Page 14 (1/2)
Mark didn&039;t dare take "Nefertiti" to Montresse House-there was no way he would invite her into the home where Lauren and her friends had found safety Nor could he take her out to Sean&039;s house, for the same reason He would never risk the lieutenant and his fa such a creature in
At least she seeerous to her, and she was quiet and well-behaved, accepting his lead as heto find a cafe with a courtyard and plenty of rooht
She protested when he chose a place and picked ouut a table His chair was in shadow Hers was not
"Sit," he co"
"Talk"
"What do you want o to sleep"
"I sleepdifferent places"
"Who did this to you?" he asked her
She waved a hand in the air dismissively "Who knows? So his head "You&039;re a liar You never worked in that club until you becaht"
She stared at him sulkily just as a waitress caly at Mark "Order," he said with a shrug Nefertiti sood in bed that I don&039;t care," she said sweetly
The waitress, an older wo hair, stared at the two of thes of society
"An ice tea, please," he said
"I&039;ry," Nefertiti whined
"Then eat"
"He really is so coer"
"Medium? Mediuary sests-"
"Not rare Raw No bun, thanks"
"I can&039;t give you a raw hae bill on the table "Please just bring her a raw ha look, the waitress left the closer to her
"Bourbon Street"
"Where are you froinally But now I&039;m from Bourbon Street"
"So you were created on Bourbon Street?"
"Ooh Sht?"
"Wherever I choose"
He had the water pistol aio with a short spray She nearly jumped out of the chair "Bastard!" she hissed at hier It was barely on the table before Nefertiti was digging into it with her fingers The waitress made a soft sound, clearly not intended for theust
"Maybe you can be helped," Mark suggested when the waitress had gone
Nefertiti stopped eating for a moment and stared at him, then shook her head "No I died, and I rose There is no help"
He realized suddenly that she was looking past hi In that split second, she was up and running
"Stop!" he shouted
She only kept running He followed, practically leaping over a table to keep up with her She turned down a side street, then into an alley "Stop!" he yelled again
At thatout of a door onto the sidewalk in front of her
Nefertiti stared, then grabbed the child and turned to look Mark straight in the eye
The little boy started to cry From inside the house, they could hear a wo, "Ryan? Ryan! Where are you?"
Nefertiti shook her head at Mark with a curious, almost wistful san to lower it, fangs extended, to the crying toddler&039;s throat
He shot her with a long, continuous spray She let out a screech of agony and dropped the boy Snizable any form, wretchedly decayed
He heard the sound of police sirens
Disgusted, Mark turned and quickly escaped the alley He heard thein bone-chilling horror, no doubt as she stumbled onto Nefertiti&039;s remains
As he turned onto Delphine Street, Mark saw a police cruiser, lights flashing, pass his overhead
As he walked quickly away, he thought over what had happened and realized that the woman who called herself Nefertiti had preferred extinction at his hands to facing herbranded a traitor
As he walked, he re, he drew out his phone and punched in the lieutenant&039;s cell number
Lauren was torn The scream demanded-self-preservation demanded-that she run At the sa But most of all, she knew that if Deanna were to have a chance, she couldn&039;t leave her alone again
That last option won out She rushed over to Deanna&039;s bed, wondering if whatever was happening was only a ruse to trick everyone into leaving her friend alone and vulnerable
Deanna&039;s IV was still connected to her arm She still lay on her white pillow and sheets as she had for what see, her fear nearly paralyzing her, Lauren picked up Deanna&039;s hand and fuular and strong She breathed a sigh of relief
But what the hell was going on?
Lauren had been concentrating so hard on Deanna that it was several seconds before she realized that someone had come into the room behind her
As she turned around, wary and tense, she heard the door to the room sla now at the foot of the bed Ink dark hair fell over his forehead, contrasting with the doctor&039;s white coat he earing "How is my patient?" he asked very softly
Lauren looked toward the openShouts and cries were co from the hallway; the hospital seemed to have turned into Bedlam But Stephan Stephan Delanskiy seemed oblivious to all that She didn&039;t knohere he had come from, if he had stepped into the rooh the
But it didn&039;t really matter All that mattered was that he was there
She stared at hi out from under her shirt
He smiled "That will not stop me, you know"
"Maybe so, but you&039;re there, and I&039;m here"
"Because you must come to me"
"I will never cohed softly "I have ht say You see, this is a war Whatever skirmish I may lose to my enemy, in the end, it is a war, and I in And you will co and death," she told him "You hurt people You nearly killed my friend You&039;re evil, and you will not win"
He ss to a small child "What in life has ever led you to believe that what you call &039;evil&039; cannot win? Take that silly cross around your neck I have seen it before, and it failed to stop me then, just as it will now He is not the salvation you think he is And I am not death, but rather, eternal life"
"Tell that to the women you&039;ve beheaded," she said softly
He made a dismissive sound "They did not deserve to live"
"You&039;re wrong They didn&039;t deserve to be murdered"
They could both hear footsteps then; so down the toward Deanna&039;s rooain, his s slaainst the door Instinctively, Lauren looked in that direction just as the door burst open
Mark was there, stranding in the doorway, his gaze quickly darting around the roo her close to him, his arms around her
"He was here," he said huskily, his tone certain
"Yes" She couldn&039;t help it She was treh Stephan had vanished as suddenly as he&039;d appeared
"Deanna?"
"She seeht"
"Andyou?"
"I&039;h of relief For a ed to hold him forever, but now, more than ever, she was afraid to leave Deanna&039;s side
"What&039;s happening here?" she demanded
As if in answer, another scream echoed from down the hall
Even between thee to hold the woman
Leticia Lockas slith was uniinable
"I can&039;t hold her!" Bobby cried
Sean had gotten off the elevator just in tiurney, where she was rabidly attacking a baginto an apparently post-op gentle a swollen jaw, and hospital eet out of the way
"Hey," Sean said fir hold of Leticia&039;s shoulder as she writhed like an ani sound that was horrible to hear Then, with astounding ease, she threw Bobby clear across the hall
"Damn it, stop! I don&039;t want to shoot you!" Sean roared
Heat a hapless intern as standing by, aghast
"Shit!" Sean swore and went tearing after her
He tackled her, and they hit the floor together
She shoved hiain, this ti a leap for the frozen and panic-stricken head nurse, as standing behind the desk
Wincing, Sean drew his weapon and fired a warning shot
Everyone screamed-except Leticia, who didn&039;t even pause
Before Sean had a chance to shoot again, Mark Davidson ca out of Deanna&039;s roo leap over the desk He caught Leticia by the shoulders and shoved her forward, crashing into a rolling cart filled witheverywhere
Sean waited, expecting Davidson to go flying just as he and Bobby had, but there was only silence
Nothing
He strode to the desk and looked over Mark was straddling the girl, staring down at her and talking soothingly "Soue tranquilizer," Sean said
The head nurse, who had appeared al to life She fuh the wrapped needles and the different vials In a second she was at Mark&039;s side Leticia began to thrash again, forcing her back, but Mark seized the hypodermic from her, and quickly inserted the needle In a second, Leticia&039;s wild and frantic eyes closed, and she went li seconds Then he eased back
Sean strode over to hiht?"
"Yeah"
Suddenly hospital personnel were everywhere
"I can&039;t believe it," the head nurse said, stricken "It&039;s Leticia She&039;s one of our finest nurses"
"She went insane," one of the interns said
"Like a rabid dog!" another claiet her into a bed," an intern said
"You&039;re going to find that she needs a transfusions, and she needs it fast," Mark said
"Are you a doctor, young man?" the head nurse demanded
Mark looked up at her "I knohat she needs," he said quietly The nurse frowned as Mark rose and lifted Leticia into his ar intern who had first suggested that she needed a bed followed Mark into an empty room and spoke quickly to the nurse "Pull up her chart Her blood type must be on record"
The nurse stared at hilance at Mark, and hurried back out to the hall
Sean stood in the door, watching, then felt a tap on his shoulder He turned to see Bobby standing behind him
"Lauren is here, in Deanna&039;s room I&039;ll be with her"
"Thanks, Bobby"
Sean looked at Mark, as standing next to the bed where Leticia now lay, completely out "Will the transfusion do it?" he asked quietly
Mark shook his head, his uncertainty clear
The intern, as checking Leticia&039;s pulse, said, "I think she&039;ll be all right SheWe&039;ll do a tox screen and find out what the hell is going on She&039;s one of our best nurses I can&039;t is in her church choir"
A corow into a din Sean stepped out to see as going on and found patients et them calmed down and back into their rooht," Sean said
A own that left her more than a little exposed, suddenly pointed and started screaurney with the post op patient The otten her teeth into the blood bag, because blood was sprayed all over the ht, Mrs Ruben," a nurse assured her
An orderly quickly went over to the gurney "I need help here," he called
"People, please," Sean said "Get back into your roos cleaned up"
"Someone stabbed him!" Mrs Ruben screamed
"He wasn&039;t stabbed," Sean said patiently "It&039;s just a spill"
"A spill like murder! Blood red murder!" the woroaned "Stop it!" he snapped, using all his authority "There&039;s been no ht well be a lie "Get back to your rooan to obey
With Mark in with Leticia Lockwood and the staff suddenly finding both courage and their senses, Sean strode across to Deanna&039;s room
Lauren was perched by her friend&039;s side