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A cry of pain erupted from the house and she heard her cousin shout out in fear.

“Shit,” she whispered, and ran back as fast as she could.

When she burst into the house, she found Cian backed into a corner with her grandmother standing in front of Samantha, Jeff and Sergio, holding out rosaries, holy medals, and a Bible. The heat of the holy items' power hit her hard and she staggered back.

“I'll take care of him,” Amaliya cried out.

She slunk into the shadows of the hall and cowered as the power emanating from the crosses pushed at her. Whimpering, she listened to the four mortals backing slowly out of the room. She looked up warily and saw her grandmother still holding the holy relics.

There was a terrible, agonized growl from the room and she felt Cian lunge forward in a desperate attempt to grab a mortal to feed upon. Amaliya caught Cian's arm as he burst out of the room. He spun around and attacked her. She let him.

“Go! Go,” she shouted at the mortals.

She saw them flee just as he pinned her to the wall. His fangs sank into her throat. Her hands settled into his hair and she held him tight against her. He drank hard and deeply from her, but she could give it to him. Blood and death gave her life and she had drank deeply from The Summoner's death.

He was savage for the first few minutes of his attack and she trembled as he crushed her close. Then, as he was renewed, his hunger turned to something else. When his mouth closed over hers in a bloodied, passionate kiss, she shoved her hands down into his jeans to stroke him.

Pressed up against the wall of the old farmhouse, they struggled with each other's clothes, their bodies trembling with their great need for one another. She snagged his bottom lip with her teeth as he managed to bare one of her breasts and twisted her nipple.

“Need you,” he whispered.

“Do it,” she answered, and he slid down her body.

He bit her inner thigh hard. Her blood splattered her sex and his face. His tongue swirled over the wound then swirled around her aroused clit. She knew her family was nearby, but she couldn't care. He sucked hard on her inner lips, then licked away the blood. Her fingers tugged on his hair and he rose up to kiss her hungrily.

Their creator was dead. They were free. And they needed to reaffirm that fact in an act of passion. When he shoved himself into her, hard and brutal, she welcomed him into her body. It was rough and passionate. The house shook around them as they met each other's thrusts with ferocity.

After a few minutes, he collapsed against her and she held him close. He buried his face in her neck and she stroked his back gently.

“He's dead,” he whispered.

“Yes. ”

“Your grandmother. . . ”

“Yeah, he made the mistake of pissing her off. ”

They both laughed and Cian drew away. He looked scruffy and tired, but he was no longer mad with the hunger. They both adjusted their clothes and Amaliya wondered briefly what the mortals thought they had been doing as the house had rocked.

Amaliya gave him a soft, awkward smile as she felt suddenly quite emotional. He tilted his head to gaze into her face. She wondered if he could read how much she loved him and see how much it terrified her. Slowly, he reached out and took her hand.

“You saved us,” he said after a beat.

“I managed not to fuck it up,” she said with a shrug, but she felt a wave of pride.

He kissed her cheek gently and led her out of the broken house and into the fresh air of the night.

The mortals were in her cousin's truck and it was idling. They were obviously waiting for them. Jeff was driving and Sergio was in the passenger seat.

“Need a ride?” Sergio asked in a tone that was so normal, it almost made Amaliya laugh.

It isn't as if I just vanquished a dangerous ancient vampire or anything like that, she thought.

“We got our car back over by the hotel,” Cian answered looking a little sheepish. He had attacked their rescuers, then sexed Amaliya up while they waited. It was definitely an awkward moment.

“You sure you're okay? The house almost fell over and you're both all bloody?” Innocente asked, eyeing them both suspiciously.

Amaliya could see Samantha's pained expression and she felt terrible, but she was not about to admit to anything. “The Summoner is dead. Cian is fine. I had the dead tear apart The Summoner. He's in pieces. We're a little beat up, but it’s fine. ” She smiled at her grandmother who was leaning out the back window. She reached out and touched the old woman's hand lightly.