“Did Misha send you?”

Michael paused. “No. The master wants nothing to do with you.”

“Then why?”

“Because you helped us.”

I sniffed. “Michael, Misha will interpret your actions as a betrayal and kill you for it. You have to go back.”

Michael continued about his task. “You helped us” was all he said.

Our cellphones were damaged during our fight with Lucinda. But even if we could call for help, Aric’s condition couldn’t wait. We needed to get him home. I left Michael and returned to the cave. Michael was in no condition to assist me in moving the cage that had housed his master, but that’s not why I asked him to stay behind. Tye would try to kill Aric in my absence. I knew that. With Michael there, he would think twice.

My fingers stuck to the remains of Misha’s victims when I gripped the bars. I dragged the cage out as quickly as possible, slamming it multiple times against the sharp cavern walls. I tried not to gag from the festering smells of death, but it was hard. My head pounded and my stomach lurched, yet it wasn’t until I slipped over something that slithered with maggots that I finally vomited. I leaned against the wall just outside the cave and tried to steady myself. It didn’t work. I lost what remained of my composure and broke down.

“Shit. Goddamnit!”

Never in my life had my faith been challenged more. I was so tired. Tired of fighting, tired of feeling, tired of pretending to be stronger than I was. I was tired of living. It was just too damn hard. I thought about my only other option. I could let Tye kill Aric. We were mates, right? If he died I’d soon join him, and we’d be together…and wouldn’t that son of a bitch Anara just love to be rid of me? And the nasty little shape-shifters? Oh hell, they might even throw a party.

I purposely struck my shin against the jagged stone. It hurt. Oh, damn, did it hurt! But I deserved it for entertaining thoughts about dying. No. If I died, it would be at God’s hands or at the hands of my enemies as I fought them until my very last breath—and not because I was a coward.

Screw that.

I returned to the cave and dragged out the cage, heaving it through the demolition left by Lucinda’s cyclone. Bitch. Even in her absence she made everything harder for me. Despite my urgency and my frantic tugs it took an exceptionally long time to return to the base of the mountain.

Tye sat on the trunk of an uprooted palm tree. He seemed a little better, furious at me, but physically more improved. In contrast, Michael’s dark skin had turned ashen and sweat slicked his brow. He leaned against a palm for support, swatting the bugs that sought to gorge on the flesh dangling from his knee. If he didn’t feed soon I’d have more than one bloodlust victim to worry about.

Empty tranq darts lay scattered near Aric’s giant chest. Michael motioned to him with the rifle. “He woke up again.”

“I figured.” I counted the number of darts. There were eight. And I hadn’t been gone that long. “How many darts are left?”

“If you’re thinking about taking him back to Tahoe…not enough.”

“Then we’d better get going.” I shuffled toward Aric. I didn’t want to be stuck in a cage with him, but the only way to lug him inside was to drag him by his hind legs.

Tye scoffed. “The bars and the chain won’t hold him long.”

I wanted to throw a rock at him. “They’re reinforced with magic. I can smell it.”

Tye stomped over to me. “It doesn’t matter, Celia! Nothing you’re doing matters. The moon sickness will continue to drive him to kill while razing his neurological system! You’re a nurse, you know what that means—unendurable pain and brain damage. Is that what you want? Do you want him to suffer? Do you want him to kill—?”

My screams came out like choked sobs. “Shut up. I’m not giving up on him!” I snagged Aric’s legs and wrenched him inside the cage. “He needs to live—he has to live, and that’s all there is to it!”

There was more I wanted to say, but it would have meant more tears, and I couldn’t waste the energy. Michael shot him with tranquilizers even though Aric hadn’t moved. He bowed his head when I stared back at him in shock. “Sorry,” he muttered. “But you won’t be able to chain him on your own and there’s no way I want him waking up while I’m trapped in there with him.”

The collar wouldn’t fit around Aric’s gargantuan neck. We ended up tying it, limiting his movements. Given his lust to kill, we reasoned it was a good thing.

The cage was monstrous, heavy, and too wide to fit through the rear of the vehicle. Our only choice was to secure it to the roof with rope Michael had found in the remains of the barn. Michael and I struggled to lift it. He had only one hand and I was too short to be of much use. After a round or two of massive swearing, Tye stood and helped. I raced us back to town with Michael in the passenger seat and Tye sprawled across the back, although I doubted he could sleep with a volatile wolf just above his head.

I slowed our speed when we reached town and came upon a group of drunks, singing and stumbling their way home. Michael raised his brows. I nodded and rolled to a stop. My heavy lids lowered as I watched him approach the humans. I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep until the sound of him shutting the door woke me when he returned.

I rubbed my face. “You look better.”

“Humph.”

I started the engine and floored it. “What’s wrong?”

Michael shot me a sour look. “I don’t normally feed on men.”

“Oh…right.” Vampires didn’t physically orgasm when they fed. It just felt that way psychologically. “Sorry.”

Michael grimaced. “I tried to pretend they were ugly women…really, really ugly women.”

He tried to make me laugh at his own expense, but nothing was funny when Aric’s torturous roars drowned the sounds of the engine. Michael lowered the window, sat on the rim, and shot several rounds into Aric until he finally stilled. I flinched with every squeeze of the trigger.

Michael’s expression lacked all humor when he slipped back into the seat. “We need to get back to Tahoe, quickly.”

I stomped on the accelerator. The weight from Aric and the cage pushed the engine to its limits. Each time we rounded a corner or hit a curb I fought to keep the SUV from tipping. Considering my hands wouldn’t stop shaking, it was a hell of an accomplishment.