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“What is it?”

The woman pointed to a minuscule dark spot in the image, a round dot with two small, jagged edges, one larger than the other. “See that? That’s a C2 implant, but it’s shaped different. Normally, there’s only one protrusion. It’s definitely the problem.”

The second bump must include the modifications that allowed Dmitri to control Leah. He suppressed the churning fury. He’d deal with Dmitri and the Organization later.

Dr. Novak called for a stretcher and a nurse to find which surgery room was ready.

“I have to go get scrubbed. The nurses will come soon to take her to the operating room.”

Julian returned to the CT scan room and paced as Leah remained unconscious. Her face had lost its color, her breathing shallow. Time slowed. Every second was an hour, and every minute a year.

Stay with me, Leah.He gripped her hand tight.We’re so close. Stay strong.

Two nurses arrived with the stretcher, but he raised a hand before they could reach Leah. “I’ll do it.”

“But—”

Julian’s snarl cut off any protest. They moved out of his way.

“Where to?”

Following the nurses down the hall, Julian projected his aura so that others ducked away from them.

They came to a stop in front of a pair of double doors. “We have to take her now. You can’t go in there,” the nurse said.

It took immense effort to peel his fingers away from the stretcher. “If anything happens to her, I will kill you, all your family, and everyone you ever cared about.” He didn’t care that this was playing into the human’s perception of his race because it was the truth. “There is nowhere in the world you can hide from me. Do you understand?”

He had to give it to the nurse, who glared back like he’d stolen her coffee instead of threatening her family. “Yes, and you’ll skin me alive too while you’re at it. Now let us save her so I can go home to my family and friends, capisce?”

Julian didn’t take his eyes off Leah until they closed the door behind them. There was nothing for him to do but wait.

Come back to me.

“Is there anything I can get you?” Max—Julian had forgotten the man—offered after a few minutes of tense silence.

“I need blood.”

“Got it. I’ll go get some.”

Julian was alone again. He hated being alone with his thoughts. In Vegas, there were always things to do, people to meet, disputes to resolve, vampires to discipline. Here, nothing.

Here, he could only wait and imagine the worst.

At least she was still alive. He would know if something went wrong. He would never forget those few minutes of yawning emptiness when she’d been dead. It was as though someone had yanked the entirety of who he was out of him, and what remained was nothing but an empty shell that used to be sentient.

Never did he want to feel that way again. His entire being tuned to Leah. At even the hint of anything going wrong, he’d turn her.

He would not lose her.

Marek and Rowan arrived soon after sunset. Julian explained the situation to them in curt words before pulling Marek aside.

“Do you still want Vegas?”

Marek’s brows rose, intrigued. “It is not about what I want.”

“I’m not in the mood for your word games. I plan to petition Alistair to give you Vegas. Do you still want it?”

“That depends. What will you do?”