Chương 51: Chapter 51
☆ ☆ Beta Darius ☆ ☆
We had just left the Biltmore grounds, and I called Alpha Draven, the Ulfric of all the northeast packs, and my brother. He answered and could be heard through the vehicles' hands-free connection. He asked, "How was the first day? Was there anything of value?"
Morgana chimed in, "We think we found where they were keeping Kara." He interjected, "Were?" I took over the conversation, "She's been moved. Her scent is more prominent than most of the people there, but the trail is at least three or four days old." "Hmmm, what about their numbers?", Alpha Draven asked.
"It's greater than I estimated; most are in the hotels. That's where the stench of death was most prominent; we didn't even have to go inside; it emanated from the entire building." I paused for a moment, "Kara was being held on the third floor, which was only accessible by a winding staircase. There are some vampires living in the Biltmore Estate, but not nearly as many as in the hotels; at least one of them is very old."
Alpha Draven said, "That's probably Sylas, the one Alpha Kayn made a deal with. It makes sense that he would keep her close by." Morgana screamed at me, "Stop the car!" I immediately pulled over to the side of the road, and she rushed out of the SUV door and ran toward the hospital to the right of the street. I said, "I'll call you back in a moment."
I put the hazards on and stepped out of the SUV as well. As soon as I stepped out of the vehicle, I smelled the familiar female's scent. Why would they be keeping her at the hospital? Was she injured in the house? Her scent was stronger near the trauma entrance, and that's where Morgana had stopped.
I grabbed Morg by the shoulder, "What do you want to do?" She looked timid, "We have to find out if it's her." I thought to myself, "Okay, we can pretend to be family from out of town, coming to check on her." She nodded, "That could work." I followed her nose to one of the floors in the trauma department.
We went to the nurse's station, and Morgana feigned tears and desperation. She said, "We came as soon as we could. I'm Kara's big sister, and this is my husband." The nurse was a bit taken aback by the dramatic portrayal Morg was putting on. The nurse tried calming her, saying, "It's okay; she's doing much better now."
Morgana continued, "Thank you so much for taking care of her. Can we see her?" The nurse nodded but added, "She normally sleeps during this time and waits for her husband to get off from work. He comes late at night but stays with her for a long time. He's so sweet. The past few nights, he's been reading to her." Morgana nodded in agreement to deceive the nurse, "Yes, she is so lucky to have him; we'll be quiet."
The nurse led us to Kara's room. We were shocked by the grotesque bruising around her delicate neck; an apparent hand print was visible with a thick band of bruising. She looked pale and frail while sleeping, and I could see faint pinprick bite marks on her neck. As I looked more closely, they were almost healed, and if I had to guess, I'd estimate about a week old.
I was puzzled, though. Werewolves, even in our human form, tend to heal more rapidly. She was healing as though she had no connection to her wolf at all. Morg whispered, "Should we wake her and see if she wants us to take her with us? That would negate the entire battle." I cleared my throat and whispered, "Let me call Alpha Draven first to see what he thinks."
She nodded, and I left the room, gently closing the door behind me. As I walked past the nurse's station, I asked, "When do you think Kara will get to come home?" The nurse responded, "We had initially thought she might get to leave tonight when her husband James got here, but she's still having difficulties swallowing soft foods. Her doctor wanted to ensure she could do that before releasing her."
I nodded, "Thank you for your help. I'm going to update their father, and then I'll be back." The nurse waved me off, "Of course, dear, we'll see you in a little while." I left the trauma wing and went to the SUV, still sitting on the side of the street. I got in and pulled it into the hospital's parking lot before calling Alpha Draven.
The phone rang twice before he answered. "I'm sorry about that, bro. I have some good news and some bad." Draven said, "Give me the bad news first." I did, "Kara is in the hospital; she's been beaten pretty badly, but she's going to live, and there is evidence they have fed from her." My brother let out a long sigh, "And the good news?"
"There's not a vampire in sight. The nurse I spoke with said her husband comes at night when he's done with work." I paused, "They think she'll be released tomorrow if she can swallow soft foods." Draven paused, "How many vampires do you think are on the grounds now that you've had time to assess them?"
I responded, "It's the largest coven we've encountered; they have a 1.5:1 ratio to our warriors. If we fought them, it would be a blood bath in their favor; many of them are older. In fact, all of the younger ones seem to be living in the Biltmore Estate where Kara had been staying, aside from the one you think is Sylas."
"Damn.", Draven said, "What plan have my brilliant Beta's devised?" I said, "If we could get Kara to willingly come with us once she's released from the hospital, we could possibly negate the war altogether." I added, "Alternatively, It seems that her husband, James, is the only one visiting her in the hospital; two Betas should be able to take a single vampire on easily."
I paused, giving Draven the opportunity to speak after ruminating over what I had said. He finally spoke, "Don't be hasty; scope the place out tonight and call me before we finalize our new plan." I replied, "You got it, bro. I'll let Beta Morgana know your directive." I went to end the call but asked, "Is there anything else, Alpha Darius?" He added, "Please be vigilant and safe; don't risk your lives when we can fight another day." I grunted in response and ended the call.
I returned to the room where Morg was sitting with Kara after giving a quick wave to the nurse I had spoken to earlier. "The nurse thinks she'll be released sometime tomorrow.", I said quietly as I closed the door behind me, "Alpha Daruis wants us to scope out the place tonight and call him afterward." Morgana nodded and said, "She's suffered so much." I hugged her tightly, "We'd better prepare for our stakeout; we need to be back here right before sunset."
We stopped at the nurse's station, and Morg said, "Please don't tell them we came by; I don't want her to be upset that she didn't get to see us. We'll be back tomorrow." The nurse nodded compliantly as we left. We went to a nearby grocery store to grab snacks and drinks for our stakeout. When we went to pay, I saw some decks of cards in the impulse aisle, and I grabbed two, throwing them on the conveyor belt.
I handed Morgana the keys and took the bags out to the SUV. I placed them in the trunk and then folded the back seats down, giving us a more comfortable and spacious area to survey from. We drove back to the hotel, and I emptied my suitcase. I shoved the pillows from the bed and the comforter into it so we could take turns resting if needed. I carried the bag down and put it in the vehicle as well.
I checked my watch, and it was 7:00 p.m. We needed to head out soon, and I wanted to get a meal in before we spent the rest of our evening in the hospital parking lot. Morgana followed shortly behind me and asked, "How does pizza sound?" I smiled, "Great, and we can eat it in the car." She returned my smile, "My thoughts exactly."
We went to a nearby place called PIE.ZAA, Morg ordered for us while I waited in the SUV. She returned a while later with two pizza boxes and a bag of what I assumed were utensils and drinks. I stepped out of the vehicle and helped her in with the food. It smelled good, and my stomach let out a grumble. "What did you get?", I asked. I got you the 28-inch Sausage Pie; the other is split, half Roni and half Caroline."
I got back in the driver's seat, and we headed to the hospital. I parked with the car's back window facing the trauma wing's doors. We got situated on the folded-down back seats. I set up a makeshift bed while Morg got our dinner ready. She pulled out paper plates, a Coke for me, and a Dr. Pepper for herself, and we ate our delicious dinner as we watched and waited for James to show up.
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