I drank from Ash, then I sealed her wounds and let her fall asleep in my arms. For us, this was natural, normal. Twice on a couch, now on a cold cave floor. I worried over her getting sick so I assessed the situation, took note of our comfort items, and decided to try to make her a stove to radiate heat. I built up the sides with stones I picked up throughout the mine shaft. There was plenty of debris to choose from and soon enough, I had managed to take a jar candle, stick it inside, and use the stones to make the area warmer. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Then I settled in and did what I could to keep her comfortable. To my delight, she rolled over and rested against my chest the minute I joined her.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

“Sleep,” I urged.

One eyelid rose. “Then stop making so much damn noise.”

I laughed. “I’m done now. You’re welcome.”

The ease between us only grew. Being around her made me want to spend forever with her and I didn’t know if she’d ever be ready for claiming. I don’t think she truly understood and I would never trick her into it.

Even in the darkened cave, we knew when nightfall came. The temperature drop was noticeable. Ash woke up and began to blow on her hands. “Gloves. A hat. Why didn’t I think of these things?” She growled in frustration then laughed. “Oh, that’s because I spent my high school years being too cool for them. Now, I’m older and wiser. Let’s get me some winter gear.” She winked as she stood and stretched. She spotted the food in the crate. “After I eat.”

“Can we talk now, Ash?” I bit my cheek while she waited for my response.

“Is it about earlier? I’m over it. We’re good. You’re right. I don’t want to lose my virginity on some dark, dirty cave floor.” She shrugged.

“No, it’s about our plan.” I stared at her waiting for her to acknowledge me. At the moment, I was competing with a granola bar and losing.

“We have a plan?” She covered her mouth and laughed.

I rubbed the back of my neck and I could feel the tips of my ears growing warm. “I wouldn’t call it a plan so much as a general idea of what to do next. Call it more of a plan for a plan.” I smirked.

“A plan for a plan.” She giggled and nodded. “I like it. So how does this work exactly?”

“Well, we lay out our goals and then we set out to achieve them.” I could feel laughter bubbling up in my chest.

“I just heard you say you’ve got nothing.” She gave me the side-eye. “Damn. I suppose you want me to create said plan now, huh? Do I have to do everything?”

“I distinctly remember carrying you up a mountain,” I teased.

“Yes. So, you’re the brawn and I’m the brains. Typical.” Ash laughed. “And I’d had such high hopes you’d be more than just a pretty face.”

“Hey, you said I’m pretty.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Look at everything I bring to the table. Seems like you could flesh out the plan.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright, pretty boy. I got you.” Ash started patting down her pockets.

“What? Are you missing something?” My brow furrowed.

“Just my handy dandy wipe board.” She shook her head.

I groaned. “Can we get serious now, please?” I glanced out the cave entrance. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“I know.” She sighed sadly. “I’m at a loss here. Goals?” She threw up her hands. “Not die. Either of us.”

“Those are good goals. You mean it? That you don’t want me to die?” I stared intently.

Ash blew out a breath. “Yeah. Of course, this means I knock my main goal off the list. No making your mother pay.” She smiled sadly. “Good thing I like you.”

“I thought you loved me.” I winked.

“Did I say that? I’m pretty sure you said you loved me. I, however, made no such claims.” Her brow rose while I stared her down. “Stop it. I’m not making any such claims until we handle all this. Okay?”

“I heard you say you love me, but we can’t speak of it. I can work with that.” I laughed. Then I grew serious. “What if I told you there might be a way we could break the sire bond and I could live, even if my mother were to be killed?”

Inhaling sharply, Ash’s eyes widened. “You think so?”

“Well, Scarlett was supposed to be working on some immortality potion for your father. Instead, she tricked him into gathering everything she needed to work up a potion intended to break the bond.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bottle I’d been carrying with me.

At first, Ash simply studied the opaque liquid as her jaw dropped, then she licked her lips. “Is this single use? Like it’s only good for one vampire?”

Immediately, I knew where she was going with this. I nodded. “Yeah. This is for one.”

“Oh.” She stared down at her hands for a moment.

“You want your mother back, huh?”

“Who wouldn’t?” Ash swallowed hard. “Okay, you wouldn’t. I get it. See, my mom is different. We love each other.”

“I might be able to get Scarlett to make a second dose, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First, would your mother want to live as a vampire? Second, even if she did, she won’t be the same. Humanity is lost, remember?”

“But look at you!” She blurted out. “You’re still good and sweet and nice and caring.”

I took her hands in mine. “I know you want to believe she would be like this, but you need to consider she’ll be horrifically different.” I blew out a breath. “And finally, getting a second dose would cost me.” I swallowed hard. “Scarlett has a thing for me.”

Ash laughed. “Naturally.” She shook her head. “This doesn’t surprise me.”

“Remember last night? She’s who doesn’t count.” I shrugged and hoped she’d understand.

“How? You never explain anything.” She pulled her hands out of my grasp.

“I just told you. It’s Scarlett. The one who didn’t count.” I shrugged.

“How can you claim you love me when you don’t trust me enough to tell me everything I need to know?” She frowned. “Love doesn’t work like that. You have to believe that if we care about each other, we’ll work through things. You have to believe I won’t just run off at the drop of a hat over something you said or did in the past.” Ash leaned closer. “You need to know we all have a past. You’ve seen every bit of mine. You know things even I don’t know.” She pressed her lips to mine ever so briefly then pulled back. “That’s some scary shit. I mean it. I’ve laid myself emotionally bare to you.” She sat down in front of me with her legs folded under her. “Now talk. Tell me everything. Answer all my questions. Trust that I’ll be here when you’re through.” She nodded, urging me on.

Part of me wanted to shout and rail that we didn’t have time for this, but at the same time, I knew Ash. If I didn’t work with her, it would only slow the process. So, I mirrored her and wondered where to begin.

“My mother, the queen, isn’t a good person.” I bit my lower lip and wondered where to go. “Oh, but she’s a very good vampire. She lost her humanity long before she was turned too. My father did that…cheating on her with a vampire. He was caught up in the blood lust. Next thing you know, one night in a fury my mother decided to go become a vampire. Then she killed my father, his lover, and pretty much anyone who didn’t defer to her as the queen of the hive.” My shoulders heaved. I’d been carrying this burden and all these truths with me for far too long.

“This all makes a lot of sense.” Ash smiled kindly. “Go on. Skip ahead to Scarlett. We have a mission to complete.” She winked.

“Yes, babe.” I rolled my eyes. “My mother ran into gypsies in the forest. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, too close to our hive. She wiped them out, except for Alayna. The woman was pregnant and begged for her life, and the life of her unborn child. In return, she’d help my mother…spells, potions, whatever she wanted. Thus, a deal was struck and a baby girl was born under a blood red moon.”

“Scarlett,” she murmured.

“Yes. As you might imagine, I paid absolutely no attention to her. She was a baby, then toddler, then child, then tween, then teen.” I shrugged. “I had little interest in humans to begin with. I don’t like to play with my food.” I rubbed my face, almost afraid to look at her after speaking so carelessly. To my surprise, I read the mirth in her eyes.

She waved. “Still here.”

Bolstered by this, I continued. “Then as Scarlett hit her early twenties, she became more persistent.”

“Wait. They live in the hive?” Ash frowned as she tried to process everything.

“Yes. Not as guests. My mother kept them prisoner. All these years. I told you she had no humanity.” I shook my head. “Scarlett fixated on me. Always trying to be nice, trying to give me presents. Mostly, I ignored her, but I made the mistake one night of trying this drink she’d made.”

“Dear God. This is Adulting 101.” Ash rolled her eyes.

“Adulting?” My head tilted as I tried to comprehend what she meant.

“Yeah. How to be an adult and do adult things. Girls, especially. We’re taught to never take a drink offered to us, or at least not to drink it. So, she roofied you, huh?”

“Roofied?” I shook my head. “English. Speak English!”

Ash threw her head back and laughed, her pony tail bobbing around in a way that simply charmed me. “Rohypnol. It’s a drug. Basically, knocks you out, makes you super pliable. They call it the date rape drug.” Then she frowned. “Whoa. Did you have sex with Scarlett?”

My shoulders sagged. “No. Almost, but no. Her love potion wasn’t strong enough to make me want to claim her. Or maybe I was too strong to let the potion rule me completely.”

“Okay, so Scarlett wants you. She’s currently locked up in Shadowborne. We go there and ask her to make another dose. We’ll free her if she does it. There.” Ash smiled like she had worked everything out.

“Yes, well she could up the ante. Plus, we need one more ingredient before the whole concoction can be charged. Oh, and it has to be during the waning moon.” I threw up my hands in frustration.

“Well, the moon was full last night. I stared at it the whole time you were carrying me. So, we have that working for us.” She laughed, but it sounded hollow and I knew she was scared. “What’s the last ingredient?”

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. “Yeah. One of my mother’s hairs. She didn’t specify if it had to be straight out of her head or if I could use one from her brush.”

“Well, awesome. Just fucking awesome.” Ash stood and began to pace. “So, we need to go to the hive.”

“No, I need to go to the hive. You need to hide here while I’m gone.” I stood and stepped in front of her. Reaching out, I took her biceps in my hands. “You’re not going. I mean it.”

“So, what am I supposed to do? Do I look like a sit and wait kind of girl? I’m a hunter, dammit.” She scowled at me.