Page 17

At least it wasn’t too late, he hoped.

The rumbling of the train quickly lulled Isabel to sleep; Sebastian wasn’t surprised.

She was still well within a jetlag timeline.

Watching her chest gently rise and fall gave him something to focus on rather than the terror gnawing at his gut.

It was joined by guilt as well. In all their lifetimes, he’d never managed to make such a poor introduction of his truth and their past.

“I guess I’ll have another chance to do it right next time,” he grumbled under his breath. It wasn’t a comforting statement.

Boy what he wouldn’t do to know the end of his current journey from the beginning! But life didn’t work that way. All he could do was assure himself that Victor would tell him exactly what was happening and how to fix it.

Isabel woke halfway through their journey. She stretched, the stretch extending right down to her wiggling toes. “I’m going to go find the bathroom,” she said, and Sebastian nodded in acknowledgement. He listened as her feet padded down the hallway, then returned to his book.

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen and twenty. Sebastian glanced down at his watch and his eyebrows knit together. Twenty minutes was an abnormally long time for her to have disappeared. He closed his book and opened the carriage door, scanning up and down the hallway for any sign of Isabel.

But she was nowhere to be seen. His chest contracted. Her scent still lingered lightly in the hallway, enough that his predator senses could still pick it up. He followed the trail to the bathroom door and paused, knocking a few times. “Isabel? Are you in there?”

The indicator on the lock said “occupied,” and when he tried the door, it didn’t move. “Isabel?” he called again, but no sound came from the locked room. He swore and began searching for the conductor or anyone with a key to the bathroom door.

Three cars up, he found the food trolley. His eyes were wide and his breathing erratic, and the woman pushing the trolley looked at him with concern. “Is everything okay, sir?” she asked, taking a couple of steps backwards.

“I need someone with a key to the lavatory. My girlfriend went in almost half an hour ago, and when I went to check on her, the door was locked and she’s not responding.

She’s been having medical problems recently, and I’m concerned that something happened.

” He did his best not to let his panic show in his voice, but couldn’t stop the trembling in his lower tones.

The trolley lady straightened, her face taking on some of Sebastian’s worry. “Oh, dear. Let me find someone with a key. Which car are you dears in?”

“The very last one.” Sebastian’s hands spun around each other as he wrung them without realizing it.

“I’m going to go keep trying to get her to answer, okay?

” The lady nodded and he ran back through the cars as fast as he could go while still maintaining a facade of humanity.

He reached the door in seconds and began banging on the wood.

“Isabel! Isabel, can you hear me? Are you in there?” he called over and over. Heads popped in and out of various compartments like a game of pop the weasel, but Sebastian paid them no mind. He shouldn’t have let her go alone! Not after what happened when he touched the painting.

To him, an eternity passed before a man appeared with a jingling ring of keys.

“Still no response from your lady friend?” the man asked, and Sebastian shook his head.

“Alright, step out of the way, please.” The man knocked on the door a few times and called out, “Hello, is anyone in there? I’m going to open the door. ”

The breath caught in Sebastian’s throat as the key turned in the lock and the service employee pressed the handle downward. The door slid open about four inches before the man peered inside and immediately swore.

“Well?” Sebastian demanded, trying to see through the crack. He pushed the employee aside and looked for himself, seeing Isabel lying on the floor with a pool of blood around her head. “Isabel!” he howled, wrenching the door the rest of the way open and dropping to one knee at her side.

Meanwhile, the employee keyed his radio. “I need the train manager to Car J, code yellow. Please bring supplies.” An announcement came over the loudspeaker asking for any trained medical personnel to make their way to the last car for an emergency, and soon half a dozen people stood in the hallway.

“Sir, we need you to get out of the way and speak to the manager,” instructed the staff member, placing a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “We will take care of your girlfriend for you, okay? But we need to be able to get to her.”

Sebastian yanked his shoulder away, not registering what was being said.

Again the man grabbed his shoulder, more firmly this time.

“Sir. You are between the girl and medical assistance. You need to move. ” His hand slid down to Sebastian’s bicep and he pulled, managing to drag the vampire out into the hallway.

Two of the passengers took his place in the bathroom just as the train manager arrived with the first aid kit.

He handed it over and looked to the service employee.

“Tell me what happened,” he demanded. The employee gestured to Sebastian and gave a quick summary of events. The manager nodded and joined Sebastian a few feet down the hallway where he was leaning against the wall and panting heavily. “Sir, are you also in need of medical attention?”

Sebastian shook his head and took a deep breath.

As terrifying as his thoughts were right now, Isabel needed him.

He fought himself back to reality as the manager nodded.

“Okay. I’m John. What’s your name? Can you tell me a bit about your girlfriend?

Does she have any medical conditions that might have caused this? ”

“I’m Sebastian and I…I’m not sure. She has leukemia, but it’s supposed to be in remission. And she did faint yesterday, or was it this morning? I can’t remember…it’s been a very chaotic 24 hours. We are on the way to get some answers in Venice.”

John didn’t seem thrilled by this answer. “I see. Well, we’re alerting emergency personnel to have an ambulance meet us at the station. For now, I want you to return to your seat. That’s the safest place for you while these good doctors and nurses take over.”

That was the last thing Sebastian wanted. He was desperate to hold her in his arms and make sure she was breathing. Frantic to keep his eyes on her, just in case the shadow figure didn’t make idle threats.

But there was no room for him in the tiny bathroom, and the logical part of his brain knew that trained doctors were more useful to her right now than he was. He didn’t even think to bring any of the remaining vials with him!

So, despite everything within screaming at him, Sebastian did as he was told and returned to his seat.

But he left the door open and listened intently.

Never before had he been more grateful for his extra sensitive hearing than this particular moment.

He listened as they discussed the injury to her head and attempted to wake her up.

Listened as they counted her breaths and whispered worriedly to each other.

Listened when they told John she was ‘as stable as they could get her.’

It was the worst twenty minutes of his life. Which was saying something, in a life like his. He sat with his back against the wall and his knees pulled to his chest, hands clutched to his head. His lips moved slightly as he muttered pleadings to any deities that may or may not exist.

A knock on the doorframe ripped him out of his trance. “How is she?” he demanded, wild eyes settling on John. “Is she okay?” He clenched his fists, restraining the urge to shake him.

“She’s stable. We aren’t going to move her until we reach our stop in Genova, which will be soon. Emergency services and the hospital have already been notified that she’s coming, so they’ll be at the station.”

Sebastian sighed and shook out his stiff hands. “Okay. Obviously I’ll be going with her.”

“Are you able to handle both of your luggage? I can have the service staff help you get it all off the train if necessary.” John’s shoulders were heavy, as were his hands. He leaned against the door frame with a long face and a forced smile.

“We just have two small bags. I’ve got it.” Sebastian’s head drooped back into his hands, where it remained for the final half hour to Genova.

As promised, the train station was full of flashing lights and the sound of police radios.

The train pulled up to the platform, but the doors didn’t open.

The staticky sound of the intercom system crackled to life, and the announcement said, “We have arrived in Genova. Please remain in your seats while emergency personnel pick up our patient. Once they are safely in the ambulance, the doors will open and we will resume service. Thank you for your cooperation and patience.”

Sebastian swung both of their bags over his shoulder and hurried out into the hallway.

John was standing outside the bathroom door and opened his mouth, but shut it when he realized who had left their cabin.

“Ah, Sebastian, good. Please stay out of the way until they get your girlfriend on the stretcher and out of the train. From there you’ll have to figure out what comes next from the paramedics.

I hope everything works out for the two of you. ”

Moments later, EMTs entered the car laden with equipment. They carefully extracted Isabel from the bathroom and got her set up on a backboard while Sebastian watched with horror. She looked so small and pale strapped to the board with four men lifting her.

He followed closely, wanting to remain at her side. “Isabel, I’m here,” he repeated over and over, hoping that she would react at least a little to his voice. However, she showed no signs of consciousness even as the paramedics loaded her onto the stretcher.

“Are you her partner?” asked a fifth paramedic from inside the ambulance. Sebastian nodded and hurried up to the door. “Okay. As long as you can sit quietly and let us do our job, you can ride in the ambulance with her.”

This was exactly what Sebastian wanted. He jumped inside and took a seat in the corner, as out of the way as he could get. The paramedics closed the doors and they were off, racing through the streets of Genova as Sebastian held Isabel’s hand.