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living on borrowed time. As long as the ring stayed on, he could hold on a while longer, endure the pain racking his body, and free Nika’s mind from the sgath that had stolen it.
    He’d intended to help her from afar, protecting her from himself, but now she was here, close enough to touch, looking at him with trust shining in her blue eyes.
    She had no idea how close he was to becoming a monster.
    Nika put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself as she jumped out of the truck. Against his will, Madoc’s hands went to her waist, lifting her down. Through the leather and the thick bulk of her sweater, he imagined he could feel the curve of her waist. It was a trick of the mind, since he knew damn well Nika had no curves. She was skin and bones, though her face had seemed to soften a bit since he’d last seen her months ago. There was a fullness to her cheeks that hadn’t been there before. With Nika covered by all those layers of clothes, Madoc could almost pretend she was a normal woman instead of a gaunt, frail thing he could break without even trying.
    His fingers tightened around her waist and she looked up at him. “When we’re done here, I want to go back and finish what I started.”
    Madoc watched her mouth move, mesmerized by the curve of her bottom lip. Was it fuller, too, or had he just imagined it? Maybe if he kissed her he’d be able to tell.
    “You’ll help me, won’t you?” she asked.
    Finally, the words sank in. There was no way in hell he was letting her go back to that graveyard, but if he told her that,she’d just try to find a way to go back without him.And that was going to happen only over his rotting corpse.
    “We’ll see,” he said. “Let Connal tend to you first; then we’ll talk.”
    “I don’t want him to touch me.”
    “I know. Neither do I, but you know you can’t go around bleeding.”
    A voice rose up from the darkness near the house. “No, she can’t,” said Connal. “Bring her in before we have a swarm on our hands.”
    He moved his hands from Nika, but the lack of contact had him squirming. He wanted to reach out and touch her again, but knew better. The less contact he had, the better it would be for her.
    Nika let out a discontented sigh and followed Connal inside the house. “Let’s get this over with.”
    Madoc went inside and shut the door. The living room was furnished simply, with a couch and one recliner. Everything was a mix of neutral colors that kind of faded into blah.
    Connal motioned to the couch for Nika to sit.
    The Sanguinar was shorter than most, and probably weighed only half as much as Madoc. He had a baby face, making him look like he should be in college partying with his frat buddies. His hair fell over his forehead in a stylish swoop, and, like all the Sanguinar, his face was unearthily beautiful.
    Nika hardly seemed to notice, unlike most women, who simply stood and stared as soon as one of the Sanguinar walked into a room.
    Fortunately, that meant Madoc didn’t have to kill him when this was over.
    “Take off your coat and sit down,” said Connal. Nika hesitated for a moment, before she relented and shed Madoc’s heavy jacket. Beneath that was a bulky sweater that fell partway over her hands, so she pulled that off, too, leaving her wearing only a thin, snug shirt.
    Madoc froze in place, staring at her.
    Gone was the frail girl he remembered, and in her place was a healthy, curvy woman. She was still thin, but her body had filled out, giving her breasts and hips a fullness that had been absent before. She no longer looked quite so breakable. Sure, he knew he could still hurt her, but it wasn’t like before. She wasn’t frail.
    She was gorgeous. Perfect.
    Madoc had stared so long without blinking that his eyes had dried out. Beneath the fly of his jeans he felt his cock swell, and his fingers clenched into fists to keep from reaching for her.
    Connal looked from Nika to Madoc and back again. “You look like you’re seeing a