I walked across the courtyard.

A figure moved in the shadows.

Blake stepped out of the darkness. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

He looked as if he belonged to the world of shadows and moonlight more than to the realm of flesh and blood. His white linen shirt clung to his lean chest and broad shoulders, fitted enough that I was reminded of his strength. He had a black jacket slung casually over one shoulder. As he walked towards me, he tossed the jacket onto a bench, and my heart fluttered wildly in my chest.

He was... impossibly handsome. More beautiful tonight than I’d ever seen him.

“Pendragon,” he said. Then more softly, “Medra.”

A small smile tugged at my lips. I wanted this. I’d spent so long pretending that I didn’t, but now, in the dead of the night, with Blake looking at me like that, all the denials seemed utterly pointless.

When he spoke my name like that, I couldn’t hold onto the anger or the hurt. All I felt was the pull. The irresistible tug that had always drawn us together and that seemed even stronger lately. Urging us to be one, no matter how much I fought it.

His hand reached out, brushing against my cheek with surprising gentleness. Before I could think better of it, I leaned into his touch.

He kissed me.

The kiss was hot, urgent, igniting every nerve in my body.

I kissed him back eagerly, my hands reaching up to tug at the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer, as if afraid if I let go, he might disappear back into the shadows.

His hands settled on my hips, strong and possessive.

Time stopped. There was no guilt, no fear. No past, no pain. There was only this. Only him.

Blake deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding between my lips, and my head spun. How many times had I told myself I hated him? But now, all of that seemed to dissolve.

He’d changed. He’d shown that, hadn’t he? He’d protected me. I’d seen how much he protected the people he cared about, how much it hurt him when he failed. He had a softer side. Just look at him with Neville.

Maybe, just maybe, we could move past all of the hurt and the bitterness. Regan was out of the picture. It was just the two of us now. Maybe we could find something real. Forge a true partnership. Find something worth fighting for.

Blake pulled back slightly. He slid his hands up my body and I gasped. Then he raised one hand and touched one of my long, red curls. “You’re so beautiful, little dragon,” he whispered.

His voice was almost reverent. I found myself melting under the intensity of the words.

Never ever had I been drawn to anyone like I was to him.

He kissed my lips, my cheek, the curve of my jaw. I curled my fingers into the fabric of his shirt, pressing my body closer to his.

His lips grazed my neck. “Medra,” he whispered, the words soft and tender. “Let me take care of you.”

I could feel the strength in him. Raw power tight beneath the controlled exterior. It thrilled me to touch him, to sense that strength, to know it was for me.

His mouth hovered over the pulse point of my neck. I felt a sense of peace, of trust.

Then I felt his fangs.

A sharp pressure. Then a sharp sting as his teeth pierced my skin.

My eyes flew open as pain jolted through me. For a split second I was frozen, too stunned to react.

Then, with all the strength I could muster, I shoved him away.

He stumbled back. For a moment, he looked wounded, confused, as if he couldn’t understand why I’d pushed him.

A smear of my blood stained his lips and I felt a wave of fury flood over me.

His hand flew to his mouth and he wiped at the blood.

I pressed a hand to my neck, feeling the droplets from the two small punctures.

“What the hell are you doing, Blake?” My voice trembled with shock and anger. “You were going to feed on me? Without even asking?”

He took a step towards me but I recoiled. I’d been ready to forgive him, to move past everything, and he had tried to claim me–in the worst possible way.

Blake’s expression hardened. “I don’t need to ask you.”

I think that was the moment my heart cracked.

I stared at him. “I beg your pardon? I think I just misheard you.”

“You must know this is the next logical step,” he insisted. “It’s what we’re supposed to do.”

I shook my head. “The next step? The next step would be... I don’t know. A walk. Dinner. More talking, less fighting.” I put my hands to my head. “Not you taking my blood without asking.”

His handsome face flushed.

“Anyhow, don’t you have blood brothels for that? Thralls? Willing blightborn? You don’t need to do this.”

“I don’t need a blood brothel. Or a thrall. Not anymore. I only need you.”

“Is that supposed to be romantic?” I gave a harsh laugh. “It’s not working for me.”

“It’s the truth. We’re bonded. I don’t need to ask to take what’s mine.” His eyes were wild. He was hungry. How long had he gone without blood, I suddenly wondered. I knew he hated to use thralls. When was the last time he had fed? How long could a highblood go without feeding?

“You’re insane if you think that’s true,” I said coldly. “I’m not yours. I am not your property.”

He took a step towards me and I held up my hand in warning.

“Just listen,” he pleaded. But there was no hint of apology in his voice. “From the moment your lips touched my blood and from the moment mine touched yours, the bond was complete. I can’t feed from anyone but you.”

“What did you just say?” I stared at him as if I might be able to will fire from my eyes. “From the moment my lips touched your blood?”

He nodded slowly.

“You lied to me.” I was shaking with rage. “You said your blood would protect me. You said nothing about it speeding up this bonding process or whatever the hell this is.”

“I didn’t tell you. I couldn’t. I knew you’d say no.”

“You’re right,” I said. “I would have. You lied to me. What you did was a violation. I would never have drunk your blood if I had known that.”

“Then you would have died," he said bluntly. “I needed you to trust me. It was part of the process. You can’t force the bonding. Or it won’t be as strong.”

The words crashed down around me.

“Do you really think you would have survived against Regan? Against three highbloods, without my blood inside you?” He shook his head. “You’re strong and you’re fast and you’re the smartest woman I know. But even you aren’t that good. You must have known, you must have sensed what my blood was doing for you.”

I said nothing. He was right and I knew it. But he was also deeply, horribly, troublingly wrong. So wrong.

I felt numb. I stared past him, my eyes landing on the black stone dragon of House Avari. A deep crack ran down its side. The tremors. The quakes must have been damaging the stone statues. I wondered if they could be repaired.

The crack called to me. Reflecting the one splitting my heart in two.

“That doesn’t excuse it,” I said, my voice low. “I deserved a choice. I still do.”

“If you don’t let me feed, I’ll die,” he said. “So what's your choice?”

“Die then,” I hissed. “Because I won't save you. Not like this.”

“I’ve saved your life, over and over again, Pendragon. I’ve killed for you. Bled for you. I did it willingly and I’d do it again.”

“I never asked you to do any of that,” I shouted.

“That’s what mates do for one another,” he shouted back. “Don’t you feel it? This... compulsion? We are bound, you and I.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what’s real. I don’t know if anything I’m feeling is true. If I believe what you’re saying, then we weren’t bound until you tricked me into taking your blood. So what is this I feel now? Wanting you? It’s all a lie.”

“It’s not a lie,” he insisted.

“I thought you’d changed,” I interrupted, my voice rising. “I thought maybe we could move past everything that happened this year. The way you treated me. The way you spoke to me. But I was wrong.”