I could have killed him.

The ancient one wondered, as he walked through snow along the road not far from ErinGreenway's home, why he hadn't finished off Ronan Kieran when he had the chance. He wouldn't admit that the fight had drained him as well. His feeding, which included an old homeless man holed up in a shack near on the outskirts of town, didn't quite sustain him. No, a fresh killing before the night extinguished would bring him the power he needed for the next night's bedlam.

Yet he couldn't be happy knowing Ronan Kieran probably walked at this moment. He would have staked him, but he hadn't acquired silver stakes when he came on this journey to Pine Forest. He hadn't expected opposition.

Something else plagued him. Why, if he had acquired the force of the deepest evil in those tunnels...couldn't he kill the Irish bastard with one sweep of his arm?

Niggling uncertainty entered his brain. It hit sharp and painful, giving him an uneasy sensation.

In the meantime, he would get on with the business creating hell on earth, of formulating nightmares for everyone in town. Of course, he wouldn't turn down a heady draught of human blood if given opportunity, but he must plan for the time to come.

The Time.

He would call it that from now on. He thought of horrible events in the world that scarred it for life, the days where a mere mention brought mortals into a sinister place.

9-11.

December 7, 1941.

Perhaps 1066. Doomsday, some had called it.

He knew people fixated on these days but they eventually faded into memory, until all who'd heard of the event recalled it with the merest hint of emotion.

One hundred years ago in this little town people had thought the world was coming to an end.

Now they would think so again.

Curious, he continued down the road toward the fire turning the sky to molten red and yellow. His smile broadened for a moment before turning into a frown. The evil he'd called upon in the tunnels permeated his undead soul, his seething hatred growing by leaps and bounds. Yet one wicked part of him loathed that malice more dreadful dictated from now on what would occur from this point forward.

He didn't like being controlled like at all.

He might be joined with the darkness that resided under the ground and in the night, but his ego stung. Discomfort wriggled over his undead skin, almost like the goose bumps suffered by mortals.

A new emotion, or perhaps an old one, crept closer to him. What was it?

Fear?

He tried to remember when he'd last been afraid and he couldn't recall. Perhaps before his immortal life began. But that had been too long ago to remember much about it.

The strange sensation almost made him want to run and pretend he'd never felt it.

Because if he did it might mean something odd, something horrible could happen to him.

How can it? I am the one they all fear. Every vampire on earth knows of me, respects my power. When Pine Forest is consumed in the fire of its own greed and hate, I will have another hellfire notch to add to my legend.

Again the discomfort niggled at the back of his mind.

Sharp pain shuddered through his midsection and he fell to his knees in the snow. It was as if...as if the fight he'd had with Ronan Kieran actually did damage. Another jolt of electrified misery tore through his head and he fell onto the snow bank by the road. As he lay in the snow, he closed his eyes and rode out an agony so acute he considered screaming.

No.

No.

This never happened.

Each stinging jolt defied all pains he'd experienced his entire mortal and immortal life.

Bewildered, he allowed the sizzling pain to lurch through him. Whatever happened, he would endure.

Then the voice came to him.

You are not the utmost. You are not the power,the voice said.My iniquity supersedes all others. And you will obey.

"Who are you?" he asked through a tight throat.

A laugh edged through his mind like knife cutting into cheese.You sought me in the tunnels and brought me into your body. I am you but I am not.

The ancient one realized then, with astounding lucidity, how much he'd given up to absorb the greater evil.

Again the voice commanded, and the pain started to ebb.You will obey or be destroyed.

You will comply or suffer.

He waited for more instruction but nothing came. That which possessed him went silent.

Shrugging off the aberration, the ancient one proceeded.Shaken but not broken, he refused to acknowledge what had happened.

He smiled as he came to the road where fire trucks and police cars congregated. An old structure, its skeleton smoldering and smoking, caught his attention. Not entirely satisfied with the mayhem he felt building around him, he decided more must be accomplished.

The light went on next to the bed and a warm touch gripped Ronan's right shoulder.

"Ronan?"

The soft voice belonged to the gorgeous woman he'd fucked into oblivion less then a few hours ago. Clarissa's fingers smoothed over his back in a comforting caress. He shivered under her palm. Tenderness and fierce protectiveness welled inside him. He drew Clarissa down on the bed and hovered over her.

He buried his face in her throat and slid his lips down the long, white column. As she shivered he knew he'd given her a tiny taste of what he could do to her. She thought what they'd done earlier was extreme. She hadn't seen anything yet.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry I woke you. I had a bad dream."

He brushed stray hair away from her face. "I'm sorry about the dream."

"I don't even remember what it was about now I'm awake."

He savored looking at her breasts with their rounded curves and rosy nipples. He could almost taste her on his tongue. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are? Because I'm going to tell you again. You're the sweetest, toughest, sexiest woman I've ever known."

Her brows pinched together. "I wish I could believe that. You've known dozens of women across seven hundred years."

"Shhh." He pressed a half dozen kisses across her forehead, her nose, her cheeks and chin. "Don't doubt yourself. From the first moment I saw you I felt fierce attraction."

Her eyes widened and she smiled broadly. "Oh, was that what that was?"