She could sense that something was wrong, but Reine also knew that prodding Max with questions wasn't the way to get him to open up. She deliberately didn't ask about his immediate plans as they sped past the chateau's countless salamanders and out through the magnificent entrance.

As they walked across the sun-drenched courtyard, she could no longer keep her frustrations in check. Stopping in front of him, she blocked the gravel path leading to their vehicle.

"You knew that he wouldn't be able to tell us anything," she accused, balling her fists at her side to maintain her increasing temper. "So why did you bring me here in the first place?"

He took a small step forward, narrowing the gap between them to just a few inches. "It was the only way I could get you to spend a few extra hours with me. Unfortunately, something's happened and we have to leave here immediately. However, you still have two choices. I can either drive you back to Paris so you can catch the train to London, or we can go somewhere - anywhere - together."

A small tingle in the pit of her stomach reminded her of her own feelings, and she momentarily couldn't faulty him for trying to stall their inevitable separation. But suppressing her emotions in favor of common sense, Reine held her ground.

"Don't make this any harder, Max. Let's just go." She avoided his gaze lest it affect her resolve, but his proximity - magnifying his warmth and his smell - was enough to temporarily weaken her to the point where her actions belied her words.

Max immediately noticed her reluctance and placing his hands on her shoulders, he pressed on. "We can start over, darling. Right here, right now."

The force of the words shocked Reine back to reality, and she pulled away from him with an audible intensity. Turning on her heels, she shook her head in disbelief at her inability to resist him and didn't stop walking away until she reached the parked car. Channeling her frustration into anger, she finally turned around to address him.

"Well, aren't you coming?" she snapped, noticing he was still standing motionless in the same spot.

He remained silent, his eyes staring blankly ahead and his hands clutching his stomach.

"Max? What's wrong?" Her heart raced, realizing something must have happened while her back was turned.

Instead of answering, he collapsed.

Frantically running to where he was lying, she kneeled at his side on the coarse gravel. Max's face was turning more and more pale by the second, and his breathing was slowing with each strained gasp for air. His bloody hands were still resting on his abdomen, clutching the source of his injury. The carved, wooden end of narrow blade was sticking out between his fingers.

"You have to take cover," he whispered between each shallow breath.

"Where did it come from? I don't see anyone," Reine said, ignoring his request and instinctively looking around the empty courtyard while searching for the knife's source.

"Close. From less than fifty feet away," Max said as he nodded toward the castle's wall.

Hastily scanning the turrets and balconies, she still didn't see anything unusual. Becoming more worried about Max's injury than their hidden attacker, she refocused attention.

"What do I do, Max?" she pleaded.

He squeezed his eyes shut, no doubt from the pain. "You have to pull it out. I can't heal while it stays in."

"I can't," she said with increasing uncertainty. "You could still bleed to death and then . . . I couldn't deal with you not remembering me." Tears clouded her eyes.

"It can't stay in, Reine. And it bloody hurts, so you better hurry," he said weaker than before.

She took a deep breath and ripped his shirt open to get greater access to the wound. As her hand touched his bare skin, she recoiled in horror.

"Oh my God, you're burning up! You'll overheat before this blade has a chance to get you, if we can't cool you down first." She panicked, her thoughts frozen by the realization his body had already gone into overdrive trying to heal itself.

He didn't respond, instead beginning to slip in and out of consciousness. Reine was left on her own to figure out how to save him.

Even though it was considerably cooler within the castle's thick stone walls, she couldn't risk carrying him all the way back inside. Moving to a more shaded corner of the courtyard also wasn't a viable option because the few degrees difference wouldn't cool him down enough.

There was only one choice. A massive fountain stood at the center of the large open space about twenty feet away, spurting the cool, crisp water of an unseen aquifer into the air before catching it in its pool-like basin below.

"You can do this, Reine," she urged herself while trying to figure out how to move a man nearly twice her size without causing him further pain or harm. Noticing that he was becoming more lucid again, she took the opportunity to quickly act.

"We have to get you in the fountain, Max. The water will bring down your temperature. But you have to work with me. Okay?" She pleaded desperately hoping he had enough strength left to stand on his own two feet.

"Let's go," he whispered, attempting to sit up.

Getting to her feet, Reine placed his arm around her shoulder and helped him up. Twenty feet still separated them from the cold water, and the longer he stood, the weaker he'd get. His increasing weight upon her small frame showed that there was no time to waste.

"Just a couple of steps, all right? We can do this." She encouraged both Max and herself before they started their walk across the slippery gravel. "Do you know any good jokes?" She tried to distract him from the laborious effort.

"A joke?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice, boosting her spirit to continue.

"Sure. I'm all ears."

They took a few steps before he answered. "Okay. What's the difference between a piano and a fish?"

"I don't know, what?" She struggled to focus on supporting his increasingly limp body.

"You can't tune a fish. Get it? Tuna?"

Fearing he may be starting to become delirious, she tried to hasten their progress. "A couple more steps. That's it." A few seconds passed before she added, "That was so not funny, Max."

"Amara thought it was hilarious," he answered between steps, sounding sadder than before.

Reine's heart sank. "You're doing great. Almost there." Out of breath, the next time she paused for a longer period before continuing. "Just five more. Four, three, two, one." She counted down each slow step until they had reached the fountain.

Lowering him onto the edge, she wondered how to get him into the water. That problem solved itself when Max unceremoniously toppled backward into the basin before she could grab him.

She jumped in after him. The water was just deep enough to cover his whole reclining body, but shallow enough so that she could easily support his head in her lap without it becoming submerged. Gently tightening her hand around the knife still sticking out of his stomach, Reine briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Here we go," she whispered, quickly extracting the thin object, leaving just a narrow slit in Max's bronze skin. Before she had a chance to apply pressure, blood started gushing uncontrollably from the wound.

"Hold on, Max! This shouldn't take too much longer." She tried to comfort him while pressing down with both hands to control the bleeding.

It wasn't slowing as quickly as she had expected, and he closed his eyes against the pain. Even his breathing was now becoming more labored and less frequent.

"Stay awake and you'll be good as new soon. How about another joke, huh?" She hoped he didn't notice the quiver in her voice.

He didn't answer. Instead, his muscles began to relax as she held him in her lap.

"Okay, no more jokes. Tell me a story, sing a song - anything - please!" Reine's voice became increasingly frantic as she sat in the cold fountain.

What else could she do? It was obvious Antonio didn't notice they still hadn't driven away. He was most likely still preoccupied with his other visitors, but he was the only person she could turn to for assistance.

"Signor Antonio! Help!" Her voice echoed around the courtyard, but there was no answer.

Slightly moving his head, Max began to hum.

Recognizing the familiar melody of "Dream a Little Dream," all the worries and fears Reine had been holding back since he was injured erupted. Large tears streamed down her face, and her uncontrollable sobs weren't just because he hadn't in fact lost consciousness.

They were also because of the song. It was the same one she'd sung months before while crumpled sick on his bathroom floor. At the time, she thought he'd gone to sleep or that he wasn't even in the room. Now, she was sure he hadn't left at all.

"Good, good. Hang in there," she urged as she pressed down on the wound, watching his thick, scarlet blood ooze out between her fingers. Surely he should have been healed by now. What was taking so long?

With a violent jerk of his body, the humming stopped. Opening his eyes again, a strong cough brought a trickle of blood out of the corner of Max's mouth. Before Reine could do anything, his eyes slowly rolled back into his head, and his breathing came to a stop.

"No, no, no! You can't die on me, Max. I'm not letting you forget. Just keep listening to my voice, okay? It'll be all right. I know it will," Reine said as she stroked his hair, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. "Think of Amara. Remember that sweet little girl? She's counting on you to know when she took her first steps and what were her first words. Every daddy should have those memories. And then there's Morgan, Kenzi, Mikey. You've changed all of their lives, and you can't forget about taking them in. They'd be lost without you, but you'd be just as lost not knowing them. And how about Dodger? You probably know more about his life than he does. You can't let go of that. But it's not just the experiences you need to remember. You also can't forget about how you feel about these people because that isn't something anyone can ever tell you about afterwards. Hold on to how you feel, Max. Please, hold on."

She bent her head onto his shoulders and sobbed. Instinctively rocking back and forth, she almost missed hearing the faint words.

"What about you?" he asked.

Reine raised her head and nervously chuckled at seeing his chest move again. "Me? I'm the least important out of that bunch, but I'm not letting you slip away and forget me, either. You need to remember that you saved me." She wiped the tears from her cheek.

His eyes remained closed and his breathing was still ragged, but Max slowly shook his head. "No . . .."

"Of course you did! Things went awry along the way, but you set everything in motion that led us here. I met Gabe because of you, and however it happened, I'm now having his child. I'm going to be a mother and you're partly responsible." She couldn't help but smile at how absurd it all sounded.

"But he's gone, Reine," he whispered, using the exact same words from that terrible day. It took all of her willpower to keep from crying even harder.

"I know. And I wish he wasn't, but I don't blame you for his death. Not any more. I think Gabe knew the risks in getting involved with us. It was all just a terrible accident. If anyone's responsible for that, it's Sylvana," she said.

Max opened his mouth again, but he didn't have a chance to respond before a familiar voice beat him to it.

"How nice of you to think of me, my dear. Especially during this dire moment." The owner of the sickly sweet voice was close enough to cast a shadow over them.

Going into protective mode, Reine raised the weapon still dripping with Max's blood and sneered at the woman. "Get away from him you bitch or this knife is going to be sticking out of you before you know it!"

Sylvana held out her hands in front of her. "But darling, I mean no harm. All I want to do is surrender."