He kissed her once more, his tongue licking lightly over her lips. He seemed to enjoy that little lick across her bottom lip.

She sure enjoyed it, too.

Then he pulled away.

“Do your work. Finish your tests. When you’re ready for me”—his gaze heated—“come to me.”

He turned and walked away.

When the doors closed behind him, Cassie finally sucked in a deep breath.

“There aren’t any antibodies,” Cassie whispered as she stared at the samples before her. When the primal virus was spread, the host didn’t create any antibodies to fight off the disease.

Except . . .

She glanced at her own results. Her breath heaved out. “I have the antibodies!” Cassie jumped to her feet. She had to synthesize them. That was going to be tricky. Her blood was poison to the vampires—both a poison and a cure. She had to get the poison out, but still use the antibodies that would help those who’d been infected.

All along, the cure had been right there. Right freaking there. She’d been bitten by a primal, and she hadn’t changed. She’d thought the poison in her blood stopped the change. But no, it was so much more than that.

She was the cure.

Jon had actually been right. It’s me.

She might not be able to help Trace yet, but she could help Vaughn . . . soon. So very soon.

She just had to get the poison out first. Get the poison out, and then she’d have the cure they needed.

Hope grew inside her, and it felt so good. Incredible. No more lives lost to the primal virus. No. More.

The doors to the lab flew open.

She spun around, heart racing. “I’ve almost got—”

Eve was there, looking grim.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was watching the security monitors in the outer room. We’ve got company coming.”

Company? “The last phoenix? Is she already—”

“No, it’s not Sabine.”

Cassie knew Eve had become well acquainted with Sabine’s story, especially since Sabine had once come after Cain.

Those phoenixes . . . always trying to kill each other.

“It looks like it’s Charles,” Eve said, “but he isn’t coming back alone.”

Cassie headed for her own security monitors. Pulled up the feed.

There was Charles—she saw him climb from a black SUV. There was Charles and—

“Impossible,” she whispered.

That could not be Jon Abrams exiting the vehicle and coming to stand next to him.

She leaned closer.

The same blond hair. The same hard jaw. The same hawkish nose.

She was staring at a ghost. “He’s dead. I saw Jon Abrams die!”

“The guy doesn’t look dead to me,” Eve muttered.

“I shot him.” He’d fallen. He’d been dead, hadn’t he? It wasn’t like she could have mistaken a living man and a dead guy.

Jon shoved Charles toward the hidden entrance, except it wasn’t an entrance that was hidden any longer. Charles was walking the guy right up to the supposed-to-be-secret facility.

“Charles knows the code to get inside,” Cassie whispered. She counted at least ten armed men with Jon.

If those men got inside . . .

She slammed down the button for the alarm before Charles could reach the key pad. When the alarm was activated, the whole security system went into high alert.

Normal codes were ignored. I’m sorry, Charles. I can’t let them in.

She knew what Jon would do.

Her fingers frantically flew over the keyboard as she typed in her password, making damn sure that no one would be able to override the system. As long as the alarm mode was set, Jon wouldn’t get in.

But those inside also wouldn’t get out.

The doors banged again. “What the hell is happening?” Dante demanded.

Cassie glanced over her shoulder. Dante and Cain were both there, looking grim. Behind them, Jamie strained to see over their shoulders.

Fear was bright in his eyes.

“Cassie says a dead man is trying to break into the lab,” Eve told them, voice tight. “And that guy Charles led him here.”

“I don’t think Charles had much of a choice.” Cassie could see the side of his face now that he was closer to the security camera. It looked like he’d been . . .

Burned?

Her heart beat faster.

Dante rushed across the room. His shoulders brushed hers as he bent to stare at the screen. “That’s the bastard we left at the ranch.”

The bastard was up and walking around just fine.