Marie held a glass of water to her lips. “I know you’re sore, Alexandria—may I call you that?—but some water might help. I feel I know you, what with young Joshua telling me such tales of his wonderful sister. He loves you very much.”
The rim of the glass hurt her mouth, and Alexandria pushed it away. “Just Alex, that’s what Josh likes to call me. Is he okay?”
“Stefan—that’s my husband—looked him over very carefully. He was hungry and tired, a bit hypothermic and dehydrated, but we attended to that. He’s eaten and is in good spirits. He fell asleep by the downstairs fire. Under the circumstances, with him so worried about you, we felt he should sleep close to us and not alone in his room.”
“Thank you for looking after him.” She tried to sit up. With the infusion of the hunter’s blood, she felt stronger. “Where is he now? I’d like to go see him.”
Marie shook her head. “You must not even attempt to leave this bed. Aidan would have our heads. You’re very weak, Alex. I guess you haven’t seen yourself yet either. In your condition, you’d scare Joshua to death.”
Alexandria sighed. “But I need to see him, to touch him, just so I know he’s all right. Everyone tells me he is, but how do I know for sure?”
Marie stroked back stray strands of gold hair from Alexandria’s forehead. “Because Aidan does not lie. He would never harm a child. He is one who, at great risk to himself, hunts the vampires preying on the human race.”
“Are there really such things? Maybe I’m just having a terrible nightmare I can’t wake up from. Maybe I’m just sick with a high fever.” She said it hopefully. “How could there really be such things as vampires in our society without everyone knowing it?”
“Because of those like Aidan who stop them.”
“What is Aidan? Isn’t he a vampire, too? I saw him turn from a bird to a man to a wolf. He grew fangs and claws. He drank my blood. I know he intended to kill me. I still don’t know why he changed his mind.” Suddenly she felt her body beginning to burn. Her muscles began to tighten into hard knots. Even the thin sheet covering her felt too heavy and warm against her skin. Her muscles seemed to be contorting, the heat migrating throughout her body.
“Aidan will explain everything to you. But rest assured that he is no vampire. I have known him since I was a young girl. He watched me grow up, have children of my own, and now I have become an old woman. He is a powerful, dangerous man, but not to those of us he calls his own. He will never harm you. He will protect you with his life.”
Alexandria was panicking. She did not want to belong to Aidan Savage. Yet she realized he would never let her go. How could he? She knew far too much. “I don’t want to be here. Call 911. Get me a doctor.”
Marie sighed. “No doctor can help you now, Alex. Only Aidan can. He is a great healer. They say there is only one other greater than he.” She smiled. “Aidan will return, and he’ll take away your pain.”
Her insides twisted so hard and abruptly, Alexandria was nearly thrown from the bed. She cried out, screamed. “You have to call me a doctor, Marie. Please! You’re human, like me, aren’t you? You have to help me. I want to go home! I just want to go home!”
Marie tried to hold her down on the bed, but the pain was so intense, Alexandria’s body convulsed, and she hit the floor hard.
* * *
Chapter Four
Aidan inhaled the night as he walked along the San Francisco sidewalk. Creatures winged their way across the sky. The breeze carried the scent of prey. Half a block away, an alley, narrow and dark, opened onto the street. He could feel the presence of three men. He smelled their sweat, heard their crude laughter. They were would-be assailants waiting for a lost soul to brighten up their otherwise dull lives.