Running into the woods on my own had to be my most stupid action to date. And there had been some fierce competition for that title lately.

While I ran to Bob's old factory in the woods, my mind also raced. I was pretty convinced it was Nathan and his friends who had confronted Etienne. Who else here knew of his existence and was strong enough to corner a vampire? It definitely wasn't Mr. and Mrs. Davis from the village.

The who wasn't the most puzzling part of this, however. What I really didn't get was why Etienne was no longer in the fey woods. Why didn't Ivana keep him there, as was the plan all along? It made little sense to move him.

Of course the thought that this could be a trap had flashed through my head too, but that also made little sense. A trap for what, and why?

After taking a shortcut through the thick vegetation—but not thick enough to stop a determined werewolf—I reached the factory situated in a clearing not far from Pinewood town.

I didn't hear a single sound coming from inside the building. Nature had already started reclaiming the area, but I spotted broken branches and plants near the entrance, indicating there had definitely been someone here recently.

Eerie silence where you expected voices was never a good sign. It probably meant I was already too late.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself, marched to the front door of the factory's office area, and pushed it open. The door gave way easily, albeit with a loud creak, and I slipped inside.

Bob's office was all cleared out, leaving only dust, and walls with peeling paint inside. Light shone in through cracked windows, though the dusk was quickly setting in. Another bad sign. If Etienne was here, he must've gotten burned while being dragged inside.

I didn't see anyone, however. I still didn't hear nor smell anyone either. Should've asked Danny where exactly he peeked inside.

Cursing under my breath, I marched on to the hallway. When I opened the next door, a strong smell finally hit me. Iron. Blood.

My heart dropped. I figured it was probably best not to make a ruckus and announce my presence to everyone inside the factory, but now I couldn't stop myself from yelling.

"Etienne?" I called out.

My voice echoed through the empty hallway. There was no response, and I started running towards the source of the blood. It seemed to originate from the workplace up ahead.

I burst through the door, into a large, open space only dimly lit by the light in the hallway behind me. I was definitely going the right way; the smell of iron was overwhelming.

When I reached for the light switch, the lights overhead flickered on and I had finally found the source of the smell.

Etienne was on the ground and covered in blood. I caught the scent of a wolf's blood as well—the prey he had consumed a few days ago which was still running through his veins.

"Etienne!"

He didn't respond to my voice as I ran over. It was always hard to tell with vampires whether they were 'alive' or not, but thankfully, Etienne showed a sign of life by groaning and blinking his eyes open as I kneeled down beside him.

"Boris?" Etienne rasped.

I hushed him as I inspected his wounds. They looked like claw marks, and they were deep. While vampires were pretty tough, they could still die when their injuries were severe. And this looked pretty damn severe.

My hands trembled as I clenched Etienne's blood-soaked shirt. I had to think fast. I couldn't bring Etienne to a human hospital, and he wouldn't survive the long journey back to his own people. I could only think of one way to heal him right now, and that was for him to drink blood. Strong blood. Like a werewolf's.

Slowly, Etienne's eyes started drooped closed again.

"Hey, stay with me," I demanded, giving him a careful shake.

Etienne groaned in pain, but my approach had the desired effect: his eyes shot back open. With a grimace, I wrapped my arms around him, and lifted him up so his lips were near my neck. "Go on, then. Drink my blood."

"What?" Etienne stammered.

"Drink my blood."

Etienne took a shuddering breath. "No."

"No? What the hell are you saying?"

"I can't..." Etienne's breath fanned across my neck. Then he turned his head away so his ice-cold cheek was pressing against my nape instead. "Fail... this mission. If I drink your blood, I must leave and can't go into Pinewood."

I dug my fingers into the fabric of Etienne's shirt to stop the urge to shake him. "Are you kidding me? You're bleeding out right now! Who cares if you leave or not?"

Etienne stayed silence. Fearing he'd passed out, I leaned back to look at his face and found his eyes still open. He had his lips firmly pressed together, however, and I read equal amounts of determination and fear in his gaze. "I can't fail," he said.

I growled. "For fuck's sake, Etienne! This doesn't count! If you don't drink my blood, you're dead. Is being dead really preferable to being sent away from Pinewood?"

Again, Etienne stayed silent. He turned away from me.

"Fine," I said. "Then I won't tell if you don't."

Carefully, I set Etienne back down on the ground. Then I rolled up my sleeve.

Etienne looked at my bared wrist with suspicion and fear.

"Nobody will see this as long as I don't roll up my sleeves," I explained. "You will heal, and then you'll tell me exactly who did this to you."

Etienne hesitated. He stared at my wrist. For a moment, I thought he'd decline again, but then the vampire finally relented. Icy fingers wrapped around my hand and then Etienne leaned down. His fangs grew, and without warning, he bit me.

I hissed at the stinging pain, which soon faded into a dull throbbing. This time, Etienne didn't stop after a little sip. Clinging to my arm, Etienne kept drinking until I felt myself going a little lightheaded.

It worked, however. Etienne's wounds healed. I let him drink a little longer, but I would definitely have to push him off soon. Before I did, however, the vampire seemed to realise he was draining me dry and stopped with a shudder. Then his tongue darted out, and he licked the wound on my wrist.

I almost yanked my arm away before he started drinking more of my blood, but then I realised he had closed the wound by licking it. The pain was immediately gone.

"We don't want everyone to bleed out," Etienne explained with a sheepish expression. "It would be a shame to waste a perfectly good blood bag out of greed."

"Right," I breathed. "Obviously."

Despite being done drinking my blood, Etienne didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of my arms. I didn't feel the need to move, either.

We sat there in awkward silence on the dusty factory floor, now both covered in the iron smell of blood, and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

After a few moments, I finally broke the charged silence. "Now that this is handled, how did you get here, and who did this to you?"

Etienne grimaced and made himself smaller, like he'd hoped to avoid this question.

"You owe me answers, vampire," I pressed. "I just saved your life. Painfully so, I may add."

Etienne glared at me. "I didn't ask for your help. You forced it on me!"

"Well, I'm sorry," I replied sarcastically, "Should I have let you die then?"

"No, I..." Etienne breathed in and out deeply. I caught a flicker of pain in his gaze before he averted his eyes. "It was your friends. Nathan, I believed you called the mutt. They came to the fey woods. They must've heard I was there from someone. They warned me to leave now or they would make me pay. As I am obviously not in a position to leave your woods, this happened."

"Nathan..." I shut my mouth. I had no words. I knew Nathan was angry about the accords and vampires in our woods, but I never expected he'd try to do something like this. I had to admit I wasn't entirely surprised, but still. Didn't they understand what was at stake? If Etienne went home now and told his elders about this attack, there could be war.

"And now what, Boris?" Etienne asked, looking up at me. "What are you going to do now?"

I sighed. "Now, we leave this place if the coast is clear. Then we have to discuss what this attack means with my pack leader. Danny saw you inside the building and is getting Ivana as we speak."

Etienne spread his eyes wide."The little furball was here? He can't be! It's not safe."

I snorted. "Believe me, I've tried telling him that countless times. His parents tried telling him countless times. But the little rascal goes where he wants."

"How terribly irresponsible." Etienne wrinkled his nose in distaste. "The parents of the furball ought to leash him."

"Yeah, well, they're not nearly as irresponsible as us," I said.

Especially the part where Etienne just drank my blood, and I was going to lie about it to everyone else.

"True. On that, we agree," Etienne muttered. "So, why are you here, wolf? Don't tell me you came running after the little furball told you I was here?"

"Aren't you happy I'm here?" I tried to deflect the question. "Not many other werewolves would've run in here and offered you their delicious blood."

"It wasn't that good or strong. I've had better."

Etienne huffed and turned away. He tried to get up, but immediately tripped over his own feet the moment he tried to put weight on his legs. Despite my lightheadedness, I was fast enough to catch him.

Because I could see he wasn't going to walk properly any time soon-despite his healed wounds, he needed more time to recover-I immediately made use of the situation and picked him up.

Etienne's cheeks flushed. He wriggled in my arms, but only half-heartedly. "What do you think you're doing, wolf?" he hissed.

"You're clearly so much of a pillow princess you need to be carried," I replied with a joking wink. "Don't worry. You're light as a feather. I can carry you even with half of my blood missing."

Etienne narrowed his eyes at me, cheeks flushed. But he seemed to have given up on making me drop him and reluctantly allowed me to carry him. "Where are you taking me?"

I hesitated. What I should do was find Ivana and deliver Etienne to her with a report on what happened.

My instincts told me otherwise, however. Letting him go had led to catastrophe the first time. We might've left the factory alive, and I might've kept my calm while inside, but the smell of iron was in my nose and the sight of Etienne on the floor covered in blood was engraved in my brain. My instincts refused to let the vampire out of my sight again, and I had to listen this time.

"Home," I said. "We're going home."