Ineffable Plan

"She's been poisoned."

The words rang in my head. She had been poisoned.

"How?"

Jeremy tilted her head to the side to show two inflamed puncture marks on her neck. The Cold Ones.

"How do we fix this?" I sighed, sitting down next to her. Justine moved closer and rested her head on my shoulder. She probably couldn't even hear us properly. It was a side effect of the venom.

"We can't, not alone anyway, but I think Aaron can. If what he says is true about the two of them, if she is his, then he should be able to fix this. He should be able to reverse what’s happening…Where is Aaron?"

"Shouldn't she be immune to this? I thought only human's could be changed by them."

"She's as human as we are, Manny. It’s only a small part but it still counts."

I nodded. "Why the reaction to Aaron?" The image of her terrified face, tears streaming, popped into my head.

"I'm not sure. It may be a reaction to the venom."

"Then why only to Aaron?"

"She's drank Aaron's blood. His is in her, not ours. That, mixed with the donor blood, could have easily caused this kind of reaction. Who knows whose blood it was she got in the hospital?"

I nodded.

Aaron's back. Jeremy looked over at Justine.

She's calmed.

So has he.

I'll go talk to him; tell him what he has to do. If he comes in here she won't let him anywhere near her.

I nodded and watched as Jeremy left the bedroom.

Jeremy's P.O.V.

As I explained everything to Aaron, I noticed the anger build in him. If he didn’t cut it out he would have to feed again…soon.

"How did they get in? How did he bite her? I was right there! I was sleeping right next to her! How does a Cold One get past the five of us and not be noticed!"

Calm down.

"Calm down! He could have killed her. He could have killed her while she was lying in my arms; when she thought she was safe! How could I have let this happen?"

"Look Aaron. I don’t have everything figured out yet, okay. Let's just deal with this one step at a time. First things first, okay? We need to get up there now and deal with getting her back to normal."

He breathed in heavily and sighed.

"How do we do this?"

"It'll have to be a blood exchange; a little from each of us. The venom is in her blood and that's the only way to get it out."

"How does this blood exchange thing work?"

"It's pretty simple, actually. One of us feeds her blood, while the other drinks some of her blood. We'll each feed and drink once. If we plan this right it should work fine." I looked up to Aaron to see if he was okay with this. The idea of someone else drinking her blood couldn't be appealing to him, even if it were his brothers. When I was sure he was okay with it, I went on. "So we'll each have to donate and then drink. You have to go last, since she's yours. Manny will have a hold on her mind when everyone else is drinking but she has to be awake when you do."

"She doesn't want me to come within three feet of her, let alone to bite her." Aaron stated, wincing at the truth of the statement. "How am I supposed to do this?"

I hesitated. "Manny will still have a hold on her when you give her your blood. You can try to get her to let you drink from her. If that doesn't work then you'll just have to…force her."

He nodded gravely but didn't answer.

We stayed in silence for a few moments before I spoke again. "I have to go feed before we do this. I wouldn't want to…" I let my voice trail off.

"Ryland fed with you, right?"

Aaron nodded.

"So, he'll stay with Justine while the rest of us go hunt."

He nodded again.

"Okay...You going to be alright?"

He nodded once more before I turned to leave.

No one's P.O.V

Jeremy, Julian and Manny had gotten back from feeding and all five brothers gathered outside of Jeremy's bedroom. Justine was asleep so it was easy for Ryland to leave her alone.

"So this is how it'll work." Manny started. "Jeremy donates first and then he drinks, while he's drinking Ryland will donate. Then Ryland drinks and Julian donates; Julian drinks and I donate; I drink and Aaron donates. Once Aaron has donated, I'll release the hold on her mind. We'll all be out of the room by then and it'll just be Aaron and her."

Manny turned to face Aaron. "Then you have to drink. You'll be able to get the last of the venom out. She'll probably fight you at first, so you'll know the venom's out once she calms down; once she's back to the way she usually is when you bite her."

Aaron nodded.

"She's going to fight, Aaron, and she'll probably cry and scream. When you bite her it won’t feel the same to her as it usually does. It'll hurt her like hell, but you can't stop. You have to get the last bit of venom out. You're going to be able to do this, right?"

"I have to," Aaron whispered quietly. "Is it really going to be that bad?"

This time Manny nodded.

The five guys stood there in silence for a few moments before someone spoke up again. It was Jeremy.

"We better get going, before I have to feed again." He grinned sheepishly.

Aaron kneeled in front of Justine who was sitting up on the bed with Manny at her neck. He took a minute to look into her eyes. They were vacant; Manny clearly still had the hold on her mind. He sighed and bit deeply into his wrist before bringing it up to Justine's lips. Drink, he ordered silently, and she did.

A few moments passed before Aaron felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He removed his wrist from her lips and tightly wrapped the wound. It would be as good as new in a couple of hours, but for now he had to stop the bleeding.

"I'm going to let her mind go."

Aaron got up from the ground and sat on the bed next to Justine. He scooped her up and cradled her in his arms. He tenderly pressed his lips against hers and whispered "I love you" before nestling his face into her neck. Making sure he had a good hold on her, Aaron skimmed his lips across the soft flesh of her neck.

Let her go. I'm ready.

Three things seemed to have happened simultaneously: Manny released the hold on Justine's mind and disappeared from the room, slamming the door shut behind him; Justine started screaming and crying and trying to wriggle free; and Aaron sunk his teeth into her neck.

Aaron's P.O.V.

I cringed as the blood flowed down my throat. I could taste the Cold One's venom. It was vile and I had to force myself to keep drinking.

I tried my hardest to ignore the screams and whimpers escaping Justine's mouth. Her tears slid down her cheeks and onto her neck, wetting my face. She was shaking again. It took everything in me to keep going. I was doing this to save her. I couldn't stop until she was completely rid of the poison.

Slowly I noticed Justine's protest die down. That had to be good. The last of the venom was almost out. Seconds later I noticed I couldn’t taste venom anymore and a soft moan escaped her lips. Immediately I pulled away, gagging a little. I didn't stop in time and I had gotten a mouth full of my brothers' blood. It had worked. She would be okay.

I opened my eyes and lightly kissed the puncture mark. It healed immediately, only leaving two small red dots. I removed my face from her neck and peered at her face. Her eyes were closed, but she looked peaceful. A soft smile graced her lips and I founded myself doing the same.

"Jus?" I brushed my fingers across the side of her face. It was soft and warm again and I couldn't help but nuzzle my nose against her cheeks. My heart leapt when I felt her fingers brush through my hair. "How are you feeling?"

She mumbled incoherently, her arms now wrapped around my neck.

I pulled away from her cheek so I could look at her. Her eyes were open now and shined a startlingly gold, her skin was different, a golden brown almost, and her lips were ruby red. I suppose that the blood of five vampires does that to a girl. The mark on her right hand was back and it didn't look like it would fade. This time it was permanent. I looked over at my hand, thin dark lines wrapped up to my fingertips.

"I love you."

Chills ran down my spine and my stomach filled with warmth at her whispered words. I felt her soft lips place a delicate kiss on my cheek and turned my head to face her again.

"I love you, too."