Shadow Rising by Kendra Leigh Castle

glass in seconds without coming up for air. He pulled it away from his lips with a gasp, his expression leaving no doubt as to his thoughts about what he’d just drunk.
    “Disgusting. Absolutely cold, lifeless, and disgusting.”
    Ariane pulled the mug out of his hands, then leaned down to get a better look at him. “It might be disgusting,” she said, “but it worked. You already look better.”
    His eyes were cool blue again without a hint of red,and even as she watched, his neck finished knitting itself together. In seconds, his color was back to normal. The only reminders of what he’d been through were the reddish stains on his skin from the blood and his disheveled hair.
    “Yes, well, I think I’m going to pass on round two, if it’s all the same to you,” he said, looking pointedly at the other mug. “I prefer fresh and warm, myself.”
    “It’s for me,” Ariane said, annoyed at his attitude even though she knew she shouldn’t have expected anything different. “I realize everything is about you, but other people actually get hungry while you’re busy expecting the world to meet your needs.”
    “Now my feelings are hurt,” Damien said.
    “What feelings?” Ariane snapped, realizing that she was the one whose feelings were hurt. All these years of wanting to build a real life on the ashes of her forgotten one, of wanting to go out and make a difference to someone … and when she finally saved a life, all she got was insults and complaints. It wasn’t what she’d hoped or imagined. At all.
    “Good point,” Damien said, relaxing into the pillows. “Drink your medicine, Ariane. I’m going to enjoy this.”
    Ariane perched at the foot of the bed, still leery of being within reach, and lifted the mug to her lips. It was far from ideal—she would much rather have gone down to the wine bar and found someone drunk and easy to lure off for a bite, but her own clothes were spattered and smeared with crimson, and taking them off anywhere near Damien seemed like a really bad idea. Besides, the hunger was beginning to really bother her, and she had no intention of letting Damien see her weak. He wasobnoxious enough already, and her temper, always so long, was short and rapidly fraying.
    The first sip triggered her gag reflex. Damien had been right. This blood was cold, dead, lifeless. It had a strangely overripe taste that was just this side of rotten too. She heard a quiet chuckle, grimaced, and muscled her way through the rest of the glass all at once, just the way Damien had.
    It was a minute before she was sure if it was actually going to stay down, but it did.
    She very quickly felt her energy levels rise. The beast within quieted, for now. Ariane breathed a sigh of relief.
    Damien was watching with obvious amusement. “That was the best part of my night, by far. Verdict, kitten?”
    “Vile, but probably worth it,” Ariane admitted. She toyed with the empty mug in her lap. “And once again, I’m not your kitten.” She took a deep breath. “Tonight sealed it. From here on out, we search together.”
    His look hardened instantly. “No. We went over this before.”
    “Yes,” Ariane agreed. “And that was before I saved your life.”
    Damien’s eyes narrowed. “You seem to think I have a working code of honor. That’s very sweet, but I don’t. You chose to save me, which is your problem. I’m not interested in working with anyone else on this. I want my diamond.”
    Ariane got up to set the mug on the nightstand beside the small electric alarm clock, then pulled Damien’s out of his hands and set that down too. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before answering, trying to decide the best plan of attack for getting what she wanted outof him. It was tough. She didn’t think she had anything he wanted, apart from the obvious. And even if she was inclined to give in and sleep with him, she doubted it would mean anything to Damien. He’d just put another notch in his bedpost and