"I'll let him know you consider him compet.i.tion." Lucas licked his lips. His words were sluggish as he continued, "FYI, he considers you a crazy b.i.t.c.h."

Outrage practically radiated off the Dragon. She started toward Lucas, murder in her eyes.

"Dragon."

She wheeled to face the man who had spoken. "What?"

He appeared to be listening to a voice in his earpiece. His expression reflected the emotions generated by the news.

"There's been a security breach," he finally announced. "Sector three."

The Dragon's attention swung back to Lucas. Maggie was afraid to breathe.

"How many are there?" she demanded of Lucas.

Lucas stared at her but said nothing.

Terror ignited in Maggie's heart.

"How many?" the Dragon screamed. "Only one."

Maggie gasped. She twisted to see the man who had spoken.

Slade.

As he stepped into the room, Maggie's heart sang. He was alive.

He kicked the door shut, then reached behind him and set the lock, never allowing his full attention to deviate from the woman who had given birth to him. Maggie frowned. Part of her was so thankful to see him. But this woman intended to kill him. He shouldn't be here.

"You!" the Dragon snarled.

One corner of Slade's mouth lifted in a half smile. "h.e.l.lo, Mother."

Chapter Eighteen.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Slade warned as Eli Kennemore, the Dragon's chief of security, reached for his weapon. He pointed to his bulky vest, then showed off a small gadget he wore like a watch. "Unless you want to see just how high sky high is."

Kennemore's hand dropped away from his shoulder holster. A blur of movement snagged Slade's attention as another of the guards drew his weapon. Slade put a bullet between his eyes before he had the barrel leveled on his target.

"How about you?" he said to the remaining guard. "The b.u.t.ton?" He held up his left hand. "Or a bullet?"

The guy's hands went up in surrender.

"Now that we're all here," the Dragon announced, drawing the attention of the room to her, "why don't we get this little family reunion under way."

"Untie her," Slade ordered. He had no interest in intellectual discourse. "Now!" he added when no one in the room reacted.

"Did you really believe it would be this simple?" the Dragon asked. "You breach the perimeter, take out a guard or two and then barge in here to play the hero?" She shook her head. "You greatly overestimated yourself. Let's show your girlfriend how quickly you fall."

A streak of uncertainty licked at Slade's determination. "You," he said to the guard with his hands still in the air, "untie her."

"Look at the band she's wearing," the Dragon suggested. "Do you recognize it?"

Fear slammed into Slade. Both Maggie and Lucas wore a silver band around their necks. One click of the remote and the band would tighten into itself until it was no larger than a bracelet.

"Take it off her." He had never wanted to kill anyone the way he wanted to kill this heartless murderer. "Take it off!"

The Dragon shook her head. "Remove the explosives and lower your weapon."

Despite the fear pounding in his temples, Slade held his ground. Any sign of weakness and the Dragon would devour him. "Let them go and I'll do exactly that." Surviving wasn't his top priority. But Maggie's survival was. And Lucas's. Slade didn't want him to die for reasons he couldn't begin to decipher just now. And he needed to find Alayna.

"You'll do it anyway." The Dragon walked up to him, completely fearless. "Or they will die."

He wanted to kill her so badly his entire soul howled with the need. "Let them go and you'll still have time to eliminate me before you have to evacuate."

The look in her eyes suggested she believed him. The concern that flickered startled him. "Who's heading the team?" she demanded. "Thomas Casey?"

Slade didn't know what the h.e.l.l she was talking about, but if it worked to his advantage he would go with it. "I don't know who's in charge, but I do know their goal. Destroy you and this compound. No one wants to admit you've been operating under their radar all this time, so they're going to pretend you never existed."

"Put down your weapons. Give me the detonator and I'll let them live."

Slade knew that strategy. He'd used it many times. He could live with that. "Remove the bands first."

The seconds of silence that followed had him sweating.

"Remove hers," the Dragon ordered. "Leave his." When Kennemore had done as she asked, Slade placed his weapon on the floor. Taking his time, he removed the vest and the detonator, placed them on the floor, as well. She would kill him, but not until she was certain he posed no other threat. Right now he had her worried. He turned his hands palms up. "We don't have a lot of time. They're out there."

"Take them outside," she said to her chief of security. "Then see that the evac is nearing completion."

Whatever had spooked her, she had activated the evacuation strategy. Did that mean Alayna was gone? She was among the first to go in the plan. Slade had planned to prompt the Dragon to initiate that very strategy. Someone had done him a favor.

He couldn't meet Maggie's eyes as she was untied and taken from the room. Lucas leaned heavily on the two guards. Slade could imagine what the Dragon had done to him, judging by the bag hanging on his chair. The guard grabbed his prosthetic leg on the way out.

When the room was cleared, his mother stared at him for a very long time. "You were everything I had hoped you would be. But you betrayed me."

The hatred ran so thick and hot in his veins that it literally burned. "You betrayed me at birth."

"I guess we're even then." She laughed. "Too bad, I set the rules and you know what they are. Shall we get to the point? I have a flight to catch."

He needed to wait for just the right moment. Yet he needed to hurry. The guards would no more set Maggie and Lucas free than the dead guy over there would. The one advantage he had was the Dragon was in a hurry to get out of here. She would not take chances with her own survival.

He held his arms wide apart. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

She was suspicious. He read it in her body language. But she was also in a hurry. "You weren't like the others." The tiniest hint of regret colored her tone. "You were a masterpiece. Brilliant in every way."

That she lingered surprised him. There was just one answer he would like to have before he finished this. He might as well ask. "Was there ever a moment that you genuinely loved any of us? Felt guilt for what you'd done?"

She moved her head side to side, disdain in her eyes. "You've lost your edge. You wouldn't last long out there like this."

Maybe, maybe not. But she wasn't going to last the next few minutes.

"We should move on to the termination room." She gestured to the door as if she had just invited him to dinner. "I'll allow you to view their exodus prior to termination." She smiled. "You see, I'm not a complete monster."

He knew she was lying, but that was irrelevant. If he timed his move just right, his plan could work.

Slade led the way out of the room. With the evac in progress no one would be around to stop him. He would have the Dragon all to himself.

THE SUN SAT LOW ON THE mountains behind the compound as they crossed the yard toward the main gate. The stone wall looked even more menacing the second time Maggie laid eyes on it. She wanted to run back to the ma.s.sive entry door and scream Slade's name.

Were these guards really going to let them go? She rubbed at her neck where the band had been. Lucas still wore his. He was leaning on one of the guards. Maggie prayed he hadn't gotten enough of that toxin in his system to do permanent damage. He didn't look good.

She looked around, vaguely wondered where the other guards were. Had the evacuation been that thorough? When she looked back at the building they had exited, she got a nudge in the lower back for her trouble.

Did Slade have an alternate plan? He'd given up his weapons. How was he supposed to fight the Dragon unarmed?

Her stomach lurched at the thought that he could be in serious trouble right now. There was no one to help him. Why hadn't he allowed the Colby Agency to help? Why had Lucas come to her alone?

This was all wrong.

Tears welled in her eyes. Dammit. She did not want Slade to die.

Lucas dropped to his knees. Maggie turned to see if he was all right, but her guard grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back.

"Get up," the one who seemed to be in charge demanded of Lucas.

Lucas didn't respond. His head lolled forward. Was he dying? "He needs help," Maggie cried. "Can't you see that?" When the guard did nothing, she shouted, "Help him!"

As the guard hovered over the older man, Lucas moved like lightning. He rammed his elbow into the guy's groin. The guard buckled forward. Lucas grabbed his weapon and shot to his feet. He leveled it on the man holding her. "Let her go."

The guard shoved the muzzle of his gun against her head. "Drop the weapon," he warned. "Don't think I won't kill her. Our orders are to kill you both at the gate."

The explosion that shattered the silence deafened Maggie. The guard clutching her jerked back. Something warm and wet splattered her cheek. His hold on her released and he crumpled to the ground, an angry hole in the center of his forehead.

"That's what I figured." Lucas lowered his weapon.

Maggie couldn't move. Couldn't speak.

The guard on his knees suddenly pointed something at Lucas. "Watch out!" The words pealed out of Maggie's throat.

Lucas spun around and fired another shot. The man slumped over.

Maggie turned all the way around. The whole place seemed empty. The silence was almost as deafening as the gunshots.

A weapon hit the ground near her feet. Her slug gish reactions forced her attention upward. Lucas was clutching at the silver band around his neck. His eyes bulged and he was gasping for breath.

Maggie reached for the band. It tightened around her fingers even as she tried to pry between it and Lucas's throat. It was choking him. He tried to say something, but couldn't get the words out. He pointed to the guard slumped over on the ground.

There had to be a key or something. She pushed the man over. Ignoring the hole where his nose used to be, she searched his pockets.

Lucas dropped to his knees. Maggie's movements turned frantic. There was no key! Nothing but a cell phone and a pack of cigarettes. "There isn't a key!" Lucas's face was beet red.

Something small and dark on the sandy ground captured her attention. A gadget about the size of a cigarette lighter. She grabbed it and, smoothing her thumb over the surface, felt something like a b.u.t.ton. She pressed it, knowing this was her last and only hope.

Lucas gasped.

She turned to him just in time to see the silver band pop loose and drop to the ground. She hurried over to him, trudging through the sand on her knees.

"You okay, Lucas?" His weight fell against her. She lowered him to the ground and once again panic started to build inside her. She needed help!

His mouth and eyes were open. His face wasn't so red anymore, but he wouldn't respond to her. She leaned down, put her cheek close to his nose and mouth. He wasn't breathing. She checked his pulse. Nothing. Oh, dear G.o.d!

Instinct kicked in. Maggie a.s.sumed the CPR posi tion, tilted his head back as she pinched his nose closed and blew air into his mouth. She mentally counted off the puffs, then did the required number of chest compressions. Again. She repeated the series. Please don't die!

After a few more rounds of compressions and breaths, she thought she heard a shallow gasp. She checked Lucas's pulse again. There it was. Relief spewed through her limbs.

His eyes opened and she almost fainted. "You scared me to death."

He tried to smile, but a cough stopped him.

"Can you get up?" She wanted to get back in there and check on Slade.

Lucas elbowed his way to a sitting position. "I think I can manage."

The crack of gunshots shattered the silence.

Lucas pulled Maggie to the ground and covered her body with his own.

Who was shooting at them? They had no cover. The weapons were too far away to reach.

Maggie raised her head far enough to stare back at the house. Somehow she had to get back in there.

As if to dissuade her, a bullet hit the sand next to her head.

THE CORRIDORS WERE DESERTED. Each room Slade pa.s.sed was the same. In the sprawling kitchen was a door that led to a bas.e.m.e.nt level. That was where all on-site terminations were carried out.

"Has Alayna left already?" he asked as they descended the stairs.

"You cost your sister more than you know by dragging her into your betrayal."

She knew.

Slade's insides turned to ice.