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as the scent of his blood slammed into me. I didn’t expect it. And from the look on his face, neither did Eric. The scent of his blood filled my mind, freezing me in place. It was too much. There was too much raw emotion within me. I wanted a taste. A drop. I had to have it. I leaned forward and licked the trail of blood, pressing my eyes closed as I did it.
    Before I had more than a tiny taste, Collin grabbed me by the waist and yanked me off of Eric. I went slack in his arms, instantly regretting what I’d done. Eric made me so mad. I just wanted to best him. I wanted to win and show him that he shouldn’t screw with me. And now my message was blurred with blood. My throat tightened as Collin gently lowered me to the floor. Eric’s blood burned inside of me, like a warmth that I was missing. It sealed out the coldness, and connected me to him in a way that I didn’t want.
    “Enough!” Collin yelled, as he pulled me back. Shock was in his voice. He scolded me, not saying anything about the blood. Not saying anything about the shame plastered across my face. “You have to stop. Ivy, you know about Akayleah . You know you can’t let it control you.” I breathed hard, fighting the instincts that were warring inside of me. One wanted to rip Eric’s clothes off and lick the blood from his lips—the other instinct just wanted to rip him apart. Akeyleah and bloodlust warring within me.
    My voice cracked, “Collin, I…   ” I wanted to explain. I felt the need to tell him what Eric did to me. Why I acted like that, but he turned on Eric before I got out another word.
    Collin’s eyes rimmed. He looked at Eric as he pulled himself up and wiped the blood from his face. Collin approached him, saying, “And you...” Eric’s eyes darted toward Collin, narrowing. “You have two seconds to explain before I kill you. I don’t care why she wants to protect you. Not after this. You’ve been giving her blood! Convince me that you didn’t weaken her. That you weren’t feeding off of her soul...” Collin moved toward Eric. With each step, my heart lurched inside my chest. “Convince me or I’ll kill you myself.” Collin drew his blade. The jagged black edge pointed toward Eric’s gut.
    Eric glanced at the blade and back at Collin’s face. “I held my own when you had Kreturus’ power. What makes you think you could possibly kill me now?”
    “Wrong answer,” Collin hissed and moved his arm to land the blade in Eric’s stomach.
    Before I knew what happened, I was between the two of them, blocking Collin’s blade. “You can’t,” I breathed. “I need the stone. He knows where it is.” This was the second opportunity Eric had to run and save himself, but he didn’t leave. The scent of his blood filled my head, as Collin forced me behind him.
    “He’s using you, Ivy. His blood is still filled with demon blood. I can smell it. And I know you want it.” Collin’s eyes were pooling blood red. He spoke to Eric, “I let you live last time. Make no mistake about it. But this time, this time you aren’t leaving this place alive.” Collin’s threat didn’t make Eric move. Instead it appeared to enrage him.
    Eric pushed me aside and walked up to Collin. They stood eye to eye. “Valefar need souls to feed off of to survive. When was the last time you ate?” Collin’s anger streamed across his face, but Eric cut him off. “Yeah, well, I didn’t eat much either. But, unlike you, I could control myself. It was a benefit of being Ivy-made. She made me what I am! I wasn’t like the rest of the Valefar. I only took what I needed. I needed her pain, her blood. And yes, I did take some of Ivy’s soul.” He glared at me with vicious eyes. Eric’s jaw clenched as he tore his gaze away. “It was mine to take. She owed me a debt she couldn’t pay. Sound familiar?” he spat the question at Collin.
    Collin shoved Eric and moved toward him. Eric remained eerily calm and took the hit without backing down. Collin