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Or what once resembled him.

He was red. I’d briefly seen him covered with gore when we first met, when he killed Bryan and those two women, but this was different. It was like someone had dumped a can of paint over him.

Brown flecks crumbled from his hair and his skin as I threw my arms around him, and he sank to the floor, taking me with him. He nuzzled my neck and clasped the back of my head, clearly breathing me in.

“Cassia,” he whispered. “Why aren’t you in your cage?”

A laugh shook my chest. “I’m still mad at you for that.”

“Yeah, hot stuff. The roof caved in.”

“Selena, leave them alone,” I heard Elijah say. “He needs blood,” he said, his voice fading as they walked away.

Lukas moved, his face swimming in front of me. I was crying with relief and disbelief. He wiped my tears away with a bloody finger and then kissed me hard enough to make me swoon.

“Drink,” I ordered him, shoving my hair back over my shoulder. “Please.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. His fangs sunk into my neck, tearing through my skin and squeaking against tendons. Sharp pain cut through me, stealing my breath before he soothed it away. I sank down to the floor with my arms around his waist and felt his body relax as he took his fill. The pleasure that washed through my body along with the security of being in his arms again was unreal. This was where I was supposed to be.

Lukas retracted his teeth and clutched me to his chest as his hands roamed my body. “I didn’t think I would see you again,” he whispered.

“Same,” I replied, my voice hoarse.

I wanted to say so much more, but the words caught in my throat as my heart pounded in my chest. How was it possible to have such strong feelings for someone? I didn’t have a clue of depths of my love and emotions for this man until he’d had to leave. The concept of this type of love was foreign to me. I’ve never experienced it before. The thought was both sobering and exhilarating.

Sobering because while it was beautiful, it was heavy. But it was thrilling for the same reasons. The same way my blood and love fed him; he fed me.

“I managed to save the painting. It didn’t get damaged when the roof fell, just dusty, but it's fine.”

Lukas grinned and lowered his head. He peered up at me with those green eyes of his and said, “Cassia, I love you.”

Returning the grin, I said, “I love you, too.”

“Hate to break up this reunion but here,” Elijah said, his shiny boots stopping right by our legs.

He handed Lukas a carafe of blood. “He needs this. Badly.” He flicked a look at me.

I nodded and Lukas stood, shaking slightly. “You need a shower. A lot of them,” I said.

He glanced at me, furrowing his brows slightly. “Really? What makes you think that?”

Joking, sarcastic Lukas was back.

He lifted the carafe and downed what must have been an entire gallon at once. It didn’t take long to see the difference in his physique. Where his skin had seemed thin, it plumped up. The fine glow he normally possessed spread across his flesh.

He wiped a hand across his mouth and handed the container to Elijah. “Thank you,” he said, nodding his head. Elijah nodded back.

Selena stepped beside him. “Cassia’s got a unicorn now.”

Lukas looked down at me. “He came?” His voice was full of wonder. “I ran into him in the woods and asked him to look after you.”

“Shit, that’s so fucking cool,” Selena said.

“He was outside. We were watching the horizon, trying to see if we could see anything and she noticed him down by the bridge. He was definitely here for me.”

If a vampire could be and look exhausted, Lukas would fit the bill. “Let’s go upstairs,” I said, both wanting him to rest and wanting him to myself.

I’d forgotten we didn’t have a room anymore and Elijah must have seen the look on my face. “Take the room beside your old, it’s ready,” he offered.