Chapter Sixteen.

Inez woke to the sound of, well it sort of sounded like s.e.x-with grunts and moans and sighs and-Realizing she was making the sounds and definitely wasn't making them out of enjoyment, Inez forced her mouth closed and opened her eyes.

The good news was that she had control of herself again, or still, Inez supposed since she'd got it back just before the tumble they'd taken. The bad news was she was lying on a path at the bottom of a set of stone steps, b.l.o.o.d.y and broken... and she definitely felt broken. Pain was attacking her everywhere. Her leg, her back, her stomach, her head, one arm...

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Inez lifted her head and tried to peer at herself. She didn't see much before her head began to swim and she fell back, and yet it was more than enough. She was on her back, her lower leg bent to the side mid-calf in a most unnatural way, her left shoulder looked funny and she thought it was either broken or dislocated, there was some kind of wound on her lower stomach that seemed to be bleeding copiously, and the minute she'd tipped her head up, blood had poured down over her face from a head wound. Oh yeah, she was broken all right.

A furious growl caught her attention, and Inez shifted her gaze to the side, eyes widening slightly as she saw Rachel fighting with the blond immortal some feet away.

Inez watched, and soon realized she hadn't been the only one injured in the fall. The bearded blond was fighting with one broken arm hanging loose at his side. Rachel was taking every opportunity to boot or punch him in that injured arm, and when he cried out and grabbed it, she went for his groin or head.

Inez was truly impressed and wondered if the woman had taken self-defense cla.s.ses before becoming an immortal. Although, there was nothing saying she couldn't. Rachel could have taken them after becoming an immortal.

A furious roar rang in the air and Inez frowned because she hadn't seen the blond immortal's mouth move. And she was quite sure the sound hadn't come from Rachel. That had definitely been a male sound... or perhaps the sound of a truck driving by, Inez thought vaguely and slowly turned her eyes to look up to the road.

A mild sense of surprise flowed through her when she saw Thomas frozen at the top of the stone steps. Inez could see his eyes glowing silver in the darkness and seriously hoped the man didn't think he was getting any s.e.x in her condition. She loved him dearly, but really this wasn't the time for that s.e.xy silver glow he always got when he was in the mood, she thought a little fuzzily.

It was getting harder to think and she hadn't really been all that clearheaded since the fall, but suspected the deteriorating state of her mind might have something to do with the blood gushing out of her from several spots.

The roar of fury and anguish that suddenly ripped from his throat caught Thomas completely by surprise. It pushed its way up from his chest and exploded from his lips when he saw Inez lying b.l.o.o.d.y and broken at the base of the stairs like a doll tossed from above. Launching himself forward, he scrambled down the stairs as if caught in a landslide, his body moving more quickly with each step until he leapt the last two to land on the ground beside Inez.

He was aware of Bastien and Etienne rushing past to chase after the blond immortal, but knew they wouldn't catch him. His roar had made both Rachel and the bearded man glance his way. The minute Thomas had started down the stairs, the man had burst into action, giving a still-distracted Rachel a shove that sent her flying onto her back before whirling away to flee. It had given him all the head start he needed.

Eyes roving over Inez's injuries, Thomas dropped to his knees and instinctively reached for her. Slipping his arms beneath her, he scooped her up against his chest, and then stilled when she moaned in pain. His heart began to beat again then. Thomas had been sure she was dead and had already begun to grieve but as much as her pain-filled moan hurt his heart, it was also music to his ears.

"Inez," he whispered into her hair, his eyes squeezing closed against the tears of relief that tried to fill them. "It's all right, love.

You're all right."

"No," she mumbled weakly into his neck. "No s.e.x, Thomas. I hurt."

"She's delirious."

Thomas raised his eyes to see Terri at his side, concern clear on her face. He then glanced past her as the others now moved to join them. His eyes narrowed on his cousins and he opened his mouth to rip into them and then froze and glanced down at Inez with alarm.

"Her heartbeat's slowing," he said with dull horror.

"Lay her down, Thomas," Bastien ordered grimly, dropping to his knees beside him.

Thomas whipped his head toward him, wanting to smash him for causing all this with his stupid plan, but wouldn't release Inez to do it. Before he could at least tell him to go to h.e.l.l, Bastien said firmly, "I know you probably hate me right now, Thomas, but believe me, it can't be more than I hate myself. Now put her down so Rachel can look at her. You might have to start the turn right away if we're to save her."

Thomas hesitated one moment and then eased Inez onto her back on the ground.

Rachel immediately knelt on her opposite side. While she worked in a morgue, she was a doctor, and that showed through as she moved her hands quickly over Inez, muttering as she went. "Broken leg, broken collarbone, broken ribs, fractured skull... She'd lost a lot of blood... too much." She glanced up at Thomas and said, "You have to turn her. Now."

"It won't wait until we get back to the townhouse?" Terri asked with concern.

"She'll be dead by the time we get back to the townhouse," Rachel announced baldly.

Thomas immediately raised his wrist toward his mouth, intending to tear into it with his teeth, but an open pocket knife appeared before his face.

Glancing at Etienne who was holding it out, Thomas muttered, "Thanks," and then took it and sliced a four inch gash up his wrist.

Ignoring the pain radiating all the way up into his shoulder, he immediately leaned forward, only to stop when he realized Inez's mouth was closed.

Rachel quickly used one hand on her forehead and the other on her chin to pull her lips apart. Thomas then pressed his wrist to Inez's mouth.

"Hey! Is everything all right down there?"

Thomas didn't even bother to glance around, leaving it to the others to deal with. He was vaguely aware of Etienne moving away to do so, and then raised his wrist to peer at it, frowning when he saw that the nanos were doing their work and the bleeding had stopped.

"Did she get enough?" Rachel asked Bastien.

Thomas glanced over to see the frown on his face. Knowing he was hesitating to say something, he snapped, "What is it?"

"She's probably had enough to initiate the turn," he said slowly.

"But?" Thomas asked, knowing there was more. "But if her condition is as bad as Rachel said, she might not survive long enough for her body to repair itself and complete the change," he admitted and then added quickly, "But I've heard the more blood an immortal gives, the faster repairs can be made and the better the chance of a badly injured mortal surviving the turn."

He'd barely finished the words before Thomas was slicing himself open again. It made complete sense to him. The more nanos he poured into her, the faster they could work and they were definitely working against time here. Inez's heartbeat was still slowing with every pa.s.sing moment.

Thomas sliced his arm open six times before allowing the others to convince him that he'd given her enough. He then scooped her into his arms and tried to stand, his heart lurching in alarm when he found himself swaying weakly and nearly dropping Inez. "Give her to me, Thomas," Bastien said quietly.

Thomas scowled at the man, but didn't really have a choice. He wasn't at all certain that he could get back to the townhouse without help himself. He definitely couldn't manage the feat while carrying her. He reluctantly let Bastien take her, staggering after him when he turned away with her in his arms and then stumbling to a halt as the ground swayed under his feet.

"Let me help you." Etienne was at his side, drawing his arm over his shoulders. "We'll get you both back to the townhouse and give you blood. You gave up a lot and must be in pain."

Thomas was actually in agony, but didn't comment, his concentration was on staying on his feet as they moved to the stairs.

That walk was the longest of his life. Thomas was fuzzy-headed and suffering pain from the blood loss, but he was also furious at the very people now trying to help him for putting Inez in this predicament and anxious over the agony she was soon going to go through-and, in fact, was beginning to experience. Increasing the amount of blood given might be good for speeding up repairs, but it also sped up the onset of the agony, and Inez was already moaning and beginning to thrash in pain as they turned up the short walk in front of the rented townhouse.

Terri rushed ahead to unlock the front door and light splashed over them as it opened. Thomas heard Terri exclaim in surprise, but didn't understand why until Etienne helped him in through the door and he saw Lucern and Kate in the hall, and Vincent and his lifemate Jackie in the doorway to the living room.

Thomas glanced at them, but couldn't muster up any interest in their presence. The pain had grown increasingly worse as they were making their way back to the house, while the nanos still in his system tried to replicate themselves, using up what little blood was left. They'd moved out of his bloodstream in search of blood and he was suffering, but when he realized Bastien was carrying Inez into the living room, he mustered up the strength to growl, "Upstairs. Our room."

Bastien didn't argue. He turned toward the stairs at once, asking Terri to bring up one of the coolers of blood they'd brought with them as he started up.

Etienne turned Thomas in that direction to follow, but before they could reach the stairs, Thomas was. .h.i.t by a wave of pain that made him double over and his legs buckle. Whether Etienne managed to keep him from falling or not, he never knew. He lost consciousness.

When he woke up, Thomas found himself lying in one of the twin beds in the room he and Inez had chosen. An already half-empty bag of blood was stuck to his fangs and Etienne and Terri were leaning over him, worried expressions on their faces.

Terri looked relieved when his eyes opened, but Etienne just looked more worried and turned to announce, "He's waking up."

Thomas saw his lips move and wondered why it was so hard to hear his words and then realized a high, keening scream was rending the air. Turning his head sharply, he saw Inez thrashing on the opposite bed while Rachel and Bastien tried to hold her down.

Ignoring the pain still eating away at him, Thomas ripped the bag from his mouth. Blood immediately shot from the punctures where his fangs had been, splashing up and out like a geyser, but Thomas ignored that too and dropped it to the bed as he tried to get up and go to Inez.

"Dammit!" Etienne caught him by the shoulders, forcing him back on the bed with little effort as Terri scrambled to grab the spraying bag.

"Stay put," Etienne said grimly as Terri wrapped the bag in a towel and rushed from the room. "You need more blood. You'll be no good to her until you've got your strength back. Bastien and Rachel are helping Inez."

"Why haven't they given her drugs yet?" Thomas growled, giving up struggling against Etienne. It wasn't working anyway, the man was using only one hand to hold him down and didn't have to put much strength behind it to do it."They're in the other cooler. Lucern is getting them now," he explained and then added, "We just got you both up here. That bag was the first we put to your teeth."

"Here." Marguerite's oldest son, Lucern, rushed into the room with Kate on his heels. He was digging through the cooler he held as he moved. Stopping beside Bastien, he handed over an ampoule and syringe, and Bastien removed one hand from Inez to reach for it, but her good arm immediately jerked out of the hold his other hand had on her and plowed him in the face.

Thomas smiled as Bastien flew backward off the bed. That was what he'd wanted to do to him down by the river. It did his heart good to see Inez get the lick in for him.

"Bastien." Kate rushed around Lucern to kneel at his side and Vincent and Jackie appeared from somewhere, though Thomas wasn't sure from where. He hadn't noticed them in the room before this, but suddenly they were at the bedside trying to help Rachel hold Inez down. The combination of nanos and pain was making her strong and even with the three of them, they had trouble holding her in place.

"Give her the d.a.m.ned drugs!" Thomas bellowed, or tried to, his voice didn't have its normal strength. He really needed more blood.

Bastien's head suddenly appeared on the other side of the bed and he crawled forward. Ignoring his broken, bleeding nose, he stuck the syringe into the ampoule to draw out the drug. He pulled the needle free once it was full, squeezed it until clear liquid shot out the top, and then injected it straight into Inez's vein as Vincent held her arm out for him.

They all waited tensely, watching Inez. Her struggles and screams began to ease almost at once, the thrashing becoming restless writhing and the screams dropping to loud moans and then she stopped moving and fell silent.

A communal sigh of relief ran around the room like a wave and then every eye turned to him.

Etienne was the first to speak. "Open your mouth," he ordered, and slapped a bag on his still-protruding fangs before anyone else could speak.

Thomas suspected it was an effort on Etienne's part to keep him from saying any of the furious thoughts running around inside his head.

"Now," Vincent said dryly. "Does someone want to tell us who this young woman is and what the h.e.l.l happened?"

Bastien's shoulders slumped as he replayed the night's events.

"You used Thomas's lifemate as bait?" Lucern asked with shock when Bastien was done. "His lifemate? While she was still mortal?"

Thomas closed his eyes with grat.i.tude at Lucern's reaction, feeling vindicated in his anger. A lifemate was as precious to an immortal as life itself. Mortals could divorce and remarry and go through mate after mate if they wished, but for an immortal, a lifemate was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, or twice if they were lucky. And with an immortal that was a very long lifetime.

"Jesus, Bastien. What were you thinking?" Lucern scrubbed one hand through his hair with disgust and said, "I'd have killed you for even considering something like that if it had been Kate. And I know d.a.m.ned right well that you never would have risked Terri like that."

"I wasn't thinking," Bastien admitted unhappily. "I was just so worried about, Mother... and I thought I could keep Inez safe. I thought I'd considered every contingency."

"We thought we'd considered every contingency," Etienne insisted grimly, determined not to let Bastien take the flack on his own.

Lucern's eyes skated to Etienne, and then away dismissively and Thomas saw the way Etienne's hands balled into fists. It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't the only one the two older Argeneau brothers tended to dismiss as an immature young pup. Some of his anger with Etienne suddenly eased, replaced by sympathy. They were both in the same boat, he thought, and then glanced toward his older cousin as Lucern moved up the small aisle between the beds.

The man's gaze moved silently over the now quiet Inez, taking in her injuries with grim eyes before turning to Thomas.

"How angry are you?" he asked.

Thomas clenched his teeth as the question brought his rage stirring back to life and suddenly the bag in his mouth exploded, splashing the red liquid everywhere.

"I guess that answers that question," Lucern said dryly, wiping blood off of his face.

Terri hurried out of the room for more towels.

Ripping the burst bag from his teeth, Thomas tried to sit up again, this time eager to get his hands around Bastien's throat as fury poured through him.

"Stay put, tiger," Lucern said, pushing him back on the bed. "You aren't strong enough to take on Bastien yet, you need more blood. Besides, Mother would never forgive you if you killed him."

Etienne immediately slapped a fresh bag of blood to his teeth as Thomas fell back on the bed. Terri returned then with a stack of towels and Etienne and Lucern both took one each to wipe themselves down.

"I'd better change," Etienne muttered, getting to his feet and moving away.

The moment he did, Lucern sat on the side of the bed next to Thomas. "You have to cut him some slack, Thomas. Bastien is a planner. It's an old habit from running the company so long. He thinks of things in bottom line terms. I have no doubt he considered the options, weighed the risks, and thought he had everything covered. I don't think he'd have gone ahead with this plan if he'd thought there was any real risk to your lifemate." He allowed a moment of silence pa.s.s to let him think about that and then added, "And there wouldn't have been if everyone hadn't let down their guard."

"That's always the most dangerous point," he continued with a grimace. "I can't tell you how many excellent warriors I've seen die after a battle is over. They let down their guard and relaxed and then pow, one of the enemy they thought was more seriously injured than they were suddenly reared up and killed them."

Thomas just stared at him, eyes wide above the bag of blood in his mouth. Lucern wasn't much of a talker. In fact this was the first time he'd heard him string more than a couple of words together. The immortal was over six hundred years old. He'd been a warrior, wielding a broadsword when he was younger, and still had the physical build needed to do it. He was also a writer, tapping out reams of words on paper, but when it came to talking it sometimes seemed as if he'd used up all his words in his books and had nothing else to say.

Lucern glanced to Bastien, considered him briefly, and then shook his head and glanced back to Thomas. "Bastien is suffering the guilt for it now. When he apologizes, let it go. We're all family and even immortals make mistakes."

Thomas hesitated, his gaze sliding to the next bed. Rachel and Bastien were hovering over Inez, the Rachel cutting away her clothes and binding the wounds that were slowly closing, while Bastien held Inez slightly elevated with one hand under her neck and shoulders as he tried to feed her. Inez had no teeth yet and they had no IV to take care of the matter, so he was reduced to pouring blood down her throat straight from the bag.

Lucern patted his shoulder and Thomas glanced back to see that Etienne had returned and Lucern was getting to his feet.

"Kate and I are going to get out of the way. We'll be below if you need us. Just give a shout."

Thomas watched him go, noting that Kate, Jackie, and Vincent followed, leaving the other two couples to handle matters."I'm sorry, Thomas," Etienne said solemnly, drawing his attention again. "We really didn't think Inez was in any real danger. We thought we could keep her safe, otherwise we never would have suggested it."

Thomas hesitated, waiting for the familiar anger to rear up inside him, but this time it didn't. He just felt tired. Nodding wearily, he closed his eyes and waited for the bag of blood in his mouth to empty.

Thomas consumed five bags of blood before Etienne and Terri reluctantly let him get up. He immediately moved to hover behind Rachel, his eyes anxious as he peered over Inez.

"That's all I can do for now," Rachel said, drawing the blankets up to Inez's neck as she sat up straight on the side of the bed. "I've set her leg, bound her wounds... All we can do now is keep feeding her blood. It's up to the nanos to repair her."

They were all silent, peering down at Inez's pale face. She was resting quietly for now, but no one was foolish enough to think she would stay that way. There would come a stage when the drugs wouldn't be able to touch the pain and her mind would be filled with horrible images of fire, death, and blood. She would imagine she was burning up, or being rent apart. It was impossible to prevent that part of the turn. "You look pale."

Thomas glanced at Etienne as he spoke, noting that he was peering at his wife with concern.

Rachel smiled faintly and leaned into his shoulder. "You don't look so good yourself."

"There's blood in the refrigerator downstairs, and lots of food too," Bastien said. "Why don't the two of you go grab a couple bags and make yourselves something to eat."

Etienne and Rachel exchanged a glance and then moved away from the bed. "Call us if you need us."

Bastien then turned to Terri. "You should go too, Terri. You're pale as well."

Terri glanced toward the departing couple with yearning, but then glanced back, her gaze skittering anxiously between Thomas and Bastien before she shook her head and said, "I'll stay with you."

Knowing she was afraid to leave the two of them alone for fear that he would attack Bastien the moment they were gone, Thomas opened his mouth to tell her it was all right, she should go, but Etienne spoke, cutting him off.