Breakups were difficult. Especially when it was with someone you thought the world of and when it was happening in front of five other people you also thought the world of. We were still staring at each other. I think I was in shock. The realization was too hard to sink in for both of us. This wouldn't work. Despite what I'd assumed to be a solid foundation between us, we really were done, at least for now. Of all people I thought I'd be breaking up with, I'd never thought it would be him.

"Alia are you alright?" My attention snapped to Alia, breakup temporarily forgotten. There would be time to think about Noah when we got off this island. Alia stood unnaturally still with her back facing us and her head tilted up to the sky. She was staring at the moon again. Every hair on my body stood up as I realized what that meant. I'd forgotten about keeping her distracted. Damn it.

"I think she lost control," I whispered. She turned abruptly and sure enough, her eyes glowed red in the dark. They fixed on me with an intensity that had me taking a step back. No recognition flickered in those eyes. She was pure vampire now. The Alia we knew was gone, buried by blood thirst and predator instinct.

"Alia. Come back. Don't lose control," Zahra begged as she took a cautious step forward. Alia's gaze flickered briefly to her before shifting to me once more. I was the prey tonight. Noah's hand curled around mine briefly before letting go. He'd pressed a wooden tip into my hand, sharp enough to kill if I aimed right. But I couldn't kill her. There was no way I'd kill her.

"Alia please recognize me," I begged, not just for my life but for the guilt I know she'd feel when she saw me dead. For a second, her eyes did clear and I read the words in them, clear as day.

Kill me before I hurt you

She took another step forward, red-eyed once more, and I dropped the wooden shaft in my hand. This would make up for the mistakes I'd made. This would make up for the time I hadn't saved her. I closed my eyes and I felt the rush of air before me that indicated she'd moved. Rose screamed but not one of my friends moved. This was it. It would be an okay way to die. Ironic even, to be ended by the hand that had saved me.

But her teeth only managed to graze my skin. Breath fanned my face before it abruptly stopped. I opened my eyes and Alia's brown ones met mine in tears. They were full of world-ending agony. She'd stopped. Somehow, she'd managed to come back to us. I realized how when I felt a warm liquid begin to seep through the front of my shirt. Blood. Her blood. Alia collapsed to the ground and I shook at the sight of the red liquid pooling around her. This couldn't be happening. A wooden shaft had impaled itself in her stomach. None of us even owned a shaft like that one. Someone else had saved my life. I knew, before he'd even appeared, that he'd been the one to save me once more. A man, vampire, emerged from the darkness into the spotlight just as Zahra cried out and ran to Alia's side. Yet, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the figure that emerged from the dark.

I wanted to hate him for throwing the shaft that had ended my friend's life. In that second, I wanted to pick up that shaft and hurl it at him myself or plunge it into my chest. He'd chosen me above her when he'd had no right to make that choice and I wanted to rail curses at him for doing so. And above all, I wanted to ask why.

And yet, all that struck me in that moment when he appeared was that he was the most beautiful man I'd ever laid eyes on. Holy shit. Heat like I'd never felt before filled the space between us. Magnetic. Electric. Everlasting. My body seemed to be burning up as his eyes traced over my body. They were bright green and striking in the moonlight. The pain, longing, and suffering buried in them caught my attention and arrested. The man looked like he'd been carved in stone and brought to life by magic. My blood sang as he closed the space between us so slowly I almost opened my mouth to beg him to move faster. I wanted him closer; close enough to wrap my arms around his neck as he sunk his teeth into my skin for a lifetime. Why, I didn't know and I didn't care. In that moment, I just wanted him.

All those thoughts scattered as Zahra cried out in shock. Both of us looked to the two girls on the ground, connection broken. The world returned to focus. The shaft through Alia wouldn't kill her immediately but we needed to get her blood fast. Zahra had thrown herself beside Alia to offer it but she was pushed away. Alia knew she wouldn't be able to stop if she began to feed on any of us. Already, her eyes were flickering between brown and red.

The beautiful stranger pushed Zahra away none too gently and took Alia's body into his own arms. He cradled her against his chest. Her tiny, broken form looked like a doll in his arms. Alia's eyes flickered to green as she stared at the man with adoration.

"Thank you for saving her," she whispered. Her voice was child-like and full of innocence. I wasn't surprised to find my cheeks wet with tears. What surprised me was the pain in the stranger's face as he looked down at Alia.

"I'll always save her little one," he said quietly, briefly glancing up at me.

"I don't want to die T," she said tearfully. I was sobbing then. My baby. She didn't deserve this. She'd had a life outside this island, a bright future that had all been taken away in seconds. Sebastian arms held me up as I sagged against him. The man looked at me then, and somehow, my pain reflected in his eyes like he felt it.

"Then run from here," the man growled, still staring at me. My head snapped to Alia. There was a way out. He could really save her.

"What about protecting her," Alia asked. I whispered that she'd done more than enough but she just looked away. This man, he'd made her place her own life below mine. That wasn't right, by any twisted logic.

"I'm here now. She won't be touched," he said with no room for argument. I had no doubt he'd go to any length to keep me safe. The notion was creepy when I realized he didn't even know me. That trance he'd had me in moment before began to fade. It must have been some form of compulsion that the vampire had used on me at the bar.

Anger reared its ugly hair and all notion of thanking him vanished into thin air. How dare he make me feel the way I'd just felt, make Alia feel the way she felt about her own life?

The man released Alia from his arms and immediately, her eyes started to shift colors. Before they wholly gave way to red, she managed to stumble forward to plant her lips on Zahra. My friend kissed her back like it was the last time. I cried thinking that it may be. They deserved more. Alia drew back and whispered something just for the two of them before disappearing down the road. We were left with T as she'd called him and I considered letting him know exactly how I felt.

"Get back to the hotel," he said. Before he could run off, I opened my mouth to speak. I wanted to scream, yell, and rant but in that moment only three words left my mouth.

"Who are you," I asked. He froze. His back muscles stiffened like the sound of my voice annoyed him. Well I wasn't really too fond of him either.

"Thaddeus. Alia's sire," he said lowly before disappearing into the night. Thaddeus. Finally there was a name behind this whole mess. A beautiful name, I admitted quietly to myself but it also sounded like the name of a dictator.

"You heard him. We should get back to the hotel," Michel said. I dragged Zahra towards the car. She was still staring the way Alia had disappeared. The blank, broken look on her face shattered my heart. It was like all her strength had been sucked away. What could I offer to comfort her? I didn't even know when Alia would come back, or whether we'd still be on this island then.

"Do you think she'll be alright," Zahra asked. We had no way of knowing but as a vampire, on Upir Island and being on the top of the food chain in general, I was sure she'd survive.

"I don't think it's her that needs to be worried right now," I replied. We were in far deeper trouble now and I doubted we even knew of half the trouble that awaited us soon. There was still five days left.

Perhaps if we had our own TV show, we could call it Breakfast Debates. We'd make millions. It seemed to be all we did these days. Today's debate was a controversial and interesting one. When to invade the airport, day or night? It was almost like we'd had this same discussion before. Oh wait, we had.

"Davina was attacked by a vampire in broad daylight. Clearly, the vampire threat will always be there. At least at night we've got cover and Thaddeus," Michel said. Today, I was on his side of the argument partially because having a vampire on our side would make things easier, partially because I wanted to see Thaddeus again to yell/kiss him and partially because I was feeling petty enough to spite Noah in childish ways.

"We can't rely on Thaddeus," Noah said stubbornly. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was jealous with the way he growled out Thaddeus. His insinuation against Thaddeus had me opening my mouth before I could even think of shutting it to prevent a fight.

"Yes we can," I snapped. Dead silence as all eyes met mine. That was probably the most assertive thing I'd ever said at one of these debates but it was true. I may feel uncomfortable around the guy but he had my back for some godforsaken reason I didn't know of and I was planning on taking full advantage of that protection.

"He'll come if there's danger," I said more passively. Noah's eyes blazed with anger. What did he have against Thaddeus? They'd literally just met yesterday. Maybe he was jealous. Served him right for all the times I'd been jealous of the girls he'd dated in college. Man I was being petty today.

"Well his obsession with you doesn't exactly offer us all protection. I say daytime. The less the vampires, the better," he shot back with steel. Yeah he was clearly jealous and maybe even just as petty as I was. Maybe I should remind him that we'd already broken up.

"Noah this isn't about me," I said with just as much fire. If he wanted a fight, I could bring him one. It was better than the awkward silent hostility thing we had going for us right now. Everybody was uncomfortable because of us anyway.

"Yes it is about you. Alia shows up and wants to protect you. Thaddeus shows up and wants to protect you. You're the only one that's been attacked twice. I wouldn't be surprised if you were behind this whole problem," he shot back. Was he out of his goddamned mind? What kind of sense did that make?

"The problem is the vampires. Not me," I lashed out. Besides, I hadn't exactly asked for the protection or the two attacks on my life. How dare he pin this on me?

"You've been a beacon for trouble ever since we got here," he screamed. This was getting out of hand but maybe, just maybe, he had a point. Still, I wasn't going to back down and be pushed around by him anymore. If I didn't stand firm, we'd go at daytime and I'd get attacked again and he'd probably blame me for it.

"The only reason that trouble hasn't killed you is because of me," I said. We were in each other's faces now, breathing hard with anger and frustration.

"Guys shut up! We can't turn on each other. Davina, sit down," Rose interfered as she shoved me back to sit next to her. One hard look at Noah and he backed down as well, reassuming that perfectly calm exterior I'd always admired. Too bad it wasn't real and too bad I hadn't realized that earlier.

"I say we go at daytime," he said stonily. His eyes were glued to my every move. He wasn't going to intimidate me into swaying this time.

"And I say nighttime," I replied with as much fake calm I could muster. I could play his game. He bit his lip but didn't say a word.

"We can't split up guys," Rose begged. Clearly she wasn't going to pick a side on this one. She was always the pacifist but sometimes she didn't realize that you had to pick a side.

"Maybe he's right Davina. We shouldn't be relying on vampires right now when we're running from them," Sebastian said gently. He was still wavering between both of us right now though.

"That vampire protected me better than any of you could. I would be dead right now if it wasn't for him," I shot back. He quickly backed down, knowing he couldn't argue when I was in the right and when I was this pissed.

"We can't trust him Davina," Zahra said softly. I understood where she was coming from, I really did. She'd seen her girlfriend almost murdered by him to save me. But he'd also saved Alia in the end. I had to believe that he thought that through to save us both somehow.

"We can't fight off 12 people, vampire or not on our own," I said clearly.

"Davina's right. We should go at night," Michel added. He was clearly the only one on my side. Nobody else trusted Thaddeus and I couldn't blame them. I looked at Noah, begging him to put our failed relationship behind him and see reason. His face was devoid of emotion but one good thing about him was that he'd take the smarter choice, even if it meant forsaking his pride.

"I'm not going at night unless I know Thaddeus is coming and that he'll protect all of us, not just you," he conceded.

"Fine.I'll find him. Tonight," I replied silently thanking the gods for giving me theguts to stand up to him.