An hour later, I found myself sitting in the passenger seat of an old work van, listening to Breyona recount the moments before she vanished from Giovanni’s bedroom and reappeared in the forest.

Calling her name back in the forest seemed to trigger her human side. She’d quickly shifted and accepted Tristan’s shirt before scaling the hill and finding us a ride. By the time she pulled up with the van, whose paint was peeling so badly I almost missed the picture of the plunger on the side, Tristan and I had hauled Dina most of the way.

The Vampire who had helped save my life was still unconscious. Her heartbeat was muffled, not nearly as strong as it should’ve been, but all that mattered was that it was there.

Not only had Breyona gone the extra mile by helping Tristan and I carry Dina the rest of the way, but she’d also offered up some of her blood to help speed their healing.

“I was laying in bed when I heard screaming, but it was in my head. It wasn’t like the mind-link, though. It wa