Bound to Shadows (Riley Jenson Guardian 8)

"I am?"

He sat up abruptly, but the movement was too sudden, and he vomited without warning. It splattered across the concrete floor, making me suddenly glad I wasn't standing inside. The smell was bad enough from out here.

I waited impatiently, watching the blood trickle down his cheek, feeling it pour down my leg. My jeans were saturated, and blood was beginning to drip onto the tiled floor.

"Harris, you need to concentrate. Where are the keys?"

"There are none. " His words, though still slurred, seemed a little stronger.

"What?" I glanced down at the door and noticed for the first time it had two methods of locking. One was the traditional key lock, the other electronic.

"What's the combination?"

"Four oh eight one. Is the vamp neutralized?"

"For the moment, yes. " I pressed the code in and an alarm sounded as the little light flicked from red to green. I twisted the handle and pulled the door open. "Why didn't he attack you rather than Benny?"

"Because I'm mind-blind, and Benny's not. " He pushed to his feet and stood there, wobbling for a bit. "How is Benny?

"I'm afraid I busted his nose and probably some teeth. " I paused for breath. Damn, my chest felt like it was getting heavier. Fear swelled but I pushed it down. I would not die. Not like this. "He shot me with silver and I really didn't have the time for finesse. "

He glanced at me sharply and I saw his gaze widen fractionally. "We'd better call you a doctor. "

"Call them if you want, but I can't wait for them to arrive. I'm extremely sensitive to silver, and my leg is already numb. We need to get this bullet out now. "

"Fuck. " He scrubbed a hand across his face, then walked - a little unsteadily - forward. "There's a first aid kit in the reception area. We'll need that. "

He wrapped an arm around my waist and half guided, half carried me back down the corridor - though I wasn't entirely sure who was supporting whom.

His nostrils flared as he passed the vamp's cell. "I smell blood. "

"As I said, I didn't have the time for finesse. " I shrugged, and the movement sent pain rippling. "A vamp with two bullet wounds isn't going to be capable of attacking anyone telepathically for a while. "

Harris grunted. It wasn't a happy-sounding grunt, but he didn't actually say anything. Maybe even he could see that tough situations called for tough measures.

Even if they were against police rules.

But then, I wasn't police. I was Directorate. The damn vamp was lucky he wasn't dead. I might not want to kill, but all bets were off when the bastards attacked me.

We went through the barred gateway. He paused, briefly releasing me to close the door and punch in a code, then we staggered forward again. Harris guided me through the door then around to the left, behind the reception desk. Benny was where I'd left him.

"How did you manage to get locked in the cell?" I said, as Harris kicked out a chair then dropped me into it.

"I had no idea the vamp was even awake until Benny attacked me. It was lucky that I saw him move at the last moment, because the wrench smashed down the side of my face instead of the top of my skull. " He retrieved a large first aid kit from underneath the desk and opened it up. "I saw stars, but I had enough sense left to kick his feet out from underneath him and run for the cells. "

I grabbed my wounded leg with both hands and hauled it up onto another chair. The damn thing felt like so much dead flesh and, deep in my stomach, the fear of losing the use of my limb gnawed. But I guess I was lucky it was my leg rather than my shoulder. I'd been shot far too many times in that region now, as the numbness and sensitivity in my fingertips indicated. I might have died instantly, rather than merely suffering.

Harris pulled on a pair of surgical gloves, then grabbed a pair of needle-fine scissors. "Why didn't he simply punch in the code and open the door?"

"Because I have an override locking code that no one else knows. I used it on both the vamp's cell and my own. "

He began slicing away the material from the wound. Despite the fact he was being careful, the sharp point of the scissors dug into my flesh several times. Luckily, I felt the movement, not the pain. My flesh was too numb to feel anything right now.

"How did you lock the door from the inside the cell?" The keypad was nowhere near the food tray opening, and unless he was Mr. Elastic, there was no way known he would have been able to reach it.

"There's a time delay on it. You have one minute to close the door before it locks. " He dropped the scissors on the chair next to my foot then reached for the long tweezers. His gaze met mine. "This will probably burn like a bitch. "

"The wound is numb, so it won't really matter. " But my fingers tightened reflexively around the arms of the chair.