neck, pain stunned me blind when Philip drew down. It hurt far worse than being shot. After about thirty seconds, he suddenly lashed out with his right hand and grabbed the back of my head, pulling me down beside him, still sucking hard on my wrist. His amber eyes were wide . . . wild. I didn’t struggle. I knew he was just hungry and desperate. Then slowly, the fire evened out and grew bearable. Had my body still been human, I might have stroked his cheek and comforted him. Those memories lingered, but not the ability to enact them.

Instead, I whispered in his ear, “Like Edward.”

chapter 21

The next night, my eyes opened to the sight of Philip’s red flaked chest. Where were we? Peeling my hair off his body, I felt brittle and light, like Chinese paper. Maggie’s cellar surrounded us.

I must have passed out on Philip’s shoulder. He was a mess.

Dominick lay dead upstairs.

“Philip?”

Amber eyes flickered faintly. “Where . . . ?”

“The basement. Your throat looks better.” I smiled weakly. “It’s really over.”

He pushed himself up off the mattress, lost and disoriented. “Are you hurt? Your skin is too white.”

“No, I’m okay. The bullet went through my shoulder. I just couldn’t get you to stop feeding once you’d started.”

“Once I . . . ?”

Recent events must have flooded back because he suddenly grew embarrassed and turned away. “We should get cleaned up.”

Nodding, I tried to follow. My bones made hollow cracking sounds.

“I’m going to need to hunt pretty soon,” I said.

“Can you walk?” he asked, turning back.

“Maybe. Give me a sec.”

Struggling up, I limped after him for the stairs. We both ignored Dominick’s cold body and headed for the nearest bathroom.

“We don’t have to look perfect,” Philip said. “Just good enough to get around in public.”

“You’re the vain one, baby, not me.”

“Get in the shower.”

Pulling my shirt over my head seemed an effort. “Could you go to Maggie’s room and find me something to wear? I’m not up to climbing more stairs.”

“Yeah, be right back.”

I finished undressing and stood beneath a steaming spray of water. Once all the dried blood had been washed away, my shoulder sported only an inch-wide hole. Our bodies hold together well. A bullet from a .357 Magnum should have taken my shoulder off. The wound had been much larger last night, though. I was regenerating quickly, my undead condition striving to resume the form it had been turned in—a blessing and a curse. We never change.

Philip came back in and started messing around with Maggie’s bottles and hand mirrors. I could hear him outside the shower curtain. Maybe he was making a place to lay my clothes, but he was still being far less talkative than usual. He’d never been shot before—that was pretty clear—never seriously injured by a mortal. He thought himself a lion, indestructible, and I had fed him from my wrist. Not that it really mattered anymore. We were free from Dominick. Perhaps Philip would listen to me a little better in the future. I stepped out of the shower.

“Your turn.”

He handed me a towel. “I brought you a dress. Will that do?”

I would have preferred a clean pair of jeans, but the dress was simple enough, black and sleeveless.

“Designer?” I joked.

“Yves Saint Laurent.”

“You’re serious? You actually looked at the label?”

“Don’t you?”

Teasing him made the soreness in my arms less noticeable. I hadn’t felt this weak since getting off that ship at Southampton. Philip stepped past me into the shower, his expression troubled.

“Eleisha?”

“Mmmmm?”

I got dressed, noticing he’d laid out his own pants and the flannel shirt I’d given him the night before. Maybe he couldn’t find anything else that fit.

Behind the curtain, he stayed silent, not finishing his question, probably searching for words long forgotten.

“It’s all right,” I said. “You don’t have to say anything. Let’s just finish up and book a flight.”

“Not yet. Not tonight.”

I went cold. “What?”

“Julian’s in the country by now, probably in this city. We can’t leave, or he’ll think we’re running.”

“We are running! Is that a news flash to you? No way. There’s no way I’m facing down Julian. And look at you. You couldn’t take out a cat like that.”

“There won’t be a fight if we face him. We don’t have to go anywhere, except maybe find a hotel room. I know his cell phone number. He’ll come to us. Honor demands he look into this. But if not for Katherine, William would have died years ago. Julian may be pleased his abomination is