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He never told me that. Never showed me. He was only ever my friend.” Her throat moved as she swallowed down emotion. “But Roger wasn’t. I should have known that he might be dangerous—should have known that Bryan might be in danger. It was my fault. He was my friend, and I failed him.” The tears fell harder now as she wept for the loss Liam had solely borne.
    Their father hadn’t had much to do with Bryan before he died, so he hadn’t missed him much when he was gone. Neither had Bryan’s mother, who’d just used his loss as another excuse to lose herself in a bottle. Liam had thought he was the only one who’d really cared about Bryan.
    He closed his arms around her and pulled her tight against his chest. “I failed him. Not you. I did.”
    She pulled back and stared up at him. “How? You were just a kid then.”
    â€œJust a couple years younger than he was,” he reminded her. “I could have done more. Should have done more.”
    â€œLiam…”
    â€œI’ve carried that guilt for twenty years,” he admitted. “As much as I blamed you, I blamed myself for not stopping him from looking for you. I blamed myself for his death.”
    She shook her head. “No. You couldn’t have known the danger he was in. I should have. I’m the one who failed him. And if I were you, if it was my sister who’d been killed, I’d probably hate you.”
    â€œI could never hate you,” he said. “Knowing now how wrong I was about you, I understand what Bryan saw in you. I see it, too, in your paintings—in the way you made love with me.” His body hardened in remembrance of exactly how she’d moved, how she’d met his every thrust…and how she’d touched him as no one else ever had. “Hell, I even understand the vampire’s obsession with you.”
    In his own way, Liam had been obsessed with her, too. But he’d wanted to kill her, not fall in love with her. He worried that he was doing just that, though—falling for her.
    â€œYou don’t hate me,” she agreed, blinking back the tears she’d wept for his brother. “But you don’t trust me, either, or you wouldn’t have brought the stake in here, wouldn’t have stashed it next to the bed….”
    â€œAs a marine, I’m trained to always be prepared for anything.” He’d also learned to trust no one. Her seduction could have been a trap, a way to lower his defenses before she attacked. He hadn’t had enough control to not make love with her, but he’d had enough sense left to bring a weapon in case he’d needed it.
    â€œThere are some things you can’t be prepared for,” she said, and as she studied him through narrowed eyes, he suspected he was one of those things.
    He hadn’t been prepared for her, either. Even if she’d threatened him, he doubted he would have been able to plunge the stake in her heart. He regretted just having to push her out of the bed, so she wouldn’t get caught in the middle of his battle with the vampire. He couldn’t hurt her. Physically. But he’d hurt her emotionally with his mistrust of her.
    â€œRoger will be coming back,” she warned him, “and he won’t come alone. He’ll tell the others that you know about the society. You can’t fight them all.”
    Just like he couldn’t fight his feelings for her, no matter how much he betrayed his brother’s memory by falling for the woman who was the love of Bryan’s life.
    â€œYou have to leave,” she said, scooping up his clothes from the floor. “You need to get as far away from Zantrax as you can.”
    â€œThey can fly,” he pointed out. “You think I can outrun them?”
    â€œNo. But if you’re gone when they come here, I can explain. I can tell them what Roger did. I may be able to get them to make an exception for