LucianVash as she preferred to be called, turned out to be more helpful than I expected. I dealt with the idiotic church members and managed to thwart their intentions for the vampires I had murdered, and I managed to replenish my strength with their blood. There were several trucks worth of them around. Most of them knew nothing about how the church was using vampire blood to strengthen hunters and give them abilities, but I had a feeling that it wouldn’t matter. If the Blood Ancestor was smart, he had launched an attack on the church already, and there would only be these few operatives in the field to worry about in the future. I felt something tug on my mind from a distance, and resisted. It was the Blood Ancestor I knew, trying to find me, trying to compel me to return. If he were furious and wanted a fight over Trinity, I would need my strength. So, I drank from every church member I found on my way towards where I could feel Trinity. By the time I had started to feel a litt

TrinityI wailed as I watched the light and awareness fade from his eyes. He went slack in my arms. “No!” I cried. “Lucian, you can’t leave me! Wake up! Wake up!”Something shuffled nearby. I turned to look and saw Mark. He was covered in wounds. He looked terrible, but he lifted his gun and aimed at me. His hand shook. His eyes narrowed at me even as they filled with tears. “Mark…” I whispered.His jaw trembled. The gun went still as he glared at me. Tears slid down his cheeks as he dropped his gaze to Lucian in my arms. I didn’t know why. He said nothing. Then, he lowered his arm to his side, staring at Lucian for a few more moments. Without a word, he turned around and left, trudging through the forest alone. Relief filled me the farther away he got, but as I turned to look down at Lucian, I couldn’t even enjoy it. He wasn’t moving. His eyes stared out into nothing. I was alone more than I ever had been before. My dad was dead, and the man I loved was dead. I felt a pulsing i