She nodded to Haven. Then she looked at her troops. "All right, boys and girls. Change of plans. Eddie, give Geoffrey the gun. I mean it," she ordered, and the scraggly vampire reluctantly replied. "Your friends will be here soon, Mr. Haven?" He nodded.

"They have any experience in killing vampires?"

"No!" Char protested.

"It's necessary," Valentine replied.

"We've worked out some drills," Haven told Valentine.

"Jebel!"

"Hush, Charlotte."

"But - "

Valentine gave Char a stern look. "Char, you and Geoff have to save the city from Duke. Only Nighthawks are going to be able to take out another Nighthawk. It's going to take both of you. That's your job. Do you understand me?"

Char bit her lower lip, and her eyes flashed fury, but she gave a tight nod. "Understood."

"Good. Now, Haven," Valentine said, concentrating on him. "I heard you say something about a Jeep."

"What do you need it for?" Haven asked.

"To stop the next wave of magic, of course. Come along. You and I are going to the Silk Road."

Haven didn't know why he didn't argue with this high-handed woman. He didn't know why he didn't question her plans and decisions. He was needed here. He didn't want to drive her to the hotel. She was already moving away from the other vampires.

All he could do was dig out his car keys and hurry after.

Chapter 17.

"SO," GEOFF WONDERED as he and Char proceeded cautiously toward the entrance of the street. "How do you kill a Nighthawk?"

They'd waited for the mortal hunters to show up before starting this little jaunt. Geoff didn't like the idea of having Haven's buddies take over Nighthawk duties, but he did like the idea of having a few minutes alone with Char. Besides, Char had insisted that they herd rather than kill. Geoff wondered if the mortals would listen to her, but was happy not to have to hang around to watch their backs. Finding and containing the Enforcer of the City sounded like it was going to be a lot more fun. Though it was a daunting prospect as well.

He was aware of a large shadow moving in the darkness beyond the casino lights. He was in no hurry to confront this shadow. Not without a plan of some sort first. He almost wished he hadn't left the heavy-duty rifle behind with Eddie, but the neon junkie had had a fit about needing the protection. Char peered into the night up ahead. Her steps were as slow and cautious as his.

"My personal preference would be to call in Istvan," was her answer. "He's the dhamphir. I think he's the only one with the - equipment - for the job."

"b.a.l.l.s of steel?" Geoff wondered.

All he'd heard about the Enforcers' Enforcer was rumors. He'd seen the results of the dhamphir's work, of course, when the nests were cleaned out in Seattle. There'd been a lot of heart-free bodies lying around. But none of the executed vampires Geoff had seen had been Nighthawks. If the Enforcer of the City had disappeared, it was probable that Istvan was the cause.

"You know this legend personally? More importantly, do you have his cell number?"

"Sort of," Char answered. "And he was in Chicago the last I heard. Doubt he could make it here in the next few minutes."

"Too bad. Is he good in bed?"

"What?"

He laughed as she stopped and turned to glare at him. It annoyed him that she always chose not to recognize when he was teasing.

"I see you don't know."

"Of course not. We do not have s.e.x with our own kind."

"Which is stupid if you think about it. Not only stupid, but disgusting."

"Not committing incest is disgusting? You're sick, Sterling."

"You liked kissing me."

"We aren't talking about that."

At least she didn't deny enjoying the kiss. "The point is," Geoff went on, "sleeping with mortals is what's wrong. Never mind incest, isn't our kind's having s.e.x with a lower form of life what's really sick? Maybe taking mortal companions is supposed to be some kind of punishment for our original sin. Do you believe we should be punished for some mythological wrongdoing by the first vampires? What's that got to do with us?"

"This is no time to argue philosophy. Besides, if we don't take companions, how can we make other vampires?"

"Has anyone tried the old-fashioned method in the last few thousand years?"

"Vampires can't have babies."

"But we aren't vampires. Maybe Nighthawks can reproduce biologically instead of magically." He took her arm and turned her toward him. "You want to give it a try?""I want to kill a Nighthawk tonight," she said. "And not necessarily Duke."

Geoff was undeterred by her animosity. "Besides, there wouldn't be any incest involved."

Shock radiated from her like sonar waves. "We were both made by Jimmy Bluecorn!"

Jimmy had really made an impression on the girl. "Made vampires by Jimmy," Geoff clarified. "But not Nighthawks. Jimmy didn't see you through the change to Nighthawk, now did he?"

"No, but - "

"Valentine is my bloodmother. Fond as I am of her, and hot as she is, I wouldn't dream of having s.e.x with her. That would be yucky." Char looked confused, and he could tell that he'd finally said something that had gotten through to her.

"I - " she began.

But the screaming coming toward them with the force of a freight train cut her off. The conversation was abruptly interrupted as the evening's crisis intruded once more.

Geoff heard the pounding of footsteps under the screams. At least two people were coming toward them. The screaming woman's fear perfumed the air, and the hunger radiating from the vampire turned the night grim and ugly. Geoff had seen an innocent woman killed by vampires once. There was something inside him that wouldn't let it happen again.

"The innocent are not strigoi prey," Char said, plucking the thought from Geoff's mind.

He and Char shared a quick glance, and then moved to put themselves between the woman and what hunted her. Geoff could smell the sickness of the hunt-changed female that came toward them. Unlike Char, her illness and what had been forced on her didn't stir any compa.s.sion in him.

"n.o.body ever gave me a silver knife," Geoff told Char. "What do I do?"

"Fangs and claws," she answered, crouching, changing. "Fangs and claws."

Geoff concentrated on the fangs, the claws all right, not his own, but the ones coming toward him. And on the glowing beast's eyes full of cunning and hunger. It was a mistake to meet the creature's eyes.

Hunger flashed between them. Hot desire - for blood, for s.e.x, for meat. "Yours," Geoff said, the memory of Moira's death blocking the baser needs that called to him.

The mortal woman between the Nighthawks and the vampire stopped screaming. Geoff didn't know if she saw him and Char or not. What she did was fall to the ground, and roll, getting out of the way.

The vampire started to lunge after her. Char sprang forward. Geoff was less than a heartbeat behind her. They struck in unison, claws and fangs. It was the vampire's turn to scream. Char's claws dug through flesh, and ribs. Geoff came in through the vampire's spine. Bones cracked loudly. He and Char's hands closed together around a beating heart. Their gazes met over the body, eyes glowing with hunter's fire.

After you, Geoff thought at his hunting partner, and loosed his hold.

Char didn't act the lady. She let him back off from the body. She took the heart out of it, and let the dead creature drop at her feet.

It was the s.e.xiest move Geoff had ever seen.

She didn't eat the heart, but squeezed it hard in her fist. Blood pumped out, staining the sidewalk and walls to either side. It covered Char's clothes, and she held an arm over her face to keep the blood off her muzzle and out of her eyes. She held on to the heart until it stopped beating, then threw it away in a hard lob that bounced the dead muscle off a wall and into the gutter.

Geoff licked his lips, wanting to taste the hot blood and heart meat, but he understood why Char didn't consume the prize. The creature had been a neon junkie to begin with, then changed helplessly into hunting form by magic. Why take even a faint risk of infection for a snack?

He wanted to taste her too, to lick the blood off her face, and the black shirt that didn't show the red stains, and to mate. He loved the way she reacted with merciless instinct when the time came to act. She was a woman of compa.s.sion and a stone killer all at once. d.a.m.n, that was hot!

Char changed back into human form with such speed that Geoff had trouble following it. Not all that practiced in the transformation, it took him a long moment of hard concentration to change back, and it hurt a little.

"d.a.m.n," he muttered when he had a mouth that could form words again.

He looked around for Char, and saw her starting to kneel by the hunched form of the mortal woman. The woman sat up as Char knelt, and everyone's attention was drawn to the mortal man dressed in black leather who ran silently up to them from the direction of the chase.

"Delia?" the newcomer called. He rushed up to the woman. "Baby, you okay?"

"Santini?" Char asked, jumping to her feet. "Santini?"

"You're late!" Delia shouted, letting Santini help her up. Once on her feet, she smacked him on the shoulder. "That was not how the plan was supposed to go!"

"Got tackled by a fairy - or something," Santini explained to his angry bride. "Baker had to drive the b.a.s.t.a.r.d off with a flamethrower." He talked as he patted her down, brushed her off. "You're okay, right? No bites?"

"I've been bitten plenty of times," the former companion reminded her husband. "But not by that loser." Delia turned to look at Geoff and Char. "Thanks."

Char angrily faced the mortals. "What the h.e.l.l were you doing? Using Delia as bait?"

"Yep," Santini replied. "Second time in the last half hour. Sorry it didn't come off like clockwork this time, baby."

Delia's anger at her mate seemed to have pa.s.sed. She patted his bearded cheek. "At least I'm okay. It's a good plan."

"Gotta go," Santini said to Geoff and Char. "Can't leave Baker holding the fort." He took Delia's hand and they started back the way they'd come. "Thanks for the help," he called as they left.

Geoff looked down at the dead vampire, mind racing. The critter had been set up, trapped. Not a bad idea.

"Bait," Geoff said thoughtfully. He glanced over his shoulder, into the darkness where the city's Enforcer wandered, hunted. Geoff could feel the bespelled Nighthawk's searching hunger. He wasn't looking for just any victim. The need in Duke was specific. Not for Chinese, or for pizza, but for "A Nighthawk," Char said, grabbing Geoff's arm. "He wants a Nighthawk."

Geoff smiled slowly. "We can give him one."

"Bait," Char agreed.

"Eddie," they said together.

Ice flayed the skin off Ben's back as he crawled out of the cage, but he accepted the pain for the chance to get to freedom.

Besides, the vicious cold almost felt good in the rising temperature of the room. It was raining in the room now, and steam was rising. He had to get out. He had to get out now. Rain wasn't going to save him.

He thought he could save himself. Thought he knew how, when he could think at all - 'cause his brain was trying to go away.

Animal easier. The longer he was in beast shape, the more beast he became. Smart beast, he told himself. Remember you're a smart beast. Try to be.

He had to get to Reese. Magic was in Reese. Magic had to die. Reese had to die.

Despite the fear, despite the pain, Ben smiled at that. Hunter's mask wasn't made to smile, but the snarl that pulled at his muzzle would do.

He wanted, needed to run once he'd managed to crawl out from under the bottom of the cage. Tough as his skin was, his hands were shredded. Broken claws were growing back, and the regeneration brought nothing but more pain.

The monster was crying now, making sharp, mewling sounds. Ben couldn't look at the thing, not when it was growing out of Clare's disintegrating body. The stench of her burning was still in the air. Fire flickered on the edge of Ben's enhanced peripheral vision. He was going to burn too, if he didn't get out soon.

Animal mind wanted to run. Beast said running was the only way to survive. He could outrun anything.

Not this. Not this.

He was beast, but he wasn't the monster here.

He crawled, crawled. Get to Reese. Get to door. Then get to Reese. Inch, inch, inch. Rain poured onto his back. Water ran beneath hands and knees. Water was rising to a boil. Burning. Fire and water and air burning.

Ben found the door. He hadn't believed he would. He had to stand then, with that thing at his back.

Ben made a picture of Clare form in the beast's mind. He made the beast remember the taste of blood. Hunger for Reese's blood.

Even fear of the monster couldn't stop the need for blood. Need for revenge. Need for freedom.

He rose out of the boiling water, prayed the scalding steam would hide him. He found the doork.n.o.b. Claws made it harder, but he turned it. He jerked so hard the door came off its hinges. Ben fell forward, water pouring out into the hall with him. There were more sprinklers going off out here. An alarm sounded in the distance. Fire alarm, Ben recognized the sound. Sprinklers spraying water. Automatic systems doing their job. Where were people? Where security? Cameras everywhere. Who watching? Clare?

Clare was gone.

Companions, then? Nest members? Slaves? Where were his crew? They were charged with protecting this place.

Reese, he remembered. Reese's magic. Reese must have hurt all of them. Now the place was on fire.