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“Sleep.” Julian’s command penetrated her muddled thoughts. Leah tilted her head to look up at him. Her feelings almost slipped out. She’d resolved earlier to tell him, but now she stopped.

They wouldn’t talk about the future until they were back in Vegas.

“Sleep,” he repeated, his voice soft and lulling. “You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”

She was beyond exhausted. The events of the last few days caught up with her, and her body screamed for rest. Her eyes closed of their own volition. She rested her head on his shoulders and let his steady heartbeat lull her to sleep, feeling completely safe for the first time since her father passed.

Julian jerked awake when his heart stopped. He’d gotten used to the thump-thump of its beat. Now that it was gone, he was acutely aware of it.

There was only one reason it would stop.

Leah!

He sat upright and looked at her. She looked like she was asleep, but there was no heartbeat.

No. No!

For the first time in his life, rising panic and desperate hopelessness threatened to overwhelm him. She couldn’t be dead. What? How?

He slashed open the vein on his wrist and opened Leah’s mouth.

Drink! Drink! Please!

The blood trickled down Leah’s lips. Julian placed his hands over her chest and pressed. One two three four five. He counted and pressed. Then he fed Leah more blood. Again. Thirty counts. Then blood.

Come back to me, please!

Grief, so raw and primal, opened a black hole inside him, consuming him. His vampire roared its loss and clawed at his insides, screaming for its mate. She couldn’t be gone. Not like this.

His body shook with the force of his choking sobs. He heard the door open, felt others’ presence, but he didn’t move, didn’t acknowledge them.

His life was meaningless with her gone. No, not gone. A ray of rationality glimmered through the blackness. He could turn her. It was not too late. He knew the words.

Then, as he opened his mouth to speak, he heard it.

A tiny thump.

Followed by his own heart starting again.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

Leah gasped. Her eyes popped open and focused on him, confused.

“Julian, what…?”

“You died.” He choked out, his voice shaking, and crushed her to him. “You died.”

Marek and Rowan left, closing the door and leaving them alone.

“What?” Leah struggled against him, but he wouldn’t let her go. He would never let her go again. “Julian, I can’t breathe.”

Julian released his hold enough so she could look at him. Her expression softened when she saw his panicked and crazed face.

“Tell me what happened.”

“My heart stopped beating.” It was a nightmare he didn’t wish to revisit, ever. “Your heart had stopped, and you weren’t breathing.”

“But I feel fine now. Actually, I feel more than fine. What did you do?”