I swallowed hard. “It’s harmless, isn’t it.”

He met my eyes. “You don’t think I survived this long by telling my children what can really kill me, do you?”

I had nothing left. For three heartbeats I stared. His lips curved into an eager smile.

I jerked into motion. Piscary casually reached out and grabbed my ankle as I tried to rise. I fell, kicking out, managing to hit his face twice before he pulled me to him and immobilized me under his weight.

The scar on my neck gave a pulse, and fear surged through it, making a nauseating mix.

“No,” Piscary said softly, pinning me to the carpet. “You will be in pain for this.”

His fangs were bared. Saliva dripped from them.

I struggled for air, trying to get out from under him. He shifted, holding my left arm over my head. My right arm was free. Teeth gritted, I went for his eyes.

Piscary jerked back. With a vamp strength, he grasped my right arm and snapped it.

My scream echoed against the high ceilings. My back arched and I gasped for air.

Piscary’s eyes flashed black. “Tell me if Kalamack has a viable sample,” he demanded.

Lungs heaving, I tried to breathe. The wave of misery thrummed from my arm and echoed in my head. “Go to hell …” I rasped.

Still pinning me to the carpet, he squeezed my broken arm.

I writhed as agony sang through me. Every nerve ending pulsed into a burn. A guttural sound escaped me, pain and determination. I wouldn’t tell him. I didn’t even know the answer.

He leaned his weight onto my arm, and I screamed again so I wouldn’t go insane. Fear made my skull hurt as Piscary’s eyes flashed into hunger. His instinctive need had risen high, triggered by my struggles. The black of his eyes swelled. I heard my sounds of pain as if outside my head. Silver sparkles from shock started between me and Piscary’s eyes, and my cries turned to relief. I was going to pass out. Thank you, God.

Piscary saw it, too. “No,” he whispered, his tongue making a quick pass over his teeth to catch the saliva before it fell. “I’m better than that.” He took his weight from my arm. A groan came from me as the agony dulled to a throb.

He leaned to put his face inches from mine, watching my pupils with a cool detachment as the sparkles disappeared and my focus returned. Under his impassivity was a growing excitement. If he hadn’t already sated his hunger with Ivy, he wouldn’t have been able to keep from draining me. He knew the instant my will returned, smiling in anticipation.

Taking a breath, I spit in his face, tears mixing with my saliva.

Piscary closed his eyes, his expression showing a tired irritation. He let go of my left wrist to wipe his face.

I swung the heel of my hand up to smash it into his nose.