His victim struggled desperately, trying to push him away. He easily pinned her arms to her side and, letting go of her face, silenced her attempt to scream when his mouth came down on hers in a terrible kiss.

The blond-haired girl fought fiercely for a moment, trying to pull her head back. But suddenly she went completely still. Rogue let go of her then. Even though free of his touch, she stood unmoving, as if in a trance. She stared at the monster before her. The air became charged with a crackling sound. Then, in the ancient way, in the manner that had occurred uncountable times for innumerable years, the girl tipped back her head and showed her throat to him.

The ritual had begun. She was ready to become the vampire's bride. Docilely she obeyed when Rogue took his hand and turned her head to the side to allow him better access to her vein. His hand cupped her neck. She moaned. The vampire drew her toward him. She came willingly. He was ready to take what he came for: her blood.

I hovered above this scene of l.u.s.t and hunger, both appalled and fascinated by what I was seeing. I couldn't look away.

Rogue's face lowered to the young girl's ghost white throat. I knew exactly when he bit her, when his sharp teeth pierced her smooth flesh, for she whimpered, her body trembling. Then she moaned, not in pain but in ecstasy. Suddenly, as she was overcome by her pa.s.sions, the girl's legs gave way and her body went limp.

Rogue held her, preventing her fall. He dropped to his knees with her in his arms, his mouth still fastened to her throat. Once she rested on the stones of the landing he pulled her halter top down, revealing her perfect small b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and began to stroke them with one great, clawed hand. Then, his breathing quickening, he reached down and roughly ripped away first her shorts, then her panties.

I knew I should fly on, but instead, filled with shame but unable to go, I watched.

The vampire parted the girl's thighs as perhaps no man had ever done before. Never releasing her throat, he continued drinking deeply of her blood, and he moved his body over hers. Then, without hesitation, I saw the quick, hard way he took her. He was so large and she was quite a small creature, but he had no pity. He cruelly drove into her with great grunting thrusts. He was a beast. He had no gentleness. He was not human in his desire. He was a vampire.

The girl mewed beneath him for a moment, then sighed. He thrust faster, driving his member into her again and again. She opened her legs wider, and her thin arms embraced the monster that violated her. I could see it all. Finally the vampire's great body shook. The helpless girl's eyes snapped open. He had satisfied himself with her blood and her body.

Sated, Rogue released his victim. He stood up, blood dripping from his fangs. He left her lying naked on the steps, a discarded, ruined thing. But suddenly the girl stirred. She raised herself up as he moved away. Her arms reached out, her hands clutching at him, trying to pull him back.

I heard her say, "No, don't go. Stay. Stay with me," as humans will always say to the vampire lover who possesses them. They are in the vampire's thrall. They can't bear his absence. They are willing to die for their vampire lover.

But I was sure this cruel taking was over. Rogue shook the girl's hand from him and ignored her pleas to return to her. Silver tears on her cheeks caught the lamplight. Her blond hair fell like golden silk around her shoulders. Her white skin was bright against the dark steps where she lay.

I prepared to fly on. I veered off, beating my wings, setting my course for Martin's. I looked back to see if Rogue followed.

I was stunned at what I saw. Instead of leaving the girl, as he should have, he had gone back. He pushed her down. He leaped atop her like an animal. They writhed there on the stoop of the brownstone as he buried himself in her body, his animal l.u.s.t driving his member into her again.

Seeing it tormented me. We are a terrible race. I tried to erase the image from my mind as I beat my wings hard and flew upward, anxious to be gone.

Chapter 10.

"I expect that Woman will be the last thing civilized by Man."-George Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel The Ordeal of Richard Feverel

Lead from a position of strength. That's a lesson my mother taught me.

I pushed all memories of the disturbing events of the evening from my mind. I focused on the night yet to come. I had to prepare myself to see Darius and get the truth from him about why he had really come back.

And I had no intention of seeing him looking like a ba.s.s player who had just stumbled out of a garage in Seattle with Kurt Cobain. That was why, after returning to Martin's apartment, telling him without elaboration that three hunters were dead, and getting back into my street clothes, I had returned to Lucifer's Laundromat.

I needed my Bloomie's bags and I needed them now.

I retrieved my stuff from the bartender and headed for the ladies' room. I stripped off my working clothes and put on that killer halter dress by Mandalay. Its neckline plunged to my diaphragm. It clung to me like a second skin. I put on the matching shoes, unwrapped the exquisite rhinestone clutch purse I had also purchased, and fished around through the rubble in the bottom of my backpack. I found my gun, the set of lock picks, some cash, and what I was looking for: my makeup kit. As the saying goes, Don't leave home without it.

I appraised myself in the mirror. My raven black hair fell straight and shimmering past my shoulders. My lips were glossed with cherry red. My skin resembled delicate white porcelain, but so pale it was almost translucent and I could see the light tracings of veins underneath. I was a hungry vampire and needed blood. On the plus side, my cornflower blue eyes popped in contrast.

I liked the effect. I looked kick-a.s.s. I squared my shoulders, walked back out through the club feeling the stares following me, smiled at the attention, and got a cab.

I was armed and loaded for bear. Or Darius.

Darius was waiting for me in my apartment. Naked. Walking around my kitchen as if he owned the place. I felt a frisson of s.e.xual excitement and a whole lot of annoyance. I wanted to announce, No nookie tonight unless you start playing straight with me No nookie tonight unless you start playing straight with me.

I took a more diplomatic course. "I need blood," I said in lieu of h.e.l.lo.

Darius looked at me as if I were candy. He gave me a slow smile. "I'm here to serve you. Would you like a selection from column A or column B?"

"In the vegetable bin of the fridge. Any bag, any blood type." I sat down on the high stool next to the counter and crossed my legs. Darius took a long look. I had hoped he would.

I asked him to join me and requested he decant the blood into my Waterford wine gla.s.ses. He did. We clinked the gla.s.ses, and I said, "Cin cin." We drank. My mouth was filled with gore. I felt warmth and life returning to my flesh. By my taking the edge off my ravenous appet.i.te-and Darius's-my plans might prove easier to carry out.

Darius reached over and clasped my fingers with his hand. He cradled them gently, stroking with his thumb. The fire of his touch traveled up my arm. I had a fragile enough hold on my self-control. I gently disengaged.

"I need to take Jade for a walk," I said with a smile. "Why don't you put some clothes on and join me? We need to talk."

Those are four words no man ever wants to hear. Darius raised a questioning eyebrow. "We do?"

"Are you surprised? I have a lot of questions. You have the answers, I think." I gazed into his eyes, green like lake water when the light filters through it, and filled with a sadness that his c.o.c.ky manner belied.

I looked into them deep and long. Darius didn't hide anything from me there. His feelings were as naked as his body.

"I have only one question for you," he said, not breaking our eye contact.

"Which is?" I said.

"Do you still love me?"

A wave of sorrow pa.s.sed over me. I had done so much since he had left, betraying my own heart as I did it. Yet I did not hesitate to say, "I never stopped loving you. Never. Not once. Not ever."

Darius reached over and pulled my head toward his, taking my lips in a kiss. When he pulled away, his head bowed and his eyes shut, he sighed, then looked up. "And I have never stopped loving you. Not once. Not ever."

"Well, now that we have that clear," I said, changing my tone, "maybe we can stop acting like d.a.m.ned fools and get things straight between us."

Darius threw his head back and laughed. "Yeah, maybe we can."

Out on the street, Jade on a leash, my pet rat, Gunther, riding in my backpack-a fashion accessory that didn't go with the Mandalay dress, but the large white rodent didn't fit into the rhinestone clutch-I walked hand in hand with Darius.

The hour was late. Emotionally I was raw inside. The acts I had committed tonight, the acts I had seen tonight, I carefully compartmentalized in my mind. Eventually they would come slithering out from under the rocks of my mental landscape to haunt me. For now I had to do what I had to do.

I squeezed Darius's hand. "Why did you come back?" I said, focusing on the streetlight at the corner a few hundred feet ahead. It had just turned red.

"To see you," he said.

"Okay, I believe you. But, Darius, that's not the only reason." I paused, then said in a quiet, breathy voice, "That might not even be the compelling reason. Why did you leave Germany so suddenly? I need to know the truth."

I stopped moving then and positioned myself to face him. "Look at me. If we have any chance at all, if our love is possible despite the past, you need to tell me."

The sadness was back in his face. "I left Germany because I was given an a.s.signment."

"Which was?"

"It's cla.s.sified," he said.

"But ultimately it's why you're here. It led to your return. Didn't it?" I shook my head. His work, my work had come between us since the beginning. Darius had been in the navy when he was recruited by an alphabet agency in Washington, but not the same one that had recruited me.

Darius's boss didn't like my boss, J. J didn't like his boss, didn't like the rival agency, and especially didn't like Darius. He called him a loose cannon, and that was one of the nicer things he said.

Darius seemed to be carefully choosing his words when he answered. "In part, yes. The mission brought me back to the U.S. But I'm here, with you, because I couldn't stay away any longer, Daphne, and that's the truth."

"It's not the whole truth." I let out a deep sigh.

I felt Darius's body tense. His voice was tight. "It's all I can say. The rest of it is business. This is personal."

I dropped his hand and felt my anger rise. "The vampire hunters, Darius. They came back too. And that's not business. That's personal."

"If they are here, I didn't send them. I didn't bring them," he countered, his voice getting loud.

"They are here. I was attacked. Why did they show up at the same time you did? Why are they after me? Why are they after my friends?" My voice became a siren starting to rise.

He took my face between his fingers, which were not gentle, not kind. "Read my lips. I don't know."

Inside I was screaming. Outwardly I fought for control. I knocked his arm away, my ire building. "What's the connection then? What? You showed up. They showed up. It's no coincidence."

I saw the emotions chasing across his face. He didn't answer for a long moment. Finally he said, "I know that. I did know you were attacked. It scared me more than anything has scared me in a long time. I'm trying to find out what's going on."

"How did you know I was attacked?"

"Let's just say a little bird told me."

"Oh, that's cute, Darius. Who was the little bird? Your 'friend' Julie?" He was pushing all the wrong b.u.t.tons, that was for sure.

"No. Not Julie. I still have contacts. In the church. I still hear things."

I gave him a long look, my anger simmering and about to explode. "So, do you know who they are?"

"Maybe."

I waited for more. Darius remained silent. I decided to try a different tack. "Do you know how many of them there are?"

His jaw worked. "You're not going to like this."

"How many, Darius?"

"Ninety. A hundred. Maybe more."

"A hundred! You have got to be kidding me. What the h.e.l.l have you brought? A vampire hunter army?"

"I told you, I didn't bring them!"

"Whatever! Darius, what's going on?" I grabbed his arm hard and pulled him close to me. "Stop bulls.h.i.tting me. Why are they here?"

Darius said nothing.

"Tell me, or so help me, I will walk away and I will not come back. I will never never come back. Look into my eyes, Darius. I mean every word. You said you love me. Now f.u.c.king prove it. Tell me." come back. Look into my eyes, Darius. I mean every word. You said you love me. Now f.u.c.king prove it. Tell me."

His face was like granite, hard and unmoving, when he answered. "I don't have any proof. What I've heard is that they're Opus Dei operatives. They're here to wipe out every vampire in New York."

I stood there frozen for a second, trying to take it in. Then the rage boiled up in me. My fingers dug into Darius's arm. My words struck hot sparks like flint on stone. "You get the message out. You get it back to them. This is war. And we vampires won't lose. I've killed five of them already. If I have to I'll kill every last one of them myself."

Darius just stared at me. Whatever he expected me to say or do, that wasn't it, I guess.

"And one more thing," I said. "If I find out you lied to me, if I find out you helped them or brought them or are one of them, no matter how much I love you, Darius-and I love you more than you will ever know-it won't save you. I won't be able to protect you. Don't fool yourself. If I don't have the courage to kill you myself, I know who will."

With those terrible, hurtful words, I understood something for the first time: I was my mother's daughter. I had learned her lessons well.

And I had spoken without thinking about the consequences. I didn't know what would happen after I said what I said. Once I stopped, I expected Darius to turn on his heel and leave. To my surprise he didn't. He looked at me with something I had never seen before in his eyes: respect.

He put his palm against my cheek, his fingers sliding into my hair. "If I ever betrayed you so, if I ever brought you harm, I would not deserve to exist. I swear to you that I am not one of them. Not anymore."

He leaned forward and kissed me as we stood on the sidewalk. His body was hard as it pressed against mine. I felt happy like this, touching him, close to him, but I couldn't let my pa.s.sion blind me. I wanted to believe Darius. But the worm of doubt had burrowed deep, and it remained.

Mickey gave us a curt nod when we returned to the lobby. The doorman wasn't speaking to me tonight, his disapproval obvious.

"What did I do to p.i.s.s him off?" Darius whispered as we got into the small elevator to ascend to the tenth floor.

"You came back," I said.

In that tight s.p.a.ce, with Darius against me, my pheromones overcame me, getting the best of me at last. Despite everything that had transpired, despite my doubts and fears, I could not be this close to Darius and not want him. My body didn't listen to reason. It compelled me to reach over, open Darius's fly, and unb.u.t.ton his jeans. He didn't stop me. He just watched me and smiled.

Both of us started to laugh then. He backed me against the elevator wall, hiked my new halter dress up to my waist, moved the crotch of my thong aside, and took me there in the elevator without preamble. He slid in quickly, thrust fast, and came before the elevator stopped on the tenth floor.