I watched Thea while she slept in my arms, recovering from the ordeal of the last thirty hours. After spending the night in the dungeons, getting beaten up, fighting with my coven, running away, and making love to this beautiful woman, I was exhausted too. But no matter what I did, I couldn’t sleep.

My mind was too busy, my soul unrested.

As much as I would like to send everything to hell and run away with Thea, that wasn’t the solution. Thea had to at least stop by her coven and hand them the heart before leaving with me. But witches were greedy old things, most of them, and I was sure they wouldn’t let her go that easily. Sacrificing herself for the mission? Just fine. Running away with a vampire? It was a declaration of war.

No matter where we hid, my coven and her coven would come after us, and they would find us. We would never have any peace.

Unless … we did it right. Unless, we took it upon ourselves to avoid the incoming war and bring peace to all races from the inside. It would be hard, it would take time, but I believed we could do it.

Inhaling deeply, I ran a hand down Thea’s cheek. After tasting her blood, her scent had become even stronger to me, more potent. I had been crazy about her scent before. Now? I didn’t think there was a word to explain what I felt right now.

But I could push down the hunger for her sweet, sweet blood, because I had found out something else: I loved her. With all my soul and my dead heart, I loved her. I could endure being by her side as long as she let me love her.

I brushed my fingers over her neck, right where I had bitten her, and she squirmed in my arms, pressing more of her long legs on mine.

This woman, this beautiful woman, had freely offered her blood to save a vampire. Witches hated vampires, just as vampires hated witches, but this beautiful woman hadn’t hesitated. She let me have her blood, and her body, and then she handed me her heart too.

When she had said she loved me too, I was sure I had gone to heaven.

Though, I didn’t deserve heaven. I didn’t deserve this woman.

But maybe, if I went back and fixed things, if I went back and reformed my coven, I could try to be worthy of her.

I sucked in a sharp breath when a new thought came to mind: Thomas was still there, alone in the castle with many hungry and angry vampires.

Hell.

Thea moved again. “Why are you awake?” she whispered, her eyes closed.

“How do you know I’m awake?”

“I can hear the wheels inside your head turning.”

I snorted. “Right. As far as I know, witches don’t have acute hearing.”

“Nope, but some of us have a pretty good sixth sense.” Her eyes fluttered open. She shifted some more, resting her chin on my chest and starting me with those two gray marbles. “The heart is giving me too much power right now. I can sense everything from miles away.”

I ran my hands down her naked back. “Really? What are you sensing right now?”

“Two miles west, I sense two deer who are unaware of the wolf watching them, waiting for the right to attack. I sense a flock of birds that keep jumping from tree to tree. I sense a handful of rabbits in their burrows, a few snakes slithering by, some spiders, and a lot of nasty bugs.” She wrinkled her nose. “But no humans. Though, I sense a vampire whose body is too tense after having a relaxing night.”

Chuckling, I kissed the top of her head. “It was a good night indeed.”

“But …”

How could this woman, this wonderful woman, know me so well? I sighed. “But … I think we have to go back.” Her body tightened under my touch. “You to your coven, and me to mine.”

Thea withdrew from me, a question in her eyes, so I sat up and held her arms and kept her close while I explained all that had been on my mind the past couple of hours. She didn’t say a single word, while I went on and on, hoping she would understand my logic.

After a long moment of silence, she nodded. “I know you’re right, but I still don’t like it.”

“I don’t like it either.” I squeezed her hands in mine. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“But you will.” She sighed. “Even if I disagree with your plan, I can see your mind is already made up.”

I pulled her even closer, until she sat on my lap, and I looked deeply into her eyes. “There’s nothing I want more than to be with you. Hell, I had never wanted anything until you came into my life. Now, I want you and I won’t let go. Never. But before we can be together and in peace, we have a big mess to clean up.” I rested my forehead to yours, trying to memorize it all. Her scent, her warm, soft skin, her shiny gray eyes, her plump lips, and her wonderful body. I wanted to engrave them into my memory—how she felt against me, how we fit together, how powerful he made me feel. “Do you trust me?”

She wound her arms around me, and even though she tried to hide it, I could hear her rapid heartbeat and how her breathing hitched, as if she were fighting back tears. “I do,” she whispered.

Taken aback by her emotions, I leaned into her and captured her mouth with mine. I couldn’t stop myself, and soon we were back in each other’s arms, our bodies tangled together as we made love one more time.

After, we got dressed and Thea had a quick breakfast. She insisted I drink more of her blood before I passed out, but I assured her that once I was back at DuMoir Castle, I would drink a handful of bottles of blood to make sure I would be okay.

Holding hands, we walked out of the cottage and to the edge of Thea’s invisible shield.

I snaked my arms around her, pressed her body against mine, and claimed her lips once more. After savoring her taste, after I was sure I wouldn’t forget it, I pulled back, enough to look into her eyes. “I promise you that we’ll be together again.”

Her nails sank into my shoulders. “I’ll hold you to that promise.”

I pressed my lips to her forehead. “Be well, my love.”

Thea sniffed. “And you be careful.”

Leaving her was harder than I thought it would be, especially when she was so shaken by it. If I didn’t leave now, I wasn’t so sure I would.

Channeling my courage, I brushed my lips on hers once more, then spun around and ran.

For the first two miles, I could hear Thea’s soft sobs. It was hard to keep going when all I wanted was to go back and embrace her one more time. And then I wasn’t so sure I could ever leave her again.

So I kept going, kept running, while the promise I made to her echoed in my mind.

We’ll be together again.