DANGEROUS

"Gabriel," Lux whispered as soon as I woke up in his arms. His voice was soaked in guilt. He nuzzled against me, "did I hurt you?"

I struggled to take his pain away, fighting for words that could describe how good he'd felt, but his blood was still working through me with every heartbeat and I could barely keep my words straight. "Love you… Can we… Please… More?"

Instantly, the worry on his face melted away. "Love you. Yes we. Definitely more.

God, I'm so glad I found you."

His voice was soft and warm, but his words were an alarm going off in my head.

"How did you find me?" It was a question I'd completely forgotten to ask. Until that moment, being back with him was the only thing I'd thought about.

I bit my lip as I waited for the answer. There were so many loose ends, and for all I knew, they were all unraveling.

He winced as he confessed, "When I was putting your suitcase in your car I hid my I-Pad under the seat."

"You tracked it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Then, with everything going sideways at the cookout, I just blamed us leaving on Greg. I told my dad and the Bannocks that you needed time away so we were getting out of town for a minute.

The Bannocks understood. My dad was kind of angry, but I wasn't giving him a choice and he knew it.

It wasn't a perfect way out, but I figured it would buy us time to deal – with whatever this was.

After that, I just started driving. All I could think about was trying to find you."

I stared up at him in disbelief. "You got here the same day I did?"

"Yeah. I showed up at the church and your car was right there in the parking lot.

I came in and I thought it was gonna be easy… it's just a church… I didn't know…"

He blinked and stared off into nothing, "The nuns kept saying that you weren't here. I started to lose it a little. I knew they were lying and I wasn't leaving without you.

I had my phone out and I was about to call the cops, but they stopped me and called Jules down. When I saw her," his face went blank as he got lost in the past, "it was the first time I thought you'd been telling the truth.

She looks like she's twelve," he swallowed hard, "but she's not a kid. The way she is, you can feel it."

He blinked again and concentrated on the pattern on the sheets. "She asked me a ton of questions that didn't matter. Then Aryl showed up, and I knew she'd just been stalling until he came.

But he didn't say anything. His eyes turned black and he stared at me, and I thought I wasn't going to get to you. I didn't think he was planning on letting me leave.

And then it was like a light bulb went off. His eyes kind of faded to blue – or more like purple – and he asked Jules what it would cost for her to 'change' me.

I didn't even know what that meant, but I thought it might give me a chance. I followed her to a room in the basement and- "

He stopped short, like he was telling me more than he'd meant to, something bad that he didn't want to remember.

My heart ached as I watched him swallow down the memory and take a deep breath.

"Lux, I'm so sorry."

"No. I don't know what made him change his mind, or why he had her make me into this, and right now, I don't even care."

He ran his hands softly through my hair. "Now I get to hear it when your heart beats faster for me. I get to taste how perfect you are when I have your blood. I get to love you forever. I get to be yours forever."

He'd always stared at me like I was something incredible, but now his stare was fueled by a hunger that made me ache inside.

I wrapped myself around him, "Yours?"

It was the only word that meant anything anymore. The rest of the world was spinning out of our control, but right then it didn't matter. Belonging to him was the only thing I needed.

He tipped his head to the side as his eyes glowed. "Mine." He said the word like it was a vow. "Always."

He stopped short just before our lips met. His expression darkened as he looked towards the door.

"Of course he'd come now." He spit out the name. " Aryl."

"So Gabriel's only a little worse for wear." Aryl eyed my ripped jeans, my shirt with missing buttons: the clothes Lux had nearly torn off of me when he'd bitten me the night before.

Lux's face tensed, but he kept his voice level. "You wanna tell us why you're here?"

Aryl shrugged, "I came to tell you that you're leaving. You two are joining a Slaughter as soon as you can."

Lux felt me shiver and held my hand tighter, "Slaughter?" he asked calmly.

"A Slaughter is a coven of Our Kind. There's hundreds of them in cities around the world living side-by-side with humans. Living like they are human.

To make sure the humans never catch on, each faction abides by the same strict rules.

Joining them won't protect you from Hephastien, but their rules will give you the upper hand."

Lux bristled, "Why would you even risk sending Gabriel there instead of keeping him here where he's safe?"

"Because I don't know how long I can keep him here before Hephastien gives up on killing him and comes after me instead. So either I spend the rest of time hiding from Hephastien," he grimaced, "or I find a way to kill him.

I choose kill. And I choose you to help me do it."

"That's why you had me changed me over?"

Aryl grinned condescendingly, "Who better than you? Who would be more willing to risk dying for Gabriel than you?"

Lux caught Aryl's mocking tone and shot back with conviction. "No one. If you're too scared to fight for him, I will."

Aryl raised an eyebrow, "Immortal and you still might die young." He shook his head. "According to Slaughter laws, Gabriel is property. He's owned by you, because you're the one bleeding him now, and by me, because he still has my fangs."

'Fangs'. The word was a wave, a flood of painful memories that rushed through my mind.

The same tide swept a look of confusion across Lux's face, then ebbed away. He stayed quiet as Aryl continued.

"That means the Slaughter won't let Hephastien lay a finger on Gabriel unless he can kill us first."

Lux didn't flinch. I choked down my fear.

"So if he wants to come for us, he'll have to wait until the date and time the Slaughter sets. That's it. It ends when he's dead or we are." Aryl turned his attention towards the fireplace.

"I'll be here in the Nunnery. So call me when he turns up."

"What if he doesn't?" I felt a flutter of hope. "What if he decides it's not worth the risk?"

"Trust me, Hephastien's crazy enough to take any risk. He's also crazy enough to make it a dangerous fight. Even with the two of us against him, he'll be hard to kill."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Still, it's worth the risk. If we win, I'll get my freedom, you'll get to keep your boyfriend and all of this will be over and done."

Lux growled, "I'll do it, but only if when this is 'over and done' we never see you again."

"You'll leave soon." Aryl said, staring at his nails like he was bored. "Jules will give you more instructions before you go.

In the meantime, remember to be careful with our property, Lux." His next words were punctuated with stark white fangs, "I really hate sharing my stuff."

He smirked then disappeared, leaving me to fall apart.

Lux caught me as my knees buckled, "Babe," he pulled me close, "It's gonna be okay."

I shook my head, "No, it's not. It's happening all over again. The more you're around me, the more you get hurt. You can't fight Hephastien. If Aryl's afraid of him, then he's way too dangerous. You have to find a way out!"

"-You're my way out. Out of a life I didn't want, out of a lie I was trapped in. I met you, and the way you saw me made me feel like I was good enough to just be myself.

Now that I have the chance to feel like that forever, it feels like the luckiest I've ever been in my life.

I'm gonna win this, because I'm meant to be with you. All you have to do is let me." He slid his hands up the back of my shirt.

"Yours?" He pleaded.

"Mine." I said, because there was no other answer. "Always."

GAMBIT

"We could just stay in bed." I said as I curled up against him. Safe under the blankets, he'd kissed away all the fear and panic that had threatened to take me over. I didn't want to move until we absolutely had to.

"But it's an orchard, and there's lights! They turn everything blue! I went there last night when you were sleeping and I couldn't wait to show you! It's something, one thing, that's not scary right now and you deserve that.

We'll only be gone for a little while. Please? I already called the nuns and got us clothes for it. I got you a jacket and everything."

I'd known from the start that I was going to give in, because I always did when it came to him. "Okay fine. But as soon as we get back to bed we get to- "

I didn't even have to finish my sentence.

"-For hours."

I yanked at my puffy coat, "I look like a dork."

"No, you don't," he said as he pulled my hood up and tied my scarf, "You look like a rational human being that doesn't want to get frostbite. A rational, adorable human being."

I sighed, "It's not the South Pole."

"It's November in Toledo! It's literally colder than the South Pole. Besides, this is gonna be worth it! Trust me."