“He’s a vampire. He’s not a shifter, not anymore. He belongs to me.” I made sure my glare was as icy as I could make it. Yet those words were a lie. It was my heart that belonged to him, not the other way around. And soon enough, he would hate me, and once he did, he’d run. Not to the shifters like Connor thought, but to the Mades. Shane didn’t feel like a shifter anymore. I’d seen the sorrow in his eyes when we’d been at the compound, and again when he’d turned Connor down. He didn’t know where he fit in this world, and that was my fault. I’d deliberately distanced myself. I’d kept him out of meetings. I hadn’t involved him in the Blood Lust virus outbreaks or training with the squads I sent to quell them. Being on the outside wasn’t where Shane was used to being. He’d been an Alpha, responsible for the safety of hundreds of people, and it had been my purpose to make him feel as on the edge of my world as he was of the shifterworld. It had worked. I’d seen the confusion and uncertainty in his eyes every time I’d left him behind, or shut him out of a meeting with Connor and his brothers, or walked away at dawn.
It had been a long time since I’d hated myself for my actions. And now I was beginning to wonder if my plan was really worth the hurt it would cause the two people who had become more important to me than anyone had ever been. My nostrils flared, and I squeezed my fist harder and faster, pumping blood into Shane’s lax mouth.
“Dav! Did he say anything before he collapsed?”
“He said hemlock, except that doesn’t make you bleed.”
I dipped my head, working to keep the shock from my face. Hemlock didn’t make supernaturals or humans bleed, though its paralysing effects could be lethal. Yet it was the only thing that could destroy my blood cells. I’d discovered this lethal anomaly in a long distant past.
More blood dribbled down Shane’s chin and neck. I watched its progress. He wasn’t truly gone, I could feel it. His energy, his soul, still clung to his useless suit of flesh. All I needed to do was give him something to fight the poison with—blood, but not mine. And he needed a beating heart to use it.
Fixing this wasn’t going to happen on the street, not with Connor hovering and the city waking up. Shane wasn’t safe here. I could feel the presence of those who’d done this nearby, watching us—watching me. Once I’d saved Shane, I’d hunt them down and end them in the slowest, most painful fashion my ancient brain could devise.
Without looking at Connor again, I heaved Shane into my arms and ran. Even Connor’s god-like senses wouldn’t be able to track me when I moved this fast. Wind ruffled my long hair, pulling it from the band that held it back. A door slammed behind me, and I sped up the stairs to the apartment I’d been avoiding and halted. Shane was dead in my arms. His face wasa pale, blood-stained mask, his lips colourless. Panic tried to drown me, and my arms started to tremble. No. I had to hold it together. He’d be okay. This had to work.
The door opened, and Sorcha’s scent hit me, unleashing a fresh wave of anxiety. Hell’s teeth! I wasn’t used to caring so much about anyone; now I had two people who were twisting my insides into a godsdamned mess.
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I would save them. They would both live….
“How is she?”
Vito sheathed the gun he’d pointed at my head. “Worried about you guys, and exhausted, but otherwise okay.” He stepped out of my way and gave me a sympathetic look. “Need any help with him?”
“No!” I pulled Shane’s lax body closer.
Vito didn’t react to my snappy reply, just nodded and gave me a reassuring smile. “‘Kay, boss, I’ll be right outside the door if you need anything. More guards are coming to make sure you’re all safe.”
I dipped my chin in acknowledgement. Vito knew Sor and Shane were special to me, even though I’d never expressly said so. The old crone had said the trifecta would save the world, but she’d only cackled when I’d asked if we would all survive. Now wasn’t the time to think about such an unclear future. If I didn’t save Shane, there wouldn’t be one. And no matter how much they might hate me when I broke them, I wouldn’t be truly letting them go.
Ultimately, they would be mine.
With the way clear, I hurried to the bedroom Shane and Sor shared. They didn’t know, but I’d watched them as they slept, every night returning from my travels to make sure they were safe. I’d stationed guards at the apartment doors, and others tofollow them. If they knew the kind of hold they had on me, what they really were to me, my whole plan would fall apart.
23
Balthazar
A huge bangshook the room as I kicked the bedroom door open, and it hit the wall, bursting the hinges. Sor’s body tensed, and she squealed, sitting bolt upright on the bed. Her face was ashen, and sweat glistened on her skin as she gripped the sheets.
Vito had likely told her she’d been poisoned. I’d ordered him to stay and help her, threatening him with death if anything else happened. Yet the shock on her face as she stared at Shane in my arms made me wonder how much of this shit show of an evening she remembered. Her eyes widened as I strode forward. Shane was huge, but that didn’t stop me. My strength far outweighed my appearance.
“Oh my goodness, what happened?”
“Someone poisoned him, too.”
She shook her head. “No. No. That’s not…Oh no, he went after them, didn’t he? The ones who poisoned me?”
The guilt on her face killed me. “He did. But that’s on him, not you. None of this is your fault.”
I lay Shane on his back on the bed. Dried blood had crusted on his mouth and chin and oozed from his chest wounds, thick and so dark it was almost black.
“They hurt him, too?” she whispered, reaching out to touch his colourless lips.
“Yes. Arrows. But that’s my blood on his mouth. I tried to save him, but he couldn't swallow. Hemlock poisoning isn’t usually fatal for most supernaturals. For Shane, it is.”
It wasn’t a lie. Most supernaturals could fight it. It made them nauseous, would leave them with a stinking headache, and, for some, it caused paralysis. But if they could be ventilated and cared for while their body fought it, it wouldn’t kill them. For Shane, it would, but telling her why would reveal my biggest weakness. At my words, her face lost all of its remaining colour, and the panic that I’d so far managed to suppress raged forward.
Fuck it! No matter the consequences, I couldn’t lose Shane. I couldn’t let her lose him either. I tipped her chin up. “Look at me, Sor. We can save him.”
