I snuck past a pair of vampires guarding one of the entrances. They were too busy shooting at mice to notice me. They must not have believed anyone but a complete crazy person would be all the way out here, trying to infiltrate their decaying castle. And, you know, they were probably right.

I stepped quickly and quietly down the halls, ducking and darting, running and hiding. I was trying to block out Nero’s agony even as I struggled to follow it to him. It didn’t help that there were vampires everywhere. What the hell was going on here?

I made it to the room where they were keeping Nero. Like all of the other rooms in this castle, half of the walls were falling apart. They’d stripped him down to only the leather pants of his Legion uniform and stapled him to one of the walls that was still standing. His torso and arms and feet were bare. Dozens of knives protruded from his chest and back, holding him to the wall. Blood dripped down his body in crimson streams, splattering the graveled ground at his feet. His head drooped, his eyes wild and unfocused behind a wet curtain of sweat-stained hair.

No one else was in the room. They must have been taking a break from torturing him. This was my chance, and I was going to take it. I would free Nero. And then I was going to hunt down the bastards who’d done this to him.

“Nero,” I whispered as I came up to him.

He blinked down hard, trying to focus. “Leda?”

I touched his face. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

He grunted as I began pulling the knives out of him. His head swayed.

“Hey, none of that,” I told him, snapping my fingers in front of his eyes. “No passing out on me. You’re too heavy for me to carry.”

He coughed. “You’re stronger now.”

As I pulled the last of the knives from his body, he stumbled forward, nearly crushing me. “But I’m not strong enough to carry an angel.” I leaned him against the wall. “I swear you must be made of gold bars or something.”

And muscle, I added mentally as my eyes traced the contours of his body. Then, realizing what I was doing, I looked away.

He chuckled under his breath. “It’s ok. I won’t tell anyone.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I said quickly.

“There’s much to tell. You can start with why you’re here. You had orders.”

“Screw orders. Someone had to save your ass. Sir,” I tacked on with a smirk.

“This is insubordination.”

“Punish me later. For now, I have to get you out of here.” I looked around. “What’s going on?”

A dark look fell over his face. “The rogue vampires are building an army. This operation is bigger than we’d thought. There are over a hundred vampires here. And, from the sounds of it, many more elsewhere.”

“Why?”

“They are preparing for war.”

“A vampire army, you say? Fantastic.”

I pulled on his arm, inviting him to stand on his own. He didn’t budge.

“Get moving,” I snapped.

His eyes rolled back.

“Get moving,” I repeated. “You drill into us the need for willpower. Now show some willpower of your own.”

“How can I argue with that?” he chuckled.

He pushed off the wall, but his arms quaked, collapsing. He coughed up blood. Shit. What had they done to him? No, never mind. I didn’t want to know.

“You need to heal yourself,” I told him.

“I don’t have enough magic left for that.”

“How did they drain an angel of his magic? You basically have an unlimited supply of it.”

“Not unlimited. Only a lot,” he said. “Even so, there are means to quickly drain an angel. They seem to know them.”

I could hear people coming down the hall, probably Nero’s torturers returning to finish the job. We didn’t have much time.

I looked Nero in the eye and said, “Drink from me.”

His gaze dipped to my throat, his lower lip quivering with hunger as he stared at me. He shook himself. “No.”

“Stop being such a prude and just do it. You don’t have the magic to heal yourself, so just take what you need from me.” I zipped down my jacket, exposing more of my neck.

He caught my hand, stopping me, but his eyes had dipped once more to my pulsing neck. “That is not standard procedure.”

“Look around, Nero. We’re surrounded by a vampire army. This isn’t a standard situation.”

He met my eyes. “All right. But not the neck.” He lifted my wrist to his mouth, his fangs descending.

“Is the wrist better?”

“It’s more…detached,” he said, then sank his fangs into me.

A sudden jolt of pain pierced me as he penetrated my skin—slowly replaced by a deep, aching throb. I leaned into him, gasping for breath even as the river of fire surging through me threatened to drag me under.

Nero’s mouth lifted, looking at me. His stare penetrated me as surely as his fangs had. He brushed a finger across my lips, igniting a spark of magic between us.

Suddenly, he pulled away, putting some distance between us.

“Nero?”

He turned away from me. “Give me a moment.”

I watched his back rise and fall as he drew in several deep breaths. His wounds sealed together before my eyes.

“Ok.” He straightened and turned to leave. “Let’s go.” I caught a flash of magic pulsing in his eyes as he passed me.