Chapter Seventy-eight

Bram was at his side in an instant. Izabella clicked the lights on, but he immediately barked at her. “Shut those off! We don’t need anyone watching to know we’re here.”

She jumped, but stayed silent, watching as Bram pulled Gavin up into his arms. She had the children all settle in, asking them to keep as quiet as possible. She maneuvered slowly across the living room, unfortunately, she wasn’t a vampire and couldn’t see in the dark as well as he could. “What can I do to help?” His blue eyes practically glowed in the dark as he examined Gavin.

“A blanket of some sort.” Even in the dark, and despite Gavin’s already fair complexion, Izabella felt her stomach churn. That was not the paler any living body would ever come back from. His skin had gone grey, and his fingers and toes were already turning black. Using his teeth, he ripped open his wrist, letting a small trail of blood run down onto the wound over Gavin’s heart. She was pretty sure that the story went that if a vampire was stabbed through the heart, that was it. But she wasn’t close enough to tell if his heart was still beating or if he was breathing. Bram let his blood trickle over the other wounds, and Izabella went in search of a blanket in the dark.

Like the other apartments she’d been to where vampires lived, the place did not feel lived in. It was too clean. Too put together. No dust. No fingerprints. No dirt on the floors. Bram’s place hadn’t been as bad, since Devon was there, but Gavin’s apartment just didn’t feel *lived* in, much like Tyler’s had been when she’d first stayed the night there. The hall was short, a large bookshelf, at least, that’s what she assumed it was in the darkness. There was a room to her right and left. Both were too dark for her to see into. But walking into the one on the right, it quickly became clear it was only a small bathroom.

Turning around, she banged her hip on something and yelped a bit. Her hands in front of her. Bram called out just loud enough for her to hear him, and she called back in the same undertones to let him know she was fine. As she entered the bedroom, something wrapped around her ankle in the dark, and she fell to the floor, barely catching herself with her arms. She landed on something firm, yet kinda soft. Arms wrapped around her, and she could still feel hands on her legs. Whatever was in there with her, they were humanish, and groaning as if in perpetual pain.

A scream escaped her lips.

A moment later, Izabella felt Bram pull her away from whatever had attacked her. He set her back down on her feet and she felt a blanket cover her body. “They’re ghouls. Take that to Gavin and lay beside him. We need to warm his blood back up if we can. I’ll take care of these.” She was grateful she couldn’t see what was happening in there. The sound of ripping flesh and the stench of rotting blood made her turn tail and vomit in the hall. She was lucky enough that she was able to make sure the blanket didn’t get any on it. She scrambled to get the blanket to Gavin as she’d been told. Though, the thought of laying beside his cold corpse-like body left her shaking with trepidation.

“Come on guys, lets go help warm him up with Izzy.” She heard Gabe whisper to the others. He was the first by her side, pulling his shirt off, he crawled under the blanket with Gavin. The three monkeys crawled under the other side of the blankets, all wrapping themselves around his cold body. Devon laid down on top of the blankets, right between his legs with his ankles resting on his thighs and hips. Izabella threw him a pillow.

“Thanks guys.” She said, with all seriousness. There was nowhere where she would be able to lay down with him now, and that was okay with her.

“We have to try to help. He helped dad save our lives, we have to try for him too.” She was pretty sure Missy was the one who spoke, but she couldn’t see anything in the dark of the room. Though, it did touch her heart to hear them all so willing to call Bram dad.

“How did you know, Gabe?”

“I heard him grumbling. He didn’t want to ask us, but he didn’t want to ask you to lay next to another naked guy. In the end, he decided that you were the best option. I figured if I could get these guys to help, we’d be fine. If not, at least we would cover both sides.” That was what she liked most about Gabe. He was very pragmatic about everything.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Jen stepped forward, ringing her hands. Sarah came up behind her, Izabella thought she could see her blond curls nodding in agreement.

“No, dears. Not yet, anyway. Thank you, Gabe. I appreciate you stepping up there. Iz, can you take my phone to the bathroom, close the door, and call the number listed as Millie in my phone? Tell her I need four emergency feeds and a safe house? She’ll be hesitant when you call and won’t want to talk to you. Tell her you’re Izabella. My new nanny. She might be harsh, and you might not like the conversation, but I must give him more blood. He’s at the very brink. I have to try to save him.” Izabella saw his form fall to the floor, putting a knee to either side of Gavin’s head as he bit into his wrist.

Iz walked to the bathroom, turning on the phone as a light, just to be sure, before closing the door. Scrolling through, she realized he had almost no contacts. Millie was easy to find. She swallowed hard, then pressed call. It rang once. “Bram? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”

“This is Izabella. His nanny.” She took a deep breath. “We need four feeds and a safe room. Bram wanted me to tell you that.”

“Who is this?” She barked back.

“I’m Izabella Corvino. I was told you would know me. His nanny? I’ve been caring for Devon.” She whispered holding the phone close, hoping it would stay quiet.

“And you need what?”

“Four feeds and a safe room?” Why was she so unsure all the sudden?

“Anything else?” Her tone was clipped, but Izabella could tell she was interested.

“What else can you tell me about what I’ve gotten into?” Izabella sobbed.