“Move, Roxy,” Egan commanded. He climbed through the door on Axel’s side. “I’ll help her.”
“Thank God.” She hurried out the other side of the van and rushed inside to find Axel.
“Once we get outside, I’ll carry him in like Axel,” he said and secured his legs, taking some weight off me.
We slowly moved out of the van, making sure we didn’t drop Donovan. It was no easy task. He was built like a freaking linebacker, and even though Egan was larger, the dragon struggled as well.
Egan stepped out of the car and swept his arms under Donovan’s legs. “Got him.”
Any other time, I’d have died laughing at seeing Donovan being carried away like a princess on her wedding night. He wasn’t doing well, and his body shook even harder than it had inside the van.
“Sadie!” Roxy screamed with terror from inside the house.
My stomach dropped. I rushed behind Egan, and we hurried up the brick steps and inside the mansion. He ran down a long hallway that opened to a huge living room. Two L-shaped leather couches sat across from each other.
Eight vampires stood around, watching Roxy lean over a convulsing Axel
“What do I do?” Roxy looked at me like I held all the answers.
“I don’t know.” I pointed to Donovan as Egan laid him on the other couch. “Donovan is doing the same thing.” She already knew that, but I tried not to snap at her. We were both scared that our mates wouldn’t make it out of this alive.
“What the hell is going on?” A man who had to be in his late fifties marched over and slid the large wooden coffee table out of the way. His hair was almost the same shade as Lillith’s, and his eyes were brown with a slight red hue laced through. He was close to my height but slender like most vampires tended to be.
Lillith nibbled on her lip. “The humans were almost drained.”
“Almost drained humans don’t act like this …” He trailed off and took a deep breath. “And they don’t smell human.”
“Are they being turned?” A woman similar in age to the older guy placed a hand on her chest. Her face had the same sharp angles as Lillith’s, but her eyes were a lighter brown, and her hair was dirty blonde. “Please tell me you had nothing to do with it?”
“No, I didn’t.” Lillith stared at the ground, her usually confident demeanor gone. “But we got into a situation.”
Donovan’s body took on a life of its own as his shivering turned into convulsions.
“He’s seizing.” A petite middle-aged woman with light blonde hair ran over to us. “You do realize they probably won’t survive this.”
“Oh God, no!” Roxy cried as she leaned over Axel. “They have to.”
I didn’t have time to deal with all this negativity. I needed to do whatever I could for Donovan. “What do we do?”
He began foaming at the mouth, and his body shook so hard it rattled the couch.
“Someone fetch a thick washcloth!” the blonde lady yelled. “Otherwise, he’ll bite his tongue off.”
“I’ll get it.” Katherine blurred across the room, going God knew where.
“Axel needs one too!” Roxy yelled. “He’s shaking harder too.” Her voice cracked through the pain.
The one thing I hadn’t expected as alpha was that I would feel her hurt more strongly than before. The fact that I could feel her emotions more vividly worsened my pain. I channeled not only my own hysteria but hers too.
“Hold his head, and I’ll hold his arms,” Egan said and locked Axel down so he couldn’t thrash as much. “Maybe if we calm him down, he won’t be as bad off as Donovan.”
“Katherine, get your ass in here!” the blonde lady called as she grabbed Donovan’s head. “You,” she said, glancing at me, “hold his arms like that guy’s doing over there. The less rocking he does, the less likely he’ll injure himself.”
“We should give him more vampire blood.” Lillith bit into her wrist. “Wouldn’t that heal him faster?”
“Wait … you gave them your blood after they’d bitten them?” The older man turned and glared at her. “No wonder they’re convulsing.”
“What do you mean?” I was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.
“What Cassius is saying is that giving them vampire blood after you injected them with wolf saliva was a terrible mistake.” The blonde girl hissed and held on to Donovan’s head tighter. “The wolf genes are trying to take over, and their wolves are trying to connect with their bodies. However, the vampire blood is preventing the connection. When vampire blood heals a wound, it congeals around it. The wolf can’t affix itself to the skin and penetrate the blood. It’s like the two sides are colliding.”
“Are you saying he might turn into both?” The vampire transition was easier, and more people survived it, but it was still damn hard. The transition into a wolf had less than a one percent survival rate, and the ones who survived usually developed a disability. That was why wolves tried not to change anyone.
“No, I’m not.” Cassius arched an eyebrow. “Unless the vampires injected them with their venom.”
“I didn’t do that, Dad.” Lillith sighed. “I’m not stupid.”
“Then what are you saying?” Roxy’s voice rose even higher.
Katherine entered the room with the washcloths.
“The wolf side is trying to take hold, but the vampire blood is the problem.” The blonde woman snatched a cloth and tossed it to me. “I’ll open his mouth, and you shove it in.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Katherine, go do the same for that guy.”
“On it.” Katherine hurried over and followed the instructions.
Both guys were still convulsing, but then their heartbeats increased rapidly.
“Why is that happening?” Their racing hearts petrified me.
“Their bodies are fighting.” Cassius dashed over to Axel. “They’re trying to change.”
“Can we help them?” Egan asked, his usual calm demeanor fracturing.
“Pray,” the older lady responded.
That didn’t sound very promising.
Their hearts picked up speed until I couldn’t tell where one beat ended and the other began. It sounded like a freight train running down the tracks.
Then, both hearts just stopped.
Chapter Two
My ears had to be deceiving me. “No.” I pushed the vampire out of my way and stood over my mate. I might feel bad about it later, but right now, I didn’t give a rat’s ass. “Donovan.” Tears flooded my eyes until I could barely see. “You can’t leave me.”
Roxy’s wail filled the air, commingling with mine. We’d lost our mates in the blink of an eye and all because of my father.
“Dammit, Donovan.” I compressed his chest, needing him to come back. With each push, I lost hope; however, it drove the next compression harder than the last. I’d do anything—give anything to bring him back.
I lowered my mouth to his and blew air in hard, filling his lungs. I’d do CPR until my arms gave out.
“Sadie …” Lillith whispered and reached for me, but I shoved her away.
“He’s not dead.” He couldn’t be. My world began to crumble, and I refused to allow her to look at me that way. He wasn’t a lost cause. “You’ll see.”
“Girl …” she started, but I turned my back to her and went back to helping my mate.
As I pressed down again, a steady heartbeat pounded in my ears. Was I imagining it? Could it be possible? I leaned down and pressed my ear to his chest, and each pump grew stronger.
“Roxy, is Axel’s heart beating?” Please, God, don’t let this be my imagination gone wild. Hope spread like wildfire through my veins, and if I was wrong, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be the same.
“It is,” she exclaimed. “Axel!” Then I heard her pounding on his chest.
My knees hit the ground. I hadn’t realized the toll that nearly losing Donovan and Axel had taken on me. My hands shook, but I touched his arm, needing to feel his warmth.
“How is that possible?” Cassius’s face turned a shade paler. “Their hearts stopped. I heard it.”
The blonde woman walked over to the other side of the couch and leaned over. “The slightly sweet smell of vampire blood is gone. Maybe the wolf fought off the blood.”