and the villages while Harlan mostly remained in Longtooth. But she knew Anna had been practicing medicine in Longtooth since the early eighties, and had attended almost every birth in the Valley
since then.
Tessa hovered nervously while Natasha gently cleaned blow off of Elena. Her chest moved with shallow, rapid breaths. “God, her
throat,” Tessa said fretfully.
“It looks worse than it is,” Natasha said calmly.
“Is there something I can do to help p>
“You should go knock on the doors upstairs and make sure everybody knows not to leave The Spruce p>
Tessa nodded. It was clear Natasha wanted her out of the room. She turned to leave when something caught her attention–a twinkling diamond ring on Elena’s left ring finger. Tessa had never seen her wear jewelry before. But more alarmingly, she recognized the ring.
The diamond was a small tear–drop shape, not even half a carat, flanked on each side by tiny opals. The band was yellow gold, with a thin channel engraved along the center.
Her grandmother’s wedding ring.
She’d forgotten how brutal the cold inside of her had been. Over the last few months in Longtooth, she’d been slowly thawing without even realizing it. But now, at the sight of Grandma’s ring on Elena’s blood–soaked hand, ice splintered through her with such force that
Chapter 61
she doubled over. It was so cold it burned. Her bones became brittle
as glass. Burning–cold knives stabbed at her skin.
“Gracie?” Natasha turned to her, alarmed.
“Her hand–the ring p>
Natasha looked down and frowned. She reached for it.
“No p>
She recoiled, looking to Tessa with wide eyes.
“Gracie, what p>
“He found me,” Tessa told her hoarsely. The last time she’d seen the ring, it’d been in the chest with all her other mementos–including Freya’s collar and her middle school friendship bracelet.
“Who?” Natasha asked.
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