She’d also given me a ‘you’re not telling me everything’ look, but I’d ignored it. I’d also ignored the occasional feeling of Max’s gaze boring into my skin throughout the rest of the party. I hadn’t been sure I could meet his eyes without blushing. I still wasn’t. Nor was I certain he wouldn’t sense that, to my absolute annoyance, I wanted more.
Draining my bottle, I looked beyond the gated community to the vast tropical rainforest that surrounded it. It was beautiful and almost otherworldly with its—
Sorry to bother you so early, Jared telepathically began, startling me, but Sam and I need you. Would it be okay for me to teleport to your home now to collect you?
Setting my empty bottle on the table, I blinked, surprised by his request. Yes, of course. I’m on my balcony.
Moments later, a tall, broad-shouldered advertisement for sex materialised in front of me. Yeah, Jared was hot as hell.
“What’s up?” I asked, standing.
“We’re in need of your healing skills.” He teleported us both to the infirmary, where Sam and Antonio waited, their gazes locked on the male lying in one of the beds.
My mouth dropped open. “Jesus.” His face was grotesquely swollen, he had thick oozing lumps all over his body, his skin was chalk white, and his heartbeat was worryingly weak. “If I didn’t recognise his scent, I’m not sure I’d know it was Quinlan.” He was one of the legion’s commanders and had recently lost two squad members during an assignment that went to shit.
Sam’s aquamarine eyes fixed on mine. “He was sliced here.” She pointed at rake wounds on his chest. “The poison did the rest.”
“Wait, Lenox did this?” As far as I knew, he was the only vampire at The Hollow who could sprout poisonous claws. He was also part of Quinlan’s squad.
“Yes, and I’ll expand on that once Quinlan is healed. You can give his injury to that piece of shit over there.” She jerked her chin toward the unconscious male on the neighbouring bed. “The guards are constantly complaining about all the whining he does from his cell, so they were glad to hear his number was up.”
That was the thing about my gift. Unless there was someone I could transfer an injury to, it would return to the person from whom I’d taken it—even if that person was me. Which was why The Hollow’s prisoners often came in handy.
I splayed my hand over Quinlan’s chest and let out a call I couldn’t quite explain. Then it was like a magnetic energy shot out of my palm and locked on the wound. There was a rippling under my skin that circled my lower arm as it shot from my palm to my elbow. I swiftly turned and slapped my hand on the unconscious prisoner’s arm. The rippling started again, descending my arm as I transferred Quinlan’s injury to him. That fast, his body became ravaged by poison, since it had hit him three-fold.
Jared lifted his hand, sparks of electricity dancing along his fingertips, and I figured he meant to kill the vampire with a fatal electric strike. There was no need. The poison did the trick, and the prisoner exploded into ashes.
“I do like your gift, Paige,” said Antonio, as elegant and calming as ever.
“So do I.” I looked down at Quinlan. Although he was still pale and unconscious, he was no longer on death’s door. And the drip of blood he’d been hooked up to would certainly help.
Sam looked at Mary Jane, who’d been a nurse in her human life and so liked to work at the infirmary. “Call Jared when Quinlan wakes. And don’t worry about Lenox. There’ll be guards both inside and outside the room. He won’t get in here.”
Seeming reassured, Mary Jane gave a short nod.
I followed Sam, Jared, and Antonio out of the infirmary and into the hall. “What happened between Lenox and Quinlan?” I asked no one in particular.
Sam scratched at her nape. “Lenox, the tosser, has gone AWOL.”
I blinked. “AWOL?”
“He took the news of Brook’s death beyond badly,” she said, referring to a member of Quinlan’s squad who’d recently died. “Lenox kept an emotional distance from everyone but still regarded Brook as his bloody bestie. They were paired up when on the field. Except for the most recent mission, since Quinlan refused to let Lenox go with them.”
I frowned. “Why did Quinlan refuse?”
Jared explained, “Lenox seemed to be having problems. He wasn’t giving it his all during training. He was acting reckless on missions and avoiding any form of socialising—even with Brook. Quinlan gave him time, but Lenox got worse rather than better. Quinlan left him behind because he didn’t trust that Lenox would follow orders and be mindful of his own safety.”
“And Brook died,” I said.
Sam nodded. “Lenox blames Quinlan and obviously decided to dish out some karma. We have people tracking him, but it’s not going to be easy.”