Nika wasn't sure about anything anymore. It all seemed too surreal and distant. She wanted to save Madoc, but she couldn't forget about Tori, either. And she couldn't forget the sight of him twisting Tynan's neck.

"Nika," snapped Logan, his voice impatient. "You need to go now. He doesn't have much time left and there's nothing Tynan or I can do for him. You're the only one who can save him."

"I should bring help. There's no way I can overpower him."

"Anyone you would ask to go with you would be honor-bound to bring him back for execution. Is that what you want?"

"No. Of course not."

"Then no one else can know. Tynan and I know how to keep a secret, but it can't go beyond us. Do you understand?"

She did now. "If I tell anyone, Madoc dies."

"Correct."

Madoc was sick. He needed her.

In the end, Nika knew there was no real choice to make. She cleaned away the blood, put on the borrowed shirt, and went to get the keys to Andra's new truck.

She wasn't sure what she'd finda"the man who took care of her or the monster who killed without remorsea"but she knew she had to look.

Meghan had been driving on the unplowed road long enough that she could feel her shoulders moving up toward her ears. Her back ached with tension, as did her knuckles. Driving in this white mess was maddening, but she couldn't seem to make herself stop. Whatever was compelling her had only grown stronger with each mile that pa.s.sed.

Wind blew a wall of snowflakes at her windshield, blinding her for a moment. When they cleared, a man was standing in the middle of the road.

Meghan panicked for a brief second, but it was long enough for her to make the mistake of trying to stop. She braked and swerved, sending her car into a spin. The world whirled around her in a blindingly white display before the side of her car slammed into something hard. Her head hit the window and everything winked out of existence.

Alexander rushed over the snow to check on Meghan. He hadn't intended her accident to be quite so spectacular, but it was necessary to his plan.

John Hawthorne could not suspect any manipulation. He was the kind of man who would ask too many questionsa"questions that could cause Alexander and the rest of the Sanguinar problems. John's meeting with Meghan had to look accidental, and it had taken almost a year of planning to make that happen.

Meghan's car was slanted in a shallow ditch against the tree she'd hit. The pa.s.senger's side of her car was crumpled, but the engine was still running, keeping her warm.

Alexander shivered in the cold even as he tried to ignore it. John's mind was too strong to make him do anything against his nature, and leaving town to seek out a woman nearly two thousand miles away was definitely not in the man's nature.

So Alexander had devised a plan that would allow John's impressive protective instincts to come into play. With the lovely Meghan as a victim, John would be helpless to resist her.

Alexander made sure no snow blocked the car's exhaust system; then he went to Meghan's side. His hands were frigid as they moved over her face, seeking out any serious injury she might have. He wanted her rattled, not incapacitated.

Her warmth called to him, urging him to draw her closer, but Alexander resisted. John would be driving past here in only a few moments. There wasn't much time.

Alexander needed to be sure there was no internal damage, so he lifted her wrist to his mouth and slid his fangs into the delicate vein throbbing there. Her blood flowed over his tongue, and for a moment, he was lost in the taste of her. Her blood was more powerful than most humans', and the urge to drink his fill and sate his hunger pounded through him.

He needed to have enough of that delicious power to erase his footprints in the snow, without making her too weak to do what he needed her to do.

Before it was too late, he let a small amount of power spill from him, seeking out any injuries she might have. There was a bruise on her head, but it was nothing serious. She was already sliding back toward consciousness and would awake in the next few minutes. He needed to be gone before that happened.

With a force of will, he healed her skin and pulled her wrist from his mouth.

Alexander positioned her so the bruise on her head was visible through the window, opened her coat, and unb.u.t.toned her shirt enough to display her ample bosom. If he was going to set a trap for a human man, he might as well use all the bait at his disposal.

Nika had been on the road for only twenty minutes when she felt the first tug of a sgath on her mind.

Panic slithered through her, making her hands sweat as they clenched on the steering wheel.

This couldn't be happening nowa"not while she was on the road and snow was coming down faster and faster, and Madoc was getting farther away from her with every pa.s.sing second. It was the worst possible time.

She gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried to lock every mental barrier she had into place.

The next pull was stronger, more forceful. It made her head spin until she had to pull Andra's new truck to the side of the road before she slid off.

"Madoc!" She called out for him, wishing now that she hadn't killed his cell phone.

A low, hungry growl reverberated inside her skull. She caught a flash of huge paws sinking silently into a thin layer of snow, felt a chill invade her hands and feet, smelled the cold air. Her stomach twisted with hunger.

Hunt, kill, eat.

The sgath wanted her to come with it. She made it smarter, stronger.

"No," Nika growled into the cab of the truck as she fought the monster's pull.

Then there were two. They tugged at her mind, trying to pull it in different directions.

Outside the walls of Dabyr it was easier for them to reach her.

"Madoc." Her cry was weaker this time, and she knew she was losing this battle.

Nika scrambled for her cell phone and dialed Andra. No answer. She tried Grace, with the same useless result. Tynan was the only other one she could think to call.

He answered immediately: "Did you find him?"

"No. I need help. The sgath want me. I need Madoc."

"Hold on."

He was gone for too long. Nika had begun to shake from the effort to resist them. Before, the cold had helped, so she rolled down the windows and let the winter air flood the truck.

The sgath jerked away from the cold, giving her a moment to catch her breath.

Tynan came back on the line. "Nicholas has a tracking device on all the cars. The one Madoc took is not far from you. Hang up so he can call you and talk you through it, okay?"

Nika nodded, forgetting he couldn't see her for a moment before she answered, "Thanks."

She hung up and her phone rang again immediately.

Nicholas's voice sounded weary, but gentle. "Heya, Nika. I hear you're in a bit of a bind. Can you drive?"

Her teeth were chattering, but at least the cold kept the sgath at bay. "Yeah. Think so."

"Okay, then. Let's go find Madoc."

He guided her to a highway, then had her exit in only a few miles.

"I put his phone in the garbage disposal," she admitted.

"Don't worry. Knowing him, he deserved it. I'll get him a new one."

If he lived long enough.

"How much farther?" Beneath the snow was a gravel road, but it seemed less slick than the paved roads had been.

"You should be able to see his truck any minute. On your right."

The truck lurched as it pa.s.sed over a deep pothole. She cleared the top of a hill, and down in the next valley she saw the gleam of chrome.

"I see it."

"Great. Need anything else?"

As she got closer, she could see that the truck sat empty. She slowed, and through the open windows, she heard a metallic hiss followed by an enraged roar.

She knew that voice. Madoc.

Nika turned toward the sound and saw Madoc with his back to a blunt rock outcropping. In front of him were half a dozen sgath, only they were bigger than any of the ones she'd seen before. Their sharklike teeth were bared, and glowing yellow saliva dripped from their jaws.

"G.o.d, no," she breathed.

"What?" asked Nicholas, the word tight with panic.

Nika had forgotten she held the phone until she heard his voice. "He's going to get himself killed."

She dropped the phone, dug under the seat for Andra's shotgun, grabbed a handful of extra sh.e.l.ls, and ran toward Madoc, screaming to get the monsters' attention.

Madoc heard Nika's war cry and saw her racing across the snowy ground. Her white hair flew out behind her as she leaped over a fallen tree.

f.u.c.k. The woman was going to get herself killed before he could do a thing to stop it. He had to get between her and them before she got too close.

Rage poured through him, giving him strength and speed. Three of the sgath had turned to look at her. He plunged his sword into the back of the skull of the closest one, pushed himself over its body, and jerked the sword from its twitching carca.s.s from the far side.

Two of the beasts abandoned him and lunged toward her. She stopped, skidding over the ground, leveled the shotgun, and fired.

Her eyes squeezed shut and her body jerked with the force of the weapon, but her shot had hit one of the sgath, knocking it into the next.

They went down in a pile of claws and teeth, fighting each other for a few precious seconds.

Madoc jumped toward them, slicing through the air as he landed. This sword's balance was different from the one he'd used for centuries, and because of that, his aim was off by a fraction. Rather than lopping off the head, he missed and his sword lodged in one of the sgath's shoulders.

The thing turned on him, baring its teeth. Madoc kicked it in the head with his boot, stunning it.

He heard Nika scream his name in terror. His gaze went toward her, unable to go anywhere else in the face of a scream like that. He saw her point at something behind him; then her body crumpled to the ground like a puppeteer had cut her strings.

Madoc bellowed and headed for her, needing to catch her before she hit the ground even though he knew it was a futile attempt before he'd even started moving. He felt something tug on the back of his leather jacket; then a cold blast of wind hit his back as claws barely missed his skin.

Madoc turned toward the sgath, his sword lifted to defend against another attack.

The sgath that had slashed his jacket to pieces was in the process of clawing at him again, only now that the blade was in the way, it ended up severing its own paw.

Behind that one, there were still four more coming for him. Only one of them was injured. Those weren't good odds on the best of nights, but tonight, with Nika lying helpless only a few feet away and Madoc fighting with an unfamiliar sword, the odds were f.u.c.king grim.

Instincts embedded in his DNA demanded that he protect her. He'd come here tonight to die, knowing that the sgath left alive were strong, smart, and fast. A six-on-one fight was a lost cause waiting to happen. If he took out half of them before he died, he'd be lucky. But the rules of the game had changed. Nika was at stake now, and that changed everything.

Madoc bellowed, rushing the closest sgath, forcing it back with a series of fast, short jabs from his sword. None of the strikes. .h.i.t, but they moved the f.u.c.ker back enough that he wasn't going to be trampling Nika with his booted feet.

The injured sgath was busy licking up a puddle of its own blood, which would heal it, but there was nothing Madoc could do about that. He'd kill it when he could. There were four more to deal with right now.

Two of them moved out to his sides to flank him while the one in his face kept his attention. He saw them moving, knew what they were doing, but there wasn't a thing he could do to stop them until the odds were more in his favor.

Madoc swiped at the one nearest, angling to his left.

The one on his right let out a deep hissing kind of growl, and the others' ears twitched as if listening.

Then, as if they'd ch.o.r.eographed it, all four of them charged at once.

Madoc fell back. One of them got in a hit on his arm. Its claws cut through his leather jacket and raked over his skin. He could feel the sting of poison as it entered his system and knew he was totally f.u.c.ked now. First, his reaction speed would slow; then he'd simply collapse, leaving Nika defenseless.

Like h.e.l.l. He'd just have to take them all out before that could happen.

The sgath snarled and snapped as they fought to get closer. He kept his sword moving to fend them off, unable to get in a clean blow. With each beat of his heart, his movements became slower, his mind foggier.

He was failing Nika, letting her die. These things were going to kill him; then they'd tear her delicate flesh apart and feed on her blood.

Rage exploded inside Madoc, driving back some of the effects of the poison. He kicked one of the sgath away with his boot, giving himself a little room to maneuver.

Of course, that gave them room, too, and the one that had already gotten in a blow came back for seconds. Only this time, it wanted a bite.

Sharp yellow teeth closed in on Madoc's thigh. He saw the bite coming, but was too busy with the other sgath to stop it. He braced himself for the blow, hoping it wouldn't take his leg clean off and f.u.c.k up his balance.

Then suddenly, there was a streak of oily fur where the thing had been a second ago as one of the other sgath attacked it. It turned on its own kind and sank its teeth into its fellow sgath's neck.

Madoc didn't question his luck. There wasn't time. With those two distracted, he had a fighting chance.

He shoved his blade through the bottom jaw of the sgath on his left, pinning its mouth shut. Then he levered its heavy body at the tip of his sword, flinging it at the one left standing. They toppled over. Madoc didn't wait for them to regain their balance. He followed, hacked the head off one, and leaped over the pulsing arc of black blood that spewed out of its neck.

A hard boot to the side of the next sgath's head kept its teeth away, but its back claws caught Madoc's leg. Pain and fury collided in his chest, coming out as a ragged bellow.

Madoc sliced off the offending paw and shoved his sword into the thing's gut. It wriggled and howled as he cut it open. It took only seconds to kill, but each one of those seconds left him slower and groggier than before.

The two that were fighting continued to do so while Madoc sneaked up behind the one trying to heal itself with its own blood. His blade dived down in a deadly arc, but his strength was fading and the cut wasn't clean. His sword lodged in the thing's spine. It bucked, knocking Madoc to the ground. The motion shoved the sword in deeper, which must have cut through something vital. The thing collapsed, twitched twice, then went still.