4|No One Dies Tonight

—A loud thud directly above him pulled Luca from his troubled past.

He was instantly on his feet and out of the door. He ran up the stairs and crashed into Nelson on the landing, just as the other man was about to come and find him. The butler was so distraught it took Luca a few minutes to calm him down and tell him what had gotten him so spooked.

"The girl, sir, she's having convulsions—I tried—"

Luca didn't stick around to hear the rest of his explanation. He bolted to the basement, where they kept their medical supplies. The leather duffel bag was still where he'd left it over a month ago, inside the steel cabinet.

He took it back to the guest room and emptied its contents on the bed beside the girl, his deft fingers rummaging through the dozens of containers and tubes. An earth-shattering sigh shot through his lips when he found the syringe and pumped it with adrenaline.

Nelson was beside himself with worry as he frantically paced the length of the room. 

"Get a grip!" Luca growled at him to put a lid on his emotions.

The butler managed to pull himself together, but his fear was still there, filling up the room and making it difficult for Luca to focus on the young woman.

"Get out!" he barked at the older man, and wordlessly he obeyed.

Alone with the woman, Luca crept over her lifeless body and peeled off the damp T-shirt, and for a brief moment, he debated saving her life.

He was tempted to let her go. Bundle her up in a nice sheet and get rid of her. Peg her down as one of the many casualties of their war with the Youngbloods.

But then he remembered his own mother, Hanna Delacroix, and he wished someone had saved her. This girl may have been an energy source for the clan, but she was also someone's daughter, sister, and friend. She had a life outside these four walls, as miserable as it was.

Without wasting any more time, he plunged the syringe into her heart and emptied the adrenaline.

A little while later, she was fully clothed in one of April's outfits and judging by the dazed look in her eyes as she sat at the table in the dining room, the compulsion had worked. She still looked pale and sickly, and it was the only reason Luca was going against Nelson's words of caution and taking her to a hospital.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Nelson murmured from behind him for the hundredth time.

Luca ignored him like he'd done for the past fifteen minutes while getting the young lady ready. But Nelson was right. Taking her to a public hospital wasn't the smartest of plans.

It would raise too many questions and suspicions he didn't want or need if the townspeople saw them together. But he would never forgive himself if she died.

"Get the man and meet us in the car," Luca instructed his thrall as he helped the woman from the chair and guided her out of the room.

Fifteen minutes later, Luca and Nelson stayed in the car and watched the two dazedly make their way inside the bustling emergency room of Shadowbrooke's Medical Center. 

Luca had given her strict instructions to approach a nurse once she was inside, and ask for help. He knew she would follow them to the tee, and they'd catch a bus out of town after her treatment. He was just worried about the medical staff. There was always a chance they'd turn her away since, outwardly, she looked okay.

"You did all you could for her." Nelson placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. Luca nodded; he just hoped it would be enough.

As they sped away from the town centre, Luca decided to hold off on finding prey for a while. Since there'd be four of them in the house now and two at any given time, their combined energy should be enough to sustain Julian and the others.