Those damn "what ifs..?" and the even more intriguing "and THENs!"

Yeah.

If you want to believe he ate her, I'm really okay with that. Don't read any more. That's what I wanted to happen until I actually started writing these two. And then... (see above)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Agony scorched every nerve ending in my body. I screamed, soundlessly, as his mouth clamped over my throat, cutting off air, cutting off blood flow. No, not cutting it off; diverting it. Siphoning it.

Drinking it in great, greedy gulps.

My hands beat feebly on his rock-hard, straining shoulders, but I had no strength to fight. Wet snarling and moaning rose from under my ear, and he clutched me tighter, driving the last of the air out of my lungs. The bastard really wasn't going to stop. Waves of pain overwhelmed me. When trying to shriek did no good, I gritted my teeth and hung on.

Just a few more seconds. Just a little longer. I could do it, if for no other reason than to see the look on the son of a bitch's face when…

A low whine vibrated the ravaged flesh of my neck. He broke away with a gasp, his ice-cold breath gusting against me as his tongue lapped up the rivulets of blood and caressed the gaping wound. His tall frame shook violently, and he jerked back to stare at me with long-lashed eyes gone wide and then narrowing.

I took my first gulping breath since he grabbed me, my vision dimming with pain and unholy fire racing gleefully through my body. I fought the flames back, my determination to see my actions through overriding my body's physical demands to collapse, give in, surrender.

Never. No vampire would ever get the best of me. No vampire could.

"What—" he breathed. "I—You…"

He staggered forward, taking me with him as he clutched me to his body, which had gone still as stone. I fought to remain limp in his arms until the drug took effect, fighting both the pain that stiffened my muscles and also my self-preservation instincts. Both demanded I drop to the ground howling and curl into a ball.

He stumbled again with a growl, fighting his own internal battle—one he would lose. His arms trembled and grew weak before finally dropping from around my torso. I took an unsteady step back, my gaze locked on his, and watched with great satisfaction as he crashed to his knees.

"You really didn't think I'd trust you, did you?"

Was that my voice, so rough and uneven? I tried to clear my throat and gasped at the burning, grating agony. My hand flew up to clutch at my neck, only to encounter a rough, raised wound, ragged-edged but sealed. I couldn't risk looking away from his furious glare, but I didn't feel any wet or open skin. The last greedy swipe of his tongue must have contained enough venom to close the bite.

Good.

"What—What did you…how?" Confusion cleared from his glittering gold eyes as the drug coursed through his body—carried by my blood, damn it—and realization dawned. "You bitch."

The last was said with grudging admiration, so I didn't take offense. I'd called him a lot worse in my head the last few seconds and meant every word.

"You didn't think I wouldn't take every precaution, did you? Really? I'm disappointed."

My satisfaction grew when he sagged forward, catching himself on one arm. He could fight all he wanted, with every last bit of his incredible strength, but it would do no good. He and his kind may have manipulated and lied to us, to the Institute, but one thing I was absolutely sure of was the efficacy of the drug we had developed to capture vampires in the first place.

"Ever since I decided I would come into your cell, be with you face-to-face, touch you, I've been drinking the drug we use to capture your kind. It has no effect on humans, and we've worked hard to make it undetectable to vampires. I didn't know about your mind reading—I guess there's a lot about you I didn't know—but at least I know for a fact you weren't lying when you said your ability doesn't work on me. I've been affecting my blood, just in case, because it's my nature to not trust vampires. I've spent my entire life dedicated to studying you. As much as I wanted to believe—as much as I did believe—I know better. I'm smarter than that, Edward. You should have realized."

A wave of pain shattered my delight in besting the smartest, the most conniving vampire I'd ever come across. Edward's lids fluttered as he collapsed to the floor, fighting to keep his vengeful gaze locked on mine until he succumbed to the drug and passed into unconsciousness.

I released my ponytail, thankful for the length of my hair as I pulled it around my neck to hide the bite wound. A quick glance down showed a smattering of blood on my shirt, so I closed my still-pristine white lab coat and lifted the collar as a secondary precaution against the evidence of what had occurred in the cell. The steadily increasing waves of pain from the vampire venom coursing through my body would be more difficult to hide, but I could manage. I would manage. I would see my drastic and foolhardy, but oh, so necessary actions through.

"Dr. Swan?" A voice came over the intercom as security overrode audio and video controls to open communication inside the cell. They wouldn't come in until they'd assessed the situation, as procedure dictated they not to risk their lives. The security team had no quick way to disable a vampire, but I did. I had.

Now for the most daring performance of my life.

"Everything's fine."

I turned toward the rapidly clearing barrier between the cell and observation room. A security team stood behind the control panel, and I could hear another out in the hall. The man standing at the controls swept the cell with assessing eyes, settling on Edward's prone form before focusing unerringly on me.

"Dr. Swan? What's going on? Are you all right?"

"I am. I'm sorry to have alarmed you."

I moved with slow deliberation toward Edward, clenching my teeth against the waves of agony radiating throughout my body. Sweat popped out on my upper lip, and I wiped surreptitiously at the telltale sign as I struggled to turn his heavy but unresisting body onto his back.

"As you can see, the vampire is incapacitated."

The locks clicked on the door, and five men swept into the room. Two flanked me, while the other three moved to cautiously circle Edward's still body.

"Dr. Swan, why did you enter the cell?" The man standing on my right leaned closer in an attempt to assert his authority, but he didn't know whom he dealt with.

"I'm in the middle of conducting groundbreaking research on this particular subject. He was hiding something of vital importance to that study, so I knocked him out to search his cell."

The lie was flimsy, but by the time anyone, particularly William, thought it through, the facts would no longer be of any consequence to me.

"After hours?" The man appeared skeptical, and I took a deep breath to ward off the pain rolling in great pulses in time with my heartbeat.

"Are you questioning my methods, Officer…Clearwater?"

"No, ma'am. But I am going to have to report this to my section chief and Dr. Black."

"Of course you will." I dismissed his words with an airy flick of my wrist, imagining fire shooting out of my fingertips. If only the flames eating me from the inside out were that easy to get rid of. "Until then, could you please have this vampire placed in a containment cage and taken to the disposal chamber? I'm afraid he's outlived his usefulness. I've got him scheduled to be eliminated first thing in the morning."

"Of course, Dr. Swan."

He gave me a speculative once-over, but I lifted my chin and swept out of the cell.

Six more chaps, about another 18k words.

Thank you guys so much for reading.

Thanks to SunKing and Sarahsumbrella for beta-ing and critiquing.