Dustin released her, glowering. There was only one thing that could make such a cold man so upset. Jule leveled a glare on her.

"Traci?" Rainy's voice was surprised and furious.

"You have thirty seconds, sweetheart," Jule said with a calmness that chilled her to the bone. "Or I'll give you to Dusty."

She didn't want to know what happened after that. She'd seen the dark side of Dusty in the library before she told Damian about Claire.

"Damian was ambushed. Czerno knew he was coming here and had a small army of vamps. He had a secret weapon, but I don't know what it was."

"Where'd they take him?"

"He doesn't know."

Jule freed a gun from the small of his back and pointed it at the vamp beside her. She turned her head away, jumping as the shot rang out. Jule met her gaze calmly, and she resisted the urge to run. She didn't like the reminders that the men around her were capable of such violence.

"I'll deal with you later," he promised.

Ving pulled up and barely made it out of the car before Rainy grabbed him and slammed him over the hood.

"Dusty, calm them down," Jule ordered.

Dustin obeyed "Fan out and find out if any others are alive!" Jule shouted to the men. "You don't leave my sight, oracle."

She acquiesced, afraid to disagree.

"I got one!" a shout rang out.

"I shouldn't have to tell you to tell me everything," Jule said, blocking her path with his arm. "There are two people on my list. No one else in this f.u.c.ked up universe matters."

She looked up, hearing the unspoken threat.

"I love him, Jule," she said, admitting the words for the first time.

He dropped his arm, and she picked her way through the bodies, covering her mouth to keep from vomiting. Lon knelt by a vamp whose chest still moved. She leaned down, bracing herself as she rested a trembling hand on his forehead.

For Damian.

"He's one of the last to arrive," she said and closed her eyes. "He came from an underground facility on the other side of Tucson."

"Where?" Dustin demanded.

"He's not exactly providing an address."

"Someone from Tucson Sector!"

Still fuming, Rainy joined them.

"What landmarks did he pa.s.s?" Jule prodded. "Street names, anything."

His memories were fading fast and growing blurry. Sofia sifted through them.

"The mall. He pa.s.sed it on his way out of town. Abandoned gas station, new housing development in the foothills. Dirt road, reservation perimeter on the left ..."

"Do you recognize it?" Jule turned.

"I do," Rainy confirmed. "Keep going."

The memories stopped. Sofia withdrew, staring at the dead body in front of her.

"I take it he's dead," Dustin said. "Rainy, get your men. Call in those from the neighboring sectors. We'll need to hit fast then evac."

"You did good, sweetheart," Jule said.

He lifted her to her feet. Her stomach growled.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked.

"Friday."

Rainy bound off, s.n.a.t.c.hing his cell as he waved the others over.

"Dusty, we're going to have another problem soon," Jule said for Dustin's ears only.

"I'll be ok," she said. "I've gone two days without serious consequence."

Dustin looked at her then at Jule. They exchanged one of their silent communications.

"f.u.c.k," Jule said quietly, realization dawning. "Sofia, you said Czerno drained your blood?"

She nodded.

"We should have seen this coming," he said, running his fingers through his hair. "You think ... "

"Yes," Dustin said.

"What?" she asked. "What happened?"

"You remember what I told you about oracles offering a weak c.h.i.n.k in a commander's armor?" Jule asked. "What I didn't say was how you can be used against him. When you're blood bound, you can't kill your master, and your master can't kill you. Czerno has your blood. Chances are he used your blood to incapacitate Damian."

She paled.

"There's no other way. D couldn't be overpowered unless his powers were crippled," Dustin said. "We gotta think this one through, Jule. We'll have one chance to rip his hideout open and ..."

Sofia watched them walk away, alone and cold. If Damian died, it was because of her. She started towards the road, away from the field of death. Her phone rang. The number wasn't familiar, but she answered.

"h.e.l.lo, love," Czerno greeted her.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

"If you're as smart as I suspect, you've probably used your gift to figure out where I am."

"Yes," she whispered.

"Have you told your friends?"

"No," she lied.

"Good. I've got a deal for you. It's simple, really. Even if I kill Damian, I'll have to deal with all his people. However, if I have you, I'll beat them at every turn. If you come to me right now, I'll let him go."

Her heart beat hard.

"Swear on your soul?"

"Love, I don't have a soul. By the time Dusty figures out what to do, Damian will be dead. In fact, if you refuse me now, I'll kill him before I hang up the phone."

She closed her eyes, shaking.

"If you agree, I'll free him when you show up at my doorstep."

"Yes," she whispered. "I'd give you anything for him."

"You have an hour."

He hung up, and she stared at the cell then looked to her car. The door was open as she left it, the keys in the steering column. Jule and Dustin reached the building, and she looked at them.

Czerno would never let her go. If she went to him now, she'd spend eternity with him, a slave to the Black G.o.d himself. The truth settled into the pit of her stomach, along with the realization that she meant what she'd said, she would do whatever it took to free the man she loved.

Dustin met her gaze, and he froze.

"Sofia, no!"

She bolted to her car, far enough ahead of any of the men that they couldn't stop her. Peeling out, she floored it and tore down the road. The dead vamp's memories were fresh in her mind, and she sought the sights he'd pa.s.sed.

Her phone rang, and she s.n.a.t.c.hed it.

"Sofia, turn around. Now."

"No, Jule. He'll kill him if I don't go."

"He'll kill him if you do."

Her tears rose, blurring her vision. She struggled for control, focusing on the road.

"Sofia," he said more gently. "Please."

"Stop," she begged. "It's my fault he was caught. I can fix it. I can fix it!"

"You can't fix a war that's been on for hundreds of thousand years."

The number took her breath away.

"I have to, Jule. I'm sorry. The world needs him."

She hung up the phone. She gripped the steering wheel hard and drove.

The staging area was where the vamp remembered it being, tucked at the base of a mountain in a draw. Sofia swallowed hard at the sight of so many vamps milling around. She drove up to the elevator entrance on the side of the draw. One vamp in particular seemed to be awaiting her and strode to the car. The other vamps didn't so much as acknowledge her as she stepped from the car. Her greeter motioned her to follow, and she obeyed, mind on Damian and nothing else. He led her into a small elevator that plunged quickly to the depths beneath the mountain.

The underground world was well built and bright with white washed walls lining corridors wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. The vamp led her down a maze of hallways through scores of vamps and past multiple doorways until he reached a set of double doors. He opened one, and she entered. The study beyond was a replica of the one in Virginia, down to the Gothic hood on the fireplace.

Damian was nowhere to be seen. Czerno rose from a desk as she entered. The large man in black with lopsided shoulders and an executioner's hood pressed himself into a corner. The man with verdant eyes stood beside him, watching her.

"I did what you asked. You said you'd free him," she said.

At Czerno's chilled smile, she knew he had no intention of freeing either of them. Panic swelled within her.

"Welcome home, love," he said.

She whirled, but the vamp that led her down blocked the doorway. She sucked in a breath, struggling to calm herself.

"Czerno, free him! You have me!"

"I'd rather kill two birds with one stone," he said. "Two, take her."

"No!" she breathed. "Please no! I'll do whatever you want! Please, just let him go."

"We'll talk later, love," Czerno a.s.sured her. "You'll have all the time in the world to beg me, on your knees and on your back."

His gaze swept over her in cold admiration as he spoke. The executioner from the corner emerged from the shadows and took her arms.

"Let him go! Please!" she shouted as he pulled her from the room.

Hysteria gripped her, and she fought him until he slung her over his shoulder. Tears blinded her.

"Damian!"

Sofia.

His voice was weak, as if he were far away. She strained against the man again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed.