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“You’re one of the good guys,” Danny told him. “You wouldn’t hurt him.”

“Not a brush stroke I’ve often been painted with. Just because I do not kill, does not mean that I am nice. Nor am I soft. I would gladly break the hunter’s bones, one by one, until you agree to come with me.” He paused, perhaps letting that sink in. His lips curved into a dangerous smile. “Or perhaps I will simply snap your neck and then you will wake back up in Seattle. One way or another, youwillcome with me. And you will leave your partner behind.”

“Look, we’re fine, asshole. And it was a false alarm,” I glared daggers at him, wishing I had my gun in my hand. It was still on the ground, at my feet. No way I could reach it before he would move to stop me. “Danny is doing okay. You’re not needed here.”

Thierry frowned at me, but his electric-blue eyes locked with mine with surprising intensity. “Perhaps I should apologize. My temper has gotten the better of me and we have clearly gotten off on the wrong foot in this little exchange.” He paused, considering me. “Would it be easier if you believed that I am trying to protect you both? You truly have no idea what it is like to love someone and then watch them lose any trace of what once made them human. It is a pain I would not wish upon anyone.” A trace of raw emotion flitted across his expression, then was gone, but I saw it plainly. He clearlyhadlost someone like that at some point. He added, “I am trying to spare you that agony, hunter. Because, soon enough, Dannywillget hungry enough that he will not be able to stop himself. And then you will have little choice but to kill him, before he kills you.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN || DANNY

“It’s a small miracle you haven’t fed from your friend,” Thierry remarked a half hour later. We had moved from the living room and into the kitchen, which was even more trashed, but still had counter space. He looked up from the cooler he’d brought with him, giving me a strange, almost puzzled, look. “You’re a newborn without a maker to guide you. You should have torn into him the moment you opened your eyes. You should still be trying right now.”

Feeding on Michael was the last thing on my mind. His scent was still all around me, a calming presence, reminding me that he wasright there, with just a single wall separating us. But I could sense the tension coiled through him, even from the living room, and he was debating with himself on whether he wanted to ignore Thierry’s command and join us. He didn’t like the idea of what we were doing in here. He didn’t like the idea of my being alone with the strange vampire much, either.

“If I had hurt him, I never would have forgiven myself,” I told him. “And he’s not just my friend.”

“Perhaps you mean that,” Thierry replied, his voice growing softer. “But you’d be surprised what a vampire is able to forgive themselves for, once their humanity is gone.”

There it was again: the hint that Thierry wasn’t nearly as blasé about all of this as he pretended to be. This situation—ensuring I didn’t hurt anyone and lose myself in the process—was somehow personal for him. Very strange.

He threatened Michael, I reminded myself. And he was still planning to separate us. And what would happen to Michael if I wasn’t there to stop it? Nothing good, I was pretty sure.

The kitchen wasn’t an inviting space. The floor was oddly soft in places and the entire place reeked of mildew. There were years upon years’ worth of graffiti on the walls. Trash and cigarette butts were strewn everywhere. Most of the windows were boarded up, but cracks of steadily brightening light filtered in. I instinctively gave it wide berth. Daylight isn’t fatal to vampires, but I knew that it would be unpleasant to be out in it.

“You’re doing quite well with all of this,” Thierry remarked, popping the lid off the cooler. “But it’s best we don’t push it. Nathaniel will be upset with me if I let you lose your humanity.”

“Bryan and Tobias would be pissed, too,” I added.

Thierry shot me a lazy smile over his shoulder. “Oh, they don’t worry me, darling. They can think or feel whatever they want about me. It wouldn’t bother me a bit.”

“Okay, seriously, who in the hell are you?” I asked, not liking the dismissive way he talked about them. “And are you really here to help?”

Thierry snorted. “I’ve already told you: I’m not here foryou.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “But I am obligated to help you, at least until Bryan and Tobias show up and make everyone present want to vomit with their long lingering looks and simpering smiles—”

“It’s called being a happy couple! Maybe you could at least try to be happy for them, too?”

“No,” Thierry said shortly, pulling a small plastic bag filled with dark fluid from the cooler. “I can’t. But thanks for playing.”

Without warning, he tossed the bag at me.

My reflexes kicked in and I snatched it out of the air before it could whack me in the face.

“It’s blood,” Thierry told me cheerfully. “You’re a vampire now, so you’ll need to drink fresh blood almost every day.”

I stared down at the blood bag, feeling uneasy. Thierry had stolen it so that I could eat.

Thierry laughed. “How uptight were you in your mortal life? It’s blood and you’re a hungry newborn vampire. You don’t need to kill anyone for your first meal, which makes you luckier than most. So, bottom’s up.”

“It’s not my first meal.”

The amusement drained from Thierry’s face. “You’re joking.”

“I fed from Michael earlier. I didn’t want to, but he insisted. I’m not—”

I had been about to tell him I wasn’t interested in the blood. But then a sharp wang of hunger slammed through me, causing me to break off in mid-sentence. My throat began to burn again as I stared down at the bag of dark fluid I held in my hands.

Blood.

And it was mine for the taking.