“It’s not your…” She closed her eyes. So tired. Even with the solid feel of Tobias’s arms around her, his chest and legs supporting her weight, she felt as if she were lighter than air. If she opened her eyes, would she see a bright light beckoning her to enter?
“Nix!” Tobias gave her a little shake.
She forced her eyes open, relieved when all she saw was his dear face. Lifting her hand, which felt oddly heavy, she stroked his cheek. “Don’t look so worried.”
He cupped her fingers against his face, then pressed a kiss into her palm and held her hand against his chest. “You’re sure about this?” he asked again.
She nodded. But she had to tell him something, just in case. “If…if this doesn’t work—”
“Don’t.” His lips firmed. “Don’t talk like that.”
Nix gave a slight shake of her head. “Let me finish. If this doesn’t work, you remember I love you. I never stopped loving you, even when I hated you.” A tear slid from the corner of her eye, leaving a heated trail down her cold cheek.
Tobias stared at her, unspeaking, but his heart was in his eyes. He swallowed again and she caught the slight tremble of his lower lip before he regained control. His pupils dilated completely, swallowing up the stormy gray of his irises. He parted his lips, baring his fangs.
Feeling the need to say something, and with her uncertainty and fear came sarcasm, she whispered, “Do it on the other side. You don’t know where his fangs have been.”
Tobias sighed. With his hand at her chin, he gently turned her face toward him. She felt his tongue at her throat and the fleeting pain of his bite. Then ecstasy flooded her as his mouth drew on her flesh, the natural euphoria produced by the effect of his bite ramping up her arousal even as her body began to die.
She tried to stay focused on Tobias, tried to hold on to consciousness as long as she could, but all too soon her eyes closed and she lost the battle.
Tobias felt Nix slump in his arms and knew his timing was critical. If he released too much of his essence into her bloodstream too early, it would be ineffective. Release too little, same result. Release it too late…
He would lose her forever.
Her heartbeat was almost nonexistent. One more beat. Then another.
It was now or never.
Tobias closed his eyes and willed part of his other-dimensional being into Nix’s bloodstream. With its release came a feeling of dizziness, his neck the only thing keeping his head from floating away. After a few seconds, he pulled away, licking across the wound to aid in its healing, and straightened.
“What happens now?” MacMillan’s voice was hushed.
“Now we wait.”
Tobias felt his fangs slide back into his gums and ran his tongue across his teeth. He stroked his hand down her cheek. Waiting would be agony. Especially at the moment when…
There it was. Her breath stuttered and then stopped.
MacMillan leaned into him, peering down at her face. “She’s not breathing!”
“It’s part of the process.” Tobias hunched his shoulder and gave the detective a slight shove. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I don’t breathe except to talk or smell something.”
“Oh. Right.” MacMillan moved around to the other side of Nix. As he lowered himself to the ground, he gave a grunt of pain and then groaned when he sat down, resting his forearms on his bent knees. He wore the expression of a man racked with pain and tortured by his thoughts. By his worries. “When will we know?” he asked, his voice deep and soft.
“It will be a while.” Tobias was just as quiet.
“Hey.” When Tobias looked up at him, MacMillan met his gaze. “I get how bad a guy that…Natchook, is it?” Tobias nodded and MacMillan went on. “I’ll stay with Nix if you want to—”
“No.” Tobias looked down at her face, so pale and still. “I won’t leave her.” Never again. He should have responded when she’d told him she loved him. He should have let her know with words that she was so much a part of him he’d never be the same, whether she lived or died. And if she died…
He would never recover from his loss. With a quick glance at MacMillan, he said, “I appreciate the offer. But I’m not leaving Nix.”
The other man nodded. “I understand. I’ve known since you hit that first crime scene that she was still in love with you.” He gave a crooked grin. He stared at Nix a moment and then stood, brushing the seat of his jeans free of dirt. “I’ll call dispatch and have them get in touch with the council to send a, ah, cleaning crew out for these guys.” He waved toward the bodies of the fallen vampires.