Release Me When the Sun Goes Down

Release Me

When the Sun Goes Down

By Lisa Olsen

Copyright 2014 by Lisa Olsen

Cover Image licensed by Depositphotos.com/Yuriy Zhuravov and Carlos Castilla

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to my editing team who rocked at getting through this one so quickly! Beckie Pimentel of Lady Bex Editing Services, Marilyn Weaver, Randi Pandi and Laveda Kasch. Thanks to all my Streetbots for spreading the love. Thanks to everyone who voted on the cover art and to James for his scrumtralescent work on the designs and formatting. Thanks to Lael with Amazon for walking me through the pre-order process and being so quick and responsive to all of my questions. And a special thanks to all the book bloggers and fans who made the release day party so much fun!

Chapter One

My vision swam with tears. Rob couldn’t be dead. I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. Almost tripping over the morgue attendant again with my sluggish legs, I stumbled to the two other tables in the room that held bodies on them. Ripping the covers off fast like a Band-aid, I steeled myself for the worst, nodding in relief when neither of the bodies were his.

That left the freezer, and I started at one end, methodically working my way through the ten doors until I found him on the fourth try. A broken cry escaped me as he slid into view. No… slipped out, my hands shaking as I touched his cold, pallid cheek. He couldn’t be dead. The wound at his neck was crusted over, but healed. Despite the pale skin, his lips were still a ruddy color, not blue from the cold like some of the other corpses.

You can’t die, I whispered, feeling the rasp of stubble under my hand as my eyes blurred with tears. I need you.

Thump.

I almost missed it, the sound covered by my snuffling, but I felt it right enough – a single heartbeat, much too slow to be a sign of life – and I froze in place, half convinced I’d imagined it.

Rob? I sniffed, checking him for any possible proof of life, but he lay there completely unmoving, unbreathing… utterly still.

Until he sucked in a great, gasping breath, his eyes flying wide with panic.

Rob! I can’t adequately express what I felt in that moment, relief so sharp it stole what breath I had left in my lungs. I’m not sure if I made a sound or not as I collapsed on his chest, the gentle weight of his hand on my hair the sweetest gift. Oh, thank God, you’re alive! Well, mostly… his heart still beat much too slowly to be normal – that could only mean one thing.

Don’t have to yell, I’m right here. A sound that might’ve been a chuckle but came out as more of a wheeze escaped him and I stopped leaning across his chest, afraid I was cutting off his air supply. His gravelly voice didn’t improve much. What happened? He blinked against the harsh fluorescent lights, trying to sit up, but his limbs were slow and sluggish. I remembered the feeling all too well.

Don’t you remember? Gently, I helped him pull his legs out from the refrigerated drawer to dangle over the side as he got his bearings.

I remember a crash. The rest is a bit… dim.

I didn’t want to spell it out for him. I didn’t want to think back to the horrible exchange with Lodinn or the fact that I didn’t know if Mason had survived. Instead I took his hand, more than a little disturbed by the lack of heat there. I’m sure it’ll come back to you in time. How do you feel?

A deep furrow appeared between his brows as he puzzled his way through what should’ve been a simple question. I feel… off. Wrong somehow. He swallowed, a frown settling there as his fingers flexed in mine.

It’s okay, that’s perfectly normal for everything that’s happened to you. Do you think you can stand? As much as I wanted to give him time to acclimate, we needed to get on the move before someone else came into the morgue and I had to explain the dead guy on the floor.

Rob hopped down, no trace of his normal agility in sight as he plowed into me. Sorry, he mumbled, bracing against the wall of drawers as he overcompensated while backing away and nearly cracked his head in the process.

Careful, easy now. I took hold of his elbows until he steadied. Your balance is bound to be a little wonky for a while.

So I’ve noticed.

Overall, he didn’t seem to be in too bad of shape. They obviously hadn’t done much more than stick him in the drawer because his clothes were undisturbed and his shoes still on. The crust of blood at his neck and the dried stains on his shirt (mostly mine from my frenzied attempts at giving him my blood) were the only indicators he’d been hurt. Even the knock on his head from the crash was nothing more than a faint bruise.

Are you okay now? We seriously should get out of here. I waited to see how steady he was on his feet, relieved when he replied with stoic determination.

I can manage.

Good. Do you think you could help me with him? I let go of him to stumble toward the morgue attendant’s body, my legs stiff and jerky. I could walk, but there was no fluidity of movement, as though there was a delay between my brain’s command to move and my legs carrying out the order. Even with drinking everything the morgue attendant had to offer, I was still far too weak to manage on my own. I think between the two of us we can get him into the empty drawer. We’ll have to call someone to take care of him, but for now we’d better just move him out of sight. Looking back when Rob didn’t join me, I found his scowl troubling. What’s the matter?

Are you hurt? he frowned, blinking as though trying to sort through his jumbled memories.

It’s fine, I said with a shake of the head. I just need more blood and some time to recover. More time than we have here. It was amazing how quickly I’d healed in the first place after losing so much blood. Too bad the morgue guy had been the one to pay the price. I leaned down to wrestle him out of his white coat, taking note of the name on his badge. Oliver Bassett.

All of a sudden Rob was by my side, staring down at the corpse. There wasn’t much spilled blood, my need had made me a fairly tidy eater, but I knew the scent of it must be bothering him. Heal from what? How did we end up down here and why do I feel so barmy?

I’d been hoping to wait, but who was I kidding? There wasn’t ever going to be a good place or time to tell him that he had two choices – feed on human blood and become a vampire, or die by nightfall. There was a crash, like you said, and we survived. But it was Lodinn who pulled us from the wreckage. He snapped my spine and made me watch as he…

As he bit me. His eyes grew hooded as the memory returned. I remember. He made you watch and then… He shook his head. It’s all blackness.

I licked my lips. How do you tell a guy that you turned him into a vampire without finding out first if it was something he wanted? You were dying. I did the only thing I could to save you.

Then I’m...

Not yet, but you know the drill. He knew better than most what to expect, but I could see from the look in his eyes that the reality of it was discombobulating. I’m so sorry, I whispered, my voice falling as he looked like he might keel over. I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let you die like that, I couldn’t stand the thought of… I couldn’t even say it. But I didn’t have to as he gathered me into his arms, offering strong comfort even though he was the one going through the life altering changes.

Shhh, it’s alright, he soothed.

Is it? Somehow I wasn’t sure it’d ever be alright again. I was his Sire now, and that put us both in a precarious position. I didn’t sweat the paperwork, being the Elder was good for something, but there were other things to consider. What if Jakob flipped his lid and killed us both? Plus, I wasn’t ready to be anybody’s Sire, especially when I was still figuring out my own undead life. What if I utterly botched it? What if he had the same trouble Ellie had in feeding? I didn’t think I could ever give the order to put him down like that.

If Rob shared any of those doubts, he didn’t say so. He only stroked my back in gentle circles, and I could feel him sniffing lightly at my hair. We’re both still here, that’s enough for me.

He was right. There would be time enough to worry about the future, all we could do was try and minimize the damage. That meant I had to let him go and focus on the problem at hand. Let’s get him into the freezer, I said.

It was harder than it should’ve been, but we both weren’t up to full strength and the guy was so… floppy. Plus, I think Rob held his breath most of the time. I know for sure I saw him lick his lips once when we first picked him up, but any urges he had about the blood were kept tightly under control until we had him tucked away and the mess swabbed up.

Here, put his coat on, it’ll cover the stains on your shirt, I said, offering him Oliver’s white lab coat. Rob donned it without question and then we shuffled out of there, hoping like crazy no one stopped us. By the time we reached the elevator around the corner, the stiffness was mostly gone from his steps as the blood started flowing again, but I had trouble keeping up.

I needed blood badly, but before I could risk feeding without killing again I had to find out what was going on. That meant finding a phone and some privacy. Thinking the hospital might be laid out in a similar way to Bridget’s, I pushed the button for the third floor.

Why we going up instead of down? he asked.

Because we don’t know what we’d be walking into. We’ve got no phone, no car, and neither one of us is up for any kind of conflict right now, not with the shape we’re in.

Rob rolled his shoulders as if I’d stuck a knife between them. Speak for yourself.

I’m speaking for both of us, I said in a tone that brooked no argument. First order of business is finding out how bad it is out there. For all we know, Lodinn followed up our accident by killing Jakob and burning down our house. And I don’t know if I can compel anyone in the state I’m in. The last time I’d been so weak after getting shot in the chest with an arrow I’d completely lost the ability.

His eyes searched my face carefully. Is it as bad as all that?

I told you, I’ll be fine. I just don’t want to take any more chances, not with everything that’s at stake. I didn’t think I could survive watching him die a second time.

There was all kinds of activity there when the doors slid open and the scent of blood in the air was enough to have us both clenching the railing a smidge too tightly.

That’s blood, ain’t it? Rob mumbled, eyes squeezing tightly shut. I think I’m going to be sick.

It’s okay, you can do this, I soothed, catching up his hand. Look at me, breathe through your mouth, it’ll pass in a moment. He obeyed, hazel eyes locking with mine until the elevator doors slid shut and he drew in a shaky breath. That’s it, just breathe, in… and out. Reaching blindly behind me, I punched the rest of the buttons, hoping another floor would yield a better result, and we got lucky with the sixth, which opened up to a mostly deserted level.

Are you okay? I watched him carefully, gratified to receive a short nod in reply. Let’s find an empty room with a phone and figure out what we’re dealing with.

The nurse’s station was at the far end of the hall and she didn’t even look up as we started down the corridor, slipping into the first empty room we found. The window curtains were drawn, but it wasn’t too hard to see it was still dark out, the clock on the wall showing barely after midnight. God, was that all the time that had passed? It felt like it should be much, much later. I snapped on the light and Rob recoiled from it, so I turned it back off again, settling for a smaller light directly over the bed itself, remembering well the sensitivity to light.

Here, have a seat, I’ll be right back. Leaving him on the edge of the bed, I went into the bathroom, wetting a few paper towels to help him clean off the worst of the dried blood from his neck. Briefly I thought about slipping into one of the other rooms to swipe a clean shirt for him, but decided against it. I wasn’t all that stealthy and I was fairly sure we could pass muster as long as he kept the lab coat on.

Until I caught my own reflection in the mirror, dried blood smeared all over my chin and neck. And he’d never said a word. Maybe Rob didn’t think twice about seeing me that way, but I scrubbed at my skin furiously until I didn’t resemble the walking dead so much.

Rob looked like he hadn’t budged since I’d left him, staring at the stained ceiling tiles. Let me get you cleaned up, I offered, dabbing at his neck with a damp paper towel.

Thought you had to make a phone call?

This’ll only take a minute. Maybe it made me a big fat chicken, but I wasn’t quite ready for reality to catch up with us yet. He sat patiently while I cleaned him up, my fingers brushing over his moist skin when the worst of it was gone. His heart beat sluggish but within human standards for the moment, and I stood there listening to the rush of blood through his veins. I thought I’d lost you, I said softly, resting my hands against his shoulders when they started to tremble.

Rob shook himself out of his daze to pick up my hand and press a kiss to the back of it. Don’t take on so, it’s all over now.

No, I mean it. When you slumped to the ground and I saw the blank look in your eyes, I said, swallowing past a lump of emotion. I totally thought that was it and I…

Hush now, I’m here. All it took was the smallest of tugs and I tumbled into his lap, savoring the feel of his arms around me, strong and secure. I said I wouldn’t leave you again. You calling me a liar?

A half smile tilted his lips and I shook my head, searching for a smile of my own, but I didn’t find it until he tipped my head closer for a kiss. The music blossomed between us, mingled with a sense of loss for what he’d left behind, all because of me. But there would be plenty of time to reflect on that later, first we had to find out what we were up against.

* * *

Anja! Where are you? Marcus demanded, plucking the phone out of Maggie’s fingers before I had a chance to say more than two words to her. I opened my mouth to reply, but something kept me from revealing our location until I knew more information.

I’m safe for the moment. Rob’s here with me, but I have no idea where Mason is. Please tell me he got out of there in time.

Yes, he’s up in one of the bedrooms now. That’s okay, isn’t it?

Of course it’s okay, how is he? The last thing I could remember was the sight of him slumped over the dash and the car on fire.

They were pulling him from the wreckage when Frost showed up and took him. He was pretty badly burned. Even thirty more seconds and that would’ve been it.

Knowing how combustible vampires could be, I could well imagine how close he’d come to final death. How bad is it? Is Jenessa there? If anyone could pull him through it, I felt confident she could.

She got some blood into him, but he’s still passed out, which is probably for the best.

Probably, I murmured, wondering if my blood would be of help. Not that I had much to spare at the moment, but that could be easily fixed by feeding. What about Jakob, have you heard from him?

Jakob? No, why? What happened to you tonight? The last we all knew you were headed to see Jakob and then we got the call from Frost about the accident. Maggie’s been calling every hospital in town, but no one would tell her anything. Frost brought a police scanner but by the time he got it here to us, there wasn’t any more chatter about the accident.

Without the strength of the Order we were pretty crippled in our intelligence gathering. It was Lodinn. He crashed into us and… I swallowed, unable to continue for a moment. "Listen, Jakob was supposed to go meet Lodinn at the Hotel Vitale. Try and find out if that ever went down. I know we don’t have the right to ask them, but see if Frost will send over one of his guys to find out if that ever happened or if he’s laying low again."

Sure, I’ll ask him. He’s in the parlor talking to Jenessa now. I got the feeling he was willing to help us out after he saw what happened to Mason.

Good. I had to trust that no news was good news for the moment. At least Hanna’s body hadn’t surfaced anywhere, that gave me hope. There are some things I need you to take care of for me.

Anything, boss.

I need you to send someone to the morgue at Bayview Hospital here to take care of a body so it can’t be tracked to me.

Isn’t that where a body should be? How would they know it’s related to you?

There wasn’t any judgment in his voice which should’ve been comforting, but it made me sad how he took it in stride. Because I wasn’t at all careful with how I fed from him when I woke up in the morgue. At the very least his cause of death needs to be covered up, but I’d also like to have any record of my being brought in here removed. Is that something we can do? My last trip to the morgue had brought the police to my door, I didn’t want a repeat performance.

It should be possible, yes.

Good. While you’re at it, I want you to find out anything you can about the man himself. His name is Oliver Bassett.

Why, is he important?

He was to his family. Assuming he had one, but I wasn’t about to try to lessen my guilt by imagining him as an orphaned loner with no friends or family of his own. I want to know if he was married, had kids, where he lived, his credit report, the whole works.

That might take more time, but I’ll work on putting it together for you.

Thanks, I appreciate it. Also, I’ll need you to draw up papers for Rob. We’ll worry about getting him chipped after the Order re-establishes their headquarters, but I want them in order in case there are any questions. I said the words with as little inflection as possible, still sorry as hell that it’d come to that, but I might as well start out with making it legal.

Oh, I hadn’t realized… Marcus paused, and I heard a few whispered words to Maggie and her sharp intake of breath. With you as his sponsor?

Of course. I didn’t understand the question, who else could it be? There won’t be any issues with it, will there?

No, not at all, he replied quickly. Shall I send Gunnar to come and collect you? Are you still at the hospital?

No, I’m not coming back to the house tonight, I decided on the spur of the moment. Lodinn could be watching it, like he watched us leave Jakob’s place before. He could’ve been watching us at that moment for all we knew, but I was counting on our ability to slip away unseen without the pomp of being picked up by a security team.

Alright then, where will you be?

It’s better if you don’t know. Also, I had no idea. None. I’ll call to check in later. For now, focus on trying to find Jakob and taking care of this guy Oliver. I don’t want him disappearing though. His family deserved more closure than that. You heard most of that? I asked Rob when I was off the phone.

Yeah. That Mason’s a lucky one.

I’m not so sure he’d agree if he was awake right now. Even with blood I was willing to bet he’d be in for a painful recovery, and knowing that Hanna was still with Lodinn had to suck all on its own. Listen, we can’t stay here. It’s only a matter of time before someone finds us and we need to get you someplace safe so we can talk about what comes next. The last thing we needed was for him to lunge at the first open wound he came into contact with, like I had, and go into transition in the middle of a public place. Any ideas?

I know a place.

Chapter Two

First things first, we ain’t gonna get very far you toddling like that, Rob announced, rising from the bed with more vigor than I would’ve credited him with.

I’ll be fine, I’m a little slower than usual is all.

It’ll draw attention, which we can’t afford for now. Hold tight a tick, I’ll be right back. Before I could so much as open my mouth to protest he slipped out, and despite my natural inclination to stick by his side, I did as he asked. Stayed put. It was silly, I suppose, the need I felt to protect him. Wasn’t he the one always protecting me? But I couldn’t shake the feeling that Rob was more vulnerable than he let on, even though he moved around much quicker than I could at the moment.

In a flash he was back, pushing a wheelchair through the door. In you go then, he said, wheeling it right in front of me.

Where did you get that?

I pinched it, what’d you think? This way won’t be no one giving us the eye, we’ll slip out easy peasey.

You are a genius, I smiled in approval, sinking onto the chair as he slapped down the foot guards.

I have my moments. His answering smile was smug as he maneuvered me out the door and down to the elevator, his white lab coat buttoned up as high as it could go.

Only in the brighter lights of the elevator I could see the sallow pallor of his skin and the deep smudges under his eyes. He was in far worse shape than he let on, as I’d suspected. You should be the one in the wheelchair, I said, reaching back to cover his hand with mine.

I can manage.

It’s okay to ask for help when you need it.

I’m not at the end of my rope yet. Just tired is all. Dying will do that to a fella.

I remember.

Someone else got onto the elevator then and we fell silent, staring straight ahead until the doors slid open on the ground floor. Instead of going for the main entrance, Rob surprised me by turning into the west wing.

We’re not going out front to catch a cab?

Nah, like you said, he could be watching the place. Better to take one of the side entrances and head straight for the parking garage. I can get us a car and we’ll be off in no time.

I put aside the objections I found to stealing some poor person’s car, knowing it would only be temporary and we’d leave it in good condition. Something else crowded my tongue first. You still haven’t told me where we’re headed. Is it your old place over the garage? I assumed he still owned the property.

I’ll tell you once we’re on our way. His eyes were constantly scanning, on the lookout for anything suspicious and I clammed up, not wanting to make it any more difficult on him. Instead I focused on the same, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. As near as I could tell, nobody cared about us one way or another, but Lodinn had already proven himself far too sneaky for his own good.

To my surprise, he took us up to the third level in the parking garage, pushing us down the long line of cars as if looking for something in particular. He finally turned and parked me next to a big red truck with an extended cab that took up two parking spaces.

Isn’t this kind of a flashy? I whispered.

That’s sort of the point. Besides, a monster like this will withstand more if he comes at us again. Done explaining, Rob’s elbow came up, smashing through the rear window with a crash that made us both wince. So much for leaving it in good condition.

I didn’t bother to ask him if he was okay, I knew he wouldn’t stop now until we were both safely away.