Oren jerked to his feet and started out the door after him. Katelina clutched her bleeding throat and whimpered. At the sound, the lion-maned vampire stopped and turned to her. She stared back with terrified eyes. She could almost feel Oren's indecision as he weighed which was more important. With an aggravated snarl, he released the door and closed the distance between them.

"Are you all right?"

She wanted to shout, "I'm bleeding, you idiot!" but she couldn't find her ...