When Shea awoke, she didn’t immediately open her eyes. Instead, she kept them closed, listening closely to her surroundings. Her breathing remained deep and steady, and she didn’t so much as twitch a finger. As a vampire, and a female, it was a habit that had become so ingrained in her that she wasn’t conscious of doing it anymore.

From the other side of the room, she heard someone at the table. No one needed to tell her it was Jesse. She knew the rhythm of his heart and lungs probably better than her own now. She’d spent many hours in this room all those weeks ago, listening to him when he thought she’d been asleep. But even if she hadn’t heard him, she still would’ve known he was there. His scent filled the room, making her throat burn with thirst and her senses come alive. He smelled of nature and the dark, wicked sweetness of his blood. The lingering memory of his taste returned full force, and her fangs descended rapidly into her mouth, aching to pierce the taut skin of his throat.

“Would you like to feed?” His voice, low and husky, came to her ears.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t as stealthy as she would like to believe.

“No,” he replied to her unspoken thought. “You are. No one else would’ve known you were awake. Not even another vampire.”

“Then how did you?” she asked as she rolled to her side and propped her head up on her elbow. “And I’m fine.” She didn’t bother to scold him for getting into her head again. He didn’t seem to be able to help himself. And it would be his own fault if he heard something he didn’t want to. “But, thank you,” she added.

As usual, he dodged her question. “I’m going to take Cruthú outside to stretch her wings before we leave. I’ll return in twenty minutes to get you. Will that be enough time for you to get ready?”

“It should be plenty, thank you.” She started to sit up, and the blankets fell away. His eyes immediately dropped to her breasts. Though she still wore his shirt, the hunger in his stare made her feel naked. Her face heated, burning with embarrassment when she recalled what had happened earlier, and why he had such carnal knowledge of her body. Overcome with a sudden and irrational need for modesty, Shea pulled the blankets up to her chin and waited for him to leave.

“Twenty minutes.” The words were practically spit at her from between clenched teeth as he stood to get the raven from her perch.

Shea knew her shame angered him, but she couldn’t help it. It was wrong to want to be with him. He had done so many horrible things, not to her, but to others that she cared about deeply. And he made no apologies for any of it, so why should she feel bad for how she felt? “Okay.”

But he was gone before the word had left her mouth.

Breathing a deep sigh that was part disappointment and part relief, she rose from the bed. The soft material of his shirt felt abrasive on her hypersensitive skin. Shea was about to crawl out of her own skin with the blood lust, but the thought of gagging down the bagged bag did wonders for her cravings. Picking up her bag, she took it with her down to the cavern with the spring, where she brushed her teeth and washed up, allowing what was left of her thirst to fade before she got dressed.

When she finished, she picked up her stuff and seriously considered going home. But it was an impossible wish. There was no escaping the dark warlock now. Not if she wanted to live. The fates had spoken.

And if she never went home, would anyone really miss her? The only one who seemed to have an affinity for her at all, other than Jesse, was Dante. Yet, he had Laney now. He didn’t need another female following him around.

Shea gave herself a mental kick. She was just being emotional. She was a Hunter, and a member of Luukas’s council. Of course, they would miss her. Somehow, this would all work out. The guys would have to eventually understand, having mates of their own and knowing what the bloodlust was about. And besides, she’d only have to see him on the occasions she needed to feed. There were no tender feelings between them, only lust. It wasn’t like she’d chosen Jesse on purpose.

That wasn’t completely true. She may not have chosen him, but she had chosen to come here with him. And she had chosen to be intimate with him. And she’d also chosen to drink from him, knowing she had an unhealthy attraction to him. It was all right there in front of her.

Shea closed her eyes tight and tried to shake it off. It was too late for regrets.

Leaving the hot spring, Shea went back to Jesse’s room and checked that she wasn’t forgetting anything. No matter what happened, she had no intention of coming back here. Ever.

It was beginning to feel too much like home.

Spotting her hairband lying on the nightstand, she weaved her long hair into a thick braid and used it to tie off the end. Then she piled up the bags of blood in one arm, none of which she’d attempted to drink yet, and with a wrinkle of her nose and a sound of disgust, shoved them into her bag. With one last look around, she memorized the room that had brought her so much distress and so much pleasure.

The ride to the Vancouver International airport was tense and silent, other than an occasional click or croak coming from Cruthú in her cage behind them. Shea tried to keep her thoughts to blasé things, but by the way Jesse white-knuckled the steering wheel every few minutes, she wasn’t very successful. They kept jumping back and forth between what the other Hunters were going to think when they found out, and how much she wanted to sink her fangs into the dangerous male beside her. Which would then flip her back to the shame she felt for lusting after the one who had caused so much pain and turmoil in their lives.

When they arrived at the airport, Jesse parked the SUV, but made no move to get out. He gripped the wheel and stared straight ahead. “You’re killing me, Shea.”

Fiddling with the seatbelt, she finally managed to get it off. “Maybe I shouldn’t go. I should just go home.” She wasn’t saying it to be bitchy; she knew exactly how he felt because his shields were down. Perhaps it was his way of punishing her. Between the two of them, they were creating a tornado of emotion within the small space, and it was slowly ripping the skin off them both to expose the bloody guts churning beneath. The only one who appeared unaffected was Cruthú.

“You must come with me.”

“Why?” The word tore from her throat.

“Because I’m going, and I don’t know how long this will take or when I’ll be back. And you need me.”

“I only need your blood.”

He finally turned his head to look at her, and raised one dark brow as if to say: And your point is?

Blowing a loose strand of hair from her face, she admitted to herself that she wasn’t balking at the mission ahead of them, but at the thought of spending so much time alone with him. It was going to be pure torture.

His voice was gentle when he spoke. “You’re not the only one feeling that way, Shea.” Then a harsh laugh escaped him. “I’ve dreamt of you every night since I let you go, do you know that? I sat in that fucking room in that fucking mountain breathing your scent in my bed, and I ached to have you back with me. Physically ached. Only to find out I can’t touch you when I finally convince myself to come after you. I can’t touch you, Shea.”

She stared at his profile, silent tears running unchecked down her cheeks.

“This can’t be it for us, love. It can’t be. Please, give me the chance to make it better. To fix it. I’ll fix everything, I swear it to you.”

“There are some things you can’t fix, Jesse.”

When he turned to her, his golden eyes blazed like her memories of the summer sun. “I can, and I will. For you.” He raised a hand toward her face, before letting it fall onto the seat between them. “Please don’t cry, Shea.”

With a sniff, she looked away and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what she was apologizing for.

“Come on, the plane is waiting.”

Shea wiped at her face one last time, and got out of the vehicle. Jesse grabbed their two small bags in one hand and Cruthú’s cage in the other, refusing Shea’s offer of help. With a nod, he indicated for her to walk ahead of him.

Shea headed for the small, private jet, grateful the rain had tapered off. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another plane that had just taxied to a stop a good distance away. But it barely registered until she heard Jesse’s soft curse behind her, followed by a shout in the distance.

“Hey! Get the FUCK away from her!”

The voice was horrifyingly familiar, and was followed by the sound of boots pounding across the blacktop.

“Shea! Run!”

She closed her eyes, frozen with one foot on the step, praying to any god that would listen that she wasn’t hearing what she thought she was hearing.

“What are you going to do, Shea?” Jesse’s voice sounded right next to her ear. Before she could speak, he answered the question for her. “Let me strongly advise you against what just flashed through your mind. I really don’t want to kill them.”

Her breath froze in her lungs. “Please, don’t hurt them.”

“Then make them go away.”

She felt more than saw him back away so she could get off the steps. When she was out of the way, Jesse took the stairs two at a time, depositing their bags and Cruthú inside, before coming back out to stand at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest, his attention completely focused on her.

As if in a dream, Shea turned to face the two vampires running toward her at little more than a fast, human pace. Even with the perceived danger she was in, they wouldn’t do anything to blow their cover with so many human witnesses around unless they absolutely had to. Even if they wiped the memories of everyone there, there was always the chance that they could miss someone. She waited where she was until they were within hearing distance. “I’m fine. I’m not in any danger.” She didn’t raise her voice above its normal volume, knowing they would hear her.

Nikulas slowed to a lazy jog and then stopped a few feet away from her, a look of bafflement distorting his Hollywood good looks. “Are you rigged or something?”

“What?”

“Are you rigged? Like with a bomb or something?”

Shea rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No. I just told you I’m not in any danger.”

Aiden stood next to his friend, a similar expression on his striking face, but was quickly distracted by the sight of Jesse calmly waiting for her at the top of the stairs like a king overlooking his subjects.

Aiden’s grey eyes burned silver-hot and a low growl reverberated through the air, raising the hair on the back of her neck. “What the bloody hell are you doing with this one, Shea?”

Shea couldn’t blame Aiden for the hatred that spewed from his eyes. The demon that had been meant to possess her had ended up in Aiden, with Jesse’s help. Yet, Aiden couldn’t blame her for something she’d had no knowledge of at the time, and with Leeha dead, Jesse was the only left one left to take the brunt of his wrath.

Nikulas also glared at the male standing calmly at the top of the stairs. The muscles of his jaw tensed with rage, Aiden being his best friend and Luukas being his brother and all. Jesse had wronged them both beyond forgiveness. Shea was surprised they were even bothering to stop to hear her argument, though being out in the open, there was really no other option.

“I’m going with him,” she told them, proud at how clear and strong her voice sounded.

“What the fuck for?” Nikulas never took his eyes from his enemy. “Is he blackmailing you? Fucking with your head?”

She sighed. “No. He asked me to come with him. He gave me a choice. Jesse thinks he knows where the demon’s blood is, and I’m going with him to try to stop them from getting it.”

Aiden threw back his head and laughed, the sound somehow more terrifying than funny. “Stop them?” He laughed again before getting control of himself. “Don’t be an idiot, Shea. The bloke doesn’t want to stop them. He created them!”

“You don’t have to do this, Shea,” Nik told her. His attention flicked back to her, and he held out his hand. “Come on. Come with us.”

She longed to be able to take that hand, but she couldn’t even if she wanted to. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “I’m going, Nik.” Her voice was no more than a whisper. “Please tell Luukas that I’m sorry.” She knew better than to ask that they not tell the Master Vampire. That wouldn’t bode well for either of them when Luukas found out. And he would find out, eventually. As she turned and started up the short stairway, she couldn’t bring herself to look up at the male that was silently waiting at the top for her. She couldn’t stand to see the look of triumph on his face.

“Shea.” Aiden’s voice cut across the short distance between them like a shard of glass.

She stopped, but didn’t turn around.

“If you go with this bloody wanker of your own free will, don’t bother to come back.”

Pain erupted in her chest, and she did spin around then. Aiden’s face was hard, his eyes clear of the shadows that preluded the presence of the demon inside of him. It was so unlike his usual self she could only stare in shock for a moment. She looked to Nik for help, but he crossed his arms over his chest, and averted his face in disgust.

“Come, Shea,” Jesse ordered quietly, but not without sympathy.

Shea stared in horror at the two males she’d known for more years than she could count. They were her family, the only one she’d ever known since she’d been reborn. “You don’t mean that,” she whispered. “Aiden?”

They held their ground and refused to look at her, Aiden visibly containing his rage.

“Luukas won’t agree with this,” she burst out. “I’m a Hunter, and part of the council. I’m only trying to help.”

“Shea,” Jesse’s tone held the hint of a question.

With the onslaught of their hatred burned into her heart, she turned and ran up the stairs.