Charming the Beast (Purgatory 3)

Hell, yes. The fire was destroying the bastard—and not even a super vamp could survive those flames.

Chloe wrapped her arms around Connor. She held him tight. Her body trembled against his. “It worked! He was trying to get into my head, but I just kept thinking of you! Because I love you!”

More fire fell down on them. The whole building was shuddering and creaking and Connor thought the place would collapse at any moment.

They left Keegan and rushed for the door. Chloe stumbled so he just lifted her up in his arms, holding her tightly. He could see Duncan running toward him. The woman he’d rescued from the basement was out there. Eric was holding her. The vampiress fought his hold, but Eric wasn’t letting her go.

The heat of the fire lanced over Connor’s skin.

He reached the threshold. He heard the terrible groan over him. Connor leapt forward.

He and Chloe made it out. They fell to the ground, but they’d escaped! They’d gotten away from Keegan!

We made it. Chloe loves me. I love her.

We made it!

He reached for Chloe, and that was when Connor realized…the smell of blood coated Chloe.

“Baby?” he could see the wound on her neck, but…the scent of blood was so strong. Too strong. He hadn’t noticed it before because the smell of smoke and fire had been too strong.

She was on the ground, staring up at the moon. He remembered how her legs had given way, right before they’d gotten out of that hell. He’d picked her up and run…

Why did her legs give way?

“Chloe?”

“H-he wanted me to…call out for you…wanted you to walk into…trap…” She licked her lips. “I didn’t.”

Her voice was too soft. Too weak.

She had on a dark coat and when he opened it with trembling fingers.

Then he saw her wounds.

“He kept cutting me…” Her voice had gone even softer. “But I…I didn’t call out. Not until you saved her.”

Her? The vampiress?

His gaze cut to the woman. She was staring at Chloe with stunned, desperate eyes. The vampiress wasn’t struggling in Eric’s arms any longer.

“Made him believe…I had given in…knew you had to come back up…the fire…too strong…”

“She needs help!” Connor roared.

His bellow shook everyone from their stupor. Eric freed the vampiress and ran over to them. Holly rushed from the right. Duncan fell to his knees beside Chloe.

Holly sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh, Connor…”

No, no, she didn’t need to look at Chloe with such pity. She didn’t need to shake her head.

He put his hands on Chloe’s chest. He had to stop the blood.

“He cut her heart, Connor.” Holly’s voice was sad. “Don’t you see? He cut into her heart.”

“She’s okay!” She has to be okay.

Chloe smiled at him. “I kept thinking of you. You…you said you loved me.”

“I f**king do. Always.” He put his hands down even harder on her wounds. “Get her some stitches! Give her some blood! Help her!” Because she couldn’t die. He couldn’t watch that. Not again.

“I’ll…come back…” Chloe said.

“What if you don’t?” His terrible fear. “What if I lose you? No, baby, no, just stay with me.” They weren’t helping her, so he picked her up and ran with her.

Shane and Olivia met him half-way. Shane’s chest was also covered in blood and when Olivia reached for Chloe, he saw that blood stained Olivia’s fingers.

“She dug the bullet out of my heart,” Shane muttered. “And what the hell happened to your girl?”

Connor stared at Olivia’s stricken face. “Keegan happened.” Fear was choking him. “Make a wish, Olivia. Bring her back. Make sure she comes back.”

Olivia’s stark eyes met his. “My wishes don’t work anymore.”

She was growing cold in his arms. Barely seeming to breathe at all. “Make her come back! Wish her back!” And he ran on, pushing past them when tears slid down Olivia’s cheeks.

“I wish…” Olivia’s soft voice followed him.

There were medics up ahead. They could sew her up. He saw an ambulance to the right. Carefully, he lowered Chloe on the gurney near that ambulance.

Her eyes were closed.

“Chloe?”

She wasn’t breathing.

“No, Chloe, don’t leave me!” He would have traded anything for her right then. Any f**king thing. “Come back! Stay with me!”

The others gathered around him. No one spoke.

No one but…

The vampiress he’d saved. “She looks like her mother.”

Connor didn’t look at her. He couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe.

“Her mother…was my friend. The only friend I had. Until that bastard Keegan killed her.” She reached out her hand and smoothed back Chloe’s hair. “I think she’s still breathing.”

No, she wasn’t.

“Let’s see if she’s hungry.”

Then she slashed open her wrist and put it over Chloe’s mouth.

“No!” Eric shouted. He grabbed the woman and hauled her back. “What the hell are you doing? Chloe isn’t human! She comes back!”

She should come back…but she wasn’t.

“I wanted to help,” the vampiress said, her words shaking. “The way her mother helped…I wanted to help…”

Blood smeared Chloe’s lips.

“That’s it!” Olivia’s voice was excited. “It fixed me—it can fix her, too!” And she was grabbing a scalpel from one of the EMTs and slashing open her wrist. She put it to Chloe’s mouth.

Connor shook his head. What the hell were they thinking?

“It takes a female vamp to make a cross-over, right?” Olivia said, her voice breaking with hope and fear. “Then let’s make her a vampire. Let’s fix it so she doesn’t die! Let’s—”

“Stop.” Eric’s voice was low and lethal. “You don’t know what Chloe wants. She’s been screwed with enough.”

Olivia blanched. Her wrist was still over Chloe’s mouth.

Chloe wasn’t drinking her blood. Chloe wasn’t moving at all.

Eric stared at Connor. “What would Chloe want?”

To be free.

His chest burned. The fire seemed to be rising inside of him. “I love her,” he said. She needed to open her eyes. She needed to come back to him.