I cupped his jaw in my hands. “I’ll be okay, I promise. But I have to try.”
Unable to stand the haunted look in his eyes, I took off back into the burning building.
As though fate itself intervened, flames licked up the walls but left a clear path between the front door and Dani. I tore off my shirt and covered my mouth with the fabric. I still coughed, my eyes watering as I picked my way across the room. I leaned down to scoop her up, fighting not to lose consciousness. God, she washeavyfor such a tiny woman.
I half carried, half dragged Dani out of the bar—barely. I set her down about fifteen feet away from James, unable to continue. I limped over to my vampire, letting myself fall to the pavement beside him. I coughed, trying to expel the smoke from my lungs. I could hardly breathe; worse, my lungs felt hot and tight, like I’d inhaled the sun. I put my head between my knees, heaving.
As my vision dimmed, I felt James’s hand on my chin, turning me toward him. “Look at me.”
His lips pressed to mine, tongue darting out to swipe across the seam of my mouth. At first I was surprised, but as I inhaled through my nose, I was relieved to find I was able to take in a full breath. After our lips parted, I took a few seconds to focus on my breathing, and the pain slowly faded quite a bit.
“Are you all right, love?” James asked.
I opened my mouth to speak, but it wasn’t words that came out of my mouth. I turned to the side and vomited all over the pavement. James peeled my hair away from the soot, blood, and sweat that caked it to my skin, holding it back while I puked. He rubbed circles across my back until I finished.
Once I was certain I wouldn’t be sick again, I sat back and wiped my mouth with my sleeve. “Sorry,” I whispered. It was all I could muster. My throat burned, my lungs and abs aching with the mere effort of breathing.
“Don’t be sorry. I think that’s an appropriate reaction to everything you’ve been through today. I guess my saliva can only do so much.”
I looked over at Dani. The front of her shirt was stained with blood, and she hadn’t yet moved.
I gulped. “Is she…?”
“Alive,” James supplied. “But?—”
“James.”
He was interrupted by the approach of three people. The already frigid temperature dropped another twenty degrees. A man stood in the middle, a woman to either side of him. They could have been triplets. All three had the same snowy white hair and blood-red eyes. The women wore white dresses that cascaded to the floor, a slit up the side giving a peek at their skin as they walked. Though the man was the most intimidating, he was the most casually dressed of the three, wearing a white button-up with khakis. He looked like he’d just come from the office, of all places.
Sure. Nine-to-five, drop in on a vampire-slash-hunter battle, pick up milk on the way home—as you do.
Their presence sent my heart racing. Their crimson eyes stared back at me, and the menace of the man in the middle had me shrinking into myself.
Before I could ask who they were, James’s hand squeezed my shoulder. He leaned in and whispered, “It’s time to go.”
“What? Why?”
“Trust me, Ryder. They’ll clean up this mess, and you don’t want to observe their methods.”
I shuddered. Poor Dani. After what she’d done, though, I didn’t object. “What about Luke?”
His eyes flitted back to the burning building. “Youare my priority right now. One way or another, Luke is gone. I suspect he bailed before Dani set the fire.” His fingers tickled the hair at my nape. “Let me take you home. Can you stand?”
My legs felt weak, but I wasn’t going to let him carry me. “I think so.”
He stood, then helped me to my feet. He held me while I steadied myself. Reaching up, I thumbed the cut on his cheek. “Areyouokay?” I asked. I trailed my hand across his jaw, smoothing my palm down his chest. I could feel the indentation where Dani had held the crucifix against him. He sucked in a breath as my fingers found the outline.
“I’m fine, love,” he said, capturing my hand. “Let’s go.”
I gave in, letting him take my hand and lead me around to the passenger’s seat of my car. I didn’t look back.
God—how had it only been a day? One minute Dani and I had been having a friendly conversation, and the next it had become an all-out brawl for my life, ending in the death of a friend.
It was going to take me months to wrap my head around everything. For now, I guess, I could start by leaning into the side of the man who’d done more than his fair share of proving himself over the last few weeks. As James opened the door for me, I ignored it, instead leaning against the rear door and grabbing James by the hips, pulling him into me.
“You’ll stay with me, right?” I asked, dusting my lips across his jaw.
I wasn’t used to relying on people. I wasn’t used to needing someone else, but I needed him. After everything, I couldn’t imagine walking through that front door without him.
