At Nathan's frighteningly calm warning, I turned. That was all it took. Cyrus tore free of his bindings. One arm, empowered by rage and reborn vampire strength, locked around my neck. The other grasped my forehead. He intended to break my neck.

Nathan didn't let it get that far. A stake flew from his hand. It missed Cyrus completely and embedded in the wall. He pulled another from his back pocket and flung it. This one struck Cyrus in the arm. With a sickening crack, the long bones of his forearm separated and he released his hold, screaming.

I dropped to the floor, my head spinning from shock and the force of Cyrus's hatred rocking through me. Nathan pinned him to the bed, a knee in his chest.

"Just like old times, Nolen?" Cyrus laughed. "I remember you liked it rough."

I squeezed my eyes shut tight. There was a thud, like someone dropping a side of beef onto wet pavement, and Cyrus was silent.

Nathan stood over me, nursing his sore fist. "Why did you do it?"

"I couldn't let him die." The admission came from numb lips. It hurt, but the pain was distant. "I still… "

Nathan was silent for a moment, considering. When he spoke again, I wished I hadn't heard him. "Get out."

"What?" The shock and hurt were almost overwhelming. But what had I expected? That he would welcome Cyrus into his home with open arms? "I don't have anywhere to go. You know that."

"And you knew it before you turned him. That means you made an informed decision." Nathan turned away from me, and when he did I felt the blood tie between us seal shut.

I tried a new tactic. "If we leave, where do you think he'll go? He's going to end up with his father again. Maybe I will, too."

Nathan seemed to consider this a moment. No matter how he tried to block it, I felt his panic and his primal need to protect me—his fledgling, not his pseudo girlfriend—from his sire. After a long moment, he sighed wearily and gestured to the stake jutting from Cyrus's arm. "Get me the medical kit. It's in the living room."

It certainly wasn't the reaction I was expecting from him. I stumbled out and retrieved the heavy red toolbox that contained our medical supplies.

When I brought it to Nathan, he didn't bother with so much as a thank-you. He focused solely on Cyrus, who twisted in pain on the bed as he slowly came to some watered-down form of consciousness. "You're going to be all right. Hold on a minute and we'll take care of the pain."

Throwing me a worried look, Nathan filled a syringe with a local anesthetic. "This is going to need stitching. Can you do it?"