Scowling, the woman carefully set her tools down. “No, you can’t wait in here! I’m working. And I’m still not sure you’re even allowed to—”
A dart struck her in the chest.
Half a second later, her eyes closed and her forehead hit her desk.
Sean stared at the woman, then turned to Nicole, who now held a tranquilizer gun.
Both burst into laughter.
“That was freaking awesome,” she said. “I did not expect her to pass out so quickly.”
Trying not to laugh loud enough to draw attention, Sean said, “It was like a cartoon character or something.”
“I know.”
Focus, Seth suddenly commanded in their heads.
Lips twitching, they hurried out the door and down the sterile hallway. The next lab was a little larger, with two long tables loaded with equipment. Both inhabitants were already looking toward them.
Had they heard their laughter?
He and Nicole used a shorter version of the same vomit excuse to tranq them while they were seated at their research stations.
A slender man with a blond comb-over full of highlights worked in the last lab.
When Sean and Nicole entered, he gave them no chance to speak. After sizing Sean up, he turned a furious gaze upon Nicole. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded. “You don’t have clearance to be in here. Your ass is so fired. Don’t ever interrupt my work. No one interrupts my work. I—”
Sean shot him with a tranquilizer dart.
The anger on the jerk’s face drained away as his eyelids closed.
Neither Sean nor Nicole stepped forward to break his fall when he toppled to the floor.
“What an asshole,” Sean muttered.
She nodded.
“Did you see how he sized me up and then started bitching at you?”
“Yep. Classic bully move. Only attack those who appear defenseless.”
“What an asshole,” he repeated.
She grinned. “I love you.”
Irritation falling away, he smiled back. “Love you, too.”
Leaving the unconscious man on the floor for Seth to examine later, they hurried up the hallway once more. Nicole stationed herself just inside the main door, tranq gun in hand.
“Be careful,” Sean whispered.
“You, too.”
He stole a quick kiss, then headed into the primary lab.
Chapter Nineteen
Melanie and Darnell each sat before a computer, their fingers dancing over the keyboards. Four men and one woman lay unconscious on the floor. The last woman—the one who had looked relieved upon seeing Al—sat in a chair, restrained only by Bastien’s glower as he stood before her with his feet braced apart, arms crossed over his broad chest. Her pretty face creased with anxiety as she alternated between trying to see what Darnell and Melanie were doing and sending Bastien wary glances.
“Everything okay in here?” Sean asked as he joined them.
Bastien nodded. “This wise doctor is giving us everything we need. Did you tranq everyone else?”
“Yeah. The guy at the far end might have hit his head kind of hard when he fell,” Sean said, unconcerned. “He was an asshole.”
The woman snorted. “Does he have blond highlights in his hair?”
“Yeah.”
Her lip curled in a sneer. “That’s Orson. He is an asshole. The kind that would’ve enjoyed hurting the girl in there if Silvy and I hadn’t kept him away from her.”
Sean arched a brow. “You mean hurt her more than you did? Or more than you intended to?”
Her face blanched. “I just set up an IV and took some blood samples. And she was unconscious for most of it.”
“Because you drugged her.” Crossing his arms, Sean matched Bastien’s stance.
The woman offered no response as her gaze slid away from his.
At least she seemed contrite. Most of the bad guys they dealt with lacked anything resembling moral conscience.
Bastien nodded toward the door at the opposite end of the lab. “We’ve got this. Go help Seth.”
Worried about what he might find within, Sean left them and headed toward the mystery room. All the other labs in this space boasted at least one glass wall. The fact that this one didn’t made it stand out as one in which they wished to hide something.
Or someone.
The mystery room was bigger than he’d anticipated. Two rows of lab stations extended from a center aisle like spider legs. Rows of chairs did the same behind them. Everything was white: the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the furniture. And the place bore a sharp antiseptic scent that made his nose twitch. A glass wall beyond revealed the area in which they held and studied…
Tessa.
His heart thudded with dread. She was so pale. Strapped to something that resembled an operating table, her slender form sported only a generic hospital gown. Multiple tubes were taped to her hands and arms. No blanket covered her bare legs to stave off the cold. And even with his body’s ability to control his temperature, Sean knew it was damned chilly in this room.
Tessa’s eyes remained closed with nary a flicker of movement behind her lids as Seth leaned over her.
Back in his usual form and garb, having shed his Albert guise, Seth gently brushed her hair back from her face and spoke her name.
She didn’t move.
Sean forced his feet to carry him forward. “Is she okay?”
Lips tight, Seth waved a hand. The manacles sprang open. “She’s drugged. In their exuberance, they came damned close to overdosing her.”
Sean swore. Too much of the sedative killed vampires. Would an overdose do the same to an Immortal Guardian? He couldn’t remember. “What can we do?”
“She needs blood. They have greatly depleted her supply and didn’t give her more because they wished her to remain weak. Reed and the other vampires told them immortals are stronger.” Seth carefully removed the needles and tubes from her hands and arms, healing every wound they left behind. Afterward, he drew an autoinjector from one of his pockets. “I’ll wake her with Melanie’s antidote. Once she rouses, I want you to give her blood.”
“Okay.”
Sean moved closer to the bed.
Seth flipped the lid open and pressed the autoinjector to Tessa’s thigh.
A few seconds later, her lashes fluttered and rose.
Tessa stared at the bright lights above, her gaze unfocused.
“Tessa?” Seth stroked her hair again.
Blinking sluggishly, she glanced over at him. “Seth?”
He nodded. “You need blood. I want you to take Sean’s.”
She opened her mouth to speak. Closed it. Blinked.
Her gaze returned to the lights above, then took in the room around her. “I don’t think so.”
Sean shot Seth a look. Tessa wouldn’t take his blood? Why?
Seth’s brow furrowed as he studied her.
“No,” she said, still groggy and disconnected. “I’m okay.”
Seth’s features abruptly smoothed out with relief. “Jared is talking to her telepathically.”
Oh. Good. For a moment, Sean had feared she wasn’t quite there.
“Yes.” Her voice grew stronger. “I’m just a little out of it.”
Stop distracting her, Jared, Seth said, his telepathic voice reaching Sean, too. Let us take care of her.