My Guardian

"Adriel, the access panel she is talking about is this way." Dimitri pointed and the men ran after him.

"What is this place?" Declan growled.

"The Pits. The level below level one where city maintenance is done," Grant explained before coming to a grinding halt. He sniffed the air and swallowed hard. "Blood, I smell blood," he whispered.

"No," Adriel hissed. He smelled it too and ran heedlessly in that direction. At the end of the long hallway was a large wooden door. Unlike his dream, he did not even try the doorknob; he simply leaned back and kicked the door. It shattered at the force, blowing splinters of wood into the room.

Old rusted equipment was stacked along the walls and wooden crates created a maze before them.

"Where is she!" he yelled. He ran recklessly between the crates.

"Found her!" a voice called out.

Adriel levitated above the crates and immediately zeroed in on where the lights were converging. He dropped down to find Dimitri cradling Eva gently. It seemed like from the waist down, her blue jeans were dark brown, soaked in blood. A flash of pale flesh was revealed where the attacker had ripped the denim to get to her skin.

"Give her to me!"

Dimitri handed her off to him. Adriel lay her down, and using his claws, he ripped her jeans from her body. He used one pant leg and wrapped it around the open bite wound on her inner thigh. He tied it as tight as he could without causing damage. He looked up at his second in command. "Get Broderick ready. I am taking her directly to his lab on Level One." Declan turned and started organizing Broderick and Caspian to receive Eva.

Gently Adriel checked her other leg; it was untouched. He picked her up carefully. He looked at Declan. "Eta stay with me; you are on guard detail." He turned to Dimitri. "Find this bastard, find him and bring him to me," he ordered.

Dimitri's eyes blazed. "As you command." He lifted his fist to his chest then began barking out orders to the Theta Unit.

Adriel did not wait to see what they did. Having run the hallways, he knew the layout. He took to the air and flew. When the passage opened up to the transport tunnel, he darted upward, heading directly to Magnus' door. It was open, and an anxious Sebastian waited for them.

"They are ready for her." He called after him.

Instead of heading right toward the living quarters, he went left. Down another long hallway until he saw Caspian waiting by another opened door. "This way!"

Adriel ran in and placed his mate on the table. "She was bit; she has lost a lot of blood."

"Check for decay," a male voice suggested.

Adriel looked around the room. Aiden and a frantic looking Meryn stood next to Gavriel and an equally concerned looking Beth. Behind him, his unit caught up and closed the door.

Broderick turned to Aiden. "Why decay?"

"When Colton was bit, his wound wouldn't heal. The feral bite was decaying slightly faster than his shifter abilities could heal. Seems to be a new development." Aiden's eyes flashed in anger at the memory.

Adriel watched helplessly as Broderick swabbed blood onto glass slide and handed it off to his mate. Caspian went to the other side of the room and placed it under a microscope.

Broderick began cleaning the wound gently using fresh white gauze.

A minute later, Caspian confirmed his worst fears. "She's infected."

Adriel turned to Aiden. "What do we do?"

"Gavriel donated blood. It gave the shifter blood a boost and allowed him to heal," Aiden explained.

Adriel held out his arm. "Take mine. Take whatever she needs."

Broderick looked around the room, concern written all over his face. "She'll need quite a bit, probably more than Adriel can safely provide."

"Do not worry, love; I will donate too." Caspian offered.

Broderick looked relieved. "Lay down Adriel, we'll get started."

Adriel quickly jumped up on the gurney, and he was wheeled next to Eva. Seconds seemed to drag by but, before he knew it, the IV was in and his blood was flowing into his mate. After a few minutes, Eva groaned, and her eyes began to flutter.

"That's fine; we'll switch now." Broderick said, turning to remove his IV.

Adriel wrapped his hand around his arm, protecting the needle. "I can give more."

Broderick shook his head. "Adriel, she's doing much better, let Caspian donate."

Adriel knew the smart thing to do would be to allow Caspian to donate to Eva. But even though it had not been spoken, he knew that if he allowed Caspian to donate, he and Eva would be tied together forever. Adriel did not want her tied to anyone but him.

"No." He closed his eyes. "No one but me." He could easily give more; he felt fine.

"Adriel, any vampire can donate to Eva, but not to you. Please let Caspian donate," Broderick pleaded.

"No. She's mine," Adriel hissed, and his fangs dropped past his chin. Everything was getting bleary, but he remembered one thing: he could not move his hand. Broderick, Caspian, and even Aiden tried to peel his fingers away, but they could not.

"What's he doing?" he heard a heavenly voice ask.

"The damn fool is getting himself killed," Broderick answered.

"What!"

Adriel smiled at the sound of the voice. "My love."

"I am gonna kick your ass all over this level if you don't move your hand!" the woman yelled.

He chuckled. "So feisty." At her touch, his hand fell away. "Just going to rest for a few minutes, love."