Elise waited for Blake's reaction. Only Mencheres knew this part of her life, but as a vampire and her sire, he was obviously biased when it came to his opinion of what she'd done. What would Blake think, knowing she'd killed her human fiance on their wedding day?

"I can't believe he'd do that to you," Blake said. His hands never paused in their soothing path along her back. "I understand why Edmond ran. Being afraid of what you don't know - yeah, I get that. But I will never understand why he tried to kill you when he came back. How could Edmond do that to you, no matter how shocked he was?"

Something inside Elise burst. It must have been her last line of emotional defense, because the feelings running through her left her dizzy with their intensity. Who would have thought this virtual stranger's acceptance would be the grail of forgiveness she'd sought all these long, lonely decades? And why was it that she'd only found him now, just to have to lose him so cruelly in the next two days?

"I lost someone I loved, too," Blake said. "I married Gail right out of the army. We were both young, didn't have a clue how to make a marriage work. I got a job in commodities and worked my way up to being a pretty successful broker on Wall Street. Gail finished college and began teaching. She wanted to start a family; I wanted to wait so I could keep advancing in my career. I was so busy climbing the corporate ladder, I ignored what mattered to Gail. I don't blame her for divorcing me. Sometimes you have to lose everything to know what you had."

Elise was familiar with that. She'd lost everything when she was human during the Great Depression, then again with Edmond, and now she had the feeling that when Blake died, she'd lose everything once more. Why couldn't there be another way to defeat the demon inside him, aside from killing him?

"Elise." Blake drew away enough for her to look at him. "Will you drink from me?"

"What?" She couldn't have been more startled if the demon had suddenly appeared.

He sighed. "I don't have much time, and that's all right. But I'd like to think something of me will last.

If my blood is inside you, then it'll live on for as long as you do..." Fresh tears came to her eyes. How could she feel so much pain when just a few days ago, she'd been empty inside?

"...but only if you want to," Blake continued. "I don't know if the demon in me makes it too disgusting to - "

Elise sealed her mouth over his throat, the suddenness of her movement cutting his sentence off.

Blake's heart began to beat with an excited, increased pace that heightened her hunger. She let her tongue probe his neck, tasting his skin. Caressing his pulse. Deciding just where she'd penetrate with her fangs.

Blake's breathing accelerated, his chest rubbing hers with its rapid movement. His hands clenched on her back in the same rhythm that she flicked his neck with her tongue.

"Is this, ahh, going to hurt?" he asked, his voice catching when she pressed her fangs against his throat.

Elise smiled. "You'll see."

She let her fangs pierce him slowly, savoring the exquisite splitting of his skin and the hot, luscious blood that followed. Blake shuddered, a groan escaping him that she heard and felt against her mouth.

She waited, letting the euphoric venom from her fangs spread farther into his bloodstream, before drawing in a long, deep suction.

Blake's back arched and he gasped. Elise moaned at the slide of his blood down her throat, warming her. Igniting every preternatural sense in her. She took in another swallow, getting as much pleasure from the way Blake's hands gripped her as she did by the sweet taste of his blood. His breath came in gasps, the thundering of his pulse against her mouth mirrored by his heartbeat next to her breasts. The rich, spicy scent of him increased, wrapping around her. Intoxicating her. Urging her to take more.

"God, yes," Blake moaned, his voice rising. Elise grabbed his head, arching his neck farther back, and bit into him again.

A hoarse cry came from him, like a lover might make. Even as Elise gave a last, longing swallow, savoring his blood, she drew her thumb across a fang and held the cut to the holes she'd made. They closed before the final sounds faded from Blake.

She leaned back to see his face. His eyes were closed, dark strands of hair tumbling over his forehead, and he had a sensual, lethargic - and surprised expression on his face.

His eyes opened in the next moment, coriander blue and beautiful. "That didn't hurt at all," he said, a grin tugging at his mouth.

Elise laughed, bright and filled with the unexpected happiness inside her.

The smell of sulfur woke her. Blake had fallen asleep in her arms, both of them reclining on the narrow pullout that masqueraded as a bed. Elise wasn't drowsy. She didn't want to miss a second of her remaining time with Blake.

When that awful, burning stench enveloped Blake, her arms hardened and rage filled her. She was prepared to keep the demon from harming Blake - or escaping - so she was taken aback when all the demon did was open his eyes.

"You and I need to talk," Xaphan said in a low, gravelly voice.

Elise watched with loathing as Blake's skin turned that waxy, sallow color, and red replaced the lovely blue in his eyes.

"I don't think so," Elise growled.

His lips curled back in a condescending sneer. "Stupid little vampire, don't you see? I'm your only hope of saving this mortal."

Even though she knew better, hope sparked in her. "How? You'll willingly leave him?" That would mean the demon would get away, but then Blake would be free. God forgive her, she would be okay with that.

"If I could do that, do you think I'd still be here, kept by two bloodsucking vermin? I'm too deeply buried inside this body to leave while he still has life, vampire. But I'll make a bargain with you." Don't listen. You can't bargain with evil. It will always win if you do.

"What's your offer?" Elise asked softly.

Those malevolent eyes glared into hers. "I'll give you the rest of this mortal's natural life span if you get us away from the other vampire. When the mortal eventually dies, then I'll be free to find a better home."

"Liar," Elise bit off. "You'd try to kill Blake as soon as we got off this train." Xaphan sighed. The sulfur smell from his breath would have gagged Elise if she'd still been human.

"The years this mortal has left are no more than a tick of the clock to me, but they mean something to you, don't they? This is a fair offer. If you refuse, try to force me onto the salt flats, all of you will die.

You can't hope to beat me; I am one of the first Fallen. I was around before Cain was even turned into a vampire."

Icy fear slid up Elise's spine as she stared into the demon's eyes. There was nothing left of Blake in them. They were ageless, evil, and swirling with red embers. It was as if she'd been afforded a glimpse into hell. How could she and Mencheres think to kill something as old, as powerful, as Xaphan? What if all of them did die on the salt flats, their bodies left to rot under the harsh sun, because she didn't take the only chance they had at surviving? Could she truly kill Blake anyway, after what he'd come to mean to her?

Elise thought of having Blake with her for forty, fifty, maybe even sixty years. That would be more happiness than she'd ever allowed herself to believe she'd find in all her undead lifetime. Xaphan might win anyway, if she persisted in taking Blake to the salt flats. Maybe if she took his deal now, in the future, they'd find another way to vanquish Xaphan without killing Blake or letting the demon possess someone else.

Really, wasn't this the only possible solution, even if it meant bargaining with a devil?

"If you care at all for his life - or yours - you'll see this is the only choice..." Xaphan drew out.

Blake's face flashed in her mind, looking completely different than it did now with the demon piloting him. I can't live like this, he'd said when they first met . Blake had proved countless times that he'd rather die than let the demon get away. In the end, this wasn't her decision. It was Blake's - and he'd already made it.

"No deal," Elise said, hardening her resolve. "If we all die sending you back to hell, then so be it." The demon howled, becoming a mass of livid movement and flinging both of them up to the ceiling of the cabin in a blur. Elise didn't let go, wrapping herself around him and letting their hate-filled gazes meet.

"I'll kill you," Xaphan hissed.

Elise didn't blink. "You will try."

All at once, the demon froze. Elise relaxed even though the new flood of oppressive power squeezed her. Mencheres came into the cabin.

"You did the right thing, my child," he said to Elise.

She wasn't surprised that her sire had overheard the entire exchange. "I had no choice." Mencheres came closer, forcing the demon back into the corner of the small room. "Yes, you did. And you made the right one."

Elise wondered if she'd still think that later.