nicholas disappeared back through the trees, and zach picked up speed, closing the distance to lexi. when she came into sight and veered to the left of iain's cabin, zach followed. his long legs ate up the ground as his body worked to get her back where she belonged-by his side, forever.

the next time she looked over her shoulder at him, he was within arm's reach. her chocolate brown eyes widened, and she tripped over the root of a tree.

zach grabbed the back of her shirt to stop her fall, then gathered her in his arms. he didn't stop moving. he swept her up and continued on to the nearest unoccupied cabin. it wasn't as posh as the suites in the main building were, but there would be a mattress on the bed to cushion lexi's back and that was all that really mattered.

"i thought you were done running," he told her. his voice was rough and harder than he'd intended.

"let me go." she was panting. her cheeks were pink, and her chest rose and fell, pressing deliciously against his.

zach booted the cabin door open and slammed it shut again once they'd cleared it. the doors bolted from the inside with thick, sturdy beams of wood over iron brackets. he bumped it with his elbow and the beam fell into the bracket, locking them in.

the place smelled a little musty, but the scent of pine made it tolerable. it was dark in here, compared to outside, with only a dim ray of tree- filtered light sliding in through the dusty windows. the cabin was small, maybe two hundred square feet. a bed hugged one wall, and along the opposite wall was a fireplace and a table with two chairs. in the far corner, there was a bathroom with all the necessary equipment, though none of it fancy. other than food, they had everything they needed right here.

"put me down, zach." lexi's voice shook and she no longer sounded like a woman confident enough to go up against a group of large men armed only with a metal pole.

zach did as he was told and laid her on the bare mattress. before she could try anything, he crawled on top of her and caged her in with his body. he kept his weight on his hands and knees, keeping as much distance between their bodies as he could. he didn't trust himself enough to press his body fully to hers and keep control. as it was, his dick was hard and his blood was demanding he stake a physical claim on her body, and to hell with the luceria. he wanted her naked and wet and spread out for his pleasure. just the thought of running his hands over her bare skin was enough to make him shake.

but he had to do this right. one step at a time, and that meant keeping his hands to himself and his dick in his jeans, much to his dismay.

"we need to talk," he told her.

"i just want to leave, okay?"

"it's too late for that. i don't have the time to find you again." he could feel his last leaf barely clinging to the branch. it was dry and withered, and he was sure he wouldn't last until morning. not without lexi giving him what he needed.

zach traced a finger over her throat. he could feel her pulse skittering under his fingertip. her skin was warm and so silky soft he had to close his eyes and soak up the feeling, completely losing himself in that single touch for a long moment.

"you're scaring me," she whispered.

zach didn't want that. he wanted to make her happy. to make her feel good.

she'd told him that it felt good when he touched her, so zach spread his hand over her throat, reveling in the striking contrast of his darker skin against hers, the roughness of his hands against the perfect silkiness of her neck. he willed a ribbon of energy through his arm, letting it spark between them, expanding into a million tiny fragments of sensation.

lexi's eyes fluttered closed and she let out a soft sound of pleasure.

"still scared?" he asked, forcing his tone to remain gentle even though the need to claim her raging through him was anything but gentle.

she grabbed his wrist, wrapping both hands around it. she didn't push him away, just held on, trembling in indecision.

her bottom lip quivered, and he wanted to kiss it and drive away the worry he heard in her voice. "helen says i'm wrong. miss mabel says i'm wrong. you say i'm wrong. you all say the sentinels are the good guys. how can my whole life be a lie?"

zach didn't want to talk. he wanted to demand she give him what he needed, both her body and her vow to stay by his side for eternity. he knew it was meant to be, that they'd both be happy together if she'd shed the lies of her human upbringing and let him show her the truth of their kind. her kind, too.

she pinned him with a look of desperation-one so strong he knew he had to slow down. she needed him to talk to her and soothe her, and in the end, he could deny her nothing.

zach fought back his pounding lust and willed himself to speak. "no one can force you to believe. all i can do is offer you a means to learn the truth for yourself."

her gaze moved to his throat. to his luceria. "i . . . can't."

"why not?" that question cost him another precious sliver of control, but he offered it nonetheless.

"if mom was right, then once i put that on it will be too late. i'll be imprisoned."

"that's not the way it works. i can't force you to wear it, believe me. if i could, you'd already be my lady."

"another lie?" she asked with a hint of defiance lifting her chin.

zach smiled. he loved that about her. here she was, trapped beneath him, locked in a cabin inside a compound she couldn't easily escape, and yet still, she didn't give up. his lexi was a fighter to the core, and he was a lucky man to have found her.

"there's one way to find out," he taunted. "unless you're afraid."

sparks of rebellion lit her eyes. "get over yourself. you're not scary enough to make me afraid. i've spent my life running from monsters scarier than you. grow some claws or teeth or something and then we'll talk."

"so, what's stopping you?" he tilted his chin, baring his throat. "take it. it's up to you how long you decide to wear it."

she reached up and zach's body clenched in anticipation. despite what she said, she was afraid. he could feel it in the way her arm trembled, the way her pupils had shrunk down to tiny dots of black. but even with that fear, she didn't back down. she ran her finger along the band and zach felt that single touch slide through him like lightning, sizzling him to his toes. his dick strained for release and a hot hum of desire wrapped around his veins.

"i don't know what to do."

"just take it." zach was panting, sucking in enough air to hold himself in control.

she wrapped her slender fingers around the luceria and gave a slight tug. it split open and she gasped, dropping it, like it was a live snake, but the luceria didn't mind. it fell around her neck, locking into place as if it had been waiting its entire existence for this single moment in time.

lexi's eyes went wide and she shoved hard against zach. he moved back enough to let her sit up, but still straddled her legs, making sure she wasn't going anywhere. not until this was done. permanent.

zach smiled at her. he couldn't help it. "i've never seen anything prettier in my life than you are right now."

she pulled on the luceria. "it won't come off."

zach captured her hands before she could hurt herself. "you haven't given me your vow yet."

"i don't know what to say."

zach wanted her forever. but to get what he wanted, he had to be smart, tread carefully. if she continued to see him as her enemy, she'd never learn to trust him, and if that happened, their bond would never work right. trust was vital to the flow of power between them.

even though he hated the idea, he knew what he had to do. if he wanted her trust, he had to offer his own. "promise to wear it until you change your mind. that way, if you see something that isn't right and you no longer want to be with me, you'll be free to go."

"what will happen to you?"

"i've lived a long time. don't worry about me."

"whether or not i trust you, i don't want to be the one to kill you, zach."

"you won't. even if you decide to leave, my death won't be your fault. i'm headed that way fast anyway.

any extra time you give me is a gift, extending my natural life." he just wasn't ready for it to end yet. not if lexi could be part of it.

with plenty of luck and patience, she'd see the truth and never take off his luceria. he would find a way to make that happen.

zach rose from the bed and knelt beside it. he stripped his shirt off over his head, unsheathed his sword and made a small cut over his heart. "my life for yours, lexi. forever."

she shook her head, frowning. "i don't like that one. give me a different vow."

the side of his mouth cocked up in a grin. "sorry, honey. that's the one you're getting. it's your turn."

he pressed a drop of blood to the luceria, making it come to life. it shrank to fit her slender throat. she swallowed and the movement caused the luceria to glisten in a riot of green ribbons of color.

after taking a deep breath, she said, "i promise to wear this thing as long as i want. as soon as i don't want to wear it, then it comes off."

her vow worked. he felt the subtle power of it weighing down on him. light in the room expanded until it pressed against him like a blanket, sealing her vow inside of him.

she was his now. he was going to make sure it stayed that way.

his world tilted and fell away as the luceria revealed to him some treasured part of lexi it wanted him to see. zach held his breath and let the vision flow over him. lights and colors sped past him and he came to a rocking stop outside the door of a mom-and-pop restaurant along a stretch of highway. lexi was standing there, her hair in pigtails. she was five or six years old, but he recognized her dainty pointed chin and the defiant set of her shoulders even then. she was so cute, so tiny and vulnerable, it made his chest grow tight with the need to protect her.

her mother, whom he recognized from the photos in lexi's honda, bent low so she could be heard over the intermittent roar of truckers as they sped by. "do you remember your name?" she asked lexi.

"lucy james."

"good. and where did we come from?"

she chewed on her lip a moment, then said, "mini apples."

"minneapolis. it's in minnesota. it's cold there."

"i don't like the cold," complained lexi.

"i know. you make sure to tell people that. it's a good reason for us to have left."

"but what about the monsters? i thought we left 'cause of the monsters."

"you can't tell anyone about the monsters. remember?"

lexi nodded her head. her hair had been lighter then, but just as baby fine as it was now and it swayed around her sweet face. "if i tell someone, the monsters will eat them just like they want to eat us."

"that's right. it's our secret, okay?"