He sighed. "I don't know how to tell you this, but the duPres don't have a very solid rep."

"That figures. I can't fall for a vampire like Aleksei Madison who respects humans and isn't a cold-blooded killer. I have to fall for one who is probably certifiable." She shook her head. "Let's go into the living room."

He followed her down a short hallway to her living room. They stood facing each other near the floor-to-ceiling patio doors.

He caressed her cheek. "No matter what happens, I've got your back. Okay?"

She looked at him with tears in her dark eyes. "Thanks."

He grinned. "Hey. You're one of the closest things I have to a little sister. You need me, call me."

"Spoken almost like a full-blood," she teased. "You see? It's going to work between you two. They're started to rub off on you already. In no time at all, your eyes will start glowing and you'll grow sharpened incisors."

He laughed and slipped his arms around her. "I have news for you, Dawn. I'm on my way to becoming a vampire."

She linked her arms around his neck, smiling up at him. "I know."

"Wilfredo told you?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm not sure how, but I just knew."

"And it doesn't bother you or change anything between us?"

"No. Why should it?"

He frowned and jerked his head around just as Dawn's apartment door flew inward.

Tat stood in the doorway, her incisors bared, an unmistakable gleam of jealousy in her blue eyes. "Tatiana, I presume?" Dawn drew away from him to face Tat. "I'm Dawn Grier." She smiled. "Jason is sort of a big brother." She crossed the room and extended her hand to Tat.

"Big brother?" Dawn nodded. "He's the closest thing I have to one." Jace watched a hint of red creep up into Tat's cheeks as she shook Dawn's hand. "I... I'm Tatiana Madison-Forester." "I gathered as much." Dawn glanced past Tatiana to her door with the ruined locks. "Not much on knocking, huh?" "I... I... I thought... " Dawn crossed her arms, tilted her head and waited in silence, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Tat threw Jace a helpless look. He shrugged and remained silent. He wasn't her bloodl.u.s.t? Let the jealous little liar dig herself out of the mess she'd made by herself. She threw him an outraged look before turning her attention back to Dawn. "I...I thought-" "It's clear what you thought. Apparently you don't trust Jason out of your sight." Tat's eyes widened and she swung around to face him. "That's not true, Jason! I do trust you. You believe that, don't you?" "How can I, when you kick the door in first and ask questions later?" She swallowed several times. "It's not like that." "No? And yet you've made a mess of Dawn's door." "I... " She sighed. "Okay, my only excuse is that-" "This is all very interesting, but I think I should make something very clear right now," Dawn said. Jace looked at her. "What?" She pointed at her ruined door and looked at Tat. "You're paying for that, not me." Tat looked so surprised that Jace laughed and crossed the room to pull her into his arms. He looked over her shoulder at Dawn. "I'll take care of it." "I want it fixed today. I'm not coming back and finding I've been robbed blind. I'm going out, and when I come back tonight, I expect my door to be fixed as good as new or there will be h.e.l.l to pay," she warned. She grinned at him and left the apartment, pulling the ruined door closed behind her. Tat pulled away from him, staring at the closed door. "What's her problem?" He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. She's strange like that. She tends to get annoyed when a jealous fem kicks her door in for no reason." Tat tossed her head. "I'm not jealous!" "Of course you're not." He watched her cheeks redden. She averted her gaze. "What are you doing here?" "I wanted to talk to Dawn." "Why?" "Do I need a reason to talk to a little sister?" "She's very pretty." "Yes, she is. What's your point?" "Why did you leave?" He cupped a face between his palms. "Isn't it obvious? I'm a hunter. How comfortable do you think I felt surrounded by seven full-blood vampires, all of whom have reason to hate me? Vladimir and Andrei kept baring their incisors each time they looked at me and your mother...well...let's just say she gave me a look that sent a chill through me." She blinked at him. "So they were right?" "About what?" "They said you were afraid." He narrowed his gaze. "You find that strange? How would you feel if you opened your door and seven hunters walked in? I know you're powerful, but even you wouldn' t welcome a situation like that. Why should I? I'm not ashamed to admit I have a healthy fear of vampires."

"You're almost one of us yourself." "Almost, but not quite. And I might remain at almost. There's a possibility that the transformation can be stopped after all." "Is that what you want?" "I don't know. All I know is that I don't like being surrounded by vampires. I have a healthy fear of them. That's how I've managed to stay alive this long." He shook his head. "But do not make the mistake of thinking that makes me a coward." "I never thought that." "Then why are you looking so dismayed?" "Because I think I finally see how things are and how they must be." He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" "I am very close to my brothers.

Andrei and I are especially close. If you can't accept him..." "What? If I can't accept him, what?" "Then you can't accept me." "What are you saying?" "I think you know what I'm saying, Jason."

He stared at her, hurt that after all they'd been through together, she could still play games. "You actually expect me to like those bozos you call brothers?"

"Bozos?" Her nostrils flared. "How dare you call them bozos? Every last one of them is worth two of you."

"Really? I can think of worse names to call them, like blood-sucking killers and-"

"f.u.c.k you." She turned and stormed out of the apartment.

He stared after Tatiana but made no move to stop or follow her. Not that he could follow her before he took care of Dawn's apartment door. The only thing worse than getting on a fem's bad side was getting on a female hunter's bad side. Besides, he wasn't sure there was any point if he and Tat couldn't share a meaningful relationship.

Chapter Fourteen.

After leaving Jason, Tat got in her SUV, opened all the windows and headed for the interstate. She had no particular destination in mind. She just wanted to drive until she ran out of gas, then she'd fill up and drive the tank empty again...and again.

Even more hurtful than knowing how little Jace thought of the brothers she loved so dearly was his failure to follow her. For all his protestations of love and devotion, he had left her that morning to visit another female he claimed was like a sister to him, and now he didn't even care enough to follow her and try to persuade her to give their relationship another chance.

What had she been to him? An easy lay? Perhaps knowing he broke through the emotional defenses of a full-blood fem had stroked his ego. She blinked rapidly to keep her tears at bay. What if he saw her as just another conquest? He'd f.u.c.ked and roughed up Katie and gone on to steal Tat's heart. Maybe he was one of those males who prided himself on sleeping with every available female within a family. And she had been all too eager to make it easy for him.

Instead of hating him, she felt as if her heart had been ripped from her body. The thought of endless years of living without him in her life sent hurt slicing through her with more emotional devastation than the bolt Tim had fired into her heart. Was this what bloodl.u.s.t was all about? Anguish at the thought of an endless life spent without him at her side?

Several hours later, she stopped her SUV on a dark Virginia road, near a body of water. As she stood on the bank, a chill ran down her spine. She looked around her, realizing where she was. She was in the place where she and her siblings had been drowned so long ago.

She crossed her arms over her chest, unable to look away from the dark, murky waters that had once taken her life. What dark forces had driven her to come to the spot she had not seen in over three hundred and fifty years? This was the spot where everything in her life had gone wrong. Her fear of water had been born here. She had lost her parents here. This spot had done much to ensure the path of her life ran anything but smooth.

It was time she did something about it. She stood still for several moments, her eyes closed. Then she gave an angry shake of her head and stiffened her shoulders. She stripped down to her bra and panties, took a deep breath, and then dived into the water. As the water closed over her, surrounding her, she silently screamed...

Jace lay awake late into the early morning hours, haunted by the certainty that he had f.u.c.ked up big-time, allowing Tat to walk away from him so easily. All he had done lately was f.u.c.k up over and over. He'd been foolish to think Wilfredo was wrong about Carollina, which had led to Tat's near-death. Then, instead of trying to see things from Tat's perspective, he'd allowed his injured pride and wounded masculinity to drive a wedge between them.

So her brothers were bloodsucking killers. They were vampires. That's what the blasted, G.o.dless creatures did...suck blood and kill. The most one could expect from a non-rogue vamp was that he didn't kill indiscriminately. He supposed Wilfredo and Aleksei were the cream of the crop as vampires went. Both of them probably had far more blood on their hands than they could recall.

And what would he himself do once he was a vampire? Expecting too much from a vampire was just unrealistic. To have forced the woman he was so hopelessly in love with away from him over the nature of her brothers was sheer lunacy.

He was so in love with her, it ate at his insides with an intensity he couldn't control. He didn't give a f.u.c.k if her murdering brothers killed every innocent in sight. Nothing could change his feelings for her. He had survived without Carollina, but d.a.m.n if he wanted to try living the next fifty years without the sweet warmth of Tatiana.

He got up and dressed quickly. He had to find her and apologize.

"You're hurting her unnecessarily, Drei."

Andrei climbed out of the pool in his backyard to face Tat, who stood on the tiles watching him with a confused look in her eyes.

He accepted the towel she offered and briskly dried himself before stretching out on one of the loungers around the in-ground pool. "That's not my intention," he said wearily.

She kneeled beside him, stroking his arm. "Then why do it? I know the two of you could be so good together. Is it Veelee?"

He stiffened. Was it possible that she knew? Had she probed his thoughts while his guard was down and learned the truth? He saw nothing in her gaze to suggest she knew the truth. He relaxed. "If you mean do I still have feelings for her? No. To tell you the truth, looking back, I'm not sure what I ever saw in her."

"You saw in her what she made you see. Did you know she appeared as a different woman to you, Jason and Tim? She used a different name with each of you. You thought of her as Veelee. To Tim, she was Lina. To Jason, she was his former lover, Carollina. Being what you wanted, she managed to entrap you all. She was the worst of her kind- a nocturene and a Vamptue. Once in her grip, a male could only be freed by the love of another woman willing to die for him.

"That's what finally freed Jason."

"So you're in love with him, huh?"

"Yes. I wish you'd give him a chance, Andrei."

He sighed. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises, Tat."

"That's all I ask-that you try." She kissed his cheek and squeezed his arm. "Now back to Coda. Why do you think you're no longer under Veelee's control?"

"I was never under her control."

"Oh yes you were, and you have no idea how I feared for you. But how do you think you managed to free yourself?"

He sighed. "I suppose you're going to tell me."

"Yes, I am. You're free now because Coda's feelings for you broke Veelee's spell. Before you met her, Veelee was the one who always left you. You could never leave her."

"I guess that's true." He frowned. "I never realized it."

"So why are you walking away from Coda?"

"I have my reasons."

"Are any of them based on your not feeling anything but a s.e.xual attraction to her?"

His feelings for Dacoda were confusing but powerful. "I know she's your friend and I know she's hurt. That's not something I wanted to happen, but it's over, Tat. Please don 't give her false hope by encouraging her to think I'll change my mind. I won't."

"Why?"

He shook his head. "Leave it alone, Tat. Please. Just this once, allow me to know what's in my best interests."

She sat back on her heels. "So you won't protest if she sees Evan?"

He swallowed hard at the memory of finding the big, dumb blond lying between Dacoda's legs, ravaging her p.u.s.s.y with all the enjoyment of a man who loved it, rather than one Tat had paid to date Dacoda.

Andrei clenched his right hand into a fist. "Why should I?"

Tatiana shook her head. "Oh, Drei." She squeezed his arm. "I can feel your pain at the thought of her with Evan. I know you have real feelings for her. Please tell me what's wrong. Why are you walking away from the best thing that's ever happened to you?"

For the first time in his life, he knew Tat was the last person to whom he dared confess his true reasons for leaving Dacoda. Until he found a way to deal with the continual danger to Tat and Dacoda, he couldn't afford to confide in Tat or risk showing any real feelings for Dacoda.

"Leave it, Tat. Please."

She sighed and closed her eyes. She laid her head against his chest. "I'll be here when you want to talk, Drei."

"I know, honey, I know." He pulled her into his arms and buried his face against her hair, feeling as if what was left of his heart was breaking into tiny pieces. He closed his eyes and reached out. Dacoda. I'm so sorry. Forgive me. Forget me.

Later that night, after Tat left, he dressed and went to Dacoda's apartment. Shielding his presence, he stood by her bed watching her. His chest tightened when he noted the remnants of tears on her cheeks. She had cried herself to sleep.

He stiffened when she suddenly sat up in bed, looking around the room. "Andrei? Andrei?" She looked directly at him. "Andrei? Oh, Andrei, where are you?"

He frowned. He knew she couldn't see him, but how the h.e.l.l was she aware of his presence? Was there something to what she'd said about there being something special between them? Lie back down.

After giving another long look around her bedroom, she lay back, curling her knees toward her chest and pressing her cheek against her pillow.

Sleep. Sleep.

Moments later he heard her slow, even breathing. Resisting the urge to touch her, he leaned closer and sent her a strong mental command. Forget me. Forget me and find another love. Forget me.

She stirred and sat up. As before, she looked directly at him. "Andrei?"

d.a.m.n. How was she resisting him? Sleep, Dacoda. Sleep.

He had to give the command several times over several minutes before she went to sleep. He stood by her bed, staring down at her, longing to climb into the bed and just hold her close. But giving in to that desire would only expose her to a danger from which he wasn't sure he could protect her. Unable to leave without any physical contact with her, he stroked her cheek.

She turned in her sleep and pressed her lips against his palm. "Andrei... " she whispered, a smile curving her lips.

What the h.e.l.l. He bent over and brushed his lips against her mouth.

She opened her eyes.

This time he made no effort to shield his presence from her.

"I knew you'd come back...even if this is a dream." She reached for his hand. She kissed his fingers. "Please stay with me for a little while."

"I should go."

"No!" She moved over in the bed, making room for him to join her. She pushed the covers back. "Please."

His control snapped and he slipped into the bed with her, pulling her into his arms.

She curled her body against his. "I knew you'd come back to me, Andrei. I knew it."

He stroked his hand over her bare back. "Go to sleep."

She settled against him. "Andrei...my honey boy...I love you," she whispered and drifted to sleep.

He held her, stroking her hair and shoulders, savoring her unique fragrance. He ached to make love to her one last time, but feared he'd find it impossible to leave her if he did. Just before dawn, he pressed a long, hungry kiss against her lips and left her while she slept.

After a week of fruitless searching for Tat, Jace returned to his condo to find Jordan's car in his second parking s.p.a.ce.

"What do you want?" he asked coolly when Jordan got out of his car and met him in front of Jace's SUV.

"The very dead body of Michael Timbersmith was found floating in the Delaware River two days ago. Do you know anything about that?"

Jace considered him in silence for several moments. "Why should I?"

Jordan's gaze narrowed. "He was not a rogue vampire, Makefield. If you think you and your siblings have a license to kill at will without consequences, you'd better think again."

"What makes you think I had anything to do with his death? What makes you think I even knew the b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"

"If you didn't know him, how do you know he was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"