“No,” Vane said with a sigh. “They took more than that. It’s Anya. He can’t stand letting her go.” He moved back to sit beside Fang. “I don’t think he’s able to handle the grief of living without her.”

Aimee motioned Ash out of the room.

In the hallway, she closed the door tight behind her and hoped Vane wasn’t listening. “Do you think it’s that simple?”

He shook his head.

“Me either.”

Ash glanced back at the door as if he could see inside the room. “Let me check with Savitar. I’m with you. I think there’s more going on here than the obvious.”

“Thanks.”

He inclined his head before he left her alone. Aimee made her way back to her room where she finished getting ready for bed.

The dawn was just breaking when she finally drifted off.

“Aimee?”

“Fang?” Her dreams shifted until she saw him engulfed in a dark mist. He looked tired and pale, but whole. He was dressed only in a pair of bloodied jeans and his bare feet were marked with cuts and bruises.

Running toward him, she tried to reach out only to have him drift away. “Fang!” she called.

“Shhh,” he breathed, his voice echoing in the darkness.

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know. A cave.”

She started forward until he grabbed her and shoved her back against a craggy wall.

“Don’t move.” His tone was a scarce whisper.

Aimee trembled at his nearness. She’d forgotten just how tall and formidable he was in his human form. But he smelled delectable and looked even better. With a week’s growth of whiskers, he had a rugged appearance that only added to his raw sexual appeal.

Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close, reveling in the hardness of his body. Reveling in the fact that he was with her and not dead.

He balled his fist in her hair and buried his face in her neck as if she were a lifeline he clung to. No one had ever held her with such fierce tenderness. Gods, how good he felt and how much she wanted to stay right here with him.

But something wet and warm was tickling her stomach. It was only then she realized what it was. Fang was bleeding profusely from a wound in his stomach. Gasping, she pulled back to see his blood coating her gown. “What on earth?”

He covered her hand with his and pulled it away from his wound. “A group of slug demons attacked me. I got away, but it wasn’t easy.” He grimaced in distaste. “Look, I don’t have long before they find me again, and you can’t stay here. If any of them find you, they’ll kill you, or worse take you prisoner.”

“I don’t understand.”

He swallowed before he spoke again. “I can’t wake up, Aimee. I need someone to find the Daimons who fed from me and kill them.”

She scowled. “What?”

“The Daimons… they sucked out enough of my soul that they have it trapped inside them. So long as they live, I can’t wake up or use my powers-they have those as well. Someone has to kill them so that I can be whole again. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “How will I find them?”

He took her hand in his and held it to his bare chest, just over his heart. The warmth of his skin sent chills over her. “Use your powers.”

Closing her eyes, she focused on the night he was attacked. One by one, she saw the faces of the Daimons who’d brutalized him.

He leaned to whisper in her ear, his voice deep and seductive. “I can’t do this alone, Aimee. I can’t find them from here.”

She frowned at his request, which was so out of character. Fang never asked for help from anyone. “Who are you?”

He cupped her face in his hands. “It’s me. I swear it.”

“No. Fang wouldn’t ask for help. Not from me.”

He laughed bitterly. “Trust me, this isn’t what I want to do either. But I can’t fight this on my own. I’ve tried everything and Vane isn’t answering. He thinks I’m a dream and no matter what I try, he won’t respond. You’re the only one who’s come to me. Please, Aimee. Don’t leave me here like this.”

Uncertainty filled her. “How do I know it’s you?”

He answered her question with a passionate kiss, one that left her breathless and hot. Needy. Trembling. Oh, yeah… this was Fang. There was no doubt. No one else kissed like he did. And no one held his scent.

He pulled back, his eyes tormented. “Get me out of here. Please. You’re the only hope I have.”

She nodded as a fierce screech sounded.

Fang pulled back sharply. “The Harvesters are coming again. Go, baby.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t come back here. It’s not safe for you.”

He pushed her away and was gone.

Aimee woke up trembling.

Panicked, she looked around the room to see the sun much higher in the sky as it streamed in from between the slits of her blinds. Squinting, she looked at her clock. 10:00 A.M.

It was just a dream.

Then why was she so haunted by it? Aimee rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. I need more than five hours…

Still, she couldn’t shake the desperate sound of Fang’s voice in her head.

He needed her.

She scoffed at herself. “He’s in his bed, idiot. Go back to sleep.”

She couldn’t. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t relax or get the sense of urgency to leave her. Berating herself for the stupidity, she got up, threw on her fuzzy green bathrobe, and padded down the hallway toward Fang’s room.

“Gah, you look like shit.”

She glared at Dev as he met her in the hallway. “At least I have a reason to, bud. Did you break your mirror this morning or what?”

Dev laughed as he kept walking away from her. “I thought you were on the evening shift.”

“I am. I’m just going to the bathroom.”

He gave her a devilish grin. “I left the seat up.”

“Of course you did. At least you warned me this time.”

He wrinkled his nose playfully at her before he vanished.

Shaking her head at her brother and his antics, she redirected her steps to Fang’s room. She nudged open the door to make sure he was alone which, thankfully, he was. Vane must have finally gone to his own room.

Aimee slipped into the room and shut the door.

Everything here was quiet. Not even a whisper could be heard.

I am out of my mind…

She had to be.

Moving to stand beside his comatose body, she placed her hand on his soft fur. His breathing was shallow, but steady. There was no sign of violence or of anything.

Fang was fine.

Except for the fact that he refused to rejoin the world. She didn’t understand that kind of weakness. He’d seemed so strong and capable. What had happened to make him shatter like this?

It didn’t make sense.

But there was nothing she could do for him. Stroking his ear, she sighed. “Sleep well, baby.” Then she turned and went back to her room.

Berating herself for being ten thousand times a fool, she pulled her robe off and tossed it to the bed.

As it fell, she saw something strange…

A stain.

A red stain.

Confused even more, she looked down at her gown and saw the blood from Fang’s wound. And as she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she saw something else that added veracity to her dream. Her face was marked from Fang’s whiskers. Her lips swollen from his kiss.

It’d been real.

All of it.

Fang was trapped and she was the only hope he had of coming back…