Still, all I’d wanted was to step in and end the duel. And then I’d no longer had to. Well, it seemed that the intended changes were complete, but I was still none the wiser about just what had happened to her.

“What?” she demanded for, like, the twentieth time. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Dexter, who was settled on one of the vines, lifted his head at her tone. That snake had definitely earned his stripes as far as I was concerned. He didn’t hiss at me for being so close to her, so maybe he was coming to figure out that we had a common interest – keeping Sam safe.

Exhaling a heavy breath, I handed her a small, handheld mirror. Shooting me a put-out look, she snatched it. The feistiness…That was typical of my Sam. Having her irises glint a unique mercury shade…Not so typical of my Sam.

She gaped, looking from me to the mirror. “What’s all that about?”

That had been my question since the second she’d looked up at Magda with those irises glowing while energy seemed to coat the surface of her body. Even now, wisps of it clung to her fingers. I cupped her nape. “How do you feel, baby?”

Shaking slightly, she placed the mirror on the coffee table. “I’m okay.”

“Any idea why energy seems magnetised to you?”

She glanced down at her hands, swallowing hard. “I think it’s just because I’m stronger.”

“I think we can safely guess that when you’re pissed, it’s going to basically envelope every inch of you, just like it did at the arena.” I massaged her nape, unable to stop staring at her. She had always been stunning to me, always so very tempting. It wasn’t that she was suddenly even more beautiful. Other than the striking mercury ring to her irises, not one physical detail about her was different. Not one. Yet, she now had this entrancing effect.

God, this was all so damn weird.

The knock at the door hadn’t come as a surprise. Nor had the entrance of Antonio, Luther, Evan, Wes, and Lena. All five stopped and gazed at Sam, looking a combination of spooked, awed, and anxious.

“What’s happened to me, Lena?” Sam’s own anxiety hadn’t leaked into her voice, but I could feel it.

Just as she had last time, Lena sat beside her and took a minute or so to study her. Just like last time, I held Sam’s hand the entire time. When Lena eventually lounged back into the sofa, Evan handed both her and Sam a NST. They drank them gratefully.

“Well?” I prodded, panicky.

Lena put her empty bottle on the table. “The changes to Sam’s DNA are, as you have probably guessed, complete. Her body is, once again, now frozen in its development − which means there will be no more alterations. The equations, despite being quite complicated, all add up perfectly.”

Then why did she appear so worried? “Lena, what exactly has changed?”

She turned to Sam. “Maybe I should have considered that this was what the brothers were trying to accomplish. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have thought such a thing would ever be achievable so, therefore, I hadn’t at all considered it.”

I had to grit my teeth to prevent a growl from seeping out. “Hadn’t thought what was possible?”

Lena sighed. “By making his tattoos of snakes come to life, Wes effectively makes a crossbreed. And so have the brothers.”

My mouth once again dropped open as the implications settled into my brain. The others wore similar expressions.

Antonio shook his head. “That is not possible.”

“I wouldn’t have believed so,” said Lena, “but the brothers are very powerful. Being as strong as she was before, Sam was the perfect subject for them to use. Her strength and power got her through the changes, and now she has evolved into a blend of all three vampire breeds.”

“It explains the physical strength she displayed in the arena,” mused Evan before turning to Sam. “When you sent Magda flying through the air to the other side of the arena with just a palm heel strike…Only a Pagori could have done that.”

“It also explains the compelling allure she now has,” said Antonio, cocking his head as he studied her intently. “It is much like that of a Keja.”

I scrubbed my forehead with my hand. “The mercury ring to her irises?”

Lena shrugged. “My guess is that it is much like a marker. A red ring to the irises is the mark of a Pagori vampire, just as an amber ring is the mark of a Keja. Perhaps this would be the mark of a hybrid, if it was a breed in its own right.”

“Thirst-wise, how do you feel?” I asked Sam, giving her hand a light squeeze.

She frowned thoughtfully. “A little thirsty, but all right.”

“You don’t feel a slight discomfort at the back of your throat?” I asked. That was typical for Kejas whenever they were thirsty. Sam shook her head. “You don’t feel agitated and restless with the thirst?” That was normal for all Pagori vampires.

“I don’t feel any different than I usually do when I’m thirsty. Just…thirsty.”

Looking utterly amazed, Antonio shook his head. “Pagori strength, Keja allure, and Sventé manageable bloodlust…A perfect combination.”

I slid my gaze to the suspiciously quiet Luther. “You knew this would happen, didn’t you? You knew this was how she would change?”

“In all honesty,” began Luther. “I wasn’t sure of anything. I had no idea if investigating the bungalow would have had any bearing on what happened during my vision.”

“So what exactly did you see?”

“In my vision, you and Sam and the squad were all engaged in a battle in an open field − how far ahead in the future this is supposed to occur, I have no idea. The vampires you were all up against were very strong. Sam was there, significantly stronger and much more powerful. Of course, I knew that this should not be possible, that the mercury glow to her irises were unnatural, but I had to question whether alerting you would be a positive thing or not. Your response would have been to lock her away to keep her safe. I knew, however, that if she was not so strong during the battle in my vision, she might be harmed. Perhaps even killed. I was not prepared to take that risk. I hope you can understand that.”

Yeah, I could, which meant I didn’t have an excuse to punch him for not giving me any kind of heads-up.

Sam sighed, forcing a smile. “Well, at least all this power helped me kick Magda’s arse.”

“And as for that bitch,” I growled. “She is leaving now.”

Sam laughed a totally humourless laugh. “No, Jared, she’s not.”

Literally mystified, I demanded, “Are you f**king kidding me?”

“She stays.”

“Sam, she hurt you badly out there!”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s not the point! She challenged you, knowing you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself. She’s been messing with your head since she got here. I don’t want her hurting you any more than she already has.”

“She stays.”

I shook my head. “If she doesn’t leave, I’ll end up killing her anyway.”

She appealed to me with a look. “Jared, listen to me. I despise that woman, I despise her more than you can ever imagine. I want to do a lot of things to her, but the best form of revenge I know is to make her watch while we Bind, and make her feel as your connection to her dies and you form one with me. If she’s far away, the pain will be massively dulled, but if she’s near, it will be excruciating. And I know just how excruciating, because I’ve been through it myself. I want her to suffer like she’s made us suffer, physically and emotionally. Yeah, that makes me a huge f**king bitch, but I never claimed to be anything else.”

“Sam,” I groaned.

“I need to make sure she suffers, Jared. This is the one way guaranteed to do it.”

She was right about that. It didn’t mean I had to like it. “Everyone out,” I gently, but firmly, ordered. “Sam needs some space while she works everything out in her own head.”

Nodding, they all gave her smiles, nods, and waves as they left.

She peered up at me, looking more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her. It literally tore at me. “You always know what I need. It freaks me out.”

“That’s what freaks you out? All this stuff has happened, and that’s what freaks you out?” I’d never understand this female. Ever. I ran a hand through my hair, blowing out a breath. “I’ll leave, too. Give you some time to yourself.” The last word hadn’t even escaped my mouth before I was dragged onto the sofa and Sam was suddenly straddling me. Not only that, but my shirt was gone. Christ, she was a lot stronger and faster now.

“No. I want you to stay.” Fitting her body to mine, she lightly nipped the curves of my mouth.

“So you can delay having to process stuff?” Well, in her defence, it was heavy stuff.

“Yes,” she admitted, and I felt how hard it was for her to show any weakness. “But also because I want you inside me,” she whispered huskily as she rocked her hips. “Make me forget for a while.”

Again, she nipped at my mouth, wanting me to open for her. Without hesitation, I did. Then she was thrusting her tongue into my mouth, tangling it with mine. Fire tore through both of us, just like it always did. I angled my head, needing to go deeper, needing more of her even though I knew I’d never get enough.

When she rocked her h*ps again, I growled into her mouth and scrunched her hair in my hands. Sharply I tugged her head back, wanting access to her neck. I swirled my tongue in the hollow of her throat and found myself groaning. Her skin fizzed slightly, like when I ate honeycomb or sherbet, but ten times better and damn addictive. I distantly wondered if it was something to do with the high concentration of power that now lived within her, but at that moment it wasn’t important.

I licked, nipped, and kissed my way around her neck, loving how she melted against me. That was pretty much the only time that Sam was ever pliant – in or out of bed. God bless her sensitive neck.

Needing her skin against mine, I peeled off her dress and unclipped her bra. My mouth literally went dry at the sight of her in just her panties. She really did have the most amazing body – a body I’d craved and ached for since laying eyes on her, a body I’d never tire of touching or looking at. I knew it better than she did; knew every curve, every hollow, and every sensitive zone.

She gave me the most sinful yet somehow still angelic smile. Only Sam could have pulled off something like that. And I knew in that moment that if she had fallen ill, if she had died, I would have stayed alive only long enough to kill the bastards that took her from me. After that, I’d have followed right behind her.

Some might call that cowardly. To be honest, I couldn’t have given a shit what others thought. If I’d been forced to be without her, I wouldn’t have truly been alive anyway. She was too essential to me, too much an integral part of me, for me to ever exist without her.

Grasping her hips, I raised her so that she was balanced on her knees, putting my mouth level with her br**sts. As my hands roamed over every inch of her that I could reach, I licked a path from nipple to nipple, pausing to circle the taut buds but resisting the urge to suck on them. Of course I was aware that it would drive her crazy, and that was exactly why I did it.

Ripping her panties off, I drove two fingers inside her, curving them to target her g-spot. At that exact moment, I finally closed my mouth around one of her hard ni**les. As I teased her g-spot, those soft moans grew louder and she firmly held my head to her breast. Taking the hint, I suckled harder, occasionally grazing the nipple with my teeth. She repeatedly bucked on my hand, hinting for me to deepen my thrusts. I didn’t. I’d learned early that it wasn’t a good idea to always give her what she wanted.

“Deeper,” she insisted breathily. I shook my head. Narrowing her eyes, the sneaky bitch started riding my hand. Even sneakier, before I could chastise her for it, she mashed her mouth with mine, slipping her tongue inside. See, Sam knew me just as well as I knew her. And she knew that regardless of how much I loved touching her, and regardless of how much I loved licking every inch of her, it was her mouth that I loved the most. Kissing me and letting me possess her lips was always a guaranteed way of distracting me.

When she sucked hard on my tongue, I knotted a hand in her hair, and yanked her head away, growling. “Don’t do that again unless you’re going to suck me off.”

“Next time,” she said as she lowered my zipper impatiently. My c*ck – which had been rock hard since the second she straddled me – sprang out, and slapped her clit. With a firm grip, she worked her hand up and down my entire length over and over, keeping her eyes locked with mine. Again her irises were glowing. Only this time, it was with arousal, not anger.

“Does it freak you out?”

I knew she was talking about her eyes. “Nothing about you could freak me out.”

“I mean, does it look bad?”

I shook my head, grunting as her grip tightened. “Totally the opposite, baby, I promise you.” I could see that she wasn’t convinced, but it was true. I went to position her above my cock, but she grabbed my hands and hung them over the top of the sofa.

She actually tutted. “Oh no, I’m in charge this time.”

Because she needed some control over something, I realised. I had to wonder if there was also a part of her that wanted to test exactly how much stronger and faster she was now. That was okay. She wouldn’t have to know that I’d be topping from the bottom.

“Don’t even think about topping from the bottom.”