"Fine." Maximus's voice is hollow. "She'll be fine."
"I'll need to set the shoulder," Dalton continues. "It's going to hurt."
"Do it," I say.
Dalton positions himself, and Maximus moves to block my view. "Look at me," he says quietly. "Just look at me."
I look at him. At the blood still drying on his face, at the fear still lingering in his eyes, at the way his hand grips mine like I'm the only thing keeping him anchored.
Dalton moves. My shoulder screams. I don't look away from Maximus's face.
"Done," Dalton says. "I'll get blood and bandages. She should rest."
He leaves, and it's just the two of us. Maximus and I, in the harsh light of the medical wing, surrounded by the antiseptic smell of healing.
His free hand comes up to brush hair from my face. The gesture is tender, reverent, completely at odds with the violence I witnessed less than an hour ago.
"You're shaking," I say.
He looks down at his hands like he's never seen them before. They're still covered in blood, and yes, they're trembling.
"I killed them." His voice is strange, distant. "I didn't try to capture them. Didn't question them. I just... saw you on the ground, and I killed them."
"Maximus…"
"I haven't lost control like that in centuries." He meets my eyes, and what I see there isn't the cold strategist or the vampire lord. It's fear. Raw, undisguised fear. "The thought of losing you…"
He stops. Swallows hard.
"I can't," he says quietly. "I can't lose you."
He's quiet for a long moment. When he speaks, his voice is rough with something I can't name.
"Because the thought of losing you was worse than any tactical consideration." He looks down at our joined hands. "I've spent centuries learning to sacrifice anyone and anything for the greater good. And the moment I heard them close in on you, none of it mattered. Just you. Getting to you."
I want to reach for him. Want to let this moment be what it feels like, a confession, a turning point, the beginning of something real.
But something the bald vampire said keeps echoing.
"They knew about Julian's team," I say slowly. "How is that possible?"
Maximus's jaw tightens. "Konstantin has informants. We're still trying to determine..."
"But it was a routine donor meet. That's what you told me." I watch his face, pieces clicking together. "Except you've been avoiding me for days. And then suddenly, you’re sending a team as backup when you didn’t before. You told me to 'be careful' with more weight than a routine mission should need."
He doesn't answer.
"And there was a strategy meeting yesterday that I wasn't invited to. Elena mentioned it by accident." I watch something shift in his expression. Something that looks like dread. "What was discussed at that meeting, Maximus?"
"The situation required..."
"What situation? You told me it was routine."
Silence.
Somewhere down the hall, footsteps pass and fade. I wait.
"It wasn't routine," he finally says. His voice is barely a whisper. "We had intelligence that Konstantin's people were watching you. Looking for an opportunity."
