Dee felt the ice rising in her body. The numbing cold, and she fought it, drinking as much of the warm liquid as she could.
Drinking.
Her eyes opened when the blood flow began to ease, and she squinted, staring at the bright light. The broken glass.
Attack. Two vehicles. One from behind, one from the side.
Right at dawn, when we were the weakest.
Smart bastards, she’d give them that, she’d give them—
Simon’s hand dropped.
Dee sucked in a sharp breath. What— “Simon!” The blood on her tongue, the warmth in her veins.
His.
All his.
She turned her head to the left, craning to see him. “Simon!”
A weak smile curved his lips. Such pale lips. Such tired eyes. “What did you do?” she whispered. Stupid to ask, she knew. She fumbled, managed to grab his hand and hold tight.
“You…had to live.”
So did he. Dammit, so did he.
His eyes began to close. “Don’t…watch me…”
Her fingers clenched around his. “We’re gonna get out of here.” They were trapped in a damn tin can, but she’d get them out.
Crushed. Smashed in by the two vehicles and left trapped. The bastards would pay.
“Promise…don’t watch…me—”
His eyes were closed as he finished, “Die.”
No. “Simon?” The chill was back, raising the hairs on her arms and numbing her flesh. “Simon?” She squeezed his hand and realized what he’d done.
His life, for her. Bastard.
Dee dropped his hand and shoved against the metal. Shoved and pushed and jerked and twisted and—
Tears trekked down her cheeks as the sunlight poured onto her. “You’re not leaving me!” A scream.
Not like her father.
Her sister.
Her mother.
No one else would die for her. No one.
Dee screamed her fury into the light and kicked up with her knees. Bones snapped, flesh tore, but she fought through the pain and tried to tear her way out of the hell that held them in its hungry grasp.
When he saw the SUV, saw the metal tossed away on the side of the road, Zane’s heart seemed to stop.
“Holy fuck.” From Jude. The shifter had found him at the motel and helped him to kick the shit out of those vampires.
You won’t find her. The bitch’ll be dead before you even get close. Last words from one of the vamps.
Zane slammed on the brakes.
“She could still be alive!” The fierce whisper came from Erin Jerome, Jude’s lover. Of course, the woman had been at Jude’s side when he’d stormed up to the motel. Not like she was ever going to miss a good fight.
Zane jumped from the car, ran as fast as he could, and heard the thunder of Jude and Erin’s footsteps behind them. Be alive. She had to be. Dee couldn’t—
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Her scream. Dee.
His heart started beating again. He hurried around the side of the beaten metal pile, ready to rip and fight his way to her.
The passenger door flew at him.
Zane hit the ground. What the hell?
“Simon! You open those eyes, you understand me? Open them!” Then he saw Dee, crawling out of the car and dragging her vampire with her. Blood covered her, him, and the woman was snarling and swearing as she jerked out her man.
She stumbled, slipping, and Simon’s weight hit her, knocking her flat.
Zane shoved up to his knees. “Dee!” He should have known the woman wasn’t dead. The ambush the vamps had set on her—yeah, he’d gotten the full details on that one, courtesy of some threats and the skillful use of Jude’s claws—hadn’t succeeded. She was still alive, still fighting and—
She rolled her vampire until he lay on the ground. Her hand smoothed over his cheek. “Simon?”
And Zane realized she didn’t know he was there.
Didn’t know any of them were there.
“We’re out,” she whispered and her fingers left a bloody trail on Simon’s cheek. “Everything’s okay now, we’re out.”
“Oh, sweet hell.” Erin tried to shove past him, but Jude caught her arms and held tight.
“No,” he told her softly, “not when she’s like this. The bloodlust—”
Dee’s head snapped toward them. Zane expected to see the black stare of a vampire driven to desperation, instead, he saw Dee’s warm brown eyes, swimming with tears. “Help him.” A demand, a plea. “Help him.”
Zane reached a hand out to her.
She grabbed him. Damn, but the woman was fast, even with the sun out.
And strong.
Stronger than she should have been.
Her fingers clamped around his wrist. “He needs blood.”
Clenching his jaw, Zane gave a nod. Not what he’d ever do for anyone but her.
Dee used her claws to cut a thin line on his wrist. He held his hand over Simon’s mouth.
“You need blood, too,” Erin said, her voice steady and strong. Zane’s stare jumped to her and he saw that she had her wrist up. “Take what you need.”
Shifters didn’t normally offer up their blood to vamps, but Zane knew there was a friendship between the two women. More than that.
Dee had risked death for Erin on one of the Night Watch cases. When you went to the line for someone like that, a bond formed.
Dee hesitated, but her fangs were already out.
Too much blood loss for both of them.
Chase’s fangs weren’t out yet, a bad sign. With the blood at his mouth, he should have responded by now.
“You saved my life,” Erin reminded her. “It’s my turn.”
Dee took Erin’s wrist. Bit.
Another link. Zane’s attention moved to Jude. He already had his wrist up. The first time that the shifter had ever offered blood to a vamp.
But Dee wasn’t just any vamp. She was one of their own.
After this day, they’d be tied to one another, through Dee, forever.
His breath hissed out as a hot pain sliced his wrist. A quick glance showed that Simon’s fangs were out now.
He just had to make sure the guy didn’t take too much. After all, they had one hell of a fight waiting on them all.
A real bloodbath.
Simon awoke to darkness. Quiet, total darkness. No pain wracked his body. No cold chilled his soul.
Alive.
Or as alive as he could be.
“You scared the hell out of me.” Dee’s voice. Soft, shaking, and coming from right next to him.
His nostrils flared and he inhaled her scent. Rich, sensual. His Dee.
When he concentrated, he heard the drum of her heart. Strong and steady.
He rolled and realized he was in a bed. In a bed with Dee. Don’t need anything else. Simon reached for her and touched warm flesh.
Her lips crushed down on his. A hard, angry kiss. Fury and passion. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” she ordered and kissed him again. Harder.
His mouth opened beneath hers and her tongue swiped inside. Yes. His arms rose and locked around her body.
Her nipples stabbed into his chest. Naked. He felt every inch of her sweet flesh against him. Every single inch.
She shifted against him, straddling his thighs, and she rose above him. “You nearly died.”
His eyes had adjusted perfectly to the darkness so that he could see that fierce tilt of her jaw. “You were going to live.” The choice had been easy for him.
“Bastard.” Her nails raked down his chest. He didn’t know how they’d both gotten naked, but he sure wasn’t going to complain about it right then. “What the hell gives you the right to make that kind of choice?” she demanded.
He caught her hand. Brought it to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her palm. Because I love you.
Monsters could love. Vampires who stalked the night could feel.