Bloodlust by Michelle Rowen

to death?”
    “Yes, I believe so.”
    I’d normally look at Matthias as a threat, not a potential victim. But here he lay, his life spilling out of him, his immortality a thing of the past. I didn’t want to feel empathy for him, but I did anyway. “You need to tell me how to save Declan.”
    He laughed at that, before the sound was cut off with a groan. “As my life spills out on the ground with only you to witness the end of me, your thoughts are with your soon to be uncontrollable dhampyr lover.”
    I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. I didn’t believe what was happening to Declan was because of him simply being a dhampyr. His serum was to blame for his violent outburst earlier. But ... I could be wrong. All I knew was Matthias couldn’t die. He knew too much. And that information was very valuable to me.
    I touched Matthias’s shoulder, glancing again at his horrible wound. “You said you know how to help him.”
    “I do. And if I die right now, you’ll never find out how.” It sounded like a threat.
    I crossed my arms, trying to stop my hands from shaking. “Do you want me to call an ambulance?”
    His grin looked more like a grimace. “Human hospitals can’t help me.”
    I craned my neck, but no one was around. It felt as if the entire world was asleep or that it had abandoned us. “Then what can I do?”
    “Come closer . . .”
    I frowned before leaning over toward him. He raked his hand into my long black hair and drew me even closer so he could whisper in my ear. “Blood.”
    I jerked back from him. “What?”
    “I need blood. It will help me heal. You need to help me, Jillian.”
    I scrambled up to my feet, noting that the spiderweblike indication of his hunger had quickly appeared on his face and his gray irises had turned black. Matthias needed a victim—that’s what he was asking for. Since he couldn’t sink his fangs into me to get healthy again, he was willing to see other people.
    At the moment he was too mortally injured and bleeding out onto the pavement of the motel’s parking lot to help himself. The dark puddle he lay in was growing with each minute that passed. He couldn’t find the blood he needed without my assistance.
    “I don’t have much time left.” His voice had grown weaker. “Help me, Jillian. And I will help you.”
    A steady flow of tears stung my eyes but I squeezed them back as I tried to figure this out. There weren’t very many answers to this particular problem. In fact, there was only one.
    My entire body felt tense. “Promise me that you won’t kill anyone.”
    “I’ll try.”
    “Not good enough.”
    He sighed and it was shaky. “You don’t understand what it’s like, Jillian. How the hunger takes us over. I’m normally very well fed in all aspects of my life, but right now, I’m not sure. Once I taste blood I might not be able to stop.”
    Fresh anger flowed through me at his words. “Couldn’t you just lie to me? Couldn’t you just say you won’t kill anyone? I thought you said you wanted my help.”
    Where the hell was Declan? He’d know what to do right now.
    But he wasn’t here. I was on my own with a dying vampire on my hands and on my conscience.
    If I truly believed the world would be better off without him in it, I’d let him die right here. I wasn’t a total pushover. I wasn’t pro-life when it came to vampires, that’s for damn sure. But Matthias wasn’t just any vampire. And he also knew—or claimed to know—how I could help Declan.
    “They took my key,” he whispered as I drew closer again.
    “Keeping it in your gut was an interesting hiding place.” I glanced down at his injury and winced. “You might want to invest in a safe-deposit box next time.”
    “There won’t be a next time. My brother will be awakened very soon.” There was so much pain in his voice. “You don’t understand what this means. The risk of one human life tonight is nothing compared to countless lives in the future if I can’t stop