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“No screaming?” The vamp sounded disappointed. “Usually, they try screaming first.”

Then he lunged forward to bite me.

“Michael!” Danny shouted, from the other side of the cavern. I didn’t look at him, but the bond told me that he had sensed the danger I was in, glanced over, and registered what was happening.

I froze, disbelieving that this could happen to me.

The vamp’s lips were rough, but I only felt them for an instant, because then his fangs pierced the tender flesh of my throat. It wasn’t like it had been with Danny, a flash of pain followed by sheer pleasure. Gentle, ecstatic, andgood.Instead, it was sharp teeth tearing through my flesh, followed by agony unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. Like every cell of my body had been dipped in gasoline and set ablaze.

Michael!Danny’s silent scream was awful. Wretched. But it seemed to come from far away. It mattered, but I couldn’t quite remember why. Red haze filled my vision. An iron grip held me. Distantly, I heard a loud noise and realized I was probably screaming.

The vamp wanted me to suffer.

Then he broke away with a gasp. No longer suspended by a viselike grip, I dropped to the ground. The red haze vanished from my field of vision, but I could still feel the blood pouring out of me, coming much too fast.

The vamp dropped to the ground, his skin already going greyish-blue.

Relief flooded through the bond, causing me to smile. Danny wasn’t afraid for me anymore. That was good.

Thierry dropped to his knees beside me.

I barely registered his presence there. Not enough to summon even a flicker of hostility toward him. Or to wonder what he was doing there. Or why I was lying on my back, on the uneven ground of the cavern. Or why there was hot wetness pooling all around me, soaking through my jacket.

I shivered, cold like ice seeped under my skin, but I barely noticed it. The red haze had been replaced by a greyish-black murkiness. I couldn’t focus on anything. But without that awful pain, all I could feel was numb bliss, like I was floating away on an endless sea of relief.

I let my eyes drift shut. I could just let go. The pain would just be gone, if I did. It was hard to remember why I shouldn’t. It was hard to remember what mattered. The darkness was like a hug, its arms wrapped around me, soothing me after the suffering I had just endured. I could sleep for a million years. If only it weren’t for…

Huh. I couldn’t quite remember. Something important. I couldn’t go yet. Not without—

Danny.

My eyes snapped open, but my surroundings were still so dim. Hard to focus on.

No. Not yet. Notever. I couldn’t leave Danny behind. I couldn’t let him be alone again. Left behind. Never.

Fear rushed through me. It beat back the soothing relief of nothingness that had crept into me. I couldn’t let go. I wanted to live. I wanted to live forhim.

Panic rushed through the bond. It had been there all along, but I had been too far gone to notice it. Danny. He was still on the other side of the cavern, still locked in combat. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was battling two vamps at the same time, and they were going to win—because he couldn’t focus on anything except what was happening to me. And if I was gone, he’dletthem win.

Danny, no.

I fought to turn my head, so that I could look at him.

But it was getting harder to breathe.

Harder to focus on anything at all. Everything around me was just dim and murky, fading away, even though I didn’t want to let it. And that blissful numbness stole back through me, whispering to me that it would be okay for me to just relax. To sleep.

Except, this time, I recognized what it was. I fought it tooth and nail, desperate to cling to life. I knew that Danny could feel it through the bond.

But each breath was more of a struggle than the last. I knew I should feel panicked, but I didn’t. I couldn’t feel anything at all. Like all of this was happening from very far away. Like I was drifting on an endless sea of—

“Oh, no, I think not, hunter,” a silken voice whispered from above me. “You see, I’ve grown rather fond of you two. I’m afraid that there will be no dying on my watch.”

I couldn’t quite make sense of the words. I heard them fine, but my brain felt sluggish, unable to extract any meaning from them. Dimly, I heard a soft hiss of pain. Then, suddenly, skin pressed up against my lips. And then thick, syrupy-sweet copper filled my mouth.

Thierry, I realized.

I had forgotten he was there. Why was he there? Did it matter?