Move, damn it. No bloodbag is going to take you out.

It took a few tries but she managed to get back on her hands and knees. Agony and exhaustion battled inside her for dominance. So damn tired. There was a cave beneath the boulders she’d passed. It had been one of her and Lorn’s favorite places to play as children. He’d been braver than her, jumping off the rocks into the river, which she never did. The memory formed and she locked on to it just to keep distracted from being miserable.

The boulders beckoned in the distance and she kept going until she reached them. The hole appeared in front of her. It looked smaller than she remembered but it had been years since she’d tried to enter the narrow opening to the space below the rocks. The cave went deep, thanks to Lorn digging out more of it to accommodate their youthful imaginations. Even when they were children, he’d been a big kid.

“Maybe we’ll find gold.”

Kira paused, swaying a little, Lorn’s voice a distraction. It wasn’t real…just a memory. Shock caused her mind to drift. Her body had suffered too much trauma.

It had been sunny that day, as she’d laughed, “You’re messing with me.”

“Wouldn’t it be cool though if we did? I could melt it and make you jewelry.”

He handed out another bucket of dirt from the hole. She dumped it into the river, returning quickly to his side to pass the bucket back.

“I don’t wear any of that stuff.”

He grinned, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “You’re a girl. They like necklaces. My mom has a ton of them.”

“I don’t own any.” It was a reminder that she might have liked pretty things if her life had been different. Sadness suddenly struck.

“Hey,” Lorn said. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry.” He suddenly grinned again. “You can have my mom. She’s kind of mean when she makes me eat yucky veggies.”

The loss of a mother suddenly didn’t seem so bad to Kira. “My dad doesn’t do that.” She got an idea. “I know. We’ll make this your den. You’ll need one of those when you’re older.”

He peered at the sky and the boulders above. “No one would see it from the sky, would they?”

“Nope,” she agreed. “Dig more. We’ll make it big enough for the both of us.”

“That’s a good idea.” He took the bucket, disappearing back into the hole. “Just don’t bring your dolls here. They aren’t allowed.”

“Okay.” She could live with that. “But you can’t bring dead things here when you hunt. I don’t want it stinking of dried blood.”

“Deal.”

Kira jerked back into the present when she fell over, sprawling on her side. Shit. She struggled to get upright and slowly crawled through the narrow opening. That lapse into her past was another sign that she wouldn’t be able to hold it together much longer. She was too disorientated.

The strong smell of dirt was actually comforting as she descended deeper into the cave, sliding a few feet. Tremors racked her and she almost blacked out. Another sharp pain stabbed at her belly and she was barely able to stifle a scream. Her arms gave out and she collapsed onto her side again, curling up into a ball. Gravity and the steep decline of the passage to the lower chamber Lorn had dug had her rolling the rest of the way down. She landed on something soft.

Her fingers brushed material. It was too dark to see but she knew what it was. She grabbed at it, dragging the old blanket over as much of her body as possible, attempting to use it to get warm. It smelled from years of neglect in the forgotten space but it didn’t matter.

She writhed in agony, clutching at something that had once belonged to Lorn. It seemed fitting that their childhood den might become her final resting place. They’d spent wonderful times together there.

Kira tried to keep focused by going over possible outcomes to her drinking the master’s blood. VampLycans couldn’t be turned into Vampires. The Lycan blood fought the virus but it still made them really sick. That was the best scenario to hope for. She might wish for death by the time the rejection phase passed but she’d survive.

However, her human side might leave her in danger of turning into a bloodbag. It would be a death sentence.

Tears filled her eyes. She might have bitten into that bastard for naught, except giving him the pleasure of watching her die.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her argument with her father haunted her while she fought to keep breathing. They were words she wished she could say to him. “I know you love me.”

Lorn’s image surfaced.

“I wish you did.”

A weight settled on her chest and for a brief moment she struggled, thinking the Vampire had pinned her down again. Her flailing arm didn’t hit a solid mass but instead waved in the air and hit a dirt ceiling. She groaned, realizing it wasn’t real. Her lungs just didn’t want to work. She concentrated on breathing in and out. She lowered her hand, fisting the blanket again.

She was losing it. Confused. Probably dying.

* * * * *

The smell of blood drew Lorn to the injured Vampire. The bastard was easy to spot with his pale skin, despite keeping low to the ground as he crawled. The fence was close but he was on the wrong side of it to be safe from his wrath. Lorn transformed his shape into human form.

“Vamp,” he snarled.

The bastard made some kind of weird noise, a gurgle, and turned his head in Lorn’s direction.

It came as a surprise as he assessed the mangled mess that had once been the Vamp’s lower face. His wrecked jaw hung in a sickening way and most of his throat looked like a raw, disgusting mess.

It pissed Lorn off more. He couldn’t ask the Vampire where Kira was if he wasn’t able to talk. Davis circled the enemy, snarling too, and shifted to skin.

“He did something to my daughter.”

Lavos stopped next to him, still wearing his clothes since he had stayed in human form. “That’s fucking sick. What did that to him? It looks as if most of his jaw is going to fall off. He’s lost a shitload of blood, doesn’t even have the strength to stand. He definitely can’t hunt for fresh blood to heal in that condition. He’s really messed up.”

The Vamp gurgled again.

“Kill him,” Lorn ordered, turning away to follow the blood trail in the other direction. “He can’t give us information but I’ll find out where that happened.”