makeup of any donor organ to make it compatible with the recipient. Time was of the essence, so to save Derrick's life, Lexi's sister, Bev, had insisted they give the experimental procedure a try-using herself as the donor.
The surgery had gone well, until the end. One of Bev's kidneys had been removed and successfully transplanted into Derrick. He had been wheeled into the recovery room when Bev started having problems. Her heart started failing before the doctors and nurses could even figure out what was happening.
An autopsy revealed that traces of silver had flecked off the magically enhanced surgical instruments and entered her bloodstream. From there, they had lodged in her heart-her half-lupine heart. It couldn't have killed her any more effectively had they shot her with a silver bullet.
What made the whole thing worse for Lexi was finding out that her sister had been aware of the risks prior to going into the surgery. The doctor had pointed them out to her. Bev had ignored them and insisted on proceeding to save her husband's life. By the time Derrick had regained consciousness enough to understand what was happening, his wife was dead.
Lexi couldn't understand the kind of emotion that had driven her sister to make the decision she had-to be willing to risk her life. If Bev had stopped to think about it logically, Lexi knew her sister would have made a different decision. She might have even found a way to save her husband without risking her own life. But now they'd never know.
Lexi never wanted to be so in love that she'd be willing to die for someone else; she didn't want her emotions to have that much control over her.
It was one of the reasons why she came to Ricco for her monthly sex fix. She was in no fear of losing her heart to him.
However, when she looked into the future, she saw a long progression of sexually satisfying but emotionally empty nights ahead of her. It was more than a little depressing.
"I can't do this," she muttered to herself, standing up. "Good night, Derrick." She walked out of the lounge and out of the club, not stopping until she got home.
Darius looked around, wishing Lexi hadn't left the bar the way she had. It had been over an hour, and his body still burned with the need to possess her. He tried to convince himself that it was a natural male reaction to a female in heat. A female werewolf in heat.
That alone should have been enough to keep him away from her, but it only intrigued him more.
He looked about the room, finding it curious how the vampires barely seemed to notice him. Considering that drinking Immortal blood vastly increased their strength, he would have thought the minute he stepped into the room, they'd be all over him. Instead, it was like his aura was no different from anyone else's. Like he wasn't an Immortal.
It was yet another mystery waiting to be solved-but not tonight.
"Are you looking for someone in particular?" a sultry female voice asked beside him. "Or just looking for someone?"
He looked down into the face of a petite woman with spiky neon-pink hair. Darius was having a hard time reading her magical aura and thought she looked enough like a pixie to be one. A very attractive pixie, at that.
As much as he wanted Lexi, he wasn't going to chase her down and beg. He smiled at the woman in front of him. "I was looking for you," he said, purposely letting his gaze run over her appreciatively. "Would you like to dance?"
She stepped closer and laid a hand against his chest. "I was thinking we could skip the preliminaries and find a nice private room in the back."
He cocked his head to one side and gave her a knowing smile. "By all means-lead the way."
She gave a delicate little laugh and, taking his hand in hers, led him through the crowd to the back of the club. He followed her through a bright red door. On the other side was a long hallway lined with doors-
some closed, some open. The pixie stopped at the first available room and, giving him a
The surgery had gone well, until the end. One of Bev's kidneys had been removed and successfully transplanted into Derrick. He had been wheeled into the recovery room when Bev started having problems. Her heart started failing before the doctors and nurses could even figure out what was happening.
An autopsy revealed that traces of silver had flecked off the magically enhanced surgical instruments and entered her bloodstream. From there, they had lodged in her heart-her half-lupine heart. It couldn't have killed her any more effectively had they shot her with a silver bullet.
What made the whole thing worse for Lexi was finding out that her sister had been aware of the risks prior to going into the surgery. The doctor had pointed them out to her. Bev had ignored them and insisted on proceeding to save her husband's life. By the time Derrick had regained consciousness enough to understand what was happening, his wife was dead.
Lexi couldn't understand the kind of emotion that had driven her sister to make the decision she had-to be willing to risk her life. If Bev had stopped to think about it logically, Lexi knew her sister would have made a different decision. She might have even found a way to save her husband without risking her own life. But now they'd never know.
Lexi never wanted to be so in love that she'd be willing to die for someone else; she didn't want her emotions to have that much control over her.
It was one of the reasons why she came to Ricco for her monthly sex fix. She was in no fear of losing her heart to him.
However, when she looked into the future, she saw a long progression of sexually satisfying but emotionally empty nights ahead of her. It was more than a little depressing.
"I can't do this," she muttered to herself, standing up. "Good night, Derrick." She walked out of the lounge and out of the club, not stopping until she got home.
Darius looked around, wishing Lexi hadn't left the bar the way she had. It had been over an hour, and his body still burned with the need to possess her. He tried to convince himself that it was a natural male reaction to a female in heat. A female werewolf in heat.
That alone should have been enough to keep him away from her, but it only intrigued him more.
He looked about the room, finding it curious how the vampires barely seemed to notice him. Considering that drinking Immortal blood vastly increased their strength, he would have thought the minute he stepped into the room, they'd be all over him. Instead, it was like his aura was no different from anyone else's. Like he wasn't an Immortal.
It was yet another mystery waiting to be solved-but not tonight.
"Are you looking for someone in particular?" a sultry female voice asked beside him. "Or just looking for someone?"
He looked down into the face of a petite woman with spiky neon-pink hair. Darius was having a hard time reading her magical aura and thought she looked enough like a pixie to be one. A very attractive pixie, at that.
As much as he wanted Lexi, he wasn't going to chase her down and beg. He smiled at the woman in front of him. "I was looking for you," he said, purposely letting his gaze run over her appreciatively. "Would you like to dance?"
She stepped closer and laid a hand against his chest. "I was thinking we could skip the preliminaries and find a nice private room in the back."
He cocked his head to one side and gave her a knowing smile. "By all means-lead the way."
She gave a delicate little laugh and, taking his hand in hers, led him through the crowd to the back of the club. He followed her through a bright red door. On the other side was a long hallway lined with doors-
some closed, some open. The pixie stopped at the first available room and, giving him a
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