For a short while, both women had tried to explain the vampirish-looking males as having a disease, but two with the disease? And there were killings of the homeless, of prost.i.tutes, bodies torn and drained of blood. No one believed in vampires but secretly, she and Em, when they were young and Em lived mostly in the streets, creeping up to Blaze's room at night through the fire escape, had believed in another world.

They had the same nightmare and in that nightmare, there were vampires, monstrous creatures chasing them through a long, dark tunnel. They would wake, both shivering, sweating, scared out of their minds. Emeline was always quiet and she stayed awake, curled into a protective ball, her knees up tight into her chest, her head resting on them, arms around her legs as she rocked herself back and forth.

Over the years, the nightmare became more vivid, the tunnel even more real. They could see the gaslights up high on the wall of the tunnels, throwing a strange, yellowish glow through the darkness. The tunnel walls were of brick. Old brick. The tunnel itself was musty and smelled evil, as if it had been used for a long time by malevolent beings for foul purposes.

There were smears of blood on the walls as they ran down them. On the bricks and on the floor. Dark and ugly. They raced through a room with ancient tools of torture and kept going. Neither spoke, but they touched hands occasionally to give each other strength and courage.

Below ground seemed to be a maze of tunnels, of dark, hideous rooms, none good, most empty, but the echo of screams had been left behind. There was a room that was all modern. Totally modern. Computers everywhere. Screens everywhere. They both knew this was the center of the maze, and they had to get out before they were seen. If they didn't . . . They ran faster. Hearts beating wildly. Terrified. Terror grew beyond imagination as the tunnel they rushed through began to contort, the walls closing together, the ceiling lowering and the floor pitching. At that moment, as if by mutual agreement, they woke.

She didn't know if Em still dreamt that terrible dream, but once Emeline had stopped slipping into her room through the fire escape and Sean had sent her out of the country, the nightmares had stopped.

"When this is over, we will have to protect your friend. They will keep coming after her."

"Emeline won't accept protection. She has major trust issues. Her life hasn't been pleasant. She takes care of herself and she's loyal to Dad and me . . ." Blaze trailed off. There was no more Dad. There was only Blaze. Now Blaze and Emeline.

"She will not have a choice."

The music ended with a crashing of drums. The stage went dark. The crowd went wild. Blaze saw Emeline running toward the exit and Hallahan coming out of the shadows, shackling her wrist and jerking her toward him. Emeline struggled and Hallahan leaned in close and whispered something in her ear. She stopped struggling, but her gaze slipped pa.s.sed Jimmy to scan the room.

"She can't see me," Blaze said, trying not to panic.

"No. If I allow her to see you, someone else might as well. Tomas and Lojos are sticking close. If we cannot get to her, if he takes her somewhere else, they will stop him."

The Hallahan brothers were predictable. They used the upstairs apartment where they had their video equipment set up to record their perverse, depraved acts. They enjoyed hurting the women they brought there, humiliating them and forcing compliance. Still, Blaze didn't like that Emeline might feel abandoned. Scared. She detested that Em might be frightened and afraid that Blaze hadn't come to the club to protect her.

There were too many nights Em had climbed up to the roof and down to the fire escape, running from someone in the streets. Hiding from men who would hurt her. She'd had a s.h.i.t life, even after Sean had tried to get involved. No one would consider him as a foster parent because he owned a bar, lived over it and was a single parent. A man. That left Emeline to her crazy relatives. Junkies and alcoholics. The worst. They used her as a slave in the store they collectively owned, although she preferred working there to being at home.

She was held at gunpoint four times. Shot once. Was back in the store working the night shift even when she was underage and they mostly sold liquor late at night. Sean kept an eye out, but he had a business of his own to run, so more than once she was in trouble. A young girl alone, men coming in drunk or jacked up on drugs.

Emeline, she whispered softly, trying to connect mind to mind. Don't be afraid. I'm here for you.

Jimmy Hallahan gripped Emeline by her arm, and if anyone looked close, he had it locked high behind her back as he dragged her through the crowd to the stairs. Beside her, Maksim radiated heat. Energy. None of it was good. The power was so strong that she touched his arm to calm him, afraid Hallahan and his guards would feel the Carpathian's buried rage.

Jimmy was so far gone, in the throes of the drug, he didn't look right or left, but continued dragging Emeline up the stairs. He had a phone in one hand now, flipping it open, talking into it.

"Answer your d.a.m.n phone once in a while. I've got a hot one. So hot, man. Get back here when you're finished with your job. This wh.o.r.e is going to make the three of you happy." He snapped the phone closed and thrust open the door to the apartment.

Blaze followed them up the stairs, right behind them, so close she could practically breathe on Emeline. She didn't dare touch her, but she wanted to. Right behind her, Maksim followed. They slipped through the door as Hallahan shoved Emeline, sending her flying across the room. She stumbled, lost her balance in her crystal stiletto heels and sprawled out on the floor.

Jimmy slammed the door, locked it and turned back to her with a vicious, hungry smile.

TEN.

JIMMY HALLAHAN STALKED across the room, reached down and hauled Emeline up by her hair. "You stupid little wh.o.r.e. I tell you to come, you come. You got that? You capable of understanding that when a man tells you to do something, you f.u.c.king do it?" He slapped her hard.

Emeline didn't answer. She didn't resist. She didn't cry or make a sound. She simply looked at him. Right in the eye. That was Em. She didn't back down. She wasn't trained in warfare like Blaze, but she had courage. She'd grown up on the streets and she wasn't afraid to die. She had never been afraid to die. Sometimes Blaze thought she was more afraid of living.

"I feel you in here, Blaze," Emeline said. "You here?"

Can you m.u.f.fle sound? Blaze asked Maksim.

Of course. He can yell all he wants, but no one will hear him.

"Yeah, babe, I'm here," Blaze said as she moved into position behind Hallahan and kicked him hard with the toe of her boot right behind his knee. At the same time she fisted his hair and yanked him over backward, stepping to the side so that he toppled hard. The moment he was on the floor, she stomped his throat.

I want him to see me.

He will see you.

Jimmy rolled, swearing, his gaze jumping to her face. She stepped back and watched him stand up, his hand going to his boot to extract a knife. She smiled at him. "Welcome to the party, Jimmy."

"Welcome to my party, b.i.t.c.h." He brought the knife low, blade up, and circled her.

"Emmy, why is it that men always call a woman a b.i.t.c.h when she does the exact same thing as the man?"

"I think it's a lack of vocab, Blaze," Emeline said, stepping well back, giving Blaze room. "It isn't like Jimmy Hallahan has much of an education. He dropped out of school to build bombs, and he wasn't very good at it. He got caught three times and went to prison all three times. Didn't learn much there, either." She didn't touch her swelling face, cover up or in any way act afraid. That was Em.

"Maybe he learned how to be a b.i.t.c.h, a prison b.i.t.c.h," Blaze said. "That's why he likes to use that word. He's kind of describing himself."

Jimmy roared with rage and stepped into her, using his size, expecting to intimidate her, thrusting upward toward her belly as he came. She slapped his wrist down hard, as she glided to the side, her speed taking her out of his path, her foot slamming hard into the side of his knee, driving it in so that he stumbled. She kicked his kneecap viciously, putting her weight behind it. She didn't weigh all that much, but it only took eighty pounds of pressure to break the kneecap, and she used every ounce she had.

He went down screaming. Swearing. His face twisted in fury. He spat on the floor, eyes wild, as he tried to drag himself up, the knife still clenched in his fist.

"Your father screamed like a girl. Like a f.u.c.king pig."

She raised her eyebrows, staying just out of reach. "Like you just did? Because that was you screaming, Jimmy, and a girl did that. Sean's daughter. She took you out. No one can hear you. No one is coming to save you. Not your guards. Not your brothers. You're going to die here, and you'll die knowing a girl took your worthless, sorry a.s.s down."

She kept her voice even, although inside she was crying for her father. This man had tortured him. Even enjoyed it. She knew if he got his hands on her or Emeline, he would do the same to them. She half turned away from him, her gaze jumping to her friend's, checking to see that she was all right.

Jimmy shrieked his fury again, trying to rise. At the last moment, he threw his knife straight at her. Blaze moved with blinding speed-speed she didn't even know she had. She was out of the way of the poorly spinning blade. The four throwing knives she had concealed in the loops of her belt didn't miss. She was deadly accurate with them, she had been since she was six years old. That was the last time she could ever remember missing, even by an eighth of an inch. Four silver hilts protruded, one from his throat, one from his heart, one from his groin and one from his belly.

"Overkill much?" Emeline asked.

"He tortured Dad; there is no such thing as overkill," Blaze said, unrepentant. "I gave him his chance. He lost."

Emeline pressed back against the wall, her eyes showing shock, staring down at Jimmy Hallahan. His head was turned toward Emeline, eyes wide open. "You should have heard the things that sc.u.mbag said he was going to do to me."

Maksim materialized out of the corner, and Emeline gasped but said nothing at all as he crouched beside the body. Her gaze jumped to Blaze for rea.s.surance.

"He's with me," Blaze said.

"I think I got that. What is he doing?"

Maksim put a hand on either side of Hallahan's head. "I am going to read his memories, before all activity in his brain ceases."

"No." Emeline took a step forward, but carefully avoided touching Maksim. "You can't. There's something-someone-else in him. I don't care if you believe me. I saw him. I think he was using Jimmy as some kind of conduit. He looked right at me. As he was dying, he turned his head and looked right at me."

Maksim let Hallahan's head fall back to the floor and he slowly stood. Blaze immediately went to Emeline and put her arm around her. Em had all the courage in the world, but she looked pale and shaky.

"It was him. The one I saw before, Blaze," Emeline said, looking into Blaze's eyes, willing her to believe. "I know it was and he recognized me." She shuddered. "Just like in my dream."

"We have to get out of here," Maksim said. "Right now." He waved his hand at the knives on the body and they were instantly gone, returned clean to the loops in Blaze's belt. He removed all evidence of their presence in the room. "I need to take your girl's blood."

"No way," Emeline clapped both hands over her neck and slipped behind Blaze.

Blaze felt her heart twist in a funny way. No one could resist Emeline. No one. Not, it appeared, even Maksim. She stepped away from him, her body protective of Emeline, feeling her trembling. Inside, her own body was shivering, and something precious was crumbling away, but she stood, ready to defend Em against the man she knew she was already irrevocably tied to. She had let that happen. She had gone into the relationship-if you could call it that-with her eyes wide open.

"Sufletul meu." He whispered it.

Blaze knew it was an endearment. It was in the tone. In the way he said it. The way he looked at her. She shook her head, resisting his lure.

"Do you know what that means?" he asked softly. "It means you are my soul. The air that I breathe. And, Blaze, you are. You are both those things to me. Never doubt, not even for a moment, that the only woman I see is you."

Blaze's heart shifted. Melted. Her stomach did a slow somersault. He said the most ridiculous things to her, but they worked. He always sounded sincere. She knew he was capable of great violence. He might be very soft spoken, but he was dangerous. There was no doubt in her mind, but still, he said things like that and she was a puddle on the floor.

"We do not want anyone to see us leave. We want Jimmy Hallahan found in this apartment dead and no one to say we were ever here," Maksim explained gently.

"Everyone saw Jimmy drag me up the stairs," Emeline pointed out. "And there are cameras everywhere."

"Tomas and Lojos took care of the cameras, and the woman Hallahan dragged up the stairs didn't look anything at all like you," Maksim said. "I am not going to hurt you. I need to see what you saw. I need to know you will not ever betray us. If I do not have your blood when I step out of this room, I cannot guarantee your safety."

"I can," Blaze said, anger creeping into her voice. "Don't threaten her."

"I am not making threats," Maksim said, impatience beginning to edge his unflappable calm. "I am stating facts. Think about it, Blaze. I am Carpathian. We are hunted already by humans who believe we are vampires. We hunt the vampires they cannot. If the world knew of us, imagine the persecution of our people."

Emeline kept her hand wrapped around her throat. "I am not going to say a word. I had to leave the country and the only two people in the world I loved because I used the word vampire in my statement to the police."

"You knew for certain it was a vampire," Blaze said with sudden insight. "Emmy, you knew. How?"

"We have to leave now," Maksim said. "I have to shield you. Two of the Hallahan brothers just entered the club. Tomas says we have to move." He gently moved Blaze out of his way. "I swear to you, I will not hurt your friend."

Emeline kept her hands pressed to her neck. "I know what could happen. I know."

"If you know the difference between a Carpathian and a vampire, you know I will not harm you. Let me keep Blaze safe. She will not leave you here to face them alone."

"I want them to come in," Blaze said. "It is my chance to get two more of his brothers."

"We need them to lead us to their master," Maksim said. "Cutting off the soldiers will not get us the head."

Blaze looked into Emeline's eyes. "You call it, honey."

Emeline took a deep breath and slowly allowed her hands to drop, her eyes on Blaze. "Stay with me."

"I'm with you."

"Just like this." She kept staring into Blaze's eyes with trust.

Blaze knew there wasn't a single soul in the world Emeline trusted other than Blaze. "Just like this."

"If he kills me, you'll kill him, right?" Emeline persisted. Her body shook.

"Yes, honey. He wouldn't be the man I believe him to be. You're my sister now. My family. There is just the two of us."

"Three," Maksim corrected. "I belong to you, Blaze, and you to me. She's your girl, so that makes her mine as well. I would protect both of you with my life. My friends will do the same."

"If you're for real," Emeline said, "you'll need a lot of friends to keep us safe, because the vampire is going to come after me."

"Any moment he will be here," Maksim said softly. "We have to get you out."

Emeline didn't touch Blaze, leaving both her hands free in case Maksim was lying and was going to kill her. Blaze didn't understand why Emeline was so certain she was going to die. Em didn't move, but her entire body shuddered when he touched her. He blinked. Startled. Stepped back.

"Your mind is shielded. I cannot help you by calming you. You have to let me in."

Emeline shook her head. "Just do it. I want to know."

"I will be as gentle as possible," Maksim said, not arguing. "You will feel a bite of pain and then it will not hurt. It will not feel the same as it does to Blaze, or if your lifemate were to take your blood, but it will not hurt."

He bent his head and without further preamble sank his teeth into her neck. She gasped, but she didn't move. Blaze stared into her eyes, giving her rea.s.surance. Taking her trust. Maksim opened her mind to his so she could feel what he was feeling. So she could hear.

Get. Out. Of. There. A man's voice whispering in Maksim's ear. Lojos. Blaze knew because Maksim identified him for her.

If you cannot get them out, we will have to kill these two. Mataias already killed one of them. We have only these two to lead us to Reginald. That was a different voice. That was Tomas.

So two Hallahans were dead. Blaze would have killed the other two as they came into the room, but with the vampire after Emeline, she was going to have to have patience and allow them to live so they could lead the Carpathian hunters back to their master. She'd strike then and allow the hunters to kill their prey.

Maksim swept his tongue across the pinp.r.i.c.ks at Emeline's neck and waved the women to the side of the door as he lifted his head. "I will mask our presence. The moment the door opens and they are through, Blaze, lead her out. I will bring up the rear. They will not see you, but do not brush up against them or anyone on the stairs."

Blaze nodded and gripped Emeline's elbow. "We'll be all right, Em. We're just going to go straight through the club and out the door."

Emeline's face was stark white. "We have to hurry. Oh, G.o.d, Blaze. He's close. I can feel him close now. Do you feel that? Like in the dream." Her voice was a panicked whisper. Emeline didn't panic. She was a street rat and she could disappear when she needed, slipping away through cracks in walls and over rooftops. She had mad skills in the streets, and she never lost her ability to think. Her brain worked at all times, solving puzzles and figuring out the next thing to do. Blaze knew she must be terrified to sound so close to panic.

Before Blaze could rea.s.sure Emeline, the door bounced open and Terry and Carrick Hallahan burst into the room. Before Carrick thought to close the door, Blaze hurried through, dragging Emeline after her, trusting Maksim to keep them cloaked from view. She didn't look back, but she heard the shocked curses as she made her way down the stairs, right past the Hallahans' guards. She kept one hand on Emeline's shoulder, but Em didn't hesitate; she moved through the crowd quickly, not even looking at the two men closing in on either side of them.

Tomas and Lojos? Blaze wanted their ident.i.ty confirmed. She was certain she was right. Both men had the same dangerous look to them that Maksim did. They were tall with that long, dark, gorgeous hair. Clearly they were twins. Still . . .

Hurry, Blaze, Maksim insisted, telling her without answering that the two men were his friends.

She could feel it now, the swelling danger. The feeling of evil slowly invading the club. The air felt poisonous. She held her breath and knew Emeline was doing the same thing.

Around them, the crowd began to shift restlessly. A fight broke out near the front door. A shot rang out. A woman screamed. Two men rushed the cages and dragged a stripper out, throwing her to the floor. More fights broke out between them and the nearest exit. The smell of blood was strong.