“Imani isn’t like the others! She didn’t volunteer to take part in any trial!” I turned to Sam and pointed at the floor as I demanded, “Get Paige in here. She can fix it.”
Teeth biting down on her lower lip, Sam looked at Imani’s arm. “There’s no point, Butch, Paige can’t do it.”
“She can.” If Paige was able to remove the taint of the Reaper’s Call, she could fix this.
But Sam shook her head. “Paige heals by taking an injury and passing it to someone else. Imani doesn’t have any wounds. The prick from the needle healed. Without a wound…”
Fuck. I swallowed hard, and the movement hurt. “So how do we get rid of it? Don’t say we can’t. There are thousands upon thousands of vampires out there. At least one must have an ability that will somehow combat this.”
“I’ll have Mona and Cedric look into it,” said Sam.
“Look into it?” I clipped. That was it?
“I know you want something done right here, right now. So do I, believe me. But at this moment in time, we have no bloody clue how to fix this. We will find a way.”
I looked down at Imani; she’d now passed out. “We need to take her back to The Hollow.”
Fists clenched, Salem spoke. “What I want to know is, who the fuck did this?”
“I would like to know the same.” Annalise’s voice was as hard and dark as her expression.
“It had to have been Marco, Juliet, or Tait,” I said. “No one else here would have a motivation to kill her.” And that was exactly what the person who was responsible intended when they gave her the serum. And that was exactly why they would die. But they wouldn’t die easily. Or slowly. They’d pay in the worst way—I’d make sure of it.
Jared turned to me. “You were behind her outside in the crowd. What did you see?”
“We got separated. It was only for a second. When I got back to her, she told me something had pricked her arm.”
Just then, the parlour door opened. Marco, his consorts, and a few other vampires strolled inside. My already pounding heartbeat accelerated and my fingers retracted so they were almost claw-like. I tensed, ready to lunge and kill. I didn’t know which one of the fuckers was responsible and nor did I care. If they all had to die just so the culprit would be punished, so be it.
Salem came to my side and said quietly, “Don’t. Stay with Imani. Guard her while she’s vulnerable.”
I was pretty sure Salem had chosen those very words because he suspected they just might penetrate the rage hazing my thoughts. He was right. I took a deep breath, searching for some element of calm.
Marco didn’t notice my struggle as his gaze went straight to a trembling Imani. “I heard she was carried inside. What’s wrong with her?”
I bared my teeth. “You know.” The words were almost animalistic.
Ava took a threatening step forward, only to have her way barred by her mate’s arm. “And so do your bunnies.”
Ignoring us both, Marco looked at Lazarus. “What’s wrong with Imani?”
It was Annalise who responded, her eyes on Tait. “Someone injected her with the latest serum.”
Marco sucked in a breath. “No.”
Energy crackled in the air as Sam also honed in on Tait, her irises glowing. “Was it you?”
The bitch blinked. “Me? No. I’ve been with Marco and Juliet all night. Ask anyone.”
I snarled at Marco. “I think it was you. You’re her Sire, and she escaped you. I think you’re so obsessed with her that you’d see her dead before you’d see her with another guy.”
Marco’s eyes blazed with anger. He spoke through his teeth. “I’d never harm Imani.” He looked at Lazarus. “I would never do this. Never. When I find out who did, I’ll obliterate them.”
“No, I’ll do that,” I growled.
His jaw clenched. “We’ll see who finds them first.” His harsh expression softened as it went to Imani. “She needs to be in bed.”
“She will be,” said Sam. “Butch, we’re leaving. Get Imani.”
I scooped up Imani, holding her close.
“You can’t take her away from here,” objected Marco, but Lazarus blocked his path before he could advance on us.
At that moment, Ian and the rest of the two squads appeared, no doubt summoned telepathically by Jared. Within seconds, they had Marco, Tait, and Juliet restrained. Strangely, Marco didn’t struggle. His attention was solely on Imani.
“Take them straight to the containment cells,” ordered Jared, to which Tait and Juliet gasped. “Be sure to put them in separate cells.”
A panicked Paige asked me, “What’s wrong with her?”
I ignored her, moving to Jared who then teleported me, Imani, and Sam straight to the infirmary at The Hollow.
Though I was reluctant to part with Imani and didn’t really see what Mary Jane—who was a nurse in her human life and liked to act as one at The Hollow—could do for her, I laid Imani on the bed and let Mary Jane fuss over her.
Jared then telepathically contacted Antonio, Luther, and Sebastian. They arrived at the infirmary quickly, and he told them about Imani’s condition. Luther pretty much beat himself up for not foreseeing any of this, despite Antonio’s assurances that he couldn’t expect to see everything.
Meanwhile, I sat on the chair beside Imani’s bed, her hand in mine as I stroked her pulse with my thumb. It wasn’t easy to keep my touch light when fury was still pumping through me. I’d only just got her back, and now I had people telling me I could possibly lose her. No. It wasn’t going to happen. “You’ll live,” I told her, voice gruff. “You have to.”
Pacing and clearly frantic with worry, Sam said, “I admit I wanted a bit of action. I didn’t want Imani hurt and in chance of fucking dying.”
Sebastian spoke to Sam and Jared. “Do you think it will be necessary to put Imani in a containment cell?”
“I doubt it will come to that if she has Butch with her at all times,” replied Jared. “But if she becomes too wild, it’s a possibility.”
It would happen over my dead fucking body.
“I’ll do what I can to ensure that never happens,” Sam promised me. “I’ve been in a cell. It’s absolutely shit.”