"Do you think you can trust her?" These words were spoken with far more seriousness than anything else the Manticore had said.

"She's Garrison's," Laurent went on. "Your blood is in her, but so is the Patron's DNA." He stood and moved away. "Can a bond overcome birth? Where does her loyalty really lie?"

With those words, Laurent faded into the night. Tribe members were the masters of vanishing into shadows. For all their bad habits, they had a certain dark style.

And he left Colin with dark thoughts. He tried to let Laurent's words roll off him, to remember that the Manticore was working his own agenda. Of course, that didn't make everything Laurent said a lie. And there was the matter of trust.

One thing that bothered Colin was how worried Mia had been about having her deeper thoughts read. Fear of violation? Or was she hiding some plan of the Patron's? He didn't know, and he hated thinking about it.

It had been a rough couple of days, and it just got rougher and rougher.

Colin tiredly stretched out on the bench and stared up at the night sky for a while. He drifted off for a while, but restless need wouldn't let him sleep.

After a while he stood up, stretched, and headed back toward the house. "That's it. Time's up. She's had enough time to think."

A sense of panic drove Mia to sit up and look around frantically. She heard someone move. "Colin?"

"No," Domini answered from what seemed a long way away.

Mia blinked and rubbed her eyes. It had been dark, and she'd been dreaming and-"Was I asleep?"

"Yes." Domini sounded very calm, rea.s.suring. Mia looked toward her. Domini was on the couch on the other side of the bedroom where Mia had been kept before the bonding ceremony. It took Mia a few more moments to piece together the memory of being shown in here and left alone.

She rubbed her eyes again. "I was supposed to be thinking, but I think I just crawled into bed and pa.s.sed out."

"You needed the rest," Domini answered. "They don't need to sleep as much as we do, so they'll run us ragged without realizing it."

"How long was I out?"

"Maybe three hours. Not long, but maybe long enough to help you think straight." Domini gestured toward a covered tray on a low table near her. "There's tea and food. Would you prefer coffee?"

Mia got out of bed and crossed the room. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, she eyed Domini. "Did they send you to talk to me because you're a mortal who's bonded to a vampire? Are you going to convince me that I can trust you because we have so much in common?"

Domini reached over and flipped the tray covering. The scent of Earl Grey tea perfumed the air, and Mia's stomach began to rumble at the sight of a plate of sandwiches, and another one piled with fancy cookies.

"We do have a lot in common," Domini said, not seeming concerned at Mia's suspicious att.i.tude. "Though I'm notexactly mortal."

She looked Mia in the eye and added with quiet intensity, "And it is all about trust."

Mia poured herself a cup of tea, spooned in sugar, then s.n.a.t.c.hed up half a sandwich. It was ham and cheese, and she ate it in three bites. Then she gulped down the wonderfully warm, sweet tea. She tried the cookies next.

She sighed when she was done, and the plates were mostly empty. "What do you mean, not exactly?" she asked, looking the other woman over curiously. "Are you turning into a vampire?" A jolt of alarm ripped through her. "Will I?"

Domini gave her a stern look. "Even the most amateur hunters know better than that."

Mia let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, I forgot that one for a moment. But if you're not-"

"I will eventually become a vampire," Domini said. "It's rare, but it sometimes happens. But the only reason I can change is because my grandmother is a vampire. My grandfather is mortal. And-here's where what you and I have in common comes in- he's from a family of hunters. Actually, he's from a family of Purists." When Mia looked at her blankly, she said, "You don't know about the Purists?"

"I know very little about hunters," Mia said.

"You were trying to find them, Tony said. But you didn't know where to find them?"

Mia nodded.

"That tells me that your great-grandfather has no interest in legally hunting rogue vampires. Tony is our local liaison with the hunters. Since we found out the Patron's name, Tony has been trying to find out if the hunters know anything about Garrison.

Though they have the family name in their database, no one has heard of him. If he's so rich and wants to hunt vampires, why send an untrained female out alone, when there are official resources he could contribute to?" She clasped her hands over a raised knee, and tilted her head to one side. "My guess is that the old man set you up as bait. But you need to make up your own mind about him."

Mia poured herself more tea and gave Domini a skeptical look. "Then what are you here to influence me about?"

Domini smiled. "About your place in vampire society." "You mean about where my loyalties should lie?"

"About trust. You have to make up your mind who deserves your trust."

Mia put the fine china cup down so hard it rattled the other dishes. "Hey! I don't know you."

"You know me better than you do your great-grandfather. At least you've spent more time with me."

Mia had to nod her agreement to this.

"I know that Earl Grey is your favorite tea-and that when Colin offers you the choice, you're going to take the ruby instead of the diamond."

"What?"

"Sorry." Domini tapped her forehead. "Having a psychic episode. I get flashes of future events. Junk stuff, usually. But that brings me back to how hunters and vampires are really a lot alike, and how this knowledge will help you make a more informed decision about helping find the Patron."

"How are hunters and vampires alike?"

"There's a lot of psychic talent in both groups, and they intermarry a lot more than either will admit." She held up a hand and leaned forward earnestly while Mia digested this information. "But the decision about the Patron is still yours."

Mia remembered how adamant Colin had been about her helping him on his Patron-smashing quest. "You think so?"

"Oh, the boys will huff and puff and try to guilt you into living up to their n.o.ble ideals, and Colin will be the worst. But they won'tmake you do what they want. They are the good guys."

"The Manticores aren't good guys."

"No," Domini agreed. "The Manticores, and the other Tribes like them, are one of the reasons that some mortal vampire hunters still exist. The Tribes are the reason that the Purists still hunt all vampires, and that even the more reasonable hunters will never completely trust the Clans or the Families. As long as the Purists exist, vampires can never completely trust mortals. People like Garrison, people who use anybody for their own selfish reasons, just make it harder for everybody to trust anybody." Domini uncurled herself from the couch and stood. "But the point is still, who do you trust? Who's your family? And what are you going to do about it? That'll be Colin," she added, just before a knock sounded on the door.

Mia watched Domini open the door and glide out as Colin entered and announced, "We have to talk."

Chapter Twenty-one.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Hasn't there been enough talking? There's a couple of ham sandwiches left," Mia added as her bondmate crossed the room.

He was wearing jeans and a tight black T-shirt that emphasized his leanly muscled body, and she couldn't help but appreciate how good he looked. They'd only been separated for a few hours, but seeing him sent a surge of longing through her. More than a strong physical reaction, a sense of security blossomed up from some deep part of her now that he was with her.

The front part of her brain could argue that this was a false sense of well-being, but it didn't argue hard at the moment. Besides, it had never been the front part of her brain that was attracted to Colin. She'd gone on instinct with him from the first.

Which was probably not good in the long run. Or was instinct what mattered? Where did trust come from? The gut, or the logic center of the brain?It's l.u.s.t, she reminded herself. It rhymes with trust, but it's not the same thing.

And just where does the heart come into it?

"How's the thinking coming along?" he asked.

"I think I'm thinking too much about anatomy," she answered. "Or maybe it's philosophy. Either way, it doesn't make any sense."

"Anatomy, huh?" He picked up a sandwich and settled on the wide arm of her chair. "What did Domini want?" he asked around a bite of food, and put a hand on her shoulder. The contact between them was as electric as ever, even if he had been touching her like this an awful lot lately. There was something proprietary about this touch, this one spot of contact that linked him to her.

She leaned sideways, letting her shoulder and head touch his side. His hand moved from her shoulder to the back of her neck, and his thumb began to work at muscles she hadn't realized were tense.

"Domini was being a cheerleader for your side," she answered.

"Myside ?"

She sighed, partly in exasperation, partly because what he was doing felt good. "Oh, don't get all huffy."

"Have you picked a side yet?"

"I've been adopted into Clan Reynard, haven't I?"

"Bonded."

"It's the same thing."

It amazed her that neither of them were speaking these words in anger. There was tension between them, all right, but her body was growing tight with desire.

"Have you thought about the Patron?"

"Some. Mostly I took a nap."

"That wasn't very productive."

"I dreamed about you."

"As you should. Was I naked?"

She gave a snort of laughter, and as she did, Colin somehow managed to slide down from his perch to squeeze himself beside her in the plush armchair. It was a tight fit, one that made her pleasantly aware of every bit of Colin's hard, toned body.

"We need to talk," he said, and kissed the back of her neck. Then his lips brushed the side of her throat, and up to her ear.

The breath caught in her throat, but Mia managed to say, "Keep doing that, and we won't be able to talk."

Wanna bet?

She laughed. Not out loud, but inside her head, sharing her amus.e.m.e.nt with him on the psychic level. Desire bubbled up from the laughter, and burst like sparks that heated from the soul out to the skin.It's been hours,he thought.I missed you.

She felt the truth in the thought.

Who would have thought the truth could be so s.e.xy? It sent desire rippling through her in a way that was strong, deep, and devastating. There was a new level calling to her here. A challenge to go beyond everything she'd experienced before.

Mia liked challenges.

I like you thoughtful, Colin.

Colin. The name had taste and texture, color and depth, in her mind. Sweet, spicy taste, scarlet silk and sharp iron entwined in texture, shifting changing color of fire.

Caramia.

He thought her name, and she became aware of his response to her-the velvet touch of yellow roses, the taste of cinnamon candy, warm coffee with cream and lots of sugar, the rush of wind during free fall.

All the great guitar solos ever played burned through them: Eric and Carlos and Jimi and Lenny and- After a while, Mia managed to pull back into herself enough to think,This is so, so- Psychedelic?

Yeah. Don't you have any Coldplay in there?

Me, I like Metallica.

She found her voice. "Does this sort of thing happen often?"

"I don't know-I'm new here." His voice sounded raw with desire, with emotions he'd never known before.

Mia knew how he felt. Not only because she felt new herself, but because they were bound together. They were in this together.

She opened her eyes, to find herself gazing into Colin's. And she realized that her eyes hadn't been closed; they'd just been lost in each other.

"Nice," she said.

He pulled her into his lap, and his hand came up under her shirt to stroke her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "Nicer," he said.

His fingertips barely touched her, barely moved, spreading a slow fire from the outside in.

He held her still, not letting her move. And he kept on caressing and kissing her with the slowest and gentlest of touches. He stripped her of her clothes, but without any hurry, thoroughly stimulating every new bare spot, taking delight in learning her responses. He took such delight in her body, it was as if he was discovering her sensuality for the first time.

It made her feel like this was their first time, as well.

But Colin's subtlety kept her a millisecond away from the desperately desired cataclysm, driving her crazy.

Before long, she was begging him for more.

"More?" He loved being in control of her pleasure-and it was fine with her.