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“Never took you for stupid,” Slade spat. “I mean, come on. No one’s that perfect, not even you. Tried to warn Victor there was something off about the guy, but our leader had other things to worry about. I’ve been watching that Boy Scout for months. Why else would I spend so much time with an ass-kisser like Adam?”

It never made sense that the two were friends. “Where’s your partner tonight?”

Slade huffed a disgusted snort. “Guy’s gone ghost on me. Haven’t seen him in days.”

“Well, now, that’s convenient.”

“Know what?” Slade reached into his pocket, and Jericho tensed. “I’m tired of dicking around with you. You want to see your girl or not?” He tossed Jericho a key. “Personally, I think she can do better. If I had a female like that, I’d treat her like a fucking queen.” Shadows shifted in his eyes. “Might want to take better care of her in the future.”

Jericho ignored the taunt, clenching the key in his hand. “I intend to.”

* * *

Once again,Alex found herself locked in a cell. Difference was, this time, she deserved to be here.

She rolled over on the lumpy cot and groaned. The cotton yoga pants and tank top may as well have been burlap against her sensitive skin. Despite the heavy blanket, her teeth chattered like a walking wind-up toy.

She pressed icy fingertips against the growing ache in her temples. Doc Randall’s sedative was beginning to wear off. The voices were getting louder. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t summon enough control to put the brakes on her new super-charged senses.

What the hell was she, anyway? A sympath turned vampire. Sympire? Vampath? Just when she’d thought she’d found her place in this world, she’d reclaimed her freak status. Leave it to Alex to break all the norms—even in death.

The soul-deep shudder rattled her bones.

As she’d floated from Jericho’s arms, for a moment, there’d been peace and a sense of belonging. Until something ripped her out of the light. She’d awakened to his anguished roar. The emotion tore through her soul, pulling her back to him while his blood burned through her body, changing her into this…thing.

Now it was Alex who was the monster.

Five men had died at her hands. She knew without being told. Their tainted emotions lingered in her mind, along with the haunting chill of death. But how? How could she have done something so horrifying? All she remembered was rage and the burning need to protect Jericho, even from Liam.

Liam.

Her throat tightened, and a thick lump cut off her breath.I made him bleed.

Even now, Liam lay in one of Doc Randall’s beds. His thoughts and emotions blended with the others, indecipherable in the chaos. Jericho’s were there too, growing stronger, louder. Drawing—

Closer?

Her heart kicked beneath her ribs, and she lurched upright, staring at the door.Please, please, please.

The lock turned, and an eternity later, Jericho’s broad shoulders filled the doorway.

One cautious step brought him into the room. “Alex?”

The sound of her name on his lips poured over her like honey, and her eyelids slid closed. Oh, how she loved the velvet timbre of his voice. Was he real or a beautiful illusion created by her fractured mind?

Please be real.

With a burst of speed, she leapt to her feet and ran.

Oomph! Their bodies collided, and her head cracked his chin. Not an illusion. “Holy crap. That was fast. I’m so sorry.”

He wrapped his arms around her, steadying them both. “You’ll get used to it.”

His strength surrounded her, and she melted in his embrace.

And for a moment, there was just Jericho. No voices, no fear, no insecurities.

Just.