Page 30 of High Stakes and Soulmates (Fanged Mistakes #3)

The moment those doors swing shut, I feel like my entire world is caving in around me. My legs threaten to let me crash to the floor right here.

“Hey, I know it’s horrible that he was bitten, but it’ll help him survive,” the human who drove us here says.

“Yeah,” I whisper as a nurse comes over.

I can hear her talking to me, but it’s just words that don’t matter as she tries to calm me down and show me where to clean up and wait.

The only thing that would matter would be her telling me that he’ll be alright, but she never says that.

Instead, I find myself left in a waiting room with blood still coating my hands, surrounded by strangers.

I can tell they’re staring at me, but I don’t even care.

I can’t get myself to go into the bathroom she’d pointed me to because what if I’m gone when she comes back?

I want to be back there with him. I even consider seeing if I can allure them into letting me in the room, but I know there’s a reason they don’t want anyone in there. Time passes as the families waiting leave and I’m finally left alone.

The door opens and I hope it’s a nurse, but instead, I see that it’s Yorick.

“Any news?”

“No,” I manage. “The vampire? Louis?”

“I stayed with the werewolf until someone could take her from me. When I got back to Casimir, he said the vampire was gone. He’ll tell you more in detail. He should be here shortly. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“No, what if she comes in?”

“You would hear her. You are a vampire, aren’t you?

” he asks, taking my wrist and pulling me into the adjoining bathroom.

He leaves the door open, even though I know he’s right, and as I stand there unable to clean myself, he scrubs my hands in the sink.

Then he gets a paper towel and rubs at my arms until they’re free of blood.

“Not much I can do about your clothes, but at least your hands are clean.”

“Thanks,” I say, since it’s the only thing I can get out.

He leads me back to the chair I’d been in before, and though it feels like hours before Casimir shows, I know it hasn’t been. With him is Atticus, who Yorick stares at but doesn’t say anything to, probably out of respect of what’s happening here.

“You okay?” Casimir asks as he sits next to me.

“No,” I admit.

“I don’t blame you. I tried to kill Louis, I really did, but he had too many vampires on his side. Multiple people from the club came out to help him.”

“What about Cyrus’s brother? Did you find him?”

“No, I’m sorry. I looked everywhere and saw no sign of him.”

I nod. “Should I go out? I should go look for him.”

“No, it’s not safe. Atticus and I searched absolutely everywhere.

It’s why it took us so long. Trust me, you’re not going to find him if we couldn’t.

I’m really fucking sorry,” Casimir says.

“We dealt with his people, but by then he was gone. I’m so sorry I couldn’t do more.

We’ll find Louis and Cyrus’s brother. We’ll make sure Louis can never touch you or Cyrus again. ”

“If Cyrus lives,” I say.

“He’ll live. He’s strong.”

“His whole family is dead because of me,” I whisper.

“How is it because of you?” Casimir asks. “How could you even imagine that such a thing is because of you? He’s a fucking monster; you didn’t make him that way.”

“He told me the whole reason he’s hurting Cyrus is to fuck with me. This is all my fault. I need to get away from Cyrus. I need to pull away and hope that Louis leaves him alone.”

Casimir shakes his head. “You need to be there for him and protect him. Now that we know he’s back, we’re going to make sure that Cyrus is never alone. The group of us will keep him safe.”

“Yeah? Louis has already been in your home and you didn’t even know it,” I say.

Casimir gives me a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

“The blood you took from me—he stole it and has been marking every crime scene with it. He wants me to know that every one of these people has died because of me. Because I took Arturo from him. Fuck.”

“You didn’t do anything. He’s a monster. And he’s a monster that we will find,” Casimir tries to assure me. “Please trust me.”

“I do,” I say, but I feel like everything is falling apart, and I’m reminded again how weak I am compared to that man. I can’t do a damn thing to protect Cyrus. All I can do is flail around and leave more people dead in my wake.

“Ezio, I’ve known you hundreds of years, and you’ve never just… given up. So why are you trying to give up now? After Arturo died, you didn’t just give up, did you?”

“No, but I was a fool who thought I could do something, that I could change something. But I can’t. I’m weak, I’m useless… all I do is get people killed.”

Casimir shakes his head. “I felt the very same fucking way. And I’m positive no matter what I say, you’re not going to believe me. So just promise me this. Before you run off, talk to Cyrus.”

“If he lives!”

“He’s going to live. Cyrus is tough.”

“I can’t even fucking turn him into a vampire to save him now that he’s been bitten. I just…” I trail off and silence settles around us again. I find myself wanting Julian, but he’s back in his cage having absolutely no idea what’s happened. “Should you get back to Julian?”

“No, his mother is monitoring the house,” he says. “Julian will be fine.”

I nod and look down when Yorick takes my hand, and I realize that I’ve just been absently clawing at my bloody pants, like I can just rub the blood away. “Do you want me to go harass them into hurrying up?” Yorick asks.

“I don’t think doctors take their leisurely time when saving people,” Casimir says. “I bet they actually work quite fast.”

“Hmmm… possibly.” Yorick squeezes my hand. “What if you spend time looking at paintings of Gustov? I bet that’ll make you feel better.”

“Oh! That’s a wonderful idea. Distraction is always best,” Casimir says, like he thinks Yorick was being serious.

“You’re ridiculous,” I inform him. “Very ridiculous.”

“Atticus, did you get my beautiful artwork? I made sure to send it first class so it’d get there quickly,” Yorick says.

“I did. I was terrified it was a portrait of you and I’d have to burn it, but it was significantly better. I sent you one back. If I’d known we’d be meeting in person, I would have hand-delivered it to you.”

“Oh, well I can’t wait,” Yorick says. “I will use it as kindling.”

“I was going to use mine as toilet paper.”

“You’re a vampire, you don’t even shit,” Yorick growls.

“I was going to wipe my ass with it anyway.”

“Well, I’m going to give yours to Julian so he can wipe his ass with it. What were you doing at that club anyway? Being irritating and brooding all alone since no one would want to be near you, I’m sure.”

“I was surrounded by my bitches.”

“Oh wow, sounds like bullshit.”

Atticus smirks. “Don’t be jealous.”

“Then why’d none of them come out to help you fight?” Yorick asks.

“Because they would have insisted I take my shirt off and it would have wasted time.”

The door swings open and my head snaps up from the weird distraction I’m currently getting. A nurse peeks his head in.

“Torres’s family, right? The doctor is ready to talk to you. Come right this way,” he says as he leads the band of strange vampires into a room. We no more than sit down before the doctor comes in. She smiles at us, and I realize she’s a vampire.

“I’m Dr. Franklin. Cyrus is doing well. Usually, we have a werewolf doctor on staff, but he’s out tonight for obvious reasons,” she says.

“He will take over once he’s back since he’ll be better fit to deal with any issues or concerns Cyrus might have.

We got the wounds closed. He has a large laceration on his leg that we closed as well as multiple lacerations caused by a bite on his shoulder.

He also has a concussion—it looks like his head hit a hard surface.

We’ll monitor it, but it doesn’t seem to be concerning at this point.

It shouldn’t cause him anything more than a minor headache and possible dizziness.

With it being a full moon… I don’t think I have to tell you what that means.

But since weres have faster healing abilities, he should start healing at a faster rate. ”

“He’s going to be fine?” I ask, almost in disbelief.

“He’s going to be perfectly fine. While nothing with this situation is ideal, having been bitten will help him.

The traits one gains from being a werewolf, such as healing, don’t generally take effect immediately.

There’s a period of time while the body transitions before they’re able to shift and heal faster, among other things.

For some people, it’s days, but for others, they won’t shift until the next full moon.

I would just have another werewolf helping him out until he figures out what is happening with his body. ”

“Can I see him?”

“In just a moment. He’s being moved to the ICU, so we’ll have a nurse get you shortly. I doubt he’ll stay there long, okay?”

I nod, relief washing through me.

When Cyrus is finally settled in, a nurse takes me back to see him. I hurry over to where he lies in the white sheets. He’s pale, but hearing his steady heartbeat and seeing him is incredibly reassuring.

I reach out and carefully take his hand as I find that my legs are ridiculously weak. Dropping to my knees right here, I bury my face in his blanket while I hold his hand. “I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I’ve ruined your life. It’s all my fault. I’ve ruined your life.”

His hand slides out of mine before I feel it reach my head. “I’m fine,” he whispers.

“No, you’re not. It’s my fault your family is dead. It’s my fault you were attacked. It’s all my fucking fault.”

“No… my brother?”

“I don’t know where he is. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t even make sure he was okay.”

“Stop,” Cyrus says, his hand tangling in my hair. He drifts off to sleep, and for a while, it’s just me in this quiet room.