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he wasn’t now.
    As Ritter leaned over to scoop up Keene, footsteps thundered down the hall. Three hotel employees appeared, accompanied by half a dozen armed police officers and four Secret Service agents. Ritter and I stood up to meet them.
    “What happened, Miss?” an officer asked me.
    “My friend and I were attacked.” I indicated Edgel’s two fallen men. “By those guys and two others who ran away.” Their security cameras would actually reveal that I’d thrown the first knife. But wasn’t that understandable when Edgel and his men were so obviously threatening? The bigger issue would be their reaction to how fast we moved. “Fortunately, this man saved us.” I sagged against Ritter in mock distress. “But I’ve got to get my friend to the hospital.” I gestured to where Keene lay on the carpet.
    “Looks like you both need to go.” The officer began speaking into his radio, while two of his companions came forward to look at Keene. One of them appeared to have advanced medical training. The other officers and Secret Service personnel began checking Edgel’s men.
    “We have to get Keene to Dimitri,” I whispered to Ritter. I’d been checking out avenues of escape, but neither end of the hallway looked promising, not with so many people around.
    He nodded and spoke into the hand containing a mic ring similar to Keene’s. “You got that, Cort? They’re sending an ambulance. Probably several.”
    I ordered myself to relax. We weren’t through this yet, but as long as the Emporium didn’t have agents among these officers, we might not have to fight our way out. Our people would put an alternate plan into play. I just needed to be patient and trust them, in spite of my worry for Keene.
    “This one doesn’t seem to be breathing,” said an officer squatting by the big blond Emporium agent. “Weird thing is, he still has a heartbeat.” Several of his buddies hurried over to verify his findings.
    After sending hotel security for a copy of the video feed, the first police officer, who seemed to be in charge, continued to question us. Minutes ticked by as I worried about Keene. A pair of soft slippers appeared on my bare feet and a blanket around my shoulders, but I didn’t remember who gave them to me. More blankets covered the unconscious men. Around the time someone put a bottle of water in my hand, my anxiety began to crank up, in part because I was sure the hotel manager had pegged Ritter as an imposter. Surely in a hotel this size, he couldn’t know every employee. Then again, they’d probably reordered background checks on everyone in light of the vice president’s visit.
    We heard the ambulance gurney before it rounded the corner from the direction of the exit we’d been trying to reach, and I almost exclaimed as Dimitri Sidorov came into view. The Russian was a short, broad man with a narrow nose, wide brown eyes, and a trim mustache. His brown hair was swept back from his face, and he exuded a sureness that came from living over a thousand years. I’d known him only three months, but I trusted him with my life, and not because he was also my biological father.
    Tears pricked my eyes. Keene was going to be okay—or at least had a fighting chance. A certified medical doctor, Dimitri was also our healer, and his touch could keep even a fatally wounded mortal alive.
    Pushing the back of the gurney was Jace, his short blond hair slightly spiked in the front, his eyes glinting with excitement as he assessed the officers. With Jace and Dimitri here, our chance of escaping through sheer force became a serious possibility, despite the two additional Secret Service agents who accompanied our people. Still, it would be difficult with Keene, and we really didn’t want to injure anyone not connected with the Emporium. That meant we needed to follow protocol. I gritted my teeth against my impatience.
    Dimitri went directly to Keene, placing one hand on his chest, the other checking his eyes with a