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“How do you feel right now?” I asked, and I couldn’t help but hear the glimmer of hope in my voice. I guess I had some in reserve deep inside of me. “Is this change permanent?”

He was silent for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “I thought it might be, but I can already feel it fading, and my control returning. I think it was just a glitch.”

A lump of disappointment formed in my throat. “So you’re back to normal?”

“Nearly there.” He met my gaze and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Jill.”

I touched his face. “No. Don’t be sorry. It just goes to prove my theory...”

“Which is?”

“Nothing worth having is easy,” I said.

“You’re right about that.” Declan’s brows drew together. “You said something earlier...about our experiment last night.”

The memory of Declan’s mouth on me, his hands on my skin, of how good it felt despite my disappointment that it couldn’t be more, was still fresh in my mind.

“Declan...” I began.

“No, hear me out. You said that it wasn’t unpleasant for you to let me...do that.”

I couldn’t help but laugh lightly at that. “Trust me, it was far better than ‘not unpleasant,’ Declan.”

“Yeah, but you also said you didn’t want me to touch you or kiss you again if I wasn’t feeling something in return.”

I swallowed at the reminder. “That’s right.”

Declan nodded, his gaze moving to my lips. “That means I better do this now while I still have a window of opportunity.”

“What?” I asked.

He took my face between his hands and kissed me. This wasn’t a one-sided kiss, one that lacked true feeling on Declan’s part. Even with the salty taste of sweat and the faint copper tang of blood, this was incredible, amazing. Passionate. And utterly real.

A shiver of pleasure coursed through me.

When he finally pulled away, my cheeks were flushed and my entire body tingled. I stared at him with surprise, and he rewarded me with a grin.

“How was that?” he asked.

I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. “Not bad at all.”

“It was way better than not bad.” His grin widened for a moment before it faded, and pain slid through his gaze. “Shit, I can feel it. The serum’s effects...they’re coming back fast.”

“Then kiss me again while we still have the chance,” I told him.

He did as I asked, but already I felt that it wasn’t the same as only a moment ago. Instead of disappointment, I found that fresh well of hope within me growing larger and more intense.

He’d kissed me, and it had been passionate and incredible and everything I wanted it to be. And if it had happened once, it could—and would—damn well happen again.

He stood up and held out his hand to help me up. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

I felt shaky, my body ached, and my throat was tender. I’d lost a whole lot of blood. I hadn’t found a solution to my Nightshade problem. The scientist who claimed he could help me was dead, an act of vengeance for the sins of his past. There was a nest of vampires beneath our feet that had extermination to look forward to rather than a juicy, human jugular to snack on.

I’d nearly died, but I was still alive. I had a chance to heal and to figure out what my next step was going to be.

And surprisingly enough, my hold on optimism had returned, stronger than ever, and armed for battle.

One amazing kiss from Declan had proved to me that nothing was permanent—there were always loopholes or glitches. If his so-called permanent serum could be brushed aside once, it could be again. And permanently, next time.