“Jade. Where are your potions?” I started to shake her again but she looked so terrible I didn’t want to be rough, so I settled for pushing some of her red hair out of her face. “Jade.”
She didn’t stir—she didn’t even groan.
Guess I’ll just have to search for them.
I stood up and carefully stepped over her, then rushed into her bathroom and ransacked it—opening drawers and the medicine cabinet, searching for the familiar glass vials.
Nothing.
Desperate, I returned to her bedroom and checked under her bed—which hid a box of ammo, two swords, and her slayer uniform, but no potions.
Jade still hadn’t woken up.
I didn’t know much about human medical care, but I knew that was a terrible sign. Jade was getting worse—she was likely too injured for her slayer healing powers to keep up.
The feelings I hadn’t wanted to label were close to crushing now. But as I knelt at Jade’s side, I forced my thoughts to slow.
I’m wasting time looking for her potions. I need to get her help. But where?
I scooped Jade up—one arm under her knees, another supporting her back. I was careful so that her injured arm faced out where I wouldn’t bump it and her head rested against my shoulder.
My concern secured, I effortlessly carried Jade out of the apartment barely noticing her front door that hung on one hinge when we passed by it.
I tried to make our descent down the stairs as smooth as possible, but Jade was so still—so lifeless. I would have welcomed a groan or any kind of reaction from her.
I’d long been beyond such a paltry feeling like terror—there was nothing I had to fear with my abilities and strength. But Jade’s white face and slumped body unlocked everything I’d lost or hidden away, leaving me bare with the realization that she meant far more to me than I thought—far more to me than she should—and I’d do anything to save her.
I hurtled out of the apartment building, my movements vampire fast, but once I reached the sidewalk the hopelessness of the situation dawned on me.
I had no idea what to do with Jade. I didn’t know how to help her; I didn’t know where to take her. Would the Cloisters help? I didn’t know! Would it be best to take her back down to the scene of the fight where her boss and teammates were? How would I know? I was completely ignorant in the care of humans—magical or otherwise. But I did know if I didn’t do something fast, there was a possibility that Jade would slip away from this world and die in my arms.
I glanced down at her, struggling to decide what to do. Jade’s freckles were more pronounced in the stark white of her skin, her red curls were tangled, and the boneless still way she was slumped against me felt so foreign compared to her usual strength and warmth.
I’d burn it all to save her, I realized. So, I’d better start the fire.
I closed my eyes to concentrate, then—for the first time in decades, maybe centuries—I unleashed my full power.
All the carefully constructed walls I’d made to contain my powers dropped, expanding my awareness and slamming my brain with new sensory information. I impatiently pushed it aside and tapped one of the powers that made me an elder—the ability to command any vampire of lower strength.
Normally I’d limit this power to a vampire standing directly in front of me, but Jade was dying in my arms so I expanded my powers— first to a two-block radius around the apartment building, then all of downtown before expanding my reach to a good third of the city.
I could feel the life forces of the vampires I’d captured in my net. Some were flickering—young and green, newer vampires—while others were steady and strong—older vampires with decades to centuries of experience.
Once I was certain I had command of them, so they couldn’t move due to the mental hold I had on them, I gave the command.
Get here. Now.
The order given, I kept control of them, but barely noted the sharp tang of the fear I inspired within them. I was mostly interested in making sure they followed the order and sure enough, immediately vampires—regardless of Family, origin, or power—headed in my direction.
Satisfied, I returned my attention to Jade.
“Jade? Snack. Slayer! Can you hear me?” I rocked her trying to get a reaction.
She was slumped in my arms, motionless.
Footsteps echoed down the street, and I turned to see two vampires—a petite blonde woman wearing what appeared to be a Victorian day dress she had hiked up to her shins so she could run better and a lean spider-y man with a formidable mustache, a bowler hat, and a suit—sprinting down the sidewalk.