But somewhere inside, she also was that girl from the twelfth century, who wouldn't have dreamed of approaching a man. If he wanted her—and by all the gods, he did—he couldn't just flirt. He couldn't even tease.

He had to court her.

Mikar chuckled under his breath. He had to court her like he would have courted a girl in his time. And damn if he wasn't looking forward to it.

Surveying the area out of habit, Mikar was the first to see a problem.

There was a figure standing on the other side of the lake. The sight was peculiar because it was rare that anyone ever ventured here, so far deep in the wilderness of the highlands, away from any roads. There were the occasional campers, but that was it. The opposite shore wasn't part of the Oldcrest territory. Technically, anyone could go there. They just couldn't see through or cross over to the border leading inside Oldcrest. Still, the power of their shields had made the direct surrounding areas inhospitable to regular humans.

Even from such a distance, Mikar would have sworn that the man or woman on the cliffs was looking right at them. Which wasn’t possible. Even those who knew Oldcrest was here couldn’t see through the wards unless they’d been invited.

Mikar squinted, focusing his vision on the far distance, stretching his senses. At long last, he distinguished the man's telltale posture, and the object in his hand.

A bow.

A bow without an arrow.

His eyes caught a flash of silver, and a movement too fast for mortal eyes. Then he understood. The weapon was already flying right at them.

First, he screamed, then Mikar moved with all the speed, all the strength of his race, his feet only hitting the ground once. Screaming at everyone to get down, move, duck, protect themselves, he hit Diana with all his weight, knocking her to the ground. As soon as she was safely out of the way, he leaped back on his feet, and tried to locate Chloe.

Not even a second had passed. He saw her in Sylvan's arms. Her guard had taken her and turned her, so she faced away from the weapon, putting himself in the line of fire.

Levi was calling to the water in the lake, to stop the progression of the fast flying arrow, his potent magic roaring all around them. The weapon never changed its course, spelled to resist any element.

Sylvan moved to try to knock them both down. From his position, Mikar could see Chloe's determined expression. Her eyes weren't on Levi, or Sylvan, or even on the arrow. They were on Greer.

Greer, who, unlike them, couldn't move at vampire speed. Greer, whose life was the only thing holding the protective wards around Oldcrest. Greer, whose heart was in the exact trajectory of the arrow. Mikar could see it now that the projectile was close.

Mikar ran. Levi ran. Sylvan and Ruby ran.

None of them were as fast as Chloe Eirikrson.

She shoved Greer out of the way just as the arrow reached the intended target. The black-tipped, arm-long projectile impaled Chloe right in the middle of her chest, with such force it came out on the other side, piercing her back. Thick, iridescent purple blood oozed out of the wound.

Mikar couldn't move. He couldn't hear or think. Nothing in the world mattered except Chloe, falling to the ground with a heart-wrenching wail. Chloe. His friend. His closest friend's mate. His charge.

"No." He couldn't bring himself to take one step toward her.

Blood pooled, thick and too dark. He'd seen enough vampires die to realize what it meant. The heart had been punctured. If it had been anyone else, he would have cut off their head to end their suffering.

"No," he repeated, tuning out all the screams, all the terror.

Levi cradled her on the ground, rocking her back and forth, crying. Mikar could only stare.

Then, suddenly, he was shoved out of the way, and a shape in white linen moved past him, rushing to Chloe.

Diana.

Even in his stupor, he could recognize her.

She knelt next to Chloe, on Levi's other side, one hand on the arrow, the other on the wound. That shocked Mikar out of his numbness. Pulling the arrow out would only kill Chloe faster.

"Don't..." he wanted to say, but he wasn't sure any words managed to make it out of his throat.

His hearing was starting to work again. There was chaos all around, a cacophony of screams and cries. Above all else, there was Diana, her voice authoritative, but calm, steadying.

"...the moment I pull it out, not sooner!" she was saying to Gwen, of all people.

What was she doing, and how did it involve the witch? Mikar couldn't make any sense of it.

But he watched, finding that his senses were coming back to him. He was starting to let go of the despair, the horror. Diana chased the nightmare away.

The witch looked terrified.

"You can do this," Diana said gently. "You will do this, or Chloe will die. You understand?"

Levi and Mikar both looked sharply away from Chloe long enough to take Diana in. What did she mean? Could she truly save Chloe?

Vampires were tough, but there were a few ways to end them. And one of them was to pierce their heart.

Horror in her dark eyes, Gwen nodded, shakily.

"Three, two, one." Diana pulled, and Gwen, both hands extended, froze everything on and around Chloe, even Levi's hands.

She let her power pulse through her palms, calling to all waters in the air, in the lake, to twirl around her and move as she directed them. Soon, Chloe's pale body was cocooned in a diamond-like coffin, entirely covered in ice. Levi removed his hands from it, and Gwen used the last of her energy to fill the two gaping holes in her structure.

Numb, cold, lost, Mikar stared at the ice. Underneath, he could feel nothing. No heartbeat. No scent. No power.

No life.

He fell to his knees.

Diana was the only one who seemed to have her shit together. "Carry her to one of the tables. I need to prepare." She moved toward the lake.

"Can you do this?" The question came from Alexius, who joined his sister as she neared the cold water. "I didn't think...Our father never taught me how. I didn't think he'd passed the knowledge down to you."

"He did." There were a thousand questions in Alexius's eyes, and Diana was doing her best to avoid his gaze. "I need several things. A circle of witches, for one."

Blair looked around. "Where's Greer?"

Ignoring her, Diana kept listing, "Clean water, salt, a silver dagger, and someone..." Diana cleared her throat. "A volunteer."

Mikar started to understand what was going on.

Diana cut off whatever questions anyone might have asked her when she leaped over the surface and plunged underwater. She wasn't taking a leisurely midnight stroll, though: moments later, she walked out of the lake, her soaked dress translucent and clinging to her lush curves. Even now, Mikar noticed them. His cock, which had no business doing anything at the moment, hardened at the sight of her.

Fuck. He was sick. Chloe was dying, for heaven’s sake!

"Me," Levi told her, firm and final. "I'll do it."

Walking toward the table, which now served as an altar, Diana eyed him doubtfully. "If I bring her back and you're gone, she's..."

"Me," Levi repeated. His voice was dark and void of anything but sorrow. "I know of the Helsing magic. You can bring someone at the edge of death, but you have to take someone else in return. Take me."

"She wouldn't want that," Mikar said. "She'd hate herself for the rest of her life if you were gone because of her." There was only one option. He set his gaze on Diana. "Use me."

The Last Farewell

Greer had to admit she had been pretty astonished that Ruby had heeded her request without so much as a word of protest. Perhaps—not unlike Greer—Ruby had been desperate to leave the lakeside, leave the nauseating sight of Chloe, lying too still, too quiet, blood dripping out of her. The memory would forever haunt her.

Chloe wasn’t supposed to die now, in her twenties. She wasn’t supposed to die at all. Greer found herself lost, facing her own mortality, her own frailness, reflected in her friend’s passing. She didn’t have time for regrets. And she knew, deep inside she just knew, that there was one thing she would forever regret if she didn’t do it now.

Whatever Ruby’s reason, Greer was glad for the supernatural assistance. Without the vampire, she would have been much slower, and time was of the essence.

They stopped by the dorm long enough for Greer to rush to her room and grab a sachet she’d kept under her pillow for months, then she let Ruby carry her up Cosnoc. The vampire moved so fast Greer almost vomited on the way. She squeezed her eyes shut tight.

In under a minute, they were at the entrance of Eirikr's cage.

Eirikr. The monster out of any vampire's nightmare. The creature most hated by Greer's ancestors.

The hike up the forbidden hill would have taken Greer a good hour without spells—or about ten minutes if she’d used some of her magic, which wouldn’t have been advisable. She couldn't afford to drain her energy. Not now, considering the insane plan she had in mind.

A plan that had been in the corner of her mind for quite some time, or she wouldn’t have been ready to execute it.

Ruby helped her down to her feet, steadying her. "I can go no further. There are spells," the vampire explained.

Greer had expected as much. “Thank you, Ruby. I can take it from here.”

As soon as she took the first step, the pain started, sharp and blinding. Her ancestors felt her intention, her defiance. And they were attempting to stop her. Greer opened the sachet clasped in her hand, revealing a syringe attached to one dose of clear liquid.

"What is that?" Ruby recoiled.

Greer smiled reassuringly. "Nothing that'll hurt me."

She tried to align it with her vein, her hands trembling with the effort to go against a dozen dead witches who still controlled her. "Dammit."

"I'll help," Ruby offered.

Greer had to step back a little to be outside of the wards that would hurt the vampire. She smiled up at the crazy brunette. She had to be given credit: Ruby was taking a hell of a leap of faith, without explanation.