Two weeks after Rick’s visit to the doctor, the band had one last charity gig to do. It was a hot July day and sweat was pouring off everyone as they readied to go onstage. Sav looked at Rick and said, “Mate, you doing okay? You’re not looking too good!”

Lyra nodded. Unlike the others, she could hear the way Rick’s heart was beating and knew it couldn’t be good. She looked at Cyra, who only shrugged. There was no way Cyra was going to take this last chance to perform with Def Leppard away from him. So Lyra let it go.

Rick gave Sav a smile and said, “I’m fine, mate! Don’t worry, just get your elderly ass out there and kill that crowd!”

“Elderly! Sod off, mate! I’m only fifty two, thank you!” Sav huffed and headed for his guitar. But Lyra walked up to Cyra and said, “What’s going on, Cy? He’s got a problem, I’m sure you can feel it!”

“We’ve known for two weeks, luv,” Cyra said quietly. “The doctor told him his circulatory system is failing. But he wanted this last time onstage with this band, so I couldn’t disappoint him. But I’m gonna stay behind the drum riser just to be on the safe side, so you go take care of your two and I’ll handle him, don’t worry!”

“Well, I can understand him wanting this,” Lyra answered. “I’ll see you after the show!” With that, she headed off into the wings to keep an eye on Joe and Sav. The older they got, the closer she watched them onstage to make sure they didn’t run into any health problems. But they both seemed healthy as horses, so she wasn’t overly worried. She only hoped Rick made it through the show all right.

Rick took his place behind the kit and mopped the sweat from his brow. The thermometer had read ninety five degrees an hour before and it didn’t feel like it had come down any. Thanking God they were only doing a forty five minute set, Rick watched as Joe, Sav and their replacement guitarists took the stage. Though they didn’t have the bounce they’d had when they were younger, Joe and Sav still put on a hell of a show. Sav still posed as much as always, which he pulled off well since he was still built like he’d been when he was forty. Joe was fighting a slight weight gain, but he still made a striking figure onstage with his height.

Joe threw his arms wide and the crowd went wild once more. Rick loved that sound. There was really nothing else like knowing those people were cheering for him. He tried to smile, but his chest felt a bit tight. Cyra handed up his water bottle and asked, “Are you okay, luv?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Cyra, don’t worry,” he said, but she could hear his breath coming a good bit harder than usual. She listened closely to his heart and heard it racing, trying desperately to keep going. There was no way he could keep this up, but they were only halfway through the show. Nothing short of actually dying was going to pull Rick from his kit now. A sharp pain lanced through his chest and he gasped for a moment before it passed off.

Sav walked back to Rick’s drum set as they started the next song and Cyra called him over to where she could talk to him. “How many songs do you have left?”

“Three, why, what’s going on?” Sav asked

“Make it two and do them quick!” Cyra yelled over the music. “He’s not going to make it out of here otherwise!”

Rick heard her and yelled, “NO! I CAN DO IT!”

“Are you sure, Cyra?” Sav called, ignoring Rick completely. After all these years, he trusted the vampires to know their bodies better than they did. They could feel and sense things that human beings just couldn’t.

Cyra looked up at Rick’s determined face and sighed. “Do all three, but get Lyra over here now! I need her help!”

Sav nodded and walked slowly over to Lyra while he sang. She pulled his face mic up and he said, “Cyra needs you. She’s afraid Rick’s not going make it.”

Lyra took off at a dead run behind the speakers. As soon as she reached Cyra, Cyra said, “You’re gonna have to get the van up here now! He’s going to end up crossing in the damn thing if we’re not careful!” Nodding, Lyra headed for the parking lot and told their driver she was going to be driving the band on the trip home. Since it meant he got off early that night, he was all smiles as he headed for the phone to call for a ride home.

Horn blaring, she managed to get the van to the back entrance of the amphitheater. Then she took off again, heading for the stage once more. Just as she reached it, the band started to play “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, the last song of the set. Even Lyra could feel the incredible pain in Rick’s upper body now as he tried to keep the hard drum beats going. Sav and Joe both looked to Lyra, but she was staring at Rick and wondering how he was still moving. But he never missed a beat, just kept right on going.

Lyra made it to Cyra’s side just as Rick collapsed over his kit. The vampires pulled him down and rushed him back to the van. Sav nearly threw his guitar at his tech as he and Joe ran back. Joe slid into the front seat and Sav climbed in back, then stared down at his friend in shock. He was in the throes of a massive coronary and things didn’t look good. Cyra pulled his shirt open, then looked up at Lyra and said loudly, “Get us the hell out of here!”

Lyra maneuvered the van out of the parking lot through the press of people while Cyra tried to help Rick. But it was far too late to stop the heart attack. Rick clutched at Cyra’s arm and said, “Just do it! Get this shit over with!”

Looking down into his pain filled brown eyes, Cyra knew she had to stop his suffering. She brushed the curls back from his forehead, then leaned down to his throat. The pain in his chest was so bad, Rick never even felt the bite that drained his life down to almost nothing. Then she let him feed from her wrist and watched as the pain faded from his eyes. His breathing calmed. Then he closed his eyes and quietly died.

Lyra was driving like a demon, trying to get them out of the city. But traffic just wouldn’t allow it. She finally pulled into an alley in the heart of the downtown area and stopped the van. Jumping out, she ran to the back door and pulled Rick’s body out with Cyra’s help.

“Thank God that damn arm has to grow back or he’d be awake already!” Cyra gasped as they struggled to get the heavy man out. They laid him on the ground while Sav and Joe watch him in fascination. His arm was nearly whole again and Joe felt a tear coming to his eye at that. Rick would finally have it back, after all these years.

Lyra and Cyra felt Rick begin to stir and Lyra chased Sav back into the van. But Joe wasn’t moving fast enough, so Lyra picked him up and tossed him inside as well. Rick smelled them just as she slammed the door shut and headed after them. Once the door was closed, he lost the scent and turned. Neither vampire had fed recently, so he ignored them. A second later, he jumped into the sky and flew off.

“FUCK!” Lyra said as Cyra went after him.

Joe opened the door and said, “What the hell’s gonna happen now?”

“I don’t know! Just take the van and head back to Rick’s house, we’ll meet you there!” Lyra called as she took off after them. She watched as Cyra landed on the rooftop, then made it there herself. There were a pair of young girls sunbathing up there and one was screaming as Rick bit into the neck of her companion. All Cyra and Lyra could do was keep anyone else off that roof and let Rick go by that point. He threw away the body of the first girl and launched himself at the second just as she made it to the fire escape to climb down. He tore into her throat without hesitating and drained her within minutes.

“Where are the others,” Cyra said as casually as if someone was having toast for breakfast.

“I told them to meet us at Rick’s,” Lyra said quietly.

“Damn, I don’t want him to have to fly back,” Cyra said, jumping from the roof and scanning the road below. In her haste, she forgot that not only did vampires need blood, but that their sex drives were heighten when they crossed over from the mortal state. He turned to Lyra as the girl’s body hit the ground and said, “Damn, Lyra, I didn’t realize just how beautiful you are until now.”

“Um, Rick, you may want to hang on til Cyra comes back,” Lyra said, backing away from him. But he advanced on her and said, “What’s wrong, Lyra? Cyra’s told me how you guys are, that you may be bonded to Joe and Sav, but that doesn’t make you exclusive.”

“True,” she answered softly as his body came up against hers. As hard as she fought her own nature, she was getting aroused right along with him. His hair fell down around his shoulders in red gold curls, just like it had when he was younger. And as he put his arms around her, he said, “Damn, I’d forgotten how good it feels to hold a woman with two arms.”

“Now you’ve got all the time in the world to do that,” Lyra said as he lowered his lips to hers. She dug her fingers into his broad shoulders as her back hit the wall. Neither of them heard as Cyra landed softly on the roof. She watched them in amusement for a moment, remembering Rick’s dread whenever Lyra came around years before. As Rick’s hand ran up Lyra’s thigh, Cyra cleared her throat and saw Lyra’s head snap up. She pushed Rick back and gasped, “I think someone’s been waiting for you, Cyra!”

“Rather impatiently, or so it would seem!” Cyra chuckled. Then she could say no more as Rick pinned her to the ground. Lyra just smiled as Rick’s hands went under Cyra’s skirt, feeling for her warmth impatiently. She heard a tearing sound as Rick removed Cyra’s underwear and she let out a laugh. Steve hadn’t been quite this hurried when he’d come over. They’d actually managed to wait until they got away from the others before the passion of crossing had hit him. Of course, he’d been so worried about Phil at the time, it had dampened anything else.

Rick fumbled with his jeans with one hand, still not used the idea of his returned arm. Once the were open, he lay down and thrust himself hard into the core of Cyra’s being. She gasped at his rough entry, then started to move along with his frantic thrusts. Wrapping her legs around him, she pulled him deeper into her body and let out a moan. Her hips met his every plunge as she leaned up and kissed him. Lyra heard her cry out his name in the throes of her climax as Lyra jumped from the roof and went in search of Sav and Joe.

She found the van two blocks away and followed it until they pulled back into the alley. Then she landed on the roof quietly and leaned down, looking right at Joe. He had his back to her, talking to Sav. She saw Sav chuckle and point to the window. Joe turned and jumped half out of the seat when he spotted her staring back at him. She just laughed as Joe rolled down the window and said, “Would you just get your ass in here?”

Standing over the driver’s side door, Lyra slid in between Joe and the steering wheel. Kissing him roughly, her passion still inflamed after her encounter with Rick, she headed for Sav in the back seat. Joe watched in the rearview mirror as she practically tackled him and pinned him down to the seat. Her hands nearly tore his shirt off him as he laughed and said, “Feeling a bit, um, well, frisky, luv?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” she breathed against his skin. Her lips closed over his nipple, sucking it roughly into her mouth. Sav inhaled quickly as his hands grabbed at her hair. His lips parted as he threw his head back and groaned. Joe was breathing heavily, just from watching her attack Sav. She tugged at his pants, pulling them open quickly. Getting them down over his hips, she fell on his now hard cock and sucked it greedily. Sav could feel her fangs running down the sides of his manhood, driving him wild. Joe couldn’t take anymore and slipped from the front seat, moving in behind Lyra. She felt his hands running over her back and moaned as they reached her ass.

Sav slid back, giving Joe room to move with Lyra. She never left Sav’s groin as Joe reached under her and pulled her pants down off her hips. It only took a second for Joe to move into her. She moaned as he pumped into her, sending a shiver through Sav. He tried to move slowly, but Lyra slammed her hips back again him, pushing him on. She worked over Sav intently, her mouth hot and hard on him. Up and down the length of him, over and over. Feeling him ready for his climax, she pulled him into her throat and swallowed hard just as he came. He shuddered as the orgasm took him. Then he moved down and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as her body moved with Joe’s.

She started to murmur their names as she felt herself explode into orgasm. Joe was pounding into her as hard as he could, ready to release himself. He gasped out her name as his hot cum poured into her body. He couldn’t help but collapse on her back, sending her down onto Sav with a loud “Oomph!” coming from Sav’s throat. They lay there in a heap for a moment before Cyra pulled the door open and said, “Everybody happy now?”

“God, yes,” Lyra said breathlessly.

“Then let’s head home,” Cyra said with a satisfied sigh. Rick slid into the driver’s seat and pulled the van out as Joe, Sav and Lyra lay in each other’s arms.