Page 33 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

Abril thought she could hear shouting, but it seemed to be coming from a long way away. Frowning, she tried to push away the

lethargy that had a hold of her, so that she could respond, but that seemed impossible.

“Abril! Abril!”

There was more than one voice calling her now, which immediately raised anxiety in Abril and guilt that she wasn’t responding

when she felt she should. But it felt like her mind was soaked in mud, the sticky slushy kind, clinging to her brain and making

it slow and fuzzy. She was still struggling to get past that sensation when someone grabbed her arm and jerked her around

on her feet. She found herself staring at a very wide chest, and then she raised her head and took in Crispin’s concerned

face.

“What are you doing out here? We were looking for you everywhere. We were shouting when we spotted you. Did you not hear us?”

She blinked at the barrage of questions and then glanced around, surprised to see that she was outside, standing on the edge

of the yard with the woods at her back. She must’ve been looking into the trees before Crispin had turned her, but she didn’t

recall that. She couldn’t remember why she’d come out here either.

“She has been controlled, Crispin,” someone said, and her gaze slid to Cassius as he continued, “She is barefoot and not wearing

a coat. We should get her inside and warm her up.”

Abril didn’t say a word. Frankly, she was still trying to sort out what had happened. When had she come outside? And why?

And why on earth hadn’t she at least put on shoes before coming out? Because Cassius was right, she was freezing. Had he said

something about her being controlled? What the heck did that mean?

She was still fretting over this when Crispin scooped her up, crossed the yard, and carried her into the house. He took her

to the kitchen without slowing or stopping.

Cassius was following them, and Lucian was in the kitchen when they entered. But the other men were coming from different

areas of the house to join them as well.

“Where was she?” Lucian asked “What happened? Has she been hurt?”

“She was standing out at the back of the yard, staring into the woods behind,” Crispin said, his voice tight.

“Parts of her memory are missing, including how she ended up standing in the backyard without her coat or shoes,” Cassius

added, his voice grim.

Abril was trying to ignore her aching head and absorb what the man was saying when she felt Lucian’s stare as if it were a physical touch. Shifting her attention to him, she scowled slightly. The man was staring at her with a concentration that was discomfiting.

Rude asshole , she thought with irritation, and then became aware of a shuffling sensation in her head that she’d never experienced before.

For one minute, she was afraid that this was all something to do with her head wound. Her confusion, her lack of memory, and

whatever else they were talking about. At that moment, she couldn’t even recall how she’d hurt her head. There was definitely

something wrong with her, she thought unhappily.

“The injury to your head is from getting tossed around like a rag doll by someone who broke into the house through your bedroom

window last night,” Lucian said firmly.

The moment he spoke those words, Abril could recall the incident. Waking up to find a dark figure in her room. Screaming.

The intruder almost seeming to fly around her bed to grab her. Their hand covering her mouth to silence her, and then they

were cursing and tossing her aside like garbage when she bit their hand to make them remove it. That part of the memory was

new. She was quite sure she hadn’t recalled it before, but now she did. Abril even remembered her impact with the wall, but

nothing after that until she had woken up with Dr. Dani leaning over her.

“Set her down, Crispin,” Lucian ordered abruptly, his gaze on her becoming more natural and less intense.

Crispin hesitated, but then carried her to the island and set her in the chair she had been using since the men’s arrival. He then took the chair on her left and smiled soothingly when she turned her worried gaze to him.

“Everything is fine,” he reassured her.

“Everything is not fine,” Lucian growled, dragging one of the chairs over to her so that it faced her and then sitting in

it before turning her chair to face his so that her back was to Crispin. “Tell me what you remember,” he ordered.

When Abril hesitated, he said, “Tell me what you remember from when you woke up on the couch this afternoon until right now.”

Abril swallowed and then cleared her throat and said, “I woke up, sat up on the couch, gave Lilith a pet, and then came into

the kitchen and made myself a coffee. Then I went to the door, Crispin saw that I was up...” She glanced over her shoulder

at him then and he gave her another reassuring smile. Her return smile was a little uncertain before she turned back to Lucian

and continued.

“Crispin came inside. He told me that the forensics team had got what they needed, and you guys were taking over removing

the bones. He said you’d probably be another twenty minutes, then you’d come inside and we’d have dinner.”

“And then?” Lucian prompted when she hesitated.

“And then I went over and opened the oven and saw the lasagna, which smells really good by the way. My compliments to the chef.” She smiled around at the room, because she wasn’t sure which of the men had made it, and then continued, “I saw the lasagna and then looked at the time. It was 5:50. I realized I had to feed Lilith soon, but she wasn’t in the kitchen with me, so I thought I better look for her.

I headed out of the kitchen to find her and sat down at the island with my coffee and took a sip.

I thought about turning on the TV, saw the time was 5:58.

I needed to feed Lilith, realized that she wasn’t around, and thought I better go look for her, so I did, and then I heard Crispin shouting my name.

He asked me why I was outside with no shoes on and brought me in here. ”

A moment of silence followed her explanation, and the men were all exchanging glances as if saying things she couldn’t hear.

She found it disturbing.

Abril immediately began to feel stressed out and confused. She wasn’t sure what was happening and turned instinctively to

peer at Crispin. He quickly offered her a reassuring smile and said, “Everything will be fine.”

“Everything will not be fine,” Lucian snapped. “And she definitely should worry as should you. She needs to be told what is

happening here.”

“She is not ready,” Crispin insisted.

“When will she be ready, Crispin?” Lucian asked grimly. “When the rogue who attacked her in her room, and obviously controlled

and forced her outside for some reason, finally kills her?”

Abril glanced over her shoulder to see the conflict taking place on Crispin’s face. Meeting her gaze, he managed a smile and

then said, “We will just guard her better. I should have stayed with her rather than go outside to work on the—”

“We were just outside the sliding glass door, Crispin,” Lucian pointed out. “And yet this rogue was bold enough to break into the house and take her out anyway, even with a dog in the house.”

Abril’s mind latched on to the mention of a dog, and she suddenly realized she didn’t know where Lilith was.

“Where is Lilith?” she asked with concern. The men immediately ended the glaring war they’d been holding and focused on her

again as she continued, “It’s past her dinnertime now, and I swear Lilith has an internal clock about food. She should be

here bugging me for her supper.”

“I saw her sleeping in front of the couch in the living room as I passed through on the way to the pool room,” Crispin said

reassuringly. “I am sure she is still there.”

Bricker stood and headed for the kitchen door, saying, “I’ll go wake her.”

“Thank you,” Abril called after him, and then stood to collect the dog bowl and carry it over to the refrigerator to retrieve

Lilith’s homemade dog food. She had just set the food and bowl on the island, and was about to go get a large spoon to start

dishing it out when Bricker called from the other room, “Something’s wrong! I can’t wake her up!”

Concern rushing through her, Abril hurried out of the room, aware that the men were following. Bricker was kneeling next to

where Lilith slept in front of the couch, shaking the dog and getting no response.

“She’s breathing but won’t wake up,” he said with a frown when Abril knelt next to him to look at Lilith herself. “I think

she’s been drugged.”

Abril ran a hand down the Labrador’s back.

She could feel that she was warm, and when she leaned down and rested her cheek against Lilith’s side, she could hear that she was breathing as Bricker had said.

She straightened and sat back on her heels though when Lucian knelt on Lilith’s other side and lifted her eyelids to reveal her eyes.

Abril had no idea what he was looking for, but whatever it was, he appeared to find it.

Releasing the lid and allowing it to close again, he glanced to Decker, who had remained out of the way by the indoor garden, and said, “Call Anders’s wife.

I think Bricker is right and she has been drugged, but better to be safe than sorry. I want Valorie to check her out.”

“Anders’s wife, Valorie, is a vet,” Crispin explained reassuringly as he knelt on her other side.

“Did someone forget to clean up and track dirt in here from the excavation site?” Cassius asked suddenly.

Abril glanced around to see that he was standing on the other side of the couch, peering down at the floor with an annoyed

frown.

“There’s dirt here on the carpet,” he added when no one responded.

Abril made a mental note to have the carpet cleaned before Gina returned, but other than that didn’t really care and turned

her attention back to Lilith.