“Silas,” I breathed, still trying to come to terms the likely danger we still faced. Inside, I trembled, fearing the worst.

“Stay here,” he instructed as he moved to the doorway of the kitchen.

Helplessly, I watched Silas disappear into the room to check for more of them.

I waited, fearful that he would find more but he returned a long minute later alone.

His expression thunderous. “Someone let them in.”

That meant someone had betrayed us. We both had enemies that would go to great lengths to get rid of us but this was a person close to us.

Once I had been lucky enough not to get infected but what was the chances of that happening twice. And Silas.

He had always been so strong, formidable. I could not even think of the possibility of something happening to him.

There was a whirlwind of activity when Jude arrived. The horror in his expression at the scene, it made my heart sink. It wasn’t good.

Questions had to wait, the most important thing was to clean up the mess and limit the exposure to any others. My biggest concern was my sons.

Once they had been secured and Jude took over supervision of the security, Silas and I headed upstairs to get cleaned up.

I felt like I was in a daze, struggling to make sense of the chaos and fear.

We removed our blood soaked clothes and threw them into the empty bath tub. My neck throbbed and I lifted my hands to see a deep cut. Damn. My hand shook, as the realization set in that I was probably infected.

Silas had a few scratches, and bruises.

I still couldn’t comprehend that not one but two Scavs got through security and attacked us in the house. How was it possible?

I trembled as Silas turned on the shower.

“How?” I whispered, feeling overwhelmed.

“We will figure it out.”

He spoke like we would have the time. But if we were infected we would both die.

He ushered me into the shower and followed me in. We washed our bodies and hair trying to get rid of every last drop of blood, even though it mattered little now. If we were infected a shower wasn’t going to stop it.

I tried to focus on the task of washing up so I couldn’t think of the more far reaching consequences of what happened downstairs.

The look on Jude’s face when he arrived had been sufficient to make me fearful.

We dried ourselves off and got dressed. Silas was dressed in sweats and a shirt. It was the most casual clothes I had ever seen him wear. I slipped into a pair of sweats and shirt.

“What now?” I asked, feeling jittery and scared. I folded my arms trying to keep myself together.

“We wait.” He sounded as tired as I felt.

I swallowed. My throat hurt I touched my fingers to feel the tender flesh where the Scav had tried to strangle me.

I hated this. I wanted to find out who had betrayed us and I wanted to see my sons but I understood the risk we posed to them.

“How do you feel?” I asked Silas as he went to the bedroom window and peered out.

“Like I fought a Scav bare handed.” He flexed his hand.

He had ensured I had a weapon which had left him without one. I had always wanted him to say that he cared for me or say three little words but his actions that day spoke louder than words.

The urge to get angry and hysterical seemed like a waste of energy. Losing it would help nothing, it would only be a waste of time.

He turned to face me. His expression solemn. “I underestimated our enemies and it is going to cost us dearly.”

His voice so grave. Like he had written us off already.

He moved to stand in front of me touching my face gently. “I failed to protect you Avery.”

My heart broke. I wanted to hold onto him and believe that we would survive this like we had survived everything else even if it wasn’t realistic.

“If you hadn’t shown up I would have been severely injured or worse dead. I would not have been able to help you and you would have been up against two of them at the same time. We would be in far worse shape if you hadn’t arrived when you did.”

“It seems you found something worth living for,” he murmured, his eyes set on mine. “I remember a time when you begged me to end your life.”

It felt like a lifetime ago. That life hadn’t been worth living. This one was very different. It was precious.

I remembered back to the time I would have done anything to be free of this world and here I was clinging to the impossible, hoping for a miracle.

“I did,” I nodded, feeling emotional.

Finally when I had something worth living for I was about to lose it.

There was a knock on the door and Jude entered with a doctor. The doctor patched us up and bandaged my hand.

“It is best for separate quarantine,” the doctor announced.

I frowned looking to Silas who gave the man a slow nod.

“What…why?” I didn’t want to be apart from Silas, not when there was a chance one of us were probably not going to survive.

“If one of us gets infected, we could pass it on,” Silas explained heavily.

Infected. The word echoed in my mind.

“It’s for the best,” Jude added.

I wanted to stay with Silas but I had to remember I had two young sons who needed us.

“What about the boys?” I asked, fearful of what would happen if we both succumbed.

“If you two…I will raise them as my own,” Jude announced.

He cared from them, like they were family. I nodded, trying to suppress the emotion that would lead to tears.

The doctor and Jude waited just outside the door as I turned to Silas.

“I…” I didn’t have the words to explain what I wanted to.

“If I don’t make it, Jude will protect you and the boys.”

It was something I could not comprehend. I swallowed hard as I stared into his beautiful shimmering eyes. I didn’t see the vampire who could be cruel and brutal. In that moment, I saw the man I had fallen for hopelessly.

I could live multiple lifetimes with him and I would always be wanting more, like I wanted now.

“They won’t stop until I’m dead,” I reminded him. “And I don’t think Jude will be able to protect me.”

He sighed. “He helped you disappear once before. He is a resourceful man.”

I took a deep emotional breath. “I thought we would have more time.”

I didn’t want to talk like we wouldn’t make it through but we had to be realistic.

“Same.” His voice had a the smallest hint of emotion. It was enough to inflate my heart.

I looked back to Jude, who was pacing outside the door.

We were running out of time. There was still so much unsaid between us. I needed him to know how much he meant to me, there was a good chance I wouldn’t get a chance to tell him if I left it unsaid.

My heart melted despite the heartbreak and fear I was feeling. “I know you don’t put much into human emotion but I love you.”

He didn’t brush it off, touched my face softly. “I don’t know if I even know what love is but I have never felt this way before. You make me feel so intense, it’s difficult to think straight. So many emotions. You are all consuming Avery, every part of me wants to hold you close for as long as we have. I wanted to protect you and keep you safe.” He sighed. “And know that if I survive I will hunt down every person behind this and I will ensure they endure the most painful death.”

I closed my eyes briefly, feeling a wave of emotional pain that gutted me. But instead of allowing it wash me away I pushed through it and opened my eyes.

Silas touched his lips to mine in a featherlight kiss.

I was breathless.

“Um..,” Jude interrupted. “We need to move you now.”

I nodded.

I had a lump in my throat which made talking impossible so I touched Silas and tried to engrain what it felt like to touch him.

Before I broke down I turned and walked passed Jude and out of the room where the doctor was waiting. I heard Jude the lock the door as he exited.

They led me to my room, the doctor remained outside but Jude entered and I faced him with my arms crossed.