Mark of the Harbinger (Book 1)

28 - A Plot and a Plan of Action

I waited for Kayla Cabel to say something, anything. She hadn't uttered a single thing in almost an hour, and after she'd been shunted through my front door by Telavar, she'd only said a handful of words relating to my condition. Nothing else. The ire radiating off of her was so thick I could hardly breathe through it. 

The vampire was now sitting on the back of my couch, watching with a steady gaze as the doctor mended my wounds. My left clavicle had been snapped, but according to Kayla, the break was clean enough to only require a standard brace instead of an operation. The bullet wound was sewn shut with some rather impatient stitches. My scars continued to burn cyan, the skin emitting a stubborn heat.

"Dr. Cabel?" I muttered, aware of the vampire's attention focused on the doctor. She said nothing as she moved around the dining chair I sat upon, tightening the collarbone's brace. Clavicle breaks didn't get a cast: they got a sling which immobilizes the afflicted arm across the person's chest. At least, that's what I hoped it was supposed to be, and that Kayla wasn't just tying me up for torture. She tightened the sling until I whimpered. "Doctor!" 

"I don't want to talk, Winters," she said, voice harsher than I'd ever heard it. "I really, really don't want to talk to you." 

I didn't blame her. I would've been furious if a vampire had come to my place of work and had basically kidnapped me. 

Oh wait. That did happen.

"I'm sorry—." 

"Are you?" 

She jerked on the strap over my shoulder, prompting a strangled hiss from me. Telavar rose but I shot him a look to stay his movement.

"People saw him come in and all but drag me from the clinic, Winters. There were coworkers there. Patients. People could start asking strange questions, like why an innocuous human doctor has any business with vampires—especially on a night like this." Finished with me, she knelt by her black bag and started to hastily stash away her things. "I'm needed at the hospital. My pager has been going off for the past two hours while I've been here."

"I'll have Telavar take you back—."

"No." She straightened and her bag swung from her right hand. "No, I'll get back on my own."

"I really am sorry." 

She stomped over to my door and threw it open, pausing once on the threshold to glance over her shoulder. "Save it for someone who cares."

With that, she disappeared without bothering to shut the door behind her. I stared out into the dark hallway at a loss for words as my guilt built, squatting in my stomach like some unwanted drifter. I couldn't stand the woman, but I knew what it was like to fear exposure.

Telavar walked to the door and quietly shut it before returning to his station. I wanted to be angry at him, but the person truly at fault was Havik, and the hulking vampire wasn't currently at my apartment. It was past eight in the evening and he hadn't put in an appearance. 

"She'll probably never help me again, and I don't blame her. I blame your master for being so heavy-handed."

The auburn vamp shrugged. "We have a doctor on retainer who is discreet. Master Aurel will be sure to add you to his list of acceptable clientele."

My right hand formed a fist, pulling at the fabric of the sweatpants I'd forced myself into after Dr. Cabel's examination. I didn't tell Telavar it might be futile to find me a doctor for the future. If Theda was dead, Havik would turn me into a vampire, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.