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The hawthorn was wreaking havoc on my body, and I realized I needed to get the bullet out. I spat out blood from Jasper’s hit while trying to climb to my feet. He let me get to my knees before fisting my hair and throwing me back onto the cement.

“I’m under strict orders to keep you alive,” he admitted grudgingly. “But he didn’t say anything about not hurting you.”

He reached down and grabbed my jaw roughly, forcing me to look at him. It was the moment I’d been waiting for, but I was too weak from the hawthorn to even attempt to entrance him.

“I’ve been with Amaros for decades,” he growled, looking at me with loathing. “Yet, he won’t tell me why some Shadow is so fucking special.”

Before I could respond, Viggo came up behind him and drove a stake into his back. Jasper’s eyes bulged as he dropped his hand from my face. The wooden weapon must have hit his heart, because he immediately fell to the floor, already dead.

“The bullet has to come out.” Gia’s voice had me turning my head in surprise. She crouched down next to me, her eyes dropping to the wound that was still dripping blood. “I’ll help her. Go get the weapons, Viggo.”

Viggo hesitated, his gaze staying on me. “I promised Zan that she’d be okay?—”

“And she will be,” Gia cut him off. “I’ll help.”

Viggo mumbled something under his breath as he walked away, but I didn’t catch it since Gia plunged her fingers into my bullet wound. I screamed in pain, shoving her away before collapsing back onto the blood-stained cement. The hawthorn was still coursing through my system, and Gia was making it so much worse.

“I need to get it out.” Gia shot me a firm look. “I know it hurts, but it won’t get better until the bullet is out. If you don’t let me, it could take a while for it to come out itself.”

“Fuck,” I breathed out, forcing myself to stay still when she got close again. “Okay, okay. Just hurry up.”

I braced myself when she poked two fingers into the hole again, and I squeezed my eyes shut, attempting to focus on anything other than what she was doing. A door slammed, and footsteps came closer. Lots of footsteps. Looking over my shoulder, the tension left me when I realized it was the Shadows.

“Oh my god,” I shrieked when pain spasmed from whatever Gia was doing.

“I almost…” she trailed off her voice tight. “Got it.”

I jerked in anguish when she pulled her fingers out. She dropped the bullet onto the floor, and I stared at it covered in my black blood.I’d been shot. Yet, here I was, already feeling my body healing just like it did when Zan had given me his blood. It was just another reminder that I wasn’t human anymore. After drinking blood, fighting against Viggo, and all my senses changed, it shouldn’t be a surprise. But it was.

“Come on,” Gia said gently, grabbing my hands and hauling me to my feet. “You’ll heal fast now.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. My legs were shaking slightly, but the pain was already dissipating. Lifting my shirt, I looked at where the bullet entered to see the wound was already closing back up.

“So quick.” Gia shook her head and smiled. “Your transition is the fastest I’ve ever seen.”

“Faster than my mother?” I couldn’t help but ask.

She paused. “She was born with black blood, Kali. I’m not sure how her transition worked.”

“We have to go,” Viggo called out as he threw an armful of weapons into the backseat of a truck. “There is another building on the property with hundreds more vampires, and there’s a tunnel. I’m sure they’ve already heard what’s happening.”

“We can take them,” a Shadow called out as others went in and out of the armory to grab more weapons.

“You surprised these vampires,” Viggo snapped. “Don’t be arrogant.”

I nearly snorted. He had no room to talk, but I didn’t say anything as everyone began piling into the vehicles. A low groan caught my attention, and I looked to see Rya slowly sitting up. I ran to her, helping her to her feet. She wiped the drying blood off her forehead as she cursed under her breath.

“You’re lucky the bullet went straight through,” Gia said, giving her a once over. “It wouldn’t have been fun trying to get it out.”

“Who are you?” Rya hissed in a weak voice.

“She’s fine?—”

Viggo cut me off. “She’s coming with us.”

“A vampire.” Rya sniffed in Gia’s direction. “One of Amaros’s. She can’t come.”

“Yes, she can,” I said firmly. “She won’t betray us.”