Heath slowly came back to consciousness. His eyes fluttered open, and he was in a strange room, filled with weird equipment. His leg was immobilized, and he had a weird tube stuck into his arm. If he had to guess, he was in a human medical facility, which meant he was in a lot of trouble. A Dhampir was half Shtriga and shared half their genetic makeup with them. They were something else entirely from a human.

It was one thing that was drilled into a guardian's heads from a very early age, to make it clear to them that there was no life for them outside the service of the Master. A Dhampir could never have children of their own, and would never be able to live among humans permanently as they were a subspecies a Shtriga. Even their blood looked different from a human under a microscope, with two red cells bound together. If a Dhampir were ever caught, it was expected for them to take their own life in such a way as to ensure complete destruction of the body to prevent detection.

Yet here he was lying in this medical facility because of an injury to his leg. What did he care if their whole world came to light? They wished his destruction, and he sure to hell would not grant it to them. He gently moved his leg. There was very little pain left to it. Although they did not heal as fast as a true-blood, they had a regeneration rate that allowed them to heal in a matter of hours. His leg was almost fully healed. Give him another forty-five minutes, and it would be as if the lumber never fell on him. He could then slip out of here and be on to the next town.

A soft knock came at the door, and Jane stuck her head in slowly. The two had grown somewhat close over the past few weeks, and for the first time in his life, he knew what it meant to care for someone. Having to leave her was going to cause more pain than the crushed leg did.

"Kyle..." She called in a tense, quiet voice.

"I am awake, Jane." He reassured her. He did not know what had been done to him while he was out. It was best to play dumb until he knew. He felt exposed as she walked in when all the people left him with was this thin gawn between him and the world. He rearranged the gown as best as possible to make him feel better. Her green eyes looked troubled as she came near his bedside.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"What is it, Jane?" He asked slowly, "We can talk."

"My dad...He won't come in here." she took a deep breath, "He wants to know, and I quote, 'What the @#$% are you?' You had some abnormal blood test, and your leg should have been crushed off and not healing by the time they took the x-ray. He is more than a little worried and frightened at the moment."

"Would it suffice to say that I have not lied to you yet even if I have not told you everything about my past?"

"Isn't that the elephant in the room now?" She said with a nervous laugh, "So you were thrown out by your family?"

"My father and sister, more specifically. I never knew my mother. The only thing I know about her is she is dead."

"Then why have you not spoken about anything in your past?"

"Maybe because I care about you and your father. My past does not need to become your problem. I will move on again, so it does not." He said with a small sigh. Reaching down, he released the straps that held on the brace and removed the strange tube in his arm. An alarm started going off when he removed a weird red thing on his finger, and a voice came over a speaker asking if everything was alright.

"Yes, everything is fine," he replied calmly, "My friend is just going to help me get up."

"We can help if needed."

"No, we got it," he reassured the voice. Jane started to come over as Heath swung his legs over and stood up with a small wince on his thin face. Her mouth hung open slightly in astonishment.

"As I said, Jane, there are things about me, Jane, my past, that are best left unanswered. Best to say is my leg is almost healed. I am a very fast healer."

Jane nodded slowly. He smiled sweetly at her. His stormy grey eyes locked on to hers and held her there.

"Can I ask for a small favor?" Heath grabbed her hand, still looking into her eyes. He was not hopeless when it came to girls. Just because he was sterile did not take away his urges. The thralls back in his Master's manor were wooed by the dozen over the years by him and most more than once.

"Su-re." She stuttered in a small voice.

"I need a ride and some clothing. This hospital gown has me feeling very exposed at the moment."

She looked him up and down for the first time before going beet red.

"That's umm...because it's on backward," she said with a small giggle, still looking open appreciation at him.

This time it was Heath's turn to be embarrassed.