Shay rushed forward, sweeping the chains off his body before grasping the shackles and jerking them off Viper's wrists.

For years she had cursed the demon strength that set her apart from humans. She had been a freak. A creature to be mocked by children and feared by adults. Now for the first time she truly appreciated the gifts she had been given.

Cradling Viper's head in her lap, she wiped the blood from his face with a shaking hand.

"Viper. Viper, can you hear me?"

There was no response for a frightening beat, and then he stirred in her arms.

"Shay?"

She leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Don't move, I'm here."

"Is this a dream?"

She choked back a hysterical laugh. "Surely you must have better dreams than this?"

"I have been dreaming of you for months. No, I've been dreaming of you for an eternity." His hands reached up to weakly grasp her arms, his eyes opening with a painful effort. "I thought I would never find you, but I did. I couldn't let you go. Not when I needed you so desperately. I will never let you go."

Her breath caught as ridiculous tears stung her eyes. He was no doubt delirious and completely out of his mind with pain. But no one had ever said anything that had touched her so deeply.

She was forced to clear her throat as she gently stroked his hair. "As if you could possibly get rid of me now. We're stuck together like..."

"Day-old rice?" he said.

"Refrigerated leftovers are not quite the romantic metaphor I was searching for." A frown touched her brow as his eyes slid shut. "Viper." She gave him a small shake. "Viper you must wake."

With an obvious effort he struggled back to consciousness. "You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."

Dangerous? A cave full of vampires desperate to drain her blood? Nah.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving," she soothed.

"Yes." His hand squeezed her arm. "Leave now."

"We're both leaving." She gently freed her arm from his tight grasp to place her wrist against his lips. "But first you must drink."

She could feel his entire body tighten at her words. "Shay, no. You don't want me taking your blood."

She gave an impatient click of her tongue. Could the man do anything without an argument?

And he called her stubborn.

"We had a deal, Viper. Blood to heal you. Do you think a Shalott ever reneges on a deal?"

He gave a shake of his head. "Shay, go. They will kill you."

She shrugged. "First they have to catch me."

A weary smile touched his lips. "You aren't nearly so tough as you like to think you are."

"I'm going to show you just how tough I am if you don't drink," she warned, pressing her arm to his lips. "You have to do this now or we're both dead."

His dark eyes searched her set expression for a long, silent moment.

"Stubborn," he at last breathed.

"I learned from a master," she muttered. "Now bite."

He did.

Shay's eyes widened and her entire body shuddered in shock as his fangs slid easily through the skin of her wrist. It wasn't from pain. She almost wished it was. That would have been easy to battle. The saints above knew she had enough experience. But how did she battle the shocking flare of pleasure that raced through her body? Or the heat pooling in the pit of her stomach?

Flat out...she didn't.

Her teeth clenched as her lower body tightened with a familiar excitement. Oh, she knew where this was heading, she acknowledged as her breath came in shallow pants. With every tug of his mouth she could feel the pleasure mounting, as if he were deep inside her stroking her most intimate places.

Her eyes threatened to roll back in her head as her free hand clenched in his hair. In a tiny, very tiny, corner of her mind she recognized that Viper's strength was rapidly returning. It was obvious in the fierce sucking at her wrist, and the hand that clutched at her arm.

She was a little too preoccupied at the moment, however, to fully appreciate the knowledge her blood was working its magic.

Go figure…

The sweet pressure reached a critical mass and burying her face in Viper's hair Shay bit back her cry of fulfillment. Holy crap. She was dizzy and weak from the powerful release. And quite frankly more than a little embarrassed. It was hardly the time or place for such a private interlude. Not that her body seemed to mind. It was utterly content as Viper stirred to life and shifted so feat he could sit upright and cradle her in his arms.

"Shay?" His hand smoothed back the hair that had strayed from her braid. "Shay, speak to me."

"Wow," she breathed, forcing herself to meet his worried gaze.

Not the most articulate response, but it was a step above a grunt.

Viper frowned. "Did I hurt you?"

"Not exactly."

He searched her expression for a long moment before comprehension at last flared through the dark eyes.

"Are you blushing, pet?"

"I didn't..." She gave a shake of her head before she pulled back enough to study him with a worried gaze. "Do you feel well enough to get out of here?"

A smile curled his lips as he glanced down at his blood-soaked body.

"I'm healed. Completely healed," he murmured in amazement. "It's little wonder that the Anasso is so anxious to get his hands upon you."

Shay grimaced as she studied the pinprick fang marks still visible on her wrist. "Actually, I don't think it's his hands he wants to get on me."

He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't underestimate those pheromones of yours. They are potent enough to seduce any vampire."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she demanded.

Viper rose smoothly to his feet with a soft chuckle. "No, I suppose it wouldn't." With great care he set her on her feet and placed his hands on her shoulders. His expression settled into somber lines as his thumbs absently stroked the line of her collarbone. "Shay, you have given me a great gift. One that I will not forget."

She shifted in discomfort. "A promise is a promise. I gave you the blood-debt, nothing more."

He smiled ruefully. "Be quiet, pet. In just a moment I intend to tell you in no uncertain terms just how stupid it was to follow me and put yourself at risk. For now I simply want you to know that you bring honor to your Shalott ancestors. I have never met anyone, whether it's vampire, demon, or human, who possesses your courage or your loyalty. You are a warrior your father would have been proud of."

A hot blush stained her cheeks. Dang it, she wasn't good at this mushy stuff. Give her a demon to fight, or a witch to outwit, and she was in her element. Give her a compliment and she floundered and fluttered as if she didn't have a lick of sense to her name.

"Maybe we should be thinking about getting out of here," she muttered.

His lips twitched. "There are times when I despair of you, pet, I truly do." He brushed a soft kiss over her brow. "But on this occasion you're right. We need to get out of here. The sooner the better."

Chapter Twenty-Two

Viper was grumpy.

There was really no better way to describe his mood.

Oh, it wasn't that he wasn't grateful. He didn't enjoy being tortured any better than the next vampire. Probably less than most. And he wasn't indifferent to the knowledge that Shay had revealed the secrets of her heart that she wasn't yet prepared to confess. No woman followed a man for hours and risked her life out of simple loyalty. Not even his stubborn, utterly obstinate Shalott. And certainly they did not offer up their precious blood without possessing some feelings.

But as much as the display of her affection warmed his cold heart, he couldn't put aside the maddening knowledge that he had failed. Failed to realize the truth of who was hunting Shay. Failed to capture the damnable Evor and put an end to the curse. Failed to keep Shay from rushing headlong into danger.

It had pretty much been one big stinking heap of failure.

Dammit all.

Behind him Shay remained thankfully oblivious to his silent self-flagellation.

Not surprising.

To her the tunnels were a spider web of inky blackness. Even holding tightly onto his hand she was stumbling over the uneven ground as he led her away from the occupied caves.

"Ow." she muttered, nearly going to her knees as she tripped over a stray rock.

Coming to a halt he turned to study her pale face. "Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not all right" She reached down to rub her toe. "I can't see a damn thing in this dark."

"Don't worry there's really not much to see. Some dirt, some rocks, a few spiders," he said dryly.

She straightened. The better to glare at him. "That is so not funny."

"Neither is the fact that you risked yourself to come here," he retorted, his voice edged with his smoldering frustration. "How did you even find me?"

She shrugged. "When I escaped from the warehouse I ran across Levet. He was already following you."