But he did care. “A wolf,” she whispered. “That’s what I am. A wolf.” They stared at each other, the implications of her words in the air. She was a wolf, and he would never get over that, never really trust her.
“Cass,” he started, before he stiffened, his gaze lifting to the door.
“What is it?” she asked, knowing his many vampire gifts well enough to know that he sensed things before they happened. Knowing that’s how he’d managed to get to her in time.
“Trouble,” he announced, shoving away from her and reaching for his weapons. A second later, the back door burst open, and everything slid into fast motion.
Troy shoved a knife into her hand and with her dress gaping open, she did what she was born to do, what the Royal Guard lived for. And Troy did what a Vampire Warden did, which was the same. They fought.
Chapter Two
In two minutes flat, Cassie and Troy stood side by side, three dead wolves at their feet, four if you counted good old Jack the Ripper who was still by the door.
“We need to warn the others,” Cassie said, holding the blade in her hand, sure more wolves were coming. “They shouldn’t have come for him. Not when they thought he was using me as a chew toy. He said Sarah warned him about me. He must have told them who I was. He must have -”
“She’s here,” Troy whispered softly, too softly.
Cassie’s gaze followed his to the two wolves rounding the corner of the ally, and sure enough, there she was. Sarah. The blond bombshell of a bitch who’d sworn her love for Troy, with one purpose. To infiltrate the Vampire council.
“She’s mine,” he said tightly.
“No,” Cassie objected urgently. “We agreed. I’ll do it.” Sarah had messed with his head enough. He didn’t need to kill the woman he’d once thought he loved.
“I changed my mind,” he said, and started walking towards Sarah and the wolf beside her.
“Behind you!” her brother Nico shouted.
Cassie whirled to find a good six wolves coming at them, with Nico running right into the mix, alone. A split second of torment ate at Cassie. Troy was dealing with Sarah but he was only outnumbered 2 to 1. Nico was outnumbered 6 to 1. Cassie kicked off her heels, and turned towards her brother. She reached behind her and ripped the silver stars free. Who needed clothes and shoes to fight? Not her, apparently.
Another whirlwind of action unwound until Cassie finally was able to turn back to Troy. He was gone and so was Sarah. Fear clenched at her heart and she took off running.
She rounded the corner to another small alley, and froze. One wolf lay dead, and the other, Sarah, was straddling Troy, a blade held above his heart. He shackled her hand and slowly turned it to her chest. Cassie watched as he shoved it into her heart.
Her nostrils flared with warning, a moment before a snarl filled the air. A fully shifted wolf lunged into view and before Cassie could react, the wolf had yanked Sarah off of Troy and jumped on him.
Cassie flung the one blade she had left but it hit the wolf’s shoulder in a non-lethal wound. She didn’t hesitate to act, didn’t care the wolf was male – bigger and stronger. She started running, shifting as she did. Cassie lunged at the wolf, sinking her teeth into its shoulder. He rolled with her, and she ended up on the bottom, ready to fight for her life. Abruptly though, the wolf did the unexpected. He fled. A male wolf in battle never fled. Cassie shifted back to human form instantly,
naked now, half crawling, half stumbling towards Troy.
A scream ripped from her throat at the sight of him. Of his neck ripped open and pouring blood.
“Help! Help! Aiden! Evan!” she screamed, reaching Troy’s side, and knowing this was a wound that even a vampire couldn’t survive without blood. Lots and lots of blood, so much blood, more than she could give him.
“You aren’t dying. You aren’t dying.” She grabbed the ground by his side.
He blinked up at her and tried to speak but couldn’t. She cupped his face. “Don’t try to talk. You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.” She sliced her wrist. “You aren’t dying. You’re a damn vampire, Troy, and a stubborn one at that. You can’t die.” She dripped the blood from her wound over his mouth. He couldn’t suction her arm and his lashes fluttered shut. Terror clenched her heart. She wasn’t getting enough blood in him fast enough. “Help, damn it!” she screamed. “Help! Help! Help!” Over and over, she repeated the one word, knowing the risk of wolves finding them, but also knowing that Troy didn’t have long to live.
Suddenly Aiden, Troy’s brother and so very like him in looks, was on his knees in front of her, on the other side of Troy, and dialing his phone. “I need you here now, Marcus.”
Marcus. The name registered on some level to Cassie, but all she could really process was that Troy wasn’t moving, and blood was building up in his mouth. He wasn’t swallowing. Suddenly, Marcus was there, appearing out of nowhere, like so few of his kind could, a striking vampire with long blonde hair. Power radiated off of him. He was ancient, powerful. And his blood was potent.
“I assume the property is secure and Evan is dealing with any consequences?” Marcus asked, already bending down beside Troy.
“He’s bleeding to death,” Cassie growled. “The consequence is he dies if you don’t hurry up and help him.” She didn’t care about bodies and humans with memories to be wiped. She just cared about Troy.
“Just tell me you can help him.” Desperation rose inside her, and she repeated the command with more force, “Tell me you can help him.”
“I can help him,” Marcus reassured her, biting his wrist.