Panicked shouts and yelled instructions bounce around the front of the SUV, but I tune it all out and stare at Talon’s conscious face.

“Little Warrior," Talon whispers to me, reaching a feeble hand toward my face.

I place my palm on the outside of his hand and hold it to my cheek.

“What did they do to you?” I ask absently, taking in how battered and broken he looks.

“Nothing I wouldn’t have endured a thousand times to keep them away from you.”

Talon coughs a wet cough and groans. I try to comfort him with useless words, frustrated that I can’t do anything to ease his obvious pain. Talon offers me a weak smile, and I see bloody gaps where his fangs must have been pulled out. The truth of what he is squeezes my heart.

“Talon, you’re lamia.”

My voice is an accusation, question, and broken heart all woven together as it leaves my lips. I stroke a shaking hand over the hollows of his cheeks and he closes his eyes at the contact.

“I am, Little Warrior.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I’m not sure if I’m asking him why he didn’t tell me about him, or why he didn’t tell me about me? He obviously knew what I was, but how? None of this makes any sense. Talon’s body is wracked with coughs, and I stare helplessly until they subside. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth, and alarm bells sound in my head.

“Talon you’re a fucking vampire; aren’t you supposed to heal superfast?” I ask with a panic-laced voice.

“Faron was dosing me with shifter blood. It keeps lamia from healing.”

“Can I give you some of my blood? Will that help?”

“I’m sorry, Little Warrior. I’m past the point of hope. The shifter toxin makes it impossible to regenerate, and I’m too wounded. I can feel myself shutting down.”

Talon’s voice is a dry, brittle whisper and the sound of it and his words, cement what my mind has been screaming at me. Talon is dying. His head sways uncontrolled as we make our way down the bumpy dirt road. I hold his hand in mine and lean closer to him.

“Talon, what the fuck is going on?”

He tries to laugh, but it’s sucked into wet coughs. I try to soothe him with promises of hold on. We’re going to get help. You’re going to be okay. But I feel the lies on my tongue as the words leave my mouth.

“Vinna, I was twenty-three when I was turned into a lamia. In the beginning, I felt like the god they told me I was, and I gloried in everything that made us what we are. I gained the trust and confidence of my sire and was entrusted with his biggest secret. A female he held captive. She had special markings that gave her immense power and abilities.”

I gasp in understanding and stare at him with laser focus, not wanting to miss a single word from his mouth.

“I was assigned as her guard, while my sire set about accomplishing his goal. You see, I was told that this female, with her great power and amazing abilities, could bestow those abilities and that power on another being if she willed it. My sire was intent on becoming that being, and he was trying everything he could, to force or coax this female into giving him what he wanted.”

My stomach roils with the thought of what this evil fucking lamia was trying to accomplish. Talon groans and I realize that I’ve unknowingly tightened my grip on his hand. I loosen it immediately and try to soothe any injury with my other hand.

“After some time, and repeated failures, my sire changed his plan. He decided that this Sentinel’s hate for our kind, was too embedded in her, and because of that, success was impossible. So, he decided to breed her. He intended to take on the offspring and raise it amongst the lamia, where he was certain he would be granted the power he sought.”

“We began taking male casters, but a binding and transference still never occurred. Until a coven of paladin attacked the nest. We took serious casualties, but in the end, we prevailed, and the paladin survivors were locked up with the Sentinel so Adriel could decide how he wanted to end them. Surprising to all, the Sentinel’s magic called to one of the prisoners. She marked him and bonded with him. Bestowing on him the gift that my sire had spent hundreds of years trying to take from her.

“Adriel was enraged, and the only thing that calmed him was that in their binding and transference, the Sentinel conceived, and my sire’s new plan was finally coming to fruition.”

I stare at Talon’s now closed eyes, completely dumbfounded. Am I really the result of some fucked up lamia breeding program? I look away from him, my focus unseeing in the dark night shrouding the car. The atmosphere is silent and still, and I notice that we’re driving on smooth pavement instead of the bumpy road we were on earlier.

Talon begins to cough again, and the episode seems to last longer and take more of a toll on his already failing body. I use my hands to wipe the blood from his mouth and side where he was clawed. I add his blood to mine and the blood of lamia I killed, as I swipe my hands down my stained and blood-soaked clothes.

“Before I was assigned the task of guarding your mother, I was a good soldier. A stalwart defender of my sire and all that he wanted. But after guarding Grier for hundreds of years, an unexpected fondness formed. She was strength incarnate, and it was impossible not to respect and admire her with time.

“When she found your father, and you were on the way, I began struggling to stomach the ramblings of Adriel and the plans he had for you. Grier and Vaughn, as well as the other prisoners, made plans to escape, and instead of reporting it like the good soldier I had always been, I found myself rooting for them.

“As you grew in her womb, their desperation to get away became palpable, and one day an opportunity presented itself. Another nest attacked us, and in the pandemonium that ensued, I was able to assist Grier, Vaughn, and the paladin in escaping. I was leading them out when lamia from the other nest made their way to us.

“It was decided that the paladin would stay and fight, making it possible for Grier to escape with you. Grier fought to stay with them, but the centuries of torture and being a prisoner weakened her, and I was able to force her away.”

Talon wipes at my wet cheeks, and I realize that I’m crying.

“She wanted to stay with you. You were everything she was living for. But the birth took its toll, and her body was so tired from the years of fighting. She held you for as long as her body would let her. She named you and placed you in my arms for safe keeping, and I swore a blood oath that I would keep you safe and protected as I watched her die.”

Blood leaks from Talon’s eyes and I wipe it away hurriedly, trying to soothe him.

“I failed you Vinna. Adriel survived the attack, and I was being called back to him. I found a blood-slave and did my best to glamor her to care for you. I checked in on you from time to time, when it was safe, but by the time I realized what Beth was doing, you were too old for me to take.”

“You would have been put at more risk, and so I left you with her. I tried to force Beth to care for you better, to stop hurting you, but she had grown less susceptible to my glamor after years of exposure. When I tracked you down after she had kicked you out, it was the opportunity I needed to care for you properly. I’m so sorry it took so long Little Warrior.”

Talon’s sobs morph into bone-breaking coughs. I try to soothe him but we both know it’s useless and I can barely contain the sobs spasming from my own chest. A noise draws my attention, and I look up to find several black SUVs surround us. I shout out a warning to the others and begin to call on my magic, preparing for an attack.

“Vinna they’re with us. They’re protecting us while we’re outside the boundaries.”

My adrenaline and energy suddenly plummet, and I collapse back down next to Talon, relieved that someone else is watching our back.

“We’re almost there, Talon, just hang on a little longer.”

Talon opens his eyes at my pleading tone and gives me a weak, blood-tinged smile.

“Faron must have suspected something. I was always so careful, but I must have fucked up somehow because he showed up unannounced in my territory. As soon as I was made aware that he was there, I knew it was only a matter of time before he found you.” Talon’s eyes close, and his face goes slack for the briefest of moments before he resumes talking. “I arranged it so that your uncle could find you. I needed him to take you before Faron could.”

I reel at this admission, shock and anger boiling within me.

“Talon if you knew where my uncle was this whole time, why didn’t you give me to him in the beginning?”

Talon flinches at my anger.

“It wasn’t safe. Adriel would have looked for you there first, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t get you. I almost sent you to your uncle when I found you at fifteen. But your Sentinel runes showed up a couple of weeks later, and I knew I could train you and prepare you better than the casters or paladin could. They wouldn’t have even known what you are.”

Talon’s breathing starts to change, a rattle sounding where there was once smooth air working in and out. I pull him against me, knowing time is running out.

“Oh, Talon. You always were a sucker for a damsel in distress,” I whisper, and he gives me a bloody smile and closes his eyes. “Thank you, Talon. Thank you for protecting my mother, thank you for protecting me.” My words crack and splinter, as tears stream down my face and sobs break up the smooth cadence of my whispered gratitude. “You didn’t fail me. I’m here because of you and your beautiful, giving heart. I’m everything because of what you did.”

Talon’s hand flaps up into the air, and I grab it, bringing it to my face.

“I luuhhhvvv yew, Lidl Wariorrrrrr," Talon slurs and I feel the muscles in his arm begin to slacken.

“I love you, Talon," I sob, pulling him into my lap so I can cradle him. “Please don’t go. Please Talon, please stay with me. I’m so alone. If you go what will I do without you?”

His breathing hitches and I feel his body relaxing in my arms. I’m crying and begging, for what I know is inevitable not to happen. Talon’s lips move, but no sound comes out. I bring my ear down to his mouth.

“Ahllwayyys hrrrrr," caresses my face, in the barest whisper, as the last of Talon’s breath leaves his body, and he grows still in my arms.

I drop my face into the crook of his neck and shoulder, and I cry. Loss and grief are all I am, and all I know in this moment. Tears form a river from my eyes down Talon’s shoulder, and I rock, holding him until his body turns to ash in my arms. I lay down on my side, knees to my chest, and become as small as possible. I stare at the remnants of what used to be Talon and find myself wishing I could crumble into nothing right alongside him.