“He can only heal during his restorative sleep.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to let him sleep until he wakes up by himself.”

She trembled now. Her eyes fell on the blood that had soaked not only Blake’s clothes, but also Ryder’s and her own. Everywhere she looked, there was blood.

“Is he gonna make it?” Tears rose to her eyes, and she knew she couldn’t hold them back any longer. At least Blake wouldn’t have to see her like this.

“He’ll make it. Thanks to you.” Ryder looked at her, the admiration in his eyes evident. “I’m glad that you’re not afraid of us.”

Tears were streaming down her cheeks now, but she tried to smile through them. “How can I be afraid of any of you, when I see how you love and protect each other? Like a real family.”

Ryder smiled. “We are a family.” He cast a glance at Blake. “Blake is like an older brother to me and to all the hybrids.” He rose. “I’ll get him upstairs and put him to bed. You should get cleaned up, too.”

But before Ryder could lift Blake from the sofa, they heard the sound of the front door ripping open and then slamming shut again. A second later, identical twins appeared in the living room.

“We lost him. Sorry,” one of them said.

“How is he?” the other asked.

“He’ll make it. We got the bullet out. Well… actually, Lilo got the bullet out,” Ryder said.

The twins looked at her in surprise. “Wow. She’s totally like Mom, don’t you think, Damian?” one of them said.

His brother jabbed him with his elbow. “Just as courageous. I’m telling you, it’s not true what they say about blondes.” He grinned, nodding at her. “Our mother is blond, too. And very smart.”

“Hey, guys,” Ryder interrupted. “Can you give me a hand with Blake? We need to get him upstairs so he can rest.”

“Sure,” Damian said. “Benjamin can take his legs, I’ll take his head. You should follow protocol, notify HQ, and then get the boys out of here.”

Ryder nodded.

“Protocol?” Lilo echoed.

While Damian and Benjamin lifted the unconscious Blake and carried him out of the room, Ryder turned to her. “When an attack like this happens, there’s a strict protocol we have to follow: we followed the first step, saving the life of the injured vampire. Now we need to put everything else in motion. I need to remove the minors from his house. I’ll take them to my parents’ house. They’ll be safe there. Since it’s daytime now, headquarters will send two human guards to watch the house so Blake can recover. And we’ll execute a dragnet to capture the assailant.”

“It was Ronny,” she told him. “Hannah’s boyfriend. Blake saw him. He’s the one who—”

Ryder interrupted her. “I’m up-to-date on the case. I’ll let HQ know. They’ll hunt him down. He must have had a car or another mode of transportation nearby, or he wouldn’t have risked being out so close to sunrise. I’ll find out from Benjamin and Damian where they lost him.”

She nodded slowly. “And what should I do?”

He let out a breath. “You’ve done enough for one night. Why don’t you get changed, shower, rest?”

“But Blake, I need to look after him.”

“There’s nothing you can do right now. He’ll sleep a very deep sleep. It’ll be hours before he wakes. Take that time to rest. I’m sure once he’s awake, there won’t be time to rest until we’ve got that son of a bitch.”

She looked down at herself. Yes, she needed to shower and wash off the blood. Blake’s blood.

“Are you sure I can’t do anything?”

Ryder grinned. “You truly are like Nina.” He motioned to the ceiling, where she could now hear footsteps as the twins carried Blake to his bedroom. “You’re quite a woman. Blake is a lucky guy.”

She opened her mouth, but the automatic protest that she wasn’t his girlfriend didn’t roll over her lips. Instead she smiled. “Thank you.”

29

After Ryder and the twins had left with the younger boys, silence had descended upon the house. Scanguards headquarters had called shortly afterward and confirmed that two human guards were stationed outside the house, one in front, one in the back, ensuring nobody would be able to surprise them. Ryder had left her a direct number to call should she have any concerns.

She’d taken a shower and changed into comfortable clothes, a loose fitting T-shirt and sweat pants. She’d also eaten and then tidied up the kitchen, all to kill time. But time had a way of creeping along at a snail’s pace when one was waiting for something. In the end she’d started dozing off, and at some point she’d fallen asleep, her body and mind exhausted.

It was still light, when she opened her eyes again.

Lilo shot up from her reclined position on the couch. After cleaning off the blood as best she could, she’d tossed a blanket over the stains. Now she listened to the sounds that had woken her. Above her, a floorboard creaked. Her heart beating like a drum she rose and rushed to the hallway. Everything was quiet there. Nobody had come in.

She walked up the stairs. The last time she’d checked on Blake had been three hours ago, and he’d been deep asleep.

At the bedroom door, she paused, then turned the knob gently. If he was still asleep, she didn’t want to wake him prematurely. She pushed the door open and stepped into the room, then took two steps so she could peek at the bed. It was empty.

The sound of another floorboard creaking made her whirl around.

Blake stood in the doorway to the en-suite bathroom, only a short towel wrapped around his lower body, his hair and upper body damp. He’d never looked more virile in her eyes.

“You’re awake.”

Without thinking she walked to him, her eyes zooming in on his shoulder. Where only hours ago a gashing wound had marred his body, almost perfect skin had grown, though she could tell that it hadn’t completely healed yet.

She stretched her arm out and ran her hand over his injury. Beneath her touch, he shuddered. “Shouldn’t it have healed completely?” She raised her eyes to his face.

His azure-blue eyes pinned her, the smoldering look he gave her making her weak in the knees. When he’d first made love to her, he’d looked like that. And that memory made her insides erupt in flames and liquid pool at the juncture of her thighs.