I was shivering, tightly balled up in the fetal position, trying to hold myself together as the pain intensified.

Silas was beside me with a wet cloth pressed to my forehead.

“I’m so thirsty,” I pleaded to him. I wanted blood so bad, a hunger I had never experienced before.

“Please,” I begged Silas.

“The blood will be here soon,” he said trying to appease me but I didn’t want excuses.

I wanted his blood. I wanted to sink my teeth in his sweet skin and drink every last drop. The hunger was indescribable. Nothing else mattered.

To me he was prey, I didn’t see the man I loved, or the father of my sons. I wanted to drink his life from his veins. That was the only thing that I wanted.

My pleading and begging did little to sway him. Even in my delirious mind I knew I had to try another angle.

“You did this to me,” I whispered, allowing the agony I was in to seep into every tremble in my voice.

He was just out of reach and even if he was I was not strong enough to overpower him. The only way to get what I wanted was to manipulate him into giving me what I wanted.

“I know,” he murmured.

I gave a hollowed laugh. “Give me what I need. You can stop the pain all you have to do is let me feed on you.”

He retracted his hand that held the cloth. I couldn’t tell if I was reaching him or not but I could not give up. My survival depended on my ability to get him to give in to me.

“I know you’re sick and hurting. It’s my fault but I will make this right Avery. I will save you.”

I tried to reach out to him but the chains clanked as the chains reach their limit and my hand stopped inches from him.

“Ugh,” I yelled, annoyed that I was locked up and unable to reach him.

The door opened and someone entered the room.

“We need you.”

I recognized the voice. Jude.

“I don’t want to leave her,” Silas said but stood.

“It’s urgent, I wouldn’t disturb if you if it wasn’t important.”

Silas stood staring at me. “I’ll be back.”

I gave out a frustrated shout, wanting to be free so I could pull him down to me with my hands and drink from his neck.

Silas retreated and there was nothing I could do but watch as Jude and him left, closing the door.

I shivered in pain, sweating dripping from every pore in my skin. It felt like I was on fire, it burned in every cell in my body. The pain was excruciating.

I lost track of time but eventually the door reopened. I didn’t even open my eyes. The pain too intense to care what was happening around me.

“It’s here,” Silas whispered as the footsteps stopped beside me.

I didn’t care. I just wanted it to stop.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered, my throat so dry it felt like it was raw.

“I won’t let you die Avery.” His hand took my arm.

I was too weak to pull it away.

“Let me die,” I begged. I needed it to stop, I could not take a second more.

“You’ll feel better soon. I promise,” he soothed. I felt the needle, it felt like a new wave of pain that ripped through me.

“Awww,” I groaned, too weak to stop him.

Then I felt a coolness spread right behind the pain. It began to spread. The shivering worsened. I began to cry.

Silas was silent beside me. This time he used the cloth to wipe the tears.

Too tired to carry I allowed the darkness to consume me.

**********

My eyes fluttered open. The room was bright I lifted my arm to shield my sensitive eyes.

“You’re awake.” It was Silas.

I lowered my arm to take the sight of him beside me. He had a whisper of a smile.

I felt weak and I ached in every part of my body but the pain was gone.

I swallowed, my throat felt so dry. Wincing, I looked around to see I was not in the cell anymore. I was in my room.

Confused I looked to Silas.

“How are you feeling?” he leaned closer.

I winced again when I tried to swallow.

“Here,” he pressed his wrist to mouth. His teeth tore the skin and then pressed it against my mouth.

The blood rushed into my mouth and I grabbed his wrist with both of my hands while I hungrily gulped the blood. So thirsty.

The liquid soothed the rawness as it flowed down my throat.

“Slowly.”

I could not stop, or slow it down even if I wanted to. The need for blood was too powerful to resist.

“If you drink too fast, you’re going to throw it up.”

I wasn’t strong enough to stop him from pulling his wrist from my hold and lifting it to his mouth to seal the wound with the brush of his tongue.

My eyes began to water. I felt so strange, not myself.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured, touching my face with his hand. “You are going to be fine.”

The blood I had managed to drink had eased the aching but I was far too weak to feel like I would recover.

“We think because you’re a Sire and not a Vampire it’s going to take you longer to recover than I did.”

There had been a real moment when I had truly believed we were both going to die and here by some miracle we had both survived. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t really care.

“The boys,” I murmured. They were my next thought.

“They are both fine, just missing you.”

It was good news.

“The council,” I frowned.

Someone had betrayed us and it wasn’t a stretch to believe it had something to do with them or someone who was loyal to the Vampires.

“I don’t want you to worry about them right now.”

That did not sound good. I tried to move but I was too weak.

“You need to rest Avery. I need you to get better and the only way you’re going to get there is if you rest and feed.”

I wanted to be able to do what he said but the fear of the council was too strong.

“Tell me,” I urged him, needing the information, even if it wasn’t good.

“They have voted against us.” He informed me.

I frowned. It didn’t surprise me, they hated my kind and were not going to go along with my marriage to one of their kind. Silas was not just some ordinary Vampire, he was royalty.

“What does that mean?” I croaked.

He touched my face, reassuring me with his touch but I wanted him to answer my question.

“It means they do not recognize our union, and you are to be executed.”

I closed my eyes, trying to take in the news. It was too much. I wasn’t surprised but it still came as a shock.

After everything I had suffered at their hands they were still intent on ending my existence.

Tears seeped quietly from my eyes.

“I don’t want you to fear them. I underestimated them. That will not happen again. This time I will protect you and they will not get another chance to harm you.”

I wanted to believe him but I had just endured such a violently painful experience that showed the reality of what we were both up against.

“They got to us,” I reminded him.

“I know. We were betrayed.”

It had to be someone on the inside and that was a scary realization.

“Who did this to us Silas?” I asked, opening my eyes to stare into his beautiful shimmering eyes.

“It was the nanny. She left the backdoor open and helped them get past security.”

I wanted to say I was surprised but the truth was I wasn’t. I had always felt an air of disapproval around her. If she disliked me so much to do this to us, who else might feel the same way.

Who did we trust? Could I completely trust any of them?

I began to shake my head slowly. “It will never end. They will always see me as unworthy.” I took a shaky breath.