With a low growl, Whit sprang up the last few steps, taking down Billy Wayne before the man could react. “Go!” Whit shouted. “Run!”
This time, the word was like the crack of a starter’s gun. I shot forward but only made it up a single step before a hand grabbed my ankle and yanked my foot out from under me. I fell against the steps, lightning hot pain radiating from my shoulder.
I tried to pull my foot free, but the grasp only tightened and dragged me down two steps before I could roll over and kick with my other leg, nailing Chase in the face. He snarled and lunged upward at me at the same moment I brought my dagger down, driving it through his skull.
Not bothering to retrieve the weapon, I raced up the rest of the stairs. Billy Wayne lay motionless on the ground, his head twisted at an awkward angle.Whit pushed himself up from his hands and knees, his head hanging between his shoulders as he tried to stand on shaky legs.
I rushed to him and grabbed him around the waist, pulling his arm over my shoulders again, hurrying him toward the door of what I now realized was the carriage house. When we were safely outside and in the night air of the courtyard, a different kind of terror enveloped me.
“Merilee has Henry,” I told Whit, frantic. “She was taking him to Netty.”
“Zellie,” Whit said, his voice thin with pain.
“I don’t know why,” I continued without missing a beat. “We have to get to him before she does anything to him—”
“Zellie.”
This time, his voice was harsh, bringing me up short. “You have to keep going,” I told him. “I can’t do this without you.”
His lips curved up in one corner in a weak smile. “I think you can do just about anything after what I saw in there.”
I shook my head. “No, I need you, Whit. I don’t know what to do, how to stop her.”
I started forward, but he resisted. “I’ve lost too much blood, Zellie. I have to replace it to heal.”
I searched his face in confusion. Then understanding sunk in. “You needmyblood.”
He nodded, his legs buckling and making us both stumble. I landed hard on my knees and nearly fell onto him but somehow kept from toppling over.
“Okay,” I said with a determined nod, desperate to save him. “Okay, what do I do?”
His eyes flicked toward my forearm. Without hesitating, I held it out to him. He took hold of my hand gently and held my gaze as if asking my permission, making sure I was okay with what was about to happen.
I swallowed hard, my pulse kicking up with fear, but nodded.
In the next moment, his fangs sank into my skin, and his lips latched on around the wound, gently suckling. I gasped, the sensation surprisingly erotic and one I would’ve been happy to sink into if our son wasn’t being held hostage by a murderous bitch.
He released me abruptly just a few seconds later. His head fell back, his eyes closed as he let my blood do its work.
“Now me,” I whispered.
His eyes snapped open, the bright amber glow taking me off-guard. “I can’t reverse what will happen,” he told me. “They’ve been prepping you for months. And now that I’ve taken your blood, as soon as you take mine, it’s forever.”
Instead of answering, I bent forward, intending to take blood from one of his open wounds, but he stopped me and shook his head. “It isn’t clean.” Then he punctured his wrist and held it out to me.
The moment he offered his arm, I knew an urgent hunger, a deep, soul shaking need I’d never experienced. I grasped his arm and drank in greedy gulps. When he groaned as if in pain, I abruptly broke away on a gasp. Heat flooded my body, the gift he’d given me buzzing like electricity in my veins. But there was more than that. All of the memories Whit had taken to protect Henry and me came back all at once like a movie reel playing at warp speed.
And Iknew. Everything he’d said about our past together was true. And the rush of emotion that hit me nearly knocked me on my ass.
“My God,” I breathed.
“You’ll need more to fully become,” he panted, perhaps not realizing what had just occurred with my memories, “but I’m too weak to give you any more right now. That will be enough to make you stronger. Just find Henry.”
I nodded then kissed him briefly. I’d tell him about my memories returning later, after we got Henry back. I pressed my forehead to his and closed my eyes, letting my mind drift, instinctively reaching out for our son. And then I saw him in my mind, a bright light guiding my way.
Suddenly sensing we were no longer alone, my eyes snapped open, drawn to the doorway of Dawes House. There, staring back at me, was Alice, her expression at last at peace, her eyes no longer vacant, black holes, but wide blue eyes filled with purpose. She turned around and walked back into the house.
“I know where Henry is,” I told Whit. “I have to follow her.”
