Look away.Jared's voice echoed in her head.

Then a voice came she didn't expect, his sharp Irish tone so different from Ronan's.Please don't look!

Sorley?

Two light fixtures in the high ceiling exploded. Screams went up and someone shouted again, "Fire!Get out now!"

More voices entered her head.Shadow people.

Resisthimresisthimresisthim.

Useyourpoweruseyourpoweruseyourpower.

Two more fixtures in the ceiling burst, plunging the room into semi-darkness.Glass and sparks rained down from the ceiling. People ducked and panic erupted as they poured toward the exits.

"Clarissa!" A guttural shout, filled with sharp anguish, belonged to Ronan.

Her heart pounded in her chest like a jackhammer, her breath short and punchy.

Shouting, pushing and trampling, the partygoers reacted like all typical crowds. Before she could react to the shadow people's direction for her to use her power, the ancient one's pitiless fingers clamped on her face. He jerked her head toward him and she inadvertently looked into his eyes.

Hot and fierce, the ancient one's eyes burned solid crimson. No lens, no iris. Just fiery depths of hell. Nausea swept into her stomach and her knees weakened. Her muscles felt like gelatin, her body under the monster's command.

You are mine. You will do as I bid.

No! No!She writhed in the strong hold.

Weakness threatened and she feared this might be the last chance for life.

Pushawaynowpushawaynowpushawaynow. The shadow people whispered to her.

Wewillhelpyouwewillhelpyouwewillhelpyou.

Dramatically the energies surrounding her built. Blood pumped furiously through her veins as her heart raced and her muscles cried out for action. A weird sensation, like that of a gathering storm, pierced her midsection. Instead of hurting, the feeling galvanized her into action.

With a grunt she shoved against the ancient one's chest. The creature loosened his grip and she stumbled backward. She slipped and landed on her ass on the hard, cold stage with a painful thump. Renewal of energy surged into her system and she leapt to her feet to confront the old vampire.

Fire crackled behind the stage. Smoke started to fill the room as the remaining people scrambled to leave the building. As smoke attacked her lungs she coughed and shoved aside dizziness. Fire climbed onto curtains arranged behind the makeshift stage. A blur of movement caught her attention and then Ronan stood between her and the creature.

She sensed something, an instant when time stagnated and peril held the advantage. She reached out for him with one hand as terror rocketed through her. "Ronan! No!"

"Worthless scum!" The ancient one took a swing and landed a punch to Ronan's face.

Ronan sailed backwards past her and fell from the stage. The ancient one laughed.

Her heart felt like it might stop. More anger exploded and she took action. She reached for the podium without thinking.Grabbing the top with both hands, she yanked. The podium came away from the stage floor. Spitting angry, she lifted and swung the podium just high enough to send it sailing across the floor toward the old vampire's shins. It connected, sending the ancient one flying. Triumph burst inside her, but the vampire was hardly fazed. He jumped to his feet and came toward her. With certainty she shouldn't have, Clarissa knew she could fight the ancient one.

What choice did she have?

Instinctively, she put up both hands and concentrated all her energy outward. A shimmering transparent wall formed. The ancient one slammed into it and fell back with an indignant cry.

"Take that, asshole!" She punched one fist in the air.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and she swung around, an elbow aimed to land in the person's stomach. Ronan dodged her swing. "It's me. We've got to go now!"

Relief filled her as he clasped her hand and they ran toward the south exit. Several steps later she was snatched off her feet, dangling as she kicked out in reflex.

Her scream came more as a defiant, heated shout. "No!"

Before she could scream again, lacerating pain gripped the right side of her neck. A strange crunching noise and excruciating pain told her one thing.

Stunned by the pain, her vision went white, then black and started to fade at the edges.

The ancient one had bitten her.

Unlike Jim's bite, this one would kill her.

No. Must fight.

Putting all her strength into escaping, she wriggled, twisted and writhed against the hold tightening around her waist. A revelation came a second later. Combating him like this worked like quicksand to suck her down deeper into his tangled web, exhausting her resources as he drained her blood with deep, lapping suction.

As if she'd fainted, she went limp.

Seconds later she fell, taking the ancient one off guard. She landed on her left side with a painful slap, and the pain rocketed through her head, shoulders, hips and legs. A moan of anger and hurt parted her lips. Despite the pain, she couldn't lie here and wait for him to finish her off. She struggled upright just as Ronan again stepped between her and the ancient one.

Ronan didn't take his gaze away from his mortal enemy as Clarissa struggled to her feet.

She stood just to Ronan's left side, her vision fuzzy through pain, weakness and smoke.

Fighthimfighthimfighthim

Nownownow,echoed in her head as the shadow people encouraged her.

"Fight him together!" Ronan's red-hued gaze clashed and tangled with hers and she knew he heard the shadow people, too.

In that instant she saw infinite love in his eyes and it mixed with the resolve of a man who would go down fighting.

Fight him together. Fight him now. Now. Now.The voices came from all around her and suddenly she sawGilda, Tom, Jared, Micky, Erin and Lachlan lining up near her and Ronan. Sorley and Jim appeared just behind the ancient one and grabbed him by the arms.

"Push him toward the fire!" Ronan directed them with a movement of his hands.

Sorley shouted his command. "Together!"

With a toss the vampires propelled the ancient one toward the fire raging behind the stage and climbing ever closer to their position. The old vampire growled deep in his throat as he stopped short of the conflagration.

Perhaps, with the force of thedarkest behind him, the ancient one could resist all their powers.

The thought terrified Clarissa.Sharp and staggering the fear threatened to undetermined her courage.

Before she could resurrect confidence, Sorley withdrew a long blade about the length and appearance of a cutlass, a contrivance that gleamed in the fire like silver. He rushed the old one and swung in an arch as if he meant to chop off the vampire's head. Sorley screamed like a warrior as the blade swung around.

The ancient one put up one hand and the blade stopped midair before it could reach him.