Shifting my shoulder under Ivy's arm, we started for my car. Her feet dragged through the puddle of antifreeze, and she was starting to pant. Leaving her leaning against the hood of my car, I opened it. She mumbled for her purse, and after helping her inside, I went back for it. I looked up at the click of a safety going off, but they couldn't shoot me if I was just walking away.

"Ma'am!" the man tried again, and my blood pressure spiked. But a second voice intruded.

"Let her go. She's been shunned."

A bitter sensation filled me, but no one stopped me. "Hold on, Ivy," I whispered as I got in my car and reached across to shut her door. "The hospital is right next door."

"Rynn Cormel," she said, eyes closed as tears coursed down her face. "Take me to Rynn. I don't care about him. He's just a vampire."

Just a vampire? I hesitated, then fumbled with the key twice before I got it in the ignition and the car came to life. Around us, the security people were having fits. Apparently Tom had gotten away, and they didn't have the authority to detain me.

"Rynn," Ivy said, staring at me, her head propped up against the door. Her eyes were glassy, and hunger sent a shiver through me. It was starting to take hold. If not for her weakened state, she'd be having a much harder time.

"Okay," I said, sniffing back my tears. I knew how she felt. She didn't want to be this person, but to survive, she had to be. "I won't let him hurt you."

"Please hurry," she said, shutting her eyes as they turned a full, hungry, vampire black. Her long pianist's hand clenched on the door handle, and she pressed herself as far away from me as she could.

Lights on, I pulled out and headed for the exit. The speedometer crept upward, and I waited for a dizzy feeling, but it never came. Apparently Mia hadn't taken enough from me to affect my balance, but a quick tap on a ley line told me I was still compromised and I dropped it before I threw up from the pain.

"Call him." Ivy's voice sent a chill through me. It was low and sultry, in wide contrast to her weakened state. "Use my phone."

I was starting to see some traffic, and at a red light, I pulled her purse to me, finding her slim phone and opening it up. Five bars. How come my phone never has five bars? Eyeing the bright screen and the traffic light both, I scrolled through the numbers, then hit "RC."

My heart pounded, and as the phone rang, the light changed and I pulled out into a snow-rimmed street. I didn't get more than fifteen feet before the line clicked open and a cultured, interested voice said, "Yes, Ivy?"

Shit. I jiggled the phone closer, gunning the engine to make the next yellow light. "Ivy's been hurt," I said tersely. "She needs blood."

Rynn Cormel made an odd sound. "Then give it to her, Rachel."

Son of a bastard. "She doesn't want my blood!" I said, looking at her and seeing her in pain. "She wants you. I'm bringing her to you, but I don't know if she can make it." I wiped my eyes when the streetlights went blurry. "That damn banshee got her. You're going to keep her alive, or so help me, I'm going to kill you, Rynn Mathew Cormel. Don't mess with me on this. I mean it! I can't save her soul yet. I need more time."

I didn't care if I sounded like a demon, using all three of his names like that. Managing the icy roads, I heard the undead vampire take a slow breath he didn't need. "Take the I-75 bridge. We'll find you."

The phone clicked off, and I tossed it in the direction of Ivy's purse. Blinking furiously, I clamped my hands on the wheel and pushed down on the accelerator. Horns blew as I tore through town, but the FIB guys wouldn't stop me and the I.S. didn't care anymore.

"Hold on," I said through gritted teeth as I took a turn too fast, having to push on her shoulder to keep her from falling into me.

Ivy's eyes opened as my hand touched her, and fear plinked through me. "Hurry," she panted. "Rachel, I'd rather die than bite you now. Please hurry. I don't know how long I can stop myself. It hurts. Oh God…She took everything."

"It's going to be okay," I said as I saw a sign for bridge traffic. "He's coming. We're almost there."

She was silent, and then a ragged "Are you okay?" came out of her.

Astonished, I looked across the car. She was worried about me? "I'm fine," I said, beeping my horn to keep some guy from pulling out in front of me. He rocked to a halt, and after I swerved around him, I looked at her, brow furrowed. "Ivy, why did you do it? You should have let her go. She's a freaking banshee!"

"This was my fault," she panted, her eyes dropping to the coin, still clenched in her fist. "Mia, Remus, everything. It was my fault that Mia learned how to kill people with impunity. And she hurt you. I'll take care of this. You can't risk yourself anymore."

"You're going to take care of her alone?" I said, feeling distant and unreal inside. "This is as much my fault as yours. I gave you the wish in the first place. We're going to get her, Ivy, but not apart. We have to do it together." Who am I kidding? It would take a demon to take down a banshee. But then again…

She didn't say anything, but her expression behind the hunger was determined. I flicked the heater on, and a blast of warm air billowed out. In the distance, I saw the lights of an oncoming car flashing. Relief so strong it hurt washed through me. I could tell it was a Hummer by the spacing of the lights. It was them. It had to be. "I see them!" I exclaimed, and Ivy tried to smile. Her teeth were clenched and her eyes were wild, and it twisted my heart to see her red-rimmed, pain-filled eyes as she struggled.

Fumbling, I put on my own flashers and pulled into a fast-food place. Two cars pulled in behind me, black in the streetlight. I came to a halt, not slamming on the brakes, but close. Before I could put the car in park, two men were at Ivy's door. There was a crack of breaking metal, and the door swung open, the lock broken.

Vampire incense rolled into the car, and with a savage sound, Ivy lunged for the man stooping to pick her up. I turned away, tears falling. I heard a groan, and when I looked back, the second man with them was supporting the first as he carried Ivy back to the black Hummer. She was on his neck, blood slipping past her lips. The second man opened the door for them, and Ivy and the man she was clutching to her vanished inside. He turned to look at me, his expression unreadable, before he followed them in and closed the door.

The snow fell between us, and I sat there, my passenger-side door open, staring out my front window, hands on the wheel and crying. Ivy had to be all right. She had to be. This is so messed up.

A soft tap on my window jerked my attention away and I looked to see Rynn Cormel standing outside my closed door. His cashmere coat had the collar turned up against the snow and the hat on his head was just showing the first few flakes. He looked good standing there, but the memory of his callous treatment of me—me and Ivy, actually—was too new for me to be taken in. He was an animal, and now I understood what Ivy had meant when she'd said, "He's just a vampire."

Though wealthy, powerful, and attractive, he was nothing, not worth anyone's love or affection. I wouldn't allow Ivy to become like that.

Wiping my nose, I rolled down my window. I was numb inside.

Rynn Cormel bent over so our faces were closer. Seeing me in a state, he pulled a handkerchief from an inside pocket and handed it to me. "Why didn't you let her bite you instead of all this drama?" he said, his gaze flicking to the unmoving Hummer. "All she needs is blood."

Animal or no, I still needed to treat him with respect. "She doesn't want that," I said as I used his hanky and shoved it away. He might get it back after I washed it. Maybe. "She doesn't want to lose her soul, and biting me brings her closer to that."