Screw this.

Leo was worried about the threat coming from Rayce, but Rose was the one standing closest to him. And had he learned nothing from their last little episode? She shoved the angel to the ground and Rose was the one who grabbed Leo's hand. She jerked his wrist forward and her teeth sank into him. His blood pulsed into her mouth, hot and powerful, just like before.

"No!" Julian bellowed. "Rose, please, no!"

It was too late. She'd attacked. Leo yanked back beneath her touch but she didn't let him go.

"Angel, get out of here!" Rayce yelled. "Fly away-now!"

Now...while Leo was distracted.

Now...while Leo was weak.

But...oddly...she was the one who felt weak.

Rose and Leo both fell to the ground, their knees. .h.i.tting the sand. She still didn't let him go.

She heard the rush of wings. That would be the angel, flying to safety. Getting far enough away from Leo that he couldn't control her. And then she felt hands on her. Strong, warm hands that were tipped with claws. Those hands pulled her away from Leo. She blinked and found herself staring up at Julian. She tried to smile for him.

Fear had deepened the lines on his face. "Oh, love, what did you do?"

She'd...helped.

"You're dead," Leo rasped.

Julian lifted her into his arms. "Watch your f.u.c.king mouth, b.a.s.t.a.r.d." Julian's hold tightened on her.

Leo surged to his feet. His blood dripped into the sand. "That vamp is dead!" He lunged for her and Julian, but Luke blocked him.

The twins faced off.

"I think you're mistaken," Luke murmured, his voice as gentle as a breeze. "You see...Rose is a vampire. That means she's under my dominion. A creature of the dark. You have no say about what happens to her. And if you so much as twitch in her direction...we'll finally have that battle that has been prophesized for centuries."

The waves crashed onto the sh.o.r.e.

Fire began to burn inside of Rose's body. Just like before...just like when she'd had Leo's blood in her and it had started to burn her up, from the inside out. "J-Julian?" Now she was the one afraid.

He stared down at her, and his bright eyes were all she could see. Everything else was getting too dark.

"She wasn't supposed to have my blood!" Leo yelled. "It is poison! She barely survived once-it will hit her even harder this time. She's dying! I wasn't threatening her-I was telling you what's happening. She's dead-and there is nothing either of us can do for her now!"

Julian's hold tightened on her.

She wanted to smile for him.

She couldn't.

"Love...don't go," he whispered.

"I...choose..." She had to say this. He needed to always know. "You."

Her fangs were gone.

"Why doesn't the vamp have fangs anymore?" Rayce muttered.

Because something was f.u.c.king wrong.

Julian lowered Rose onto his bed. She'd been drifting in and out of consciousness while he carried her to the house. He'd begged her to drink from him, pushing her mouth to his throat as he hauled a.s.s to get her to a safe place but...

Her fangs hadn't come out.

"It's okay, love," he said, hating the fact that his voice came out so rough and ragged, as if everything was very much not okay. "I'll take care of you." He slashed open his wrist and forced her to take his blood. It had worked before. It would work again.

The blood dripped into her mouth. Julian ma.s.saged her throat, forcing her to swallow. But...

Her body seemed to be getting warmer to the touch. Too warm. As if she were feverish.

"Drink, Rose. Drink for me."

A hard hand closed around his shoulder. "She can't." Luke's voice. Sounding sad. Luke was never sad. He didn't have time for emotions.

Julian didn't look back at him. "This happened before. She bit your a.s.shole of a brother once before, and I gave her my blood and everything was fine." Her cheeks were flushed. Not just her cheeks. Her neck, her collarbone. Her arms.

"She's burning up, from the inside out." Again, Luke's voice was sad. "It won't matter how much blood you give her. My brother wasn't lying. His blood is poison to vamps. She...didn't really survive the first time."

What? That was bulls.h.i.t, of course she'd survived.

"The first time she had his blood, the poison got in her body."

Julian kept his hand to her mouth. "And I gave her my blood. I diluted that tainted c.r.a.p of his. She came back fine."

"The poison stayed in her body, but it was dormant, waiting for another exposure. That's how it works. One bite to begin, one bite to end."

What?

"Her heart is going to burn up. She'll burn in front of you. You should...step back. Let her go."

Dazed, Julian couldn't move at all.

"f.u.c.k," Rayce swore from the corner of the room. "I'm so sorry, man."

No, this wasn't happening.

He stared down at Rose. Her hair was spread on the pillows behind her head. It just looked as if she were sleeping. And he remembered another time...

Rose had been lying in a bed, blood on her body. She'd been so still. But she hadn't been warm to the touch. She'd been ice cold and he'd known he was losing her.

So he'd turned to Luke Thorne, and he'd made a deal. "Bring her back, Luke. Change her. She can't die."

The memories swirled through his mind.

"She's already gone." Luke had stared at him with no expression on his hard face. "Mourn the dead, and move on."

He'd hit Luke then. Punched him. Clawed at him. And Luke had just taken the blows. "I can't lose her! She's the first thing in my life that matters-don't take her! Don't let anyone take her!" And he'd been lost-lost to a fury and pain that had sent him out of control. He'd destroyed that room. Slashing the walls. Breaking the furniture. Turning his claws on himself...

My fault. I did this to her. My fault. Mine...

Luke had grabbed his hands. Julian's claws had been buried in his own chest.

"Why are you doing this?" Luke asked him.

"Because I should die. She should live." Simple. So simple...And if she didn't live...then he was ready to die.

"You...love her? You fell in love with a human, knowing it was forbidden?"

One of Luke's laws. "I fell in love with her..." He stared unflinchingly at the most powerful dark paranormal being in the world. "Because I couldn't stop myself. She owns me. Owns me. And I can't just let her die!"

Luke stared back at him. "Too late, my friend. She's gone."

He'd grabbed Luke by the shirt-front, his claws tearing into him. "Make me a deal. You make deals with everyone else. Give her life back. Help me."

"I can't," Luke gritted in response. "To bring someone back from the dead? That would deplete my power. My enemies would close in. I would be done. The dark would fall."

"I will take care of your enemies."

Luke's gaze had hardened. "Be careful what you say."

Rose was still and cold on the bed. "I will hunt your enemies down. You know I'm the best hunter out there. You keep her in this world-"

"It's not keeping her here. It's bringing her back. And believe me, there would be a heavy price for that. Both for me...and for you."

"I don't care about the price. I care about her. Only her. And I'll do anything..."

Then the deal had been set. Rose had come back.

"I tried to do the right thing," Julian rasped. His hand slowly lowered from her mouth. His blood had dripped down her chin. Steam seemed to rise from her body. "I was sending her away, trying to make her leave because I knew I was bad for her. I hurt the ones close to me, and no one has ever been closer than her."

Rayce cleared his throat. "Buddy, um, I think we should walk out now. There are some memories that you don't want to have. And your lady burning? You don't want to carry that memory."

His head turned so that he was staring at the wolf. "Do you think I would ever let her die alone?"

Rayce's jaw hardened.

No, dying alone wouldn't happen.

He used his claws to cut his wrist even deeper. "I just have to give her more blood. It worked before. It will work again."

"No," Luke told him. "I'm so f.u.c.king sorry, but it won't. My brother was made to be my opposite. His blood can destroy dark paranormals just as mine...mine destroys the light. We've both always known we were poison."

Mine destroys the light.

In a flash, Julian jumped off the bed. He grabbed Luke and slashed his claws across the guy's forearm.

The whole room seemed to shake-actually, it did shake. Luke's fury blasted against him. "What the f.u.c.k are you doing?"

Trying to save her! "Give her your blood. If he's poison to her, then you could be the cure. Give her your blood."

But Luke didn't move. "Do you have any idea what you're asking?"

"I'm asking for you to help the woman I love." Because I'm breaking apart without her.

"My blood...you don't know what it will do to her."

Julian looked back at the bed and his heart nearly stopped. "She's dying already. What could be worse?"

"She could come back...wrong."

What?

"You think I haven't already considered giving her my blood?" Luke shook his head. "But I don't know what will happen if I do. My blood...Leo's blood...all in one person? That much power? Light and dark trapped together? She could wake up and want only death for everyone around her. Or she could wake up...and think that monsters like you and me-the dark ones-that we need to be eradicated. She could be the instrument of our destruction. The being who takes us out. I don't know what she'll become."

"I know what she'll be." His shoulders straightened. "Because it's what she's always been, vampire or human. She's no killing machine. She's not evil. She's not twisted. She won't ever be. You give her the blood, and she'll just be stronger. When bad things come her way, she just keeps growing stronger."

Luke studied him with worried eyes. "And you think that's not dangerous?"

"She'll be on our side," he promised. Help her!

"How do you know that?"

And despite everything, Julian managed to smile. "She chose me." She chose life. "And I chose her. She'll come back strong and she'll come back right."

"If she doesn't, will you be the one to put her down?"

The question seemed to echo around him.

And he didn't speak.

"That's what I thought," Luke said softly. "You love her, you can't kill her, but if something goes wrong, I'm supposed to just let her roam around attacking people? You know I can't do that. And you're the one I send when the dark ones go rogue. If you can't handle her, then what will I do?"

Did Luke really think he was going to promise to kill Rose?

"She's your weakness. You think I don't understand?" Luke sighed. "I do. But I have to look out for more than just you. She could be too strong. She could be-"

"She's dying." And he couldn't just do nothing. "This is Rose. Rose. She's always been good. She never-not once-killed anyone when she was a vampire."

Luke's lips twitched. "She used to get so nervous before drinking that she'd nearly faint. A vampire, fainting at the thought of taking blood."