“No,” Max gritted out, his voice shaking. “Edie—”
She redirected her attention his way. “Don’t…tell me…would have been…fine…this time. I saved…your ass.”
“I was focused on you and not paying enough fucking attention to my surroundings. Again.” Ducking down, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I had no weapon. You saved me. Without you, I’d probably…”
His breath hitched, and his words trailed to a halt.
He’d probably be in the same position she was now. Or headless.
“Yay…me,” she whispered. “You…protected. Killed…for me. My turn…to protect…you. Save…someone…I love. Finally.”
Cool wetness dripped down onto her temples, her cheeks. Her chin. She closed her eyes again, savoring her last moments with Max. Because they were out of choices now. There was only one solution to this problem.
“I do…love you. So much.” Her lips had gone numb too. She hoped she wasn’t drooling. “Do it…now. Before…change.”
There was a long pause, as if he were conducting a silent conversation with someone.
A cold, round object pressed into her palm, and he closed her hand around it. “Hold on to this for a minute, my Edie. When you’re better, we’re going to have a long talk about you giving it back to me against my express orders.”
Her eyelids were so heavy, but she raised them. Simply to see the adoration in his faded-denim eyes one final time.
There it was. All the love he couldn’t put into words.
Vamp boy looked absolutely terrible. Filthy and terrified and far more ancient than a mere twentysomething. Also beautiful.
So very beautiful.
The faint scent of citrus and warm spice broke through the miasma of death and blood all around her, and a flood of warmth pushed aside some of her numbness. His pomander. He’d given her his mother’s good luck charm to hold, filled with Edie’s orange-clove soap.
“Don’t you dare give up, human.” He brushed a kiss she couldn’t feel across her mouth, then stood and confronted Sabrina. “Your wife says there’s a solution if I’m willing. I am. Do it, witch. Now.”
Gods, Edie was getting so hungry. Why the fuck wasn’t anyone feeding her? Did she need to go hunt down some sustenance and feed herself? Because honestly, she felt strong enough to do it. Like she could run a fuckingmarathon.
Kip suddenly appeared at her side.
“Forgive me.” Squatting down, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Then she felt pressure on her wrists. Her ankles too. “We wouldn’t restrain you if we didn’t have to, Edes-a-lot. Whatever you’re feeling, can you try to push it back? Your mini-vamp would behellagrateful.”
In her vicinity, other conversations were happening. Doug and Belinda, the former crying as the latter worked her knife on a strop and bit her lower lip until it bled. Max and Sabrina, arguing about…something. Steep sacrifices, and a life for a life, and how little time they had left. But it was hard to focus on those other discussions when Edie was doing her best to shove down the weird alien-feeling rage cramping in her belly.
Belinda looked over at Kip, nodded, and began to walk slowly toward Edie.
But—hey. Who was that other woman? The one Edie had never seen before?
She was pretty. Round and soft-looking. Clad in cozy pajamas, with long brown hair pulled into a rumpled ponytail. Gracefully, she sat on her heels and smiled at Edie.
Why did no one else seem to notice the stranger?
“Sorry about the pajamas.” Her voice was warm. Sweet. It rang inside Edie’s head, which was odd. “It’s late, and I was sleeping when I got the call.”
“No worries,” Edie told her as the rage began to feel more distant. “Those look very comfy. I like the polka dots.”
The woman laid a gentle hand on Edie’s shoulder. “Thank you. Listen, Edie. I know what Kip just told you, but it’s okay. If you don’t want to fight anymore, you don’t have to.”
Wait. Wait a minute.
“Are you a reaper?” Edie blinked up at her. “You aren’t a surly European dude in a sheepskin thong?”
“Why would…” With a little shake of her head, the woman dismissed that tangent. “Yes. I’m a reaper.”
