Amy knelt down on the floor beside her chair and held her hands. “Leila, as you know, preeclampsia is an elevation of the expectant mother’s blood pressure and an excessive amount of protein in the urine … and you have both.” Leila nodded, taking a deep breath. “It’s a hypertensive disorder, but can be quite serious if left untreated.” Leila nodded again, regaining her composure. Amy rose and opened a hidden refrigerator, threw two blood bags into the microwave, and then clipped the straw that came from one and handed it to Leila. She immediately started drinking it down. “Leila, I’m going to start you on magnesium sulfate, which will help prevent you from going into seizures. It’s good that you’ve been taking prenatal vitamins, but you are to start taking them twice a day: one in the morning and one at night. As you know, prenatal vitamins are very strong, but because this is a dhampir pregnancy, taking them twice a

We were both quiet during our meal, and I really didn’t taste it, although I knew the food was exquisite. It was a lovely afternoon, but it was time to start heading back.“Shall we?” I asked, having already paid the bill.Leila nodded, dabbing at her lips with her napkin.“Man, you were hungry!” I said, reaching out to help her up. “I am definitely going to have to start feeding you more often.”Leila laughed. “It was delicious.”I smiled. “Then, I’ll have to order take out from here more often.”“That would be lovely.” She swayed a bit as she got to her feet, but I steadied her.Actually, I had planned to have all of our meals catered for a while … at least until after the baby was born, if not indefinitely. “Shall we?”I kept my arm around her waist, helping to steady her, as we headed out the front door where the limo was

I ran quickly through the penthouse, leaving Leila and Jase sleeping, as I flung the front door of the penthouse open. “Stay here with Leila and Jase! Let no one enter but me!” I yelled to Channing and Blake, standing outside the door.“I’ll go with you!” Channing yelled.“No! Do not leave Leila and Jase!” I said over my shoulder. “Stay with them! Protect them at all cost!”They both nodded, on full alert. Unwilling to wait for the elevator, I ran down the hallway to the stairwell and down them as quickly as I could. I pushed the door open, and Gregory saw me running through the back of the castle. He nodded to Cal, another vampire bodyguard, and they both followed me quickly out the door. Guests stepped back, startled, as I rushed into the courtyard, but moved along. I looked around, but my ghost was gone.Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Gregory asked. “Mr. Steel, what’s wrong?”

I walked over to her and gave her air kisses over both cheeks. “You didn’t tell me you were coming, but thanks for being here.”She looked at me seriously. “What happened last night affects us all, but I also came for a reason that I will divulge later.” Then, she gave my arm a gentle squeeze. “But when it comes to yours and your family’s safety, I will always be here.”I pulled her in for a slight hug, and she gave me air kisses over both cheeks, careful not to smudge her red lipstick. “Thank you, Raven.” I then walked to the head of the table and addressed everyone in the room. “Thank you all for coming tonight. You may be seated.” They all complied, but I remained standing. “As you know, we were attacked last night. I asked you to come here tonight so we could exchange information. If you know anything at all about anything that I am about to tell you, please let me know. In exchange, I wi

I nodded. “Thank you for coming. Kellen can show you out.”“I would be happy to,” Kellen said as he stepped up beside me and ushered them out.“Well, Lance,” Xander said, smiling as he slapped me on the back, “although I haven’t known you long, every time I see you is always an adventure.”I laughed, giving him a man handshake. “That it is, but I can tell you that I’m looking forward to sharing some quieter times, my friend.”Xander laughed. “You and I both.”“Well, we really must go,” Elias interjected. “Please tell Dr. Ryan and your wife that I will be here in the morning to begin work.”I nodded. “I will, but I’m afraid that it will be just you and Dr. Ryan, but if you need any assistance, I will be here, so just let me know.”“Well, one thing I know, we’ll need is a guinea pig; someone to test t