“You’re safe,” he murmured to her.

Aiden steadied himself as rage continued to thrum through his body. He’d caved in the face of the vampire feeding from her with one swipe of his hand, but he hadn’t killed him. It took everything he had not to leap out the window and finish him, but he couldn’t leave her unprotected. When he found the asshole who’d done this to her, he’d flay the skin from the Savage one slow centimeter at a time.

“I’ve got you,” Aiden told Maggie as her gray eyes rolled toward him.

Unable to resist him, Maggie fell against his chest as he eased her into his arms. Flashing red and blue strobes filled the cab when he lifted her. Figures scurried into the shadows as brakes squealed. Some of those figures had bodies draped over their shoulders, and she realized the vamps were carting away their wounded and dead.

She had enough reason left to understand the monsters weren’t removing the bodies for nostalgic reasons, but because they were covering their tracks. No one was supposed to know vampires existed, not for sure, but she did.

She’d stumbled into a massive pile of crap here.

Aiden watched the Savages slip away. Two of them carried the bodies of the two he’d killed in the ambulance. The third limped badly as he ran, and Aiden guessed it was the Savage whose back he’d broken. He knew he’d killed at least two in the alley, so where were the other three?

“Roger,” Maggie whispered.

Aiden turned toward Roger sitting in the driver’s seat. Despite his blood loss and the erratic beat of his heart, Roger’s brown eyes locked on them, and Aiden could see the anger shimmering in them.

“Let her go,” Roger croaked.

That was not going to happen. Taking the man’s chin, Aiden knelt before him and focused all his concentration on those eyes as he wove his way into Roger’s mind.

“You have no idea what happened here tonight. You remember nothing of the alley or anything afterward.” Aiden glanced at the windshield, as outside doors slammed and shouts filled the air. He had to get them out of here. “You do not know what became of Maggie,” he continued. “You do not know anything, understand?”

Roger gave the smallest of nods. Aiden released his chin and glanced at Roger’s torn neck. The Savage had ripped his throat open enough to hide all evidence of what had happened to him. Turning, glass crunched under his feet as Aiden slipped into the back of the ambulance.

He lifted the stretcher and tossed it out of his way. Blood from the two Savages he’d killed coated the floor, but their bodies were gone. The Savages may be assholes, but they also didn’t want the human race to know of their existence. It could spell the death of all vampires if people ever learned the truth. Vampires were stronger and immortal, but they were also greatly outnumbered by a species known to distrust and fear anything different than them.

There was nothing he could do about the blood or the destruction wrought here, but he knew humans had a way of explaining away the unexplainable. He had to trust in them to do that here.

“Someone’s in the back!” a woman shouted from outside.

Footsteps raced toward them as Aiden leapt out of the ambulance and fled into the night with Maggie cradled against his chest.

* * *

When he was certain they were far enough away from the ambulance, and he didn’t smell any Savages pursuing them, Aiden risked stopping. Slipping into an unlit side street between two warehouses, he leaned back to gaze down at Maggie. He brushed aside the loose strands of hair clinging to her face. Soft as silk, her hair shone red in the glow of the distant street lamps.

She’s mine.

He almost laughed out loud with the knowledge. He’d been so certain he’d never find his mate, that he would die or turn Savage before he encountered her, but now he held her in his arms. And she was amazing.

Not only was she beautiful, but she had the spirit of a hellion, one that more than matched his own. She could pack a punch, didn’t back down, and her blood was pure ambrosia. She may be as lovely as the porcelain dolls his sisters had collected, but she was far from delicate; his still aching nuts were proof of that.

She was his, and he had no idea what to do to get her to stay with him. Right now, all that mattered was keeping her safe. Glancing over his shoulder, he studied the shifting shadows, but he didn’t detect the stench of garbage.

His gaze returned to Maggie as her fluttering eyelids caused her lashes to tickle his bare chest. He’d stopped the Savage before it could take much blood from her. However, he’d heard it was excruciating for someone to have their blood taken from them against their will, and judging by the rigidness of Maggie’s body when he’d discovered the Savage feeding on her, she’d been in a lot of pain.

She hadn’t responded to him like that when he’d taken her blood. No, she’d melted against him as if she enjoyed it as much as him. To her, there had been a difference between him and the Savage. He didn’t know what that meant, but he hoped it indicated she might develop an attachment to him in the future.

Studying her, he noted the paler shade of her skin and the fine blue veins running through her closed eyelids. Her heart still beat steadily. The bleeding from his marks had stopped, but the Savage had torn her shoulder open, and blood continued to trickle from the wound.

The Savages were still out there, most likely hunting him. Her blood would be an irresistible beacon to them, and he needed her stronger. Shifting his hold on her, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit into it. She might be mad at him for this, but it was necessary, and after watching her tonight, he knew this woman did what it took to survive.

He rested his wrist against her parted lips and allowed his blood to flow into her. He wouldn’t give her much, and she hadn’t lost enough blood for this to start the change in her. His blood would only close her wounds while strengthening her.

Maggie sighed when the delicious liquid hit her tongue. She’d never drunk anything like it, yet she felt as if she’d spent her whole life searching for it. The taste and the sensation of it sliding down her throat made her feel as if she’d suddenly found the answer to a question she hadn’t known she’d been asking. The warm, clove-spiced liquid pooled in the back of her throat before she swallowed it.

As if she’d taken five shots of espresso, energy infused her body. Her muscles, which had been rigid and sore, relaxed. Her tongue flickered out and tasted something warm, solid, and salty. When she recognized it as flesh, she couldn’t suppress a mewl of need as instinctively she realized who she tasted. Like in the ambulance, her body reacted to his with desire.

Feeling stronger, her fingers curled around his thickly muscled wrist as she consumed more of what he offered her. Wait…

Something wasn’t right. Her eyes flew open when she realized she wasn’t drinking from a cup but straight from his wrist. She was consuming his blood.

Holy shit!

As if his flesh scorched her lips, she threw his wrist aside and bolted upright. Aiden caught her before she could fling herself out of his arms.

“It’s okay,” he soothed as he set her on her feet. Disappointment filled him when she gazed distrustfully at him while backing away.

“You were giving me your blood!” she accused.

“It was necessary to stop your bleeding.”

The calmness of his reply set her teeth on edge. “Bandage the wound then!”

He smiled at her. “That’s your area of expertise.”

“And yours is blood?”

“One of them.”

Maggie glanced around as she tried to figure out where they were and which was the best way for her to bolt.

“I’m not going to let you go,” he said.

Her head snapped back around to him as indignation filled her. “You’re kidnapping me?”

“No. I’m keeping you safe. The Savages have smelled your blood, one of them has tasted you, and they’ll want you as much as me now. They’re out there hunting for us right now. I won’t let you go while they remain free and alive.”

“I didn’t do anything to them!” Maggie protested.

“They don’t care about that.”

She took a calming breath before she started screaming over the injustice of it all or kicked him in the nuts again. She’d simply done her job, and now she was being hunted by some weird-ass vampires, and this crazy-ass vamp was telling her he wasn’t going to let her go.

Yep, life sucks, so get a helmet, Maggie. There’s a lot worse happening to someone else in the world right now; suck it up.

That reminder helped to embolden her a little. Hitting and yelling might make her feel better, but it would accomplish nothing other than tiring her out. She suspected she would need all her energy to survive this night and escape this guy. She had to remain calm and learn as much as she could, knowledge was power.