“You’re hungry.” A deep voice came from Finn. It wasn’t his, yet it was.

  “Is that your wolf?”

  “Yes, mate. I am the wolf that lives inside of the man. I am yours.”

  The beast said the words with such conviction and finality that they settled in her bones. “Why do you say I’m hungry?”

  “I can sense it through the bond,” the wolf explained. “But not for food. I sense the vampire virus in you and the healer blood. They are beginning to mingle and become one.”

  She frowned. “Have you sensed it before?”

  “I would have if the man had let me have more control.” He sounded quite put out about the fact that Finn had been keeping him under lock and key.

  “He’s worried that you will attack someone,” Lizzy said.

  “Yes.”

  She would have smiled if she wasn’t in so much pain. “Is that a yes, he’s worried or yes, you would attack someone?”

  “Yes,” the wolf repeated. “You need blood.”

  The nausea she’d felt earlier came back in full force. Blood? Could she really drink blood? She gagged, but there was this tiny place in her brain that knew the wolf was right.

  “The wolf within you. It knows.”

  “This is still new to me, wolf. Cut me some slack.” She huffed and swallowed down bile, which also felt like fire. Lizzy was pretty sure she never wanted to be near any fire ever again after this experience.

  “You are doing well.” The wolf’s approval made her feel all warm and tingly. “Once we are free of this place, you will get to know me, and you will claim me.”

  Her lips turned up slightly. “Your confidence is quite attractive. And if I wasn’t about to vomit, I’d attempt to push your buttons just to see how vain you are.”

  “Vanity is not the same thing as confidence. Confidence means you know you are capable. Vanity is simply wishing you were capable and wanting to fool others into believing that you are.”

  Okay, that was deep. Were all wolves that introspective? Not that he was a normal wolf, obviously. He had the soul of a man mingled with his own, which gave him a different level of intelligence and knowledge. Why in the world am I thinking about that while I’m starving to death? And that was exactly what was happening. When his wolf suggested she needed blood, the truth clicked into place for Lizzy, though the thought still disgusted her. She knew her body was screaming at her to give it what it needed.

  “I need to get the vampire king’s attention,” she told his wolf. “Can you let Finn back out?” She had no idea if that was the correct way to describe having the two switch places. Were they like multiple personalities where one was in control and the other was unaware?

  “Lizzy.” Finn’s deep timbre filled her mind, and it felt different from when his wolf spoke to her. “My wolf is getting impatient.”

  “He’s interesting.”

  “He’s preening right now,” Finn said dryly. “He also made a valid point. You’re hungry. I was too focused on your pain to think about why you were in pain. The transition is working.”

  “I will not lie. I’m feeling some mixed emotions right now.” Lizzy knew there was no point in trying to deny her situation. She couldn’t change it. What’s done was done. The only thing to do now was to move forward. “I need to get to the door.” She pushed herself into a sitting position. Her clothes were soaked with sweat, and everything hurt. “I feel like I’ve been trampled by something big, like a cow. No.” Lizzy shook her head. “Bigger than a cow. Like an elephant, but like, the biggest elephant in the history of elephants.”

  “My Lizzy, focus. I’m going to push as much of my power into you as I can. I can draw some from Fane since he’s allowed a mental bond between us. Hopefully it will be enough to help you walk.”

  Lizzy didn’t say anything back because all she could focus on was sliding down so that her feet touched the ground. She groaned the entire time. It was absolutely pitiful, and she wanted to slap herself and tell herself to suck it up. Warmth flowed into her, and she felt a burst of energy fill her muscles. She stood up. Though her legs were shaking, they held her weight. Lizzy picked up her foot and nearly laughed when she realized she could barely take a step. “Good grief, if the druggies on the street could see me now,” she muttered. “They’d consider me easy pickings and turn into vultures. Focus.” She repeated Finn’s words. She took one shaky step and then another. Lizzy wanted to shout in victory. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to take two steps. She’d never take the ability to walk, skip, and run for granted again.

  It was slow, and the door seemed a mile away instead of twelve feet. But she gradually made her way. Finn didn’t speak, but she felt him with her. She felt the power he was giving to her. When she finally reached the door, she fell forward and lifted her arm to brace herself against it. Then she pressed her forehead to the cold surface. Breathe. In and out. Her muscles cramped up. Like a rubber band that had been stretched and then released, they retracted inside of her.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I didn’t face-plant, so that’s something, right?”

  “I wouldn’t have let you face-plant.” He spoke with the same confidence that his wolf had. And Lizzy was grateful because the determined tone she heard gave her a sense of confidence of her own. Somehow, she knew she wasn’t going to die in that room. At least not from a heart attack. Lizzy lifted her other arm, fisted her hand, and pounded on the door. She could tell that Finn had directed his power into that arm because there was no way she would have been able to hit it that hard. “HELLO,” she called out. “Any vamps out there? I’m in need of a juice box.”

  She waited, but there was no response. “Finn.” Lizzy felt her legs growing weaker.

  “I won’t let you fall. Trust me.”

  Her knees shook, but she did as he asked. She trusted Finn, letting him worry about holding her up while she focused on yelling and getting the damn attention of whoever might be near her room. “SOMEONE PLEASE OPEN THE DAMN DOOR! UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO DIE. I CAN TOTALLY DO THAT, YOU KNOW. In fact—” Lizzy huffed and puffed, trying to catch her breath. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do if you don’t open the freaking door!” Her voice grew weaker. It was still loud, but not the shout that it had been when she’d first started speaking. She waited and waited. It felt like an eternity.

  Lizzy twisted and leaned her back against the door. Try as she might, she couldn’t remain standing. She slid downward. Lizzy could feel Finn’s hands on her waist, as if he was lowering her gently. She was sure she’d have crumbled in a heap without his help. She pressed her head back to the door and looked down at her outstretched legs. Then she looked at her hands. They looked pale. Well, paler than normal. It wasn’t like she had a tan or anything. She could see the blue veins beneath her skin and feel the blood flowing through them. “That’s new. I’ve never felt my blood flowing. I mean, I’ve felt my pulse, obviously. But now I can actually feel my blood flowing, like water running over my hand, only it’s inside. That is wicked.” Lizzy reached up her hand and pressed her fingers to the pulse point in her neck. “Well, that can’t be good.”

  “Your pulse is too slow.” Finn’s voice was calm, but the emotions he was broadcasting weren’t.

  Lizzy counted the beats. They were so slow she could have done an algebra problem between each one. Assuming she could actually do algebra … which she couldn’t. How am I still alive? Lizzy was sure her brain couldn’t be getting enough oxygen. Her head began to pound. A drum line had taken up real estate inside her skull and was beating on her brain. It wasn’t like a headache that came on slowly, a dull ache that then intensified. This was immediate and explosive. Pressure built until she thought her eyes might actually pop right out of her face. “Finn.” She didn’t know why she kept saying his name. He’d already done so much. She couldn’t just expect him to fight her battles for her. But he was a lifeline. Her lifeline.

  She clamped her eyes closed. The drumsticks turned to knives, and Lizzy was certain someone was standing over, repeatedly jabbing a blade into her brain. Am I hemorrhaging? Maybe I’m having a heart attack and a stroke at the same time? Lizzy’s stomach rolled, and she twisted her head as the bile she’d been holding down finally erupted out of her. Lizzy hated vomiting. Not that anyone actually liked vomiting, but even being around someone throwing up was a trigger for her, just like needles. No need to go down that road, Liz. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. More pain, more stabbing and burning and cramping. Finn tried to take some of the agony, but it was still too much. Lizzy threw up more and more. She had no idea where it was coming from because she hadn’t eaten or drank anything in a day. She hadn’t felt like eating or drinking. That should have been her first clue.

  “Someone is coming,” Finn said suddenly. “Move out of the doorway.”

  Lizzy tried to crawl but couldn’t move. She felt his hands on hers as he pulled until she finally inched forward, away from the door. When she was far enough away that the door wouldn’t smack into her, he shifted his hands to her belly. Again, he lowered her gently. Damn, he was a good one. A keeper, Kara would have called him. Damn, she missed Kara. Damn was apparently the word of the day.

  She heard feet running outside in the hall, and then the door flew open. Lizzy tried to turn her head, but she was too weak. She couldn’t even lift her face from the floor.

  “Lizzy. Lizzy.” Alice’s voice was gentle, but Lizzy heard a note of panic. She felt herself being rolled over and found herself staring directly up the ceiling. Then Alice’s face came into view. She shined a penlight in Lizzy’s eyes. “It’s not my eyes that are the problem, doc,” Lizzy croaked. She could hear her words slurring but couldn’t do anything to prevent it. And why were there two Alices? Okay, maybe her eyes were the problem. “I lied. There’s two of you. Do you have a twin? If you do, don’t tell Cain, or he’ll be tracking her down to use her just like he’s using you.”

  “She doesn’t have a twin,” Cain’s voice came from somewhere above her.

  “Nope.” Lizzy shook her head, or she thought she did. “Don’t stand behind me vamp. Come around where I can see you.” She didn’t like anyone at her back, but especially not a being that could sink its teeth into her neck. Though based on how things were flowing inside of her, she didn’t think he’d get much of a drink.

  She saw his feet from the corner of her eye, and then he kneeled next to Alice.

  “You need blood,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact. She would have thought that he’d be happy. Her need for blood meant the process worked. Right? He’d created a hybrid. “I’m not happy yet. I don’t know for sure if the process has been successful.”

  “Crap. I said that part about him being happy out loud.”

  “And you’re still speaking out loud.” Alice pressed her fingers to the inside of Lizzy’s wrist and then to the pulse on her neck. Then she pulled off one of Lizzy’s socks and pressed two fingers to the top of her foot. “Her pulse is weak, and the one in her foot is thready and skipping.”

  “Her body is shutting down.” Cain frowned. He turned to look at something or someone else out of her line of sight. “Get several bags of blood. And hurry like your life depends on it because it does. If she dies, I will dismember your body while you’re still alive and then kill you.”

  “Anyone ever tell you that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar?” Lizzy groaned.

  He looked back down at her. “Lizzy, bodily harm works better than either.” Cain looked concerned, which did not encourage Lizzy in the least. If the vamp king was worried, then it must be serious. Okay, maybe Lizzy had been a little too hasty earlier. Maybe she could get on board with the whole blood-drinking thing. Was she ready to die? She’d thought so the other day when they’d hooked her up to the blood transfusion, but now? After the time she’d spent with Finn? Not at all. She most definitely didn’t want to die.

  No more than thirty seconds had passed before a stack of blood bags dropped onto the floor beside her. Cain picked one up and tore into it with his teeth. Then he put a hand on Lizzy’s back and pulled her up into a sitting position. He tried to hand her the bag, and she tried to take it. No chance. She couldn’t even lift her hand. “So, how do you feel about being a nurse’s aide, because you’re going to have to hold that for me?” Lizzy tried to smirk but wasn’t sure how successful she was because she couldn’t feel her face.

  Alice took the bag from Cain and scooted closer beside Lizzy. She placed a hand on the back of Lizzy’s head and then lifted the bag to the girl’s mouth. Lizzy smelled the copper tang and nearly gagged. She figured if her body was craving blood that it would smell good, like when she wanted a hamburger. How wrong she had been.

  She fought the urge to retch and opened her mouth and then latched onto the opening. Cain touched her chin and helped her tip her head back, while Alice supported her so she didn’t fall backward. The warm, coppery taste filled her mouth. “Don’t spit it out. Don’t spit it out.” Lizzy said over and over in her head, forcing herself to swallow the thick, viscous liquid. This was not okay. “Finn, I don’t think I can do this.” She heard the panic in her own voice. Lizzy wasn’t a quitter. At least not usually, but this was awful. She kept swallowing. The more she swallowed, the more she felt like she was going to puke it all right back up.

  Finally, mercifully, the bag was empty. Lizzy waited to see if the nausea would go away. Would she suddenly feel all invigorated? Isn’t that what was supposed to happen when a starving vampire finally gets blood? Damn all these questions without answers. Her stomach did a flip, or at least that’s what it felt like. “Crap, who put me on a roller coaster?” she mumbled.

  “You’re not getting better,” Finn said, though she didn’t think he was really saying it for her benefit. Through the bond, it felt like he was barely holding it together.

  “How do you feel?” Cain reached for another bag of blood.

  Lizzy managed to lift her hand and bat the bag away. “No,” she croaked. “It’s disgusting.”

  “Dammit.” Alice hissed. “Her body must be rejecting the virus. The wolf blood in her might be stronger than we realized. It could be trying to fight the virus off but killing her in the process.”

  Lizzy tried to follow the rest of what the pair was saying, but their voices sounded far away, as if they were on the other side of a tunnel. Her skin was too tight on her body, and the pounding in her skull had returned. She felt like she wanted to crawl out of herself.

  “Your wolf,” Finn said through their bond. “Just give in to it. Don’t fight her.”

  Lizzy wanted to tell him she wasn’t fighting anything except for her life. But her mind was a jumbled mess. At some point, Alice and Cain must have moved away because she tipped sideways. The world appeared to be moving in slow motion, though she knew that wasn’t possible. She heard Finn’s voice, all growly and pissed. Lizzy’s head hit the floor, then warmth—not burning, just warmth—surrounded her. She closed her eyes and basked in it. Maybe this was dying. If so, it was a hell of a lot better than starving for blood. Perhaps dying wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  “You’re not dying, yet.” A voice that wasn’t Finn’s filled her mind.

  “Back that truck up. Who are you, and why are you in my head?”

  “I am your wolf, and it’s time for us to meet our mate face to face.” The voice was like her own but fiercer. Lizzy’s wolf sounded like she could kick butt and take names at the same time. “Open your eyes,” the beast commanded.

  Chapter

  Eighteen

  “Okay, so maybe being a hybrid isn’t going to be so bad. Remind me that I said that when things start to go to shite, as experience has told me they inevitably will.” ~Lizzy

  Lizzy’s eyes snapped open. Everything was sideways. Lizzy realized she was lying on her side on the floor. At first, she lay perfectly still. Recent experiences had taught her to use caution when returning from unconsciousness. Just once, I’d like to wake up without something terribly wrong with me. No burning, no hunger, no pain. Just blissful restfulness. I wonder what that’s like.

  Cautiously, she tried to raise her head a few inches. Lizzy noted a couple of things. One, her head felt enormous. Two, there were legs spread out on the floor to her side—four of them. And they were furry. Lizzy tried to move an arm. One of the legs moved instead. “Holy vampire’s balls, I’m a wolf,” she shouted in her mind. When she opened her mouth, well, her muzzle, the only sound that game out was a growl. Okay, so that was pretty cool.

  “Well.” Cain sighed. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “What exactly were you expecting?” Alice snapped. “She’s got dormant werewolf DNA, and you didn’t consider that adding more supernatural blood to her body might trigger the dormant blood’s response?”

  “I’m a vampire, Alice, not a damn doctor,” he hissed back.

  “Why not?” Alice demanded. “You’re old enough to have a doctorate in every subject imaginable. But what have you been doing with your long life? Chomping on veins and beating your chest at the big, bad wolves. I mean, seriously, if you’ve got this so-called gift that you keep preaching to these dormants about, then why have you been wasting it by just eating people? If you didn’t want to make the world a better place, you could have at least bettered yourself.”

  She’s not wrong, Lizzy tried to say. But again, only a rumble came out of her mouth when she tried to speak. She attempted to push herself up, but she still felt weak. Despite the fact that she’d managed to phase, as Finn called it, Lizzy didn’t feel any stronger. And she was still nauseous. A memory came to her mind of a dog vomiting. Ugh, is that what I’m going to look like? Then she remembered the dog licking the vomit up right after. I am NOT going to do that.