Jesus, I'm in your head, Asa. It's not like you misheard me.

Are you truly using him as bait?

No, I have other plans for him. I'm going to be the bait.

Does Rafe know about this? His mental voice sounds tentative.

Rafe always knows everything I have planned. That doesn't mean he always agrees with it.

Asa hesitates a brief instant before responding. I'm not so sure in this instance that Rafe would be wrong.

You let me worry about that. Get Drew over to the main building and hide. Wait for my signal and then bring him in the entrance by the pool.

Yes, ma'am.

We end the connection just as Liam finishes up his drink.

"You feeling up to heading back out in the cold yet?" I ask.

Liam regards me with cold, calculating eyes. I think he was watching me while I mentally talked to Asa.

"You're a cold-blooded killer hiding in that lovely body, aren't you?"

"Aren't we all, Liam? We are vampires."

He nods, accepting the truth of my words. "Yes, we are. But some of us are better at it than others."

I smile at him. It's a chilling smile that doesn't reach my eyes. "Some of us are. We're the ones who live the longest."

"Ivan won't be one of them, will he?" Liam asks softly.

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Liam layers back up and heads out the back. He's off to flush Ivan in closer to the building and help spring my trap. I contact Sal over the phone then mentally connect with Jonathan, who's working in tandem with Jet. Instructing them all to make separate, large sweeping circles three-quarters of a mile out around the main building, and then to tighten it up on each pa.s.s they make.

Dria, Rafe pushes into my mind. I'm not happy with this plan. You're making a huge a.s.sumption. Have you even tried your theory out yet?

I can't risk alerting him. Logically, though, it all adds up. I think it will work.

It's a big chance.

I know. I try to send some rea.s.surance back to him through our link. I'm not in danger. You trust me on that, right?

I do. He heaves a big mental sigh. I just hate that this is a battle where I can't be at your side. I can see him leaning against a wall in the workroom. He's the last stand if Ivan gets past me and all the other vampires.

Yeah, that's a s...o...b..ll's chance in h.e.l.l.

We're not even ten feet apart. You can charge up the stairs if I need you.

That brings a smile to his face. One of the best things about you, is you don't need me.

One of, huh? You'll have to tell me all the others when this mess is over.

Like you don't already know... Rafe gently closes the link, knowing I need to concentrate for the next steps to go off flawlessly.

Everything is in place. I only need to wait for the guest of honor to arrive.

Chapter Twenty-seven.

Recent phone calls from Asa, Liam and Antonio have informed me of Ivan's whereabouts. Jon hasn't spoken to me through our mental connection, not even once. I never got a chance to practice opening that form of communication with him, and I think part of him feels uncomfortable with it. Asa reported seeing the wolf forms of Jet and Jonathan, so I know they are out there, but not where.

The circle tightens little by little with each pa.s.s the team makes, drawing our target in closer. I have not revealed all the details of my secondary plan to anyone yet, besides Rafe, and there's the off chance that I might be wrong. Very off chance.

The hours drag in an endless march while I ponder my plan. The dark dawn of morning pa.s.ses but cannot be distinguished from the never-ending night. Thankfully, the blood the master vamps gave me back in the media room still sustains me, so I know I will be at my peak when the time comes to act.

All of the lights in the building have been extinguished, except for the ones by the pool. I enter through the double set of doors and place myself in the lighted area. Mikey and the other parrots stay miraculously out of my way. It adds to the freakiness of the moment when not even the birds break the silence.

I settle myself in a lounge chair for an extended wait. My body stills as I sink into the lush cushion to portray the semblance of relaxation. By slowing my heart, I achieve a meditative-like state. It's not the same as the one I reach after yoga, but in a pinch, it will do. It allows me to open up my senses. Makes me aware of everything around me to an extensive degree.

The plant fronds rustle in the circulating air around me. The gentle lap of the water against the side of the pool calls out to the astrological water-sign in me that I was born under all those centuries ago. I never used to believe in all that star-sign bull. But it doesn't need me to believe in it to be real-like most things in life, it either exists in spite of you, or because of you.

Have I thought of every outcome? Will my plan come together in the end? I'm not one for self-doubt, that's for sure. It's slightly nerve-wracking to have all of the events of the past forty hours come down to this moment. Will that s.a.d.i.s.tic son of a b.i.t.c.h take the bait? Am I the real reason he has come here or is it something else?

The twilight illumination this region of Alaska gets won't arrive for several more hours. The master vamps outside shouldn't have any problems with the minimal diluted sun exposure. Since Antonio and Joanna are younger, they might be uncomfortable if they were outside when the sunset-like illumination occurs. With luck, all this will be cleared up by before that becomes an issue.

I reach out to connect mentally with Jonathan; the wait has been long enough and I have a feeling he won't know how to reach out to me.

Any sight of Ivan?

Jesus! That's freaky. Can't you give me any warning before you jump in my head?

I smile at the thought. What do you suggest, furball? I knock?

Okay, okay...Good point. Back to your question. Yes, I spotted him about ten minutes ago. As I was closing in, he gave me the slip.

Where did you last see him?

About a quarter of a mile from cabin ten, Jon answers. He appears to be working his way slowly to the main building.

How was he moving?

Pretty good. Not running at an all-out sprint, but moving along. He must have warmed up somewhere.

Thanks. Keep me posted with any changes. Try to tighten the circle to draw him in.

Sure thing, Viv. You ready for him?

I smile at that one. I was turned ready.

We end our connection and I reach out through my bloodline with my extended consciousness. I tap on each thread, chasing it to its end. Every dot of energy accounted for, including a few new sparkling ones that weren't there before.

Asa? Where are you and Drew?

We followed a trail that led to the maintenance building. There were signs of forced entry. We think Ivan broke in to warm up at some point.

Good, I was wondering where he might have done that. Jon spotted him out by the cabins a little bit ago. Come get into position near the stone gardens outside the pool wing. It won't be long now.

How can you be so sure? It looks like an obvious trap. What if he's smart enough to stay away?

You let me worry about that. Don't come into the building until you get my signal.

Roger.

Ending our connection, I unleash my aura. Every bit that I keep locked away comes rushing to the surface. My skin tingles; the tiny hairs on my arms stand on end. The power feels like a long-lost blanket-both comforting and confining at once. Similar to when I hunted Rafe for our afternoon s.e.x in the bas.e.m.e.nt, I close my eyes allowing my senses to extend into the building. I reach out to push through interior walls, pausing only when I reach the cold outdoors.

There. I sense something. It hides in the small attic above the fun floor. A new presence lurks. A hungry vampire sits still in the dark. Good thing I have what he needs after recovering from the gunshot wound-blood.

I push out with my mind to send the delicious taste of my power into the air. Next, I accentuate his hunger by broadcasting the gut-burning hollow I felt a few short hours ago when I had to turn Paul. The illusion wraps itself so softly around Ivan that he has no idea it's not his own body calling out its needs to him.

His movement greets my mind before I can physically hear it. He's descending through an attic access panel into a third-floor hallway. While even vampires can't see in complete blackness, we can draw on the slightest illumination to see our surroundings with ease. The emergency exits signs will be more than Ivan needs to find his way.

I draw upon a memory of the compelling scent of ancient vampire blood to weave a trace of the aroma into the air-I intend to make him work at tracking it down. He reaches the second floor landing at a dead run and leaps several stairs at a time to land heavily on the wood floor at the base of the staircase. The smell permeates the lobby, causing him to stand in confusion while trying to regain his bearings.

His steps vibrate through the floor to my chair. Ivan moves first down the hall toward the dojo. After a few minutes, he heads back the way he came. His solid weight touches down softly on the lobby rug. All of these sensations come through to me from my connection to the inn. Blood, sweat, and tears went into its construction and upkeep. The fluids from all the people who have consumed my blood for decades allows my energy to infuse the very inn itself, and in this moment, give it a life of its own.

I sense Ivan's step heading toward the pool and project the removal of my clothes. Lying my curvy, delectable body across the chaise. Posing myself on my side, my b.r.e.a.s.t.s remain covered by my arm. I draw my right leg up to conceal the juncture between my legs.

Ivan doesn't keep me waiting long. He pushes in through the double doors, coming to stop at the entrance while the doors swish closed behind him.

"You."

His stark white hair and goatee stand in marked contrast to the rest of his dirty, ragged appearance. He must have discarded his coat in the attic; I can't imagine he was able to survive outside this long without some protection. Dried blood cakes his clothing and the exposed skin of his shoulder reveals no trace of a wound.

Ivan advances about ten feet, maintaining a safe distance from me. He's shaking in his rage, fisting his hands open and closed in rapid succession.

"You took everything from me. I spent years locked in silver and starved because of your meddling!"

"Really? Did I now?" responding to his first statement, while ignoring the second. I bat my eyelashes playfully. "Are you so sure?"

I push a strong sense of desire his way, turning his hunger and blood l.u.s.t around to another kind of l.u.s.t-one I'm an expert at manipulating. Recreating my own s.e.xually aroused scent, I send it wafting into the air with a shift of my leg.

"Was Angie really the right girl for you?"

Ivan shakes his head, caught in my web and unsure of what his mind tells him.

"I don't understand. It was you that got me imprisoned! She was mine." His rage takes front and center in his emotions, but he's having trouble holding it all together in the face of my illusion. "W-Why did you sever my mate bond with her?"

"It was not my fault you were imprisoned. I tried to keep you here but the tribunal stepped in. You should blame them." I look him straight in the eye as I utter my next words, "Angie was weak. I had no choice but to sever the bond or kill her. With your ability to exert your will in place of her own so completely, I knew you were destined for stronger prey."

I lick my mouth, allowing a fang to elongate and stay showing over my bottom lip.

"Why set her free to remarry?" His face contorts in an ugly visage. "That faithless b.i.t.c.h deserved to die!"

Throwing my head back, exposing my long throat, I laugh in a tinkling, seductive sound.

"Food is food, man." I make a tsk-tsking sound, to draw him out of his haze. "I bet she didn't even recognize you when you came for her."

His eyes flash to mine; I think I hit the nail on the head with that one.

"When will you learn?"

"Learn what?" he sneers. Apparently, Ivan does not care to be laughed at. He walks closer into the room and stands a mere five feet from me now. Good.

"Only a vampire master and another master can find true happiness together. The tribunal spreads the lies of mating with a human far and wide to keep the rest of us from getting too strong." The lie trips off my silver-tipped tongue with ease.

Ivan's face no longer holds the impa.s.sivity most vampires wear on a daily basis. The insanity he had before his imprisonment looks like it grew during his stay in the ancients' jail. His eyes look wild, darting around the room, only to fall back on my lush curves like a moth drawn to flame. My pull on him through the illusion messes with his mind more than he can handle; he looks ready to snap.

"I don't understand. Why would the tribunal lie to keep us weaker?"

"Haven't you noticed most of them don't have mates?" I ask, hoping to draw something useful from the psycho before his death.

"I was imprisoned below ground in a damp cell with silver chains. I didn't see any of them much." His traitorous body shows evidence of his arousal, though he ignores it, while I twist on the lounge to draw his attention.

"Much? That implies you saw some of them." I smile again, this time pulling my arm back and sitting up a bit on the chaise.

Lush, perfect b.r.e.a.s.t.s are on display, a sight not many men could resist. Ivan proves to be like most men, giving me a long lingering stare.

"Emiko came down to see me the most near the end. She was the one a.s.signed to set me free."

"Did she bother to explain that I was saving Angie as food for another? Or did she imply I kept her for myself?" I snort to show the foolishness of this statement. "Or maybe she told you I let her live as part of your punishment?"

"No. She knew nothing of the reason for my confinement. I was there before she became an enforcer."

He looks speculative now, maybe thinking back on his last days there. The clarity in his eyes plays hide and seek with his blatant craziness.

"She informed me that my Angie lived and was waiting for me in Chicago."

Ah... so Emiko pointed him at the poor young woman. If she didn't know why he was there, then someone pointed her at him with the information.

"Didn't you wonder how she knew Angie was alive or how to tell you where she was?"