Farina gave her one last look and walked out of the room, leaving Maximus there on the floor. Celeste waited until she heard their footsteps recede. She rushed to Maximus and tried to shake him awake, but he didn’t move. He looked dead. What was wrong with him? She tried to turn him over, but he was too heavy.
“Maximus,” she said, shaking him. He didn’t respond. Celeste’s stomach squeezed in fear. He was a born vampire. He wouldn’t die, right? But he looked dead. Celeste ran her hands up and down his body to check if he had any. She touched something wet at the back of his head. She stared at the blood on her hand. They must have hit him hard with something, and knocked him out, Celeste thought. She stared down at him. She couldn’t leave lying on the floor like that.
“Maximus?” She call
