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  I spun, turning to face the thick wall of muscle. The human’s eyes widened as the Saint came alive. The burn was instant, tearing along my veins to spill from my skin as the light from the Saint splashed the wall and leaked into the hallway.

  The guard dropped his hand and reached for his eyes. “Jesus Christ!”

  “Easy,” I warned, but it wasn’t to the human.

  A sickening snarl rippled. My Dragon pushed to the surface, fighting for control.

  Energy pulsed, reaching deeper into the hallway and spilling into the rooms.

  A low muffled cry cut from the darkened room, followed by another and then another, until the chorus of patients filled my ears.

  My body hummed with power, like a live wire searching for a spark of metal. I wanted to incinerate and blind. The Saint took one thunderous step closer. A gust of a breath flooded my ears.

  “No more,” I growled and stumbled for the automatic doors. “Enough!”

  The doors slid open and the cold night air rushed in. Still he pushed against the edges, forcing light into the darkened corners of my mind.

  I slammed my palm against my temple. “Saint…stop.”

  The ground blurred at my feet as I weaved across the pathway, clutching the keys to the Jeep.

  “I can’t. I can’t see a damn thing.”

  The rush of his breath drowned out everything.

  Go to her…now!

  Panic filled me, crowding out everything else.

  “Hey! Get back here!”

  I wrenched my gaze over my shoulder. The guard careened out of the doors, holding his hands over his eyes. I could’ve blinded him. “Let me see for God’s sake.”

  The blazing glow eased, pulling into the center of my mind. I drove my heels against the pavement and lunged for the dark shape of my truck.

  What the fuck was going on?

  My damn hand shook as I stabbed the buttons. The locks released with a thump. I yanked the handle and dove inside. “You could’ve blinded them. You could’ve brought down the entire damn hospital. What the Hell is going on with you?”

  A low moan ripped through my head. I shoved the key into the ignition and twisted. This wasn’t him. This wasn’t me. A dull glow replaced the glare as I backed out of the hospital parking lot and shoved the car into first. By the time I hit the main road, the Saint was nothing more than a presence inside my head.

  “What was that?”

  A timid snarl came from a quiet corner of my mind. I don’t know.

  I sucked in the cold air and spun the wheel. It’d been three thousand years since the Saint wanted to take over this flesh and blood.

  Three thousand years…

  “Why now?”

  The sudden inhale made me flinch. He was close, so close my shoulders tensed waiting for the weight of his wings.

  You know why, he answered. You want her too.

  I swallowed hard and stared at the city streets. I could lie to anyone—anyone but him.

  “We just check on her and we’re gone.” My empty words filled the space. “We don’t want to drag her back into this mess.”

  The Saint never answered.

  “Did you hear me?”

  The streets were quiet outside the medical center. I pulled up against the curb and stared at the sprawling homely looking place with its wraparound verandas and its pretty gardens. Ambient lights glowed inside.

  I yanked the handle and shoved open the door. This was a bad idea. Even if the doc was home, she’d be asleep. I shoved the door closed and hit the button. My whole body shook as I took the first step and found my way along the walkway to the stairs.

  A gold plaque glinted as I neared the door. I stared at the engraving, Angel Home - Research and Pediatric Center

  I flinched and took a step backwards. The goddamn woman ran a hospital for sick kids. No wonder she fought, no wonder she bled—all for the children. I’d been here only once before, not long after Joslyn gave birth. I didn’t take much notice in the place, or the doc.

  Not then. But now I did. I lifted my gaze to the soft light that filled the foyer.

  You came to see her and now she’s gone. So just leave.

  The last thing this woman needed was a damn reminder of that goddamn brutal attack.

  And that reminder was me.

  I turned from the door and glanced to the car. As I took a step toward the stairs, the night wind picked up, carrying with it the faint stench of old blood.

  Vampire.

  Hate rose, cutting through honorable intentions. I jerked my gaze toward the doorway and my feet followed. There was no intercom, nothing to get their goddamn attention. I pressed the handle and the door gave way, swinging inward hard enough to slam against the wall.

  “What the fuck?”

  Who leaves a door unlocked in the middle of the night? The biting scent of alcohol flooded my nose, but underneath the sting lingered the sick coppery smell of an undead.

  Goddamn sonofabitch.

  The room where Joslyn had the babies was dark and quiet. I followed the hallway right, soft lights lit up the way past a bank of chairs to a lonely desk.

  A soft sob slipped into the hallway. I glanced along the rooms, focusing to my right, until the whimper came again. I wrenched my gaze left, to a single door. A bright fluorescent light spilled through the cracks and as I neared, the stench of an undead grew stronger.

  Someone was here…

  I scanned the darkened corners as my pulse sped.

  The muffled moan came again. I knew that sound. My mouth turned dry as an ache flared in the center of my chest.

  The world moved in slow motion as I punched the door and stepped into the light.

  Stainless steel sparkled as I scanned the empty lounge, and then lowered my gaze.

  She sat in the middle of the floor, hunched over, staring at the remnants of a shattered cup in her hands. The foul odor was a fist around my throat.

  “Doc?” I forced the word free. “Doc, are you okay?”

  She flinched at the sound of my voice and yanked her gaze high. Tears glistened, sliding down her cheeks. Her unfocused gaze stared right through me, until she found her cupped hands once more.

  For a second I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do a damn thing but stare. Relief and guilt nailed me to the spot, until the need to touch her overwhelmed everything else.

  I crossed the floor to fall to my knees in front of her. “Can you hear me? Doc, can you hear me?”

  She looked like a goddamn ghost, sitting there shaking. I licked my lips and lifted my hand. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her, but I had to know…

  I had to fucking know.

  Her hair slid over the back of my fingers as I brushed the strands aside. The thick white gauze was still taped across her neck. There was no blood, nothing fresh. I checked the other side and scanned the neckline of her shirt.

  My fingers never moved, still hovering at the base of her neck. “Okay. You’re okay now.”

  The ceramic clinked in her shaking hands. She could do nothing but stare at the shattered remains.

  The tips of my fingers brushed the ridge of her collarbone. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  Her lips parted, a soft hiss of breath escaped. But there were no words, nothing to ease the trapped desperation inside.

  “Doc…” I licked my lips and eased closer. “Doc?”

  She lifted her head and caught my gaze. Her brown eyes widened. Her breath caught. I waited for her to pull away, waited for anything but the distance in her eyes.

  I closed my eyes and leaned in. The kiss was barely there, just a brush of soft lips before I pulled away.

  “Talk to me. I can smell Vampire all through the room.”

  And yet I couldn’t wait for her words. I couldn’t wait for a damn thing. Careful fingers skimmed under her hair to find the back of her neck. I pulled her close and leaned in. Those cracked lips moved, allowing the kiss to deepen.

  God help me, I took all she
had to give.

  Desire coursed through my body and lingered in my chest. She tasted of mint and smelled of sorrow. I wanted to take every ounce of her pain and replace it with something else.

  I closed my eyes and took her mouth again.

  In the darkness, he waited.

  In the darkness, he watched.

  Blinding green eyes found me and I knew what he wanted then. I knew it as I knew tomorrow would come, and this was my tomorrow. This human woman with her shattered cup and her broken spirit.

  I can heal her, my Dragon whispered. I can make her mine.

  Soft lips found the corners of mine. Her tongue sneaked into my mouth with a bold caress, and then she was gone, pushing against the hold of my hand—breaking the connection.

  I dropped my hold and eased away. Still the Saint wanted. Still he yearned.

  I saved her. She belongs to me.

  “Can you speak now?” I stared at those lips and my body came alive. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  The doc blinked and it was as though a light was tripped. She sucked in a breath, wrenched her gaze to the doorway, and then back to me. “No. It was nothing.”

  I ground my teeth, and the muscles of my jaw flared. “I wouldn’t call a damn Vampire nothing, Angel. Did he hurt you? Did he scare you?”

  Her hair scattered, falling around her eyes as she shook her head. I could see the truth rising, hovering on the tip of her tongue, until she stilled. Those dark eyes dulled.

  “You can talk to me. I…”

  I was losing her…

  Say it. Say it or I will…

  “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” I murmured and curled the strands of her hair around her ear. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  “No.” She glanced behind me to the door. “I don’t… I don’t need you here.”

  The shattered pieces chinked as she piled them into one hand and shoved against the floor. She stumbled. Her damn knees locked, and then released.

  I grasped her arm and rose from the floor. “Easy there, Doc.”

  She shuddered and shook, falling into me. My arms went around her, finding the thick dressings across her back and the slender curve of her waist.

  The memory of that night reared black and infernal to stain this moment. Blood. So much blood. It coated my fingers and clung to my skin, still I couldn’t shake the image from my mind.

  “Let me take care of you,” I murmured and lowered my face to her hair. “No one will hurt you again. I promise.”

  “I…I can’t.” She pulled away from me and took a step toward the sink.

  “Why?” I took a step closer.

  Her chest rose with a shudder, still she didn’t turn to look at me.

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  “Yes,” she snapped, and then slowly shook her head. “No.”

  Fire licked the inside of my ribs and traveled south with a carnal need. I wanted to look into her eyes. I wanted to taste her mouth. I wanted to see what was under that sterile white jacket and those baggy clothes.

  But this wasn’t just about sex. It was about her. I wanted to heal her. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to take her to the misty place of the Saint and let him—

  Let him…

  Energy coursed through my veins. He was too close now. Riding the edge that divided us. Light flared deep down in the darkness of my mind, and slowly pulsed.

  My cock twitched. My fingers ached. I could almost taste her body, almost find her soul.

  “So, this place is for kids,” I growled, but my voice wasn’t my own.

  Bring her to me, my Dragon whispered.

  My legs shook as I stumbled to the closest table. He never wanted this flesh and bones—not for a long time.

  “Why now?”

  You know why.

  Angel dumped the shattered cup into the bin, and moved to the sink oblivious to my fight for control. “Yes, it’s for kids who come to die.”

  A sickening sound filled my head. My Dragon whimpered in mourning.

  I dragged myself back into the moment and tried to find the words. “How?”

  Water splashed against her hand, washing the unseen shards from her skin. She stared at her fingers, turning them over and over under the flow while the seconds passed.

  I stared at the rush. I felt the whirlpool inside my head, taking me under and all the way down as she finally spoke.

  “When I was ten my little sister was diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia. By the time we found out, it was already too late.” She raised her head to stare at the wall. “Not that there’s hope anyway. I wasn’t much older at the time and I remember visiting her in the hospital with all the tubes and the machines and the cold, and knowing in my ten-year-old heart that the reason she wasn’t getting better was because there was no sun…there was no joy. There was nothing like home. So that’s what I created, a home away from home.”

  Her words died as she bumped the tap and ended the flow. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be talking like this. Nothing good ever comes of it. I should be working. Should be finding…”

  She was fast, swiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry, I…”

  Her fake smile trembled at the corners. She glanced to the door and took a step. “Thanks for the…”

  The kiss?

  Was I dismissed? I licked my lips, still tasting hers…still needing hers. I could still feel the warmth of her skin under my fingers, still feel desire like it was my second skin.

  But the Saint needed something else, something deeper than flesh could give. I couldn’t let her pull away from me, not now—not ever.

  “I want to know about this place, and about you.” I followed her through the door and into a sterile room filled with machines and computers.

  Her shoulders stiffened, still she kept moving, cutting around the corner to a workstation.

  “Doc, stop. Stop running away.”

  She spun and splayed her hands on either side against the desk. Deep brown eyes widened, and that tiny crook in her throat trembled.

  I took a step, drawn by something deeper than the both of us. “I want to know everything you love, everything you hate. I want to know your pain, and your pleasure. Let me in, Doc. Please, just let me in.”

  Her brown eyes widened. Lips trembled as she whispered. “No one ever stays, do they?”

  It was the way she watched me. The way she spoke. The way she kept everyone away, as though they couldn’t touch her…as though nothing could touch her.

  Not this woman, not this warrior.

  Power coursed through my veins as I took a step. “Who doesn’t stay?”

  “Everyone.” Her harsh croak ripped free. “Meg, my parents, my Dragon, my wolf—everyone.”

  An ache flared, twisting and turning inside my chest. She looked so vulnerable, like the tiny shards of ceramic that rested in the bin. I reached out and grazed my thumb across her cheek. She flinched from the connection, and yet there was a need in her gaze.

  The same need that raged within me.

  Closer, my Dragon whispered. Bring her closer.

  “I try.” Her eyes shimmered. “I try so hard.”

  The tear slipped, cascading down to skirt the edge of my thumb. I brushed the slick trail across her cheek and then down her jaw, to caress those perfect lips.

  The cracks in the corners of her mouth brightened under my touch. Dappled light so soft she barely even noticed skimmed the edges and then drifted to her cheek. My Dragon was here, pushing to the surface, taking what he wanted.

  This time there was no stopping him.

  He’d wanted her all along.

  Her lips parted, ready for me this time, and with each second the light from my fingers grew brighter, as though this wasn’t my touch at all, and these weren’t my fingers.

  They were his.

  I drew away from her skin and the light continued, sliding, caressing, taking the path I felt compelled to take.

  She closed her eyes, opening her mout
h at the last minute. The incandescent throb took her mouth like a kiss.

  A tingle raced across my lips, as though the Saint and I were one and the same, and yet in my heart I knew right now she needed him more.

  This wasn’t a moment for the physical. That would come in time.

  This was all about her.

  The slow ebb carried across her cheeks, and then kissed her closed eyes and slipped lower. God she looked so beautiful, standing like that, her lips parted, so vulnerable…so exposed.

  The sudden rush of my Dragon’s breath filled my ears.

  Closer, he murmured as the glow skirted her temple, her ear, and slipped under her jaw.

  The gleaming shine grew brighter, dragging a soft sigh from parted lips. Her hair skimmed her shoulders and fell behind as she tilted her head.

  “That’s the way,” I murmured as flames of desire licked deep.

  The misty place floated to the surface of my mind. He waited there, drawing her deeper as the light followed the groove of her vein to the edge of her collarbone.

  An incandescent hue glanced the swell her breast, kissing, touching, finding the cusp of her nipple before it was gone. She shuddered, keeping her eyes closed, and I knew she could see it now…see that place where the real me waited.

  “Let me in,” the Saint murmured. “Let me in, Angel.”

  The flicker came again, touching her breast, and taking her mouth. I found the long wide gashes across her back, and the deep incision in her side. I kissed every hurt and licked every wound. I was everywhere, her heart, her mind, and still I wanted more.

  Heat rushed, burning hotter than I’d felt in so long.

  I closed my eyes and found her in that place where the fog rested at my feet. Here I would give her what she wanted, me and my Dragon were one.

  Where there was no pain for her…where there was only pleasure.

  I sucked in a breath and it was his chest that moved. His wings that lifted, dragging talons across the ground, only to slice the air.

  My shoulders tensed, feeling the weight.

  In this moment, we were one and the same.

  The Saint and the sinner.

  A soft whimper slipped from her lips, sounding lonely, needing…desperate. I splayed my wings around her and closed in, drawing her closer to me.

  Let me in, Angel.