"Let's stop for the night. I thought I saw a motel at the last exit. I can turn around up there." He pointed to a gravel access lane across the median.

Pure disdain crinkled her brow above tear-filled eyes. "Was your brain damaged? We have gone perhaps two hundred miles tonight."

"I'm not brain damaged. I—" He sighed. "I just don't think it's a good idea to go any farther until we know more about what the Oracle might be up to."

"What?" All the fear fled from her expression. "You are afraid."

"I am not afraid." Of course, he would have to end up defending his bravery and probably his masculinity—though she had no room to doubt that—when all he was trying to do was keep her from getting killed. "Listen, my knee is completely shot. You just had a scary experience. Let's find someplace where we can settle in. I'll have to heal for a few days, anyway."

"Your blood rations will run out," she argued. "And I will not let you feed from me."

He covered his frustration with an explosive laugh. "Oh, like I would want to. I prefer the taste of the human stuff. I've been known to stoop to cow, and I'll have to if I run out. But I've never eaten dog before."

A complete change came over her. The argumentative bitch disappeared, replaced by a mischievous girl. "Yes, you have."

That was all it took—her easy acknowledgment of the dirty, wonderful things they'd done together—and he couldn't be on the defensive anymore. "I don't want to go any farther, because the Oracle threatened you when you were… out."

"What did she say?" Bella's chin jutted bravely, and she looked as if she was forcing herself not to cry again.

There was no point in protecting her from the truth, especially since it was making it so damn hard to actually protect her. "She md she's going to get stronger the closer we come."

"She said that?" Bella shook her head. "That cannot be. I do not remember it."

"Do you remember anything from the last time she possessed you? Do you remember breaking my knee?" He hadn't planned on raising his voice, but he was too angry, too rattled by the whole experience, to keep his cool. "Bella, I was sitting right here."

They glared at each other in silence. He desperately wanted her to be the first to speak, but his stubbornness had frayed around the edges where she was concerned. "Listen, we can keep going and get you killed, or we can turn around and take a day or two to figure this out. At least give me the time to heal, so I have a fighting chance if you don't make it."