Ivy opened it for them, and DeLavine hesitated while Peter and Audrey continued out.

My grip tightened on the hilt, but I could do nothing when the vampire bent to whisper in Ivy’s ear, his hand curving about her waist possessively. My pulse pounded as she looked at the floor. Damn it, this wasn’t right. She nodded, and I felt as if I had sold her to him.

The door shut behind him, and her shoulders slumped.

Twenty-nine

“Ivy—”

“Shut up.”

I dropped the sword and pulled my knees to my chin to make room when she knelt beside Jenks. With her vampire strength, she yanked him upright to lean against the couch, giving him a shake. “Jenks!” she demanded. “Open your eyes. I didn’t hit you that hard.”

He didn’t respond, his head lolling and blond hair falling about his angular features.

“Ivy, I’m sorry,” I said, my pulse quickening in guilt. “You…Oh God, tell him you changed your mind. We’ll figure something out.”

Close beside me, Ivy gave me an unreadable look, her hands on Jenks’s shoulders, her oval face empty of emotion. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t prepared to follow through.”

“Ivy—”

“Shut up!” she shouted, startling me. “I want to do it, okay? I can’t touch anything without killing it, so I’m going to go back to things that are already dead! I’m doing this for me, not you! I’m going to enjoy myself, so just shut the hell up, Rachel!”

Face hot, my mouth fell open. It had never occurred to me she might want to. “I…I thought you only shared blood with people you—”

“Yeah, I tried that, didn’t I. It didn’t work. If I can’t have you, I may as well go back to the way I was. Shut. Up.”

I shut up. I didn’t know what to think. Was she saying that to make me feel less guilty, or was she serious? She had damn well looked like she knew what she was doing, wrapped around DeLavine like that. I couldn’t believe she really meant it. Not after her confession only an hour old. Apparently we were both going places we didn’t want to—me forward and her back. “Ivy?” I said, but she wouldn’t look at me.

“Jenks,” she said, spots of color showing on her cheeks. “Wake up.”

His breathing quickened, and it was no surprise when his smooth features scrunched in hurt. Eyes still closed, he reached for his head. Nick had come out of the kitchen, standing to look like a fifth wheel beside the TV, arms crossed over his faded T-shirt. Rex was having a field day, purring and rubbing on everyone, clearly happy we were on her level.

“Ow,” Jenks said when his fingertips found the bump, and his eyes flew open. “You hit me!” he shouted, and Ivy let go. He fell against the couch, anger in his green eyes until he saw me beside him, probably looking as bad as I felt. His gaze shot to the empty table, then searched until he found the statue. “Holy crap, what did I miss?” he said.