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Redemption (The Captive #5) Page 28
Author: Erica Stevens

Jack rapidly carried her upstairs and down to the last room on the right. Lucas swung the door open and took a quick step back to let him pass. Jack strode into the room and almost came to an abrupt halt as he took in the stark surroundings. Like his room, the walls were wood, but there were no paintings or pictures hanging on them. A simple bureau was pushed against the wall next to the full size bed but there was only a hairbrush and comb sitting on top of it. For a second he doubted that anyone slept in this seemingly cold space, but the closet door was cracked open far enough to reveal her clothes hanging inside.

Shifting his hold on her, he reached down and pulled back the plain white comforter on the bed. The scent of apple blossoms drifted up from the sheets to assail him and though he'd had no thought of it happening, his fangs sprang free as the urge to taste her rocked him. He came to an abrupt halt as he savored in the scent of her fragile body and bent closer to her limp form.

His hands clenched on her as a step sounded from behind him and he caught Lucas's scent. Throwing his shoulders back, Jack forced himself not to turn and yell at her cousin. He carefully placed Hannah face down on the bed and sat beside her to pull back the frayed remains of her dress. Bits of material stuck to her flesh as he tried to ease it away from her blistered and bubbled skin.

"Awful," he whispered as he finally succeeded in pulling most of the cloth away.

"I don't understand what just happened." He looked up at William as his friend set the bucket of water down beside him and placed some towels on the nightstand.

Jack turned and looked over his shoulder at Abe and Lucas hovering in the doorway. "What was it she said that had settled in this town? Unwanted vampires?"

"Undesirables," Abe answered. "The Undesirables settled this town."

"And all of you have something wrong with you?"

"Almost all of us."

Jack's hand rested in the unmarred hollow of her back as his gaze returned to her. "And with her it's the fact that the sun burns her."

"For the both of us," Lucas said. "Neither of us can tolerate the direct rays of the sun. We inherited it from our mother's."

Jack grabbed hold of a towel and dipped it into the icy bucket of water. He rang the water from it and ever so carefully dabbed at the charred skin on her back. The water helped to loosen some of the pieces of material from her skin and he pulled it away from her more easily. A small moan escaped her; she flinched away from him but didn't awaken as he continued to minister to her. He resisted the urge to stroke her cheek in order to soothe the lines furrowing her brow.

"I didn't know," William muttered.

Unreasonable resentment swelled within him. William hadn't meant for her to be burned, there was no way he could have known what would happen, Jack himself had never seen anything like it, but even with all that reason Jack's hand fisted as he studied his friend. On purpose or not, William had caused it.

William's eyes widened, he took an abrupt step back from Jack and began to edge his way toward the door. Jack shook his head and turned his attention back to Hannah as another small moan escaped her. "Is she going to be ok?" he grated through his clenched teeth.

"When we do get burned we usually heal quickly enough. I'm sure she'll be fine," Lucas murmured.

Jack nodded as he dipped the towel into the water and dabbed at her back again. A small mewl escaped her, her left hand fluttered on the pillow while her right hand was beneath her stomach. Ellen burst into the room, an armload of blood clutched against her chest as she rushed toward them. Jack leapt up and grabbed the blood from her before she could get too close to Hannah. He was aware that his posture was defensive but he did nothing to change it as he remained standing in front of Hannah.

Ellen frowned at him as she tried to step around him to get at her friend. "I can help..."

"I'll do it," he grated. Her forehead furrowed but she retreated back to stand beside her friends. Jack studied them for a minute but Hannah's soft whimper brought his attention back to her. Placing the bags on the table beside the bed, he sat beside her again and picked up the towel. The sight of her beautiful skin so badly brutalized made his mouth curve into a snarl even as he dipped the towel back into the water and tenderly dabbed at the burns again.

When he had succeeded in removing the last bits of the dress from her flesh, he wet the clean towels and gently placed two of them over her wounded body. He glanced over his shoulder at the others but they had already left the room. The door was still open but when he focused his senses upon the hall, he didn't hear them out there standing nearby.

Grabbing hold of a bag of blood, he tore a chunk off the corner with his teeth and placed it against her lips. It was awkward trying to get her to drink in her position but he managed to have her swallow some of it. Placing the bag on the table he turned back to her and brushed the silken hair back from her face. She was even paler than normal, something he hadn't thought possible before she'd been burned, but he understood the pallor of her skin a lot better now.

He traced her lips with his finger before jerking his hand back. What was wrong with him? Shaking his head he forced himself off of the bed. He grabbed hold of the wooden rocking chair in the corner and placed it beside the bed. Settling into it, he folded his arms over his chest. As long as she was defenseless, and in need of his help, he wasn't going anywhere.

CHAPTER 10

Hannah's eyelids felt extremely heavy as she tried to lift them. Her back felt like someone had taken a torch to it and she dimly recalled the heat of the sun burning through her clothes and blazing over her back. Memory finally assailed her as she remembered the shutter being thrown open and she'd once again known the misery the sun could inflict upon her.

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