Tanner and I were making stakes in an even more remote part of the woods than the cave. He was determined to take out Adam's whole group, and so was I.

"I think we have enough stakes," I told him.

"There's no such thing as enough," he said.

"We can only hide so many in my backpack and on ourselves. We do want to be subtle. I had two on me when I got Samantha and her friend."

"We don't know how many of them there are."

"I already took care of two of them, and there were five plus Adam when they took us from that park. The two that Adam had watching me while he was gone aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. If the witch is still there, we're still only looking at five."

"Do you know how to kill a witch?" he asked. "She's obviously got some powers if she was able to remove your sun blessing."

"I don't know. But I'm sure we can figure it out if she's there. I'm pretty sure that these stakes won't help."

He smiled and gave me a kiss. "You're cute when you're irritated."

I tried not to laugh and gave him a shove. "Let's go see what you've got."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to go find something for you to hunt, and get an idea for you what you have in you."

He gave me a funny look.

"Look, I'm not going to go marching into battle if I don't know what you're capable of. I'm not losing you again. It's not happening."

He curled his lip. "Thanks for the outstanding vote of confidence."

"Prove me wrong."

He stood up. "Let's go."

At least I had got him to stop making stakes. "Follow me," I said. I started walking and listening for an animal for him to hunt. After only a minute, I heard, very faintly, footsteps and a heartbeat. It sounded like a mountain lion.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

"You can hear that?" I asked. "You pick this up fast. Maybe it's because you've already died. You're going to fly through the transformation. Let's go."

He ran in the direction of the animal, and I almost didn't see him. I shook my head in disbelief and went after him. He darted quickly through the trees and bushes, moving silently. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought that he had been a vampire for a long time.

When he saw the mountain lion, he paused and let it sense his presence. He let it run a little and gave it a good chase before jumping on it and killing it instantly.

He turned around and asked, giving me a bow, "How was that, my lady?"

I smiled. "Very impressive. Now let's dig in."

Once the sun was starting to set, we headed for the edge of the woods.

"I need to get my bearings and figure out how to get back to that building to see if Adam is still there or if we need to track him. Keep a watch."

I closed my eyes and let my mind create a mental map of where I had come from. I looked for any other routes that would be more efficient. When I opened my eyes, it was completely dark.

"Do you know where we're going now?" Tanner asked.

"Yes, and I have a quicker route for us to take. We're going to run as far and as fast as we can while avoiding populated areas as much as possible. We should be able to run past people completely unnoticed, but I don't want to take any chances. If you need to stop, let me know. We can rest whenever either of us needs to."

"I'm fine."

"You were dead this morning. I don't want to take any chances."

"Okay," he said. "Let's get going. I'm anxious to take them down. I need to make them pay for what they did to you."

"Let's go." I ran out of the woods and followed the map in my mind. It took us less than a half an hour to reach the woods that I had escaped from not too long ago. "Are you good?" I asked.

"Never better," he said with an arrogant but playful grin.

"We're not too far from the building. We need a game plan. Do we rest up and attack in the daylight or do we go now?"

"I don't want to rest," he said. "I am too anxious to get this done. I wouldn't be able to rest if I tried."

"I believe that," I said with a laugh. He looked as though he was about to explode with anxious energy. "I think we ought to drink a bit of each other's blood. That should give us the energy that we need. We're both transforming and have part human blood, and human blood is what gives us the most strength."

He smiled. "That sounds wonderful to me."

"Let's find a secluded place."

"I'd like that even better."

"Over there," I said, and we ran to a section of trees in a nice, secluded little glade. We took turns drinking each other's blood, and it was so intoxicating that we had to work to focus on our mission.

"After we take out Adam and his group, I want you in my arms all night…er, all day," he told me.

I smiled at him. "It's a deal."

We stepped out of the trees and breathed in the fresh forest air, letting our heads clear.

"You lead the way," he said.

It was easy for me to remember where that horrible building was. I could also smell the rancid vampires, so I knew that they were either still there or had left very recently, making it easy to track them.

When we got to the building, my heart sunk down to my stomach. I didn't want to be there, but I made the decision to focus my energy on taking them out instead of focusing on what they had done to me. I would not be able to beat them if that's what I was thinking about.

I looked at the walls. "I didn't even think about this. Can you go through walls?"

"Let's find out. Is there a trick?"

"Lean against the wall and imagine yourself on the other side."

He stood against the wall and closed his eyes. He disappeared into the wall.

I quickly went through the wall myself, hoping that nobody was on the other side to greet us. We were back in the horrible room that I had been locked in. The door was open.

I looked at him and indicated toward the door. We tiptoed to the door and walked outside the room. It was another dungeon-like room but not as much like a jail cell. I pointed to my ears, and we listened for any indicators of the vampires.

I heard some very faint voices and I pointed in the direction. He nodded yes and we tiptoed toward them. We came to some stairs and went up them. The next level of the building was much better than the basement level. We continued to follow the voices through a maze of rooms and hallways.

When we got to the room adjoining the voices, we stopped and I looked at him to see if he was ready. He nodded yes.

I took a deep, silent breath. My heart raced, and I figured that they could hear it, as I was the only one in the building with a beating heart unless the witch was there.

Tanner ran into the room before me, and several vampires began yelling at once. I ran into the room and saw Tanner on top of Adam on the floor. He had him pinned and was going for his neck. Luke and Danny were standing there, frozen in shock. A fourth vampire was about to jump on Tanner.

I ran in and threw the fourth vampire down before he could touch Tanner. I grabbed his head and slammed it into the floor a few times until he passed out. I pulled a stake out of the pocket of my hoodie and stabbed him with it several times, watching silver liquid ooze out.

I stood up. Danny was lunging at me. I threw myself at him and stabbed him in the chest. I missed his heart by about six inches. We hit the ground and slammed into a fireplace. The corner of the seat got him square in the back, and he let out a gasp.

I quickly glanced at Tanner before going after Danny. Tanner had bit Adam in several places and had blood all over his face and shirt. He pulled out a stake and stabbed Adam repeatedly in the chest.

As I was looking back toward Danny, he was reaching for me. I bit his arm, and he hissed at me. I pulled his other arm, pinned it behind him and twisted harder. He was yelling profanities at Luke, who was going after Tanner.

Tanner threw Luke into a wall and ran at him with a stake, jamming it right into his heart. Silver oozed from the wound and Luke slid to the floor.

Two more vampires ran into the room, one going after Tanner and the other after me. I threw Danny on the floor and stepped on his chest, pulling another stake out from the arm of my hoodie. He stood up and threw me to the floor. I almost hit my head on the fireplace seat, but I moved at the last second. I grabbed his leg and pulled it out from under him.

He fell to the floor with a loud thud, and I lost no time. I ran over to him and rammed the stake into his heart until the silver oozed out of him as well.

I turned around to help Tanner, but he was standing there with both of the two vampires who had run into the room at his feet. They both had stakes in their hearts with silver ooze streaming from them like a river.

"How did you do that?" I asked in disbelief.

"I told you I was ready to take them down. Are there any others here? I'm ready for more."

I looked around the room at the six dead vampires. "Let's set this place on fire."

Tanner grabbed some lighter fluid that was at the fireplace and poured it all over the vampires. He took a box of matches from the mantle and threw one on Adam. In a matter of seconds, the room was ablaze.

"Let's get out of here," I said above the roar of the flames.

We ran out of the room and down a different section of the building to see if there were any more vampires that we needed to fight. The building appeared to be empty, so we ran out and kept going in the opposite direction from where we had come.

When we'd gone about 25 miles, we reached the other edge of the woods. The sun was starting to come up, but it was not yet bright enough to give us any trouble.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"Obviously we don't have much time before we are stuck for the day. I think we should try to find an abandoned house to stay in for the day. Then we can try to make our way back home to our families."

"Okay. I'll follow you."

I started running through the streets and kept my eyes open for houses with foreclosure signs. I hoped for another house with food and electricity, but knew that was probably a long shot.

When I started to feel little tiny pangs in my eyes and some warmth on my skin, I said, "We need to hurry up and find something soon. The sun is going to kill us in no time."

"I think I see one. Over there." He pointed up the road to the left.

"Let's go." We ran to the sign. The daggers were starting to hurt.

"I need to get in there now." Tanner ran through the wall.

I wondered how he managed to run into the wall, but I didn't have time question it or I would soon be throwing up and incapacitated for hours. I leaned against the wall with my eyes closed and went through just in time.

"Quick. Find a room without any light," I told him with my eyes covered.

He grabbed my arm and led the way. Finally, he stopped and said, "It's safe to open your eyes."

I opened them, and we were in a nearly empty walk-in closet. There were a few pieces of ugly clothing hanging up and some scarves lying on the carpet.

"Why didn't light bother me as much as it did you?" he asked.

"It has been getting more intense each day," I told him. "I'm not sure if it gets worse with time or exposure, but it keeps getting worse each time."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But if I had spent any more time out there, I wouldn't be." I told him about what happened the last time, when I was in the other house before I found him.

"That's horrible. We need to find a way to get the sun blessing. We can't show up to our families unable to be in the sun. How would we explain that?"

I sighed. "You're right. We could go back and pretend to be normal humans if we could be in the sun. But there's no way to explain that away."

"How are we going to have a sun blessing placed on us?"

"I will have to get in contact with Brooke or Clara, because I don't know anyone who can give us the blessing."

"How will we get in contact with them without anyone else discovering us? Didn't you say that we were all over the news?"

"Yes, everyone is looking for us. We can't blend in at all, especially while we are together. If this place has internet access and a computer, I can email Brooke like I did last time."

"It doesn't look like too much was left in this house from what I could see. Did you want me to look around, assuming that the sun doesn't bother me yet?"

"If it starts to even tingle, get back in here. The pain can start very suddenly."

"Will do," he said, and left the closet.

I sat and thought about everything that had happened in the last week or so. I wasn't even sure how long it had been since Tanner and I were taken. Now he was a vampire, and together we had killed the vampires who had taken us. It made my head spin just thinking about all of it.

Part of me wanted to go back home and have everything back to the way it was before I began my transformation. Another part of me was very excited about all of this and couldn't wait to see what was next. I was definitely feeling conflicted about everything.

I started to feel sleepy, so I lay down on the carpet and closed my eyes.

I was in a beautiful meadow beside a waterfall. Tanner was with me, and I was watching him as he ran through a field of flowers trying to catch a unicorn for me. The unicorn was toying with him, but he was determined to catch it for me.

Smiling, I sat down on a blanket, felt the soft spray of the waterfall and listened to the birds singing. I had on my homecoming dress, and my fingers were covered with rings adorned with all kinds of jewels. They seemed to shine especially prettily in this particular light.

I looked up at Tanner. He had given up on the unicorn that was now sitting down, cleaning his tail. Tanner was walking toward me and had the most magnificent purple rose in his hand. When he reached me, he handed it to me, and I held it close and took a deep breath. The scent filled my entire body with its sweetness.

He sat down beside me and said, "The flower reminded me of you because it is the most beautiful thing in this whole meadow. But it still doesn't even begin to compare with your beauty."

I smiled at him, and he leaned in and gave me a kiss. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him back.

He sat back and said, "This is like heaven on earth. I'm in the most beautiful place I've ever seen with the most beautiful woman to walk the earth, and we're here in the daylight."

"It certainly does seem perfect," I agreed and gave him another kiss.

"Excuse me," came a voice right next to us.

I opened my eyes, and there stood Cliff towering over us. We both stood up, and I exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you because I was ready to forgive you for your indiscretion and look where I find you. Right back where you were: with him. I thought that you were sorry, but you are back in his arms again. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I…I…"

"That's all that you have to say for yourself? You look like you've gone and found a new love. You've replaced me so easily and quickly. Yet I have spent my entire life waiting for you."

"You need to make a choice. If you make the wrong choice, I will banish you."

I gasped. "Banish me? Where?"

"To the underworld, which is the land of eternal misery. You'll never be able to escape, and I'll never again have to look upon the face that betrayed me and broke my heart into millions of pieces."

I gulped. "I thought that I would only lose my place in the royal line."

"Leaving me to be the most powerful vampire in the world. Then I would be able to banish to you anywhere that I please."

"You wouldn't!"

"I couldn't stand to look at you if you didn't choose me after everything that I've done for you. Who is it going to be?"

"I have to choose right now?"

"Yes, reign with me or be banished with him into the land of misery and torment."

I looked at Tanner and thought of all the wonderful things that we had done together and how kind he had been to me when I was alone in a sea of hostility. I didn't want him to be banished.

Then I looked at Cliff, looking past his current rough exterior, and felt a flood of memories from our childhood when I adored him and him alone. I saw images of him waiting for me all those years even when he thought I was dead. Then, I saw the first time we were reunited before the dance and all the moments following. I saw how he had treated me like a perfect gentleman and refused to do more than kiss than my hand.

I looked back and forth between the two of them and started crying. How would I ever be able to make a choice?

I sat up in a cold sweat, gasping for air. It had all been a dream, a terrible dream. I knew that one day I would have to make a choice, but not right then and there. I looked over at Tanner, who was sleeping on the floor next to me. He must have found a blanket somewhere, because there was one draped over us.

My mind wandered back to the dream. It was obviously not a memory like so many others that I'd had over the past months. I hoped that it was not a vision of the future. Cliff had been so cold and so distant, not unlike the last time that I had seen him.

I sighed, remembering the last time that we had seen each other and had spoken, with him ordering me out of his sight, telling me that he would call me when he was ready. He hadn't called me or anyone else. Everyone assured me that he was staying off the radar because he loved me, but I wasn't so sure.

Perhaps this dream was an expression of my feelings. I knew that the way Cliff was acting in my dream was the way that I thought he should be acting toward me. I didn't think I deserved his forgiveness. Especially now.

I looked over at Tanner, beautiful and sleeping so peacefully. He had been extremely handsome as a human, but now that he was a vampire he was extraordinarily beautiful.

How would I ever make a choice?

I had fallen back asleep and was awoken by a thumping noise. I listened more intently for other sounds, and thought that I heard people in the house. I nudged Tanner, and he pushed me away.

"Tanner, we're not alone," I whispered in his ear.

He sat up and looked at me in shock. "You heard someone?" he whispered.

"I'm pretty sure that I heard several someones."

"Do you think it's the people that live here?"

"Look at this place. Nobody lives here."

"You don't suppose it's a realtor do you?"

"Or worse, cops, if this place has any kind of security system. I didn't think to check for that when I was about to be killed by the sunlight."

We heard several footsteps coming up the steps and possibly right towards us.

I pointed to the ceiling and Tanner looked at me as if I had just suggested that we paint ourselves blue. I climbed up a wall and held myself up in one corner of the ceiling. He quickly followed to the corner opposite me. We were almost directly above the door to the closet, and would hopefully not be seen by humans.

My heart began racing and I told myself that we were fine, that we could take any human or even a vampire if need be. I was beginning to look forward to not having a heartbeat anymore, because it was a blaring siren to the undead.

Three people entered the closet. They were dressed like they were headed for the latest goth convention. I couldn't tell if they were human or vampires.

One said, "I hear a heartbeat. Do you hear that?"

"Of course we can hear it. It sounds like it's right on top of us."

Tanner looked at me, and I knew that we had two choices: be discovered or jump down and have the element of surprise on our side. He nodded to me and then looked down.

He held out one finger, then two, then three fingers. On three, we both jumped down in front of the three strangers.

All at once, they stood like a cat ready to pounce and showed us their sharp teeth.

We responded in the same way, showing our teeth and stood in the same stance, ready to pounce.

"Who are you?" the tallest one demanded.

"Who are you?" Tanner demanded.

We all stared each other down.

"Do you mean us harm?" I asked.

"Do you mean us harm?" the other girl asked us.

"I've killed enough vampires today to last me at least a month," Tanner said. "If you don't intend to hurt us, we won't touch you."

"Seriously?" the girl asked, looking impressed.

"Yeah, of course," Tanner replied.

"This I have to hear," she replied with a smile. "Tell us about the vampires you've killed today. Don't leave out a single detail."