At the same moment, Felix slammed into Alec, smashing the phone to pieces. This time he was not playing.
"You ass," Felix raged. He gripped Alec's bony shoulders, a sliver away from smashing them in. "How dare you do that? I was trying to help."
His anger dissipated fast because he realized Alec was not fighting back.
He heard a crunch. Alec's arm bent under him. "Oh shit!" He grabbed the backpack and dumped out all the stuff Chloe had collected. The book City of Ember had escaped damage so Felix used that to align Alec's arm back into place and wrapped it with the roll of bandages.
"It doesn't matter," Alec said hollowly. "She's dying."
"But she's not dead yet." Felix returned to the backpack. He squeezed out the leftover rat blood in the thermos lid and thrust it at Alec's chin. "Drink it, damnit. Then we're going to Geneva."
Alec did not dare protest. He grasped the thermos lid with his uninjured hand and drank.
They did not talk. Talking would have slowed them down and they could not afford that. Felix stopped only to gather more rats for Jane and Demetri. Alec collected some too, numbing them, of course, before he dared touch them. He worried that there would not be enough for Jane and Demetri in that small sandwich bag. To make room for them, they discarded the useless items (like the beauty items Chloe had stocked up.)
They easily bypassed the barricades: first to Switzerland and then to Geneva. On entering the canton, they saw their first live humans since Chloe. The humans tried to protect themselves with Hazmat suits and masks, but they all smelled of disease. The vampires did not stick around long enough to be spotted.
Felix located the hotel that he had left all those weeks ago. The door was unlocked and unguarded. He led Alec into the lobby, where one figure occupied the bar counter at the far end, away from the glass windows. Alec immediately recognized the figure and rushed over to her.
Jane laid her head on the counter, her eyes closed, her long arm stretching across the countertop. When Alec approached her, her eyes fluttered open and her pale lips parted.
"Jane," he greeted softly.
"You shouldn't be here," she slurred.
He lifted her up, draping her head on his shoulder and folding her legs over his almost healed arm. She felt lighter. Frail. Even her embrace of him slid down ineffectually.
"Where's Demetri?" he asked.
"Our room."
"I know where it is," Felix volunteered, honorably sparing Jane the exertion of directing them to her quarters.
Jane's yellow-rimmed eyes landed on Felix. "I'll kill you," she threatened.
"Yeah, yeah," Felix said, feeling more sympathetic for her than scared, if all she could manage was that artless threat. Usually she added some specific gore.
They climbed up two flights of stairs and then burst into Demetri's room, where Demetri lay on top of the rumpled bed covers. Alec lowered Jane next to him. He tuned out Felix's quick preparations with the backpack full of rats, cutting them open and squeezing them into glasses from the cabinet.
"Listen Jane," Alec said, placing his hand on her cold cheek. She tilted her head to face him. "We're going to try something that will make you feel better. It might taste a little strange but I need you to drink it anyway." He knew Jane absolutely hated animal blood and he hoped she would not spit it out like a child refusing medicine.
Felix handed Alec the glass, knowing better than to try to administer the blood himself. "I'll get Demetri," he offered.
Jane's head instinctively yanked back from the glass.
"Please Jane."
Her face twisted in disgust, but her vigor for a fight quickly waned. "For you," she relented.
She swallowed the blood as he dribbled it between her lips.
Felix finished with Demetri's feeding. "How long?"
"I don't know." Alec made no move to rise from his perch at the side of their bed.
"There are a lot more survivors here," Felix said. "Though whether they are immune or just not sick yet remains to be seen."
Alec showed no interest in the survivors.
"I suppose you're going to stay here," Felix guessed, feeling like he was talking to himself.
"Is that okay?" Though the words inflected like an actual question, Felix avoided the trap of thinking his opinion counted.
"Not up to me, is it?"
"I'd rather stay here," Alec deigned to explain. "I owe her."
An alarming ripple of realization set off in Felix. He suspected the pattern that was to come. The Witch Twins were back to their freaky inseparable selves, and he had just received the brush off.
He tromped out of the room.