All Souls' Night - Renee Rose Page 0,277

supplies on the couch at Karina’s head.

Maximus and Augustus exchange uncertain glances, then direct their attention to me.

“It’s all right, gentlemen. You can both return to your stations. I’ll handle this.”

Maximus shrugs and Augustus nods. They close the door behind them as they leave.

I peer over Alex’s broad shoulders. His biceps stretch the sleeves of his navy-blue Polo shirt as he works. He’s opened Karina’s blouse and uses the gauze to blot the deep laceration just above her hip, which seeps every time he pulls the dressing away.

“Looks like a knife wound, but I need to see how far back it goes. Can you help me turn her on her side?”

With trembling hands, I lift her by her shoulder while Alex pulls on her hip.

He peels her blouse away and pats the weeping wound. “Not far at all.” He sighs. “Good. But she’ll need stitches.”

My heart constricts for two conflicting reasons. My poor little Karina, who—thank the gods—is unconscious during all this, and Alex, who ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it over a hundred-and-thirty years ago.

He glances at me, concern in his eyes. “You know her?”

I nod.

“Is she a troublemaker?”

“Karina?” I scoff at the idea. “Not at all. She’s the sweetest little sub I’ve ever had the pleasure of fucking.”

He glances at me, pain in his eyes.

Good. Although I can’t fathom why. He’s the one who ended our relationship—all the more reason to question why he’s here.

“Why do you ask if she’s a troublemaker?”

He shrugs. “Knife wound. Maybe she got mugged.”

I frown.

“I guess we’ll have to ask her when she awakens. And just so you know, she specifically asked for you.”

An unexpected warmth covers my heart and the sensation is not unwanted. However, it’s both comforting and unnerving. She’s human. I adore the girl, but that’s the reason I’ve tried to stay away from her. She’s damned addictive. Just like Alex was.

He lays the last piece of tape across her skin. “This will have to do for the moment. I need to clean her wound properly, though. Is there some antibiotic ointment in your first aid supplies?”

“I’m certain there is. I’ll get you anything you need.”

Alex stands. “Is there a bathroom up here? I’d like to wash my hands.”

“Yes.” I point to the private powder room in the corner of Lucius’s office.

Alex dips his head in acknowledgment and strides his long muscular legs across the room.

I clench my jaw, bracing against the heartache his presence stirs, like a kicked hornet’s nest. Of all the times for him to come crashing back into my life. And with my sub. I stalk the to the bathroom door and cross my arms. “Why are you here?”

He frowns as he lathers his hands, a hint of anguish in his face.

My pulse hikes. “No. You don’t get to do this. You can’t end it the way you did and then come waltzing in here like you’re the one who got hurt.”

Alex grabs the hand towel. “It hurt me, too, Theo. I didn’t want to let you go.”

“Then why did you?”

“I had a contract to fulfill.” He slaps the towel to the vanity. “Bartholomew owned me.”

“I could have worked something out with him. Hell, we could have kept in touch with each other through the years.”

“I was young and selfish, and trying to make it easier to…” He sighs. “I thought if you hated me, it would be easier for me to say goodbye. Bart wasn’t letting me go, and I didn’t know how to make the best of it.”

How could I be so stupid? “You were sleeping with him while we were together?”

Alex shoves past me and puts distance between us.

“Answer me.”

“Yes!” He rakes his fingers through his dark hair. “That was part of the contract, Theo. The king of the London Nest doesn’t dole out immortality without asking for something in return. I went from one sex slave situation to another. But he saved my life. I owed him.”

I understand that. Many sires don’t just demand loyalty. Some demand servitude. But that doesn’t erase the hurtful way Alex ended our relationship. “Why didn’t you just tell me what was going on?”

“And have you demand my release? Because that’s exactly what you would have done.”

“Not necessarily. Lucius and I could have negotiated with Bartholomew.”

“And then you would have owed him, and I wasn’t putting you in that position. If you knew the truth about my circumstances, you wouldn’t have settled for a negotiation. You would have gone to Lucius and