Tears stung her eyes. She never would have wished this on Jim in a million years.

Jim and Sorley lunged toward them so fast, Clarissa didn't have time to react. Jim swooped and grabbed Clarissa around the throat. The pressure around her neck cut off her air immediately. She swung up to slash at his eyes and tried kicking him. He threw her back against the wall. Pain and shock rocked into her head as dizziness filled her head and her knees crumbled. She fell to the concrete on her right side. Disoriented, she heard Erin's struggles, and then saw Sorley lift her up and into the sky. She fought unconsciousness but as Sorley's high-pitched laugh echoed over the air, everything went black.

Ronan awoke with a start, his breathing coming hard and fast. In deepest sleep he'd heard strange noises somewhere outside the house. The bed felt cold. He couldn't sense Clarissa next to him.

He reached out and touched the bed and found it empty. Because he could see through the gloom without a light, he scanned the area. No sign of Clarissa. Normally it wouldn't have bothered him too much, but he felt it deep in his immortal soul that she needed him.

He opened his mind to her.Clarissa. Where are you? Are you all right?

He waited for an answer but nothing came. Something was horribly wrong.

"Clarissa?" Nothing. He didn't feel her in the house or anywhere. Fear snapped him like a whip. "Damn it! Shit, shit, shit!"

Using vampire speed he jumped into his clothes and then transported instantly into the living room.

Lachlan stood at the back door near the dining area, his eyes glowing like hot coals. His face looked stricken, as if he'd been kicked in the gut. "She's gone, Ronan. Erin's gone."

Ronan stiffened, his heart doing a stutter. "So is Clarissa." Ronan's mind tried to wrap around the concept a moment and failed. Then anger at himself and Lachlan exploded in his mind. "I can't believe I didn't hear anything. Son-of-a-bitch!"

Lachlan's words came strong and steady. "Aye, but there's time for recriminations later.

Right now we need to find them."

Self-disgust wrenched at Ronan's insides. "I'm sorry."

Lachlan shook his head. "I don't sense them anywhere around in the neighborhood and they wouldn't leave voluntarily."

Ronan heard a sound and sensed Micky and Jared coming down the hall.

"What's going on?" Jared asked, trepidation hardening his eyes. "We both woke up at the same time and knew something was wrong."

Ronan jammed both hands through his hair in frustration. "Erin and Clarissa are gone.

We've got to go after them now."

Jared grabbed his arm. "I'll go with you and so will Micky. I'm not leaving here without her."

Lachlan moved nearer his friends. "No. There's no reason to take her into harm's way."

"I want to go." Micky stood straight and her mouth had a stubborn set to it that Ronan knew didn't bode well. Her eyes glowed. "You need our help. What if the ancient one or that other dark evil has taken them into another dimension? I've been in that place before, so if they're lost there, I can bring them back."

Ronan looked at Lachlan and the Scot nodded. He also understood that Jared wouldn't be any use to them if he worried about Micky being left behind and vulnerable.

Micky's logic eased a little of Ronan's panic and she said, "We'll find them. My guess is the ancient one probably took them to the tunnels. Can we form a psychic circle and join hands to get her location?"

In the short time since Micky had become a not-quite-mortal, she'd read as much literature on the subject as she could. Ronan admired her bravery. "I think your first intuition is right. He's taken them to the tunnels."

"We could waste valuable time if we don't do a preliminary recon," Jared said.

Lachlan nodded. "He's right."

Ronan's eagerness to find his woman made him crazy with worry and he couldn't think with the logic required. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Let's do it."

A few moments later, the group gathered in the center of the living room and joined hands. Ronan thanked them in his heart, grateful down to his boots he didn't have to fight this alone. As they linked minds he knew it would deplete their energies for a short time after doing the connection. They'd have to make sure they didn't stay joined for too long.

"Remember the white light, the aura around you," Ronan said. "We can't afford to be vulnerable."

They became a collective of energy more powerful than one individual. Almost right away a vivid flash of color came to his mind, disjointed and harsh. Pink ran into blue ran into red and as black spilled over his mind, he jerked out of the trance.

"Holy crap," Lachlan said, blinking rapidly. "What was that?"

Everyone broke contact and unlinked hands.

"The colors are a barrier. The ancient one knows we'll come looking for Erin and Clarissa and he put up defenses," Ronan said.

Pain flickered through his head and Ronan couldn't keep back the groan. Instinctively, he what knew what caused the pain. Anger pierced him like a sword.

Micky touched his forearm. "What's wrong?"

Ronan felt the tension rising and didn't think he could stop it. He couldn't remember the last time a vampire rage this strong had come upon him.

Yes, I can. After I was changed...and before that, after Fenella was killed.

He knew his eyes turned hell-red and that his fangs had grown. He didn't care. He wanted his woman safe and he would do anything to get her back into his arms.

Ronan stalked to the windows and looked out. His throat felt tight and raw as he spoke.

"The pain in my head belongs to Clarissa."

"Oh, no," Micky said, tears swimming in her eyes. "What are we going to do?"

Ronan frowned and tried to ignore the throbbing in his temples. "We'll have to search for them the mortal way. Do you thinkGilda and Tom would help?"

Micky went for the phone. "I'll call them now."

For the third time in a month they pursued the ancient one. Concern about Erin and Clarissa and even Sorley invaded his thoughts as his friends put out heavy-duty emotional thought forms. Lachlan's emotions ran higher, his concern for Erin eating away at his guts. Ronan knew the reaction too well; he couldn't wait to put his arms around Clarissa and beg her forgiveness for not protecting her.

"I suggest you drive to theGunn Inn first while I do a quick scan of the tunnels near the crypt in the graveyard," Ronan said. "We can cover more ground that way."

"Aye," Lachlan said.

Vampire rage stirred Ronan's blood. "Weare going to find them. Starting now."

Clarissa's head pounded as she opened her eyes and she tried to put her fingers to her temples. Her arms and hands wouldn't move an inch. Alarmed, she tried moving her legs and found she couldn't.

Other than turning her head from side to side, she was paralyzed. A shimmering silver essence covered her from head to foot, perhaps the same substance that kept her from moving an inch. She struggled against the force field that pinned her to the ground but it didn't help.

She heard a moan, then realized it came from her. Cold seeped into her skin like an insidious drug. She turned her head to the left and saw a broken wooden coffin tilted against a wall like a mummy's sarcophagus in a museum. Muzzy-headed and hurting to the bone, she couldn't be sure of her location. Nothing seemed quite right; her thought processes refused to run at one hundred percent.