“I’m so sorry.”

“I think I can see it,” Ryder said. “I’m gonna have to use my fingers.” He was already sticking two fingers into the wound.

“No!” Blake protested, jerking away. “Not you! The silver… it’ll hurt you.”

Lilo understood immediately. Silver wasn’t only toxic to a vampire, but also a hybrid. “I’ll do it. Move aside.”

Ryder didn’t protest.

“Hold him immobile,” she instructed.

Ryder followed her command and held onto Blake’s shoulder and arm with both hands. With an apologetic look at Blake she brought her hand to the open wound. It was all torn skin and damaged muscle, covered in copious amounts of blood, and more spilling from the wound every second. She saw the bone, too, and right there, in Blake’s rotator cuff something shone through. The silver bullet.

Choking back the rising nausea at the sight of so much blood, she willed herself to remain calm. She had to do this. One hand she placed at the edge of the wound, pulling it open a little more, while she stuck the index and middle finger of her right hand into Blake’s flesh.

He cried out simultaneously, but she forced herself to ignore it. She mustn’t be distracted.

She felt for the various different textures: sinew, muscle, blood, now that she had no clear line of sight anymore. It was warm, and the stickiness of the blood as it coated her fingers made her stomach lurch. But she foraged on. There, her fingers had struck something hard. Bone? It had to be. She explored with her fingertips, rubbing along the hardness until she found a bump.

“That’s it!” she called out in triumph. “I found the bullet.”

“Grab it!” Ryder encouraged her.

Lilo caught Ryder’s concerned look, then gazed past him to Blake. His face was distorted from the pain, his mouth open, fangs bared as if ready to attack.

“He can’t hold on any longer,” the hybrid murmured to her. “Do it!”

She concentrated and curled her middle finger, then pushed her index finger toward it, trying to create human pliers to grip the silver bullet. She yanked at it, her fingers pulling free of the wound. But there was nothing between her fingers, no silver bullet, just more blood and sinew.

Blake howled with pain.

“It slipped,” she cried out, sweat beading on her brow, her pulse hammering. Her hands were shaking now. How much time was left? What if she couldn’t do it? “Oh God!”

“Again, Lilo!” Blake ground out. “You’ve gotta scoop it out.”

“Scoop?” That was it! “Just a sec.” She jumped up and ran to the kitchen, pushing the door open and charging toward the counter. She ripped several drawers open, until she found what she was looking for and raced back into the living room, prize in hand.

Ryder stared at the item in her hand. “A spoon?”

Lilo eagerly nodded. “It will work. Hold him still.”

Ryder pressed a panting Blake back into the cushions, immobilizing his shoulder so Lilo could continue. Swallowing hard, her hand shaking, she dipped the spoon into the wound, guiding it to the spot where she’d felt the bullet. The spoon knocked against something.

“I heard it,” Ryder said. “You’ve got it. Easy now.”

She nodded to herself and guided the spoon until it was aligned with the bone, where the silver bullet had embedded itself. “I’m there. Hold him now. This is gonna hurt.”

Using the spoon’s handle for leverage, she applied weight to it and shoved the round portion of the spoon underneath the bullet. It dislodged, and with it all pressure eased and the spoon ripped from the wound, catapulting the bullet into the room. It landed on the coffee table, hitting the ornamental Chinese bowl that stood there.

She’d never heard a sweeter sound than the clanging of silver as it settled in the middle of the bowl.

Breathing hard, she looked back at Blake’s face. His eyes were closed. Her heart stopped. “Blake, no!”

“He’s alive,” Ryder assured her, wrapping the dish towel around his wound. “But we can’t let him sleep yet.”

Before Lilo knew what Ryder was planning, he was already slapping Blake’s face. “Wake up, Blake! You can’t sleep.” He slapped him again, this time harder.

Blake’s eyes opened, and his head jerked forward, fangs bared.

“That’s it, look at me, Blake! It’s me, Ryder.” He turned his head to look at her. “Lilo, in the pantry, all the way in the back, there’s a fridge. Get me two bottles of the blood that’s in there. Quickly.”

She didn’t question him, didn’t ask why there would be blood in bottles, but ran as fast as she could and found the refrigerator just like he’d said. She opened it. Rows and rows of pint bottles filled with red liquid stood there.

Her chin dropped. This was unreal. The bottles were labeled with short codes like AB-Neg or O-Pos. All the different blood types. She snatched two bottles, not caring about the labels, and raced back into the living room, where Ryder was still restraining Blake.

“Here.” She twisted the cap off one bottle and handed it to Ryder.

The young hybrid shook his head. “You’ll have to feed him. I need to restrain him. He’s close to losing control.”

Close to? Judging by the wild look in Blake’s eyes, she’d say he’d already lost it. But for whatever reason, she wasn’t afraid. Blake wouldn’t hurt her. Somehow she knew that.

Lilo slid on the couch next to him and brought the bottle to his lips. His nostrils flared and his head rocked forward. Some of the blood spilled, but she managed to tilt the bottle so the liquid dripped into Blake’s open mouth.

He swallowed, and with relief she saw that the blood seemed to calm him. So she brought her hand underneath his chin and continued feeding him, until he’d greedily emptied the bottle. She tossed it on the couch, then twisted the top of the second bottle open.

“There you go, my love,” she cooed, and pressed the second bottle to his lips.

Blake didn’t seem to register her. He appeared delirious, but he continued drinking, gulping down the red liquid quickly and thoroughly, until the second bottle too was empty.

She exchanged a look with Ryder. “And now?”

Ryder lifted his head in Blake’s direction and eased off him slowly. Blake didn’t move, instead, his head rested against the cushion and his eyes slowly drifted shut.