Dead By Dusk (Alliance Vampires #6)

"Great. Take care of yourself," Stephanie said.

"You, too, dear. You, too. And Stephanie!"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"I heard that the shows were brilliant, that the audience nearly rolled on the floor with laughter."

"Thanks. We hope to bring it all back. 'Bye, then."

"Ciao."

When Drew returned to the hospital, he was startled to see the police car in front. When he entered, half the staff in the reception area was talking excitedly, angrily, and gesturing wildly to emphasize their words over those of others.

He stared blankly at the chaos for a minute. The older policeman, Merc, lifted a hand and said something firmly, and everyone fell silent.

The pretty nurse he had met earlier was standing on the fringes of the group. He made his way around to her and whispered, "What's happened?"

"Our blood was stolen."

"What?"

She sighed deeply. "I went to our supply room. I am a supervisor, and… there are drugs, and of course, our blood supply, which are always monitored. I do… what is the word? Inventory. When I got there, all our blood had been stolen! Dr. Antinella is very angry. He thinks it might have been a very mean prank, and he wants our police chief to round up all the teenagers in town and get a confession." She turned to Drew, her large, dark eyes somber. "It's really very serious. You know how low our supplies are—you gave type O for your friend last night. Now we have no A, B, or AB. It's all gone."

"That's terrible!"

"Yes."

"But… someone came in, got into the room where you kept the blood, stole it all, and got out—without being seen?" Drew said, somewhat incredulous.

"I'm afraid that's what happened," the nurse told him.

Merc was speaking sternly, and if nothing else, he managed to get the rest of them to stay silent. Dr.

Antinella spoke quietly and calmly in response to something that Merc said, and if anything, he looked very weary and disgusted.

"Our chief is saying," the nurse explained to Drew, "that he will speak with everyone working here, one by one. And he wants the room closed off. He is calling the crime scene specialists from the next big town to come back. They were already here, you know, for quite some time, working the area where poor Maria Britto had been buried up in the hills."

"I know," Drew murmured. "Well, I hope they'll find some fingerprints, a shoe print… something that will help them. But, aren't supplies like that locked up?"

"That's why everyone is so upset. Yes, of course, they were locked up. Dr. Antinella has a key, the superintendent has a key, and the head nurse has a key. They all swear that their keys were in their possession at all times. But the room was not broken into. So… someone had to have used a key."

Despite the gravity of her words, she smiled suddenly. "My name is Antoinette, by the way."

"Antoinette," Drew said. "That's a beautiful name."

She flashed him another smile, listening again, because Merc was talking. "He will use the superintendent's office and speak with everyone there. None of us is to leave the hospital." She sighed.

"And to happen today!"

"Why today in particular?" Drew asked.

"Why, they are burying Maria Britto today. It is such a sad occasion. And word is all over town that an arm was found last night, at the resort, on a man's doorstep. Everyone thinks it belongs to the missing actress. Now, this… everyone is edgy, and excited. And afraid," she added softly. She turned back to him. "Well, it is a pleasure to know you. I'll be called soon enough. You must excuse me. I need to see to

my patients. And that food is getting cold," she finished, indicating the bag Drew carried.

He had come back so proud of getting the steak and spaghetti. The concept of "to go" was not really recognized here.

Now, the food was indeed getting cold, and his sense of things going right was definitely flying out the window. Strange, he'd finally met a friend. A lovely Italian woman. And everything around him was going right to hell.

Worry filled him deeply as well. He was anxious to get back to Doug.

"Antoinette, despite everything, it's a pleasure to know you, too," he said. "It's all right if I go through, right? I brought my friend a steak."

"Yes, yes, get the food to your friend. You're in the hospital now—they may not let you leave for a while yet," she told him.

"That's no problem. I have all day."

She gave him a little wave, and walked back toward the group. Franco, standing by his father's side, saw Drew, and nodded an acknowledgment. Drew nodded in turn, and lifted the bag of food in explanation, though he wasn't sure why. Franco nodded again.

Drew hurried through the reception area and down the hallway. As he walked, he patted his pocket, trying to make sure he still had his cell phone.

He had to call the others about this bizarre new development.

With one hand, he pulled out the cell as he headed along quickly, then entered Doug's room.

He started to dial Stephanie's phone number; it was the one he had actually memorized.

His fingers suddenly froze on the dial plate.

The bag of "to go" food fell from his hand and crashed on the floor as he stared into Doug's room.

Chapter 16

"She's very upset," Stephanie told Grant, referring to Reggie. "Think about it. She's off combing Europe for customers to get an area going. Then she calls back and hears everything that's happening, and, apparently, since a lot of this did seem to coincide, even Arturo tells her that there's talk about her being a sorceress. And as I said, all that is ridiculous—Reggie was not just 'dug up.' She's been in my life, at least, for a very long time."

"Where did she say she was?" Grant asked.

"Belgium."

"Steph, don't get angry with me. I'm not the one who suggested that she was a witch," Grant reminded her. They were seated at her dining room table.

There didn't seem to be enough coffee in the world that morning.

Not even espresso.

"We need to get over to the hospital," Grant said.

"Should we see if Lucien and Jade are awake?" Stephanie asked him. "Although, it is just about one o'clock." She hesitated. "Would he be… sleeping? Resting? Doing whatever vampires usually do in the afternoon?"

He stared back at her, his lips hinting at a rueful smile. "I don't know. I never knew a vampire before."

He gave his head a slight shake. "There was something about him… is something about him… but can any of this be true?"

Stephanie took his hands. "Grant, there's something out of the ordinary that's true here, and we both know it."

"It's the most insane thing in the world—and it really scares me—but I do believe this guy. Either he's what he says he is, or he's the most sincere lunatic in the world. Come on, let's go and see how Doug is doing. We'll stop by Lucien's cottage and find out if he does sleep most of the day, and if not, if they're coming to the hospital with us."

They walked the short distance to the cottage that had been assigned to Clay Barton. Jade opened the door. She had apparently been up for some time.

"Good morning—afternoon," she told them. "Come on in."

"Is he—sleeping?" Stephanie asked.

"He's been gone for hours," Jade told them. "Something happened. I'm not sure what. He did one of those things where he kind of bolted awake… got really restless, and then went out. When he can explain what woke him so violently, he will. Anyway, we've all got to make sure we keep moving along here. I've been searching the Internet for information about the Norman presence here during the medieval ages, and trying to find out if there aren't any old texts somewhere that might help us. There's a library in town. I'm hoping to find a reference to a book that I might then locate."

"Ah," Grant murmured.

"We're dealing with an unknown, you see," Jade explained.

"Doesn't Lucien have to… I don't know, rest by day, at least? Does he have to return to his—er—coffin?"

"We travel with native dirt," she said. "And as for sleeping… he sleeps next to me," she said softly.

Stephanie cleared her throat and said, "Grant had a really terrible nightmare last night."

Grant flashed her a look, as if she were airing dirty laundry before a comparative stranger.

"Grant! Maybe Liz—Jade—can help, or even learn something from you," Stephanie pleaded.

Jade was looking at him with serious interest. "Do you remember the dream?"

"At first… at first, I could still smell the blood when I awoke. But it… it's fading now. What I remember is that I was riding, I was in full armor, and… it was terrible. There was a horrible slaughter. People, animals… the dead everywhere. And I knew…"

"You knew what?"

He shook his head. "I just knew that the situation was desperate. And that…"

"Grant! This could be important!" Jade said. "That what?"

"That heads had to be removed. That was the only way to kill—François. And it was also the only way to kill the devil dogs. And Valeria." He waved a hand in the air. "It might have all been a trick of the mind. You know, there's the dig, and the conversation we had… and the schism in my mind as I try to determine whether or not vampires can exist, and, if they do, if there's such a thing as a good vampire."

Jade smiled. "It's a lot, isn't it? But your dream might have been more important than you know."

"I've had it before," he said. "But each time, it's more vivid."