Alerac yanked the claws out of Lorcan’s chest. “Stop it,” he gritted.

Jane’s blood dripped onto the ground.

“I’ll stop hurting her,” Lorcan agreed, voice sly and silken, “once you’re gone, wolf. Get the hell out of here. Leave Jane, and I won’t hurt her again.”

Lie.

Alerac glanced over his shoulder at Jane.

She shook her head. “We both know that’s bullshit.” She ignored the pain in her chest. Or, at least, she didn’t let the pain send her to her knees. “You leave, and he’ll go after your pack.”

“I’ll go after them anyway.” Lorcan admitted easily. “Dogs need death. And he,” he swiped his claws over Alerac’s chest. Alerac didn’t even fight back. Alerac let the bastard attack him. “He won’t stop me. He can’t. Not if he wants to keep his precious a rúnsearc safe.”

A rúnsearc.

Alerac had said that meant vampire.

He’d lied to her.

What it really meant was…secret love. She knew that, now. Because she had Alerac and Lorcan’s understanding of the language.

Alerac had been telling her how he felt, all along. She hadn’t realized…

Alerac hadn’t just been using her two centuries before. He loves me.

She ran to him and yanked him away from Lorcan’s attack. Jane forced Alerac to face her.

His fierce gaze locked on hers. “There’s a way,” he said to Jane. “I know there is. I just have to find it.”

“If I take those wolf eyes of yours, will you grow another set?” Lorcan asked, voice curious. “I can’t wait to find out.” His voice hardened as he said, “In case you missed the news, I have the power here. All of it. You can’t hurt me, not without hurting her. You can’t do a damn thing to me, but I can sure as f**k enjoy hurting you.”

Alerac’s shoulders straightened. She knew that he’d take whatever pain Lorcan gave to him—and not fight back.

For me.

His pack would suffer.

For me.

In the end, Alerac would lose his life.

For me.

She wasn’t going to let that happen. “It was my choice before,” Jane whispered to him.

Alerac shook his head.

“It’s my choice now.” She pushed onto her toes. Pressed her lips against his. “I love you.”

Then she backed away from him.

“No, Jane,” Alerac began. “you can’t—”

“Hold him, Ryan.”

Alerac’s eyes widened. He glanced over his shoulder.

Ryan wasn’t on the ground anymore. Wasn’t spitting up blood. He was on his feet, and in an instant, he’d lunged toward Alerac. Ryan wrapped his hands around Alerac. Held him tight.

Jane knew her brother wouldn’t be able to hold Alerac for long.

But she didn’t need a long time. After all, it only took seconds to die. She bent and grabbed a broken branch near her feet. Good thing there were plenty of tree branches lying around. And all you needed to stake a vampire was a chunk of wood. “The deal’s over, Lorcan. Consider the bond broken.”

Lorcan’s eyes widened.

They were still wide when she rushed toward him and drove that branch right through his heart.

Didn’t see that coming, did you, bastard?

***

“No!” The cry ripped from Alerac. He tossed Ryan aside. Raced toward Jane.

The wood went straight through Lorcan’s body, shoving out of his back. Blood covered the vamp as his knees gave way and he hit the ground.

Alerac grabbed Jane before she could fall, too.

“A rúnsearc, what have you done?” Her chest was soaked with blood. Her breath barely wheezed out. “Why?”

“B-because y-you wouldn’t…ever h-hurt me…”

“So you decided to end things yourself? You can’t do this!” Rage and grief twisted inside him, and destroyed any sane thought. “I won’t let you go! Dammit, no!”

Blood trickled from her mouth. Her eyes stared up at him. “Love…”

“No!” He pulled her against his chest. Rocked her with mindless motions of his body. “Don’t tell me that you love me. Don’t say that you love me while your heart is—”

She wasn’t moving.

He couldn’t breathe. “J-Jane?”

He tilted back her head. Her eyes were closed.

“Jane, don’t do this!”

His hold on her was too hard. He had to ease his grip or he’d bruise her. He couldn’t bruise Jane. He couldn’t hurt Jane. He needed her too much. She had to stay with him. He couldn’t make it through any more years without her.

“Lorcan’s dead.”

Ryan’s voice. Alerac’s head snapped up. His gaze narrowed on the vampire. The one who’d held him back. If Ryan hadn’t grabbed him, then Alerac could have stopped Jane. He could have saved her.

No, no, I’ll still save her. She’s not gone. Not yet. She’ll come back to me.

“We should burn his body,” Ryan continued. “Just to make f**king sure.”

“No!” Alerac’s roar. If they burned Lorcan, then they would burn Jane.

Ryan swallowed. He stared right back at Alerac. Grief was in the vamp’s eyes. “She knew that you wouldn’t kill him, that you’d let your pack die, that you’d die, for her.”

Yes, in an instant, he would have given his life for her.

“She chose to save you instead. Just like before.” Ryan’s lips twisted, but there was no humor there. Only pain. “Looks like two hundred years didn’t change the way that she felt about you, memory or no memory.”

The drumming of Alerac’s heartbeat was too loud. A red haze covered his vision. That haze was blood.

Jane’s blood.

Jane.

“You aren’t burning him,” Alerac said. HIs words sounded hoarse, as if they’d been scraped from his throat. “You aren’t burning her.”

Alerac’s gaze flew back to Jane. He couldn’t look away. Jane had saved him, too many times. It was his turn to save her. He had to save her. There wasn’t any other option for him.

Without her, he didn’t want to walk this earth.

Without her, it wouldn’t be safe for him to walk this earth.

“She just needs blood,” he said. His words were ragged. So was his breath. “Blood heals. That’s all she needs.”