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"No!" She spun and ran back to the house Promise or not, she couldn’t let him die She’d stood back and watched her parents die Had watched To to repeat the same mistake with Michael

Glass shattered She slid to a halt and glanced up Michael and Jasper turound with bone-breaking force

Jasper’s hiss filled the air with venom, but he didn’t burst into flame, as Monica had But she could feel his desperation, as clearly as she could feel Michael’s deterer vampire, but only barely And with every

Still she hesitated, needing to help but unsure what she could do Jasper’s struggles were becoht still have the power to control her She didn’t want to end up attacking theto save

She bit her lip and watched the two rassy incline and onto the sidewalk Michael’s dying

Jasper’s whisper ran through her mind, full of malice She swore and retrieved the second silver knife from her boot If one didn’t kill hi her staggering backwards

"Stayback!"

Michael’s co to her eyes Jasper was on top of Michael, fighting with fists and rip

Did he really expect her to simply stand there and watch hilinted brightly between the twohim, as she’d tried to kill Jasper

"No!" she screa out kinetically, she ripped the blade frolanced at the knife in her hand and threw that away as well Just in case Jasper ed to break free fro It was evident in their struggles, in the weakening wisps of power running around her In a last, desperate effort, Jasper screarip and staggering away His desperation to escape the growing heat of the sun filled her aze

He smiled suddenly Nikki clenched her fists and backed away Energy flowed through her, a desperate shield, a last defense

"Mine," Jasper whispered harshly, and lunged at her

She hit him with every ounce of kinetic power she had It wasn’t enough to do anythingharshly, she watched hi at her teain

This time he slammed to a halt The link between her and Michael flared to life His thoughts caressed hers, and their powers coether, they thrust Jasper skywards, holding his struggling body up to the bright sunshine He screaain energy pulsed, a thin strand of porapping tightly around Jasper’s throat Fear washed around thean to lick around his ared up the last of her reserves, battling to hold her share of the psychic cage The strand of power snapped tight, and there was a sickening crack as his neck was broken Jasper’s eyes ith shock an instant before death took his soul to eternal darkness It was over

The last of her strength ebbed away, and she dropped wearily to her knees Everything hurt--her brain, her body and her heart, but it orth it Jasper was dead

With the strength of the psychic cage gone, he flopped back to the pave where Monica had burst into flame But it didn’t ain The sun was only finishing what she and Michael had started She closed her eyes and took a deep breath They’d won--together they’d won She reached out to link but it was little more than a void--as if Michael had never been a part of her Fear slaered to his side He didn’t move She dropped to her knees and frantically felt for a pulse

Nothing No pulse, no sign of life

"Damn it, Michael, don’t you dare die onhi by the ti up in despair Six stairs It was all that stood between her and home, and they’d never appeared such a ht

If she gave up now, he would die Just like Toy Warnings beat through her mind--she’d done too ht lock her ifts again She closed her eyes and reached regardless It didn’t y came She opened the door, then lifted Michael up and thrust hirabbed the banister, holding on tight Gritting her teeth, her breath little asps, she eased him to the floor She didn’t kno much time he had left She had to hurry if she wanted to save hiered over to the shattered , pulling the blinds closed If he was to have the slightest chance of life, she had to ht to weaken him further

She knelt by his side and picked up his hand, holding it close to her chest, close to her heart Reaching forward, she gently brushed dark wisps of hair away from his closed eyes

"Co into her eyes I don’t want to live alone any more, Michael Please, don’t leave me alone!

"Damn it, you promised me you wouldn’t die!"

And lied when he’d done so A sob tore past her throat She couldn’t let him die No matter what the cost, she couldn’t let him slip away from her now

But maybe he was siht and ran to the kitchen Michaelhe needed it to survive

She grabbed a knife from the rack, then hesitated He wouldn’t thank her for doing this She had a feeling his control over his bloodlust had been a battle not easily won But her only other choice was to watch hiive , Michael, but I love you I can’t sit here and watch you die" Leaning forward, she kissed his forehead Then she took a deep breath and sliced her wrist She forced open his mouth and let the blood drip down his throat He sed convulsively for several seconds, then jerked spas her still, his grip bruising as he sucked quickly, greedily, at the wound

He wasn’t awake, wasn’t even aware of what he was doing He could drain her without knowing, and she kneouldn’tas he broke the curse of her love, she didn’t care

Through a growing haze of pain, she forhtly, she closed her eyes and thrust deep into the darkness holding his ed down, deep down into his consciousness, deep down into the shadowed areas he’d kept well hidden when their ed