The hospital room smelled like medicine and faintly of blood. Nikolas laid me on the first bed, and quickly made his way to the cabinets. "How are you feeling?" he asked me softly. I stared indifferently at the ceiling, unmoving.

"Numb." I specified quietly.

Nikolas paused and cast me a worried glance. "You need to forget about what you saw tonight." he told me, grabbing a splint, gauze and thick, adhesive bandages.

As he gently begin tending to my broken wrist, I couldn't help but stare at him through watery eyes. "How can I forget that?" I asked, my voice wavering. "He killed her. He fucking killed her."

Nikolas looked up at me with a sigh. "Just forget about Julie. It was her fate." He tightened the bandages around my splint and hooked them in place.

"Forget about her?" I sat up slowly, ignoring the pounding pain of my wrist. "Fate?" My lips curled into a snarl at the word. Was he fucking insane too?

Nikolas grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back to the bed. "You need to sleep. If you don't, I'll make sure you sleep."

That was it. Angrily, I shoved him away from me with my uninjured arm--surprisingly he stepped back--and I sat up quickly. "I need to find Azaziel!" I hissed.

Nikolas eyed me like I had grown a second head. "You're obviously not thinking straight. If you went to him, he'd kill you!"

"I don't want him to continue hating me for what I did!"

He shook his head and stepped back toward me. "It wasn't your fault. It's natural for the mouse to try to escape the cat. Azaziel is out of control right now, and once he feeds, he'll be able to speak to you without wanting to eat you."

"Nikolas! Whose side are you on?!" I shouted. He looked taken back. With a heavy sigh, he ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm Switzerland, alright?" (A/N: Switzerland is just a way of saying he's on nobody's side)

I stared at him in shock. I quickly recovered and stood up; my legs were shaking. "Then move." I said in a low voice.

And he did. His face hardened, and his pretty, friendly blue eyes went cold. "Fine then. Walk right into your grave."

Ignoring him, I walked past him, cradling my broken wrist to my chest. If he wanted to be a dick, then let him. When I made it out to the hall, I leaned against a wall and heaved a sigh. My whole arm was burning, making me dizzy.

I had to find Azaziel.

Struggling to make it down to the hall that Azaziel had fled from, I continued to tell myself mentally that I was doing this for Tanner…for Julie. But a part of me wondered if I was just being selfish.

When I reached an unfamiliar hall, I realized I had no clue where Azaziel's room was. I let out sob, collapsing against a wall in pain and dizziness. This was not going as planned. All I wanted to do was escape with Tanner successfully and unharmed. And because of me, Julie had been killed. Azaziel was going to probably kill me if I didn't admit my idiocy.

Once more, Julie's neck snapping went through my mind and I let out an agonized groan. "Azaziel…" I muttered, and fainted.

~*~*~

When I woke up, I was laying in a large bed. I rolled over slightly to peer at my surroundings, and my eyes fell on Azaziel. I froze, my breath catching in my throat. He was sitting at a desk, his side facing me. One leg was casually propped up onto the desk, and the other on a box. He was opening and closing a pocket knife in boredom.

Then he turned to stare at me. I swallowed a lump in my throat. "You aren't going to kill me?" I asked, my voice husky from sleep. Azaziel frowned.

"No. It isn't my style killing young women." he stated, turning towards me. I slowly sat up, and then cried out in pain when I applied pressure to my wrist. Falling back onto my side, I sucked in a deep breath and slowly sat up. Azaziel's eyes watched my movements. "Your wrist…did Nikolas feed you vampire blood?"

I shook my head. "I rushed out of there to find you… I just wanted to apolo-"

"Don't." he interrupted, putting up a hand. I snapped my mouth shut. He stood up easily and walked to my side. "Would you like to drink some of mine?"

I blinked. "Uhh…"

Azaziel raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Raising a wrist to his mouth, I watched in horror as he bit into his wrist neatly. Without hesitation, he put it to my mouth. "Drink." he ordered. I hesitated, but the gleam in his eyes told me not to deny it. I held my breath and tasted his dark blood--gingerly at first. It wasn't horrible tasting. In fact, it was sweet and metallic at the same time.

After a few moments, Azaziel pulled back, and I quickly wiped my face with my sleeve. His wrist had already healed. A strange tingle that felt like adrenaline pumped through my veins and numbed my wrist.

"If you want it to be healed completely, then see me for the next three days." Azaziel said, turning away from me. I stood up then, and watched as Azaziel sat back down in his chair and began messing with his knife.

"So this is it?" I asked. He glanced wearily up at me, swinging his pocket knife around his finger nonchalantly.

"Yes."

"What about…Julie?"

Azaziel didn't answer. He swung the knife around a little faster. I gritted my teeth. How could he remain so calm about this?! His ward and love had just been killed because of me, and he wasn't saying or doing anything about it!

"At least yell at me! Make me feel like horribly guilty!" I hissed, stepping forward. Azaziel continued to ignore me. I felt tears making their way to my eyes. He was making me feel embarrassed. "Stop acting like you don't care!"

He stabbed the knife into the desk, burying it to the hilt in the wood. I flinched back with wide eyes. Azaziel stood up and grabbed me roughly by the shoulders. When I thought he was going to bury his fangs into my throat, he instead leaned his forehead against mine and sighed raggedly. I stood there, staring blankly at his face. His eyes were closed and his face was contorted in a pained grimace.

I didn't know whether he was holding himself back from killing me or crying. His breath was cool and fresh as he sighed. Then he opened his eyes and kissed me.

It wasn't a hungry kiss like Tanner's. It was soft, a firm press of his lips against mine. But it made my knees weaken and his arms unconsciously wrapped around my waist and pulled me to him. My mind shut down completely and I gripped onto his shirt as if he'd let me fall. One of his hands went up to my head and buried itself into my hair, pulling my head back gently to gain further access to my mouth.

And then he pulled back. I stumbled backwards and sat down on the bed, panting to get a deep breath. Azaziel stared back at me for what seemed like forever, before a slight smile appeared on his face. "Sorry about that. You reminded me of Julie for a moment."

The words were a sharp sting in my chest. He had kissed me because I reminded him of his former love? I mentally shook my head and offered him a smile. My feelings didn't matter right now.

"Azaziel…" I paused and stood in front of him, staring down nervously at my numbed wrist. It was covered in black bruises, but my ripped skin had started healing ever so slowly before my eyes over the fractured bone. Then I met Azaziel's curious eyes. "I owe you a lot for what happened and keeping me alive."

Azaziel watched me a moment, before running a bored finger over the blade of his knife. "If I had wanted to kill you, I would have done so when Baal ordered me to."

My mouth hung open in astonishment. "What?" I asked shakily. I had been expecting this…right?

"You had been right about one thing. He wanted me to end up killing you. But I was the one who offered to guard you. It was kind of contradictory."

"You're telling me…" I muttered darkly. There was a knock on the door, and Azaziel put the knife away and stood.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Tanner stood there. My breath hitched. But his eyes weren't on me, they were staring coldly at Azaziel. "The lord wishes to see you. I will take the slave back to Sir Nikolas." he stated coolly. Azaziel and I shared an uneasy look. Then Azaziel nodded.

My heart plummeted to my stomach when Azaziel left me alone with Tanner. He eyed me from the corner of his eye, before tipping his head slightly. Taking that as an invitation to follow, I did so. We walked in silence down the halls to the infirmary. I knew Nikolas would probably ignore me when I got there. Before we rounded the corner, I finally conjured up the guts to speak to Tanner.

"Sir Tanner," I started bitterly, "mind if I ask why you cherish Lana so much?"

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes but continued walking. "I do not believe that's any of your business, lowlife." he admonished. I held in an angry yell. Instead, I sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten in my head.

8, 9, 10... "I may be a human, and you may not remember me, but damnit Tanner! I care about you."

At first, I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say, because he didn't reply until we were at the infirmary door. He looked at me with his indigo, red-tinged eyes.

"Good to know somebody does." he murmured, and ran a finger softly down my cheek. For a moment, I watched the red seep from his eyes, but as soon as any of that had happened, it was done. He dropped his hand, his eyes reddening again, and then he walked away. I stood rigid and frozen, staring after Tanner. Then slowly but surely, my hand touched my cheek where his feather-like fingers had brushed. A small smile formed on my face.

It will be possible to save you, Tanner. I promised in my mind as I opened the door to the infirmary. Nikolas was sitting on a bed, flipping through a magazine in boredom. When he heard me, he glanced up, the peaceful expression on his face turning to surprise, then irritation.

"Wow, you're alive."

I wiped the smile off my face and glared at him. "I'm sorry, but I had to do it. And yes, as a matter of fact, I'm in the flesh, warm as can be, without a fang in sight."

Nikolas cracked a smile, and I found it hard to stay mad at him. "Azaziel fed you some of his blood." he said, though it was more of stating a fact. I nodded.

"How did you know?"

He stood up and set the magazine aside. "The skin on your wrist has closed up."

I looked down in surprise. Sure enough, the open flesh wound was now replaced with merely bruised skin. My bone was still contorted at an odd angle, however. I winced and quickly looked away from it. "Yeah, I guess so. Azaziel--err, Sir Azaziel told me to visit him for the next few days if I want it healed all the way." I replied, walking over to Nikolas. He tested the splint and the bandages, only tightening them a little.

"Maybe tomorrow we can go horseback riding." he mused. My heart leapt happily into my throat.

"Really?!"

"If Azar--uh, Lord Balthazar will allow you." Nikolas reminded me, and I stifled a laugh at his correction of Azar's name. He smiled sheepishly at me. I grinned in reply. Suddenly, I'm Not Cool rang through the room. With a gasp, I reached into my bra and pulled out my phone. Nikolas stared at me like I was crazy.

What? It was a good place to hide a phone. I looked at the caller ID, and my eyes widened. "What's today?" I asked Nikolas. He thought a moment.

"Saturday, if I remember correctly."

I nearly choked on the air. This was the day Auntie was coming home from her business trip! Shit, shit, shit! Swallowing a lump in my throat, I answered the phone on speakerphone with a feeble, "Hello?"

"Hey, honey! Guess what! I've got my check, and as soon as you come home this weekend--which is hopefully Sunday before school starts back up again--we're going to go shopping!" Auntie laughed freely into my ear. Nikolas gave me a confused expression. I gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, about that…"

Nikolas suddenly leaned toward the phone. "She'll be home Sunday afternoon sharp, I promise."

"Wha--who is this?" Auntie asked sternly. I covered my mouth to prevent a frustrated groan. Nikolas paused only a short moment.

"Just one of the teacher assistants." he answered seriously, though it was a total lie. Auntie was silent for a moment before clearing her throat.

"I'd like to speak to Mr. Harrison again, please. The vice principal, you know?"

I quickly handed the phone to Nikolas. "Alright Auntie, talk to this guy for a minute. I'll go get him!" I said, turning on my heel and running from the room.

I remembered vaguely where Azar's office was, and Tanner had said Azaziel was supposed to meet with him right? So chances were that he was still there. I didn't slow down my running, even as other, unfamiliar vampires watched me in confusion. I blurred past them, only concentrating on finding Azaziel.

This was bad. Very bad. If Auntie was back in town… she'd end up talking to Dakota, tell him where I was and who with, and then Dakota would end up figuring out it was a lie because he was currently going to school and…and… I gritted my teeth.

I didn't want to have to think about how much of a mess this would end up to be! I slammed open Azar's door without knocking. Lana, Azar himself, Azaziel, Tanner and another woman were sitting around Azar's desk. They all looked up at me in shock when I stumbled inside, panting heavily.

"What the hell is going on?" Azar demanded, standing up. Azaziel stared at me in confusion, while Lana glared coldly at me.

"A-Azaziel…y-you need…to follow me…back to the…infirmary…phone…Auntie…Quickly!" I gasped between breaths.

At once, Azaziel stood up. "My apologies Lord Balthazar, Lady Lana and Lady Reenabella, but this is an emergency." he said breezily, bowing slightly. It was then I recognized the woman from the day before, when Julie had been killed. Nikolas's mistress. She was gorgeous in every little way possible, even more so than Lana.

Today, her mane of red hair was tamed and straightened to perfection. Her hazel eyes weren't red-tinged anymore. The only thing that made her less likeable was the scowl on her face.

"I demand you to tell me what the hell this emergency consists of." Azar ordered. Azaziel was about to respond irately, but Reenabella, or Reena, slammed her fist onto the desk, startling me.

"Shut up Balthazar. You hate it when others nose into your affairs. Obviously Azaziel must go with the girl to make a phone call. So just shut up, sit down, and continue speaking." she hissed. I looked at her, bewildered. For once, a vampire had called me a girl instead of some insult. And even more shocking, Azar obeyed. Reena turned to us, the scowl still on her face. With a curt nod of her head, Azaziel smiled in relief and bowed once more before grabbing my uninjured wrist and dragging me from the office.

When we were halfway to the infirmary, I asked, "Why did Azar listen to her? I don't think I've ever seen him so obedient before." I almost giggled.

"Reena was the one who created him."

I looked at the back of Azaziel's head in surprise. "Seriously? He was turned into a vampire by his own cousin? Then why is he the king?!" I asked, irritated.

"Reena didn't want to reign over every vampire here. So she gave up that position to Azar and Lana. She hates responsibilities." Azaziel chuckled. I smiled in response. Finally, we opened the door to the hospital room and Nikolas was having troubles keeping up a conversation about "England".

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw us, and Azaziel quickly took the phone and cleared his throat. "Miss Opal?" he asked, and Auntie squeaked in surprise.

"Oh, is it none other than Robby Harrison?" she asked in a sweet voice. I saw Nikolas roll his eyes. I raised an eyebrow to him. He leaned toward me.

"She sure wasn't acting sweet towards me. She kept interrogating me. I only know so much about England, ya know." Nikolas whispered in my ear. I suppressed a laugh.

"Robby at your service, Opal. What can I do for you?" he asked in an official tone. Once more, I nearly gaped at him.

"I just wanted to confirm the fact that Rae will be back tomorrow afternoon." she spoke indifferently. Azaziel's eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the phone.

"Err…" he trailed off for a moment, shooting me an accusing glare. I smiled nervously.

"Robby?" Opal asked unsurely.

Azaziel snapped back into reality, gritted his teeth and then smiled. "Yes, of course. All of the students will be going back tomorrow. It may be a little later than the afternoon, however, because we're across seas and such…"

"Oh, that's okay. I just wanted it verified. Well, I have to go. Tell my baby that I love her and she better be ready to go clothes shopping!"

With that, she hung up, and Azaziel stiffly handed me back my phone. Then both him and Nikolas crossed their arms and gazed long and hard at me. I timidly placed my phone back in my bra and then smiled brightly back at them.

"So, what's the problem?"

Azaziel sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. "How in Hell's name are you going to convince Lord Balthazar to let you return home tomorrow?"