UNKNOWN NUMBER

After a few more moments it went silent. I sat up quickly. Who would be calling Gideon?

Thierry had seemed convinced now that he didn’t actually have any assassins on speed dial. I knew it wouldn’t be George—not if he knew what was good for him. And it definitely wasn’t me.

When it buzzed again, I moistened my dry lips with the tip of my tongue and pressed the answer button. I held it to my ear with a trembling hand. There was silence on the other end. And then, “Sarah? Are you there?”

The chipper female voice was immediately recognizable. “Amy?”

“Yup. It’s me.”

“Where are you?”

“No idea whatsoever, actually. I’m supposed to talk to you for a moment. How’s it going?”

I felt incredibly confused. “Why are you calling me at this number?”

“It’s the number Gideon gave me.” There was a pause. “You know, after everything I’d heard about him I was expecting something totally different. But he’s actually super nice, isn’t he?”

My throat closed and I found it difficult to breathe. “Gideon has you?”

“He picked me up yesterday when I took a break from work. I was a bit surprised at first. I may have screamed a little bit when he grabbed me, but then he gave me something to relax me.”

I had a death grip on the phone. “He drugged you?”

“Dunno what it was, but I’m all mellow and groovy now. Totally chilling. Tell Barry I’m okay, okay? I know he worries.”

There was a shuffling sound. I waited, my hand twisting into the bedsheets until my knuckles were as white as the linen.

“Sarah—” Gideon’s deep voice greeted me. “How are you this morning after our exciting evening?”

“What are you doing? You grabbed Amy yesterday morning? That was way before what happened last night.”

“I like to cover my bases just in case. As you can hear, she’s perfectly fine.”

“Only because she’s drugged.” I struggled to breathe normally. “Let her go.”

“Why would I do something like that?”

“Because it doesn’t have to be this way.”

“Unfortunately, it does. You proved last night once and for all that even though I want to, I can’t trust you.” I could hear a strange edge of disappointment in his voice. “I can’t let anything get in the way of what I need. And if I must use your little blond friend to ensure that everything runs smoothly tonight, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

I shook my head. “You can trust me.”

“You tried to seduce me in my hotel room to steal my BlackBerry—”

“I wouldn’t really use the word ‘seduce.’ ”

“Then you underestimate yourself. And then you took it away from me in the alley at your first opportunity. Did it give you the information you were looking for?”

Being that I was speaking to him on the device itself, I couldn’t very well deny I had it.

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“You must have dropped it. I was going to return it to you. Oh, and by the way, really sorry about what happened there. I didn’t mean to… to…”

“Bite me?” he finished. “When your nightwalker takes over you become a very different woman entirely, don’t you?”

I exhaled shakily. “Now you can see why I have to find a way to break my curse.”

“Just the opposite. With the right nurturing and guidance I’m now convinced your darker side could be an asset. I envy you that other self, Sarah. I wish I had something similar.”

My jaw tightened. “Then I guess it was a mistake for you to kill the witch who cursed me. She could have set you up with a nice shiny inner nightwalker of your own.” My honey was starting to turn to acid. “You need to let Amy go. Now.”

“You’re just a girl who can’t take no for an answer, aren’t you? So let me ask you this…

did you discuss everything with my good friend George? I assume since you slid your talented little hand into my pants last night to steal my phone you know we’ve been in contact.”

My back stiffened. “Maybe.”

“You can have George—provided you tell him nothing further. Consider his life a gift from me to you since you refuse to take jewelry from me. Besides, I don’t need to use the false threat of shadowy assassins anymore, do I? I have something much more tangible now—Amy.”

“What do you want, Gideon?” I asked.

“What I’ve always wanted. For you to sire me at midnight.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Of course you will. And you’ll also come to my hotel room right now. There’s something important you need to see.”

The line went dead.

Chapter 14

When I arrived at Gideon’s hotel room—hoping for the best but expecting the worst—

the door was open and a housekeeping cart was out front. I sidestepped it to get into the room.

The suite’s fireplace currently cast a warm glow on the rich décor. The bed was made and on the brocade bedspread I noticed some photos. I walked directly toward them. When Gideon had first revealed himself to me—so to speak—he’d shown me these photos. At the time I’d assumed he’d hired a private investigator to follow me and my friends and family around, but now I had a funny feeling that Gideon had been the shutterbug himself.

There were pictures of Thierry leaving the nightclub he used to own. There were pictures of my parents up north in my hometown of Abottsville. Pictures of Amy and Barry going about their newlywed lives, and pictures of George. The shots all looked familiar even though I’d been in a fog when I’d first seen them. At the time I’d been dealing with the beginning stages of my nightwalker curse.

There were new pictures as well. They made my stomach sink lower and lower. The first was a picture of me talking to the Red Devil after he’d stopped me from chomping the fledgling. A picture of Veronique and me having coffee from yesterday. And a picture of Thierry leaving George’s house in the wee hours last night after confronting

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George and our subsequent argument about my misplaced loyalties. A cold line of perspiration slid down my spine.

Okay, so he officially knew I’d been lying to him about seeing Thierry. So what was he going to do about it?

The thought that my secret was out made me feel very ill. But even with my secrets laid bare in the photos, Gideon Chase still needed me. That fact alone would keep Amy safe. This could still turn out okay.

It could. Leave me to my delusions, please. Luckily, things couldn’t really get much worse than they already were.

The maid emerged from the bathroom and she touched her hand to her chest when she saw me. “Goodness! You scared me.”

“The… the man who was staying here. Where is he right now?”

“Checked out. I’m making up the room,” she said. “Left me a real mess to clean up, too. It’s going to take forever to get whatever that is out of the fireplace.”

I turned slowly to look at where she pointed. I’d never stayed in a hotel room that had a fireplace. Usually for me it was a bed, a desk, and a bathroom. Maybe some generic shampoo and a tiny bar of soap if I was lucky.

I tilted my head. “What is that?”

The maid shrugged. “Looks like he’s burning a big book of some kind. Guess it wasn’t a page turner. I like some Stephenie Meyer, myself.”

My mouth went dry. I grabbed a poker from a stand at the side of the fireplace and poked at the large rectangular object.

“What are you doing?” the maid exclaimed as I dragged the book out of the fire and it landed in an ashy heap on the floor.

It was the grimoire.

Or, at least, it had been.

Now it was no more than a black, charred excuse for a once-magical book of spells. The pages were seared and blackened. I pushed it open with the tip of the poker to the middle and found that the pages were ruined and unreadable. It had been burning for a while. Liar, liar. Your grimoire’s on fire.

“What is that, a phone book?” the maid asked curiously.

“You don’t know any magical incantations that will unburn a book, do you?” I asked, mostly to myself.

“Magical incantations?” She now gave me a wary glance. “You’d better get going so I can finish up in here now that you’ve given me more to clean up. I don’t have time for nonsense.”

Gideon had burned my grimoire. He had destroyed my chance to break the curse. I take it back—things could always get worse.

The maid moved around to the side of the bed. “You’re not Sarah, are you?”

I looked over at her. “That depends on who’s asking.”

She snatched an envelope off the desk. “This is addressed to a Sarah.”

I made a beeline to her and took the envelope, slicing it open with my thumbnail and reading the inside quickly.

You will find me at the nightclub you frequent lately. It’s nice and quiet at this time of the day. Tell your master vampire lover nothing about this.

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Please don’t disappoint me again. Be there by noon.—G

Well, at least he said please.

Yes, he was definitely having a hissy fit. On anyone else I might be able to brush it off, but Gideon Chase was a different story.

I’d been reading the wrong translation of that story for some time now. The real Gideon was no one to mess with, no one to flirt with, and definitely no one to underestimate. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.

The sun was extra bright when I emerged on the sidewalk, and I slid my sunglasses into place and got my bearings. My cell phone rang. I had both my Pink Razor and Gideon’s BlackBerry on me now. I went through cell phones like I used to go through panty hose. A glance at the screen told me it was Thierry. I answered it.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Downtown,” I said simply.

“I was worried. George said you left without saying anything. Quinn has been looking for you as well.”

“I had something I had to do.”

“Something to do with Gideon?”

I huffed out a breath. “I can’t talk right now.”

“Sarah, please tell me what’s going on.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Can’t. Busy, busy.”

“I’ll come and get you. We can deal with Gideon together.”

Yeah, and if I showed up at Darkside arm in arm with Thierry, Amy would be picking out her angel wings.

“Sorry, Thierry. I’ll have to take a rain check on that.”

“I can be there in minutes. Tell me where you are; where you’re headed.” He sounded worried.

“I need to clean up this mess myself. If there was any other way then we’d do it that way, trust me on that. I… I have to go.”

“Sarah—”

I ended the call and slid the phone into my pocket, ignoring it when it began to buzz a few moments later. He was calling me back. The man was persistent with or without the mask. If I’d been feeling hunky dory about everything it would make me smile. Thierry pursuing me, insisting he be by my side—even after we’d had a fight. Talk about a one-eighty from where we’d come from. Honestly, he’d been the most standoffish guy I’d ever met in my entire life. I figured that it had a lot to do with living for so long. He’d been hurt, both emotionally and physically. A lot. Badly. Therefore there was a ton of armor he carried around with him. He didn’t trust people and he didn’t open up. Keeping his Red Devil secret was only one example of this. He’d pushed me away so many times that it was only out of sheer stubbornness and questionable intelligence that I hadn’t walked away and not looked back. He’d been silent and moody and sullen and unbelievably bossy.

But for some strange reason that totally did it for me. Who knew what a masochist I was?

I’d kept digging and digging until I’d found the real Thierry. He was a bit dusty, to say the least. But beyond that dusty, moody exterior was my Mr. Right. Nobody believed we fit together except for me. Everyone was all too ready to accept that we’d broken up.

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But I didn’t care. I loved him.

I was all stubborn like that.

Darkside was closed for business when I got there, but the front door was unlocked, so I summoned my courage and went inside, past the false front of a used bookstore. It smelled musty and dusty and had paperback novels stacked from floor to ceiling and several tables with stacks of mysteries, romances, and thrillers. The interior of the club seemed completely empty as well, but I knew it wasn’t.

“You’re here. Right on time, too.”

I turned to face Gideon, who stood behind me with his arms crossed. “Where’s Amy?”

“Somewhere safe.”

“I want to see her.”

“I’m sure you do. But there’s a little business we need to take care of first.”

I scanned the dark nightclub but didn’t see anyone but Gideon. “Business? I thought that the ritual wasn’t until midnight?”

“It’s not.” He cocked his head to the side. “I wanted to give you the chance to apologize for lying to me about ending your relationship with de Bennicoeur.”

“I think you burning the grimoire makes us more than even on that subject.”

His expression shadowed. “Perhaps I acted a bit rashly.”

A bit rashly? “You think?”

“Do you like this place?” Gideon turned away from me and looked at the interior of the nightclub. “I know you come here a lot lately.”

“Sure, I like it. It’s recently been sold, though.”

“I know. It was sold to me.”

My eyes widened at that. “You bought a vampire club?”

He nodded. “I did.”

“Why?”

He leaned against the bar. “You wouldn’t take the earrings I wanted to give you. I thought I might give you something a bit more practical.”

I blinked hard. “You bought me a nightclub? Because I said no to some earrings?”

“I got a very good deal on it. The papers are in your name. The transfer of ownership will be next week. It’s a gift to thank you for helping me. Do you like it?”

“If I say no will you get me a private jet instead?” I drew in a slow breath. “I don’t want gifts or money. The only thing you had that I wanted was that grimoire and now it’s gone.” I felt sick to my stomach as I said it. “I just want you to leave me and my friends alone after tonight.”

I was about to say something else when he tensed and his face convulsed. He let out a gasp and grabbed hold of the side of the bar top. A shudder went through his body. I resisted moving any closer to him. “What’s wrong?”

“The pain from the hellfire has returned even worse than before,” he managed. “Your blood wasn’t strong enough to keep it away for long.”

Every muscle in my body was tense. “What does that mean?”

“It means your blood may be strong enough for some things, but not strong enough to fully heal my particular injuries during the ritual.”

“Unfortunately I don’t offer a money-back guarantee.”

“No, I’m sure you don’t.” He remained hunched over for another minute before he slowly

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straightened up. There was a sheen of perspiration on his forehead. “Come with me. I have someone I want you to see.”

“Who is it?” I asked, my mouth feeling very dry.

Gideon turned and walked away without giving me a detailed description of our destination. He moved across the dance floor and toward a hallway leading toward the restrooms. I followed him at a safe distance, and he glanced over his shoulder at me. Gideon used a key to unlock a door and push it open. The small storage room held a woman whose dark eyes flashed with anger. Her left wrist was shackled to the wall. Otherwise, she looked as composed and beautiful and, well, perfect as she always did. Veronique’s gaze moved to me and widened.

“Sarah!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

My eyebrows shot up with surprise. “I was about to ask you the same question.”

“Gideon kidnapped me. I assumed he meant to hold me for ransom for a large sum of money.”

Gideon braced himself against the doorway, still weakened by his blast of pain. “Not exactly.”

My stomach really couldn’t sink any lower than it already was. “Why can’t you leave my friends alone?”

“You consider this one a friend?” he asked with mild surprise. I glanced at Thierry’s wife, a woman who’d given me a huge pain in my neck—no vampire pun intended—from the moment I first met her. “Sure, she’s my friend.”

Veronique smiled. “What a dear, sweet girl you are. We really should spend a great deal more time together, yes?”

A wave of pain shadowed Gideon’s face for a moment. “I’ve suspected your blood isn’t strong enough to fully cure me. So, I want to make sure it is.”

I really didn’t like the way that sounded. “Which means what?”

“Your blood is filled with power because, as a developing fledgling, you’ve drunk from two master vampires. Today you’ll drink from a third.”

Veronique and I exchanged a glance.

“I’m not really all that thirsty right now,” I said weakly. His jaw tensed. “Despite her youthful appearance, she is one of the most ancient vampires in the entire world.”

Veronique’s cheeks flushed and her eyes narrowed. She tapped her stiletto-clad foot angrily. I don’t think she was upset that he was suggesting that I drink her blood. No, I think he just made her feel old. Well, she was seven hundred. Whether she needed Botox to retain her late-twenties appearance was another issue. Maybe her wrinkles were only on the inside.

“I’m not biting Veronique.” My stomach churned at the horrible thought. Gideon’s eyes narrowed with pain and frustration. “You should thank me. Other than the vast power her blood will give you, this is the woman who keeps you from a commitment with your lover for her own selfish reasons. This is your opportunity to drain her. After all, dead wives don’t stand in the way of true love.”

Veronique frowned. “Sarah and my husband have ended their relationship.”

“All lies.” Gideon raised an eyebrow at me. “They’ve been keeping their continued affair a secret, even from you.”

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Veronique made a small, annoyed sound at the back of her throat. “I thought we were friends, my dear. You could have told me.”

I shrugged. There were more important issues on the table at the moment than keeping a secret from her. I wasn’t biting Veronique. It wasn’t in my nature to gnaw on necks 24/7. I wasn’t going to do it and he couldn’t make me.

Unless…

“If I refuse to drink from her, will you hurt Amy?” I asked quietly. He shook his head. “Of course not. What kind of a monster do you take me for?”

Hope swelled inside me again. “You won’t?”

“Of course not.” He brushed the dark hair off my forehead and pushed it behind my ear before stroking my cheek gently. Then he smiled at me. “I’m saving your little blond friend for tonight. If you give me any more problems, I will slice her open from bottom—” he moved his hand down to my stomach as I stood frozen in place, and then skimmed his fingers up between my breasts to spread around my throat “—to top. But that’s then, and this is now.”

I swallowed hard. “Gideon—”

“I know this whole situation is difficult and I’m sorry for that.” He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it. “Let me make it easier for you.”

In one smooth motion, he tore the gold chain that held my nightwalker curse at bay off my neck and then shoved me into the room with Veronique. The door slammed behind me.

Chapter 15

I clamped my hand over my throat and felt for the chain that wasn’t there anymore. Gideon had taken it from me. No, he hadn’t just taken it. He’d ripped it off. He’d broken it.

Oh, shit.

According to what Veronique had told me yesterday, even if I got it back, it wouldn’t work for me anymore. And I no longer had the promise of the witch’s grimoire to break my nightwalker curse.

Veronique’s eyes were filled with worry. “Sarah, my dear. Are you all right?”

For a moment I felt completely fine, figuratively speaking, of course. But after I took in my next deep breath, I realized I didn’t need it anymore. I pressed my hand against the wall as my heart came to a slow, commanding stop.

“I’m not so good, actually,” I admitted.

I quickly moved toward her to inspect her bindings. It was a set of silver handcuffs that locked her in place. Her left wrist was already red and raw from the contact with the metal, which was also attached to the shelving unit. Vampires and silver didn’t go together very well. While we might have the strength to break the metal, especially a master vampire like Veronique, silver was dangerous to us. If she pulled against the cuff, she ran the risk of severing her hand. Even the slightest contact with it hurt like hell. I felt that pain as I tugged on the cuffs and pulled my hand away to shake it out. “I don’t know how to get you loose.”

She sighed. “I wish you could have felt comfortable enough to tell me the truth about you and my husband. I feel that it’s something I had the right to know about.”

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Frustration rose up inside me. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Always have to call him your husband?”

She looked confused. “Because that’s what he is. What difference does it make right now what I call him?”

“It’s just…” I exhaled shakily, thinking about the fact that she’d never recognized that her

“husband” was the Red Devil. “Whenever you say that you just remind me that he can never be mine and it hurts. A lot. I guess we’re having a camel-and-straw situation here, and I’m close to having a broken back.”

“It’s only a word.”

“No, it’s more than that. It’s… it’s a title. A brand. He’s ‘your husband.’ ” I even made air quotes. “You won’t sign the annulment because he’s yours and that’s all there is to it.”

“I don’t think this is the time or place to discuss this.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

She studied me for a long moment. “Do you hate me for not signing the papers?”

I raised my gaze to hers. “I wish I did sometimes, but I don’t. Having this nightwalker curse has taught me a lot. It’s taught me to value the times when I do have control over my life. And obviously now that my chain is gone those times are about to come to a stuttering end in the next few minutes.” I fought against the sting of tears. But I couldn’t lose it right now—I had to stay calm. “I don’t know what to do.”

Her expression turned fiercer. “You will do what I have always done and what I continue to do. You will survive. You will do whatever it takes to see another sunrise.”

“Nightwalkers don’t get to see sunrises.”

Her expression fell. “Oh, my dear—”

“And stop calling me dear.” A dark wave of violence swelled inside me. Uh oh. That was not a good sign. I had to remain calm. I didn’t want to go Dark Sarah on Veronique. Like I said, I didn’t hate her. I didn’t want to hurt her. And she was currently in a very precarious position—trapped in a room with a potential monster thirsty for the blood of a master vampire.

Her blood would be so sweet and rich, my nightwalker commented excitedly. Filled with power… running down

my throat… delicious and nutritious… yum!

Thoughts like that were sooo not going to be very helpful at all at the moment.

“Did I ever tell you the story of how I met my true love, Marcellus?” Veronique asked. That was the vamp Thierry told me was the original Red Devil before he became the man behind the mask. “Do you really think this is the best moment for a random stroll down memory lane?”

“I think this story is relevant to this particular situation, so if you will permit me to continue.”

I glanced back at the locked door. I couldn’t hear anything beyond it even if I strained my vampire ears. I figured Gideon was waiting patiently outside while I chowed down. I was still in shock from losing my gold chain. How would I ever be normal again? I hadn’t realized just how much I counted on getting that grimoire until it was no longer an option. Geez, forget the grimoire, would you? my nightwalker said. You never wanted to break the curse in the first place. It’s too much fun being me.

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I would not think about blood. And I would not notice the slow but steady pulse at Veronique’s throat.

Admitting you had a problem was part of the solution, right? It was. I had a problem and I didn’t think hearing Veronique yap wistfully about her dead lover was going to help very much.

“Before I met Marcellus,” she began when I didn’t say anything to stop her, “I lived a privileged, but boring life with my mother and father and many servants in France. I was thought to be a great beauty and my hand was sought after by many.”

Here we go. “Sounds pretty good to me.”

“My parents had arranged for me to marry a wealthy man but he was very old and ugly. I told them I wanted to marry for love, but people didn’t marry for love until relatively recently. They married for much more practical reasons such as fortune or title. But then I met Marcellus.”

“Wasn’t he rich, too?” I asked. I wouldn’t look at her throat and the promise of master vampire blood beneath her skin. I wouldn’t.

“Oh, yes. He was very wealthy and handsome. I fell deeply in love with him at first sight and ran away with him. This wasn’t something proper young women did back then. I knew there would be no returning to my family, but that was all right. As long as I was with Marcellus I feared nothing.”

The flawless white length of her neck was becoming more distracting the longer she spoke, and she must have noticed my shifting attention because she cleared her throat.

“Sorry,” I said. “I… I’m having a hard time concentrating. Any way you can get to the point so we can deal with the problem at hand?”

“You truly have no control over your nightwalker?”

I guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we? my nightwalker snarled inside me.

“I’m trying.” I felt my fangs lengthen and sharpen in my mouth and I ran the tip of my tongue over them. My stomach growled with hunger.

“Marcellus revealed himself to me as a vampire the first night we made love,” she continued, undeterred. “He was ashamed and afraid of what I might think—that I’d leave him immediately in fear and loathing. But I didn’t. I asked him to sire me and he did. Since he was already a master vampire I was very strong from the beginning and he taught me how to survive.” She sighed at the memory. “How I loved him.”

“And then Marcellus left you and took up with a younger fledgling. I know this already, Veronique. And then the loneliness and solitude you felt during the Black Death caused you to sire Thierry and the rest is history. Uh… ancient history, actually. Gideon wants me to drain you so I can become stronger. Doesn’t this bother you even a little?”

“Of course it bothers me,” she said sharply. “But I have dealt with many more dire situations than this. I have survived to this day by doing whatever I must. And yes, Marcellus left me.” Her voice caught. “That betrayal still stings. But after everything that happened between us I know that he loved me as much as I loved him. He sacrificed himself to save me in the end. That was true love.”

My vision had slowly closed in and her voice became a tinny buzz that I had an easy time ignoring. “That was a lovely story. What was the purpose of it again?”

“If Thierry loves you so much, where is he now?” she asked.

“Why? Do you think he’d sacrifice himself to save you like Marcellus did?”

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There was still no fear in her eyes, only pity. For me. “I’ve lived a long time without anyone coming to my rescue.”

A slow smile stretched my lips. “Honestly, Veronique, you really should have signed those annulment papers and headed back to your fabulous life in Europe. Washed your hands of this whole mess. But no, you had to hold on to Thierry—a man you don’t love—with both hands so somebody else didn’t get him.”

“Then perhaps Gideon is right. Maybe you should take this opportunity to kill me. There are many ways to kill a vampire, even a master, if one is willing.” She studied me. “Your eyes are black now, my dear.”

“Maybe I need to accept the fact that I’m a nightwalker.”

“It’s only an unfortunate curse. It’s not what you truly are.”

“You’re not the first one to say that, but I feel like a nightwalker, I act like a nightwalker. The odds of my ever getting rid of this side of me are now slim to none. It’s real.”

“No,” she said firmly. “This is only magic and magic is not the same as reality.”

“All I know is that Gideon isn’t letting either of us out of here until I do what he wants me to do. And oddly, it’s becoming easier and easier the more you talk.”

I was very thirsty. Parched. Dying from the need for blood. Something I’d fought against since becoming a vampire—something I thought was really gross and monstrous and unhygienic. It was one thing to drink blood from a keg at a vampire club, but it was another thing to get it straight from the source itself. Shifting morals—one was good, one was bad. One made me normal, one made me a monster. It was still blood. All my attention narrowed down to the pulse on Veronique’s throat—a pulse that had been pulsing away for seven hundred years. The beat had gone on. And it suddenly became the only thing in the world that existed for me. I reached out to touch that pulse, feeling the blood coursing just below the surface of her skin. I felt the power emanating off her in waves. Gideon was right about so many things. If I drank from her I would become more powerful.

If I drain her, my nightwalker said as I brought my mouth closer to Veronique’s throat, it will solve so many problems.

Yes, I thought. Maybe you’re right.

Suddenly, Veronique slapped me very hard across my face with her uncuffed hand.

“Step away from me,” she hissed.

I grabbed the front of her shirt and narrowed my eyes at her, baring my sharper-thannormal fangs. She slapped me again. Even harder this time.

“Ow!” I yelped and moved back from her.

Her dark eyes flashed. “Honestly, Sarah, you’re stronger than this.”

I shook my head. It was foggy and cloudy and completely confused, but there was a small bit of myself still there. “I don’t think I can stop this.”

“Of course you can.”

“I can’t!” I moved toward her again and got another stinging smack for my efforts. That was enough to clear my head enough to think half straight.

“Think of Thierry,” she said harshly. “He wouldn’t want you to be like this. He’d find it most unseemly.”

She was right. I tried to hold on to the image of Thierry in my head.

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“I’m trying.”

Her jaw set. “It doesn’t get any easier, my dear. It never will. There are no simple answers in the life of a vampire. There will always be hunters, there will always be danger, there will always be those who wish to hurt us, but you must not let them defeat you. Survival should be your number-one concern. Just as it is mine.”

I was getting the gist: Be strong. Don’t wimp out. “I need to get us the hell out of here.”

“Again, you are not understanding me.” She brought her right forearm to her mouth and bit her wrist. “You may drink from me on my terms. I don’t think Gideon realizes that my blood is strong enough to give you back some of the control you are currently lacking. It won’t change the fact that your chain is gone, but it will help for a while.”

My eyes locked onto her wrist. “Veronique… I don’t know.”

“Do it,” she said, so sharply that I, well, did it.

I was so hungry, thanks to my curse, that her blood was like a Big Mac combo after two weeks of stale bread and water. I drank greedily—half of me thrilled, the other half scared to death.

It wasn’t a good mix of emotions.

My face still stung from where she’d hit me, but instead of trying to ignore that I hung on to it. The pain kept me grounded. I drank from her until she pushed at my forehead with her chained hand.

“That’s enough,” she said.

“I feel… better.” I pulled away and looked at her. “Are my eyes still black?”

She nodded. “They are.”

I turned toward the locked door and kicked it, feeling a bit surprised but satisfied when it splintered open on contact thanks to my extra nightwalker strength. I stalked down the hallway and back into the main club where Gideon waited by the bar. I made a beeline toward him and grabbed his throat before he had a moment to defend himself.

“Sarah—” he choked out. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “Don’t pop your head off like a dandelion for being a total, manipulative dick?”

I brought my other hand to his throat and squeezed harder. His eyes bugged out and I saw sudden fear behind his gaze. His face began turning an unpleasant shade of purple. Don’t hurt him, you bitch! my nightwalker yelled.

I frowned and tried to ignore my evil inner voice.

Then I felt a hand close around my upper arm and I couldn’t hold on to Gideon any longer. My eyes widened when I saw it was Veronique. She pushed me—just a small shove, but her strength was great enough to make me stagger backward and fall on my ass on the empty dance floor.

I had no idea she was that strong.

The wounds at her wrists—from where she’d offered me her blood and from being secured with silver—were already healing.

Gideon coughed and sputtered and touched his tender throat.

“Not so happy with me anymore, Sarah?” he managed after a moment. “I suppose I can understand that.”

I scrambled up off the hard floor and moved toward him again, but Veronique stepped into my path to stop me.

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“What are you doing?” Her strange behavior was really throwing me off. “And how did you get out of the handcuffs?”

“With a key,” she said simply, her expression unreadable.

“A key? What key?”

“The key Gideon gave me earlier.” She said it very matter-of-factly. “I’m sorry. But as I said before, survival is my only goal.”

“What are you talking about?”

Gideon came to Veronique’s side. He took her hand in his and brought her healing wrist to his lips to kiss it. “Poor Veronique. I’m sorry about the pain.”

“It is nothing.”

My vision had grown shaky, but that might be because I was trembling all over. “What in the hell is going on here?”

Gideon smiled at me. “Do you remember the woman I told you about? The vampire who seduced me years ago to save her own neck?”

“Best sex of your life?” I did recall that little fable. Then my gaze shot to Veronique as I remembered Gideon’s rumpled bedsheets from yesterday afternoon. I shook my head.

“No. I don’t believe it.”

“I’m sure you won’t understand,” she said simply, “but Gideon is very powerful and will only become more so after he is sired tonight, along with having a new outlook on what it means to be a vampire. As I said before, survival is my only goal. How can I not align myself with him, especially now? No one has to get hurt. You never would have drunk from me without duress if you thought I knew about all of this. This is the best decision for everyone involved. Trust me, my dear. I don’t do this to hurt you or anyone else.”

Veronique was with Gideon? I could understand, although only partially, sleeping with him in the past to distract him from killing her—he was pretty hot—but to do so willingly now?

I was stunned, but as the moments ticked by it made more sense to me. Veronique was always selfish. She valued her existence. She was one of the oldest vampires in the entire world. She was a survivor—no matter what it took.

And I knew firsthand how very charming and convincing Gideon could be when he wanted something.

Even though I resented her role in Thierry’s life, I’d believed in her. Hell, I even looked up to her a bit. Like a much, much… much… older sister. I was disappointed in her.

“I have to get out of here,” I said shakily. “If I wanted to deal with a major daytime drama I would have set my TiVo.”

Gideon shook his head. “It’s the middle of a very sunny day. Without your chain, I don’t advise that you go anywhere until after sunset.”

I stepped slowly toward him again. He didn’t flinch away from me.

“Are you going to attempt to kill me again?” he asked.

“No.” I reached down to take his hand in mine. “I was a bit upset about you breaking my chain and, you know, burning my chance to break my curse. But killing you or getting mad about that won’t help, will it?”

“No, it won’t.”

With one quick yank, I pulled off the magically glamourizing watch from his wrist. A pulse of light moved across him and an instant later his scars had fully returned.

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His eyes narrowed. “Give that back to me.”

“This?” I held the watch out to him for a second, but then stepped back out of his reach, dropped the timepiece on the floor, and stomped on it with the heel of my shoe. “Oops. Sorry, about that. I slipped.”

It was petty, but it felt so good.

He reached up to touch his scarred face and cringed. Veronique looked at him with shock.

“Now I’m leaving.” I backed away from them toward the entrance. “Are you going to stop me?”

His jaw tightened. “Sarah, don’t do this. Stay here. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way just to prove a point.”

“Screw you, Gideon.”

Yeah, real eloquent. I know.

Without another word, I turned my back and walked out into the used bookstore.

“I’ll find you, wherever you go,” Gideon called after me. “The ritual will go on as scheduled. A simple glamour won’t matter then. My scars will be healed for real when you sire me.”

A tear of anger and frustration trickled down my right cheek as I pushed open the front door, but it was burned away the moment I emerged onto the sidewalk outside the club and the blazing sunlight hit me full-on.

Chapter 16

If I can explain what it feels like to be a nightwalker out in bright daylight it would be like this:

Sheer agony.

Multiplied by a billion.

It might sound like an exaggeration, but I assure you, it wasn’t. Sun and nightwalkers do not go together. At all. Prolonged exposure, and we’re only really talking ten to fifteen seconds, would be enough to make me burst into flames and run around flailing my arms until I turned into the contents of a dirty ashtray to scatter over the sidewalk. And even then I’d probably still be screaming.

So when I emerged from Darkside into the hot death sunshine, I pulled my shirt up over my head and ran like an Olympic sprinter toward the nearest subway entrance. I staggered down the stairs into the blissful darkness and tried to ignore the strange stares I was getting, for a moment, as my skin glowed red and wisps of smoke rose into the air.

“Lady, you okay?” someone asked.

“Fabulous,” I gasped. “Never better. Thanks so much for asking.”

My hair was slicked to my forehead with the perspiration that poured out of me in buckets. I reached up to touch my eyebrows to make sure they hadn’t been singed off because that would really suck. They were still there. For now, anyhow. I stood in place, my back against the wall of the station until I came back down to room temperature like a sweaty soufflé that had been removed from the oven.

Veronique was with Gideon. The thought swirled continuously through my head. I seriously couldn’t believe it. Sure, I knew she was selfish and self-involved, but was this what being a survivor really meant to her?

She was so getting voted off the island, as far as I was concerned.

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And the worst thing was she hadn’t seemed to realize what she was doing was wrong. Well, okay. It wasn’t the worst thing.

If I had to find one good thing about the whole situation, it was that her blood had given me some temporary control over my curse. Normally, at this point of being without my gold chain, I’d be wandering around sniffing the neck of any human that passed me trying to figure out who’d be the tastiest.

But I wasn’t sniffing anyone. I could smell them, sure—dozens of humans brushing past me on their way to catch the subway. And it wasn’t only the disturbing scent of food they gave off. It was deeper that than. The smells helped me pinpoint their mood—if they were stressed out or scared or angry.

It smelled… delicious.

But my fangs didn’t lengthen at the moment. After all, I’d just had a very satisfying meal. God, what had happened to my life?

Before the curse I had resented being a vampire. I always fought against the label of being a “monster.” I thought being turned into a vampire would change me, but it didn’t. I felt the same as I always had; that’s why it was so hard to understand why all of a sudden hunters wanted to kill me just because of what I was. But now I understood. Hunters would have been very necessary back when nightwalkers roamed the earth. This was the kind of vampire that people should be afraid of—what I was right now. Hiding from the sun, coming out at night when they were very hungry. Not being able to stop. Not wanting to stop.

I was now the kind of vampire that deserved to be staked. An out-of-control bloodthirsty monster.

I swallowed hard. I was in such deep shit.

Deep.

But it was good that I was still thinking straight. The gold chain had been great—a miracle, really—but it was gone now. Losing the chain had always been a possibility. It sucked. Hard. But it was gone and I had to make do without it. I could stay in control. I could.

Dammit. Who was I trying to kid? Let’s stick with the “I’m in deep shit” direction of thinking.

I needed to find Thierry.

Thierry. His difficult-to-pronounce French name alone gave me courage—a teensy bit. I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and speed-dialed his number. It went directly to voice mail. Dammit. I shoved it back in my bag. I’d cooled off, both literally and figuratively, enough to start walking. One foot in front of the other. I got on a subway and took it to Union Station.

Once I got back to George’s I’d deal with everything else. I wasn’t sure how I’d get all the way there, but I’d figure out a way. Without setting foot outside again. Sure. I’d channel the little vampire engine that could. I could do this. One thing at a time. I think I can, I think I can.

I forced myself to find something good in this situation. It was hard, but I actually came up with something. Now that I’d reached Union Station, I’d entered the PATH system of downtown Toronto—sixteen miles of underground passageways that connected the transit system and a whole bunch of the buildings in the business district. It was possible to never

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have to go up to the surface level. Like, ever. There were shopping, theaters, and restaurants galore all below street level.

A total nightwalker’s paradise.

Still, the thought wasn’t much comfort. While the PATH was great to have in case of shopping and commuting emergency, it didn’t make potentially never seeing the sun again a pleasant prospect.

I knew the PATH. I used to take it daily when I worked for an honest living. But now…

everything started to look the same. My head felt foggy. I put one foot in front of the other and headed north, glancing at some people as I walked past them. They all gave me strange stares in return.

Maybe I looked like hell. I felt like it so why shouldn’t I look like it, too?

“Excuse me,” I asked a blond lady with a kid who looked around three years old. “Can you help me with some directions?”

Her eyes widened and she took a step back from me. “Uh… I don’t know.”

I looked down at the kid and smiled at him.

The kid started to cry.

I slapped a hand over my mouth. I’d probably just flashed him my fangs, which were longer—not to mention sharper—than normal.

Sarah Dearly’s my name. Scaring innocent children’s my game.

“Are you… are you wearing funny contact lenses?” the woman asked shakily.

“Contact lenses?”

Oh, shit. My eyes were still black. And my fangs were sharp. And I was a sweaty, skanky, runny mess. I glanced around to see that I now had the attention of several people, who looked at me like I was about to whip off my jacket and reveal a braful of dynamite. Then I glanced over to the wall next to us to see that it was mirrored. It reflected everyone in the vicinity of the donut store I stood in front of. Everyone except yours truly.

The woman also noted this, and she began to shriek and point at me, while her kid started to howl even louder.

I started walking again. Faster. I didn’t really care what direction I was headed in anymore as long as it was away from screaming peanut-butter-scented people. A glance over my shoulder showed that a few were tentatively following me, but I wasn’t sure if they were hunters who’d been alerted to the lost vampire or if they were simply curious onlookers. I couldn’t think straight so I couldn’t figure it out. The best thing to do was to run, which is exactly what I did.

I turned a corner and found there was suddenly a solid figure in front of me. Tall, dark, and blurry. But familiar. And he held me in place by my shoulders, looked down at me, and stroked the stringy hair off my face.

“Sarah,” Thierry said with concern. “Please, try to calm down.”

I had to admit, it did take a moment.

He pulled me into an embrace and held me there in the middle of the PATH while I slowly got hold of myself.

“H-how did you find me?” I managed after a moment.

“I’ve been searching for you since you hung up on me earlier,” he said. “I’m able to sense your location if I concentrate, thanks to the sire-fledgling bond we share.”

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He wasn’t my true sire but he was close enough. After my blind date from hell had been staked, it was Thierry’s blood that helped me not die. That sealed the deal in giving us the bond—which until now I thought only I had.

“My chain is gone,” I said shakily. “Gideon broke it.”

His jaw clenched. “What?”

“And Gideon burned the grimoire.”

“I see.”

“Are you going to tell me you told me so? About him?”

His expression was grim. “No.”

“You should. I deserve it.”

“Nothing I say will help to make this any better.”

He was right about that.

With an arm around my shoulders, he directed me down the corridor and we walked and walked for what felt like forever until we got to a parking garage.

“I’ve kept this in a central downtown location in case we needed it,” he said, nodding at a white van.

When I first discovered that I was cursed and sunlight had the potential to burn me to a crisp we’d had to use a similar van. It wasn’t a very pleasant drive, but it did the trick. Transport the sun-fearing nightwalker from point A to point B.

“What am I going to do?” I asked him.

He stroked the hair off my forehead and kissed me there softly before holding my face in his hands and gazing down into my black nightwalker eyes.

“You’re going to get into the back of the van and we’re going to George’s.”

“But—”

“No. One thing at a time, Sarah.”

“Are you going to tell me that everything’s going to be okay?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Do you want me to say that?”

“Only if it’s true.”

“Then I think we should hold off any such proclamations for a while until we decide what to do next.”

He couldn’t hide the worry that slid behind his gaze. He couldn’t convince me that all was well with the world. Out of everyone I’d known in my life, Thierry was the biggest realist. He’d seen a lot of years and it had definitely dampened any optimism he might have had. Some people saw him as Mr. Doom and Gloom, but now I knew. He was right. He didn’t put on a happy face when things were going to hell in a hand basket. He dealt with it and then he moved on.

I had to be dealt with.

I climbed into the back of the van. He let go of my hand and without saying another word, slammed the back door shut and I was plunged into darkness. There were no windows, no pretty view, because that would let in the sunlight. He’d prepared for this without telling me. He’d known this could happen—that it would happen.

He might not be an optimist, but he definitely could have been a Boy Scout. I pressed my back against the cool side of the van as it started moving. From where we were, wherever we were—I’d kind of lost track—it took less than fifteen minutes to get

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to George’s house.

I heard a knock on the back door, which warned me it was about to open. I scooted back and the door swung open. The light didn’t touch me but it seared my vision. Just a taste of the pain waiting for me outside the van.

Thierry had a black blanket in his hands. A thick one. And he held it up.

“Come,” he said. “George is waiting.”

Summoning up what little courage I had left, I threw myself into his arms and he covered me with the blanket. We ran as fast as we could to the front door. Only twenty feet but it was not a pleasant sprint.

From the tiny peephole I had, I could see George standing there at the threshold wringing his hands anxiously.

“I invite you into my house, Sarah Dearly!” His voice was pinched. Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten. I couldn’t enter people’s private homes anymore without an invitation.

That would be very inconvenient.

I’d experienced hitting a threshold before, and it was like a thick glass wall. Invisible but impenetrable. Luckily George had said what he needed to and I swept right past him with Thierry at my side into the blissfully dark interior. All the shades had been drawn. I tried to ignore the smoky wisps that drifted upward from my skin. It was minus zero on the last day of February, but that didn’t seem to make a bit of difference. Thierry was frowning at me. “Sarah, are you well?”

Was I well? I didn’t think I could be less well if I tried. My vision was narrowing. Darkening. The room spun in slow circles.

When nightwalkers existed, they tended to sleep through the day. Best way to avoid the sunlight was to be unconscious during it.

“She’s very pale,” George said, studying me. “Pasty is definitely not the new black.”

Then my eyes rolled back into my head and I fainted dead away. Chapter 17

A dream. It had all been just a dream. Thank God.

“Yoo hoo, Sarah. Are you awake?” a voice penetrated through my unconsciousness. I opened my eyes.

George stared down at me. He had a cool, wet cloth pressed firmly against my forehead for the second time in two days.

Not a dream. Damn.

“Wh-what?” I managed.

He waved a hand over his nose. “Yikes. Hello, morning breath. And it’s not even morning anymore. Or afternoon, even.”

“How long was I out?”

“All day. The sun has set. I figure that’s why our little Miss Nosferatu has arisen at last.”

I pushed up enough to see that I was in my bed fully dressed, except that my shoes and coat had been removed. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“We tried. You were dead to the world, and I mean that literally. You don’t breathe and you have no heartbeat. You’re lucky we didn’t embalm you.”

I let myself collapse back onto my pillow. “Maybe you should have. It would solve a lot of

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problems.”

His expression turned wary. “Now that the chain is gone, are you still feeling…

normalish?”

“Normal is a very relative term.” I swung my legs out of bed. I felt weak and shaky, but there was no immediate need to attach myself to George’s jugular like a brunette leech.

“Where’s Thierry?”

“He was by your side all afternoon.”

“He was?” The thought gave my room-temperature body a little inner glow. George nodded. “Obviously he wasn’t aware of the morning-breath situation. Mint?” He presented me with a couple of Tic Tacs.

I took them. I could take a hint. “Thanks.”

“Right now he’s on the phone with Barry about Amy being missing.” His brow furrowed.

“Did she mention anything to you about leaving our favorite little maître d’ for another man?”

I swallowed. “Gideon has her.”

He paled. “Any man other than that would have been okay with me.”

“He’s going to use her to make sure I sire him tonight.”

His jaw tightened. “That bastard.”

“George, please give Sarah and me a moment alone.” Thierry was at the doorway looking in.

He turned. “Gideon has Amy.”

Thierry nodded gravely. “I heard you.”

George looked frantic. “This is horrible. I feel completely useless just waiting around to see what’s going to happen. There has to be something I can do to help.”

“I could use some coffee,” I said.

He nodded. “Excellent idea. I’ll make coffee.”

He turned and left us alone.

“Amy’s not the only person Gideon has right now,” I said evenly. “He’s also got Veronique.”

Thierry’s eyes widened a fraction. “He’s kidnapped her as well?”

I shook my head. “She’s with him more in the mattress-testing capacity. She doesn’t seem to see that there’s anything wrong with that. He’s a powerful man and she’s a survivor. End of story.”

I couldn’t read his expression, but it darkened significantly. “I’m very disappointed to hear that. I would have expected more from her.”

“Me, too.”

“I’m well aware of her selfishness, after all, I’ve known her for a very long time. But this?

To learn that she’d rather aid a man like Gideon, whose family has been nothing but deathbringers to vampires for centuries…” He exhaled. “I am disappointed.”

“She also gave me some of her blood. Gideon thought that drinking from a third master vampire like Veronique would make me an even more powerful sire for him.”

“I fear he may be right about that.”

I rose from the bed and moved toward him, but not too close. I was still very awkward after everything that had happened. The whole situation positively sucked. “Sucked”

actually wasn’t a strong enough word.

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Really sucked.

“Veronique’s blood was powerful enough to give me control. At least for a little while. I’m still thirsty… it’s like I’m always thirsty now, but I can control it at the moment. I don’t know how long this is going to last.” I turned away from him when my throat thickened up. “I’m so sorry.”

He touched my back and the warmth sank into my cold skin. “What are you sorry about?”

“For everything. Things haven’t gotten easier. They’ve gotten worse. And worse. And it’s all my fault. You probably wish you’d never met me.”

“If I had never met you I would have ended my existence three months ago.”

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that for a little while. I had a quick flashback to a tall bridge and a man in a long dark coat who felt he had lived too long. He’d wanted to find peace that night. Instead he found me.

Maybe he should have jumped when he had the chance.

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

“Please, stop apologizing.” He pulled me against him and hugged me tight to his chest.

“You are right about many things. It hasn’t gotten any easier for us. But I don’t wish I’d never met you. I cherish the moment you entered my life.”

I shook my head and couldn’t help but smile a little at that. “Then you’re even crazier than I thought you were.”

“Perhaps I am.” He held my face in his hands and leaned over to kiss me chastely on the lips. “Now you must stop this so we can decide what must be done.”

“It’s simple. I’m going to sire Gideon at midnight so he’ll let Amy go.”

Thierry was quiet for a long moment. “That can’t happen.”

“What?”

“Last night you proved to me that your blood was strong enough to heal even the deadly injury that I sustained. What kind of a vampire will it turn Gideon into now that you’re even stronger? And what level of power will you transfer to him? It’s too much to risk.”

I licked my dry lips. “He gave me the impression he was looking at life a little differently. That he might change.”

“And now what do you believe?”

“I believe he broke my chain and burned my grimoire. I hate him.”

“And yet you still want to help him tonight.” He glowered at me. “How curious.”

“This has nothing to do with having the hots for his body. He has Amy.”

A dark eyebrow raised.

“He has Amy,” I said, more firmly.

His face tightened and his eyes narrowed. “How do you know he’ll free Amy once you do as he says?”

“I’m not seeing any other choices here.” My bottom lip trembled and his hard expression softened significantly.

“I apologize for my frustration.” He exhaled. “I normally can find my way through unpleasant situations, and this—with Gideon, with your curse—it has me at a disadvantage.”

“I know.” I hugged him and he brushed his lips against mine again. I swallowed and looked up at his tense expression. “What time is it right now?”

“It’s seven o’clock.”

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If I currently had a heartbeat it would speed up at that. Ditto breathing. “We have five hours until the ritual’s supposed to start.”

“There’s something else you need to know,” he said softly and wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Please tell me I won the lottery. I could use some good news right now.”

He shook his head. “It’s… it’s the Ring. They’ve contacted me.”

“The pow-wow at Barry’s house the other morning?”

“They called me today personally. It’s about your curse. They know about it. They already knew about your reputation of being the Slayer of Slayers—”

“False reputation,” I corrected.

“Of course it’s false. But it’s lasting, and speculation is growing. They already considered you a potentially dangerous member of vampire society, but now, with the curse—” He looked at me then, a searching gaze over my face. “They’ve ordered your elimination.”

My mouth went dry. “But you convinced them that I’m not evil and everything’s okay now?”

“They wouldn’t listen. They feel I’m too close to the situation to give an objective opinion.” He looked away from me and at my full-length shard mirror that hung on the wall. The mirror able to reflect vampires showed both of us from head to toe. I felt ill. “So what happens now?

“If we can’t find a way to break your curse—” His normally steady voice betrayed a hard edge of stress. “You’ll change. I’ve seen it. Your eyes—in the alley when you attacked the fledgling. It wasn’t you anymore.”

My jaw tightened. “You’re right.”

“Without the gold chain as protection that darkness will now begin to soak through to your true self.”

A chill went down my arms. “I can already feel it getting stronger.”

His eyes were filled with barely controlled anguish. “If you become like that permanently I know what I’ll have to do.”

“It’s obvious,” I said, surprised by how calm I sounded. “You’ll have to kill me.”

He shook his head. “No, there’s another answer. I can take you somewhere. Somewhere that isn’t populated. I can keep you safe and away from others.”

“Locked up in some castle like a hunchbacked monster?”

“It won’t be like that.”

The more Thierry spoke, the more distraught I saw he was becoming over the problem that is Sarah Dearly, the more I knew the answer to this situation—the only answer there was.

It was simple, really. Crystal clear.

“Listen to me, Thierry.” I placed my hands against his cheeks and made him look at me instead of at the floor. “I need you to make me a promise. If I become total Dark Sarah all the time and there’s the threat of my hurting anyone, I want you to stake me.”

“Sarah—”

I shook my head. “If I can’t live a long, healthy, happy, immortal life with you, then I don’t want to live at all. And I don’t want to be hunted down like a rabid dog by the Ring’s assassins. When I go completely nightwalker, I’m not me. The real me will have already died. You have to kill me.”

He shook his head. “I won’t do it.”

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“Thierry,” I said it more sharply than I’d ever said his name before. “I’m serious. I know this sucks. I’m not exactly asking for flowers and jewelry here. Or a temporary loan of cash, which actually I could really use at the moment.” I tried to smile, but it was a lost cause. “I know you’ll do it quickly. It won’t hurt.”

He didn’t say anything for a very long time. “We’ll find another way.”

“Stop being so damn stubborn and just promise me this. Please.”

“Damn it, Sarah.”

I raised an eyebrow. “If you won’t do it, I can always ask Barry. I know he won’t have a problem with this request.”

His silver eyes glistened as he looked at me long and hard. “If this is really what you want—”

“It is.”

“Then I promise. But only if there’s no other possible solution.”

He crushed me against him so hard it took my breath away. That is, it would have, if I still needed to breathe. His body warmed me up a little and I sank against him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him softly.

I’d just totally asked my boyfriend to stake me. And he’d said yes. I had no idea why I felt good about that.

But I knew it was the right thing to do. Out of every decision I’d made recently—both the good ones and the questionable ones—I knew this was right. Dying wasn’t my first choice. Or my second, either. Hell no. Part of me fought forward, wanting to beg him to forget everything I’d just said, but I pushed that cowardly part of myself back down where it belonged.

I didn’t want to live if I was a nightwalker. She was a different person entirely—a mean, nasty, black poison that ran just below the surface of my skin. A monster lying in wait, ready for the chance to take over my life.

She had to die.

I’d fight like hell to find another solution to this monumental problem, of course, but a girl always has to have a Plan B just in case.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Thierry murmured into my hair. “I’ve only just found you.”

I was wrapped in his arms and his warm scent embraced me as well. He always smelled so good. Behind it I could smell him, the warmth of his skin. I could even smell the distress he felt at the moment. I slid my hands through his dark hair and propped myself up on my tiptoes so I could look him right in his eyes. Then I kissed him, gentle at first, but it grew and grew until his mouth opened to mine and I swept my tongue against his, tangling and sliding together, and it only made me want more.

I silently thanked George for the well-timed breath mints. Anxiety moved away from me like heavy clouds parting to show the sunshine and I drank him in, his taste, his scent, the feel of his body against me. Strong arms, a firm chest, his heart pounding against my silent one. I took that heartbeat and concentrated on it, tasting it as I tasted him, and it filled me with a deep aching need.

“I want you, Thierry,” I whispered.

“This is not the time,” he said, but his body didn’t seem to agree. He wanted me, too. Hard to hide something like that.

I smiled inwardly and shut off any more protests with another kiss he didn’t resist at all.

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His hands dropped down to the small of my back as he pulled me tighter against him. However, he did jump a little when I bit his tongue and tasted his blood. The world around me—it really didn’t exist anymore as far as I was concerned—had faded and fogged and grown warmer with every moment that passed. I sucked on his tongue and he let out a deep groan of desire from the back of his throat. I bit my own tongue so he could taste my blood as well, and as he did, his breathing increased.

He’d been able to stop last night when he’d drunk some of my blood. He’d been practicing his restraint, but this was still a dangerous scenario I was in. Playing with fire. Big no-no.

If that was so, then what in the hell did I think was I doing?

Ah, but that’s the problem. I wasn’t doing it anymore. My nightwalker had been so sneaky I hadn’t even felt her creep up behind my subconscious to take me over. She welcomed Thierry’s addiction, she nourished it, she wanted to feed it, groom it, and pet it. She liked pushing him over the edge. She found him much more interesting when he was out of control.

I worked my cool hands up the front of his black shirt to touch his hot skin, feeling his fast heartbeat against my flattened palms. I slid my hands down his abdomen.

“Please,” he groaned, and I wasn’t sure if it was a “please stop” or a “please don’t stop.”

Probably a mixture of the two.

Nice.

“Do you want me?” I asked in a low, throaty voice that sounded very unlike the real me.

“Yes,” he hissed.

He pulled back just enough to show that his eyes had turned to black. Just like mine were—as a quick glance at my shard confirmed. I pulled the hair off the side of my neck, baring it to him. He lowered his mouth to me and slid his tongue up the length of my throat. I shivered at the wet warmth left behind and it made things low in my body wake up.

“What are you doing to me?” he said. “I can’t control this. Don’t make me do this to you.”

I wasn’t making him. It wasn’t as if I had any mind control over other vampires as a nightwalker, like what Amy called my “thrall” over weak-minded humans. Amy.

I pushed the distant thought of a friend in need away, concentrating only on the feel of Thierry’s mouth as he tasted me—his fangs grazing my neck but not quite piercing the skin. He was fighting for control. The memory of almost draining me that night not so long ago was probably still very vivid for him.

At the moment all I wanted was to make him bite me again. Why did I have to be alone? I could still be with Thierry. If he embraced his monster while I embraced mine…

Then nothing else mattered.

My nightwalker thrilled to that idea, but there was a small piece of me that disagreed—the weak and dying part of Sarah Dearly who wanted to stop this before it was too late.

“Thierry—” There was something in my tone now, something more than desire or lust. It was a thread of panic. It made him pull away from me to look into my dark, dark eyes. Intelligence came back to his glazed expression.

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My hands still roamed very freely over his beautiful body. My mouth still sought his lips for another kiss. Or, forget his lips, I nuzzled instead against his throat, tasting the skin there, trying to find the best place to sink into. But I forced myself to clench my teeth, trying to grab hold of the control that danced away just out of my reach.

“You need to slap me,” I told him after a moment. “Veronique was able to stop me from biting her when she slapped me.”

He swallowed hard. “I can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“I won’t hit you,” he said firmly.

“Don’t say I didn’t offer.” I sank my sharp fangs into his throat and his blood spilled into my mouth—so unbelievably delicious and addictive and just plain yummy. I drank him in, literally, and felt my untapped power increase even further, like a glowing light at my core getting brighter and brighter—a sun that wouldn’t hurt me, that would only make me stronger.

Thierry pushed at me. Even though I knew he didn’t have a problem with my bite, as evidenced a few times before in our relationship, he was now trying to stop me.

“Slap me,” I begged him again. “Before it’s too late.”

Then I felt someone’s hands on my back and I was pulled off Thierry where I had him pinned to the bed. My eyes widened at that realization. When did we get to the bed? I turned with a hiss at the unexpected interruption.

Janie Parker stood behind me. “Hey there. How’s it going?”

Then she hauled back and backhanded me so hard my ears rang. Chapter 18

Did you say something about slapping you?” Janie whacked the other side of my face even harder. “I’m only trying to help.”

Half of me wanted to lunge at her and tear her throat out—well, we’d never really been bosom buddies—but the pain from the slap helped me gain a little control back. I skulked over to the far side of the room and glared at her from the shadows. Quinn was behind her with an expression that was part worry, part disgust. Harsh judgment from a former vampire hunter who once upon a time had the hots for me. Just super duper.

Thierry held a hand to his injured neck for a moment until it healed as if by magic. His expression was unreadable. “Thank you for intervening.”

Janie shook her head. “When a woman gives you explicit permission to slap her around, you should take her up on it.”

His eyes narrowed. “Perhaps Quinn wouldn’t have had a problem striking you, but I refuse to harm Sarah.”

“Don’t drag me into this.” Quinn sent another wary glance in my direction. Janie surveyed the room with a sweeping glance and then pulled a wooden stake out of her shoulder bag.

“Don’t even think about it.” Thierry’s brow lowered.

“Hell, maybe this is for you. After all, you’re looking a little out of control yourself, stud.”

Quinn put a hand on his fiancée’s tense arm. “That won’t be necessary, Janie.”

“She’s a nightwalker,” she reminded him with a nod in my direction. “I’ve read the stories

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in the history books.”

“Sarah’s got a curse,” Quinn explained. “You already know this.”

“Doesn’t make her any less dangerous.”

“She’s different.”

“Doesn’t look all that different to me.” She studied me for a moment. I refrained from hissing at her, since I didn’t think that would go over well. After another moment, she grudgingly put her stake away.

I could still taste Thierry’s blood. I wanted more, but there was that part of the real me still fighting like hell to stay in control.

“I need to speak with you,” Quinn said. For a moment I thought he was talking to me, but his attention was on Thierry.

Thierry’s eyes had returned to their normal silver shade. After a searching glance at me that also held a heavy dose of guilt, but saying nothing further, he turned and left the room with Quinn.

Janie stood there, blocking the door, which at the moment was my only escape, with her arms crossed in front of her.

You can take the mercenary out of the girl but you can’t take the girl out of the mercenary.

Or something like that.

“So—” She gave me a weary grin. “Are we having fun yet, or what?”

“I’m going to have to go with what’s behind door number two.”

“Feeling any better?”

“Microscopically.”

“I thought for a moment we’d walked into an explicit love scene. But then I noticed you both still had your clothes on and your teeth were stuck in his neck. Kind of a tip-off to trouble.”

“You’re very observant.”

She exhaled. “You’re way different than the last time I saw you. A little less with the happy.”

“It’s been a busy month.” I blinked slowly. “For both of us. I still can’t believe that you and Quinn are together.”

“Believe it.”

“Care to share how you two hooked up?”

“I was assigned by my demonic boss to get a magical artifact Quinn had a map to in Arizona. Then I was supposed to kill him. We ended up working together to defeat the bad guy. Then I almost got killed and he had to sire me so I’m now a card-carrying member of the fang gang. You want more details, you can buy my memoirs.”

Janie was always more of a smart-ass than even I was. Well, marginally. But I knew down deep—very deep—she had a good heart. She had saved my life before. That counted for something with me. She’d had a hard life and had fallen in with some questionable people, but in the end she made good choices. Including Quinn. My control was now back up to at least 60 percent. “Quinn’s a great guy.”

She made a sound. Not a happy one.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m not going to try to steal him away from you. He already told me what you’d do to me, which I believe included death and dismemberment.”

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“I’m not the jealous type,” she said firmly.

“Good to know.”

She paced over to my messy bed and then back toward the closed door. “But you don’t know what we’ve been through together. I know it’s fast, but I love him so much. And I know he had a thing for you and the only reason you’re not together is that you chose Thierry.”

Great. Vampires with issues. There are so many of us I think I should start a chat group.

“You’re right.” I shrugged. “Maybe I should have chosen Quinn. He is pretty cute.”

She gave me a dirty look.

I couldn’t help but smile, despite everything. “I’m kidding. Seriously, Janie, the guy is head over heels for you. Besides, Quinn was never really in love with me, and all I felt for him was a deep friendship.”

“Really?”

“Then again, he is an amazing kisser.”

“I think I’m going to kill you.”

Even though she said it half-joking it worked to sober me up a little. “About that…”

“Killing you?”

“Yeah.”

“Go ahead. I’m listening.” Her lips turned up at the sides until she realized I wasn’t kidding. “What is it?”

“My curse isn’t getting any better—as you just witnessed. In fact, it’s heading straight downhill into the Village of the Damned.”

“You don’t think you can learn to control it?”

I shook my head. “Not forever. I have a small grasp on it right now because I’m… well, let’s just say I’m well-fed at the moment. But as soon as my stomach starts to grumble, I’d suggest that everyone should clear out.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“All I can do is try to protect the people I care about. Hell, I need to protect the people I don’t care about, too.” I took a long shuddery breath that I didn’t really need anymore.

“I’ve asked Thierry to stake me if we can’t find a solution to this. If I turn totally bad, then there’s no other choice.”

Her eyebrows went up at that. “You asked him to kill you? And he agreed?”

I nodded and tried to hold back the sudden surge of panic. It did sound horrible, but there wasn’t any other way. If he didn’t stake me personally, the Ring would send their people in to do it, and I’m fairly certain their method wouldn’t include attacking me with fluffy bunnies.

“I have another idea about what you should do,” Janie said.

“What?”

“Stop being a damn chump. Stop accepting all of this bullshit that’s being thrown at you and start fighting for your life.”

I frowned at her. “Is this tough love?”

She shrugged. “It’s my opinion. Take it or leave it. I just think any kind of action is better than sitting around and waiting. In fact, Quinn and I are going to try to find where your buddy Gideon has Amy hidden away right now.”

I felt the reminder of my friend’s impending danger like a third slap in the face. “How did

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you even know about that?”

“George filled us in when we got here. Since he knows where Gideon’s hotel was, we’re going to start there. It’s better than nothing.” She turned away from me toward the bedroom door.

“Listen, Janie…”

“Yeah?”

“If things take a serious nosedive and Thierry can’t… well, you know… then I want you to…”

The silence weighed heavy for a moment between us.

She nodded firmly. “You won’t even feel it. It’ll be like getting your ears pierced.”

“We are talking about the same thing, aren’t we?”

“My staking you when you turn completely black-eyed, batshit, crazy evil?”

“Yeah, but I remember getting my ears pierced hurt like hell.”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m not great with the pleasant analogies. I’ll make it quick, though. Don’t worry.”

Don’t worry? Sure. Easy for her to say. “Well, good. Thanks.”

“Janie,” Quinn said from the doorway. “We’re going to take off and start looking. You’re coming, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Be right there.”

Quinn looked directly at me, and I saw that the disgust and uncertainty in his gaze had been replaced with concern. “You okay?”

“I’m doing my best.”

He nodded. “You need anything, just ask.”

Well, I just asked your fiancée to stake me, I thought. How’s that for a favor?

“I’ll do that,” I said instead.

Janie reached forward without hesitation and touched my shoulder. “You are going to make it, you know.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. You want to know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re invited to our wedding.” She smiled. “And FYI, cash is preferred since we’re not registered anywhere. Between running for our lives and getting used to being a vampire, I simply didn’t have the time.”

“Totally understandable.”

She took Quinn’s hand. With a last look at me he turned and they left my room. Had I known I’d be having a parade come through there today I would have spent a little time cleaning up. Luckily I was too distracted to be embarrassed by my messy tendencies, which I just noticed included a pink bra hanging precariously from my closet doorknob. I stood there for a few minutes thinking about what Janie had said.

“Don’t be a chump” was the general theme.

I emerged from the bedroom in time to see George, Janie, and Quinn head out the front door and off on their wild goose chase to try to find Amy. How odd that they’d leave Thierry and me alone after what had happened earlier. Did they trust me again so easily?

But no, when I turned around I saw the reason for their mass exodus. Barry sat on the

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couch. He stared at me with a dark expression of grief on his face. There was no doubt in my mind that he already knew what had happened to Amy.

“She’s going to be okay,” I told him.

“This is all your fault.” There was a catch in his words that made me feel worse than I already did. He sounded more upset than angry.

Also, he was right. This was my fault.

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

Barry frowned. Maybe he didn’t expect me to come right out and admit it.

“If Amy dies—” he began.

“If Amy dies then you have permission to stake me since I won’t want to live anymore,” I finished.

So that was three people I’d given permission to do the deed. I really should start an Excel spreadsheet to keep track.

“That won’t be necessary,” Thierry said. He stood by the front door, his arms crossed over his chest. He wasn’t making eye contact with me at the moment, in fact, he seemed to be avoiding looking at me at all after our little make-out session from hell. “I have faith that Quinn, Janie, and George will be able to locate your wife.”

“But what if they don’t?” Barry argued. “We have no idea where she is. And if that bastard harms a hair on her head…”

“Can’t you sense where she is?” I asked. “If you concentrate really hard? I mean, you’re her sire, right?”

He shook his head. “That is a very rare bond that Amy and I are not lucky enough to share. I love her so much, but I can’t find her. I… I can’t help her.”

Even though the two of us didn’t get along very well, it made my unbeating heart ache to see him in such distress over the woman he loved.

“It’ll be okay,” I said simply. “I’m leaving now to find Gideon, too. When I sire him he’ll let Amy go. It’s simple.”

“No, there’s nothing simple about it.” Thierry grabbed my hand before I made a move toward the front door. “It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s too dangerous if I stay.” I shrugged away from his grip.

“And what will you do after you follow his wishes and make him possibly one of the most powerful vampires who ever existed? Do you think that he’ll give a damn who lives or dies? Gideon Chase is a selfish, self-serving hunter who is thinking of nothing more than his own survival.”

“He’s in pain. The hellfire is burning him alive.”

He glared at me. “After everything that’s happened, why the hell are you still making excuses for him?”

I felt a rise of anger. “You’re overreacting.”

“Am I?” he replied dryly.

“Yes, you are.”

“But, master,” Barry said. “We can’t simply sit here and wait helplessly.”

Thierry crossed the room to stand in front of Barry. “It’s too risky to send Sarah out there alone in her current condition.”

“She’s willing to go.”

“Sarah is obviously not herself right now and can’t be trusted out on her own.” He eyed

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me, and I knew he didn’t mean to sound cruel, he was telling the truth. After what had happened in the bedroom I couldn’t very well blame him. Barry eyed me and for one of the few times since I’d first met him—it felt like an eternity ago but it was only three months—there was none of the usual distaste in his expression, only fear and worry. “What do you think, Sarah? You’re Amy’s best friend. Will she be all right?”

I shook my head. “I… I don’t know.”

I felt the nightwalker at the edges of my consciousness. She was chomping away at my control, little by little, like a bloodthirsty Ms. Pacman, but I held tight—the latest infusion of master vampire blood had helped again.

“You don’t know?” Barry’s face reddened. “That’s not good enough.”

There was stony silence for a full minute.

“I’m going to prepare some of that coffee George made,” Barry snarled. Without waiting for a response, he stood up from the couch and went into the kitchen. I could hear the cupboards and utensils slam and clank.

I took a step toward Thierry. “I seriously need to go.”

“You can’t.” He held up a hand to stop me. “And please, Sarah. Don’t come any closer to me. I’m still feeling a bit shaky from earlier.”

I froze in place. “I took too much blood.”

“It’s not the blood, it’s—” He raised his silver eyes up to lock with mine, and I felt the full weight of his gaze on me. “Your nightwalker brings out my own darkness. It disturbs me.”

I cringed. “I know. It’s disgusting.”

He shook his head. “No. I find it disturbing because… because I like how it feels. When the darkness takes me, everything seems much too simple. The worries of the world fade away and there is only the darkness and the pleasure it brings.”

I bit my bottom lip. “That sounds kind of sexy, actually. But you’re saying that’s a bad thing, right?”

He made a small sound, almost a laugh. “I made the decision a long time ago to avoid all that brings about that darkness in me.” His brows drew together. “No vampire I’ve ever met has had the same problems with control I’ve had. None that weren’t nightwalkers to begin with.”

“There are lots of vampires who aren’t all that picky about where they get their blood from.”

“Yes, but their desire for blood is not so… addictive as mine.”

I turned over what he was saying in my head. “So you think you might have a little nightwalker in you trying to get out?”

“Perhaps.” I could tell by the strained expression on his handsome face that it had taken a lot for him to admit this to me.

I shook my head. “Nope, not possible.”

His frown deepened and he looked at me. “As one who’s witnessed my darker side more than many, I’m surprised you’d say that.”

“Nightwalkers don’t feel guilt when they’ve had their midnight binge. You? You’re all about the guilt. Nearly seven hundred years is a long time to hate yourself. I bet you were a self-loathing human even before you met Veronique, tending your sheep or whatever people did back then for a living.”

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He quirked a dark eyebrow. “I wasn’t a shepherd.”

“Then what were you?”

“I was an innkeeper. I operated several inns and taverns before the plague came.” His eyes got a faraway look for a moment. “Strange. I haven’t thought of that in a very long time.”

“So, you were a medieval Donald Trump?”

“I suppose you could say that.”

That made me smile. “Seems fitting, actually.” I reached out to touch him and he didn’t pull away from me. “I know you had a hard time in the past. Being a vampire isn’t the easiest gig in the world, is it?”

“You’ve handled yourself remarkably well.”

“Are you kidding me? Do I need to pull a transcript of my past misadventures? I’ve fought tooth and nail against it since the night I was sired. I didn’t want to be a vampire. I hated it. And just when I was finally getting used to it, it went and got worse on me.”

“Sarah—”

I shook my head. “I can feel her right now, Thierry—the nightwalker who wants my life and my body. I can feel her clawing her way to the surface. I don’t know how much longer I have but I want you to know one very important thing.”

His expression was tense. “What is it?”

“That I don’t want to be normal anymore. All I want is to be happy. With you.”

He pulled me closer to him. “I swear, Sarah, I will do whatever I can to fix this.”

“I can fix it, but I have to go now.”

“No. You’ll stay here.” His grip on me tightened. “I will find Gideon and I’ll do whatever it takes to stop him.”

My stomach sank. “You mean you’ll kill him.”

“If that’s what it takes.” His eyes narrowed at me. “Would his death affect you? Would you mourn Gideon Chase after all he’s done?”

I guess I didn’t answer quite as quickly as he wanted me to.

“I see,” he said, and his open expression closed off to me behind that annoying, cold brick wall he had.

“You don’t see anything.”

“Gideon’s vision perhaps is much clearer. He seems to cherish your dark side while I restrict it. I suppose you’ll have to decide for yourself which of us is correct.”

A flash of anger pulled my darkness forward and I actually felt my eyes turn black as my vision narrowed and blurred at the edges. “Dammit, Thierry—”

Barry emerged from the kitchen with a tray of coffee and there was even one on there for me. “Here, master. Drink this.”

Thierry absently took the mug of black coffee. “It’s the way it must be, Sarah. Even if you disagree with me vehemently, it’s much too dangerous for you to go to him. Especially being so close to the edge of your control.”

I glared at him, fighting the fogginess inside me, and tried to calm down. Thierry walked toward the window and glanced outside as he sipped from the steaming mug.

We were silent for a moment as I tried to figure out what to say or do next. I couldn’t just sit around the house all night waiting for news. That was not in line with my “don’t be a chump” advice from Janie.

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There was a sudden crash as Thierry dropped his coffee mug and it fell to the floor, causing a dark stain on the light beige carpet that George would not be happy to see. He brought his hand up to his forehead.

I rushed to his side. “What’s wrong?”

He turned slowly and looked past me at Barry. “What have you done to me?”

Barry’s expression was unreadable. “You didn’t give me any choice. I’m sorry, master.”

Thierry collapsed to his knees and I caught him before he fell all the way to the ground.

“Sarah…” he whispered, then his eyes closed and he went limp. I turned to look at Barry with wide eyes. “What did you do?”

His breathing was so fast his little chest went in and out like an accordion. “Odorless, tasteless garlic tablets. I put a few into his coffee.”

Garlic. It was a myth that vampires were repelled by the cloves. Actually, garlic knocked us out cold. I’d encountered the stuff in darts that hunters used to hit their targets if they didn’t want an immediate kill. It would render the vampire unconscious for a short time. A harmless but very effective tranquilizer.

I touched Thierry’s face and stroked the dark hair back from his forehead. He’d trusted Barry and the sneaky little bastard had used that to get the upper hand. I was so impressed!

“You need to go,” Barry said. “Before he wakes up.”

I eyed him. “He’s going to be furious with you about this.”

“If it’s the difference between saving Amy and sitting here powerless, then I’m willing to take that risk. Now will you go, or what?”

“Bossy, much?”

“I know the master only wants to do the right thing, but he refuses to see logic when it involves risking your safety. You’ve quickly become his blind spot.”

He was right. Thierry couldn’t see past his desire to keep me safe. He’d never let me leave the house tonight even if it meant we were risking Amy’s life. Also, he obviously didn’t want me anywhere near Gideon again. I leaned over and kissed Thierry softly on the lips, praying that that wouldn’t be the last time I ever kissed him.

Then I got up and looked at Barry. “Wish me luck.”

“There’s no time for luck. Just go.”

“Sheesh. It’s not like I asked you for a hug or something.”

He glowered at me. “Why are you still here? The master will not be unconscious for long.”

Good point.

I turned and pushed the door open and left the house, hoping that everything would work out perfectly. I’d had enough experience to know that was an impossibility, but a girl could dream, couldn’t she?

Chapter 19

I headed to Darkside, since that was the last place I’d seen the billionaire vampire hunter in question.

No one was there. The club was closed for business and deserted. My cell phone rang three separate times and I knew by the call display that it was Thierry.

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I didn’t pick up. He was probably furious with me for leaving. Probably? Make that definitely. I understood his point—my being out on the streets in my current chain-free condition wasn’t the best decision.

Another understatement.

Who cares what he thinks? my nightwalker said. That guy is such a drag. He never lets you have any fun.

“Is that so?” I said aloud. “Not that I’d take any advice from you.”

I am you, stupid. And I know what you want.

“And what’s that?”

To be free. To have fun. You used to have fun, but ever since you met Thierry you’ve been miserable.

“That has nothing to do with Thierry. That has to do with being a vampire.”

You know who’s fun? Gideon. He is so sexy and exciting and life with him would be so wickedly awesome.

“Wickedly awesome?” My evil inner voice sounded like a Valley Girl. Yeah. You liked Gideon, didn’t you? You felt sorry for him. More than you should have. And there was something else there as well—a spark of something more. Are those feelings all gone now?

I gritted my teeth. “They’re gone. He was using me—trying to manipulate me.”

And it totally worked. You left your “true love” lying on the floor unconscious so you could run out to find Gideon. You’re going to give him exactly what he wants from you.

“Only to save Amy.”

Mmm hmm. Sure. Yeah, I believe that. Vamp tramp.

My jaw tightened. “I don’t care what you think.”

Well, you should care. As soon as I have the chance, I get to make the decisions, sweetheart. I’m so sick of your taking the lead. I want my moment in the sunlight. Figuratively speaking, of course. No real sunlight. It stings like a bitch, doesn’t it?

“You can shut up anytime now.”

Great. Now I was having full-fledged conversations with my inner nightwalker. That wasn’t a good sign. She wasn’t feeling any angst about this situation. She was happy to let the darkness take over completely. She wanted to find Gideon for reasons different from mine. And she couldn’t care less about Amy.

Is that really how part of me felt? Or was my nightwalker a separate identity completely from who I actually was?

I guess we’ll soon find out, won’t we? she said inside my head. She was a total bitch.

Hey, no need to be rude.

I shouldn’t be on the streets in my condition. It was like drinking and driving—risky, dangerous, and insanely stupid. But I held on to one thought: Amy. It was like waiting until after Valentine’s Day to break up with somebody. I had to make sure she was safe before I could let my nightwalker take me over completely. Unfortunately, she seemed to want to get an early start. I pushed back at her whenever she raised her ugly head.

Thierry’s words from earlier rang in my head. “Gideon cherishes your dark side while I restrict it. I suppose you’ll have to decide which of us is correct.”

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Was he just being jealous, as he used to be with Quinn? I already knew which was correct. It’s not as if I was conflicted about what side I was going to take. I loved Thierry. I hated Gideon. It was that simple.

Yeah, right, my inner voice chimed.

“Shut. Up.”

Where the hell was Gideon? And how was I supposed to find him in a city of two and a half million people?

How about a location spell? my nightwalker suggested helpfully.

“Last time I checked, I was a vampire, not a witch.”

A few people on the Front Street sidewalk where I now briskly moved along glanced at me warily as I kept talking to myself like a crazy woman. A location spell. A person’s exact location could be pinpointed if you knew someone who could work some hocus-pocus. What’s his name—wizard-boy Steven, aka The Darkness—did a location spell to find out where I lived, didn’t he? Just before he was possessed by a demon and threw me into a wall, that is. However, it might be worth it if I could find him.

But how was I supposed to do that? I didn’t have his phone number. I had no idea how to contact him. And time was running out.

Check it out, my nightwalker said. A falling star. Why don’t you make a wish, you loser?

My evil inner voice wasn’t very nice at all.

I looked up at the sky, dark but clear, showing a full moon and stars like a thousand sparkly diamond rings.

Normally, I’d wish for a million dollars. Tonight I’d make an exception.

“I wish I could find Gideon Chase,” I said aloud to the brightest star I saw. “Pretty please.”

The star moved to reveal that I’d just wished on an airplane. Well, that sucks, my nightwalker said.

At least we agreed about something.

“Hey, lady.” Somebody poked me in the arm. I turned around to scowl at my attacker.

“Need concert tickets?”

“Concert tickets?” I repeated. “That’s one thing I actually don’t need right now.”

“C’mon. They’re cheap. Concert’s already started. You can have ’em for fifty each.”

The man’s breath smelled like a cross between Cuban cigars and a used litterbox. Pleasant it wasn’t.

“Not interested,” I told him.

“Death Suck is the hottest heavy metal band out there. You look like you could use a little excitement tonight.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Forty each. C’mon. Take them off my hands.”

I was about to open my mouth again to tell him exactly where he could shove the tickets when I froze.

Did he say Death Suck?

Did I not already know Death Suck’s biggest fan in the entire Northern Hemisphere?

Why, I think I did. And Death Suck’s biggest fan just happened to be a teenaged wizard who liked to be called The Darkness, who I already knew had expressed a very keen interest at being at the concert this evening.

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I looked up at the path of the plane I’d wished on and said a silent thank you. Wishing on stars was obviously overrated.

“Give me the tickets,” I said.

“Forty each.”

I narrowed my eyes and held out my hand, reaching down a little into my nightwalker self to pull out my “thrall” ability as though I was searching through a cluttered purse. “Give them to me.”

His eyes glazed over immediately. “Sure thing,” he said, and he handed me the tickets without further argument. “Enjoy the show.”

I snatched the tickets away from him. I’d forgotten that the thrall was, hands down, my favorite side effect of being a nightwalker.

Not that there was anything good about the curse, mind you. But if there was, it would be the thrall. Wonderful, glorious thrall.

I focused on going into the domed Rogers Centre stadium, getting past security, who saw nothing suspicious about my strolling into a heavy metal concert more than an hour after it had already started. The scent of beer and pretzels and popcorn hit me, along with the very mild scent of weed.

Vampire nose at full capacity. Check.

The sound of twenty thousand screaming kids assaulted me, and the grinding whine of guitars and synthesizers hit me like a brick wall as I wandered the seating area, straining my senses, for any sign of the wizard I was looking for.

“Death suck!” the lead singer screamed into the microphone.

“Kill them! Stab them! Make them bleed!

“Tear their hearts out, THEN WE’LL FEED!

“Suck! Death! DEATH! SUUUCCKKK!”

Catchy.

Vampire hearing: not exactly an asset at the moment. Check. A quick sweep of the place showed me nothing I could use. This was already taking too long. How would I be able to find him in a crowd of thousands of kids?

I kept searching until a glance at my watch told me it was just after ten o’clock. I’d already been wandering aimlessly around the concert for way too long. Two hours left.

I made my way down the aisle trying to ignore the music, if you could call it that, and focus on finding Steven. I knew I couldn’t find him the old-fashioned way. It would take forever to look at faces one by one. So I decided to do something a little risky. Here we go again, I thought.

No, I could handle it. Really. I would slide into my nightwalker skin just a little, kind of like testing the temperature of water with your big toe. He’d touched me the last time I saw him. I vividly remembered him wrapping his hand around my throat and trying to squeeze the life out of me. We all had a dark side to deal with, didn’t we?

“We’re close to the end now,” the demon speaking through Steven had told me yesterday, all red-eyed and scary. “And if you don’t step aside when the blood begins to flow it will devour you whole.”

When the blood begins to flow?

Still freaky. And yet, weirdly appetizing, which wasn’t a very calming thought at all.

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Oh, how I missed the days of Chinese food and chocolate cake. The only potential victims then were my thighs.

In any case, I had to find Steven’s creepy, freaky little ass that I was totally positive was somewhere at this concert. If this didn’t work, I’d just thrall my way past the security guards, grab the microphone from the lead singer, who looked like he’d just been released for a day pass from San Quentin Penitentiary, and yell out his name. I’d done karaoke before in my prevampiric life. I could belt out a little Bonnie Raitt if the situation called for it, no problemo.

I grasped the railing in front of me and closed my eyes, focusing on Steven’s hand on my throat. The warm scent of his skin. The blood just underneath racing through his veins. The stadium shifted after a moment to something more tangible, more alive. I could smell past the light odor of sneaked-in drugs, sweaty armpits, and expensive snacks to something deeper. Twenty thousand hearts beating, pumping blood through their young bodies.

Twenty thousand tasty treats.

No. I pushed past that thought as if it was seaweed hanging down in front of me, squishy and unpleasant, getting past that so I was able to focus on one teenager in particular. Focus. Weaving my way through the crowd, my senses opening up and searching like fingers lightly brushing over the audience, checking and rechecking, and I knew I was close. So very close…

“Hey,” somebody said.

My eyes snapped open and I looked to my side.

A man stood there checking me out. He wore a black T-shirt with a big white skull and the band’s logo emblazoned across it.

“Hey, baby,” he said. “Cool black contacts. They so rock.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. They rock like Death Suck rocks!” He thrust his fists into the air. “Wooooo!

Death Suck! ROCKS!”

“Sit down,” I hissed.

“Okay.” His eyes glazed and he sat down heavily right in the middle of the stairway. I fought against the fog that rolled over my senses. I’d already fed from two master vampires that day. I didn’t need more blood. I could keep my bitchy little nightwalker at bay for a little longer. I had to. It’s not like I had any choice.

Do or die.

Like, literally.

I opened my eyes to see that somebody was looking directly at me, somebody other than the über-fan who had made a lame-ass attempt to hit on me. Just on the other side of the aisle where the fan now sprawled was the very person I’d been trying to find.

“Hi,” Steven said. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

He wore a T-shirt identical to the other fan’s shirt, but Steven’s was autographed, and he held a concert program under his arm.

I waded through the mental haze I saw him through. “You were wondering when I’d show up?”

He nodded. “I sensed you were near.”

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“Well, that’s convenient, isn’t it?” I drew in an unneeded breath and felt a wave of relief hit me. He was here. It was going to be okay, after all. “You have to help me.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I need you to find somebody for me. To do a location spell.”

“Dude,” another kid came up beside Steven. “Who’s the black-eyed babe?”

My eyes were still black? Not good. Luckily I probably fit in around here. I’d just pump my fists and yell “Death Suck rocks!” if anybody gave me a hard time. Or tear their throats out and bathe in their yumtastic blood, my nightwalker suggested. Uh, wait. No, no, no, that wasn’t a good thought, to say the very least. Let’s stick with the first one. Only the first one.

“She’s a client,” Steven said.

“A client?”

“For my magic shit.”

“You are the man.” The friend eyed me. “What’s your name, sweetness?”

I black-eyed him with distaste. “What are you, twelve? Get away from me.”

“That’s okay,” he replied. “I like my women frisky. I can handle it. And, for the record, I’m almost fifteen.”

I ignored him and looked at Steven. “So, can you help me?”

“Oh, yeah.” The friend leered at me. “He’s going to help you, all right. Help you all night long, baby. Uh huh.”

Maybe I could rip out one throat tonight. I’d promise to make it quick. Wait… no. Not even one.

“Stop that,” Steven told him. “She’s old enough to be my mother.”

That snapped me out of my nasty nightwalker funk. “Hardly.”

“Steve, dude, I can handle older women. I’m all about that.”

“I told you to call me The Darkness.”

“Don’t be a wiener.”

Steven scowled. “A wiener? I’m not a wiener. You’re the wiener!”

I sighed. The fate of my best friend’s life was currently in this wiener’s hands. The night was not looking up.

About three seconds later, Death Suck wrapped up their concert extravaganza and the lights came on. Thousands of blurry-eyed teenagers with damaged hearing began filing out through the exits.

“Come with me,” Steven said to me.

His friend snickered. “Yeah, baby. Then you can come with me. Get it? Heh heh.”

I looked at the kid and channeled my thrall. “Go home, little boy.”

“Okay, bye.” His eyes glazed. He turned around and left without another word. I followed behind Steven, keeping a close eye on the back of his stringy-haired head as we moved through the thick crowd. Finally I managed to clamp my hand down on his shoulder to stop him for a second.

“Where are we going?” I asked. “Are you going to do the location spell for me?”

“Maybe. Follow me.”

He started walking again.

“About what happened yesterday,” I said. “When you were possessed—”

He looked at me and his eyes widened a bit. “Yeah. I told you the dark magic had touched

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you already. I guess it must have recognized you again.”

“Will you still be able to do the eradication again if I have no other choice?” I asked. “You gave me the impression it might be possible.”

“Forget it. Not going to happen.” He shuddered. “In fact, I’d prefer never to go that deep again. No more vampire clients. Stupid demonic energy almost made me too sick to come to the concert tonight. Besides, I got a new job. Dude’s paying me loads for my mad skills.”

The crowd was thick and warm as it spilled outside and I forced myself to think about anything other than the collective scent of appetizing teenagers, all so vulnerable and tasty. All in all, I was rather proud of my control so far tonight. Maybe it would be difficult, but not impossible, to keep my nightwalker at bay indefinitely. It was like a muscle I hadn’t flexed very much. Maybe I could simply use those new muscles to push aside any dark thoughts like thick, sticky cobwebs.

Like a recovering drug addict, I could recite the Serenity Prayer to myself when things got tough.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can—

And, uh… etcetera.

Obviously I’d have to memorize that at a later date. I kept following Steven as the crowd dissipated, everyone heading for public transit or the surrounding parking lots. Or off to a restaurant or bar to recover from the audial onslaught. The CN Tower stood tall and grand next to us, reaching up to the sky like something really tall and pointy and iconic.

Funny. I’d never before noticed how very much it resembled one big-ass, tall, wooden stake. I shuddered at the thought.

The hum and buzz of the crowd faded away. The fresh air helped me concentrate on things other than the scent of humans.

Don’t you think it was surprisingly easy to find Steven? my nightwalker slid into my thoughts. A little too easy, maybe? Makes one wonder, doesn’t it?

I frowned. “Actually, now that you mention it…”

“This way.” Steven didn’t turn around as he jogged down a short flight of stairs and through a little snow-covered parkette lined with benches at the base of the stake-shaped landmark.

“I can’t believe I found you tonight,” I told the back of his moving head. “It’s amazing, really. I wished on a star… or rather an airplane… and then I just happened to be in front of the concert. Talk about fate.”

“It’s not fate,” Steven said. “I summoned you.”

I stopped walking for a second in shock and had to run a bit to catch up to him again.

“You summoned me? What are you talking about?”

“My new client wanted me to find you. So I sent out some of my magic to draw you here. And, hey, it worked. Which is good, since I really don’t want to piss this guy off.”

I swallowed as Steven turned the corner leading to the street. “This client… what’s his name?”

“Mr. Chase,” he said simply. “You already know him, right? He said he found me because you came and saw me the other day and he was impressed with my magical abilities.

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Dude’s paying me five Gs for tonight.”

“That’s why you found me? For the money?”

Steven cleared his throat. “Also, he’s got my mom somewhere, but he promises not to hurt her. And he let me come to the concert, so obviously he’s cool. Scary, but cool.”

The back door of a black Lincoln Navigator idling at the curb opened up and a tall man stepped out. He was dressed all in black and even had a black scarf around his now rescarred face. I could see the physical pain in his green eyes as he watched me approach.

“See, Sarah?” Gideon said. “I told you I’d find you.”

The nightwalker half of me was delighted to see him. The rest of me hated surprises. I used to love them when they meant birthday parties and gifts and cake. Not so much anymore.

“Sorry for the scarf,” he said. “It’s a little overly dramatic, I know. But I happened to lose my wristwatch earlier this afternoon, didn’t I?”

“I’m glad you found me,” I said even though my voice sounded shaky. “I’ve been looking for you. I want to get this over with.”

“You do?” He seemed surprised by that. “I thought you might give me a hard time. I was certain your master vampire lover wouldn’t let you out of his sight anymore.”

“He didn’t. I basically ran away from home so I could find you.”

I couldn’t see the expression on his covered face but I got the impression he was smiling at that.

“Intriguing. I’d even say it was borderline romantic if I wasn’t sure that you’re not so happy with me anymore.”

I tensed. “It’s like you’re psychic, or something.”

“Do you still agree to sire me? Despite your newfound hate for me.”

“It’s not newfound.”

“Perhaps I can make it up to you.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

His eyes crinkled at the sides so I could tell he was smiling. “I did buy you a nightclub.”

“Right. Well, I’ll hold off writing my thank-you note for now, if that’s okay. At the moment, I really want to sink my fangs into your throat, Gideon. And I have a feeling you’re okay with that as well.” I looked at the car. “So let’s get going.”

“I appreciate your enthusiasm. But I can’t take any chances, I’m afraid. Pardon my taking a few precautions.”

“Precautions?” I repeated, but then I felt a painful sting. I looked down at my chest and pulled out the small garlic dart.

The stars flickered out as unconsciousness reached for me. Chapter 20

Sarah, wake up!”

A familiar voice.

I slowly, grudgingly, opened my eyes. Coming back from a garlic-dart knock-out was never exactly a pleasant experience. It was like waking up with a hangover—headache from hell and general wooziness included at no extra charge. I blinked a few times until a pretty face came into focus. Short blond hair. A cute red blouse I knew she’d recently purchased from Banana Republic.

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“Amy.” I pushed myself into a sitting position.

“Holy cow!” She grinned at me. “I thought you’d never wake up.”

I blinked a few more times. “Where the hell are we?”

“Don’t know.”

I looked around. It was somewhere dark. There were a few candles lit, but otherwise there was no light. It smelled musty and old in there—other than the whiff I got of Amy’s strawberry-scented perfume.

I looked at her, searching for some sign she’d been abused. “Are you okay?”

“Other than being a bit claustrophobic, I’m just fine and dandy. How’s Barry?”

“Worried.”

She waved a hand. “He doesn’t have to be. Gideon is really nice, isn’t he? Very polite.”

Her grin widened. “And I think he might have a little weensy crush on somebody I know.”

She poked my shoulder. “And by that, I mean you! It’s like Romeo and Juliet. Only with more blood.”

I blinked at her. “Have you been dropping acid in here?”

“No.”

“Drinking buckets of moonshine?”

“Nope.”

I remembered what she’d told me on the phone that morning. “Gideon drugged you to keep you calm.”

“Oh, totally.” Her smile was lopsided. “I normally don’t like needles, but these ones are aokay. It’s all good, Sarah. No problem whatsoever. Life is fine and breezy and everything’s gonna be all right.”

A sedative. Terrific. I’d seen Amy freak out before. The last time had been when she’d found out that her best friend was a vampire. She’d run away from me screaming. But at the moment, she wasn’t in freak-out mode at all. She looked like she was on vacation. Somewhere relaxing.

“Gideon’s really handsome,” she said. “With or without the scars.”

“Gideon is evil.”

She smiled. “He got those scars fighting a demon, Sarah. A demon. That’s total alpha romance hero right there—not a bad guy. Can you judge a book by its cover? I don’t know. What is evil, anyhow? Are we born that way or is it the choices we make? It’s so groovy just having the time to think about these things and turn them over and over in my head.” She sighed wistfully. “Maybe nobody’s really evil and nobody’s really good. We’re just sisters and brothers of the earth, whether we’re vampires or humans or hunters. We need to hug each other. Make love, not war.”

I blinked at her. “I think you’re definitely dropping acid.”

Her grin held, but her gaze moved down to my neck. “You’re not wearing your gold chain. Naughty, naughty!”

“Gideon broke it.”

“Really?” Her thin eyebrows went up in woozy wariness. “So are you going to bite me?”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” I looked at her throat. Well, now that she mentioned it… I bet her blood would be very sweet and tasty…

No, not going to happen. I was still in control and I had to stay that way if I was going to get out of here. Wherever here was.

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I shakily got up from the floor and walked over to the faint outline of a door but there was no handle. I scanned the interior of the small room we were in. The walls were made of stone—smooth and cold to the touch. There was something chiseled into the wall. Names and dates.

“I’m thinking this might be a crypt,” Amy said. “In a cemetery somewhere. Isn’t that totally cool?”

My stomach sank. “Yeah, real cool. What time is it?”

She glanced at her wrist. “Ten to twelve.”

Ten minutes.

I’m super excited! my nightwalker said. Aren’t you? So close to our moment of destiny. Tick-tock.

My cheery inner darkness inched forward. I didn’t want her to take over at the moment, especially not with such a helpless victim nearby.

I slammed my fist against the door. “Gideon! Where are you?”

Amy sighed contentedly. “Maybe Quinn will rescue us. A lot of vampire hunters are so gorgeous, aren’t they? Who knew? Have I mentioned how excited I am that you two are together again?”

I rubbed my temples. “That was just a cover. Gideon made me break up with Thierry so Quinn and I acted like we were still together to throw him off. Didn’t work very well.”

She frowned. “So, you’re still with Thierry?”

“Yes. Or, at least, I think so. He has some issues with my siring Gideon. Plus, the last time I saw him he was unconscious on the floor. I actually had to step over him to come and try to save your butt.” I glanced around the crypt. “And so far, that hasn’t worked out so well either.”

She huffed. “You could do better than Thierry, you know.”

I hissed out an exasperated breath. “I don’t have time for a Thierry debate, thanks so much. I’m supposed to sire Gideon in less than ten minutes. It’s kind of weighing heavy on my mind right now.”

“I think you’d even be better off with Gideon than Thierry.”

“Because everyone knows you have such fabulous taste in men that you can judge something like that. Now would you mind being quiet for a minute? I need to think.”

She made an annoyed sound. “Oh, what else is new? It’s all about you. Martyr Sarah, what a big surprise. You’ve been such a total drag since you got vamped, you know that?”

The darkness was eating away at my control. “Since you’re currently drugged I’m going to let that slide.”

She rolled her eyes. “I think you’re jealous of me.”

“Of you?”

“I’ve adapted to vampire life a billion times better than you. And I have a man who loves me no matter what. All you’ve got is that sullen, miserable—although admittedly really hot—old stick in the mud.”

She gasped when I grabbed her throat and slammed her up against the wall. “You know what? I don’t really care what you think. He’s the man I want to spend the rest of eternity with.” I paused, frowning. “Unless he has to kill me, of course. But in the meantime, you can take your opinion and shove it where the bats don’t fly. Got it?”

“Y-yes.” She wheezed her agreement. “Please… don’t… hurt… me.”

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I frowned. Hurt her? Then I realized I’d raised her a foot off the ground and was holding her by only her throat against the wall.

The door scraped open behind us.

“Put her down, Sarah,” Gideon said.

My eyes widened and I immediately lowered her. A glance over my shoulder confirmed that Gideon, with the scarf still wrapped around most of his face, stood in the doorway with Steven at his side.

“I need to get out of here!” Amy walked toward Gideon. “I’m so not feeling very groovy anymore.”

“I’m going to need you to stay put. Why don’t you have a little nap again?” Gideon shot her with a tranq dart.

“Oh, poop.” She pulled the dart out, then stumbled to the floor, where she promptly fell asleep.

“That wasn’t necessary.” I heard the growl in my voice.

“I’m afraid it was,” Gideon replied. He was studying me intently. “Your control is very shaky, isn’t it?”

“Are you afraid I’m going to kill you by mistake instead of just siring you?”

“I’d be a fool not to consider that possibility.”

“What if I lose control completely? Turn totally 100 percent nightwalker on you? Can’t control me very well then, can you?”

“Such control is highly overrated,” Gideon said. “What makes you unsteady now and unable to maintain your composure is the fact that you’re fighting it. Your two sides are battling and weary from the fight.”

“Good versus evil,” Steven said, nodding.

“I’m a much bigger supporter of the shades of gray theory, myself.” Gideon’s green-eyed gaze swept over me. “Everyone has both good and evil inside them all the time. It all depends which is more dominant. But even someone you may think is completely evil has some good in them—like me, for example. And someone you feel is good—perhaps like your master vampire lover—has a great deal of darkness as well.”

“Well aware of that little factoid.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“So you accept Thierry’s inner conflict, but you won’t accept that I might be the same?”

“I think actions speak much louder than words.”

“My actions have spoken very loudly. I saved your life. I gave you your gold chain—”

“Which you destroyed.”

“You don’t need it,” he said firmly.

“That’s very debatable. You threaten my friends and family to get what you want.”

“And I have apologized for that. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“You’re a vampire hunter.”

“I can’t deny that. And yet here we are. Standing on one side of the bridge that will take me over to my new life.”

“That’s funny, I thought we were in a cemetery.”

His eyes crinkled with a hidden smile, then shadowed over with pain. He staggered forward. “I think it’s nearly time.”

I looked at Steven. “Thought your job was to summon me, or whatever. Why are you still here?”

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Wizard-boy looked completely miserable. “I have some other stuff to do as well. Mr. Chase was very specific.”

“I need Steven’s help during the ritual to help pass the strength of your special blood to me. It isn’t a simple siring. It is a healing as well. Plus, I needed him for another reason.”

“What?” I asked warily.

Gideon approached me. He looked very weary as he raised his scarred left hand and stroked my cheek. “It’s better if you don’t struggle against it. Let your darkness take over. You’re more powerful as a nightwalker. More useful to me. It makes everything so much simpler.”

Hell, yes, my nightwalker agreed wholeheartedly from inside me. I like the way this guy thinks.

I pushed his hand away. “Not going to happen.”

He didn’t move away from me. In fact, he got a little closer. He was totally tempting fate. I could reach up right now and tear out his throat and end this once and for all if I wanted to.

Trouble was, I didn’t want to.

My nightwalker swirled and shifted inside me, growing larger and harder to control. The thick poison of my curse churned under my skin. It reached toward Gideon—it liked him. A lot.

My nightwalker desired Gideon Chase, big-time. She was attracted to his darkness as much as, if not more, than she was attracted to Thierry’s—the darkness she liked to pull out and play with whenever she got the chance. Only with Gideon she didn’t have to seduce it out of him.

Gideon knew I was in love with Thierry. But I think he also knew that my nightwalker was in love with him. She’d made me turn my back on Thierry’s wishes. She was the reason I was here, standing in front of Gideon in a cold, dark crypt at midnight, ready, willing, and able to turn him into a vampire and save his immortal soul.

“Sarah,” Gideon said softly, bringing his hand to my face again. “I will miss you. But it has to be this way.”

I swallowed and panic clutched my chest. “What are you—”

“Steven,” he said louder. “Do it now.”

I only had to wonder what he meant for a moment. The candles flickered out. Something came over me, creeping and crawling over my skin, but it wasn’t anything tangible—it was magic. Steven’s dark magic. And it touched me tentatively a moment before I felt it plunge inside.

I gasped. The darkness of my nightwalker grew more and more until it felt as if it oozed out and covered me from head to toe. I struggled to break free from this tight hold, but it held me frozen in place.

Then suddenly it was gone.

I blinked and looked around. The room had grown lighter, but there wasn’t any more light in there than there was before. My eyesight had improved enough for me to literally see in the dark. My improved vision tracked over to where Gideon stood, now a few feet away. He cocked his head to the side.

“I had Steven push away your remaining inhibitions so you could fully embrace your nightwalker,” he said tentatively. “How do you feel?”

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Gideon. It was as if I couldn’t really see him before. My thoughts had been so cloudy. I saw him now, past the black scarf, past the scars. I saw the hellfire steadily burning underneath his skin and his soul slowly being eaten away piece by torturous piece. I walked slowly toward him and reached up to unwind his scarf. He flinched when I touched the scarred side of his face.

“How do I feel?” I repeated. “Much, much better.”

I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him passionately on his lips. Chapter 21

I looked up at Gideon after the kiss with eyes I knew were now pitch black. He looked surprised at me. I didn’t know why he would be.

I felt calm and in complete control now. There was no dark thirst anymore. There was no guilt for what I was. Why should there be? The world felt a whole lot less scary now—

only clear and wide open to anything I wanted to do. Steven’s magic had stripped away that whining part of me that angsted over every little thing. The part of me that wanted to get rid of this curse. What a strange word for something so completely awesome!

The old Sarah was gone. Totally and completely gone—her and her clinging need to stay with that ancient, humorless master vampire—

Thierry. No, I have to fight this.

—And I couldn’t be happier.

Wait a minute. What was that? It didn’t matter. I looked over at Steven.

“Powerful little freak, aren’t you?” I asked.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Gideon touched my arm. “Are you ready?”

“I was born ready.”

How could I ever have imagined myself with any man but him? He was perfect. No centuries of guilt to make him hide from the world. No fear of hurting those who trusted him.

I took his arm and left the unconscious body of Amy behind in the crypt. We emerged into a small cemetery. I could see everything around me as clearly as if it were day. Something caught my eye. Veronique was waiting there. I held back the annoyance as well as I could.

Did I have to deal with that bitch, no matter what man I chose?

So unfair.

Veronique frowned at me. “Sarah, my goodness, you look very strange.”

“Great to see you, too, Vee.”

She drew in a sharp breath. “You’ve lost the fight, haven’t you? Your nightwalker has taken over.”

“What the hell do you care? Aren’t you a part of the big picture?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been having second thoughts. Gideon.” She looked at him. “We need to discuss this. I need to plan my future, therefore I must know exactly what you mean to do after your siring. Where will you go? What will you do?”

He smiled at her. “I don’t have time for this right now.”

“Make time.” Her voice became indignant. “Or I shall not help you any further. Perhaps I

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never should have to begin with. I thought if I intervened, I might be able to spare some bloodshed or unnecessary violence. But now, with Sarah not herself, I worry about what will happen next.”

Survival instincts leading one to become entirely self-involved. Check. I snaked my arm around Gideon’s waist. “Gee, I guess you probably should have thought about that before sleeping with Gideon yesterday, huh?”

“I didn’t sleep with him.”

“What?”

Gideon laughed softly. “Like I told you, Sarah. I had a nap. You drew your own jealous conclusions. No, Veronique truly believes her intervening in my plans means she has some say in the outcome. I, however, disagree.”

“Sarah,” Veronique said softly. “What are you doing? I thought you were in love with my husband.”

… Thierry…

“I swear, if you call him your husband one more time I’m going to punch you in the nose.”

A cold smile curled up the sides of my mouth. “What the hell are you doing here if you don’t approve, then?”

She raised her chin. “Perhaps I am here to stop Gideon from going any further.”

“Actually,” Gideon said, “you’re here for a much more important reason, Veronique.”

Her eyebrows went up. “Oh, and what is that?”

His gaze shifted to that of a predator. “After the ritual, both Sarah and myself may need to eat something nutritious.” A flick of his hand. “Steven.”

I glanced at Steven in time to see a red flash of fire enter his eyes. The next moment Veronique was frozen in place, unable to move or talk.

“She does go on, doesn’t she?” Gideon said.

I moved to stand in front of her with a hand on my hip. “Huh. I think this is the longest I’ve been in her presence without hearing her talk about herself. It’s like a record, or something.”

Then I turned my back on her. Rather a symbolic gesture, if I do say so myself. There was a slight problem, though. Her mere presence reminded me of Thierry. And the image of him of ate away at the corners of my mind.

I love you, Thierry. I’m sorry I screwed up so bad.

“Oh, shut up,” I snapped.

Gideon looked at me strangely. “Everything okay?”

I smiled at him. “Never better.”

His jaw tightened. “We need to get started now.”

It was so different to see through the eyes of a full nightwalker and still feel in control. It didn’t matter to me who died tonight. Well, actually it did matter—I didn’t want to die. I’d lived twenty-eight years trying to be a good person and what had it gotten me? Squat. But now I knew behind that heavy blanket of doubt and guilt, I could have so much more fun.

With Gideon.

Yeah, we could have a whole lot of immortal fun together. I’d never sired any vampires before. Hell, I’d never bitten anybody on purpose when I’d been completely in control of myself. That was kind of odd, now that I thought about it.

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What kind of a vampire didn’t bite people? It was like being a vegan mosquito.

“What will Steven do?” I asked.

“When I drink from you he will use his magic to help push your power into me. A mystical nudge.”

“Works for me.”

The light from the full moon shone on the small patch of cemetery Gideon had chosen for the ritual. Steven was so quiet that I glanced over at him just to make sure he was still there. He was. His eyes were red and glowing in the darkness.

“It’s time,” Gideon said, and there was a strain now to his voice. “Sire me, Sarah. Please.”

I slid a finger down the line of his throat. “Well, since you asked so nicely.”

I put my hands on either of his shoulders then, and with a little force he sank to his knees in front of me. Better position that way for someone as tall as him. Then I leaned over a little and without thinking any more about it, I sank my fangs into his skin. No hesitation. No doubt. Just instinct.

He gasped.

Gideon’s throat was warm and the blood flowed immediately. I felt him try to push me away for a moment—a subconscious survival instinct all on its own. But then he relaxed and let me do my thing. After all, he’d asked for this. Be careful what you wish for.

Three minutes. That’s how long I needed to feed shallowly from Gideon in order to transfer the right amount of virus to him to turn him. One hundred and eighty seconds. If it were possible for the change to happen any quicker than that, any casual little nibble might result in a new vampire. No, it had to be a conscious decision on the sire’s part to create a fledgling. After all, there was no going back.

My eradication. I should have gone through with it no matter what the side effects were. Gideon can’t become a vampire. He’s too dangerous…

I ignored my guilt-ridden inner voice. Talk about a buzz kill. So Gideon would be turned into a vampire by this act. His healing, however, would take place only when he drank from me. Thierry had been the first vampire I’d drunk from—

although at the time his blood had been administered to me diluted in a glass of water. Gideon would be getting the full meal deal tonight.

Thierry…

No, I wouldn’t think about him. I wouldn’t think about anything except the man I currently had my fangs stuck in. Only seemed fair, really. I tasted Gideon’s fear as his human life slipped away and was transformed into something different. He might have wanted this, but he’d spent his entire life hunting vampires, both the good and the bad ones. There had to be something inside him that feared being on the victim side of a nasty monster like me. Even a monster that looked sexy as hell in a short black skirt.

Okay, somebody’s vain, aren’t they?

I frowned. Shut up, annoying inner voice.

Gideon clutched at me, digging his fingertips into my arms as if to push me away. But he didn’t.

When the time was up, I released him and he fell weakly backward and hit the cold, snowcovered ground near a gravestone. His scarred face was pale, his breathing heavy.

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However, despite his weakened appearance, I hadn’t even come close to draining him—he was dealing with the virus, was all.

The human body held six liters of blood. It would take a vamp with a serious appetite—or a whole lot of motivation—to come close to draining another in such a short amount of time. It wasn’t impossible, but it sure wasn’t recommended. I licked the side of my mouth. Mmmm, that was tasty. Human blood was so different from vamp blood. Like comparing a filet mignon to a chocolate sundae.

“Here,” Steven said from beside me. He held out a knife with a curved blade and I took it from him.

Then I stalked back over to where Gideon lay supine on the ground. I straddled his chest and sat down on top of him. He looked up at me with shock and sudden doubt as I traced the tip of the knife over his heart, cutting clean through his shirt so I could see his halfscarred chest beneath. He shivered from the cold, but it could have been Miami around me for as much as I could feel the winter chill.

I drew the sharp blade across my forearm and watched the line of red well up, much as it had the other night when I’d given Gideon enough blood to stop his pain for a short time. Much as it had for Thierry last night to heal his knife wound. What are you doing? You can still stop this. He can’t become a vampire. Please…

Damn conscience. The weak and needy bitch who had succeeded in nothing in life aside from getting herself into trouble poked at me, but she was far enough away that I could ignore her.

“Drink,” I told Gideon and brought my arm to his mouth. I stroked Gideon’s hair as he drank and his scars began to disappear before my very eyes. A fleeting look at Steven confirmed his eyes were still red with magic. Somehow, he was helping in this strange ritual—helping me to heal Gideon and share the power of my blood with him. The power I’d gained from three master vampires. One of whom currently watched us with wide eyes from a dozen feet away, still frozen in place on her Christian Louboutin stilettos. Suddenly, her gaze moved behind me. The next moment I felt something grab my upper arm and pull me up and off Gideon’s supine form. I spun around.

“Sarah—” Thierry’s silver eyes were wide behind his red mask. “We need to go. Now.”

My gaze shifted to the sharp wooden stake he held in his right hand. I pulled away from him. “Not so fast, cowboy.”

“You shouldn’t have come here alone.” He drew in a breath as he continued to survey the scene in front of him. “Barry acted rashly in what he did, but I’m not angry.”

“So glad to hear that,” I said coolly.

He searched my eyes. “I found you. I used the connection we have to each other. It was difficult, but—”

“But here you are.”

I’d known it was a possibility that he might be able to find me, no matter where Gideon had taken me in the city. I guess I just thought we might have a little more time before we were so rudely interrupted.

A small piece of me, deep inside, filled with joy at seeing him. I managed to douse that emotion very quickly.

He frowned deeply and touched my face. “Your nightwalker—”

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I slapped his hand away. “Hands off.”

Gideon slowly got to his feet to stand at my side. He placed a hand at the small of my back, but said nothing.

Thierry’s eyes, which I once thought were the coldest and most guarded I’d ever seen—

unable to convey any emotion—were now stormy. I saw anger and disappointment in them, and finally regret.

He knew.

The Sarah he claimed to love was gone. Forever.

Not quite. I’m still here, you heinous bitch.

“Please, Sarah,” Thierry said. “We can fix this. There’s still time.”

I turned to Gideon and kissed him. He kissed me back and I felt his lips curve with amusement that I’d do this in front of the “Red Devil.”

When I turned to look at Thierry again, his guard was back up. I couldn’t read anything in his expression—or what little of it wasn’t covered by that stupid mask.

“So are you cured now?” Thierry asked Gideon unpleasantly. “Did you get what you wanted?”

Gideon’s hand moved down to squeeze my ass. “I got a great deal more than I wanted.”

Thierry’s eyes narrowed. “There’s always more. The more blood you take from her, the more powerful you’ll be.” His eyes flicked to Steven. “And with help, you could hold the power of three master vampires inside you. That is, if Sarah is willing to continuing giving you what you want.”

I smiled humorlessly. “I am a giver. Now, why don’t you leave. Wouldn’t want to outstay your welcome, Red.”

Thierry cocked his head slightly to the side. “Red? You mean, even in your current state of disarray, you haven’t told Gideon who I truly am?”

Gideon’s grip on me increased. “She knows?”

“She does indeed.”

Gideon moved me to face him. “Who is he? Tell me, Sarah.”

I rubbed my lips together. I wanted to say it. I wanted to tell the world—it was on the tip of my tongue. But something stopped me.

I’ll never tell. And neither will you, you stupid nightwalking bitch!

I rolled my eyes with annoyance. Shut up, already.

Thierry’s attention moved to Veronique. “Sarah knew when you did not. She knew without my having to tell her anything at all.”

Veronique’s expression grew confused, but she stayed quiet, since she currently had no other choice. Definitely the best spell on the evening’s program as far as I was concerned.

“Don’t—” I began, finding it impossible to stop the word that bubbled up in my throat. Thierry looked at me. “Don’t? Don’t what?”

I shook my head.

“Tell me who you are,” Gideon said evenly. “And maybe I’ll let you live tonight.”

Thierry said nothing for a long moment of silence.

I felt Gideon behind me then and the press of a knife’s blade at my throat. I drew in an unneeded breath.

“Remove your mask,” Gideon said.

“Gideon—” I gasped.

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Thierry smiled thinly. “With pleasure.”

And, without further delay, Thierry peeled off the heavy mask he wore to reveal who he was underneath. He let it fall to the ground.

My heart sank. How many years had this been a secret? And he’d give it up just to save my sorry ass?

Gideon removed the blade from my throat and brushed his lips against my cheek as if that was his quick version of an apology for using me as bait. I gave him a dirty look, and then glanced at Veronique.

Her eyes were so wide I swear they were about ready to drop out of her head and roll over by my feet.

Gideon laughed then, still a bit weakly, but with great amusement. “Thierry de Bennicoeur, the cowardly master vampire who has hidden himself away for all of these years, is actually the Red Devil himself?”

He’s not a coward, my inner cheerleader growled. He’ll break your neck, you son of a bitch.

“I’m sorry for what I had to do, Sarah.” Gideon leaned into me.

“You mean pressing a knife against my throat?”

“Yes, that. And I forgive you for keeping this rather large secret from me.”

I managed a tight smile. “We’re even, then.”

Gideon’s gaze tracked up and down Thierry as if he was gauging the competition and finding him unworthy and vaguely disappointing. “So what are we going to do with you?”

“A very good question.” Thierry hauled back and struck Gideon so hard across his now completely scar-free face that the hunter flew across the cemetery and hit his head against a marble gravestone, knocking him unconscious.

Damn showoff.

“I’ll give you one more chance,” Thierry said to me. I glared at him. “No. It’s over. One way or the other, it ends tonight, Thierry. I’m different now. And I like being like this.”

“You’re not a nightwalker.”

“I am. I don’t need the sunshine. I don’t need to worry about who I might hurt. I don’t need to be nice all the time.” My eyes narrowed. “And I don’t need you.”

His chest moved in and out with labored breathing. “I don’t want you to need me, Sarah. I want you to want me.”

“No references to catchy seventies tunes, please. This is so not the time.”

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. I could use a quick drink of master vampire blood. Gideon hadn’t taken more than a deep sip, but I did feel a bit parched now.

“Unhand me,” Thierry growled.

“So bossy.” I licked a line across his throat. “Never really cared for that much.”

“That’s too bad.”

“It is, isn’t it.”

He pushed me roughly back from him. It would have knocked the breath out of me if I still needed to breathe.

I backhanded him hard across his face. It was strong enough to snap his head to the side. When he looked at me again his eyes were black and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.

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“Manners, Sarah,” he warned. “The fact that you’ve given in to your darkness doesn’t mean you have to be a bitch about it.”

My gaze moved back down to that stake he held. “Got something there for me, big boy?”

His knuckles whitened on the weapon. “Maybe.”

“You know, I kept having this recurring dream about you staking me. But lately it’s shifted so I’m the one staking you.”

“Prophetic?”

I shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out sooner or later, won’t we?”

“Probably sooner than later.”

“Right.” I placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart beating beneath my touch. Faster than it should be for a master vampire, but much slower than a human. I held up my stillbleeding arm to him. “Sure you don’t want a taste? I know how much you enjoy that.”

His eyes moved to my arm. “Sorry, Sarah. But sloppy seconds aren’t my style.”

In a flash he grabbed both my wrists in one hand and pulled me closer to him. The stake came up to graze my chest.

“Are you truly lost to me?” he said, the strain now evident on his face. I tried to pull away from him, but he was strong. I don’t think I ever realized just how strong Thierry was before.

“Let go of me, you son of a bitch,” I snarled through clenched teeth. “Or kill me. One or the other. Make your choice.”

His expression darkened. “I’m deciding.”

I managed a smile at that. “Right. Of course. Let me think back to earlier today. I think I asked you to slap me and you couldn’t. If you couldn’t do that, then how could you stake me?”

“I can stake you if I have to,” he growled. “And I will. I was instrumental in ending the last wave of nightwalkers that existed. I know very well the danger they represent.”

“Blah blah blah. So, what happens after you stake me? Will the world go back to normal?”

“I won’t know. You said to me once that if you couldn’t live with me, you’d rather not live without me. Well, I feel exactly the same way about you.”

“So sentimental.” I said it snarkily, but my throat felt suddenly very thick. “Who knew?”

His black eyes narrowed. “Would you hesitate to stake me if you held this weapon in your hand right now?”

“Not for a moment.”

All remaining hope left his eyes as I uttered that flat statement. “I see.”

I gasped as I felt the sharp tip of the stake jab against my chest over my currently unbeating heart. He was going to do it.

“Je t’aimerai toujours,” he said. I’d never heard him speak French before.

“What?”

He pulled the stake away from me for a moment. I figured it was to get some velocity. After all, it takes a lot of upper body strength to properly pierce a rib cage. I tried to prepare myself. I’d wanted this, I’d asked for this—hell I’d begged for it. Be careful what you wish for: part two.

The very next moment, Thierry crushed his mouth against mine. It was the last thing I’d expected. His tongue swept against mine in a kiss that nearly hurt. Way different from being staked. And way, way better.

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I blinked rapidly when he finally pulled away. My head swam.

“Was that a good-bye kiss?” I asked shakily.

He swallowed. “You were right. I can’t stake you, Sarah. No matter the consequences.”

“Wish I could say the same.” I clutched the stake I’d snatched away from him during our impromptu make-out session and sliced it into his chest. Chapter 22

Thierry clutched at the stake and staggered back from me a few steps before he fell to the ground. He looked very shocked.

Couldn’t say I blamed him.

“Sarah,” Gideon growled as he finally dragged himself back up next to me again. He looked down at Thierry. “You killed him.”

Thierry continued to gasp for breath.

“No,” I said. “I staked him, like I told him I would. There’s a difference.”

“You missed his heart?”

“If I hadn’t, he’d be a sullen, moody puddle right now, wouldn’t he?”

Gideon’s jaw clenched. “Why didn’t you finish him?”

I shrugged.

Gideon cast a dark look over at Steven. “What am I paying you for, boy? A little assistance or a warning might have been nice.”

I tried to pay attention, but I was dealing with a rather intense inner battle at the moment. I could have killed Thierry, but I didn’t. Something stopped me. When he kissed me it worked a bit like a slap, helping the other side of me gain muchneeded strength. He loves me. He wouldn’t kill me.

Maybe he should have.

“Drink more, then,” I heard Steven say. “If you want to.”

“Give me everything,” Gideon commanded. “I want her power. I want her strength. Everything.”

“Understood.”

“What are you—?” I began, but then felt Gideon’s sharp fangs sink into my throat. His fangs? He had fangs already? How was that even possible? Fledglings don’t develop fangs for a long time after they’re sired. I got mine quicker than normal only because I’d been on a fairly steady diet of master vampire blood from the beginning. But Gideon wasn’t a typical fledgling.

And he wanted more.

I tried to ignore the pain of his bite. I looked down at Thierry. He looked helplessly up at me. I wanted him to stay back. It was safer to have to deal with a stake in his chest at the moment than come any closer to this.

“Open yourself up to this, Sarah,” Steven instructed. “Give Gideon everything.”

“I can’t,” I said.

“You have to.”

His voice was strange and different from before. Darker. Scarier. I tried to look at him and noticed that his eyes weren’t just red anymore, they seemed to be blazing. Hellfire.

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It was the demon, wasn’t it? Steven channeled demon powers in order to work his wizard magic. Had Gideon known that? I didn’t think so. It would have been too risky. Gideon was trying to avoid hell, not welcome it into his life and invite it out to a leisurely, candlelit dinner.

The demon wanted Gideon. And Gideon was trying to escape by having me sire him.

“Do it, Sarah,” the demon possessing Steven again told me—only his lips didn’t move. I heard his voice in my head. “Let it go. I can help you.”

A helping hand from a demon to help transfer my power to Gideon Chase. Okay.

“No,” the demon said as if it could read my mind. “Not just your power. Your curse as well. Everything.”

My eyes widened. Then I slammed them shut and concentrated every ounce of energy I had on relaxing and opening up my mind. Gideon wasn’t feeding only on blood then, but on everything behind it as well. My power—the energy that came from three separate master vampires. With the demon’s help, I felt that strength slip away from me as it was channeled into Gideon.

A moment later he raised his eyes to mine. His were black with power. They looked exactly like death.

“More,” he said. “I need more.”

I hesitated. The part of me that cared for Gideon on some strange level tried to pull away in an attempt to save him from his own greed. But he held me firm and continued to drink.

“Give him everything,” the demon instructed me in that voice as cold as the night around us.

I nodded, and I did as he said.

My nightwalker held on tight for a moment, kicking and screaming, as she was scraped away from my insides by the pull of the demon’s magic. I felt the black poison of my curse curl into a ball from where it had settled deep inside me. She liked it there. It was comfortable. But, like rotten taffy, sticky and smelly, it finally pulled away and I felt it channel out of me and directly into Gideon.

His eyes widened and his lips peeled back from his long, sharp fangs. He looked around at the night as if seeing it for the first time.

“I never thought it would feel this good,” he said. “You did it, Sarah. You gave me everything.”

I swallowed hard. “You’re welcome.”

He smiled and it chilled my insides. He was a monster. He even looked like a monster now, black eyes, sharp teeth, and a strange maniacal look of too much power in too small a space.

I was afraid of him. And for him.

I wasn’t sure if he knew just how much he’d taken from me. The demon inside Steven had transferred every last ounce of my extra master vampire strength to him. Plus, as an added bonus, he now had my nightwalker curse.

I’d leave the celebrating for a bit later, though.

Gideon cocked his head to the side and looked down at Thierry, who was now struggling to get back to his feet. “Why don’t I finish him off for you, Sarah? I hate loose ends.”

He took a step toward Thierry, but I moved to stand in his way.

“So now what?” I asked. “You got what you wanted. You’re a vampire now.”

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“I’m more than just a vampire.”

“True. But what’s your next move?”

He smiled. “Anything I want. But I’m going to start with killing the master vampire.” He blinked those black eyes of his. “Both of them. I think I’ll do it with my bare hands just for kicks.”

“What about me?”

He studied me. “What do you want me to say?”

“Just tell me the truth.”

His lips quirked. “For a moment I thought there was something there. But perhaps it was only the pain. I will be forever grateful for what you’ve done for me, Sarah. But I warn you not to stand in my way right now.”

“Or what?”

“Or you’ll be sorry you did.”

I drew in a shaky breath. He noticed. He placed his hand over my chest to feel my heart beating and he raised an eyebrow. “Very interesting.”

“You’re the proud owner of a shiny black nightwalker curse.”

“Lucky me.”

“Probably sorry you burned the grimoire now, huh?”

“I’ll get used to it. Like I said, it’s an asset. It only gives me more power.”

He flinched then and backed up a step from me. I realized that something invisible had slashed his chest. There was now a deep scratch on his flesh.

“What the hell was that?” he snarled.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“I did that,” the demon said.

I backed up until I felt Thierry behind me. Somehow, in the last couple of minutes he’d managed to soundlessly remove the stake from his chest. There was a sheen of perspiration on his forehead and his eyes were shadowed with pain.

“You’re ours, Gideon,” the demon said. He looked so harmless in the body of the teenaged wizard—Death Suck T-shirt under his black jacket. But he wasn’t harmless.

“Ever since the hellfire touched you, you’ve been ours. You can run, but you can’t hide.”

Gideon’s black eyes went cold with fear. “But I’m healed. My scars are gone. The pain is gone.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the demon said. “You think we give up that easy? You have no idea. You belong to us. Nothing you did would have made a bit of difference. You made your choices, now you must deal with the consequences.”

Gideon touched the bleeding scratch on his chest. When he pulled his fingers away the blood caught fire. The hellfire was still inside him. And now the demon was coaxing it out.

“We’re close to the end now. And if you don’t step aside when the blood begins to flow it will devour you whole.”

We were close to the end now. Gideon’s end.

“I have money,” Gideon said. “Lots of money. I can pay you whatever you want. Don’t do this.”

“Really?” the demon said. “How much are we talking about here?”

“Lots. Everything. I’ll give you everything I have. Everything I am.”

The demon smiled. “Yes, you will.”

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Gideon’s expression twisted with fear and he looked at me. “Sarah—”

Thierry’s arm curled around my waist as he pulled me farther away from Gideon, who now reached out to me.

“I’m sorry,” I said as tears burned my eyes.

“So am I,” Gideon said.

The hellfire inside Gideon leaked out through the cut the demon had made. He looked down at his hands as they filled with flames. He blinked, and his eyes changed from black back to their normal emerald green.

“It doesn’t hurt.” He smiled at me. “I suppose I should count my blessings, right?”

A moment later the flames consumed him and he disappeared in a column of fire. I choked out a sob and turned to Thierry, grabbing him into a tight hug. He gasped with pain.

“Sorry,” I managed. “I’m sorry.”

“For staking me?” he asked.

“For everything.”

“Don’t be.” He took my face between his hands and stared down at me. “Are those tears for Gideon?”

“Some of them.”

He kissed them away. “I understand.”

“He’s gone.”

“I know.”

He held me for a while until I calmed down a little. Then I pulled back from him and jabbed a finger in his direction. “I think I told you to stake me, mister. And you totally bailed on me like a chump.”

“I did.” He gingerly touched his chest. “And I think I paid the price for that.”

“I did that to keep you safe.”

“I’d hate to see what you’d do if you were very upset with me.”

“But what if—”

“Enough talking.” He pulled me—gently—against him and shut me up with a very deep kiss.

I felt a hand on my back after a moment. It was Steven. He looked completely shaken, but at least his eyes were back to normal.

“Dude, what just happened?”

“You were possessed by a demon,” I said.

He groaned. “Again? That so sucks.”

“Do me a favor?” I asked. “Go let Amy out of the crypt?”

He nodded and ran off to two crypts nearby, letting out a now-conscious Amy from one and his mother from the other. Steven embraced his mom very hard, and she patted the top of his head.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I promise I won’t do any more demon magic.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “But we’re still moving to Germany. And then you’re grounded for six months. And I’m confiscating all of your CDs.”

“Aww, Mom!”

Thierry stroked the hair back off my face. “How do you feel? Did he take too much blood?”

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“I’m a bit woozy, but I’ll survive.” I looked up at him. “But he took everything. All of my extra strength. My curse. Everything. I’ve totally regressed.” I ran the tip of my tongue over my teeth. “Still got the fangs, though.”

“Perhaps if he’d continued to drain you, you might have become human again entirely.”

“Let’s not go overboard.” I managed a smile. “Why would I want to give all of this excitement up?”

“An excellent point.”

Veronique stood nearby with her arms crossed—the spell keeping her silent and still long over. She finally approached.

“I can’t believe this,” she said.

“Nor can I,” Thierry replied. “You sided with Gideon?”

“In an attempt to help stave off any unnecessary bloodshed.”

“Ah, I see. So it was entirely altruistic, was it?”

She sighed. “It did not turn out as I envisioned it.”

“No, I don’t suppose it did.”

“I am sorry.” She turned to me. “And to you as well.”

I shook my head. “You know, I do question your methods, but if you weren’t there yesterday letting me drink from you, things might have gone very badly.”

She shook her head with stunned disbelief. “Thierry, you were the Red Devil… all this time? I can’t believe it.”

“I was,” he said.

She tilted her head as she looked at him. “Although, now that you mention it, there is a striking similarity…” She swallowed. “How couldn’t I have known? It all makes sense now. But you knew, Sarah. Just from seeing him with his mask. You saw who he was underneath.”

I shrugged. “It took a couple of times, but yeah, I did.”

“You truly love my husband, don’t you?”

“Completely.”

There was a strange look of wonder and disbelief on her face, as if she was only just now realizing that it could possibly be true.

She touched my hand. “I’m happy for you, then. Both of you.”

I nodded. “Always glad to know my boyfriend’s wife approves of our relationship.”

Amy chose that moment to approach awkwardly. “Sarah?”

I moved toward her, but she took a step back from me. I held out my hands. “I’m so sorry about what happened before.”

She touched her throat, by which I’d held her up against the wall like a rag doll. “Are you better now?”

“I’m better than better. I’m cured.”

Her eyes widened. “No more curse?”

“It’s history.”

She made a little joyful noise and grabbed me in a huge hug, big enough to squeeze the breath out of me. It was so good to breathe again. Really, it’s underrated, this breathing thing.

Ditto the heartbeat. I’d never take it for granted again. My cell phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my purse to answer it.

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“Sarah.” George’s weary voice was on the other end.

“Hey,” I said.

“We have literally searched the entire city. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. We can’t find Amy anywhere and now it’s after midnight.” His voice quavered. “It’s all my fault. Gideon’s going to kill her and it’s all my fault.”

“Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.”

“How can you sound so blasé? This is Amy! Little darling Amy, and she’s dead! Barry is going to kill me.”

“You’re probably right. He’s ornery, that one.”

There was a long pause. “Did we miss something important?”

“Only a little. But Amy’s okay, so don’t worry. And Gideon… Gideon’s gone.” My throat felt thick as I said it.

George let out such a long sigh of relief I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “I think I’m going to throw up. Like, seriously. Right here.”

I handed off the phone to Amy so she could assure George of her current happy, healthy, still slightly buzzed status.

Thierry touched my arm. “You’re upset.”

“It’s been a hell of a night.” I swallowed. “Like, literally.”

He nodded. “He’s gone.”

“I know.”

He was quiet for a moment, then he led me away from everyone else so we could speak in private. “Were you in love with him?”

I licked my dry lips. “No. But, I cared for him. Parts of him.”

Thierry raised an eyebrow. “Which parts?”

“You know what I mean. He was right about one thing he told me. Everyone has both good and bad in them. But actions speak louder than words. So, yeah, I did care for him despite who he was. But I love you.”

He smiled. “I can accept that.”

I frowned. “Aren’t you in pain with that hole in your chest.”

“I am a fast healer. But,” he cringed, “it is unpleasant.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He leaned over to brush his lips against mine. “We can work around it.”

“That sounds very promising.” I leaned back. “And what about the Red Devil?”

He looked down at the mask he’d discarded earlier. “I think I’ve hidden behind masks for far too long. If I’m going to try to make any changes in the world, from now on I’ll do it without any secret identities.”

“It’s a deal.” I hooked my arm through his. “But, seriously. The next time I ask you to kill me, I want you to do it, okay?”

“I promise. Next time I definitely will.”

“You’re still lying.”

He looked down at me with those silver eyes. “You know me.”

“A little. But I’m very willing to learn more.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

Chapter 23

Five Days Later

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Do you, Janelle Parker, take Michael Quinn as your lawfully wedded husband, to love and cherish until death do you part?”

Janie, who was wearing a gorgeous white cocktail dress, smiled so widely I thought her face might actually split in half. “I do. And then some.”

The justice of the peace turned to Quinn. “Do you, Michael Quinn, take Janelle Parker as your lawfully wedded wife, to love and cherish until death do you part?”

“Hell, yeah.” He cleared his throat and grinned. “I mean, I do.”

“Then, with the power vested in me by the province of Ontario, I pronounce you husband and wife. Quinn, you may kiss your bride.”

And he did. With gusto.

I didn’t think tongue was appropriate for the occasion, but that was just my opinion. Even with the porn-star kiss I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. They looked so happy and glowing.

Two vampire hunters turned vampires about to begin eternity together. I’d have thrown rice or confetti if that act didn’t come with a fine. Instead, we blew bubbles as the bride and groom left City Hall.

Everyone was there… well, everyone who counted. Me and Thierry. Barry and Amy. George and his date, Jeremy the human resources guy, who had been my potential blind date hook-up only last week. I guess they did have chemistry after all, because George looked happier than I’d seen him in… well, ever, really. Even Janie’s sister Angela and her boyfriend—one of my ex-bodyguards—Lenny had flown up from Florida for the ceremony and dinner at the 300 Restaurant at the top of the CN Tower. It still looked like a stake to me.

Veronique had returned to Europe the day before yesterday. After everything that had happened, and despite some ill feelings toward her that still lingered for me, I’d decided to forgive her. She couldn’t help who she was. At the end of the day, I do think there was more good than bad in her. Everybody’s entitled to forgiveness for a few bad choices they make in their lives. Before she left, she made a point to find me, kiss me on both of my cheeks, and wish me and “her husband” well for the future.

“Hey.” I ran my hand down Thierry’s arm. “I was wondering if I could get my ring back now that we don’t have to hide the fact that we’re together anymore. Are you still carrying it in your pocket?”

He shook his head. “That won’t be possible, I’m afraid.”

He’d always promised that he’d give me back the eternity band—my promise ring from him—when everything was okay again. I opened my mouth to say something, to question him on what he meant, but before I could Quinn and Janie came over to us. Thierry shook Quinn’s hand firmly. “Congratulations to you. I mean that.”

“Thanks.” Quinn gave him a half-smile. “I know we’ve had our difficulties. I know I gave you a hard time in the beginning—”

“Hunters typically give vampires a hard time.”

Quinn snorted at that. “That’s an understatement if ever I’ve heard one. But… if it hadn’t been for you,” he looked at me, “for you both… I… I wouldn’t be here. Like, at all. I would be dead and buried. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to embrace my second chance at life. And I wouldn’t have connected with Janie.”

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“Fate,” I said with a smile.

“You believe in that? Fate?”

I chewed my bottom lip. “Not always, but it sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Quinn gave me a very strong hug that actually lifted me off the ground. “Thank you, Sarah. For everything.”

My throat felt thick with emotion. “You’re very welcome. Janie’s very lucky to have you. I hope she knows that.”

When he released me, Janie eyed me, but it wasn’t with jealousy anymore. “I am lucky, no question about it. Wow, I’d do the group hug thing but I’m so not into that.”

“No problem.”

She grinned. “Glad I didn’t have to kill you, after all.”

“You and me both.”

Amy ran over to us. “Sarah, want me to order you any appetizers at the restaurant? We’re heading over now.”

“Can’t eat,” I said. “Solid food and me don’t get along anymore, remember?”

She frowned. “Why do I always forget that? Sorry! I don’t mean to rub it in.”

“Not a problem. I’ve totally made my peace with it, really. But I’d love a Tequila Sunrise.”

“Sure thing.” She ran back over to join her husband, who nodded curtly at me. Ah, Barry. We’d never be buddies, but we’d definitely come to an understanding. Since Amy came away from the Gideon experience relatively unfazed, he didn’t overtly hate me anymore. Baby steps.

“Weddings make me think about the future,” George said. Yeah, him and me both. “I know.”

“Now that you’re a business owner, do you think you might be paying me rent any time soon? Since I’m still unemployed, I’m kind of strapped for cash. Twenty bucks and a few dimes is enough of a wedding gift, right?”

Gideon hadn’t been kidding. He’d really bought Darkside for me—the papers were in my name and everything was legal. I’d considered selling it, but changed my mind. I’d been a waitress and a bartender, so there was no reason I couldn’t be an owner/operator/waitress/bartender.

Plus, it was a piece of Gideon. An odd thing to hold on to, I know, but thanks to Gideon Chase, there’d still be a place in the city vamps could go to have some fun until other clubs got back on their feet again. It was a strange tribute to the hard-to-forget leader of the vampire hunters.

I grimaced. “I’m sorry, George. I know I’ve been a mooch. But I appreciate your patience. And I thought you were going to work for me at the club?”

His eyebrows raised. “There has not yet been a formal offer of employment.”

“Consider this formal. You can be my manager.”

He gave me a big hug. “I totally accept. And when it comes to our current living arrangements… well, maybe it’s finally time for you to shack up with tall, dark, and fangsome over there. As far as I’m concerned, it’s way overdue.”

I glanced over at Thierry. “We’ll have to see about that.”

The fact that Mr. Fangsome wasn’t giving me back my promise ring was a sign any shacking up might not be in the cards. But I tried not to think about it for the moment.

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Today was all about Janie and Quinn and the eternity that had just begun for them. Everyone began leaving for the restaurant in two separate cabs, but Thierry held me back.

“I wanted a chance to speak with you privately first.”

My stomach clenched. “That sounds very ominous.”

He held his hand out to me. “Walk with me.”

If I’d known we were going to be doing any power walking I would not have worn these heels, but I could handle it for a little while. I took his hand and walked with him over to Nathan Phillips Square near the outdoor skating rink. Here it goes, I thought. He was going to break up with me. Officially. It was over. I’d kept telling him that I was trouble and a burden. After everything we’d been through over the last few months, he’d obviously decided I was right. Maybe he wanted to see other people.

That was it.

Hell, if Veronique didn’t care if he dated other women… vampire chicks or even humans… then why wouldn’t he want to?

He obviously wanted to make up for lost time. About six hundred years’ worth. It was okay. Really. I could handle it. I wouldn’t demean myself and cry when he ended things. I was an independent vampiress. I owned my own business now, even though I’d come by it in a very unusual way. I planned to throw all of my energy into keeping Darkside—to be renamed The Chase—open so vamps in the city would have a place to hang out and relax and enjoy themselves and maybe do a little dancing. I’d land on my feet. I was all about the girl power.

Men… meh… who needed them?

“So why can’t I have the ring back?” I asked simply. Calm. Collected. Totally mature.

“Because I don’t have it anymore,” he said simply.

“Oh.” I frowned.

“Besides, it was only a small piece of metal with some tiny diamonds on it—meaningless, really.”

“Meaningless, huh?” I felt my cheeks heat with anger. Maybe I wasn’t all that calm and collected after all.

A smile tugged at his lips. “You are upset over this. Why?”

I shook my head. “I’m not upset. I’m perfectly fine.”

“I didn’t think that something like a ring would mean anything to you. After all, you agreed to be with me even knowing about Veronique, knowing that she has been my wife for a very long time. Even after she refused to agree to the annulment, you still wished to be with me. Has that changed?”

“Of course not.” I blinked. “I love you. A stupid piece of paper doesn’t change anything.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No.”

He crossed his arms. “Then I guess it won’t matter to you to learn that before she left Veronique did consent to sign the annulment papers after all. The fact that you were able to see past my mask when she was not made her realize how deep your feelings for me are, and in return how deep mine are for you.”

I stared at him. “Uh… what did you just say?”

“Which part would you like me to repeat?”

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“Veronique signed the annulment?”

“She did.”

“Holy crap.”

“Indeed.” He looked amused by my reaction. “I was as surprised as you. But as selfinvolved as she might seem on the surface, Veronique is a romantic. She experienced true love herself a long time ago and that has stayed with her. She knows that I want to be with you, and since there is no chance at a reconciliation between us, she did what she knew was right and finally freed me from our vows.”

This I didn’t expect. I never would have thought, after everything that had happened, that Veronique would sign. But she did? She signed the annulment. She and Thierry were no longer married.

I was officially no longer the other woman!

I smiled at him and reached down to take his hand in mine. “Then I totally understand the ring thing.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. After six hundred years, give or take, you’re finally a bachelor again. Why would you want to get tied down so quickly? We can date, if you want to. Maybe even go to the movies some time. I haven’t done that in ages.”

He tilted his head to the side. “You want to date me?”

“Sure. I mean, it’s not exactly the perfect fairy-tale ending I’d always dreamed of, but I’m totally okay with that. Honestly, Thierry, after everything we’ve been through, just to have you in my life is good enough. Hell, just not getting killed and being a normal, everyday vampire is happy ending enough for me. You’re just a total bonus.”

“Is that so?”

I nodded firmly. “Definitely. And no promise rings need apply. One day at a time is the way I like to think. I don’t need any kind of ring to make me happy—”

“What about this ring?” he asked.

I looked down. He had opened a black velvet ring box and inside sat some serious bling. A three-carat, princess-cut solitaire diamond ring.

My mouth fell open. “What is that?”

He smiled. “What does it look like?”

I raised wide eyes to his. “About forty thousand bucks is what it looks like.”

“Give or take.” His lips twitched with amusement. “Now, it’s not the ring I gave you before. I decided if I was going to replace that one then I should replace it with something worthy.”

I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say, which is what speechless meant, of course. I opened my mouth but no sound came out.

“I love you.” Thierry swallowed hard and squeezed my hand tightly in his. “You make every day special and worth living for me. Veronique has finally freed me. But I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be a bachelor. I want to be with you. I know it hasn’t been very long at all since we met, and our road has not been an easy one, but I know you are the true love I’ve waited my entire existence to find—and I’ve waited damn well long enough. Will you spend eternity with me, Sarah?”

I licked my dry lips and my damp eyeballs shot up to his, my heart drumming wildly in my chest.

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His smile widened at my stricken expression. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

I still couldn’t find enough air to breathe. I felt faint and woozy. His expression flickered from happiness to one of doubt the longer he waited for me to say something. His smile faded and a deep frown creased his brow. “Perhaps I should have waited. I… I shouldn’t have sprung this on you, today of all days. I will give you more time. I apologize for my enthusiasm. Let’s go on to see Quinn and Janie at the restaurant.”

“No, Thierry,” I began.

“No,” he repeated, the sound of the word heavy on his tongue. “Then I have my answer. I understand.”

A smile burst free on my face. “I meant no, you weren’t wrong.”

He eyed me warily. “I wasn’t?”

I shook my head. “You took me by surprise, that’s all. I didn’t expect this.”

His Adam’s apple shifted as he swallowed hard. “I went about this all wrong.”

“Ask me again,” I said.

“Ask you—” His frown deepened.

“Yes.”

“Marry me,” he said after a moment, raising his silver-eyed gaze to mine.

“Yes,” I said quickly this time, my heart overflowing with happiness. “Yes, yes, yes!”

He smiled wide enough for me to see his fangs. “Yes?”

I nodded enthusiastically.

“That is the answer I was hoping for,” he said.

The ring box fell to the ground and he slipped the most gorgeous ring I’d ever seen in my entire life on my finger. Then he took my face in his hands and pressed his mouth against mine in a knee-weakening kiss that made Janie and Quinn’s nuptial one look chaste in comparison.

And you know what? I still meant it. A piece of paper didn’t mean a damn thing, not when we’re talking about eternity. I would have stayed with him with or without any promises of a future together. With or without a sparkly ring that fit perfectly and looked gorgeous on my hand. I loved Thierry without all of those things, there was no doubt in my mind. But it sure didn’t hurt.

Being a vampire would never be easy. I knew that. I couldn’t eat solid food. I needed to drink blood, although from now on it would only come out of shiny silver kegs courtesy of well-paid donors. I didn’t have a reflection unless I used an expensive shard mirror. Hunters would always be a problem; there would always be people who wanted to destroy what they didn’t understand.

But there were a whole lot of good things, too.

I had great friends. The man I was crazy in love with loved me back—and hello? We were officially engaged. What more could a vampire gal like me ask for?

The future was as bright and sparkly as the ring I now wore. A long, happy future. Take away the wooden stakes, the vampire hunters, or even long walks off short bridges—and vampires were immortal.

Immortality might not bite, after all.

It was very good to know.