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As he was, he groaned and took another shot. “No way. Car’s dead.”

“We have to run.” I couldn’t see any other way out. We were sitting ducks. Sitting, bleeding, one-armed ducks. At least I was.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Casey shot back. “They’re closing in.”

And then I knew he was here. I felt him like a calm wave pushing against the adrenaline and panic. Marcus brushed his mind across mine and he was calm, sure. He was certain he was going to save me.

Outside the car, the gunfire picked up. Someone was shooting, but this wasn’t a handgun. This was bigger. I heard the lovely sound of a Remington twelve gauge being primed. I know my guns like most women know shoes or lip-gloss.

Casey slumped down into the cab, and I could see where all that blood had come from. His chest was riddled with bullets. Luckily, it looked like the day shift didn’t use silver bullets.

“Someone else is here.” His voice shook. I noticed a fine tremble in his hands as well. “There’s some big dude with a shotgun. He’s walking down the street shooting them down. When did we land in the middle of a Western?”

I forced my body to move. I managed to turn and look out the ruined window. Grayson Sloane. I couldn’t help but smile because Gray was doing exactly what Casey said. He was walking down the snowy street, his big chest covered in body armor. He wore a Stetson on his head and his favorite boots. He looked like he’d walked straight out of a John Ford film. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he tore through the security force the clinic had sent after us. They weren’t so tough without a huge vehicle behind them.

Definitely not as tough as my Texas Ranger.

Already, the white snow around us was turning a stark, brutal red. A scream sounded through the air, and I saw two of the men walk out of the van and draw their weapons. They aimed and shot each other in the head. Their bodies slumped to the ground. Marcus would never get his hands dirty when he could persuade his enemies to kill themselves.

“We’re good now.” I slumped over, quietly waiting.

I wasn’t worried about the backup squad taking out my men. They were dead the moment Marcus and Gray caught up to them.

“I can’t get the door open.” Casey pushed against the driver’s side door, but it was lodged shut. He turned his blue eyes to me, his face a stark white. He was as white as the snow falling through the sunroof. “I need to feed, Kelsey. I hurt real bad.”

Luckily, the bullets he’d taken didn’t look to be silver. They were already coming out of his body. He winced as one fell from his shoulder. It was probably the first time he’d been shot. I doubted combat had been in his training schedule. I reached out and took his hand.

“It’s all right. You did good, Casey.” I held out my left hand, showing him my wrist. He’d kept us alive, and I knew that had cost him. I owed him blood.

His eyes widened and his fangs were out, but he backed away from the offered appendage. He moved as far as he could before his back hit the door. “Not on your life, sister. I want to heal, not have Marcus take me apart.”

Liv sat up, her disheveled hair all around her face. “He’s right. That’s not such a great idea. I can’t imagine Marcus is going to be in a great mood after this.”

There was the horrible sound of the door being pulled off the car. One minute it was there and the next it was being tossed aside like a toy.

“You alive in there, Kelsey?” Sloane asked, his voice tight.

I let his deep Texas accent wash over me before nodding. Now that we were safe, my body shook as I came down from the high of trying to survive. Now I was faced with the consequences. I was bleeding from several places, my head hurt, and I probably had a concussion. I couldn’t feel my arm. I couldn’t feel it at all. I was covered in blood, much of it mine.

Gray pulled the vampire out of the car, and suddenly Marcus was there. He reached in and gathered me into his arms, lifting me free from the wreckage.

“Oh,
bella
, what have they done to you?” he asked as he held me close. His beautiful face was stoically calm as he ran a hand over my face, my hair.

In the distance, I heard the whir of a siren.

“We need to move, Vorenus.” Gray helped Liv out. “The police are coming.”

“I can handle them,” my boyfriend promised.

Up ahead, Casey stumbled toward Gray’s massive truck. Gray carried Liv while Marcus held me securely in his arms.

“Let’s make sure we don’t have to,” Gray said, hustling toward the still running vehicle. “I don’t want all this caught on someone’s phone and posted on YouTube. I’m supposed to be undercover.”

“I apologize if saving Kelsey blows your cover.” Marcus got into the cab of the truck. He pulled me up into his lap, arranging me into a semi-comfortable position.

Casey and Liv climbed into the back.

Gray’s mouth was a stubborn line as he put the truck in drive. “That wasn’t what I meant. I would give my life for her and you know it. I got us here as fast as I could.”

“Stop fighting.” My words were slurring slightly. Light-headed was a soft term for what I felt. The world was threatening to spin out of control.

“She hit her head.” Casey leaned forward to look into the front of the cab. “She hit it a couple of times, and when we crashed, she wasn’t wearing a seat belt.”

“You mean when you crashed, Mr. Lane,” Marcus accused the young vampire. “You were driving the vehicle. You crashed and my mistress paid the price.”

“Don’t.” I was too tired to listen to recriminations. “Don’t blame Casey. He did a good job. He didn’t fuck up. I did. It was my fault.”

I was so tired. I let my head rest against Marcus’s shoulder. There was a fuzziness to everything. My head seemed as snowy as the world outside.

“Don’t you fall asleep, Kelsey!” Gray barked the order, bringing me out of my twilight. “Vorenus, are you going to yell at the newbie or save your precious mistress? Cause from where I’m sitting, she’s in a bad way.”

Marcus forced my head up. “Kelsey, look at me.”

My eyes weren’t capable of obeying the command. They wanted to close and rest. I sighed and let them shut. If only all the people would stop talking, I could sleep. Sleep seemed like such a nice thing to do. I could rest my eyes for a few moments…

“Darling, wake up.” Marcus shook me gently. “
Bella
, you must stay awake.” He seemed far away. Sleep beckoned much more urgently.

The world began to go dark, but even that seemed nice after the ultra-bright of the snowy day.

“You open your eyes, Kelsey Jean Atwood!”

I couldn’t ignore that sharp bark. My head came off Marcus’s shoulder, and I was caught by seriously blue eyes. Gray had one hand on the steering wheel and one locked in my hair.

“You fight, Kelsey,” Gray ordered. “You take that blood and you live, you understand me?”

He knew how to get my attention.

“Fuck you, Sloane.” I said it out of habit and because I didn’t like having my naps interrupted. He was right. Something was seriously wrong with me.

“Spit all the shit at me you want, but you take that blood and you take it now,” he ordered.

I forced my head to move, to shift toward my boyfriend. Marcus popped sharp claws in his right hand and tore open a hole close to his neck. I needed that blood. My head kind of fell forward and I managed to get my mouth where it needed to go. I felt Marcus’s arms tighten around me, holding me in place.

“That’s right,
cara mia
. Drink.” His breath was warm against my ear. I felt his anxiety as though he couldn’t quite contain it, and I caught the edge of it. I must look pretty bad if Marcus was so worried I could feel it.

Rich, velvety blood filled my mouth. My head started to clear.

“Keep drinking.” Marcus held my head to his flesh when I tried to pull away.

I gamely continued, but after another minute I couldn’t take any more. I pulled away and sat up, so much better than I was before. My vision was clear, my thoughts lucid.

“Oh, my god.” Liv moaned from the backseat.

I glanced over Marcus’s shoulder and saw that my best friend was taking one for the team. She had her arms wrapped around Casey’s shoulders. His fangs were firmly in her neck. Casey’s hands were around her back, and Liv’s head was thrown back in what looked like complete ecstasy. Her whole body stiffened and then she relaxed. I knew that feeling. Heaven. After a moment, Casey released the vein. Liv slumped against him, completely exhausted.

I couldn’t help but stare, shocked at the sight of my proper BFF looking languid and sexy in the arms of a vampire. Her head rested against his chest, her whole body relaxed as he held her.

Casey shrugged. “If I didn’t pull her in, it would hurt.”

“Be ready for her to kick your ass later.” Liv was going to be completely embarrassed that she’d had an orgasm in front of Marcus and Gray.

“I get the feeling she’ll have to stand in line,” Casey muttered.

I noticed he didn’t shove Liv off his lap. He cuddled her close. Vampires are especially affectionate creatures after a feed. Casey wasn’t attempting to fight that part of his nature. Liv’s face pressed into his neck and he rubbed his cheek against hers thoughtfully.

“Is she better?” Gray ignored what was going on in the backseat. His attention was divided between me and the road. He didn’t seem to have any trouble driving in the awful conditions.

Marcus looked into my eyes, studying them carefully. “I believe the concussion is gone.”

My head was perfectly clear. I was able to think straight and reason. The vampire blood had done its job. It healed everything it could.

Unfortunately, it didn’t bring back the dead things of this world.

“
Bella
, why are you crying?” Marcus’s hand cupped my cheek. His dark eyes were filled with concern. “It’s all right now. Everyone is well. I want a report on what happened, but otherwise it’s fine.”

I shook my head. There was nothing to do at this point except to show him. I pulled my dead right hand out of my jacket where I’d kept it cradled to my chest. I didn’t need to look at it to know it was completely fucked, but the sight of it made me nauseous anyway. It was black and withered, as though it had been dead and gone for weeks, not mere minutes.

Marcus gasped as he caught sight of the withered thing that used to be my dominant arm. He never gasped. His breathing was almost always steady as a rock. “What did this to you?”

“Kelsey…” Gray’s eyes were wide with horror. He blanched. He turned to the vampire as though he couldn’t look at me anymore. “Give her more blood. It didn’t work.”

Marcus gently touched my dead hand. Not that I could tell by touch. I was watching him so I knew. His voice was laced with guilt and sadness. “It won’t work. The flesh is dead.” His eyes slid past me to the lieutenant. Now they were coldly furious. “You did not mention you were dealing with a duke of Hell, Lieutenant Sloane. There is only one I know of with the power to freeze objects with a mere touch of his hand.”

“It was one of his servants.” I explained what had happened. The whole time I had stupid freaking tears that wouldn’t stop running down my face. My voice was still shaky as I finished. “He said he had his master’s power. He said something about Jack Frost. Isn’t that some old faery tale?”

The vampire squeezed my good hand in his. “No. That is merely one of the demon’s names. Long ago, he took on the powers of the elements. He specialized in winter. This particular demon is extremely old and powerful. I would never have allowed you in the same city with him had I known he was here.”

“Isn’t killing demons my job?” I asked stubbornly. I didn’t like being told I couldn’t do something even when the effects of the bad idea being discussed were right in front of my face. It was a perverse part of my nature.

“I would never have let him touch her.” Gray’s hands tightened on the wheel.

“You are both children, idiotic children, to believe you can take on one such as him.” His voice was low and controlled, which told me he was truly angry. “I can forgive Kelsey. She’s young. It’s in her nature to be arrogant. She could not have known this could happen. I blame myself. I’ve given her too much latitude. I preferred to be her lover rather than her trainer.”

“It isn’t your fault.” I tried to soothe him. I used my good hand to rub across his neck.

“And I blame you, Lieutenant,” Marcus continued, obviously unwilling to be comforted. “You knew who he was.”

“I can handle him.” Gray slapped at the dashboard. He wasn’t as good at controlling his anger as Marcus. When he turned our way, his eyes were turning violet. “My brother and I can handle Winter and I can protect Kelsey.”

“How can I possibly know this is true? Would you like to give me your brother’s name so I might be familiar with his strengths and abilities? He is a full blood?”

“He is.” Sloane turned onto the road that would take us home. “And you know I can’t give you his name. He’s going by Matthew on this plane for now.”

Marcus huffed, an aristocratic dismissal. “Yet you expect me to trust my Hunter with you? It will not happen. The deal we made previously is done, Sloane. I will be taking my Hunter back to Italy in the morning.”

“Marcus!” I couldn’t leave. Twenty-four hours before I would have given anything to be back in Italy. Now it sounded like the worst idea ever. I couldn’t leave things the way they were. I have a real thing about starting something. I had to finish it.

Something dangerous was going on, and I was the one to deal with it. It was kind of the point of me.

“No,” he said firmly. “I’m your trainer. This is a job I would be hesitant to send a seasoned Hunter into, much less a green girl.”

“Vorenus, I need her.” Sloane sounded almost savage. “Winter is expecting that I’ll bring Kelsey to his house. I can’t walk in there tomorrow without her.”

“You’ll have to handle it yourself.” Marcus’s arm tightened possessively around my waist. “She won’t be here.”

“Do you understand what’s at stake?” Sloane asked in a tight voice.

 Marcus shook his head, and he was all arrogance himself. “Lieutenant, you make a mistake if you believe that I care. Do you have any idea the horrors I’ve seen? This world is filled with them. There will always be wars whether it’s humans killing each other or demons slaughtering vampires. I’m finished with all of it. I protect what is mine. What happens to the rest is none of my concern.”