He had barely finished his last word, when Ursula pressed her lips on his and seared them with a kiss. Had Cain not been standing there, watching them, Oliver would have allowed himself to indulge in more than just a kiss. But the situation wasn't over yet, and there were still innocents that needed saving.

As he looked to the hallway, he noticed several of Vera's girls approach. "s.h.i.t, they must have heard the gunshot. Cain, I think you'll have some cleaning up to do."

Cain nodded when all of a sudden Vera burst into the room. Her gaze darted from Oliver and Ursula to Cain and Thomas then back to Oliver. "I found Ophelia dead in one of the rooms," she murmured, shutting the door behind her. "A broken neck."

Oliver closed his eyes. "Oh, s.h.i.t. Corbin must have killed her."

"Corbin? The new client you referred?" Vera asked.

"So that's how he got in."

Cain lifted his hand. "I'll fill you in shortly, Vera. But first you and I will need to clean up." He motioned to the door behind which Vera's girls were still hovering. Oliver could hear their concerned voices through the door.

Cain ushered Vera out of the room, following her.

Oliver looked at Thomas who stared at his gadget, deep in concentration. Knowing he shouldn't disturb him, he pulled Ursula aside.

"How did you know that Corbin would come for me?" she asked quietly.

"When I found Corbin had moved everything out of his house, I was close to going insane. I knew then that he'd set up the trap to get two birds with one stone: get me and Scanguards off his back, while s.n.a.t.c.hing you to take you and the girls away."

"I never suspected him being the boss," Ursula admitted. "He was just like any other leech. He didn't stand out."

"I guess that was the point. He wanted to blend in so that he could keep an eye on things. I'm just wondering how he could hide the fact that he was an addict. I saw no signs in him." Oliver couldn't believe that he'd been so blind.

"Maybe he wasn't an addict."

"But how?"

"What if he never drank much of our blood?"

"Go on," Oliver said with interest.

She lowered her voice even more, obviously not wanting to by overheard by Thomas, even though Oliver knew that his colleague could hear her if he was inclined to listen. "Remember when you used mind control to make me think you bit me?"

He nodded. How could he forget? "But mind control doesn't work on vampires. The guards would have noticed."

"He could simply have dug his fangs in on that side of the neck that was turned away from the guard, but never sucked on the vein. The guard would have smelled the blood because he punctured our skin, but we would have never known that he didn't drink from us because he used mind control to make us think we sensed him sucking on our vein."

"My G.o.d, you might be right. How else could he have maintained control?" He smiled at her. "You're very smart."

She returned his smile then turned serious again. "Will we find them?"

Instead of an answer, he turned to look at Thomas, who looked up from the phone at the same moment, a triumphant grin on his face.

"Got it!"

37.

The truck stop along the freeway was busy. More than two dozen large trucks, most of them eighteen-wheelers, were parked in neat rows, many of them presumably resting there for the night. Some of the drivers were most likely already sleeping in their cabs, others still sat in the diner eating a late dinner.

Oliver pulled the minivan into the parking lot and turned off the engine. Next to him, Thomas peered out toward the trucks. Gabriel, along with Amaury, who'd come back from Oakland a short while earlier, having left a contingent of their staff watching the warehouse, sat on the back bench.

Ursula sat between the two large vampires, still not entirely comfortable with them, but she knew she would eventually get used to them. Oliver's presence made her feel safe. He turned his head, as did Thomas.

"I'm afraid we have no information on what the truck looks like, but the email we found on Corbin's phone said that somebody would deliver Ursula to this spot. Guess Corbin was still trying to protect his ident.i.ty, because his note refers to a new guard bringing her in," Oliver said.

"In that case," Gabriel answered. "Why not give them what they expect? It'll draw them out."

Oliver nodded. "That's what I was thinking." He looked at her. "You'll be perfectly safe. My colleagues will be ready to jump as soon as the guards reveal themselves. They'll never even get close to you."

Ursula nodded, having come to the same conclusion. "I agree."

"Good. I'll take Ursula out and walk toward the diner, crossing in front of the trucks anda""

"No!" she interrupted him.

A confused look crossed Oliver's face. "I thought you agreed."

"I want Gabriel to take me."

When Oliver tried to protest, she held up her hand. "Hear me out. Corbin followed you, which means most likely he saw where Scanguards operates from. What if he's seen your colleagues too? And what if he snapped pictures to give them to his staff so they can be on the lookout?" She pointed to Gabriel. "You told me that Gabriel came back from New York only a few hours ago, when Corbin was most likely already planning to s.n.a.t.c.h me from Vera's place. He wouldn't have seen Gabriel."

Then she gave Gabriel a sideways glance and smiled at him. "No offense, but you look like you could be working for Corbin." Her eyes wandered to the large scar on his face.

After a moment, Gabriel looked at Oliver. "She's right. On both counts: Corbin wouldn't have seen me, and I guess I do look a bit like a thug."

Grudgingly Oliver conceded and stared at Gabriel. "Fine. But if anything happens to her, I'm coming after you."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and reached for the door. He slid it open.

"Wait," Oliver said and reached in his pocket, pulling out a stake. He handed it to her. "Just in case." With one last smile at him, Ursula followed Gabriel out of the car. She stuffed the stake into her jacket pocket.

"I think you should grab my arm and pull me along," she murmured under her breath. "Corbin's guards weren't exactly friendly."

Gabriel took her arm and gave her a gentle shove forward. They rounded a few cars and came into view of the trucks. Slowly and deliberately, Gabriel led her between the two rows of parked trucks. From the corner of her eyes, she scanned the trucks for any movement as they continued walking. The headlights of one truck blinked on, then were extinguished again.

"This must be it," Gabriel said under his breath and pulled her toward it as she pretended to move reluctantly. Despite the knowledge that she was safe and that the other men from Scanguards weren't far, her heartbeat accelerated, and her palms became damp. With every step they took toward the truck that had flashed its lights, her pulse raced faster.

Suddenly the cab of the truck opened, and a man stepped down from it. When he hit the ground and walked forward, Ursula recognized him as one of the guards. Instantly, she froze. The guard, whose name she remembered as Marcus, flashed a nasty grin, having recognized her too. Then his eyes wandered to her companion, looking Gabriel up and down.

The click of a gun cut through the silence. Before she could react, a familiar voice addressed them from behind. "Ursula, my favorite of all."

"Dirk," she choked out before turning.

He stood several feet away from them, and was just emerging from between two parked trucks.

Dirk waved his gun in Gabriel's direction. Ursula noticed that a silencer was attached to its nozzle. "And who's this?"

"Must be the new guard the boss was mentioning," the other guard replied.

"No, he's not," Dirk claimed.

Ursula's heart stopped. Behind Dirk another man emerged from the shadows. Dirk motioned his head toward the man. "That's the new guard. When the boss didn't show up to hand Ursula over to him he followed his orders and alerted me."

Marcus pulled his gun, pointing it at Gabriel who hadn't moved. Now Gabriel spoke for the first time. "What makes you think that that guy is the new guard? Way I see it, I brought the girl, he didn't."

Marcus, clearly confused, moved his gun, pointing it at the stranger who'd sidled up to Dirk.

Dirk tilted his head to the vampire next to him. "Give my colleague the code word."

"Emperors' blood," the stranger said.

"f.u.c.k!" Marcus hissed and aimed his gun back at Gabriel, ready to shoot.

Faster than her eyes could follow, Gabriel lunged at Marcus, kicking the gun from his hand as a scuffle ensued. Fists went flying in such rapid pace that it almost made her dizzy. Their movements were a blur to her eyes.

To her left she saw two men barreling toward them: Oliver and Amaury. Thomas was nowhere to be seen. Seeing them too, Dirk dove for her, his intent clear: he wanted to use her as a human shield. He slammed his body against hers, temporarily robbing her of her breath.

Shots rang out, and with horror she saw that the new guard was firing in Oliver's and Amaury's direction. Her heart stopped.

"No!" she screamed, praying that none of the bullets would hit Oliver.

Dirk whipped her around, dragging her toward the truck, preventing her from seeing what was happening to her rescuers. She struggled against him, kicking her foot into his shin, but it appeared that it made no difference to her attacker.

"Ursula, no!!!" she heard Oliver yell behind her just as another shot was fired.

"f.u.c.k!" Dirk hissed under his breath, but continued dragging her toward the door of the truck. "We're leaving, b.i.t.c.h!"

She turned her head as much as she could and saw Gabriel still fight with Marcus. The new guard was engaging Amaury in a fist fight, and Oliver was nowhere to be seen.

"No!" she wailed, anger and pain surging within her. Where was Oliver? She couldn't allow her mind to continue her next thought. Instead, she acted on pure instinct.

When Dirk slammed her against the door of the truck and released her for a second to reach for the handle, she slipped her hand into her jacket pocket. She turned, glaring at him. "Of all the guards I hate you most!"

When he grinned, mocking her, she spit in this face.

Her action distracted him for a tiny moment, but it was all she needed: she rammed the stake into his chest. With satisfaction, she watched as he turned into dust before her eyes.

Behind him, Oliver emerged out of nowhere, gun drawn. He froze in his movement, jerking the gun to the side, away from her. He'd been about to shoot Dirk in the back.

He rushed to her, pulling her into his arms. By the time he released her, everything was quiet again. Her eyes searched the area where the fight had taken place. None of their enemies were left.

Gabriel and Amaury stood there, breathing a little heavier than before, but there was no scratch on them.

"And Thomas?" she asked, holding her breath.

"I'm here," came Thomas's voice from between two trucks. He emerged a second later. "Humans. They were approaching. I had to make sure they turned back, or they might have gotten killed."

She nodded, relieved, then she felt Oliver shelve her chin and turn her face to make her look at him. "I'm so proud of you, Ursula."

She tossed a glance at the spot where Dirk's ashes had settled on the ground. "He was the one who taunted me every night."

"n.o.body will ever hurt you again," Oliver promised and hugged her tightly. "Now let's get the girls."

Together with Oliver's colleagues, they walked to the back of the truck. Amaury gripped the lever, opening the lock. Then he and Gabriel swung the double doors open.

It was dark inside, but Ursula heard silent gasps coming from the farthest end.

"Come out, you're free," Gabriel called into the truck, but n.o.body moved.

"They're scared," Ursula explained. Then she stepped up on a metal step to lift herself higher and addressed them in Chinese. "It's me: Wei Ling. You're safe, sisters. Come out, we're going home."

"Wei Ling," she heard them reply. "Wei Ling came back for us."

One-by-one, the women walked to the opening, looking first at her, then eyed the men behind her. "They're our friends," she a.s.sured them in Chinese.

The vampires helped the girls from the truck. When they'd all exited their temporary prison, they huddled around her. Ursula's eyes searched for one girl in particular. "Lanfen," she whispered. "Where are you?"

A hand touched her shoulder, and she turned.

"I'm here," Lanfen answered.

Relief washed over her. "I thought you were gone."

"I was sick," Lanfen continued. "But I made it."

They hugged, holding each other close. Tears shot to Ursula's eyes.

"We're going home," she whispered again and allowed herself to cry in the bosom of her sisters.

38.