He backed away from me, doubled over in pain, and I scrambled to my feet again. Fighting my way to the door, I pushed it open and staggered out. I headed straight for the rose garden and dove into a cluster of bushes, ignoring the thorns scraping my skin. I tried to keep hidden within the bushes as I scrambled away, but a strong hand closed around my ankle, dragging me out of the bushes toward the clearing in the center of the rose garden. Another large man stood over me, and while he wasn’t armed with a knife, his fists were like iron balls as they began pounding down against my face. They were merciless, and by the sixth blow, I felt close to unconsciousness. Any second now, another person would arrive and hand him a knife. This would be my end…

“What are you doing?” A deep voice spoke.

The man on top of me didn’t let up his pounding. If anything, he hit me with more vigor. My eyes were so puffy and bloodshot, I could hardly see through them.

“Why are you beating this girl?” The voice spoke again, more aggressive this time.

I barely heard the half-blood’s answer. All I was aware of was the pain coursing through me, and the pounding of blood in my ears.

Then I felt arms beneath my body. I was lifted from the ground by a man and he began carrying me away from the gardens. He sped up and then the sound of an elevator filled my ears. We ascended several levels, and after walking some distance along another veranda, a door clicked open.

I began to struggle. Whoever this man was, I couldn’t believe that his intentions were anything but evil. Just like everyone else in this godforsaken place.

I groaned as he laid me down on a bed, my battered limbs brushing against the mattress.

His weight pressed the bed downward by my side, and then the man’s face appeared above mine, staring down at me.

“Don’t hurt me,” I gasped. “Please.”

A cold hand touched my forehead, and then withdrew. My ears caught the sound of slicing flesh. I feared for a moment that it was my flesh, and I was just so numb that I couldn’t feel it. But when the man’s wrist pressed against my mouth and cool blood trickled into my mouth, I realized that he’d just cut himself. I coughed and spluttered. His blood tasted even more disgusting than mine.

“You’re a wreck,” he said. “Stop spitting out my blood. Drink it. It will speed up your healing.”

I still didn’t know whether to trust him, but the thought of relief from the pain was enough to make me begin swallowing his blood. I held my nose to make the taste more bearable, though the strange texture of it remained off-putting as ever.

Within a minute of drinking the man’s blood, a miracle happened. The pain all over my body and face subsided. My vision returned to me. I found myself staring up into the face of a handsome dark-haired man with vibrant green eyes. It was the same man who’d stormed out of the sauna earlier, after Jeramiah had asked him to half-turn me.

“Joseph?” I said, sitting up slowly and backing away toward the headboard.

He nodded, then stood up from the bed.

I stared at him, studying his face and trying to figure out whether he was any danger to me now. I wondered what his agenda was in saving me from those half-bloods. His face was quite expressionless as he looked me over. It was hard to come to any kind of conclusion.

“So you’re… a vampire?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Why did you help me?”

“Because I saw them beating you into a pulp for apparently no reason.”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Why would that bother you?”

He paused, frowning as if he were unsure of the answer himself. Then he shrugged. “It’s what any man would have done who wasn’t a total monster.”

So you’re not a total monster?

“What are you going to do with me now?” I asked.

“I’m not going to do anything with you. In fact, it’s best you leave. Are you coupled with a vampire?”

The thought of leaving made me panic. I still didn’t trust this vampire, but so far he hadn’t given me any reason to fear him.

“A vampire called Michael stole me and brought me down here.” I bit my lower lip. “Please… don’t make me leave. He’s going to put me through torture when he finds me again.”

A flicker of discomfort played across Joseph’s face. “So Michael hasn’t been treating you well?” he asked.

I gathered my knees to my chest. “He’s a sick bastard.” That was all I wanted to say of Michael. I was trying to forget the trauma he’d put me through. I didn’t want to relive it over again.

“Where did Michael steal you from?”

“The desert. They also stole my sister and a friend. I was out looking for them. I walked right up to that weird barrier, and Michael pulled me through it… Who are you exactly?”

He paused before responding. “Joseph Brunson.”

It irritated me that his name was all the information he offered. “And? You seem to be different than the other vampires I’ve met here so far. Why did you storm out of the sauna the moment you saw me? I thought you were going to attack me.”

He averted his gaze away from me. “Long story,” he said darkly.

Although I was curious, now certainly wasn’t the time for long stories. This vampire, for whatever reason, was behaving sympathetically toward me and didn’t seem to be as crazy as all the others I’d met here so far. I had to take advantage of the situation while I could.