Serena wasn’t sure how she ended up in a hospital—at least, she thought it was a hospital. Her vision was blurry and her head was pounding, but she could make out medical equipment. And other, less scary stuff, like chains and giant iron pincers. The steel gray walls made the room seem cavernous, with dried-blood-colored writing and symbols marking them like cave drawings.
She closed her eyes and wondered if she was dreaming. Sucked to be dreaming about a hospital, though. And the beeping sounds were so real…
“Hey.”
Josh’s voice drifted down to her, and she smiled, eyes still closed. “Hey. Did we win?”
“We crushed them.”
“The amulet?”
“Couldn’t be safer.”
She dragged in a relieved breath and tried to pretend she didn’t hear death rattles in her lungs. “Am I in a hospital?”
“Underworld General. The medical center I told you about. We treat a lot of nonhumans here.”
She was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about a veterinary practice. “Where’s Val?”
“On a plane to New York. So, he’s your father?”
“Apparently.”
He took her hand and massaged her palm, bringing circulation into her chilled fingers. “As soon as his plane lands, I’ll make sure you get to see him.”
That wasn’t going to happen, and they both knew it. But it was nice of him to lie. “I wish… I wish I could stay.”
“Don’t go.” Josh’s voice cracked, and she felt his forehead come down on her arm. “Please… don’t go.”
Needing to see him, blurry vision or not, she opened her eyes. “I wouldn’t change anything, you know. I would still have made love to you.”
A hot tear hit her arm. “I would change everything,” he rasped. “Anything for you to not be… not be…”
“Dying.” Ignoring the tug of the IV line, she sifted her fingers through his silky hair, remembering the way it had slid over her skin when he’d kissed his way down her body. The way it tickled her thighs when he’d pleasured her with his clever tongue. “You can say it. It’s okay. But there’s one thing I’d change.” Her face heated when he looked up at her, his eyes red-rimmed and watery.
“What?”
“I would have—God, this is going to sound so stupid—asked you to bite me. You know, the vampire thing.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up. “I wanted to. You can’t know how much I wanted to.”
She drew in a sharp breath. “Maybe you could… could you turn me into one?”
He looked down, as if he were ashamed. “I can’t. I’m not a true vampire.” He bit his lip, the tip of one sexy fang making a deep indent. “But… would you really want to?”
“Become a vampire?” It sounded crazy when she said it out loud, no matter how fascinated she’d been by them. Then again, she was in a demon hospital. “Are you serious? Is it even possible if I’m infected with a demon disease?”
“I don’t know. Just… hang on, okay?” He ran his palm up her arm to her neck to hold her jaw steady as he brushed his lips over hers. She barely felt the contact, but the emotion behind it came out strong, and it warmed her icy body. “If this happens, I want you to bond with me.”
“Bond? Like marriage?”
“Sort of. But deeper. More permanent.”
She started to cry. She didn’t know exactly what bonding entailed, but she sensed that for him to want it was a monumental step.
“It’s okay,” he said quickly. “You don’t have to.”
“It’s not that.” She sniffed and tried to swipe at her tears, but she could no longer lift her arm. Josh knew, and he caught them with his fingers as if they were precious diamonds. “I always dreamed of having a family, but with the charm, it couldn’t happen. And now… now that it’s within my grasp…” She was going to die.
“Fuck that.” Josh shouted for his brothers, who were there in an instant.
“What do you need?” Shade asked, as Eidolon checked her IV and the various machines hooked up to her.
“Keep her well until I get back. And while I’m gone, explain the bond to her.” He kissed her tenderly. “I’ll be back in a little while. Don’t… go anywhere.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she loved him, but nothing came out.
And now he’d never know.
As Wraith stood in the antechamber to the Vampire Council’s meeting room, he prayed to anyone who would listen that the assholes hurried. Gods, he couldn’t believe he was doing this. Couldn’t believe he was considering changing the female he loved into the one species that made his skin crawl
He’d spent his life killing vampires when and where he could, and now he was not only going to get on his knees to beg them for a favor, but he was going to do it so he could spend eternity with one.
Obviously, being charmed didn’t cure insanity, because this… this was crazy.