The phone in his hand chirruped and without looking at the display, he hit a button and barked into the receiver. “Drew, tell them—”
There was a pause on the other end. “Sebastian Kent?”
A voice he didn’t recognize. He frowned. “Yeah.”
“This is Corin Gerulaitis. My wife would like to speak with your woman.”
It took him a second to place the clipped manner of speech with the name. He wasn’t surprised the vampire executioner had managed to get ahold of his number, because that’s what that type did. They hunted vampires down by all necessary means. What did bother him was the phone call intended for Alice. No way was he letting her speak with a lethal member of the community without knowing a good reason why. “She’s unavailable.”
“Your loss.” The phone clicked.
He scanned the display and couldn’t fucking believe it. Corin had disconnected.
About to tuck it away, the phone chirruped once again. The same number was calling. He hit a button. “Change your mind?”
“Sebastian?” A pretty feminine voice. “This is Jasmine...please forgive my husband. He can be a little cautious at times. How is Alice doing? May I please talk to her?”
Something in him softened upon hearing her speak. He remembered the pretty woman well into pregnancy. That alone said something about her. A lot of vampire females chose never to become pregnant. The ones who did usually yearned for motherhood beyond blood. It spoke volumes of their characters.
He remembered Alice saying something about making a new friend in Jasmine. He turned toward the hospital room, willing to allow them a chance to reconnect. “Alice is very sick right now and could probably stand to hear from you.” There was a sharp intake of breath, a sign that she hadn’t yet lost the habit of breathing. “For that reason, I’ll ask that you keep the call brief.”
“I’m so sorry... Of course.”
There were dark circles beneath Alice’s eyes when he entered, her skin pale and gaunt. She watched him with wariness, as if unsure why he’d returned. He held out the phone. “Jasmine Gerulaitis.”
Aw Christ, his heart thumped at the way her face brightened as she took it from him. “Hi, Jasmine...”
There was a lengthy amount of reassurance from Alice, letting her friend know that yes, she was sick, but no, it wasn’t anything major and yes, Bast was taking good care of her. Satisfied it indeed was the true conversation of friends, Bast crossed to the other side of the room and sat in a cold, plastic chair. His eyes burned with fatigue, but there were so many things he needed to do. He needed to research whether Alice could be cured solely by being turned, which he thought she could. One never knew though. If she needed to have the tumor removed first, there were doctors to be researched. Hospitals to contact.
He fucking had more money than God, and damn it, all of it would work for him when he needed it the most. Nothing less would be acceptable.
“How do you know this?” Alice’s question came out shaky. Too much distress in it.
He looked up sharply, every protective cell in his body poised for action. Bast stood, ready to put a halt to the phone call. When she held out a hand, his hackles lowered a fraction. He remained standing though, another four or five minutes, as she listened—not speaking much—before disconnecting.
“What was that about?” Not the conversation. The reason she looked distraught.
When she looked at him now though, there was surprise and joy there. “She knows of another like you, and he says you’re going through the equivalent of puberty.” Alice laughed. “This is normal for dragons.”
Bast didn’t know what to tackle first. His mind whirled with questions, while his knees threatened to buckle. Dropping into the plastic seat, ignoring its loud protest, he stared, dumbfounded. “How...how can she know? Who does she know?”
“She wouldn’t tell me other than to say it’s a friend of theirs. Another dragon.”
“But...” He. A male. Could they be related? His father, maybe?
“I’m supposed to tell you that he’ll come to you when the time’s right, but for now, he is watching. Be patient. He knows about you. And baby, you’re not alone!” Alice laughed, a tear streaking down one cheek. She cupped a hand over her mouth, but her grin pushed her cheeks high.