I WAS PICKED UP UNDER my armpits and forced to stand. I hung limply between two vampires and I could barely lift my head; I was so fuckin’ weak. Blood soaked the wound in my chest and it was only a matter of time before it flooded my lungs and I took my last breath.
But she got away. I knew she did otherwise the bastard wouldn’t be standing here with me.
I ground my teeth as Drake grabbed my chin and forced me to raise my head. “She wants you alive. Enough to sacrifice herself for your wretched, pathetic life.”
Fuck, no. No. Jesus. My heart and lungs seized and my stomach revolted. I had to swallow continuously to keep the bile from rising. I tried to hide my reaction, but inside, it was a roaring agony of horror. What’d she do? Why would she ever risk her life for mine? She knew there was no chance in hell Drake would let me walk away. She knew the consequences of healing Drake’s Ink, of its re-birth.
She wouldn’t do it. She was smart. Even as a child, Max hid her ability from Drake. Six years of torture and pain and whatever the fuck else he did to her that I couldn’t even think about. But what scared me most was knowing Max wouldn’t do it. She’s tried to protect everyone by hiding herself and her ability, so there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d heal Drake’s Ink. No, she’d kill herself or have someone else do it before she did that.
Jesus, Max.
“I’d have killed you already just for touching what’s mine if you weren’t needed—for now. Bring him.”
My head dropped forward as he let go of my chin and I used what little strength I had left and raised my head again. Drake had already turned and was walking to a black SUV. “She’s not the same girl you broke.” I forced out each word. “And no matter what you do—she’ll never belong to you. She never did.” Because Max was stronger now and I knew no matter what Drake did to her, she’d fight and that terrified me.
In death or life, the connection we had was undeniable and unbreakable.
I’d been hers for months, watching her, falling for her every day a little more and yet denying it. Fighting it. And Max . . . maybe she didn’t love me yet, but I’d felt inside her, been in her thoughts and she gave me all of her. She gave me the pieces of her that she hid from everyone.
Drake spun on his heel and came striding toward me. I kept my eyes on him, his fury raging in his eyes as they blazed red. But he wouldn’t kill me. It would risk too much and despite Drake being a fucker of a Scar, he was intelligent.
I tensed as his fist flew toward me and pummeled into my chest. My breath sucked from my lungs and I keeled over, but the two vampires hauled me upright, making the pain worse. Blood rushed violently through my veins and my knife wound pulsed and throbbed brutally. I finally caught my breath then started coughing and gagging as the pain ripped through every part of my body.
“We’ll see about that when I have you begging to end the pain while she watches.”
I clenched my jaw, my stomach rolling in a battlefield of determination to fight, and surrender so I could take another breath just to love her for one more moment.
But surrender wasn’t in me. And it wasn’t in Max. Both of us had once surrendered in different ways and it led us each down a different path of destruction.
My legs dragged out behind me as I was taken to the SUV and then tossed into the back. It was only minutes before the agony of the vehicle bouncing down the mountain road finally blurred my vision and my mind became a haze just before I passed out.
I had no idea how long I was unconscious but I woke up with my arms tied behind my back around a wooden beam in what looked like a basement. No windows. Like a large wine cellar but most of the wooden slots for the bottles were empty.
I shook my head to clear my vision as everything swayed back and forth as if I was drunk. But I knew it was from the blood loss. I tested the chains around my wrists and winced as they pulled the muscles around my wound.
Fluid slowly filled my lungs and each breath became raspier. I was surprised I’d lived this long, however long it had been.
Fuck. I couldn’t stop the trembling as my body could no longer maintain warmth and was barely functioning. I’d been like this before. Weak and unable to do anything but slowly die.
I heard her before I saw her. The subtle beat of her heart that matched her light steps—a fawn; a fawn entering a slaughter house.
I waited for it, the moment I’d see her. It was crushing knowing she’d come and at the same time—fuck, I wanted to see her. But not here. God, not fuckin’ here like this.
Jesus. I closed my eyes as her steps drew closer and with them—his.
The doorknob turned and then the door clicked open.
I couldn’t stop myself from looking and it was a mere heartbeat before her eyes found mine.