The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood #13) - J. R. Ward Page 0,9

lips were moving and his eyes were locked on hers like he was talking to her, but she couldn’t hear his voice. Her own. Anything.

Next thing she knew, she was in one of the examination rooms and Vishous’s shellan, Doc Jane, was peering down at her, all dark green eyes, short blond hair and roaring concern.

The chandelier overhead was too bright, and Selena raised her palm to cover her face. “Please—this is unnecessary—”

All of a sudden, she realized she could hear herself, and the world, once dulled and diluted, came back in sharp detail.

“Honestly, I am fine.”

Doc Jane put her hands on her hips and just stood there, as if she were a barometer making some kind of a reading.

For a moment, Selena was struck with fear. She didn’t want them to know that—

“Did you just feed someone?” the Brotherhood’s physician asked.

“About an hour ago. And I didn’t eat. I forgot to eat.” Which was not a lie.

“Do you have any medical conditions I need to know about?”

“No.” Which was a lie. “I’m perfectly healthy.”

“Here,” Tohr said, pressing something cold into her hand. “Drink this.”

She did as she was told and discovered it was Coke, in a red can that said, “Share with Buddy,” on the side.

And actually, the stuff did revive her. “This is good.”

“Your coloring is getting better.” Doc Jane crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against one of the stainless-steel cabinets. “Keep drinking. And maybe you should consider calling someone else in for—”

“No,” she said sharply. “I will complete my duty.”

The importance of coming here, and making her vein available to the Brothers and others who were not able to feed from their mates, was the only thing keeping her going. It was the connection to normal life, the grounding of a job that was of significance, the metronome of nights and days without which she would consume herself with a bad destiny over which she had no control.

The reality was that her time was running out—and she was never sure when her last moment was going to come, when the last time she did anything was going to happen. And that made being here in service absolutely critical.

As she continued to nurse the soda, many things were said, questions asked on the physician’s part, answers given on hers. The vocabulary didn’t matter—she would utter anything, any lie, partial truth, or false construction to get free of this tiled room and continue on to her last visit of the night.

“I shall complete my duty.” She forced a casual smile onto her face. “And then I shall rest. Promise.”

After a moment, Doc Jane nodded—and the skirmish, at last, was won.

The war, however, was a different beast entirely.

“I’m just fine,” Selena said, hopping off the table. “Really and truly.”

“Come and see me if it happens again, okay?”

“Absolutely.” She smiled at the two of them. “I promise.”

As she left the exam room, she supposed that the lie should have bothered her. But she didn’t have the luxury of conscience anymore.

She was in a sprint against death, and nothing, not even the people she valued … or the male she loved … could get in her way.

For her, survival, such as it was, was a solo endeavor.

Back at shAdoWs, Trez had to take a moment to cough his larynx back into position before sitting up. One thing you could say about Vishous? The Brother did the dominating thing well.

Natch.

But whatever, shit was getting a little too real over there in the corner.

Across the dim space of the sex room, Rhage was curled into a ball, eyes shut, breath going in and out of his open mouth with such a measured rhythm he was either hypnotizing himself or in a fucking coma.

“What is he doing?” Trez asked.

“Trying not to turn into a monster.”

Trez popped his eyebrows. “Literally.”

“Godzilla. Only purple.”

“Jesus … I thought that was just gossip.”

“Nope.”

V palmed a black dagger and lifted it over his shoulder. With a vicious—ha-ha—stab, the Brother obliterated the slayer’s remains by nailing the thing in the empty chest, the second bright light of the night flaring blue-white as a blow torch before disappearing and taking the majority of the stinking remains with it. The flash didn’t take care of the grease spot, but Trez had outfitted these rooms with a drain in the center and a hose hookup discreetly mounted under the bench.

Humans could get messy, too.

“So you’ve bonded, huh,” V said as he took a load off and watched over his Brother like