I’m inside the small shelter facing the vampire. The blur that once clouded his features is gone, and I see he’s taken a huge bite out of my partner’s neck. But even with the blood covering his mouth and chin, I recognize him, and the shock hits me like a tidal wave.

  “Sloan?” I can barely say his name. I take a staggering step back. “You did this?”

  He sneers. “I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

  At the sound of his cruel, vampire voice, any compassion I might have had is erased. Star’s life, Stuart’s life… Alison’s life. Melissa.

  All the rage in me races back. “So have I.”

  Just that fast, his demeanor switches. He straightens, takes a cloth handkerchief from his pocket, and wipes his chin clean as if dining in a fine New Orleans restaurant. “Always the good little boy scout aren’t you. Or should I say the good little soldier?”

  At those words, understanding floods my mind. He’s prepared for me. He saw me in the street and blinded my vision. He saw me today when he was tracking Melissa and did it again. He knows about my immunity. He knows all my methods as a hunter. He taught me how to hunt his kind.

  Now I’m alone, facing him. My partner is bleeding out. The vampire saliva will work against his shifter powers, and if the wound is severe enough, he’ll die.

  Star hasn’t recovered from her injuries or else she’s staying down. I don’t have time to lose if I’m going to finish what’s left of my former mentor and save them.

  I start with the charges, each one of them fueling my determination to beat him. “You raped Melissa. You forced her to drink your blood against her will—”

  His eyebrows shoot up, and he starts to laugh. “Really? That’s what you’re charging me with?” His laugh is a grating, animal noise, and I can’t help noticing again how much he’s changed since I knew him.

  The light in his face that used to guide our hunts has turned cruel and sinister, and his mockery is as wicked as the thing we killed in the cemetery.

  “I’m only getting started, bloodsucker,” I growl.

  He takes a step to the side. “I see you’re using the old lingo,” he scoffs, casually waving a hand. “Will you call me demon next?”

  “If the label fits.”

  All at once, he’s serious. He straightens as if having an idea and turns to face me. The white shirt beneath his black tuxedo jacket gleams in the lamplight just like his skin.

  “Do you remember when I taught you to hunt?” He watches me intently, as if measuring my reaction.

  I remain neutral. I’m well aware he knows every move I’ll make to bring him down. I’m on guard against tricks. “Of course, I remember.”

  He nods and takes a few more steps along the perimeter of the pavilion opposite me. “We were an unbeatable team. We just never had a chance to prove ourselves in any real fights. Still, my brains combined with your muscle… I was invincible!”

  I almost laugh at his fucking arrogance. “Then why are you here now—as a vampire? Clearly someone bested you.”

  I’ve heard of vampire blood causing madness, but I’ve never spoken to one long enough to verify it. His eyes lower as if remembering something from long ago.

  “She was so beautiful.” He speaks the words in hushed, longing tones. “She came to me at the reflecting pool, in the sculpture garden. Her long, red hair undulated in waves like magic.”

  “She used her hypnotic powers on you.”

  “If she did, she didn’t need to. She entranced me from the start. I would do whatever she asked. Lilith…”

  A whine from the back corner reminds me Stuart’s condition is dire. I don’t have time to listen to his bullshit anymore. “You killed Alison.”

  Those three words snap him from his trance. His eyes turn white-blue and almost seem to glow in the darkness. Only the fog that surrounds us does not bind them. They’re little rays of pure evil pointing straight at me. My breath ticks up a notch, and my heart rate quickens. Here it comes.

  “Who told you that?” He snarls like a cat, and I know he’s cornered. I’m calculating the right moment to drop and grab my gun.

  “The old one in the cemetery. He was far less worried about dying as he was about ratting out your sorry ass.”

  Something changes. My vision blurs like I’ve been hit with nerve gas. Sloan’s body starts to undulate before my eyes. He’s an image on the surface of the water, rippling after a stone has been tossed. My strength fails, and I realize in a panic, he’s overpowering me with his glamour. I don’t know how he’s doing it, but I can’t fight him. I drop to my knees as he begins to torture me with his words.

  “Yesss…. Alison,” he says. “Alison Spencer Alexander, with her soft blonde hair. Her blood was sweet like peaches. A little spicy like nutmeg.”

  Rage blazes in my chest, and I try to fight his power. He’s holding me on my knees, numb from the neck down. My limbs won’t obey me, and the fury builds in my useless body, pressure pounding in my temples. Dropping my head back I use all my strength to raise my arms.

  “RAAAHHH!!!” I shout, willing my body to respond. The power of the vengeance inside me should be enough. It isn’t.

  Sloan only laughs, which piques my fury higher. “Sucks, doesn’t it? Being under my control. I’m as powerful as an old one, thanks to all our study and work. Most of those idiots take years to learn what I already knew the moment I changed. It’s possible I’m the most powerful vampire on this continent.

  “Melissa is merely another step in my climb to greatness.” White-hot rage glares back at me. “You thought you would take her from me, but that’s where you’re wrong. She’s mine, and she will always be mine as long as my blood is in her veins.”

  I’ve got to break free of him. If I don’t we’ll lose everything. Not only is my partner’s life on the line, if Sloan eludes us here, we’ll never find him again. He’ll go so deep underground… I know him. I know his cunning. He’ll take Melissa and go so far, I’ll never find him. He’ll torture her, and I won’t be able to save her.

  Sweat forms on my brow, and desperation twists in my lungs. “You’re not getting away with this,” I say through my clenched jaw.

  “Looks like I already have.” He leans toward me. “It should only be a few moments longer before his life is gone.”

  Fucking murderer! He’s waiting for Stuart to die. His cold blue eyes hold mine, and if I had any use of my arms, I’d break his neck.

  I’m ready to bargain with him. I’m ready to say anything that will make him leave so I can save my partner when a noise like a puma snarl echoes in the metal building.

  My head snaps up just in time to see a large golden body fly through the opening and hit Sloan square in the chest. His power over me breaks, and I fall forward briefly before staggering to my feet. What happens next, is hard to explain.

  Blue fury blinds me. A burning need to kill him overshadows my thoughts. I reach out and grab my former mentor by the top of his hair, jerking him to his feet with one hand as my other holds the stake. His head pivots and those white eyes fix on mine. In that moment, I get the twisted idea to finish him the way he finished Alison.

  I don’t hesitate. I rip his head back against my shoulder, and a satisfying CRUNCH! of bone greets my ears. His neck is broken, but he’s still alive. Only three things kill a vampire, and a broken neck isn’t one of them.

  Patrick is doing something with Stuart when I commit the act that seals my doom. I lunge forward and snap my teeth on Sloan’s larynx. As if in a dream, I latch onto his cold skin, ripping it, breaking it. Spitting the flesh aside as his hot blood fills my mouth, salty and metallic. I swallow quickly so I can speak.

  “Is this how you killed her?” My voice is primitive, animalistic. “Is this how you raped Melissa?”

  Again, I repeat my actions. His head jerks back much easier now that I’ve bit away his throat. I’m ready to rip it from his shoulders, but just before I do, satisfaction gleams in his eyes. It’s the last thing I see before his head is severed, and those eyes cloud over in a death mask.

  Dropping his horrid body, I stagger back, falling against the column of the pavilion. The delirium is broken. I’m awake, and I realize he controlled me all the way to the end.

  He knew I had his blood in my veins from our psychic connection. He used my rage. He beat me with the most cunning vengeance imaginable. He caused me to drink his blood as I made the kill.

  He turned me into the thing he was. The very thing I hate.

  16

  Changes

  Melissa

  I feel it the moment I’m released. I’m lying in Mariska’s bed, not sleeping as always, watching the dark sky grow darker as I do every night until it reaches the darkest point and the light begins creeping up the horizon—at which point, I fall asleep.

  Demeter’s house isn’t designed for company, so I’m in this bed while Elaine is on the pull-out couch. Mariska sleeps with her grandmother.

  Ever since Patrick left us, we’ve been on edge. Patchouli candles are lit in every window filling the house with their heavy, spicy perfume. Demeter ordered her granddaughter out into the garden to snip several stalks off her rosemary and yarrow plants, and then she ground them into a powder she sprinkled around the front and back doors. After that, she went to her attic and proceeded to chant for a good hour.

  I don’t think she’s afraid. Fear isn’t part of the equation. It’s more of a ritual, something she does whenever she’s under spiritual attack. What surprised me most of all were her prayers. She’s said traditional Catholic prayers all evening in addition to the protection and hiding spells. I suppose we need all the help we can get.

  Elaine had shut the light off early, but she’s lying on the pull-out listening, watching, when I creep into the dim living room. I don’t want to disturb her. I have no right to ask her to do this. Derek is nothing to me. We’ve slept together a few times… I drank his blood… he drank mine… Oh, hell, who am I kidding? I’m going insane with worrying about him.

  My friend’s eyes are closed and her brow is lined as I crawl into the bed beside her. The only light shines from the patchouli candles in the windows. Still, I can see her eyes moving rapidly behind her lids as if she’s watching an action film.

  I’ve only seen her this way a handful of times. Usually, it’s when her family members are in trouble and she’s trying to figure out a way to help them. She’s hearing from Patrick, I’m sure of it. I snuggle into her side.

  “What’s happening?” I whisper.

  She hesitates. Her slim body stiffens. “Stuart is going to be okay,” she says softly.

  At first, I’m startled. I didn’t know Stuart was in danger. “I’m glad,” I say truthfully. However, I’m far less worried about their alpha shifter than I am my beautiful hunter. “What else?”

  A few moments pass. The clock on Demeter’s mantle ticks so loudly, I wonder how I never noticed it before.

  “Sloan is dead. They burned his body and scattered the ashes.”

  Nodding against her shoulder, I can’t hide the relief in my voice. “I felt it as soon as it happened. It was like a heavy chain had been taken off my neck.”

  “Yes,” she says softly. “You were his slave. We came here to set you free.”

  I think about her words a moment. She’s absolutely right. Our entire reason for this trip—just between the two of us—was to find a cure for my hybrid state. Now it’s been accomplished, it seems, by my strong, beautiful, amazing man. He promised to save me, and he did.

  Heat moves through my pelvis, and I close my eyes imagining what it will be like to sleep with him as a mere mortal. He was overwhelming when I was a hybrid. I can only imagine how my human body will respond. It takes so much to affect a vampire.

  “When will they be here?” I hope my voice isn’t breathless. I imagine Elaine can read my thoughts again now that the vampire curse is off me. She must know how enormous my feelings are for him.

  Her arms tighten around my shoulder, and she only holds me. She doesn’t answer my question. A flash of fear moves through my chest. For the first time all night, I consider she’s hiding something from me.

  “Lainey?” I whisper. “What’s wrong?”

  Exhaling a little laugh, she squeezes my shoulders again. “Nothing! Nothing.”

  The hasty way she says it twice gives her away. Whatever she’s hiding is far from nothing.

  As much as I don’t want to say the words, as much as I tremble at the thought, I must ask. “Is Derek… dead?”

  “Oh, god no,” she tries to laugh more, but it’s unconvincing.

  “Then tell me why you’re afraid. I can feel the fear rolling off you.”

  Moving onto her side, she slides a cool palm against my cheek, moving my hair over my shoulder and back. “Melissa…”

  It’s like a lament. I can’t take it anymore.

  “Tell me what happened!” I almost screaming in a whisper, and it seems to do the trick.

  Her chin drops and her voice thickens. “Derek was… changed.”

  I pull back. “What? I don’t understand. Changed how?”

  “Sloan overpowered him. He used some kind of mind control.” She’s speaking so fast, my brain and my emotions struggle to catch up. “Sloan knew he had vampire blood in his veins. Patrick said when he saw Derek had beaten him, he used his last moment to glamour Derek into biting his neck and drinking his blood.”

  I’m off the couch and on my feet so fast, it’s as if I’m still a hybrid. A typhoon sweeps my insides. “What are you saying?” My head shakes, and now I’m speaking fast. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. Repeat what you just said.”

  She waits as I pace. I’m breathing so fast, I’m afraid I’ll hyperventilate.

  Slowly, she reiterates the horrible words. “Derek is a vampire.”

  My shoulders hunch as pain hits my stomach with the force of a cannon. No! Not my Derek! I drop to my knees and press my forehead against the thin mattress. Tears burn my eyes, and my fists are over my ears, and I scrub them, wishing there was some way to erase these horrible words.

  Derek is a vampire. It’s all my fault. He wouldn’t have done any of this if it weren’t for me. I changed his plans. I took his life.

  “Oh, god!” I cry into the mattress as my body trembles.

  My friend puts both hands on my shoulders. She’s rubbing my arms, trying to comfort me—as if that’s even possible.

  I sit back on my feet, tears blurring my vision. “Where is he? I have to go to him. I have to tell him how sorry I am.”

  “I don’t know.” Elaine reaches for both my hands and holds them tightly in hers. “Patrick said when he realized what he’d done, he took off running into the night. Patrick tried to follow him, but Derek is too fast now. They can’t find him. They don’t know where he went.”

  “No!” My voice breaks as panic sweeps through me. I’ll never find him. I’ll never see him again. Only I have to find him! He has to let me see him. He has to talk to me.

  As fast as the panic comes, I feel the calm, problem-solver side of me kick in. When I was locked in the hybrid-vampire state, my emotions were so volatile. I would be lost on a train of thought with no way back on a moment’s notice. Now I can think again. I can strategize. It’s such a relief.

  Clearing my throat, I wipe the tears from my eyes. This is no time for falling apart. I will find Derek. I will see him again.

  When I speak, my voice is calm, professional. “I’m sorry. Please tell me exactly what happened.”

  My friend shudders and looks down, clasping her slim arms over her torso. “Oh, Melissa,” she whispers, and her eyes clench shut. A lone tear drops onto her cheek.

  “Elaine, please.”

  “When Patrick looked up from helping Stuart, he saw Derek had ripped out Sloan’s throat with his teeth.” She pauses for a shudder, and I feel like someone is pressing a palm against the front of my neck.

  “Did he…?” I can’t say it.

  “He drank Sloan’s blood. Derek drank the blood, and he made his first kill.”

  My initial feeling is pride. My strong hunter ripped that monster apart with his bare hands. Instantly my pride is replaced with grief at what has happened to my love, how he must be feeling, the shock and horror.

  “I have to find him,” I say. “He did all this to save me. I have to go to him.”

  “I don’t think that will be possible—”

  “And why not?” I don’t mean to be indignant with her, but I need to see Derek now.

  “Patrick says it’s too dangerous. Their ties were severed when the change happened to Derek. They have ways of checking up on him, but Patrick says we have to be cautious. He’s tracking him now.”

  “I need them to find him, Elaine. If anyone knows what he’s going through, it’s me.”

  She nods, holding my hands, her green eyes wide. “I know. I can feel the power of your love for him.”

  I try to pull away, to hide my face. It’s too soon for love. How can we even know our feelings with all these terrors swirling around us?

  “Yet you do,” she says softly, answering my question. She’s back inside my head. “You love him, and that’s why I’m going to help you.”

  * * *

  Derek

  Realization burns through me like a brand. I’ve crossed the line. There’s no going back for me now. As Sloan’s control dies with him, the start of my new life races through my veins. The change is happening fast. The vampire blood overpowers my simple human flesh, and before the end of the night my humanity will be gone. I’ll be immortal.

  I stand over the empty husk of Sloan’s body, and I know there’s no salvation for me now. I’ve lost everything. He won.

  Star is sitting with her back against the wall. Her eyes are large, watching me. She saw everything, and either she’s too stunned to speak or she doesn’t know what to say.