The pounding stopped. Silence, punctuated only by her heaving breaths. Carefully, Cassie crept over so that she could see the security feed once more. Trace had set up cameras all around the perimeter of the place. He wasn’t a fan of being caught off guard.

Neither was Cassie. She kept the gun in her right hand. A few taps of the keyboard had the image on the screen splitting and then shifting focus so she could see from the four cameras that were positioned around the property.

Camera one—at her back door—showed nothing. Where had the vampires gone?

Camera two—the lens that should be focused on the street—showed . . . a vampire. There you are. His fangs came toward the camera and the image turned to static.

Her heart beat faster.

Camera three—on the front of the building. She didn’t see any vampires there, but—

Wait. Yes she did she them. Their shadows were crawling along the warehouse’s roof. She heard the scratches above her—from their claws?

Camera four . . . she leaned toward the screen. That camera was locked on the second floor of the warehouse, on the windows to the left.

The windows that were—

She heard the shatter of glass, and the scratches and rustles suddenly became much louder.

The vampires weren’t outside any longer. They were inside. And they were coming for her.

She moved quickly, putting her back against the nearest wall. They were coming down the stairs, so she’d be ready for them.

“Get out of here!” Cassie yelled up to them. “I don’t want to hurt you!” She didn’t. Her job was to help, to cure.

Not to kill.

She’d left the killing to her father. The guy had pretty much made it his life’s work. She was trying to pick up the pieces and mend the lives that he’d torn apart.

The vampires rushed down the stairs. Their fangs were out, fully extended, and hunger twisted their faces.

That was what her blood did. It made them desperate. Drunk.

Crazed.

Her blood soaked shirt was still in the bathroom, so she wasn’t surprised when the first vampire ignored her entirely and ran in there.

But the second and the third? They locked their hungry gazes on her . . . and advanced.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Cassie repeated again. “Please, leave.”

The vampire closest to her, a man with blond hair who looked like he was barely twenty, just laughed. “But I don’t want to leave.” He lifted his hands. The guy was sporting wickedly sharp claws. “And I do want to hurt you.” He leapt toward her.

She shot him.

Dante froze as the thunder of a gunshot echoed in his ear. He was in the middle of the warehouse district, walking through the night, trying not to look back—

But that gunshot had come from behind him.

Cassie?

He heard the roar of another gunshot. Another.

He didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. He just turned and ran back to her.

No one takes her from me.

Even when he walked away from her.

I’m coming. Hold on, Cassie. Hold on.

As he ran, another image flashed through his mind. A memory. He’d had flashes before, like scenes straight from a movie that he watched instead of lived. And in this scene . . .

Blood covered Cassie’s chest. She stared up at him, emotion filling her beautiful eyes. An emotion that he didn’t want to face.

“It’s . . . okay . . . ”

He could barely make out her words. But he knew she was lying. Cassie was such a terrible liar.

The wounds on her body were too deep. There was too much blood.

She would never survive.

He could save her. He had to save her. There was no way that Cassie could die.

Only . . .

The life drained from her eyes. He saw it vanish. “No!” His roar. He yanked her against him. Held her as close to his body as he could. Her blood soaked his shirt and his skin.

She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving.

He was too late.

She was gone.

The image vanished as swiftly as it had appeared, leaving behind the bitter taste of fear in Dante’s mouth. He wouldn’t be too late. Couldn’t be.

He pushed himself, desperate to rush back to the woman that he’d so foolishly left moments before.

He reached the back door. Tried to swipe his hand over the hidden keypad that Cassie had used before. But the damn door wouldn’t open.

Another shot thundered.

“Cassie!” Dante yelled her name.

He heard snarls and shouts and . . .

“Help!” Her voice. She was still alive. She’d better stay that way.