Chapter Two

The vampire's fangs were already against her skin.

Liana couldn't breathe. His fingers tightened around her throat, forcing her head to one side, and she felt the cold brush of his lips against her neck. Her strength was fading, her vision blurring at the edges. She tried to wrench his hand away, but her fingers could barely close around his wrist.

His mouth opened.

Then, without warning, his head was severed from his body.

The vampire collapsed at her feet. His grip vanished, and air rushed into Liana's lungs so violently that she doubled over, choking as she dragged in one ragged breath after another. Her hand flew to her neck. The skin was tender where his fangs had nearly pierced it, but she was alive.

For a few seconds, she could only stare at the body on the pavement. Then she looked up.

Sebastian stood a few feet away, his expression cold, his weapon lowered at his side. There was nothing uncertain about the way he looked at the dead vampire. He had arrived with one purpose, and he had accomplished it.

But when his gaze settled on her, that coldness disappeared.

"Liana."

"Sebastian..."

His name barely left her throat before he crossed the distance between them. She tried to straighten, but her legs gave way. He caught her before she hit the ground, drawing her against his chest.

"Look at me." His voice was steady, though his arms tightened around her. "Are you hurt?"

She wanted to answer. She wanted to tell him about the vampire, about the road, about how close she had come to dying. Instead, she clutched his shirt and tried to breathe.

Sebastian glanced at the marks on her throat. His jaw hardened.

"I have you," he murmured. "That's over now."

The words reached her, but the fear had already taken hold. Her body went limp in his arms, and he lifted her against his chest.

"Liana?"

She heard the alarm in his voice as though it came from somewhere far away. Then the street disappeared, and darkness swallowed her.

When Liana woke, she found herself in a bed she didn't recognize. Cool sheets covered her legs, and a pillow rested beneath her head. The room smelled of clean linen and antiseptic. A dull ache ran along her throat, reminding her of the vampire's fingers and the fangs that had almost broken her skin.

She tried to sit up.

A doctor beside the bed immediately leaned forward.

"Easy, Miss Whitmore. You've been through a great deal. I need to check a few things."

Liana blinked, struggling to focus on him. Her body felt heavy, and a thin ringing filled her ears.

"Can you tell me if you're experiencing any dizziness?"

She opened her mouth, but before she could answer, he reached for a tray beside the bed and picked up a syringe.

The sight of the needle froze her.

"No."

The doctor paused.

"It's only a routine—"

"No!"

She recoiled so violently that the back of her shoulder struck the headboard. The syringe slipped from the doctor's hand as she shoved it away, and it clattered across the floor.

"Miss Whitmore, please calm down."

"Don't come near me!"

Her heart hammered against her ribs. For an instant, the bedroom vanished. She was back against the brick wall, a vampire's hand around her throat, unable to draw enough air. Now another person was holding a needle, preparing to put something inside her.

The stories she'd heard about forced transformations came rushing back. She had seen what happened to people who were changed against their will, how they woke in unfamiliar bodies with instincts they couldn't control.

"They're going to turn me," she whispered.

The doctor glanced toward the doorway.

"She appears to be having a panic response."

"Then put the syringe down and leave."

Sebastian's voice cut through the room. He was already crossing toward her. The doctor stepped aside, and Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed, keeping his movements slow enough not to startle her.

"Liana."

She barely heard him. She was still staring at the empty space where the syringe had fallen.

"Liana, look at me."

She turned at the sound of her name. Sebastian's face came into focus, and she caught at his shirt as though she needed something solid to keep her from slipping back into the nightmare.

"Sebastian?"

"I'm here."

"They were going to—"

"I know." He drew her into his arms when she reached for him. "The syringe was for your injuries. No one touches you without your consent. Not here. Not while I'm the one deciding who gets near you."

She pressed her face against his chest. His heartbeat was slow and steady beneath her ear, a startling contrast to the frantic rhythm of her own.

"Look at me," he said quietly.

She lifted her head.

"You're not on that street anymore. The vampire is dead. You're in my home, and the doctor is treating you. That's all that's happening right now."

Liana searched his face, needing to believe him.

"You promise?"

"I promise you're safe in this room."

It wasn't the same thing she'd asked, and some part of her noticed. But it was enough to loosen the grip of panic, and she nodded, her hands still twisted in his shirt. He held her until her breathing steadied, one hand resting against the back of her head. The doctor retrieved the syringe and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.

For several minutes, neither of them spoke.

Eventually, Liana drew back enough to look at Sebastian properly.

"How did you find me?"

"I was looking for you."

"How did you know where to look?"

His gaze lingered on her face before moving to the faint marks on her throat.

"We'll talk about that later. First, tell me why you were out there."

She swallowed, wincing at the soreness.

"I was on my way to the office."

"Why?"

"I received a call. They said my father had been attacked." Her voice tightened. "They told me he was hurt and that I had to come immediately."

Sebastian's expression changed.

"Who called you?"

"I don't know. The number was blocked."

"And you went alone?"

"I had my security team with me." She pulled away slightly, bristling at the accusation in his tone. "They were ambushed before we could reach the underground route. I didn't exactly choose to be abandoned in the middle of a war."

His eyes returned to hers. For a moment, something fierce flickered across his face, but he didn't argue.

"Your father is alive," he said. "The call was a lie. They used him to draw you out."

Relief swept through her so sharply that she had to close her eyes. Her father was alive. Whatever else had happened, at least that much was certain.

But the relief didn't last.

"Then they wanted me."

"Yes."

The immediate answer made her look at him.

"You knew?"

"I suspected it before I found you. Now I'm certain."

"Why would anyone go to that much trouble to get to me?"

Sebastian fell silent. His expression hardened, and she recognized the look. It wasn't confusion. He was weighing what to tell her.

"Sebastian." She straightened despite the ache in her throat. "Don't tell me we're going to find out if you already know."

His eyes met hers.

"I know who arranged the attack."

Her fingers tightened around the blanket.

"Who?"

"A human."

Something moved across his face when he said it — not hesitation, but something closer to restrained fury, there and gone so fast she almost missed it.

"A human?" she repeated. "You're certain?"

"I know him personally." His jaw tightened on the last word, as if it cost him something to say it out loud. "I've known him for years."

The answer settled between them, heavier than the silence that followed it.

Liana thought of the bodies scattered across the streets, of the vampire who had recognized her, of the way he had spoken about people wanting to get their hands on her. She had assumed the attackers were supernatural because they were the ones who had pursued her. But if a human had arranged the ambush, then the danger was more complicated than she'd imagined.

"Why would a human want me dead? Or captured?" she asked. "Is this about my father? His position? The serum?"

"Possibly all of those things."

"That's not an answer."

"No." Sebastian's jaw tightened. "It's what I can tell you with certainty right now."

She studied him, frustration rising beneath her exhaustion.

"You know this person. You know who sent those people after me, and you're sitting here telling me only that he's human."

"I know his name," Sebastian said, each word deliberate. "I'm choosing not to say it yet. Those are different things, and I need you to understand that I'm making that choice, not avoiding one."

"Then tell me why."

"Because the moment you know it, you'll act on it. And I'm not ready for what that sets in motion."

"That's my decision to make, not yours."

"It's mine to make for now," he said, "until I know this house isn't the next place they come looking for you."

"Then tell me his name."

Sebastian held her gaze.

"Not yet. I will tell you everything you need to know when I can do so without handing him a reason to come back for you faster than I can stop him."

Liana pulled her hands away from him.

"You don't get to decide what I need to know simply because you think you can protect me."

Something shifted in his expression. He looked as though he wanted to argue, but he stopped himself.

"You're right that it isn't only my decision," he said at last. "But right now, it's the one I'm making. I'd rather you be angry with me and alive than informed and dead."

His admission caught her off guard — not an apology, exactly, but not a denial either.

"But I need you to understand something," he continued. "This wasn't a random attack. The person who ordered it knows exactly who you are. He knew you would respond if he used your father as bait, and he was prepared to have you killed — or worse — to achieve whatever he wanted."

Liana's stomach turned.

"Then we need to find out what he wants."

"We will."

"No, Sebastian. You will tell me what you know, and I will decide what to do with that information. I'm not going to sit here while everyone else makes decisions about my life."

For the first time since she'd woken, she saw something other than anger or concern in his eyes. A flicker of respect, perhaps, though it was quickly concealed.

"Rest first," he said. "Your throat needs time to heal. Then we'll talk properly. I owe you that much, even if I'm not giving you the name tonight."

She wanted to push him further, but exhaustion was beginning to drag at her again. Before she could respond, a knock sounded at the door.

Sebastian's expression hardened.

"What is it?"

A man's voice answered from the other side.

"We need you downstairs. It's urgent."

Sebastian glanced at Liana, clearly reluctant to leave her.

"Go," she said, though she didn't like the idea of being alone. "I'm not going anywhere."

He hesitated, then brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"I'll be back. And Liana — this conversation isn't finished. I know that."

When the door closed behind him, Liana sat quietly against the pillows, listening to his footsteps fade down the corridor.

A human had ordered the attack. Someone Sebastian knew personally — someone whose name he was choosing, deliberately, not to give her — had used her father's name to lure her into a trap. The vampire who caught her had known she was Sebastian's mate. Those facts couldn't be unrelated.

She looked toward the closed door, her fear slowly giving way to a sharper, more determined feeling.

Sebastian had the name. He'd admitted as much, and he'd admitted he was withholding it on purpose. That was different from not knowing — and it meant the next conversation wouldn't be about whether he knew.

It would be about whether he was willing to stop deciding for her.