“Shit, Eve, you saved my bacon.” I jerked upright and then to my feet. “Faris, did—”

“Marco grabbed him. We all made it, even if we’re a bit worse for the wear.” She fluttered her wings, drawing my attention to burnt edges of her pinion feathers. When did that happen? We were lucky. Two dragons too cocky for their own good. No, that wasn’t true. The demons were cocky. I had a feeling if it had been true dragons we might not have survived, but the demons wouldn’t know how to be a dragon. Not really.

Eve ducked her head. “Marco and I won’t be able to fly right away. A day or so is what we need to heal. Maybe less if we’re lucky.” She flicked the tip of one wing toward the three boys and Berget. Marco’s right wing hung at a bad angle. Like bent in the middle where there was no joint. I winced. “I have to exchange blood with Faris, then I will Track the Great Wolf. I can confirm the direction for you then.”

She bobbed her head and I limped toward the others. There seemed to be a rather heated conversation going on that escalated into a pushing shoving match between Faris and Alex, of all people.

The werewolf lunged, his teeth just missing Faris’s thigh. The vampire stepped back and I saw the intent.

“Don’t you dare touch him, Faris!” I broke into an awkward jog that jarred every bone in my body.

Faris took a step back, his body stiff. “I will not play bottom of the pile to a submissive.”

I rolled my eyes and came to a stop between them. “I’m not asking you to.”

Berget’s eyes met mine and she gave a slight shake of her head. Later. She mouthed to me. Great. What else could go wrong?

Time to give everyone a job. “Alex, do a sweep of the area, make sure we’re safe and see if you can find a road or something.” He closed one eye and peered at Faris, snorting softly before he walked away. Of course, he couldn’t leave it at that. He had to kick dirt with his back feet at Faris as he trotted away. The dirt hit Faris’s pants legs. He looked at me and I shrugged. “What do you expect? You’re trying to take over Liam’s place, and Alex fought for me when Liam first stepped into my life. You aren’t even a wolf to take over as an alpha. Of course he doesn’t like you.”

I looked around for a spot to do the blood exchange, somewhere we weren’t alone but that I didn’t have to stand. My back was fucking killing me.

“Just come here,” Faris reached for me and pulled me toward him, being surprisingly gentle. Before I could say anything his fangs were in my neck and he was drinking me down. His fingers traced the lower edge of my spine, the places that ached as if he knew just where I hurt. Each touch soothed away the bruises, the breaks in the skin, the tendons and muscles that had been pulled. Liam’s scent, that clean woodsy smell, a hint of wolf musk under it that I would always associate with him curled around me, and I breathed it in deeply. Filled my lungs with it as if I could hold it there.

His mouth un-suctioned from my neck and traveled down to my collarbone, biting at the edge without breaking the skin. His fingers dug into the bottom of my ass, pulling me against his body.

Liam. All I could see was Liam, his golden eyes above me. Couldn’t think of anything except the building pressure in my lower region and then a sense of horror. This was Faris, not Liam. Shit. I was not going to climax from this. I was not.

Oh, fuck. I jerked away from him as the peak reached for me. Falling to my knees, I slapped a hand to my neck, staunching the blood flow as well as hiding the struggle I had to breathe normally.

Faris let out a groan, leaning forward with his hands on his thighs. The way he shifted his legs, I knew his pants were suddenly too tight. He lifted his eyes to mine. “You’re killing me.”

“Good,” I whispered. I didn’t know how much longer I could do this. I closed my eyes, the images of the two men merging inside my head. Liam’s soul. Faris’s body. Even now, Liam’s essence called to me.

“Rylee, you still have to take my blood.”

Damn, I’d conveniently forgotten. He dipped his mouth to the crook of his elbow, cutting his skin with his fang. Jaw tight, I took his arm and put my mouth over the shallow cut. Vanilla ice cream, smooth and velvety, rolled down my throat.

“It isn’t chocolate for you, is it?” His voice was in my ear and I shook my head. I had to take at least a couple of minutes’ worth of blood for it to be enough, and after how quickly the first batch had worn off, I was going to take more.

Which kept me in rather close proximity to Faris after that almost-sex. Almost-sex, how did that even happen? Faris kept his free arm around my waist, his mouth at my ear.

“I wouldn’t have left you, Rylee. I would have found a way to close the veil and keep both you and the child safe.”

His words were a slap and I backed away from him, my mouth hanging open. “Don’t you say one more fucking word. Not one!”

He smiled at me. “It’s the difference between me and him. He’s a martyr. I’m a survivor. You would never lose me.”

I pulled a sword, hating that my hand trembled. “I mean it. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

His eyes flared gold for a moment before the color was quelled by the blue once more. Liam was in there, but for how much longer? I turned my back on him and strode away.

“Alex. Let’s get our asses out of here.” I set a thread to Track the Great Wolf. He was to the south about fifty miles, and I told Eve where he was. She gave me a sleepy bob of her head and then tucked her head under her wing.