Predatory (Page 73)

He swallowed. It may be too late to prevent a transformation.

Rising, he wrapped the blankets around her and scooped her up into his arms.

John stepped forward. “Wherever you’re going, I’m going with you.”

Though teleporting two at a time would sap his energy, Richart didn’t argue. “Grab my shoulder.”

A second later they stood in Dr. Lipton’s office.

Weakness struck. He staggered to the right, bumping into John.

John tightened his grip and helped Richart remain upright. “You okay, man?”

Leaning over her desk, Dr. Melanie Lipton jumped and spun around. “Richart. Hi. What—?”

“Jenna’s infected.”

Melanie paled. “What?”

“He thinks I’m infected,” Jenna corrected. “I think it’s the flu.”

Melanie met Richart’s grim gaze and motioned for them to follow her. “Let’s go to the infirmary.”

Chapter Six

Jenna did everything she could to convince herself that Richart was wrong, that it was just a bad case of the flu. Hadn’t Debbie even come down with it? And Jed in Lawn and Garden? Harry in Automotive?

But it was hard to ignore the looks Richart and Dr. Lipton kept exchanging. Looks that said Jenna was screwed.

“It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Jenna,” Dr. Lipton said as Richart lowered her to an exam table. “Richart talks about you all the time.”

“Nice to meet you, too. This is my son, John.”

“Good to meet you, John.”

“Nice to meet you,” he murmured.

“Richart,” Dr. Lipton said, “you and John go wait out in the hallway so your hovering won’t distract me.” She winked at Jenna. “Plus, if Richart isn’t in the room, I can share all kinds of embarrassing stories about him with you.”

Richart narrowed his eyes in warning, then kissed Jenna. “We’ll be right outside if you need us.”

Jenna smiled and nodded.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Dr. Lipton shook her head. “That man is so in love with you.”

“I love him, too.”

Dr. Lipton’s gaze sharpened as she donned a pair of latex gloves. “Enough to transform for him?”

“I thought I couldn’t do that safely.”

“If he’s right and you’ve been infected, you may not have a choice. How many times has he bitten you?” There was no mistaking her disapproval.

“That’s just it. He hasn’t.”

Her brow furrowed. “Ever?”

“Ever. A vampire bit me once a couple of months ago. He caught me leaving my job and Richart stopped him. But Richart has been there every night since and made sure the vampire didn’t return. I can’t be transformed by just one bite, right?”

“Not unless he drained you almost to the point of death, then infused you with his own blood.”

“Richart said he didn’t do that; so it must be the flu.”

Dr. Lipton didn’t seem convinced. “Let’s start with your symptoms.”

Jenna rattled them off and answered questions about severity, onset, and the like as Dr. Lipton took her temperature and engaged in various and assorted poking and prodding.

She was pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way with brown hair, brown eyes, and a trim figure encased in jeans, a T-shirt, and a lab coat.

“I’m going to level with you, Jenna,” she said finally. “I think Richart’s right. I’ll run a blood test to be sure, but I already know what it’s going to tell me.”

Jenna broke out in a cold sweat as fear rippled through her. “I’m becoming a vampire?”

“Yes.”

She would suffer progressive brain damage and go insane.

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Lipton offered with genuine remorse. “There really isn’t any sugarcoating this. I can’t even give you hope that you might be a gifted one. Nearly all gifted ones have black hair and brown eyes. A few, like me, have brown hair. But never red.”

“I’m a brunette. I dye my hair.”

Dr. Lipton studied her. “Have you noticed any special gifts or abilities? Know the phone is going to ring before it does?”

“No.”

“Know what someone else is feeling? Hear their thoughts?”

“No. I don’t have any special abilities, Dr. Lipton.”

“Melanie.”

“I’m screwed, aren’t I, Melanie?”

She sighed. “Yes. As I said, I’ll run some tests to be sure. See how far the infection has progressed. Take a look at your DNA and see if it bears the extra memo groups that would identify you as a gifted one and protect you from the brain damage. But I’m not very hopeful.”

“I can’t believe this.” Her mind raced as nightmare images unfolded before her. John having to watch his mother descend into madness. Jenna having to leave to ensure she wouldn’t harm him. Richart watching and waiting for her to reach the point of no return, then taking her life.

What would it do to him to watch her turn into one of the monsters he hunted? Would she have to leave him, too?

Richart paced back and forth in front of the door to the infirmary.

John stood nearby, looking up and down the hallway, taking in the multitude of guards armed with automatic weapons. Half a dozen stood sentinel near two doors a little farther down.

Dragging his eyes away, John turned to Richart. “What’s in there? What are they protecting?”

“They aren’t protecting what’s in there. They’re protecting everyone out here. Those doors lead to vampires’ apartments.”

John’s eyes widened. “Vampires live here?”

“A couple do, yes. They surrendered instead of following the example of their brethren and fighting to the death. They’ve been working with Dr. Lipton and the other doctors in hopes of finding a cure for the virus or some treatment that might prevent the brain damage it causes in humans.”

“How’s that going?”

Richart shook his head and lied. “I don’t know.” They had been searching for a cure for thousands of years with no success.

John swallowed. “If Mom becomes a vampire, is she going to go crazy and want to hurt people?”

Richart nodded, throat too thick to speak.

Face grim, John resumed his perusal of the hallway. “What is this place?”

“Network headquarters, the hub of the East Coast division of the human network that aids us.”