mixed emotions of love, pain and desire. Desire for her blood.
“Not you either. I love you.”
Again, she didn’t know if she actually heard him—she’d already heard so many other voices in her head—or if she thought what she wanted to hear, what she wanted him to say aloud. She had to take the chance he’d really thought those three words, though, because he needed love to overcome what had been done to him. If he still felt love, she could help him, just as Father had explained.
“I love you, too,” she said and his eyes widened with surprise, acknowledging that she had indeed heard his thoughts. “I can help you, if you want me to. You don’t have to be like them. We can even be together again.”
He shook his head and his face twisted. “I can’t, my love. Look at me. I’m a monster.”
She held her hands out to him. “You don’t have to be. Let me help you, Niko. Let me show you the way.”
She took a step toward him and he didn’t disappear or run away or lash out at her. So she took another step and another, until she came within arm’s reach. She took his hands into hers, internally cringing at the cold and evil lurking just beneath the surface but externally showing him only love and kindness. Somehow, she knew what to do.
“Andronika, go back to the cave,” she said without breaking eye contact with Niko.
“What’s wrong with him? Is he ill?”
“Yes, but nothing you can help with. I just need you to go. Now.”
Andronika snapped her head at her, not used to her mother’s sharp commands. Her mouth fell open.
“What happened to you?” her daughter demanded. “You look … different.”
Cassandra had no idea what Andronika meant and she didn’t have time to find out. Niko was her first priority. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing him again, especially to such evil.
“We’ll talk later, but you need to go.”
A low growl rumbled in Niko’s throat as a part of him tried to fight Cassandra’s touch and the other part fought back the desire to hurt them. She wasn’t sure if what she was about to try would work, despite what Father had told her. She didn’t want Andronika around in case it didn’t.
“But—”
“Go, Andronika!”
Their daughter hesitated only another moment and then sprang to her feet and ran for their shelter. As soon as she was out of sight, Cassandra refocused all her efforts on Niko. She gathered all the goodness within her and pushed it down her arms, through her hands and into him. He screamed as if in pain and tried to jerk free from her grasp, but she wouldn’t let go. She just kept pushing the strange energy she’d felt in her body ever since re-entering the physical realm. The power of a good heart and a loving soul, intensified by the Angels. One of the gifts they’d given her. She knew this instinctively.
Niko finally stopped screaming but his body convulsed, causing their arms to whip painfully. Cassandra yanked him closer, wrapped her arms tightly around him to control the seizure and continued pushing the good force into him. Eventually, the convulsions weakened into shudders and then he collapsed against her. She lowered his unconscious body to the ground and sat cross-legged with his head in her lap and one of her hands held firmly against his chest, over his heart, still sharing her power with him. She prayed for him and herself.
“You’re doing perfectly,” Father whispered in her mind. “We’re winning.”
With this reassurance, she sat with determination, feeding her love’s soul and wondering how on earth she would feed his body when he awoke. She understood he needed blood for energy, but Father had said the vampyres must overcome their thirst for human blood. But how?
As the afternoon sun passed overhead, exhaustion overcame Cassandra. She’d been pushing all her force into Niko until she felt like she had none left. She slumped over on the ground, his head still in her lap, and fell asleep. His stirring awoke her at dark and she bolted upright, feeling renewed and refreshed and glad she didn’t dream about all that happened this morning. She didn’t want to think about it yet. She just wanted her husband to be well. To be hers again.
Niko opened his eyes and looked up at her. They no longer glowed red, but weren’t their beautiful olive- green either. Not quite. But she could see the green there, underneath, like the sun behind a gauzy strip of red clouds. He gave her a weak smile and opened his mouth to talk. She shook her head, already knowing his first thought.
I love you, too, Niko, she told him with her mind.
His eyes widened slightly. “Thirsty. So thirsty.”
Her heart squeezed, feeling the burn in his throat. As his pain grew into agony and she felt his energy weaken, she could think of only one solution. She held her wrist to his mouth.
“Drink, Niko.”
He jerked his head away with more strength than she thought he had. “No. Not from you. I won’t hurt you. I won’t hurt anyone again.”
“You must, Niko.”
“I would rather die than … than to bite you.”
“Please, don’t say that. You don’t know what I’ve gone through since I thought you were dead. I can help you with this, we’ll get you through this, but right now, I don’t know what else to do. You must drink.”
He pursed his lips tightly shut and shook his head in her lap. His eyes fluttered closed and she felt him weakening even more. Her brave, strong Niko, so weak and powerless. She blew out a sigh of exasperation. Had he always been so stubborn, too? She pressed her fingernail against the skin over the blue lines on her wrist and dug in, trying to open a wound. But her fingernail couldn’t break the skin. It wouldn’t even scratch it. Was this another gift? Impenetrable skin? She might have found it a nice gift from the Angels if it didn’t mean she was losing the love of her life. Again.
She glanced around and the moonlight glinted off something shining several paces away. Her breath caught. Father’s dagger that she’d dropped upon entering the physical realm. Although it was out of reach, she lifted her hand toward it, willing it to her. She gasped as the dagger lifted off the ground, flew through the air and landed right into her palm. If the silver blade could harm vampyres, surely it could cut her skin. She ran the edge over her wrist and blood flowed freely.
She held her arm over Niko’s mouth, forcing him to take her blood. He shook his head, fighting it, and she held him still with her free hand.
“Stop, Niko. You’re just making a mess.”
He tried to push her arm away but she kept it tight against his mouth. Then, something changed in him and he grabbed onto her arm, pulling it to him instead of pushing. He sucked heartily and with each swallow, she felt his energy strengthen. Eventually, instead of forcing him to drink, she had to force him to stop.
“I’m sorry,” he said, wiping his mouth. “But you taste delightful.”
Cassandra didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Before she could do anything, he pulled her head down to his and delivered her a kiss that was so deep, so sensuous, so loving, it could almost make up for all the kisses they’d missed since he’d left. She didn’t remember his lips feeling so soft but firm, his mouth tasting so deliciously sweet, his touch delivering such heat. He’d always excited her easily, but now the feelings were multiplied a thousand times. Tears streamed down her face as they continued kissing.
“I can’t believe you’re truly here,” she said when they finally broke apart for a breath. “Alive. In my arms again.”
His lips turned into a sad smile. “Not exactly alive. Definitely not the same.”
She nodded and returned his smile. “I know. Father has told me everything.”
His brow furrowed for a moment and then the smile deepened, reaching his eyes. “You were right about God. I was wrong, about Zeus and the others. I learned the hard way, seeing real demons with my own eyes.” Then he frowned and sadness filled his face again. “But there is another … they called him their lord … they say my soul is his. I am damned to Hades … I mean, to Hell.”
Cassandra shook her head. “No, Niko. Father has told me everything. You can still be good. You can still go to Heaven. You just have to choose.”
She told him the whole story, from Jordan and Eris’s potion to her visit with Father the Angel to leading him back to goodness. Sharing it with him helped her own mind to accept it all, although her heart and soul had affirmed it the moment she saw her husband again and wanted nothing but to save him. She had become
