Page 4 of Vanessa’s Bravery

“Did you get a good look at him?”

“A brief one, but I didn’t recognize him. He’s not one of us.”

“Out-of-towner?”

“I assume so.” Vanessa pressed her ear to Ginger’s chest to listen for a heartbeat. It was so faint that even her sensitive vampire hearing barely picked it up. “Her heart’s still beating.” She looked up, her wrist still bleeding into Ginger’s mouth. “She’s got a chest injury too.”

“I can heal that,” Vera offered, motioning to the towel.

With one hand, Vanessa pressed the towel to Ginger’s neck, so Vera could remove hers. She watched as Vera’s hands transformed into claws, and she ripped her top to shreds to remove it. There were four long cuts across one breast and down to her abdomen, claw marks. Blood seeped from the wounds, and together with the blood that drenched Ginger’s clothes and the towel, the small room was filled with its metallic scent. Vanessa couldn’t help her fangs from extending, even though she had no intention of drinking Ginger’s blood.

Vera’s fangs were peeking past her lips too, but Vanessa knew she could trust the petite Asian woman with the porcelain face and the long black hair. She’d been a vampire for a long time, and she had her needs under control. It was a godsend that Vera’s brothel was close by, sitting on the top of Nob Hill not far from the famous Fairmont Hotel.

Vera lowered her face to Ginger’s breast and began to lick over the wounds, depositing saliva onto the cuts. A vampire’s saliva had healing properties that could mend a human’s skin without leaving any scars. The wounds on the woman’s torso were shallow enough for the saliva to work. Unfortunately, the wound on Ginger’s neck was too deep to heal by licking it. The vampire blood Vanessa gave her would heal her from the inside.

Vanessa felt her head spin suddenly, and realized that she couldn’t give Ginger any more of her own blood. She removed her wrist and licked it to close the puncture wounds. At the same time, she felt heat crawl up her spine and engulf her head.

Fuck! She didn’t need this right now, but she knew there was no stopping what always started like a fever. She closed her eyes, trying to push down her rising needs.

“You all right?” Vera suddenly asked, her hand on Vanessa’s shoulder.

“Just a little faint and hot.” She pulled her cell from her pocket, while still applying pressure to Ginger’s neck. “I need to call HQ. Tell them what happened.”

“I’ll take over,” Vera said, nodding toward Ginger’s neck.

Grateful for the help, Vanessa tapped on the main number of Scanguards’ headquarters. She rose from the bed and walked toward the ensuite bathroom, where she had to brace herself for a moment in order not to lose her balance.

“Vanessa, what’s up?” It was Benjamin, one of Amaury’s twin sons who was on duty at the central command center that triaged all incoming emergencies and vampire-related incidents.

“One of my girls was savagely attacked by a vampire,” Vanessa said. She knew every single woman who plied her trade on the streets of San Francisco, and she considered them her girls to protect.

“Fuck! How is she? Is she alive?”

“Barely. I’m with her at Vera’s. She’s got a pulse, and I gave her blood.”

“Good. I’ll put the ambulance on standby.”

“Thanks, I’ll let you know when to send it.”

“Who’s the vamp?”

“No idea. Never saw him before. He must be new in town.”

“Okay, describe him.”

“About five foot nine, mouse-brown short hair, not sure about the eye color—they were red the entire time I saw him.” She heard Benjamin tapping away on a computer keyboard.

“Where did it happen?”

“On Waverly Place, between Sacramento and Clay. He escaped down Clay Street, probably headed toward the waterfront. But I couldn’t follow him. Ginger would have bled out.”

“You did the right thing,” Benjamin assured her quickly. “We’ve got this. I’ll send patrols out to look for him. Did you see him well enough to help us with a sketch?”

“Yeah, I can do that. But I need to stay with Ginger until she’s more stable. She’s still unconscious.”

“Good. Stay there. When she comes to, ask her where he grabbed her before they went into the alley; maybe a traffic cam caught him. And then you know what to do. I don’t need to tell you—”

“I know. I’ll wipe her memory. See you later.”