And he realized that he was strangling Duncan.
Shane heaved out a breath. One. Two. His fingers loosened on Duncan as Holly rushed to Olivia’s side.
Holly felt for Olivia’s pulse. “What happened to her?”
“I was…” His voice was hollow. Broken. “I was going to change her.”
“Take him out of here,” Pate ordered Connor and Duncan. “Get him out, now! Take him to the yard.”
Shane shook his head. He lunged toward Olivia.
But Pate was in his path.
“I can’t find a pulse,” Holly said, voice sharp.
No, no.
Pate put his hands on Shane’s chest. “Holly needs room to work. Go to the yard. Wait for us.”
“I can save her!” He had to save her.
Sympathy flashed on Pate’s face. “No, Shane, you can’t. If you could, then she’d be breathing right now.”
Olivia couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t. And he wasn’t leaving her. His control broke as he roared for her. He leapt forward, determined to touch her. To get to her.
But the others swarmed in on him. Pate. Connor. Duncan. They dragged him out of there, even as he fought. Holly was bent over Olivia, but Olivia still hadn’t moved.
“I wish you’d stay with me!” Shane shouted out, desperate. “I wish you’d never leave me!”
“Dammit, man, don’t say shit like that!” Connor growled. “With the way those djinn wishes work, you’d wind up with a zombie bride.”
His friends weren’t letting him go. No matter how much he hurt them. “I just want her.”
Then they were outside, in the area known as the “yard” at the facility. A high, chain-length fence surrounded them—that fence was laced with silver. The moon shone down on them, too bright.
He heaved the others off him. Turned to rush back inside.
“If she can be saved,” Pate said softly, “Holly will save her. Holly’s a doctor—give her a chance!”
Medicine wasn’t enough.
“Give her a chance,” Pate urged again.
Shane’s hands were fisted at his sides. “What will I do if she dies?”
Pate didn’t speak.
Is she already dead? Did I kill her? The one woman that I wanted the most?
He truly was a monster, and right then, he was in hell.
Chapter Thirteen
Olivia’s eyes opened as she sucked in a deep gulp of air. She blinked and saw Holly only an inch away from her.
Holly’s jaw dropped. “You’re alive!”
Of course, she was alive.
Holly scrambled back. “You were stone cold dead!”
Right, well, didn’t that happen when you became a vampire? Olivia wasn’t quite clear on the whole transformation bit, but vamps had to be called the undead for some reason.
“Where’s Shane?” She pushed off the floor. She felt good. Better than good. Amazingly strong.
Amazingly hungry.
Holly inched back. “He’s outside.”
He’d left her? Not cool.
“Olivia…what are you?”
Olivia wasn’t too sure on that score herself. “Let’s find out.” She headed toward the red markings on the floor. Bracing herself, she lifted her foot to walk over them. Maybe she’d slam into the invisible wall again or maybe—
She just walked right over the red lines. Olivia laughed. “It worked!”
“Did it?” Holly sounded unsure. Worried.
A big smile broke over Olivia’s face. “The spell doesn’t hold me in check anymore! I’m free!”
“Or just even stronger.” Holly bit her lip. “You should…you should make a wish. See what happens.”
Her heart stuttered. “What if it goes wrong?” Now she was the one who sounded unsure.
Holly swallowed. “Make a wish.”
Something that isn’t dangerous. Something that won’t backfire on me. Or on anyone else. “I wish it would rain.”
That was an easy enough wish, right?
Holly stared back at her. Then she looked up at the ceiling. Nothing.
Well, at least rain wasn’t falling magically from the ceiling.
“Outside,” Holly murmured. “We should check outside.”
Olivia was already ahead of her. She sprang for the doorway, so eager to be out of her prison. She ran down the hallway and then realized she was following a particular scent. His scent. Rich and masculine and sexy.
And she could hear Shane. The faint rumble of his voice. Even though he was outside of the building, she could still hear him.
She had a vampire’s senses.
Olivia threw open the exterior door. Stumbled into the area she’d heard the others call the “yard” before. The men whirled toward her.
She ignored Pate and Duncan and Connor. Even though they were all staring at her like she was some kind of freak.
“Zombie bride,” she heard Connor mutter. “Please, don’t be…”
“Shane,” she whispered, and she smiled at him. “It’s not raining.”
In the next second, he had her in his arms. His mouth crashed down on hers and it was wonderful. Fantastic. Fabulous. His body was strong and hard against hers, and it wasn’t raining.
Her wish hadn’t come true.
Her tongue slid over his lips. Pushed into his mouth. Adrenaline and desire and euphoria were swirling within her.
So was something else…
Her mouth pulled from his. Olivia’s teeth were burning. Stretching. Yes, she had a vampire’s senses. She also had a vampire’s hunger and that bloodlust was growing within her.
Shane stared down at her mouth. Then, slowly, his gaze lifted to her eyes. A wide smile split his face. “It worked!”
She wanted his blood.
She wanted him.
Forever.
“I don’t think she’s a djinn any longer,” Holly said from behind them. “He changed her.”
“No,” Shane said as he kept staring into Olivia’s eyes. “She changed me. She changed everything, for me.”
In his hot stare, Olivia could see his desire and his love.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.
For a minute there—or longer—Olivia had thought she was lost, too.
“Uh, yeah…a newly turned vamp will need to feed,” Connor said. “We should um…give them some privacy.”
Shane didn’t look away from her. “Yes, you fucking should.”
She heard the others retreat inside. The door shut—very loudly—behind them. Olivia ran her tongue over the edge of her new fangs. “I want to taste you.”
“Love, I’m yours…”
She pushed him back, and he hit the tall, heavy fence. Olivia grabbed his shirt because now that they were alone, she couldn’t hold back.
She’d always been told that physical lust and bloodlust mixed for vampires. It was sure mixing for her.
His shirt tore beneath her hands.
He laughed.
She loved his laugh. Olivia rose onto her tip-toes. She pressed a kiss to his throat. So good. She licked him. His pulse was racing, and it should be awkward, she should be hesitating—but her teeth sank into him so easily.
So simply. So perfectly.
His blood flowed onto her tongue. Rich, but strangely sweet. Like a fine chocolate. She loved chocolate.
He groaned, a ragged, desperate sound.
Olivia immediately jerked her mouth away. “Did I hurt you?”
His eyes opened.
No, that’s not pain.
“Pleasure, love, only pleasure.” And then he was the one to catch her in his arms. He pulled her close. Lifted her up.