“Open your eyes, Maci.”
A voice called to me. Deep, unsettling. I’d heard it before, but I could never seem to place it anytime I heard it. I wrenched open my eyes. My head pounded. I was on the ground, leaning against a tree, with no idea where I was. My face was sticky. Hot. My stomach turned.
What is happening? Where am I?
A man stood over me. He was tall, dark-haired, his eyes cold in the moonlight illuminating him. Was the moon full tonight? It was so bright. Everything hurt.
“Who?” I found my voice. “Who are you?”
He knelt beside me. “You never know. It’s better that way. We don’t have time for the long explanation, and you won’t remember it anyway. But those you are with, those who stopped you from arriving last night at your designated time, would call me the Betrayer.” While his voice held emotion, his eyes didn’t. They were cold. Or maybe it was just me. I was so, so cold. A violent shiver racked my body.
The Betrayer. I’d heard that name. Once. What was it? I couldn’t remember.
“You will feel better soon, and if I’m not mistaken—and I never am—they will find you shortly. Things couldn’t be going more according to plan. Finally. So many years under their nose, and no one speaks to you.” He smirked. “You need your precautionary dose. I can’t have anything happening to you without it. For a few years more. Then all will be clear. Besides, this will help you now. Which you clearly need.” He scowled. “That man has been dealt with.”
I didn’t understand. “What?”
He extended his hand where he held a cup. Where had that come from? Everything was so confusing, and my body hurt so much. Tears leaked from my eyes.
“Now, none of that.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know what to do with tears when I was human, and I certainly don’t know now.” He bit into his wrist and blood oozed into the glass. “Drink.”
What? Absolutely not. “You just bled into that cup,” I pointed out numbly.
The man cupped my cheek. “And you have drunk it many times. Once a month. Since you were twelve years old. You’ll drink it now. You know you will.” There was a compulsion to his voice, like I would obey him. Maybe he was right? Maybe I had drunk it many times. He handed me the cup.
Despite every part of my body wanting to fall apart to make the pain stop, I did as he asked. I swallowed. And swallowed.
Until the cup was empty. It tasted like milk. He’d dropped his blood into the milk and I’d… What?
What have I done?
He dropped his hand. “Like every other night, now you will forget. When the time comes, you will remember, but that isn’t now.”
I blinked. Wow. My head hurt so much. What had happened? I didn’t understand. I couldn’t…couldn’t… What?
Someone had been there. Or no—no one had been here. I was alone. In the woods. A man tried to get me. He’d tried to…
A noise to my side caught my attention, despite my blurred vision. I tried to turn my head. My neck objected. It hurts. No turning it right now.
“Maci.” Ace’s voice struck before I could clearly see him. “Found you. Fuck. Yes, found you.” He bent down. “What happened?”
“Ace?” I had to make sure it was him. Everything was just…wrong.
“Yes, sweetheart. It’s me. I knew you were here. I could just feel it. Like, I knew how to find you. Another weird thing that I’m grateful for. Can you put your arms around my neck?”
Could I? “Everything hurts.”
“I know it does. I can see that. I’m going to get you some help. I promise. We’ll make this okay.”
I hoped he was right, because I was pretty sure I could close my eyes and never wake up again. I didn’t want to do that. It was my birthday. Or maybe it wasn’t anymore? How much time had passed? I didn’t even know. Where was my phone? I could check the time. Instead, I concentrated on lifting my arms.
He needed me to… What?
I must have done it, because he lifted me up like I weighed nothing. “I’ve got you. I promise.”
Maybe I passed out, maybe I just didn’t remember, but the next thing I knew, I was on a white bed in a bright room with someone shining a light in my eyes.
“Maci, can you hear me?”
“What does it mean if she can’t?” That was Rowan’s voice. It sounded strained.
I blinked. “Yes, I can hear you. If you could put down that light, I’d be grateful.”
The light extinguished, and I could finally see the faces around me. All five of the guys were there. They surrounded the bed, except where a strange doctor stared at me.
“Glad to hear that. You seem to be coming back to us.” He was dark-haired, dark-eyed, and he had a well-trimmed beard, but he wasn’t who I wanted to see right then. “Do you remember what happened?”
Did I? I chewed on my lip. “That man attacked me. He wants money. From my mom. He said some things.” It was hard to remember all of it. In fact, it made my head hurt to try.
“He’s dead.” Griffin’s voice was low. “Found his body. I wouldn’t worry about him anymore. He isn’t going to want anything going forward.” There was a long pause, and Tanner shot Griffin a look. “What? I didn’t kill him.”
The doctor shook his head. “Boys, that’s not helpful right now. What about after that? What happened to you? How did you end up where Ace found you?”
“That would imply I knew where I was.”
He laughed. “That’s true. All right. Listen, I know you’re concussed. But we need to take a look at you. I’m going to run a lot of tests. Gentlemen, you might as well go home. I know your father has things for you to do.”
Tanner shook his head. “They can wait.”
The doctor lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t think so. I’m not losing out on my change soon because I let the five of you ignore his order to return home. She’ll be okay. I get that she’s important. I’ll take care of her, and you’ll probably be able to take her home tomorrow. I’ll let you know.”
“No.” I grabbed the doctor’s arm. “I can’t afford you. I can’t ever go to the hospital. Please, I can’t stay here.”
The doctor frowned. “There won’t be a bill for any of this. This is a special hospital, only used for the people under the vampires’ care. You won’t owe us anything. My name is Doctor Lamar. We’re very informal here, so most people call me Archie. You can call me whatever you want.” He rose. “Time to go, boys. I promise to take care of her.”
Understanding was slow, but it finally caught up to me. The doctor knew about vampires, and he wanted to be one of them.
Would that make him a servant? I didn’t know if that was something I could ask, so I didn’t. Besides, the less I had to talk, the better. I closed my eyes.
Hours later, my head still throbbed, but I was awake and in better shape than I was earlier. My room was white, clean, and the bed was bigger than the average hospital bed. I’d only been in one once, years ago, when I’d broken my ankle. Even then, my mother had insisted we leave early because of the bill.