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"You&039;re angry and confused I get that," Sara said gently "I know you don&039;t want any more tests or pills or hypnosis I&039;m done with all that, too"

Gray&039;s eyes snapped up tolast

"Can you trust me this one last time?" she asked him When he didn&039;t look away, Sara took a breath and continued "My friend Alexander, he&039;s offered to help you"

"That&039;s right, hu, clear masculine voice behind Sara "You&039;d better buck up, because I&039; for your blood"

Sara looked up to see Alexander walking into the roohtly as his injury atteht with Dare and his recruits An hour ago, Dillon had given hi to Leza the stab wound had torn cartilage and it needed a good twenty-four hours toto assist," Alexander told her, though his eyes were on Gray "Why not -out party," drawled Lucian, strolling into the roo bags with eyes

Sara noticed Gray&039;s attention shift from the blacked-out s to the blackened eyes of the brothers "Do we really need everyone?"

"Yes" Alexander gestured to the pair "Nicky, Lucian Hold him down"

Sara ju contained like that"

"Perhaps" Alexander&039;s gaze was trained on Gray "But not this time Look"

The pulse in Sara&039;s neck kicked, and she turned back to Gray His eyes were on Alexander, his chin titled upward and his expressionShe squinted What was that in his ray eyes? Was that interest and a thread oftrust? Her heart lurched God, how long had it been since he&039;d looked like that at her?

As he came to stand beside Gray, Alexander shook his head "He knows he will fight, and he wants this done"

"How do you know that?" Sara asked, her e it out for first place

"Please trust in me, Sara," Alexander said

Nicholas and Lucian clustered around the bed, and Nicholas put a hand on Gray&039;s shoulder "Easy now, Brother"

Taking a deep breath, Gray stretched his arms out for the brothers to hold him

Sara&039;s mouth dropped open and she shook her head He did know, he understood that whatever Alexander was offering ht want to turn away for aGray&039;s skull

"Not a chance," Sara said, catching Lucian glancing her way, his devilish eyes flashing with begrudging respect

Alexander struck quick, and Sara flinched as her brother sucked in air, his body going instantly rigid Please work, she begged silently, no longer giving a shit about her own sense of failure She just wanted Gray to recover, to talk again, to have a chance at a real life

Suddenly, his body jerked, and as the brothers pressed down on his ars to keep him steady, Gray cried out and went into full-on convulsions

Unlike Trainer&039;s rank blood and diseased mind, Gray&039;s blood was uncommonly sweet for a huh thehis way back in history, jue that carried eht It took only seconds to find what he wanted and veer off the cerebral roadway to see the young, undae of little Sara hten, and the temptation to re up the bark with the effortlessness of a reat care and speed within the head of her brother and so he pushed forward, flying through doors in ti, a young Sara walking up the stairs in a pitch-black house, a candle in her hands

"Go back to your roo me, Gray," she whispered behind her

But the boySara up the stairs and down a hall At a closed door, she turned and put her finger to her lips "Stay here," she whispered "I&039;ll be right back"

Sara opened the door and disappeared behind it Alexander felt Gray&039;s impatience, his concern Then the door opened and Sara caotten "Got it," she said excitedly "It was under the bed"

Gray rushed after her, down the stairs and toward their bedrooms They were inside only ahappened at once

Alexander smelled smoke, heard a male scream He saw fire at the top of the stairs, then turned to see Sara Her face was pale and terrified as she realized what she&039;d done She pushed past Gray and ran toward the staircase, screa in frorabbed her, held her back

Alexander saw only the wo about her stopped hiet up the stairs to his father--so about the woman made his pulse speed up He paused thein one feature after the other until he saw the woman&039;s face

No She was no wos and he lost focus, falling back into the past, tuht to understand what it had just seen He was bo a balas fro a newborn balas

"Focus, Alexander," he heard Nicholas urge sternly "Take the memory of the fire"

But Alexander just hovered there, unable to stop staring at the Impure female he kneell as he knew his own brothers How could it be? Impossible And yet there she was After their escape from the credenti , Celestine had remained with them for nearly ten years, cared for them as they&039;d protected her Then one day, she&039;d walked out to find blood and never returned They&039;d all thought her dead, mourned her for decades, and here she was--alive, , Duro," Nicholas said, his tone grave now "You stay too long in his mind"

"Please, Alexander" It was Sara; her anxious voice stole hi revelation and he leaped forward in ti for the last scene he&039;d witnessed

He saw Celestine holding a hysterical Sara back He saw Gray running for the stairs, up the stairs as his h the fire, as he kept lohen he found his father in the hall, his body consumed by flames On a screa himself out of the emotion and deep pain, Alexander circled the scene, focused, then drank, taking deep pulls of the fire memory into his mouth It took only seconds and when he was certain he&039;d retrieved the entire memory, he withdrew from Gray&039;s skull and opened his eyes The Impure--for that&039;s what he was--lay calainst the entry wound for a few moments; then he stepped back, his blood and Gray&039;s blood racing through his veins

"Let him sleep," he said softly to no one in particular, his es he&039;d just witnessed, not to h"

"Alexander--" Sara began

But Alexander was already up, walking away, out of the room He couldn&039;t stay there, look into Sara&039;s eyes and pretend he was looking at the human female he&039;d believed her to be Not yet What he&039;d seen, what he noas astounding, remarkable

Celestine had survived, and her balasboth the male and the female were in his home, under his care--and both had vampire blood in their veins

Jesus Sara could be

Growling, he ran, flen the stairs and toward the tunnels He wanted to rejoice at the possibility before him If he were merely a Pureblood, it wouldn&039;t be possible But he was a descendant of a Breeding Male His true mate had to be a vampire, yes, but she could be either Pure or Impure Sara could be his now--she could be his truehe felt was dread

After Alexander&039;s swift departure, his brothers were quick to leave as well But Sara re his vitals every fifteenup to see if he ake, and wondering what she was going to say to hione, she reasoned, the trauone too But he would still be left with fire-ravaged hands, and questions Many questions Then there was the flipside What if he was exactly as he was before--or worse, what if he had noju out her stethoscope and placing the diaphragainst his shirt Suddenly, a hand shot up, white-knuckled, and gripped her wrist

"Sarafena"

Sara gasped, stared down into the open, gunray eyes of her little brother

His voice, deep and masculine now, so unfamiliar, yet so beautiful, washed over "Gray

Oh God I can&039;t believe it" She touched his face, his forehead, his hair "How do you feel? Are you okay?"

He nodded slowly, though confusion moved over his features as he tried to process his past, his present, and what had happened a few hours ago in this roo his hands for her to see "Explain this to me" He sed

"How?"

As the ache built in Sara&039;s throat, she took his hands in hers and sat down beside him "A little at a tiain "We&039;ll talk later"

"Of course" She sive him small doses of memory until he could understand it without the trauma Then they would see

"And you&039;ll thank him for me?" Gray said

Him? Oh God, he meant Alexander? She leaned toward him "You understood?

Seriously? You knew he could help you?"

"Yes"

"How, Gray?" she entreated

The beautiful young man before her smiled softly "He spoke to me In my head

About you, all you&039;ve done, how you&039;ve hurt" His eyes grew o home"

Tears filled Sara&039;s eyes and she shook her head, unable to speak Alexander was truly reat friend

"Hey, human," came a voice behind her

Sara looked back, saw Dillon behind her, co "Hey, vampire"

"I&039;ll stay with hio See about the other one you love"

Yes She needed him now, as he needed her

With one last squeeze to her brother&039;s hand, Sara got up and let Dillon take her seat As she turned to go she swore she saw her brother&039;s eyes flash with interest as the bodyguard dropped down into the chair beside his bed

The cage had once been a place where his hunger could rage out of control, where he could be the animal he believed himself to be

Now it simply kept him froainst the rock wall and fought his hunger for her as he fought the truth of what he&039;d seen inside Gray&039;s head He breathed in, frowned

"Your brother is well, Sara?"

The unlockedback and Sara ca contrast to the ugly frigidity within his cell Her blueberry eyes sought out his in the near darkness and when she found him, she went to hilad"

"He sounds soold Like abut a boy, you know?" She shrugged, her sht it took his breath away "He wantedin return I just want to see you happy"

She s touched "He told me what you said to him, in his mind Oh, Alex "

The love Alexander had for her transcended his need to torture himself at that moment, and he allowed hi his mindit wasn&039;t your fault, Sara You couldn&039;t have fixed him--not the way you wanted to"

Sara stilled beside hiether "What do you rained Blood drain was the only way"

"What?"

He hesitated, feeling as though he were unleashing a world of new problems onto her But as the alternative? She would know soon enough

"Alexander?" Her eyes implored him to tell her the truth

He reached up, brushed his knuckles over her cheek "I saw yourto find the fire, I saw her"

"Okay Well, that makes sense You saw her because she was in his nized her"

The stillness in the air held the her head

"She was a teacher in h this but the truth "The one I told you about the night in the lighthouse, remember? She was an Impure, a half-breed The Order had called on her, as they do all Impures--it was her turn for sterilization She wanted a new life as much as we did I helped her escape"