When the animal kept struggling, it became obvious that breaking its neck was not enough. Twisting his body, Bo threw the hound to the ground and laid his body across it to hold it in position. I saw him stretch his arm up over his head and I covered my mouth. I couldn’t help it. I knew what he was going to do—what he had to do—but I stil couldn’t stop the lurching of my stomach in response to it.
For the space of one heartbeat, Bo glanced back at me, regret showing clearly in his eyes. In that moment, he communicated to me his sorrow that I had to see what was about to happen, that my life had been reduced to this.
Determined to show him my courage and to ease his always-troubled mind, I dropped my hands and straightened my spine. This was, after al , a demon creature from the depths of a hel we could only imagine. With that in mind, I nodded to him and, like the strike of a snake, Bo shoved his fist through the hound’s ribs and tore out its heart.
As dark life bled from the creature, Bo rose to his feet and stepped away from its twitching form. We al stood watching for several seconds, each lost in our own thoughts, each trapped in a different level of speechlessness, until final y the creature’s movement ceased entirely.
It was almost with a sigh of relief that its body caught fire.
Flames quickly engulfed it, burning away al evidence of its existence before it disintegrated into a mound of ash that blew away like dust in the wind.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Without meeting my eyes, Bo took my hand.
“Let’s go,” he announced to the group.
I didn’t let him lead me away. Instead, I held him back until the others had moved a few paces ahead of us.
Bo stil didn’t look at me right away. It wasn’t until I touched his cheek that he turned his face toward mine.
I smiled reassuringly up at him.
“I love you,” I said quietly.
Bo closed his eyes briefly, turning his face to brush his lips against my palm.
“I love you, too.”
“You had to do that. You had no choice and I know that.”
Bo opened his fathomless eyes and did what he did best with them—he took my breath away. For a fraction of a second, I was lost in them, lost in the moment. Even after al the fear and horror and unnatural events of the last few hours, Bo was able to transport me to another place. With one simple look, he could take me away, to a world al our own. I loved that about him, about us.
Final y, when the steps of the others had faded into the distance, he tugged my hand and we jogged off after them.
As we ran, I began to notice the familiar burn of thirst, setting my throat on fire. The further we went, the more the icy heat of my new metabolism pulsed throughout my body.
When we arrived at the edge of the woods, Lucius, Annika and presumably Devon were standing there talking. We came to a stop beside them and when Lucius turned toward us, I noticed that he was fading, his eyes that odd milky green. I turned to Bo and he looked in a similar condition. I didn’t need to look down at my own body to know that I was fading as wel . I imagined that my eyes looked much the same way, though I’d never observed the strange phenomenon for myself.
“So what’s the plan? We al going back to Sebastian’s or…?”
“I have an idea,” Annika piped up first thing. “Devon, since you don’t feed, why don’t you take Ridley back to the house while we hunt? She doesn’t like to feed on animals I’m told and this might be the quickest and easiest way.”
By tacking that on at the end, Annika ensured that I’d sound like a jealous ninny if I argued, primarily because it did make the most sense. That only made it rankle al the more, so I said nothing, leaving the decision in Bo’s hands.
“You two go ahead. I’l hunt later,” Bo said without hesitation.
“But you’re already fading, Bo. You need to feed. Ridley wil be fine for a little while. Besides, you can make sure you feed her when you get back if Cade’s not up to it,” Annika asserted quickly. “I’m sure she doesn’t want you to be uncomfortable just to babysit her, do you Ridley?”
This was a little more of what I expected from Annika. Her flirtation with Lucius may have been sincere, but it didn’t change the plans she had for Bo. That much was clear.
Smiling coyly, I turned to Bo and leaned into his side.
“That might work out even better. I’d much rather get what I need from you,” I said, injecting as much insinuation as I could without coming right out with a catty meow.
The black of Bo’s pupils enlarged at my intimation, nearly eclipsing the pale green of his irises.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly, sliding one arm around my waist.
“I’m positive. It wil be worth the wait.”
He grinned down at me and, despite my original impetus for being so blatantly suggestive, I melted just like I always did when we shared a moment. Immediately, I felt guilty for letting Annika get under my skin, for letting her trick me into using the incredible magic Bo and I shared for such a petty reason.
“Alright then,” Bo agreed, squeezing my side. “Devon, make sure Cade stays away from her, wil you?”
Insulted, I started to object.
“I’m perfectly capable—”
“It’s not that you’re not capable, it’s just that you’re hungry.
It’s so easy to get out of control, especial y around humans.
Cade might try to use that to his advantage. That’s al I’m saying.”
I nodded, appeased but stil feeling a little rubbed by his dismissive attitude. Bo must have sensed my irritation because he bent and whispered into my ear.
“I don’t want anyone satisfying your hunger but me.”
A light dusting of chil s arose on my arms and my stomach flipped over. I refrained from tel ing him that that was an impossibility. He was al I ever wanted, my thirst for him the only one that was truly insatiable.
He saved me from having to say anything when he brushed his lips across my cheek and told me he’d see me soon and to be careful.
Devon and I struck out in one direction, Bo’s trio in another. They were heading back into the woods. Devon and I were heading to Sebastian’s.
We hadn’t gone very far when a thought occurred to me.
“Maybe you should swing by Savannah’s before you come to Sebastian’s.”
“What about you?”
“I would come with you, but I’m afraid that, in this state, I might hurt her. I haven’t mastered the whole control thing yet.”