"We have discovered that we are dealing with far more than we expected," he shared, watching her small white teeth bite down as she threw her head back. One hand stretched behind her to rest on his thigh. She looked more beautiful than ever.

Blaze made a small sound, as if she couldn't quite speak. Her moan was low and heated. He loved that she couldn't. That what he was doing to her was keeping her right on the edge.

"We are still mapping out the labyrinth beneath the city. The head vampire is extremely dangerous. He will have layers of protection and that means he has created an army both human and of the undead. We do not know what he is up to and we need to find out. Until we do, sufletul meu, I want you to stay hidden and very close to Emeline. She is in great danger. We think the vampires were trying to acquire both of you, but in particular, her. Vadim Malinov should have sent lesser vampires against us, but he sent one master and came himself as well. You do not ever expose your hand like that, put one of your most valuable pieces in harm's way along with exposing yourself to your enemies unless the end result is worth it."

He couldn't help himself. He was having a bit of trouble concentrating. Fire was beginning to streak from her scorching-hot core, right through his groin, up to his chest and down his thighs. She moved now, finding her own rhythm and riding him slow. The burn was back, hotter than ever and he found that slow, leisurely pace was beginning to do things to his control.

His hands tightened on her waist. "I am trying to tell you something important, Blaze," he bit out between his clenched teeth, because suddenly nothing seemed as important as the heat in his groin. That silken sheath gripping and milking. He was already as hard as a rock, harder even, a steel spike, wide and thick, surging upward to meet her downward spiral.

"Tell me later, honey," she encouraged.

His hands slid up her belly to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He used his hands and fingers, kneading and ma.s.saging, and then tugging and rolling. Each tug sent a wash of liquid heat over him, bathing his c.o.c.k in hot honey. He caught at her body and brought her right breast to his mouth.

She cried out. Her breath left her lungs in a rush. Her body moved harder. Those inner muscles gripped him so tight he could barely breathe. His mouth was ravenous as he let her set the pace for as long as he could stand it.

"Faster, dragostea mea," he whispered, his voice husky with need. "Or I take over."

She didn't change the pace and he took over immediately, jerking her off of him. Pulling her up to her knees and pushing her head toward the mattress. He took her from behind, sliding deep. So hot. So good. Each time seemed like nothing could be better, but it was.

He lost himself in her just like every time before. She liked it any way he gave it to her, her hips pressing back every bit as hard as he drove into her. Her breath coming in little sobs. His name on her lips when he took her over the edge and kept going. This night was theirs.

He was a Carpathian hunter. He knew the danger they faced. He knew what having a lifemate was now. The beauty of it. The overwhelming emotion. This. The fire racing through him. The flames burning scorching hot.

He pounded deep, letting the fire take him-take them both. The rush came fast and unexpected as her climax shook her, sweeping him up in the tidal wave, rocking them both. He dropped his upper body over her back to nuzzle the nape of her neck. He liked the position, her curled on her knees under him, his c.o.c.k buried as deep as possible.

"I do not know how you do it, Blaze, but every time you stun me with your beauty." He licked at the sweet spot just behind her ear, and then took her earlobe gently between his teeth, feeling her shudder in reaction, feeling the aftershocks rippling around him, squeezing him tighter.

"I don't think it's me," she said, and turned her face to the side to stare up at his face from the mattress.

Her lashes were long. They framed her large, beautiful eyes. He could stare into those green eyes forever. He pressed against her back to lean down and kiss the sweep of her high cheekbones. Her body was soft and yielding, but she was made of steel. He wanted to look at her face-those eyes-forever. He would take the memory of this moment, when he was locked deep inside of her, his body crouched over hers, his eyes on hers, into battle with him. If it was the last sight he ever saw, those long endless centuries had been worth it.

"I love you," she whispered. "Beyond that. You, Maksim. The man. Your honor and integrity is everything, but the way you touch me. The way you hold me. In my mind where I'm so broken. I feel as if piece by piece you've been gluing me back together again when I refused to even see I was so broken."

"You are grieving, Blaze, not broken," he corrected gently and nuzzled her nape again. He bit down on her shoulder, a biting caress. His tongue lapped at the faint marks. "You are made of steel, my warrior woman."

"I'm still broken inside, Maksim. Without you, I wouldn't still be alive and you know it. I was going to take the Hallahan brothers with me, but I didn't expect to live through that battle."

Blaze's voice was tight as she admitted to him what he already knew. She'd tried to tell him before. He was in her mind. She hadn't consciously made the decision, but still, it had been there.

"You provided an escape route for yourself on the roof, dragostea mea, so while it is possible you expected that you would not survive an all-out battle with four men, you still thought it possible you could live through it. Your traps were very extensive. I doubt any of the Hallahans would have lived through the night."

He slowly, reluctantly left her body and turned her into his arms, pulling her close to him. Her hair was everywhere. All that bright red. Her green eyes nearly glowed and her skin seemed translucent. There was a subtle change in her appearance. She'd always been beautiful, but something about the Carpathian blood enhanced the looks of the women.

She smiled up at him, clearly reading his mind. "Men, too. You are gorgeous and I noticed your friends Tariq and Tomas are as well."

"You do not need to notice them," he pointed out, his hand smoothing back her hair and brushing it over her shoulder. He wrapped his palm around the nape of her neck, his fingers sliding along her cheek, his thumb brushing the corner of her mouth. "You have eyes only for me."

She laughed softly. "Women look at beautiful men just the way men notice beautiful women."

"We don't." He knew his voice was clipped. She'd been human, so perhaps that was something he had to get used to, but the thought of her noticing other men didn't sit well with him.

"You don't notice beautiful women? You didn't stare at Emeline?"

Keeping his gaze steady on hers, he shook his head. "No. I see the beauty in other women as well as creatures and even men, but it is impossible to be physically attracted to them, so there is little point in staring at them. Carpathian men do not judge beauty in the human way. We see that in our lifemates only."

Her eyebrow shot up. Her lips formed a perfect round O. Clearly he'd shocked her. "Really?"

"Really. We are attracted only to the woman who completes our soul. Of course, every species has anomalies, and we are no exception. There are a few born with a sickness that grows in them, and they reject their true lifemate. That rejection ultimately kills both. It is a sad situation. Every male with that sickness turns vampire. There has been no exception. One cannot endure without a lifemate, not for all time."

"That's both good and a little scary. Can't you become obsessed with your lifemate under those circ.u.mstances?"

"We are obsessed with our lifemates. We take their health and safety very seriously. You will not find many women going into a battle. Most men cannot accept the danger to their woman."

He saw the change in her face and he leaned in to brush his mouth against hers. "Apparently I am one of those men who find it s.e.xy and appropriate for my warrior woman to battle at my side. You already have good skills, and the information you need to kill the vampire is in my mind, easily accessible to you. I would not want you to battle a vampire alone. Not. Ever. No matter how good you get."

He felt the shiver go through Blaze's body at his tone. He knew he sounded scary and dangerous and he meant to. He wouldn't like it. He wouldn't tolerate it. And he would definitely stop her should she ever be that unwise. She read that in his mind as well and she didn't like it much. She was independent and not someone who blindly followed the dictates of another-even her own lifemate.

"I am a male Carpathian, Blaze, and just as I am willing to compromise for you, you have to accept who and what I am and compromise as well. Still, I would want you to know how so you can protect yourself and our children."

She took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "I would prefer not to go up against one of them anyway. It was hard enough to try to kill those puppets. And I have to tell you, Maksim, when those eyes stared at me through the fire, it was the creepiest thing I've ever experienced."

He brushed another kiss over her mouth and trailed more down her chin before putting her aside. "I am going to have to go, Blaze. We need every man we have to gather information if we are going to wipe them out. Emeline will need protection. I will take you to her and the two of you can wait together. If they send someone to try to acquire your friend, you must call to me immediately. I will show you a few skills. Dressing. Cleaning. Even flying. I prefer you not use flying unless I am with you until you know what you are doing. Just wait it out until we get back and then, sufletul meu, we will form our battle plan together."

"Where are you going?"

"All of us are taking points around the city to try to determine if there is another underground facility for them to escape to, and if they have established killing fields we do not know about."

She nodded, already reaching back to braid her hair. He nearly groaned when the action lifted her b.r.e.a.s.t.s invitingly. He needed these battles to be over so he could spend time worshipping his woman's body-a very long time.

FOURTEEN.

BLAZE HUGGED EMELINE tight and then pulled back to sweep her gaze up and down Emeline's body, looking for signs of damage. Emeline looked pale and her startling blue eyes appeared even bigger than usual in her oval face. Her thick black hair shone with blue lights every time she turned her head. Like Blaze, she had it in an intricate braid, a fishbone falling to her waist. She really was beautiful, and Blaze couldn't imagine any man not falling under her spell in spite of what Maksim had said. He had to be the only man in the world who hadn't l.u.s.ted after her in the club. "Tell me you're all right."

Emeline touched her mouth with shaking fingers. "Lojos gave me blood. He thinks I don't remember, but I do," she blurted out. "The taste of it . . ." She trailed off. "I thought it would be horrible. It should have been horrible." She looked around the room a little helplessly. "All those nightmares I have, they're coming true, Blaze. Including the blood."

They were in the apartment above the bar. Both had spent a great deal of their childhood there in the living room, looking out the window at the streets below. There was a certain comfort in the familiar, and as if by mutual agreement, they both crossed the room to stare out the bank of large windows to the street below.

"Emmy, they had to give you blood to save your life."

Emeline nodded. "I know. I knew he would before he did it. This is all part of the nightmare." She curled her fingers into her palm. "I always knew it was real," she whispered. "So did you. We're part of this world no one else knows about. I don't know why, but we are." Her hand came up to stroke defensively at her vulnerable throat. "I think your father knew. That was why he began training you as early as possible. He tried with me. It just didn't take. I'm not equipped for violence."

"Emeline," Blaze whispered the name softly, hearing the guilt in her voice. "That's a good thing. And you're braver than anyone I know. You always have been."

"I told him." Emeline raised stricken eyes to Blaze. "Sean. I told him about the dreams. I told him they weren't just nightmares, that I was afraid they were precognition. I know things before they happen. I told him about the tunnels and the two of us running in them. It is horrible down there. The things we saw in our nightmares, honestly, Blaze, it is all real."

"You have precognition, not me," Blaze said with sudden insight. "I was with you every time I had the nightmares. You projected them into my subconscious."

"You're such an empath, Blaze. You and I were always connected, and what I felt, you did. When we were asleep, we stayed connected." She glanced at Blaze, once again meeting her eyes. "I knew all along if I came back this would happen. You with Maksim. Both of us in danger. I knew."

"Did you know about Dad?" Blaze asked, trying to keep her tone as gentle and as unaccusing as possible.

Emeline nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "I warned him. I told him to be careful when he was locking up. I drew pictures of the men he needed to be on the lookout for." She ducked her head. "He asked me not to say anything to you. I'm so sorry, Blaze, I should have told you anyway."

Blaze shook her head and turned her face back to the window. "Not if Dad asked you not to, Emmy. He didn't ask for much, and he had his reasons."

"He believed me."

"Of course he did. Dad always believed both of us. And in us." Blaze reached out and threaded her fingers through Emeline's. "It's the two of us now. And Maksim. We'll come out of this alive. You've got skills whether or not you like using them. Dad made certain of that. I do as well. Maksim and his friends will help us."

Emeline's fingers tightened around Blaze's. "I already know that in a couple of minutes, we're not going to have a choice, Blaze. We're going to have to leave this room and go down into those tunnels."

Blaze stepped back from the window immediately, tugging Emeline with her. "How do we change what you see? There has to be a way. Whatever you saw, we just won't go. We'll stay here until Maksim comes back."

In spite of the pull on her arm, Emeline didn't go with Blaze, her gaze remained on the street below. "I have to go, Blaze. You can call Maksim and tell him we don't have a choice, but whether or not you come, I have to go. If I could prevent this, I would."

There was no way Blaze would ever allow Emeline to go into those tunnels alone. "We don't even know where the entrance is."

"I had lots of time to talk to the other dancers in the club," Emeline said. "I was careful to pay attention to details, especially when they talked about any of the Hallahans. Apparently they often go into a room in the back of the club and disappear for hours. A few times, someone has gone in looking for them and they were gone. Then, hours later, they reappear, coming out of that same room. There are probably dozens of entrances, but that has to be one, Blaze."

Blaze pressed a hand to her suddenly churning stomach.

What is it? Maksim was there instantly, pouring into her mind. Tell me.

I have a bad feeling. Emeline can see things that actually happen in the future. She sees us going down into the tunnels. Soon.

There was a small silence. She knew he was sharing the information with the other hunters.

She's for real, Maksim. She knows things. When she says something is going to happen, I'm fairly certain it will.

Wait for me. I am a distance from you. Do not go near those tunnels without us. We will be returning to you as soon as we can.

That didn't tell her anything. She clenched her teeth as Emeline suddenly stepped forward and pressed both hands against the gla.s.s. She heard her friend's swift intake of breath.

"That's how they do it," Emeline whispered. "Blaze, they take children. We have to go after them."

There was horror in her voice, and Blaze rushed back to the window. Below her, she could see what appeared to be a monster, a tall skeleton-like figure with bony fingers and glowing eyes wrapping his arms around two young girls. On the ground was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen, blood pouring from a head wound. Clearly he had tried to fight the vampire for the two children. One girl looked to be about fourteen, the other, maybe ten.

"There's another," Emeline barely breathed. "A toddler. I can't see her, but she's there, too." Already she was on the move, heading for the door.

Maksim. A vampire has children. He's taking them right now. Two girls. Emmy says a toddler as well. I'm sorry. I told you I wouldn't leave the apartment, but we can't let them have the girls without a fight.

The girls cried. Loud. The vampire hissed at them, dropped the youngest in order to strike the older one. She slumped over. He transferred her to his shoulder and reached down to grab the younger one when she tried to run to the boy on the ground.

"Emeline, wait for me. We need weapons."

We are on the way. Do not go into the tunnels without us. It is far too dangerous.

Blaze heard the sudden trepidation in his voice. He knew she wasn't going to wait. She couldn't wait. The vampire would use the girls, draining them dry-or worse.

I'm sorry, honey. I don't have a choice. Hurry, she replied.

"I'll follow them while you get the weapons," Emeline said, already yanking open the door.

"No. You wait for me. It will only be a minute and you need to be armed as well. You can't kill these things with your bare hands, Emmy."

Emeline turned back, her face a mask of anxiety. "He's got both girls. I don't see the toddler, but she's in my dream. She can't be more than two or three."

Blaze didn't hesitate; she gathered weapons and began stashing them in every conceivable loop in her belt, waist, shoulder holster and packs. She added as many of the explosives she still had from when she'd made them for her war with the Hallahans. Tossing a gun and a knife at Emmy, she added ammunition and then raced to follow Emeline down the stairs to the bar and then outside.

"The boy is still alive," Emeline said, hurrying across the street to crouch beside the teenager.

He sat up, one hand to his temple, trying in vain to stanch the flow of blood. "He took my sisters," the boy said. "A monster."

Emeline caught his arm and helped him stand. "We'll go after them, you get help. Call your parents and have them take you to a hospital."

"Don't have parents. My sisters only got me," the boy said. "I'm going with you."

Blaze was already rushing toward her motorcycle. Emeline could ride on the back. The boy was on his own. If they could move out fast, they'd leave him behind where he would be safe.

"I know where he's taking them. He already got the baby," the boy continued, raising his voice. "That's where we were going, to try to get her back, and he came out of nowhere. There's an entrance to an underground tunnel just under the dry cleaner's. We use the entrance for shelter when the streets get too cold."

Blaze skidded to a halt and turned back to the boy. He was pale and thin. His clothes were in tatters. If what he said was true, there was an entrance to the underground much closer than the club. "Show us."

"What's your name?" Emeline asked. "I'm Emmy and this is Blaze. I lived on the street for years, so don't be afraid," she added when he hesitated.

He eyed them both warily as he hurried down the street toward the dark dry cleaner's. "Danny. My name is Danny. These things have been coming after us for the last year. They killed my parents. If the state gets a hold of my sisters, they'll split us all up, so I'm keepin' us together." He said it defiantly.

"Do your sisters have any strange abilities? Something out of the ordinary?" Blaze asked, "Something you might call a psychic ability?"

Emeline flashed her a scared look, but she didn't say a word.

"Yes. Amelia can talk to animals. I know that sounds crazy but . . ."

"It doesn't sound crazy," Blaze prompted. "The others?"

"Liv and the baby, Bella, both can perform telekinesis. I'm not that talented, but I can see auras and things like that. Mom and Dad did, too," Danny admitted. Blood continued to pour from the cut on his temple between his fingers. It dripped down to his shoulders.

"Blood attracts them," Blaze said. "You have to get that under control. It would be better if you stayed up here."

Danny led the way through the narrow s.p.a.ce between the two-story building housing the dry cleaner's and the brick building where the flower and bike shops had been. Both had been abandoned for over a year.