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remaining alive.

He went very still. He believed her; her blood was valuable to his entire species and she could stop the spreading infestation of the parasites already running rampant in his body. He had a chance to live--with her. For one moment, despite the time of day, his heart fluttered, the sound loud in the chamber. He felt her startle. The cat stirred and lifted its head, looking around warily.

What is it?

He heard the courage in her voice. The determination to protect him. She would risk her life for him. But when she fully realized that neither of them was going to die, she would fear his hold on her. It was a tenuous thread that could be broken so easily. She didn't give herself easily, and it was one of the things he most admired about her.

All is well. No vampire would be out this time of day, and I do not feel a jaguar near. Tell me about the parasites. Show me. He needed to see the battle, see how she had handled her first solo fight with a vampire.

He felt her hesitation and knew she was afraid of his disapproval. He felt some satisfaction in that. Clearly, Solange didn't care what anyone else thought--except him.

I am not critiquing you, kessake . It is essential for me to understand how you think in battle. Honesty was crucial in his every encounter with his lifemate. If they were to have a future, she needed to know him just as well as he knew her, and for the first time, he believed they might really have a future.

Two vampires attacked Riordan. He's fast. Really fast. I watched how they tried to ensnare him with a hypnotic pattern, Juliette had to look away, but it didn't seem to affect Riordan, or me for that matter. He whirled around and went after the largest and most aggressive. The vampire maneuvered Riordan so that his back was to the second vampire.

He could see the entire battle in her mind. She had an eye for details. He could see the river shining through the trees, even hear the flow of it. There was no rain, but fog hung heavy through the trees. Riordan fought fiercely, circling around the larger vampire, flowing like the De La Cruz brothers seemed to do when in battle. His long hair cascaded down past his shoulders and his eyes were fierce pinpoints of steel.

He saw the second vampire step into position and knew immediately that the two undead had fought battles together before. He recognized the maneuver as one the Malinovs favored. Riordan recognized it as well. He'd fought side by side with the Malinovs for centuries. These two lesser vampires were students of one of the brothers.

Solange burst from the trees, running straight at the vampire, intercepting him before he could slam his fist into Riordan's back. Riordan had already vanished, moving in the fog, reappearing behind the larger vampire. Solange obviously used the speed and muscle of her jaguar, hitting the vampire with the force of the large cat. He saw the vampire grunt and howl, and then his talons ripped at her shoulder and neck.

She leapt away, her arm covered up to her shoulder with black acidic blood, her own body bleeding red blood. In her claw, she held the wizened, blackened heart.

"Riordan!" she called his name and tossed the dead organ toward him.

Lightning lit up the sky and a bolt hit the heart directly, and then jumped to the vampire already crumbling into the ground. Solange didn't have the luxury of removing the vampire blood by bathing in the white-hot energy; it would have killed her.

She raced to the river and plunged her arm into the water, rinsing. He saw the parasites exiting the wounds the vampire had torn in her skin. They should have burrowed into the lacerations, but instead they appeared to be fleeing with all possible haste. They dropped to the ground, her blood dripping over the top of them. Dominic could clearly see the tiny worms writhing, and then slowly they began to disappear, those ruby-red drops consuming them.

Chapter Nine

Can you come to trust a man once again? Can you come to love an old one like me?

DOMINIC TO SOLANGE

Dominic knew the exact moment the sun set. He'd spent centuries beneath the ground waiting for that moment when his body came to life and the soil released him back into the world. He had waited impatiently for his time to