The slow twang of country music filled the car’s interior, and the vehicle pulled from the concealing shadows.
“How long until we reach Hueco?” Dee’s voice was steady. The words were the first she’d spoken in the last hour.
Simon kept his foot stomped all the way onto the accelerator. Even burning up the black interstate road, it would still be “after dawn.” A piss-poor time to go riding into the town. He’d be weak. All the vamps would be.
He and Dee would be outnumbered. Grim would have a guard force. Lots of vamps and who knew what else.
“Then if we’ve got nothing to do for the next six hours—”
Probably longer.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s got your butt in such a twist?”
His knuckles whitened around the wheel. “You didn’t have to drink from him,” he bit out. Your butt in such a twist. Nice.
“I wanted to know if he was coming after me. Us.”
He could still see her mouth on the other man’s wrist. Her lips so red against his dark flesh. Tasting him. Taking him.
The SUV swerved onto the median and Simon yanked the wheel so the vehicle slipped back into the right lane. “You took his blood. You linked with him.” Wasn’t it enough that the two of them already had some kind of bond he didn’t understand?
Trust. Yeah, Dee trusted her demon.
“I linked with you, too. I didn’t hear you complaining about it.”
No, that was the problem. He’d all but begged for more. The feel of her lips. That tongue—
Good fucking thing the demon had been knocked out.
“I-I thought I had to do it. After what Cat said, I didn’t want him following us.” Quiet, subdued.
Since when was she subdued? What the hell? He slanted her a quick glance and tried to get the crazy bat-shit jealousy under control.
Fear. That’s what it really was. Fear about facing Grim. Because what if the bastard was too strong? And then…cold-eat-your-soul fear that when the battle was over, he’d lose Dee.
One way or another.
When did she become more important than freedom? He cleared his throat and tried to unclench his fingers before he broke the steering wheel. “I thought you didn’t believe the witch.”
A sound, could have been a strained laugh or just a long sigh, came from her lips. “Sometimes, I’m not sure what I believe anymore. I shouldn’t have let them leave the city with us. I knew the whole time that was a mistake.”
But the demon had been adamant, and he’d herded the shattered Ignitor and the still-dazed witch with him.
“I tried to sleep at the motel, but I just—I just kept seeing Catalina, surrounded by the fire.”
But the fire surrounded you, too. Why wasn’t Dee scared for herself? Didn’t she care?
“I couldn’t make her face the flames again. And Zane—oh, hell, after what I saw—”
His gaze snapped to her. “What you saw?”
Her hand lifted, then fell limply back in her lap. “Every time I bite someone, I’m going to see the person’s life, right?”
Unfortunately, that was the way of the Born. Most saw that as a strength. A way to get into the minds of prey and control them.
Not Dee. He could tell she saw it as some kind of punishment. Another one, for her.
“He’s already been through enough. I’m not going to have him dying for my fight.”
He reached for her hand and linked his fingers through hers. “Our fight.” She wasn’t in this alone. She wasn’t going to ditch him the way she’d done the others.
He wouldn’t leave her side. No matter what. “I’m not gonna turn on you, babe. I don’t care what the witch saw, I won’t turn.” The spell might be weakening. Grim might be starting to find a link again, but it wouldn’t matter. Grim would be dead long before the spell wore off completely.
Her fingers tightened around his. “I know.”
Simple. Certain.
Trust?
His breath expelled in a hard rush and his heart thundered against his chest.
“There’s something you should know.” The leather groaned beneath her as she shifted to stare at him. “I didn’t want to bite Zane. Didn’t want to bite that freak vamp Leo. Since turning, I’ve needed to bite. The bloodlust has been there, no denying it. When I first opened my eyes and saw Jude…” He heard the click of her swallow. “I thought I might even lose control.”
The first cravings were the strongest. The most dangerous. That was why he’d taken her to Pak. Pak knew how to care for vampires. He’d guarded dozens of Taken over the years. Guarded them, and had to put some down.
Simon knew if he’d stayed with Dee, her bloodlust would have flared and instead of calming her, his own control would have broken.
They would have broken.
But now they were stronger. Together, they were stronger.
Not. Gonna. Break.
“You are different. I wanted you. I wanted to bite, and I wanted you to bite me.”
A confession like that, from a hunter…from her.
His gums burned as his teeth grew and the crotch of his pants got way too tight around his expanding cock.
“You’re the one I want, Simon. Only you.”
Their joined hands rested on her soft, jean-clad thigh. “When this is over,” he managed to say, the words coming out hoarse and hard, “you’re not getting away from me.” He’d have to explain, have to tell her everything—
But she wouldn’t escape him.
“Good.” He caught her faint smile. “Because you’d better not even think that you’re getting away from me.”
Ah, damn.
She’d done it to him again. A sucker punch. Tony would never let him hear the end of this one. Zane jerked up in bed. His gaze flew around the room. Gone. Of course. What else?
He jumped up, automatically checking the clock. How long had he been out? An hour? Two? Judging by the faint light trickling through the blinds, a hell of a lot longer.
Dee had used that vamp strength on him.
He almost smiled. Almost.
Then he caught sight of the marks on his wrist. Faint. Small. Two circles.
Sonofabitch.
She’d taken his blood. Gotten a lock on him.
“Fine, princess—so you know I’m coming. What else did you expect me to do?”
He stormed to the door. Car. He’d steal one from the lot, get on the road, and call for backup. Pak might even have some other hunters in Texas that he could send in for them. Easy deal.
Dee wouldn’t get rid of him this easily.
He wrenched open the door and caught the scents too late.
Three vampires. Tall, thick, with teeth ready and claws out. They stood just past his door, smiling.
“Knew we’d find someone waiting,” the one in the middle said, and his fanged smile widened. “Let’s see how long it takes to make the demon scream.”
A really, really long time.
Zane lifted his hands and tossed out a smile of his own. “Who’s first?”
They all attacked at once. Figured.
Dee sucked in a sharp breath and lunged forward. The seat belt cut into her chest. In the distance, the faint purple light of dawn streaked across the horizon.
Weakness.
“Dee? What’s wrong?”
She licked her lips. “Zane. For a minute there, I thought—” She’d thought he called her name.
“You should try to get some sleep,” Simon told her. “Save your strength.”
What strength? She could already feel the pull of the sun. The tiredness, the weakness. “You should sleep.” He’d been driving all night. Even outrun two troopers. Impressive. “Let me take the wheel for a while.”
He glanced her way. “I’m all right.”
She wasn’t gonna get into a pissing match with him. “Slow down and let me take the wheel.” The guy was sexy as hell, but bossy.
Good thing she liked him. Okay, more than liked him.
Don’t go there, not now.
Later there would be plenty of time to sort out the sick, tangled mess of her emotions. To see if there was anything between her and the vampire other than the thick, hot need.
A need she felt even now. Had felt since his fingers pressed against the top of her thigh hours before.
She knew he had to smell her arousal. Just as she’d caught his thickening scent.
And the big bulge in his jeans—yeah, another dead giveaway. But he’d ignored it. She was trying to do the same. Trying.
The car slowed. Finally. The speedometer eased back down, down…eighty, seventy…
They’d turned off the Interstate an hour ago. The SUV snaked down some lonely, twisting road that seemed to head nowhere.
But to death.
To Hueco.
The flash of headlights filled the SUV’s interior. Ah, after all this time on empty roads, they had company.
A motor roared and Dee tensed.
The lights behind them burned brighter, filling the SUV’s interior with a hot glow. The motor roared louder—coming for us. Not the friendly kind of company. “What the hell?” Dee jerked around. Someone was coming, all right, bearing down on them fast. Too fast. “Simon!”
The SUV raced forward, but, too late—
Never noticed the other car. Should have looked back sooner. Too worried about what waited ahead.
The car hit them. A jarring, brutal hit. Once. Twice.
The SUV flipped. Metal screamed. Glass shattered. The vehicle rolled across the road.
The air bags exploded. The world in front of Dee became a cloudy white.
Her claws ripped into the bags, cut them out of her way. She shoved the broken glass aside, managed to peer out the window—
And saw that another car had come from the waning darkness. No, not a car this time. A truck—coming right at them. At her.
Ambush. Fucking ambush.
Dee shoved against the metal, but the sun had already weakened her. Trapped. Pinned by the twisted door. “Simon!”
No answer. She turned to look at him. Not moving, slumped over the seat. “Simon?” A whisper now, not a scream.
No, no, this couldn’t happen to him.
Blood loss, the easiest way to kill a vamp.
The car slammed into them again. Then the truck hit.
Metal tore into her flesh, cutting past the skin, driving into the muscle and all the way down to the bone.
Simon.
This time, before the darkness came, this time, he was her last thought.
And her regret.
Chapter 14
It was the pain that woke him. The sharp stabs of agony and the nauseating throbs that shuddered through his body. Simon forced his eyelids to lift.
Bright.
Too fucking bright.
His eyes closed. What the hell had happened? He and Dee had been driving down one long, lonely ass stretch of road. They’d long since abandoned the Interstate. He’d had her sweet scent in his nose. He’d wondered when he’d have her again, then—
Lights.
The crunch of metal.
A scream.
Silence.
His eyes flew open. “Dee!” Should have been a roar, but it came out more like a weak growl.
The SUV twisted around him. Bent, broken. Metal dug into his side, cut into his legs and held him pinned in the seat. The steering wheel—shit, it felt like the thing was trying to go through his chest.
He couldn’t see Dee. The way he was trapped, Simon couldn’t even turn enough to see her.
And he couldn’t hear her. Not the rasp of her breath. Not the thud of her heart.
But he could smell—gasoline, rubber, and blood.
So much blood.
His. Hers.
Not Dee. No, not her.
The rays from the sun poured through the shattered windshield. He could feel the sun’s powerful drain on his strength. Human. That’s what he was right then.
And a human couldn’t get out of this metal trap.
“Dee!” His cry was louder now, but there was still no sound from her side of the car.
A long sliver of glass had shot through his right arm and embedded in the seat. Gritting his teeth, tasting blood, Simon wrenched his arm up.
Fire.
“Dee? Babe?” He barely glanced at the mess he’d made of his arm. He grabbed what looked like part of the hood and heaved it back toward the broken windshield. He managed to shove it about four inches. I hate the damn sun. But those inches were enough for him to see. “Dee?”
Blood matted her blond hair. Her head hung limply from her neck, and blood dripped slowly, slowly, down her face and onto her lap.
“Babe?”
He should be able to hear her heartbeat. Yeah, damn it, his strength was low, but he should be able to hear—
Thud.
Weak. So very weak. His breath caught, and he waited for another beat. Waited. Waited.
Nothing.
“Look at me!” A scream. Fury, fear.
Thud.
But her eyes didn’t open and he could see why. There was so much blood around her. So many wounds. So much pain. Shit—it looked like someone had ran right into her. But they’d been hit from behind, not from the side, hadn’t they?
He shoved the broken metal again, freeing up more desperate inches. He could reach her now. Simon slid his fingers through that precious space and managed to brush her cheek.
Ice cold.
No throb from her heart.
Dying.
Dead?
The easiest way to kill a vampire…Everyone knew—make ’em bleed.
The bastard that had come after them, no doubt one of Grim’s Taken, had known just what he was doing.
He’d struck at dawn, when the sun would keep them weak. He’d left them trapped. Bleeding.
Not an easy death.
Slow.
Painful.