“The same,” Cagin said, “but it didn't last long.”

“Can you still shift?” Rafe asked, looking at each shape-shifter in turn.

“I don't know,” Linden said, frowning. “I think I can.”

Jennifer nodded. “Me, too.”

“I know I can,” Cagin said. “I can feel it inside me.”

Rafe looked at me. “How did it affect you?”

“It burned like acid and left me feeling numb all over.”

Rafe gazed at the two men standing across the room. “How did the serum affect you?”

“It was like she said,” the taller of the two replied.

“Yeah,” the second one agreed. “And then, for a little while, I couldn't move.”

Rafe swore softly. “So, it works, at least in part. Most effective against Vampires, by the look of it.” He glanced at Susie, who seemed to be sleeping now. “We don't know for sure what its effect is on the Werewolves. Maybe it only kills the males, or maybe it only kills those who've been Weres for a long time,” he mused. “But that doesn't make sense. You'd think the oldest would be harder to destroy.”

He shook his head, then looked at the two human males. His eyes took on a faint red glow. “After you leave here, you will not remember this night, this place, these people, or anything that happened here.”

The two men nodded.

“Go home now,” Rafe said, “and forget everything you've seen and heard.”

Gina regarded Rafe curiously. “Why didn't it affect you?” she asked after the two men left the house.

Rafe shrugged. He stood unmoving for a moment, and then he moved closer to the two former Vampires, his gaze locking with first one and then the other. “You will not remember this night, this place, or anyone in this room, do you understand?”

Jimmy and the girl nodded.

“You will not remember that you were once Vampires. You will not remember whatever lives you may have taken, or feel any guilt. You will not remember this place or anything that happened after you were turned. Is that understood?”

Again, they nodded.

“Don't go home. You won't be safe there. Leave town now, tonight. Do you understand?”

They both nodded.

“Go now.”

Looking a little lost and confused, Jimmy took Gina by the hand and they left the house.

“What about us?” Jennifer asked. “Are you going to take our memories, as well?”

“No. But I wouldn't advise either of you to go home.” Rafe's gaze hardened. “Few people who know where I live survive to tell the tale. I hope you'll remember that.”

“Don't worry,” Jennifer said. “I'm getting out of Oak Hollow tonight.”

“I owe you my life,” Gary Linden said. “I won't betray you.”

Cagin waited until the two shape-shifters left the house, then looked up at Rafe. “What do we do now?”

“Destroy the serum we have,” Rafe said, “then get in touch with Mara. I've got the formula, but there may be other copies. I'll give mine to Mara when she returns. She can get in touch with Clive. Maybe they can come up with an antidote, just in case the hunters make another batch.”

Cagin stroked Susie's brow. “Can you do anything for her?”

Rafe shook his head. “I'm not a doctor.”

“She's dying,” Cagin said quietly.

“No!” I looked at Rafe. “Please, don't let her die.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Cagin stroked her hair. “Make her a Vampire.”

Rafe stared at Cagin as if he had asked him to turn a chunk of lead into gold.

“It's worth a try,” I said. At this point, making Susie a Vampire seemed better than the alternative. Vampire or not, Susie had three children who needed her.

“It could kill her,” Rafe said flatly. “I could kill her. I've never brought anyone across.”

“You can't hurt her,” Cagin said. “She's already dying.”

Rafe shook his head. “She's barely accepted being a Werewolf. What makes you think she'd want to be a Vampire instead?”

“I want her to live!” Cagin said, a low growl in his voice. “Dammit, just do it! What have we got to lose?”

Rafe looked at me. “I haven't fed.”

I knew what he was saying. He was hurting from the effects of the holy water and the silver manacles, but, more than that, he needed to be in control so that he didn't savage Susie, so that he didn't take her past the point where she would be able to recover. The small amount of blood he had taken from me hadn't been enough to restore his strength or satisfy his hunger.

“Take what you need,” I said. “Hurry.”

Rafe swore under his breath. Then, his face set in hard lines, he took me by the hand and led me into his bedroom.

My heart was racing like a runaway train when he closed the door.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Couldn't we have a light?” It was so dark in his room, I couldn't see a thing.

“Sorry, there aren't any.”

“Why not?”

A soft sound of amusement rose in his throat. “I have no need for them.”

He placed his hands on my shoulders and urged me to take a few steps backward. When I felt the edge of the mattress against the backs of my knees, I sat down, relieved to discover that he did, indeed, sleep in a bed.

I felt the mattress sag when he sat down beside me.

“Relax,” he murmured.

“Right.”

“Why are you so tense?” he asked. “We've done this before.”

“I don't know.” It was the truth. Maybe it was because we were in his bedroom for the first time; maybe I was just too keyed up after all that had happened.

“You don't have to do this,” he said quietly.

What other choice did I have? If I refused, Susie would die. “No,” I said, “it's all right, really. Just…just do whatever you need to.”

Even as I spoke the words, I couldn't help wondering if I was doing the right thing. Would Susie hate me for what was about to happen to her, or thank me for helping to save her life? And how would it affect her relationship with Cagin, whatever that was? Before tonight, they had both been two-natured creatures—both human and Were; now, she would be a Vampire, a blood-drinking child of the night. It would make their relationship more difficult, more like mine and Rafe's, I thought, and then frowned as I realized I wasn't sure exactly what our relationship was.

It was a strange sensation, being near Rafe but unable to see him. He caressed my cheek, rained kisses along the side of my neck. I shivered at his touch, stilled as his tongue laved my skin. In a distant part of my mind, I wondered why it didn't hurt when he bit me, and then all thoughts and fears were forgotten, swallowed up in the waves of sensual pleasure that washed over me. A delicious heat engulfed me, driving everything from my mind but the need to give him whatever he desired, my heart, my soul, the very breath from my body.

I moaned a low protest when his tongue skimmed my neck, sealing the wounds. The bed shifted as he rose, and I reached blindly for his hand. “Don't leave me.”

“I'll be back in a few minutes.”

“No. I want to be there.”

“I don't think this is something you want to see.”

“How do you know? You said you'd never seen it done.”

“But I know how it's done. You don't, and you don't need to.”

“Yes, I do.” Feeling light-headed, I rose on legs that were none too steady, and would have fallen if Rafe hadn't slipped his arm around my waist.

“You're the most stubborn woman I've ever known,” he muttered irritably.

I smiled into the darkness, pleased by his words though I wasn't sure why. When he opened the bedroom door, I squinted against the light, which seemed brighter than it had before.

Cagin was sitting on the sofa where we had left him, Susie still cradled against his chest. His hand, large and calloused, lightly stroked her hair. She didn't move, didn't seem to be breathing. Were we too late?

Rafe settled me in one of the leather chairs. “You sure you're all right?”

“I'm fine, stop worrying about me.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, “like that'll ever happen.”

He regarded me a moment more, as if he expected me to collapse any minute, then moved toward the sofa. Wordlessly, he lifted Susie from Cagin's lap. Shape-shifter and Vampire exchanged glances—Cagin's yellow eyes filled with suspicion, Rafe's dark ones narrowed and impatient—then Cagin rose and went to stand in front of the fireplace.

Rafe took Cagin's place on the sofa. He looked at me over Susie's head and then, ever so gently, he smoothed her hair away from her neck. For a moment, his fingertips stroked the skin beneath her ear. His lips were moving, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

The air seemed suddenly charged with Supernatural energy. The hair along my nape prickled, and I knew Rafe was gathering his power.

My breath caught in my throat as he lowered his head over her neck. His hair swung forward so that I couldn't see what he was doing, but I knew. I could smell the scent of Susie's blood, feel the rush of preternatural energy that filled the room.

Cagin took a step forward, a feral gleam in his amber eyes, his hands tightly clenched at his sides.

I was surprised by the sharp stab of jealousy that swept through me as Rafe continued to drink.

Susie stirred in Rafe's arms, a small moan rising in her throat. Her hands clutched his arms, her fingers digging deep into his skin, and then she went suddenly limp.

Cagin took another step forward, his face terrible to see.

When Rafe lifted his head, I saw a single drop of bright red blood at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were red and glowing. He looked at me, only for a moment, but it seemed to stretch into eternity. I could hear his voice in my head.