“Tell the Champion to let me go,” he called into the darkness. “She doesn’t have much time.” He jerked his foot in an attempt to free himself.
Pain stabbed through her, and her head swam, but she shifted, determined to maintain her hold. She felt around with her other hand for something—anything—to use as a weapon and struck something cold and cylindrical.
Gideon leaped to the ground. Thalia lay on the dirty, buckled tarmac; her face strained and her chest pitched as she struggled to keep hold of Akos’ leg and stop him from teleporting. She was obviously in pain and seemed unable to get up.
He stepped forward, trembling with the effort of restraining his rage. A drop of cold rain, then another, landed on his shoulder, but his attention never wavered from his enemy. He grabbed Akos by the upper arms, digging his fingers into the ancient’s ropy muscles.
Thalia fell back, panting. The sight of her pale face and shivering body snapped Gideon’s control. He shook Akos like a dog, hard enough to break a mortal’s neck. “What have you done to her?”
Akos smirked. Water slicked down his long black hair and dripped off his bulky shoulders. Gideon’s hands must have bruised his flesh with crushing force, but he seemed undaunted. “She’s as good as dead.”
Gideon growled. Reason gave way to the fury and fear that burned within him. He seized Akos by the throat, squeezing so powerfully he could feel the bones of his enemy’s spine. He would have pulverized the throat of a younger, weaker vampire, but the rogue just laughed.
Akos drew back his leg, perhaps to kick Gideon away, but stopped short. He choked. There was horrible sucking sound, and the end of a metal rod, flickering with the unique blue light of Thalia’s magic, flowered from his chest. He looked down at the blood-coated pole, his eyes rounded in surprise.
“I may be dead, but so are you,” Thalia said from behind him, her face a vengeful mask.
As his hands rose to clutch the rod, Akos crumpled in on himself like a fire-brittle log, shattering under the assault of a poker. Soon he formed a pile of gray ash. The rod fell with Akos’ remains and hit the ground with a crash. The pouring rain beat the little hill of ash into mud and began to carry it away.
Thalia balanced on her knees for a moment, arms out, palms up to the rain, letting it wash away the blood on her hands. Her ponytail holder had broken, and her hair clung to her cheeks like tiger stripes.
Gideon swept her off the wet asphalt and widened the hole in the side of the warehouse. He stepped through and laid Thalia on the dry floor. The scent of her blood hung rich and potent in the stale air. What had Akos done to her?
The door burst open.
A half dozen or so police officers piled into the room led by Cole and Poole, their weapons drawn. Rain beat at their backs and spattered the dusty concrete. “Get down on the floor, Damek. Get down! I said get down!” Cole repeated, her features tight with purpose.
Gideon had no time for this. “Get out,” he commanded, his voice the roar of a wounded animal, the compulsion in his tone so powerful the police officers grabbed their heads as they ran from the building.
Gideon sank to his knees and cradled Thalia’s head in his lap. She panted, her chest heaving as she fought for air, her porcelain skin coated with a fine sheen of perspiration.
He examined her, letting his mind float through her body, studying her systems one by one. What he saw terrified him. She had only a matter of minutes before she bled out internally. Even if he teleported her directly to an operating room, no earthly power could save her. He could feel her life force ebbing.
He had seen every kind of injury in his vast life, but he’d never been so helpless. He felt as if he were stuck in some cruel nightmare from which he was unable to wake. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t end like this.
But it was.
“God, it hurts,” Thalia whispered. “Can’t breathe.”
A tear streaked down her cheek. She writhed, moaning in the dust. Through their mental link, he could feel the pain that scoured her body. Her face was paper-white with agony. She clutched at his hand. “I love you, Gideon.”
He had been unable to absorb her earlier confession, but this time her words found some receptive part of him and stuck.
She loved him.
Thalia loved him.
His chest ached, but his feet and hands felt numb. How could he lose her when it seemed like only yesterday that she’d been born?
The monster broke free. His claws descended. His fangs extruded, but the demon only cried his pain to the skies. His roar recoiled through the building like a cannon backlash. And he recognized that Thalia had been right all along. There was no monster, merely a man. A man who would give anything to go back and have the chance to watch Thalia grow old, to have her for even just one year, one month, one day, one hour, more. Fear had given birth to the creature, a fear for which he no longer had the luxury. “I love you, too.”
Thalia smiled weakly. “You don’t have to be nice.” She coughed, drowning in her own poisonous blood.
“It’s the truth.”
“Okay,” she said, but he could tell she didn’t believe him, that she imagined he was only trying to comfort her. He damned the world that had convinced her she was unlovable.
She shook uncontrollably. Her skin felt like ice. She was slipping away, and there was nothing he could do.
Death had finally beaten Gideon Damek.
Anguish wracked his large body. He didn’t want to be without her. Couldn’t face the endless years alone anymore.
He made a decision. He couldn’t turn her. But he could take away her pain. He could make her last moments a time of joy for them both. He would take her blood.
“Lie back,” he said. “I can’t stop the bleeding, but I’ll take away the pain.” He lowered his mouth to the translucent skin of her throat.
As his teeth scraped her skin, she realized his deadly intent. She placed a weak hand on his chest. “Gideon, no. Don’t. You’ll die. And it doesn’t hurt so much anymore.”
“I don’t want to live without you.” The words hung unvarnished in the air. There was no compulsion in his tone, no pretense, just complete and utter truth. He held her gaze, urging her to believe.
Thalia gasped. Acceptance finally dawned in her crystalline eyes, but still she held him back. “You’ll be fine.” Her voice broke.
“I won’t do this against your will, but you should know I’ll walk into the dawn before I’ll spend another worthless minute without you.”
“Oh, Gideon.” Her eyes were sad. Tears sparkled in the corners. She hesitated, then closed her eyes and turned her head, baring her soft throat to him with a sigh.
Gideon’s mouth was a flame on her skin. His fangs pierced her artery, and the pain that wracked her body vanished. Her body softened, welcoming his touch. A seething world of exquisite rapture unfolded around her. It mimicked the pinnacle of sex, but never ended, peaking over and over again. She cried out her joy, wrapping her arms around him. At last she understood Lily’s fate. If this was death, who wanted to live?
Colors whirled through her mind’s eye. Colors so pure and rich they didn’t even have a name. The cold floor seemed to drop away.
She’d felt so weak before he’d begun to drink, had known she had fleeting seconds left in this world. Now, she felt intoxicated. She buried her hands in his hair, holding him tighter, pressing his mouth against her neck. More, she wanted more.
The strident florescent lights faded from view. Darkness, velvety deep, tender and warm, encompassed her.
Gideon felt Thalia’s heart slow, but still he fed from her. Her blood tasted like the finest wine, the sweetest honey. There was nothing in Heaven or Earth to match her taste. If poison brought such ecstasy, he would eagerly drink. Feeding was always enjoyable, but her blood took him to a level he had never been. His body rejoiced. Every cell thrummed with pleasure. He had expected pain, weakness. Instead desire, elation, and euphoria raced through him. His body remained anchored to the ground, while his mind flew. Finally, reluctantly, he pulled away before he could steal her last drop of blood and claim her life force.
As her heart stammered slower and slower, Gideon gathered her closer into his arms. He felt each valiant beat in his own chest. Tears burned his eyes as the space between the soft thumps grew. Recognizing that every beat that passed might be her last, he pressed a kiss to her ripe lips, rocking her back and forth as if comforting a child and waited for death to take them.
A few seconds passed and Gideon realized something was wrong—or very, very right.
He went inward, listening to his body. He felt no pain or weakness. On the contrary, he felt strong and alive. A flicker of hope kindled within him. If
he
hadn’t been poisoned, maybe... His heart raced at the possibility.
Gideon studied the fragile body in his arms. Already, her cheeks were sunken, her skin, turning blue. Panic flooded through him. It might already be too late.
He brought his wrist to his mouth and tore his artery, forced open her mouth and ordered her to drink.
Thalia left the frail shell of her body. She gazed down at Gideon. She felt as distant from the limp, white doll he cradled to his chest and exhorted to drink, as to a mannequin behind glass in a store window.
As if a spotlight shone from the rafters, a brilliant white light blossomed on the far wall and expanded until it grew to the size of a garage door. Inside, she could see a row of human-shaped shadows.
Thalia couldn’t make out their features at first, but a feeling of warmth and acceptance swept over her. It seemed to radiate from the light. For someone who’d struggled to belong her entire life, such unconditional approval was like a homecoming. The shapes drew nearer. Each wore a corona of light, and Thalia recognized them, her mother, her father, Lily, her grandparents. They were all there.
They smiled at her and held out their hands.
Thalia reached down to touch Gideon’s raven dark head, longing to feel the silky texture of his hair, but her hand passed through it.
His face was stark and determined. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him that she would meet him when his turn came. But he didn’t seem to see her.
Lily stepped forward. She walked up to Thalia and took her hands. “It’s time to go.”
Thalia was surprised by how warm and solid her cousin’s hands felt. Tears stung her eyes. God, she’d missed her. But she pulled back. “I want to wait for Gideon.”
Lily shook her head, her features gentle. “He’s not coming. It’s not his time.”
Thalia could tell her cousin was holding something back. “What is it?”
Lily hesitated, her eyes troubled. Finally she spoke. “If he chooses to cross himself over, you may never see him again. Those who end their own lives go to a different place. It’s not punishment. It’s not Hell. It’s just different.”
Thalia studied her cousin’s beloved face and then her parents’ loving eyes. The incredible warmth of the light and their love seemed to tug at her just as the moon pulled the tide. Here was her family. She could have them back. This time, she could have them forever.
But she glanced down again at Gideon. If she surrendered to the power of the light, she might never see him again. She pulled her hands from Lily’s grasp. “I’m sorry. I can’t leave him.”
Lily smiled. “I never expected anything different.” She turned and walked back to join Thalia’s parents. “Be happy,” she called over her shoulder.
Suddenly Thalia was back in her body, the light had vanished, and she was aware of the rich coppery blood filling her mouth. She choked, sputtered, and finally swallowed the tangy liquid.
Gideon’s expression as he leaned above her was filled with relief. After the first mouthful, she couldn’t get enough. The more she drank, the more she wanted. Her heart regained its even rhythm. She could feel her body repairing itself.
Flesh knitted back together. Adrenaline rushed through her system. His ancient, powerful blood spread through her veins, transforming her cells into something new, something infinitely stronger. A violent shudder ripped down her body. Ice burned her from within. Fire chilled her. The change rippled through her like a shock wave, refashioning her from a creature of the sun into a being of the shadows.
She was reborn.
Minutes later, Thalia sat up, striving to take it all in. So much had changed in just the blink of an eye. She was a vampire now. Food would make her ill, she would be forced to drink blood to survive, the touch of the sun’s rays would burn her to ashes, but she was alive.
Gideon stared at her, his obsidian eyes unguarded, the hope in them plain to see.
Love, so fierce it hurt, swelled in her chest. She would miss food, and the sun, and the idea of drinking blood wasn’t exactly appetizing, but immortality with the man she loved? Priceless.
He touched her cheek. “Are you all right?”
She ran a hand through her tangled hair, and scanned her body all over. Although her clothes were blood stained and torn, there wasn’t a scratch on her. She stretched, enjoying the pull of her “new and improved” muscles and joints, the incredible sense of power seething beneath her skin. She could get used to this. “Never better.”
Her eyes traced his perfect features and a niggle of doubt wormed into her heart. Suddenly unsure, she peered at him from under her lashes. “I did hear you say you love me?”
He smiled, dark eyes glinting. “Yes.”
The warmth in his eyes dared her to believe, but she’d been hurt before. “And that you couldn’t live without me?”
“Yes.”
Something frozen deep inside her began to thaw. Still, years of caution had left their mark, she needed to be sure. She pinned him with a hard look. “And it wasn’t just ‘give the dying girl a thrill?’”
He pulled her to him so they were kneeling, thigh to thigh, her hands in his. “You’re not dying now. I love you.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you.” He kissed her mark. “I love you.” He found her lips in a long, drugging kiss.