Two young men drinking beer on the steps of a closed bookstore across the street fixed their eyes on Savannah. Even from that distance Gregori could see their instant fixation, the obsession she so easily produced in men. It was in the way she moved, her flowing hair and enormous eyes, her aura, at once innocent and sexy. There was no hope that they would not recognize her. She embodied magic and fantasy.

Gregori sighed heavily, his gut tightening. She was going to drive him crazy and maybe get some innocent drunk killed. The two men had risen, whispering excitedly, working up their courage to approach her. He could hear them pumping each other up. He fixed his silver eyes on them and concentrated briefly. He wiped their thoughts away and planted in them an urgency to leave the area immediately.

“Do me a favor, chérie. Try to look plain and uninteresting.”

Savannah laughed softly in spite of her growing sense of dread. “Get over it already,” she suggested.

“You are more than disrespectful, woman. I cannot remember a single time in my existence when anyone spoke to me as you do.”

She rubbed her cheek along his shoulder in a small caress. Gregori’s breath seemed to still in his throat.

“That’s why I do it. You need someone to give you a little trouble.” Her teasing tone slid over him, into him, the tiny threads that tied them together multiplying every moment.

“I would not mind a littletrouble. You are bigtrouble.”

They were in front of the building Savannah had mentally pinpointed as the source of the disturbing emanations. It was closed, the windows dark. Gregori could feel movement inside, sense the presence of several men within the walls.

Savannah clutched at him, her eyes filling with tears. “Something horrible is happening in there, Gregori. There is—” She broke off as his hands closed like a vise around her upper arms.

Gregori gave her a little shake. “Hang on, ma petite.I know exactly what is going on. She is not one of us.”

“I know that. I’m not entirely incompetent.” There was a mixture of anger and tears in her voice. “She’s human, but they think she’s vampire. Gregori, she’s just a child. You can’t let them harm her. I can feel her pain.”

“She is older than you, bébé, and she parades around in a black cloak with her incisors cosmetically altered. She put herself in the hands of these madmen through her own stupidity.” Gregori sounded disgusted.

“She doesn’t deserve to be tortured because she likes to play at being a vampire. Let’s get her out.” Savannah’s blue eyes flashed fire at him. “We both know you’re going to save her, so quit grousing, and let’s get to it.”

“I will not allow such a thing, Savannah,” he said softly. His voice was a beautiful blend of iron in a velvet glove. “Do not try my patience too far, ma petite.I assure you, there is no chance of your winning a battle between us.”

“Shut up,” she snapped rudely, exasperated with his domineering ways. “I know you’re not going to leave the girl in there. I can feel her terror, Gregori, and it’s making me sick.”

“I knew you were going to be trouble the moment I laid eyes on you,” he said softly. “I will not risk your safety for some woman who masquerades as a vampire. She chooses to pretend she is like them. I intend to help her, but not with you alone on the street.”

Her breath hissed through her teeth. “I am at full strength, Gregori. I can be invisible should I choose to walk among the humans unseen. I don’t need to cower in my house because you’re afraid for me.” Her chin lifted at him belligerently. “I am the daughter of the Prince. I can manage to do a few things others of our kind can do.”

His hand caught and spanned her throat. “I will do almost anything for you, Savannah, but how I must complete this task is distasteful.” He found himself explaining, as she had requested, when his every aggressive male instinct told him to simply force his will on her. He could not bear for her to believe he thought so little of her abilities. “I do not want you to witness the depravity in these men’s minds, nor do I wish you to witness the wind of death whirling through their midst. You cannot have it both ways. You want me to save this woman. I will do so. But not within your sight. Go home and wait for me there.”

Savannah shook her head. “When will you get it through your thick skull that I’m your true lifemate? Me. Savannah Dubrinsky, daughter of the Prince. We shared our minds from before my birth. You can’t hide from me what you are, who you are. Even in the midst of blood and death, even with the beast at work, I will always see your true self.”

“Do as I command you. And know this. If for any reason you choose to disobey my orders, you will be putting the woman’s life in jeopardy. I will always see to your safety first. That means if I am distracted by your defiance, I will see to your obedience.”

“You are the most stubborn Carpathian male alive,” she said, exasperated, but she caught his head between her hands and dragged him down to capture his mouth with hers. “Be safe, lifemate. That is mycommand to you. Be certain youdo not disobey myorder.”

She turned and glided away, back the way they had come, without so much as a glance over her shoulder. Her hips swayed gently, erotically. The rising wind played with her long hair. Gregori watched her, unable to tear his gaze away.

Chapter Eleven

Finally Gregori turned his head slowly, ferally, and walked purposefully toward the narrow alley beside the building. Brown grass, dried and exhausted with its effort to flourish, was crushed beneath his feet, but there was not a sound to betray his presence, not even the disbursement of air. Once he was hidden from sight, he scanned the area to determine the exact placement of all those in the building and any other humans in the vicinity.

He dissolved instantly, one moment solid, the next invisible. He checked the building: all windows and doors were locked securely. The woman inside screamed, agony, terror, in her voice. The sound brushed at his mind, but he blocked it out, scanning three entry points to the interior. He chose the one beneath the building, through some cracked and crumbling rotted boards.

For a brief moment his image shimmered in the dark, compressing as it did so, shrinking smaller and smaller until a only little mouse nestled in the dried grass. It sat up on its hind legs a moment, whiskers twitching in the air. Then it rushed across the dirt and grass and scampered through a small crack beneath the stairs. The opening was narrow, but the little creature was able to squeeze into a space within the walls.

The insulation was old and thin, most of it long gone, and the mouse scurried quickly through the wall until it found a small knothole leading into a darkened room. The smell of blood and fear made its heart pound, but the predator deep within its tiny body snarled, exposing fangs and a dark, deadly purpose. The mouse hesitated before crossing the yellowed linoleum, its ears twisting this way and that, whiskers high, scenting for danger.

There was no one in the first room, which appeared to be an unused storage area. It smelled musty with mildew. Gregori’s form grew, solidified, then shimmered into nothingness once again. He could hear the conversation from the next room clearly. Three men were arguing, one clearly disgusted by what they were doing.

“This girl is no more vampire than I am, Rodney,” he snapped. “You just like doing this sick stuff. This one’s some kid who likes to hang out with her friends pretending she’s got fangs.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Rodney protested. “And since we have to kill her anyway, it isn’t like we can’t have a good time with her.”

“Forget it.” There was disgust in the first man’s voice. “No way am I going to let you kill this girl. I thought we were scientists. Even if she really was a vampire, we shouldn’t treat her like this. I’m taking her out of here and to a hospital.”