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His eyes stared into mine. He inched closer, and for a moment, I hesitated and started to step back, but I stopped. Dorian leaned in, placed his lips on mine, and deepened the kiss.

The fire that burned inside me leaped to the surface, aching for more of his touch. His taste was familiar; his touch was a memory. My mind was in the moment, then it wasn’t. I remembered the first time our lips touched, but it was a different life.Wewere different. But the feeling remained unchanged, unaltered by the centuries that passed.

Dorian! I remembered him.

Julian did this.He took away Dorian from my heart and replaced it with Maurice.

I felt the heat and hatred behind my eyes. The murderous rage built up so fast that I found my powers exploding inside me.

The memories of how it all happened came flashing before me. Julian had placed his hands over my temples outside of Dorian’s car. I grabbed at his wrist and tried to use my powers, but it happened so fast. He pulled at my hair and yanked me down until my knees crushed the pavement on the side of the road. Dorian had screamed for me in the distance. Then there was only pain and darkness.

When I came to, I looked at Dorian and smiled with relief. I was back.

“You remember?” he asked with urgency and hope.

I nodded. “I remember.”

He grabbed my hand, pulling me behind him as we heard the floorboard creek outside the room. “You have ten minutes to get as far away from here as possible,” Jade said. “Julian is on his way back.”

“We have to go, Mercy,” Dorian said, turning to me. “Now!”

“Wait,” Jade said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“The sun, Mercy,” Jade reminded me. “Dorian can’t leave.”

I looked at him, and my eyes widened. “You have to turn back, then,” I said. “You don’t have a choice, Dorian.”

He shook his head.

“You’re going to be dead when Julian gets here. You can’t help me fight if you’re dead,” I said as panic rose in my chest.

Dorian hesitated but grabbed my hand. “Okay.”

I felt my heart pounding against my chest as I held my wrist up to his lips. Then he bit down.

I closed my eyes, feeling the blood drain from my veins and enter his mouth. The feeling of euphoria took over, and tears welled in his eyes when I opened mine back up. Dorian released his bite, trying desperately not to spit out the blood. He swayed a little before he took a deep, long breath.

Heat warmed his skin as he came back to life.

“You don’t have time to have a moment, you two. Go,” Jade said.

My smile was faint as a tear ran down my cheek. I never thought Dorian would ever choose to be human again, even when faced with life or death, but he had.

He had for me.

“Come on, Dorian,” I said, taking his hand while we rushed to the door.

When we reached the exit, I turned to Jade. “He’s going to kill you for helping us.”

“I know,” she said, “and I don’t care.”

No. This wasn’t right. “I can turn you back, too. Right now. You can come with us. You don’t deserve this.”

Jade laughed. “Yes, I do, Mercy. I’ve done disturbing things, to say the least. I deserve to die for what I’ve done. Maurice doesn’t love me; he was the only reason I allowed myself to stay alive all these years. I don’t want to be a vampire, but I also don’t want to be human because I know that the moment my soul returns, I will be haunted by the guilt of everything I’ve done. I’m ready to die.”

I turned to Dorian and shook my head. “No!” I turned back to her. “No!”

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