The finality of ‘once and for all’ echoed in Danny’s mind, haunting him even after Liam had left the room with phone in hand. He and Mari exchanged a look, and the nervous, completely baffled expression on her face told Danny that not even his co-conspirator would be able to lead him through the land of ignorance. “How bad is this?” he finally settled on asking. “On a scale of one-thru-ten.”

Mari sighed. “Somewhere between seven and eight,” she said. “Not sure which I’d settle on, but either way, it’s bad.” As she strode over to Danny, she took both of his hands in hers and looked him in the eyes. “Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise you that. If I must ship you away from here in a box, then I will.”

Immediately, something stirred within his heart, and as Danny leaned closer to Mari, he kissed her gently and touched foreheads with her once the kiss had ended. She chuckled, the sound riddled with tension. “Stop that,” she said. “We’ll have plenty of time together, so don’t you dare kiss me like you’re saying goodbye to me again.”

“I wasn’t,” Danny said. “I know that I’ve been with Liam a lot in the past couple of days, but I don’t want you to doubt for a moment how I feel about you.”

“Shh, I know.” She brushed noses with him before pulling away. The moment hadn’t lasted long; mere seconds, and yet the lack of talking from the other room penetrated through like they should have noticed it happened already. Mari raised an eyebrow and as she walked toward the bedroom, Danny followed, wondering if the vampires could hear the thudding in his chest.

Liam sat on the bed, holding the phone in his hands. Silence fell between the three of them, with Danny and Mari watching Liam sink into thought, brow furrowed as if whatever his gaze was fixed on could provide him with the answers he sought. “Well, he granted us the night,” he said. “First thing this evening, though, I’m to appear at his court. With or without you.”

Danny frowned at the way Liam looked at him, lost and vacant, with all the excited determination he’d mustered evaporated into smoke. “He didn’t even let you talk,” Danny said.

“No, though that’s not what has me concerned.” Liam sighed. He set the phone on the bed beside him and lifted both feet onto the mattress. As he hugged his legs again – much the same as he had while on the boat – Danny motioned to sit beside him, but Liam shook his head. “No. No, Danny.”

“No, what?”

“Don’t. This is already difficult enough.” He shut his eyes and seemed to be gathering himself, releasing whatever breath he had taken in to settle his nerves slowly. “Pack a bag,” Liam said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Throw your clothing into your bag. Do it now. We don’t have much time before the sun rises and, for all I know, there might be people waiting for me shortly after sunset. I don’t want to risk us having more time.” His feet lowered back onto the floor, and as Liam regarded him, Danny saw the unspoken thing lingering between them again.

“I won’t do it,” Danny said. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Mari made a sound, prompting a quick glance at her from both men which they surrendered when they saw her more surprised than offended. Liam opened his mouth to respond, but Danny interjected before he could, “Don’t tell me that I can’t. I know what you’re going to say because you’ve said it already and I don’t care. I don’t care that times change, or seasons shift, or some self-important, immortal asshole thinks he can tell people how to live their lives.”

“Danny, it’s much more than –”

“I don’t care even if he has a good point. I don’t care.” Danny felt emotion swelling in his chest, and though he fought against tears – even scolded himself internally not to lose his composure – his eyes welled up anyway. “I want to be here. With you. With Mari. It is the strangest, most screwed up thing, but I’m here, I’m free with you, and this is where I want to be.”

“It’s where you want to be because it’s already started. We’ve fed on you. And now, you’re attached.”

For several seconds, Danny struggled to figure out what Liam was saying, until he remembered the slow, deteriorating death that had hung over him like a cloud. A sentence that had been pronounced until none of them had the heart to see it through. He recalled the blood Mari had given him and realized there was a reason why he’d put that pronouncement out of his head.

“I want to be here because I love you, not because you fed on me,” Danny said.

“He’s right,” Mari chimed, being the one to interrupt Liam this time. Her sudden entrance into the discussion earned her more than a passing glance, with Liam confused and Danny feeling his pulse race again, knowing what she was about to say. She kept her focus on Liam, continuing. “You were still being stubborn. I needed a way to buy you some time.”

Liam blinked. “What did you do, Mari?” he asked.

With a sigh, she shrugged. “I gave him my blood. Just a little bit. A few drops. But enough to make sure that he could survive you being pig-headed.”

“You did what?”

“I did it for you.”

“I don’t care.”

Danny tensed at the sudden vehemence in Liam’s voice. It stunned Mari into silence, too, and while Liam didn’t look at Danny, his words were directed at them both as he found his voice again. “I can’t believe you would be so silly. I told you what happens when you do that. I told you how permanent that is.”

“I know, and I don’t care,” Mari spat back. She pointed at Danny. “I’ve watched the way you’ve behaved since you went to that damn club and came home afterwards. I didn’t even need you to tell me you’d done something you regretted. You had it written all over your face.”

“I didn’t regret –”

“Not sleeping with him, imbécil. Enthralling him to forget. You didn’t want him to forget. There was a part of you that was relieved when he found you until you remembered the Marquis was going to have words with you for him finding a feeding den.”

“And now what will he say? You’ve bonded with him. At best, he’ll demand something in return for our insubordination. At worst, he could take you from me.”

“Mi amor, I am going to be leaving you someday whether we like it or not.”

Her words cut Liam at the quick, leaving him mute. Mari looked at him like she could gaze inside his soul and rather than retreating, she pulled it out for him to examine. “I know you know that,” she said. “But I don’t think you’ve accepted it yet, when I have.” A bittersweet smile danced across her lips. “And to see a hint of you being happy, how could I not want it for you?”

“Mari, if you’ve been worried about leaving me, I wish you would have spoken to me,” Liam said.

She laughed. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you.” With a sigh, the volume of her voice decreased, sounding calmer. More love-laden. “Liam, I am happy. I don’t need anything to make me happy. I have the gift you’ve given me. It’s you who needs somebody.”

The two stared at each other across an unreachable chasm, Liam impassive while Mari wore her heart on her sleeve. Liam drew a shaky breath, glancing at Danny first before looking back at Mari. “Your blood might have guaranteed his death sentence. The Marquis is already frustrated with my insubordination and you bonding with him crosses more than a few lines. I can’t live with his death on my conscience. If I could, I would have ended this days ago.”

His attention returned more fully to Danny, and as the human straightened his posture, he saw the same man he’d shared a boat ride with. The very man who looked on the cusp of exchanging those damning three words that Danny had already spoken. Danny knew he wouldn’t, though. The sadness that infected Liam’s gaze warned Danny of what was to come.

“Pack your bag,” Liam said. “Right now. We are taking you to the train station and you’re getting out of here before anything can happen to you.”

“Liam, please –”

“No,” he said, interrupting Danny. “I should have done this the moment I knew I wouldn’t be able to kill you.” Liam stood. The distance between them disappeared, but as Danny looked into Liam’s eyes, he felt himself sinking into them, swept up and carried away by the current of suggestion.

“You will pack your bag and you will not say another word about it. We’re taking you to the train station and you will not follow us back, am I clear?” The rhetorical question hung in the air, with Danny still held hostage by Liam’s gaze, unrelenting until the vampire leaned forward and kissed Danny’s forehead.

“Now,” Liam whispered. “Go.”

Danny turned, unable to stop the compulsion. He packed his bag, mute and trapped inside of his mind as his hands did the work they had been programmed to do. Holding back his emotions, he took the packed suitcase with him into the living room, his composure taking another blow when Liam added, “Downstairs, into the car,” to the suggestion. Danny gasped when the compulsion took over again, wanting to scream and lacking the ability.

The drive to 30^th Street Station lacked any conversation, both from the vampires and due to Danny’s forced silence. Each tense minute ticked by, and still, Danny tried not to let his feelings swallow him whole. When they reached the large, imposing building housing the region’s rail transport, Mari stepped out of the car with him, leaving Liam in the front seat. Mari looked at lost as Danny felt when their eyes met.

She reached for him, pulling Danny into her embrace. “I’ll say it for him because he’s too stubborn. I love you.” As her lips hovered over his ear, though, her voice descended into a faint whisper, barely audible over the sound of the idling car. “There isn’t anywhere you can go that I won’t be able to find you,” she said. “We will see each other again.”

Danny nodded. A tear finally escaped, running down his cheek as she pulled away. Mari reached for it, brushing it away before slipping back into the vehicle. The door shut. The car drove off.

And there, Danny stood. Alone in the middle of Philadelphia again.