Koen greeted him with a big hug. Ahmose thought that if the children of the sun had kept a hierarchical society like his own with the children of the moon, Koen would have been their leader, their king, as he was. But the children of the sun had become scattered nearly from the beginning over a thousand years ago, and there was no community like his in Africa.

Ahmose had learned to love this man who had a heart the size of the Mother Earth.

Koen slapped Ahmose on the back aggressively.

"You must come and have a meal with us before we go. I had my chef prepare uniquely French and American meals for you."

"Gladly. My latest pa.s.sion. I have found the intriguing selections from other countries my favorite feature of travel. Now that I have a taste for it, my brother, I would like to continue."

Koen grinned, his smiles the biggest and brightest Ahmose had ever seen. Koen had found his mate this past year, so he had reason for such unbounded happiness.

"You enjoyed your vacation," Koen remarked.

"Very much, until one of Lamont's henchmen shot me in the head."

"What the f.u.c.k? Can't a man enjoy a seaside wine without a bullet in the brain?"

Ahmose smiled. "I guess not. Because of the attack, though, I did have a delightful two days with a local woman I cannot forget. In fact, once we are finished, I plan to return to California."

Koen lifted his eyebrows. "That's a long way to go for a pretty girl. She must be something special."

"It would seem so." Ahmose followed Koen into a large dining room. "I can't get her out of my head."

"Ah, that's dangerous, my brother. It's how Alisa ended up here. One night with her, and I was lost in blue eyes that followed me until I found her again."

Ahmose shook his head. "I doubt that. But something unique did happen and I don't have a choice. I must return and find out why that happens to be so, why she haunts me."

"Well, good luck, and by that, I hope that she is someone special for you. You must try these hamburgers! They are Alisa's favorites. She taught my chef to load them with sauces and spicy peppers and onions, and they are so good, the taste of the sauces stay with you for days."

"I look forward to it. She taught my cooks a few things when she came to my village. Your mate is welcome back any time."

"That's an invitation we expect to accept as soon as Lamont is dead. Xavier, David, and Eillia will join us shortly and we will leave. This time, we take no chances. We leave the most powerful first bloods known to care for our children. Park and Tamesine combined are invincible. Other than taking them to your hidden village, they couldn't be more secure. We don't come back until Lamont is a dot on the landscape."

"Agreed. Now, where is this hamburger?"

IN L.A.

Tommy dialed the cell number he had for Mal. It rang four times and then voicemail picked up.

"Figures," he whispered, as her message played. Once it ended, he spoke clearly into the mic since his wife told him that he always mumbled.

"Mal, you had a visitor. He said to tell you his name is Jinx and he has the dirt on Canzone. The guy was going f.u.c.king nuts because you weren't home, Mal. He said he had to give you the information. I freaking thought he was going to explode, so I told him I'd get it to you for him. He was incredibly relieved, left two big folders here for you, and disappeared. Well, anyway, call me back. Uh, this is Tommy."

He looked down at the two thick folders on his coffee table. Man, he hoped she called back, because he had a really bad feeling about them.

The flight to London ended quickly, but the vampires had to stay parked in a secure location until they could safely go out into the city to begin their battle.

Eillia had all the intel since she was the one who had been in touch with the mercenary who had become an unexpected ally when they fought Lamont at the facility in Switzerland about three months ago.

"Taggert gave us the location, the security details, Lamont's London residence, and Claude's apartment. If we break into teams, we can get Lamont in his home, capture Claude, and then come back together to destroy what is, G.o.d, I hope, this psycho's final location."

"This Taggert, he's completely reliable?" Ahmose asked, because he knew that Taggert was human and had been the leader of one of Lamont's trusted security teams.

"He is. Proven, more than once. In this, he is in more danger than we are, because he's much more fragile and both Lamont and Claude know he's betrayed the society. If they find him before we get him out, he's done. Taggert is a priority, Ahmose, we must get him out safely."

"I will do what I can to a.s.sure his escape."

"All right, everyone, sleep now, and quickly. We rise again in five hours to face the greatest enemy we've ever known to vampires." Koen beamed his signature grin. "What an adventure, eh?"

"You're such a big kid! Lie down, Koen, before I push you down," Eillia teased, and grabbed a blanket to commandeer the plushest sofa in the safety room built inside of the airplane hangar.

The vampires rested until it was okay to take the black SUV toward downtown London.

IN MOLOKAI.

A message from Tommy? Why the h.e.l.l would Tommy be trying to contact her?

Mal pressed the accept b.u.t.ton and listened to Tommy's rambling message. He sounded worried, which was rare. Tommy was the original easy-going party boy, she'd never seen him rattled. Jinx had been at her apartment? With some papers for her? What the h.e.l.l could that be? The Jinx she'd been chasing for months wouldn't go anywhere near her place if he had a choice. Did he have a choice? Had Canzone sent him?

"Yeah, Tommy?" she said, as her phone connected with his.

"Mal? Hey. d.a.m.n, I'm glad you responded. Where are you?"

"Distant. Really distant. Tell me more."

"I told you most of it in the message. He was frantic to get this stuff to you. No, man, he was manic. He really freaked me out. Do you want me to send this to you?"

"Tommy, do me a favor and take the stuff to Captain Kordalis. If it's critical, he'll let me know, okay? I appreciate it."

"Okay. I looked at it and it's just a bunch of invoices and shipping manifests, some real estate stuff, several banks listed and what looks like account numbers. Maybe you guys will know what it means. I'll take it tomorrow morning."

As she listened to Tommy detail what Jinx had given him, her heart pounded. Was it possible? Had Ahmose sent Jinx in as a Trojan horse? This might be all they needed to get Canzone.

"Yeah, Tommy, thanks, and make sure you deliver that directly to the Captain, no one else, okay? First thing tomorrow, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, you can trust me, you know that."

"I do. I'll be back in a few weeks."

Ending the call, Mal pitched her phone onto the couch. Hmmm. If this was Ahmose's gift to her, she needed to be there. Canzone had Jinx kill Luka, so she owed it to her partner to avenge his murder. It didn't matter that the Captain wanted her out of the way now. It didn't matter because she was flying back tomorrow night.

If she was going to have this child and relocate here to Hawaii, she had to wrap up all of her old business.

Canzone was her old business. Once she put that to rest, and arrested the motherf.u.c.ker, shut down his entire operation, then she'd come back here to raise her child in the safety and serenity of these islands.

She looked down at her belly. "You deserve this life, nani, and I am going to see to it that you have it. I loved being a cop, but I'm not raising you in the life."

Mal thought of her father, injured, discontent, broken...heart broken, an ex-cop with a drinking problem. She was choosing a different path for her own small family and pa.s.sionately hoped that Kai would come back to stay and help her raise her little girl.

After the beep-tones stopped, a smooth, elegant feminine voice spoke. "h.e.l.lo?"

Kai's expression was hard as he responded. "Erin? It's Kai Kalani."

A brief hesitation preceded a soft laugh, her Irish accent only apparent when she spoke again. "Wow. I really didn't think I would ever hear from you again. Although, it makes me curious...and a little happy."

"I wasn't planning this call, but something's happened. My daughter has had an incident. With a vampire."

"Did she? Was it as lovely an incident as ours?"

"She's pregnant."

Erin didn't respond right away. Then she said, more seriously now, "That's fascinating. Vampires can't make children."

"She says this one did. What the h.e.l.l? Erin, I'm way out of my wheelhouse on this. Is it possible?"

"Not ordinarily, but yes, if it was a first blood, then she could indeed be carrying a vampire child. First bloods are incredibly rare. And if she's with child, it makes her incredibly rare as well. Do you know his name?"

"She didn't say. Erin, can you come to me? Can you help me with her?"

"Kai, if she's carrying a first blood's child, he will take her. There's nothing I can do about it."

"Come anyway. I need your help, or I would never ask."

"I know that. All right, Kai, I will find you, you know that. Tomorrow night. And Kai, I am excited to see you again."

He paused, looked at the phone, and then just hit the END b.u.t.ton. He didn't know what to say.

He dropped into bed and hoped he'd done the right thing.

Bev looked gorgeous in a slinky halter-top dress with a hibiscus pattern that showed nearly every square inch of her generous b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Mal grinned as she entered the deck from the living room to join her friend, where, judging by the level of the wine in the bottle that Bev had just opened, and by the sly smile, Bev was feeling no pain.

"Whoa, lady, you might want to slow that down. At least wait until we have some dinner," Mal suggested as she lifted her hair up off her neck to let the brisk breeze from the sea cool her down. Reaching for a hair clip, Mal set the bottle on a table out of Bev's reach before she clipped her hair into a messy bun, and attached a white flower to it.

"Not on your life, sweetie. I'm in paradise with my dearest girlfriend, her superhot father, dressed to kill, and on vacation for the first time in over a year. I'm drunk and planning to stay that way because it feels good to be free and feel s.e.xy. You know our lives are all about bad guys and trouble, and we'll be going back to it too soon."

Bev leaned in and looked directly into Mal's eyes. "You look so pretty tonight, darling." She paused, and then said, "Do you mind if I have s.e.x with your father?"

Mal laughed and kept Bev from leaning too far over and falling completely out of the dress.

"I do not mind at all, but we really need to keep the wine away from you if you're going to show him how charming you are."

"I'm bombed because I can't believe I'm going to come on to your father!"

"Bev, I love you. You are not only, literally, the only female friend I've ever had, but one of the smartest, kindest, coolest people I've ever met, so I want you to be happy. And if you're attracted to Kai, go for it. He'd be a fool to turn you down, and I don't think he would. I saw how you two were looking at each other earlier."

"Really?"

"Really. He should be out in a moment, and I know you're going to knock his socks off. Well, if he were wearing them, which he won't be since it's 90 degrees tonight."

Standing upright, Bev smoothed the tight dress against her body and looked at the now distant wine bottle and moaned. "I over-did it, didn't I? It's just, it's been a while since I was this attracted to a man."

"Okay, don't give me any more details. And if you guys do get busy, do not fill me in. I'm okay with you two being together, but Kai is my father and that does seem a bit TMI for me."

"I understand. How do I look?"

Mal watched Bev taking deep breaths. "You're glowing, my friend. He won't say no."

Kai had offered to take both of his "ladies" out for a five-star dinner, but he hadn't shown up yet. Mal looked at the bottle of wine longingly, wishing she could have a gla.s.s, but she wouldn't for the next nine months. However, since she was going to fill out significantly in that time, she had taken this opportunity to wear a turquoise bathing suit with a white sari tied as a skirt and an open knit top over it, which showed off her fit body and the new tan she'd been working on since they arrived here three days ago.

She and Bev sat on the lounge chairs to wait for her father to come back to pick them up. Twenty minutes later, and another gla.s.s of wine later, Bev turned to stare back into the house.

"He's late," Mal said, concerned now, since Kai shouldn't be late when he had only gone down the road to the supermarket.

At that moment, the door opened, and Kai walked in.

But he wasn't alone.

Standing side by side, Mal and Bev watched Kai, dressed impeccably in white pants and a white linen shirt opened at the throat with white puka sh.e.l.ls at his throat, lead a beautiful woman through the house and out of the sliding doors to the deck. Mal had no idea who she was.

Bev watched, shocked and p.i.s.sed, tugging at the strained straps of her dress. What the h.e.l.l is this, she thought.

Kai looked at Mal first, then his eyes shot to Bev's, an unspoken plea for forbearance, which she did not grant. Bev turned away and walked to the railing to look at the steady march of waves in the moonlight.

Once he reached Mal, Kai spoke. "Ladies, I would like you to meet Erin Kilroy. She and I, uh, spent some time together in Hilo some years back."

The tall redhead at his side winked at him and then turned to Mal with a smile. "The man is a master of understatement, and I am understating that! You must be the daughter I've asked to meet no less than ten times. Mahalo, isn't it?"

A lyrical Irish accent shouldn't have surprised her, Mal thought, considering the woman's name and auburn hair.

Mal nearly stepped backwards as the woman stepped forward and embraced her, then whispered, rather loudly, in her ear.

"Your father is a scamp. He didn't tell you I was coming, did he? You look shocked."

After Erin pulled back, she tilted her head. "You all look so lovely. Did you have plans?"

Suddenly Bev turned around. "No, nothing at all. Please, have a seat." After she gave Kai a harsh look, she walked off of the deck, through the living room, and slammed the door to the bedroom she shared with Mal.

Erin's gaze went to Kai. "Oh, Kai, I believe you've p.i.s.sed off your girlfriend." She smiled. "Go get her and I'll sit here with Mal."

Kai was torn. It upset him that Bev misunderstood and seemed hurt, but he wasn't sure he wanted Erin left alone with Mal yet. The woman was too unpredictable.

"I'm going to go talk with Bev, but you two ladies, keep it simple and general until I get back." He stared into Erin's eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Darling, I always know what you mean," Erin responded.

After several more minutes of hesitation, he walked away.

Erin took Mal's arm and led her to the railing to watch a tall sailboat illuminated by the full moon.