"Will Lucas be alright?"

Rubbing a palm over his sleep-mussed hair, Kane opened the topmost drawer of the pine dresser near the door. There were dark bruises on his face that hadn't been there last night. He was shirtless, and a bandage was tied around his shoulder from where a gunshot had thankfully missed but burned his skin.

"Yeah," Kane replied tiredly. "Kiernan gave him blood early this morning."

Did he sleep more than an hour last night?

"He needs more than a few days of rest," Hannah said. "You know, to recover."

"We need him with us when we see Henrik, but, yeah, it doesn't look like he'll be on his feet for a while."

Sitting on the bed, Hannah pulled her legs under her, back propped by pillows. Her heart leapt against her chest unpleasantly. "You think you'll run into trouble?"

"There's always trouble."

The coldness in Kane's voice made her anxious. He'd been this way since they'd returned from the magic shop. From the amount of blood that Lucas slicked the kitchen tiling with, she had thought he was going to die. Remembering how pale he had looked and how desperate Kane's voice had been when they burst through the back door made her nauseous.

They'd had to hike past the wards, and Lucas wasn't doing well after bleeding for so long.

Flitting between consciousness, Lucas had laughed at their worried faces.

She had hated that the most.

She glanced at the far side of the bed. A head of fair hair peeked from the pile of blankets, which rose subtly. Reid had come to their bed after the chaos last night. He was still asleep, or he was faking it impressively.

When Reid had taken in the living room floor where Anna was working on keeping Lucas from bleeding out, his expression had held such deep anguish that Hannah's eyes burned at the remembrance.

Asha had awoken by then and had taken Lucas's hand, which had fallen nauseatingly limp every time he dropped out of consciousness.

Dad, Kane, Kiernan, and Axel had taken their unexpected guest to the basement, who'd been laughing while they'd all been despairing. She didn't know what they would do with the raven-haired man at the time. Torture, maybe. She hadn't cared. Lucas had been dying, and she had held Kane's hand, praying that night wouldn't haunt them for the rest of their lives.

The rest of them had stood, awoken from sleep to horror, unsure how to help and utterly powerless. But Reid hadn't hesitated to sit on the floor that was slick with blood. He had held Lucas's face, and every time Lucas's tired brown eyes had opened, Reid would force a smile and speak coaxingly for Lucas to stay awake.

Hannah had watched Lucas's weak fingers rise and grip the backs of Reid's hands.

Lucas had apologized, half-conscious. She didn't know what for. Reid must have known because he shared a sheepish look with Asha, and she'd reached out, squeezing Reid's wrist with a shaky smile.

Reid had given Lucas blood while the man wasn't conscious, enough for his bleeding to stop, but Anna had still needed to stitch the wound closed.

Reid had showered off the blood in the en suite after Kane. Then, she had before they passed out for a fitful sleep. She had found Reid's hand during the night and held it until the tremble of his fingers abated.

Since they'd went to bed, Kane had been distant. He had practically slept on the edge of the mattress, so he didn't risk touching her during the night.

"Kane," Hannah said softly.

He stopped mid-step towards the bathroom and looked at her, his eyes were cold.

"What's going on?" Hannah asked gently.

"I'm going to shower."

"Again? You took one last night."

Guilt flickered behind his gaze, and the sight made her stomach clench. He was hiding something. She rose from the bed, approaching him with a quickening heart beat. "Is it Val? I would have told you, I'm sorry."

"Would you have?"

The acquisition in his tone made her flinch. "Of course I would have."

Kane's green eyes were ablaze with anger. "I'm not fucking stupid, Hannah. He has his hands around your throat because you think you owe him. You don't owe him anything. He's in your head again." His gaze hardened. "We're getting rid of him."

He was moving towards the nightstand at the exact moment Hannah threw herself towards the thin chain, which lay coiled beside the box of black wood.

Her knee hit the nightstand, and the lamp shook dangerously.

She snatched the pendant mere seconds before Kane's fingers found the chain. A spark of warmth erupted up her arm, sapping her magic.

Holding the necklace close to her chest protectively, she met Kane's gaze, ready to plead for him to listen to her, but the rage she saw on his face stopped her words and hitched her breath.

He was beyond anger, and she was staring at what came afterwards, blinding fury.

She expected Kane to try for the necklace, not grab her arm and throw her on the bed with enough strength to give her whiplash.

"Kane," she gasped, cradling the chain the best she could while on her back with a raging man made of muscle lying half atop her, trying to rip it from her fingers.

She tried to shift onto her side, but he dragged her back.

"Give it to me," Kane said, voice desperate. Her heart ached, and the urge to punch him for being rough with her abated.

Something else was making Kane look so panicked.

"What's wrong?" Hannah whispered worriedly. He held her arm, pinning her, and stared down at her, the battle he was waging plain behind his green eyes. "Kane. Please."

Kane ripped the pendant from her grasp.

The chain bit into her palm, and she gasped in pain.

Before Kane could smash the stone or whatever he had planned with wild eyes, he was suddenly off her.

She scrambled to sit up.

They'd been so embroiled in each other that they hadn't heard Reid wake up. He had Kane pinned on his back on the gray rug that covered the planked flooring with a palm against Kane's fast-rising chest, crouched over him. Even sleep-mussed, Reid was a predator ready to pounce on his prey, and an unsettling shiver ran up her spine.

There was a red mark that would become a bruise on Kane's shoulder that wasn't bandaged, and it would darken in the shape of Reid's fingers.

The necklace had skidded across the floor, ending up beneath the bed out of sight.

She didn't know what to do, so she held her breath and tried to calm her out-of-control breathing.

Kane gripped Reid's wrist but didn't shove him off, glaring. She saw Reid's lips parting, and his blue eyes darted over Kane's face, searching for answers she wanted just as badly.

What was going on?

"What were you thinking?" Reid asked harshly.

"I'm thinking..." Kane said, licking his lips. His voice, which had been cold, suddenly cracked with emotion. "That you're so selfish it makes me sick."

Hannah's heart seized. "Kane..."

"I'm sorry," Reid rasped.

The grip on Reid's wrist must have tightened because his fingers went limp and he sucked air through his teeth.

"You used to drink Gabriel's blood..." Kane growled. This time, the flash of tangible hurt that crossed Reid's face wasn't physical. "You knew what it would do to me. But you did it anyway. Because you wanted me to need you. I can't think of anything else!"

"Let go," Reid ordered, strained. He gripped Kane's fingers with his other hand, trying to pry them away from his wrist. Before he could free himself, he was shoved, and fell back, hitting the dresser with a harsh thud.

Hannah startled. "Stop it!"

"Shut up!" Kane growled.

Reid didn't fight when Kane grabbed his elbows and forced him to stand. But his blue eyes were anguished, murmuring softly for Kane to calm down.

Hannah jumped off the bed and had an arm around Kane's neck before he could rip Reid's jugular out. She wasn't sure what he was doing with his mouth against Reid's neck, but she wasn't going to wait and find out.

"Stop," Hannah pleaded, gripping Kane's hair. He finally relented, letting her pull him away. He turned on her with a growl, and she wanted to cower from his anger but stood taller, glaring down his cold gaze. "Whatever is going on. We can help, but you have to relax."

"You can help? How? Will you call Valrus again? That is what you did. You brought Dad back, right? What was the payment? You're soul for real this time? Fuck, Hannah. I'm not stupid!"

Tears streamed down her face. "I did it for you."

Kane's face twisted, and she thought he might cry. He laid a palm over his eyes. "You both keep doing shit that I don't ask either of you for, get yourselves hurt, and then tell me that it's for me." He dropped his hand, and fury was alight in his eyes, making her flinch. "All I've ever wanted to do was protect you. Both of you! But you're two of the most infuriating people on the fucking planet!"

Anger rose within her. "I don't regret it. My dad is alive, you're alive, Reid is alive."

"I've never wanted anything more than to have Dad back, but it's not worth the sacrifice," Kane replied harshly. "Dark magic always comes back. It'll take more than you can give!"

52 people dead.

"I'd do it again," Hannah whispered fiercely. "You're worth everything." She looked at Reid and smiled sadly. "You're both worth everything."

Reid's blue eyes gentled, losing their touch of darkness. He looked so human, and her heart ached. If only he could look that way forever.

Kane shook his head. "There's a reason those spells are forbidden."

"You'd have done it for us," Reid said from where he held the edge of the dresser in a tense grip. "She saved our lives and brought Milton back. Dark magic, or not. We should be thanking her."

Kane glared at Reid. "She wouldn't have done it if you weren't a moron who got yourself captured."

Reid shook his head. "We wouldn't have known that the coin was the key. And Alma would still be providing Azrael with funds. We killed one of his main supporters. We're a step closer to stopping him. To win, we'll have to make sacrifices."

Kane cursed and sat heavily on the bed's edge. "Then, let me make the fucking sacrifices." He swept his glare over both of them, angry, but there was a soft fondness behind the green. "No more putting yourselves in danger. I can't take any more worrying. If I have to lock you both up and fight this war myself. I will."

"So romantic," Reid sighed wistfully. A roll of bandages from the nightstand thrown by Kane hit his chest, and he laughed. "Fine! No more danger. Except when we fight a bloody battle to kill Azrael and most definitely die when that beast awakens to destroy the world, but until then..." He saluted with a pretty smile. "I will solemnly swear from this point forward, I won't put myself in danger knowingly."

"Knowingly?" Kane growled. "Never!"

Reid's smile widened. "How will I know what I don't know? That's just...unknowable." He raised his hands and cowered. "Not the lamp! Hannah, stop him!"

Hannah took the lamp from Kane's grasp, and Reid, the brat, stuck out of his tongue. Kane snarled, and the animal sound nearly made her clench her thighs. Even after that chaos, she was unbelievably hot for this man. She was insatiable.

She placed the lamp back on the nightstand. "If we're considering putting ourselves in danger, we'll ask you first. How does that sound?"

Kane grumbled, "Fine."

Hannah sat beside Kane on the bed. She placed a hand on his thigh, and her eyes burned with relief when his fingers gripped hers. "Will you tell us what's bothering you?"

Keeping his gaze on the grey rug, Kane whispered, "I'm addicted to vampire blood."

Oh.

"Hm?" Reid said, cupping a hand around his ear. "Just a little louder. I missed that. If you look me in the eyes and clarify what you mean by vampire, I'd hear better."

Kane's gaze rose. His glare was withering. His grip on Hannah's fingers tightened. "I'm addicted to Reid's blood."

"Um..." Hannah whispered. "That's..." She didn't know what to say. She knew they were sharing blood but didn't know it could be addicting.

Reid smiled happily. "It's great, isn't it?" He flinched when Kane rose from the bed with a low growl. "Right now? Hannah's here. It might make her jealous." He might act foolish, but he knew when to flee. He was racing to the door with Kane hot on his heels. "Beating me up won't make you want me any less!"

The thrown-open door smacked Kane's shoulder. He didn't hesitate to grab the back of Reid's shirt and drag him back into the bedroom. He had Reid against the wall with a forearm to his throat before Reid's laughter stopped.

"Great?!" Kane shouted. "How selfish are you?! I'm suffering!"

"I'm really selfish," Reid replied lowly. He made a high noise of pain from a harsh pinch to his stomach that became choked laughter. "Why are you so angry? It's just blood. You can have as much as you want."

"I'm going through withdrawal. That's why! I died, and the companion bond broke, but this is still haunting me! Why?!"

Oh god. That's the reason he'd been freaking out all morning. His extra showers. Pulling away from her. He was suffering, and she hadn't realized. She felt like the crummiest girlfriend ever. She hadn't even known their bond had broken.

"Because you want it. So, take it," Reid purred, eyes darkening otherworldly. "It's yours."

Hannah was stuck in place, heart a rapid beat. She'd always wondered how Kane and Reid gave each other blood. She assumed they did it with a cup for a while, but she was about to learn how wrong she was.

She didn't know if she should be stopping Kane from putting his mouth to Reid's neck again. But Reid didn't look bothered this time, eyes closing, and his fingers slid through Kane's hair, gripping tightly.

Should she sneak away?

Then, abruptly, Kane jerked himself away with fast breaths. He stumbled back and gripped the doorknob, holding Reid's gaze intensely. "I..." He pointed at Reid and growled, "Don't fucking move."

Reid slumped against the wall. "Okay."

Kane left the bedroom shirtless, and a few moments later, the door to the patio could be heard slamming shut.

After an awkward silence, Reid whispered, "Did he mean, don't move from this spot? Or this room?"

"Did he always hate taking your blood?" Hannah asked softly, nearing.

"No," Reid replied, frowning. "He told you about his...father?"

Hannah nodded.

"He'll turn faster because his dad was a vampire."

Heart seizing, Hannah glanced at the ajar bedroom door. "He didn't tell me."

"He just found out."

"He's worried he'll turn if he drinks your blood."

It all made sense.

How did she help him get through this? She knew nothing about vampires. Was their blood like a drug? Would he need to stop slowly? Cold turkey? Would he become more volatile than he was this morning?

"No." Reid shook his head, smiling sadly. "He's worried that he'll want to."