“Morrison will kill you,” Rodney bit out, all at once angry. “You’re not taking her anywhere. We’ll all be arrested. You, too—don’t forget that. You’re a part of this, Gary, you’re a big part of this.”

“No, I’m not. And if it comes down to that—killing an innocent girl or going to jail—I’ll take jail.”

Gregori could feel the impending violence, coming not from Rodney but from the third man, the silent one, in the room. He was stalking Gary from behind while Rodney held Gary’s attention. The girl was trying desperately to warn Gary, her only hope, that he was in danger.

Gregori felt power in the room. Manipulation. Compulsion. There was more at work here than the society of human butchers. He glided unseen into the room, dispersing cold air in his wake. The third man held an already blood-stained knife out of sight along his right wrist as he came up behind Gary. Gregori inserted his invisible body between the two men. As the knife came up toward Gary’s kidney, Gregori caught the attacker’s wrist in an unbreakable grip and squeezed, crushing bones to a fine powder.

The attacker screamed, the knife clattering to the floor. Gary whirled around to face the third man. Rodney dove for the knife. The girl was so hysterical, Gregori could feel her heart pounding, hear it slamming at far too fast a pace. He spared her quick attention, shielding her from further thought. She simply slipped into an unconscious state, her eyes open and glazed.

Rodney picked up the knife and scrambled to his feet. “Looks like we’re going to have to kill you, too, huh, Gary?”

Gregori sighed. Why did they always have to state the obvious?

Gary was backing away, trying to keep an eye on the third man, who had dropped to his knees, clutching his shattered arm, his face as white as a sheet. He was still screaming, a high-pitched, monotonous cry.

Gary slid the white lab jacket off his shoulders and wrapped it defensively around his upraised arm. “I’m not going to let you hurt her any more, Rodney. I mean it. This was supposed to be a legitimate study. Dissecting anyone alive, vampire or human, is torture, nothing less. I didn’t sign on to hurt anyone.”

“What do you think that poison you developed was all about?” Rodney snarled, waving the knife.

“I didn’t develop a poison. I developed a very potent tranquilizer, designed to sedate nearly any powerful creature. Morrison had you people corrupt the original formula. I came here to talk to him about it. This is murder, Rodney. Any way you look at it, it’s murder.”

Gregori glided up behind Rodney. The man’s mind stank of a vampire influence. He had thought himself protected from vampires by the hypnosis all members of the society were subjected to, but somehow a vampire had infiltrated their ranks and was contaminating the society further with his own depravity. It was the kind of thing vampires over the centuries had done for entertainment. Hiding their true nature, they would befriend humans and slowly bring about moral decay. Often they used the women of the human males they befriended for their own pleasure, later killing them. Sometimes they used the humans to kill each other. Clearly a master vampire was at work here, one that had escaped the net of hunters for some time, probably centuries.

Gregori touched Gary’s mind. He found honesty there, integrity. He had never had contact with the vampire and was willing to die to save the girl strapped down on the stainless-steel table. He had interrupted the two other men at work and was sickened by their actions. But Gregori knew Gary would have no chance against a vampire-induced compulsion in the other man to kill. Rodney would win this battle. For a moment Gregori hesitated. If he intervened, he would allow Gary to live, but he would have to destroy Rodney. If he allowed things to take their course, Rodney could lead him back to the vampire’s lair.

I know you’re not even thinking that.Savannah’s outraged whisper was velvet-soft in his mind.

He sighed heavily. Woman, leave me in peace. I have to do what is best for our people.But he knew he wouldn’t. He knew he could not let Gary die. There was something he liked about the man’s courage and integrity, but, damn it, Savannah didn’t have to know he had any soft spots. He’d never had them until she came along.

Savannah’s laughter brushed along his spine like the touch of her fingers.

Gregori inserted his solid frame between the two men, shimmering in the air, wavering for a moment before materializing. There was instant silence. Even the third man managed to stop screaming, all of them frozen in place. Gregori smiled pleasantly, a show of gleaming white fangs.

“Good evening, gentleman. I heard you were looking for one of my kind. It might be in your best interest, Rodney, to put down the knife.” The suggestion was made in a black-velvet drawl.

Gary backed away from the newcomer, instinctively moving toward the stainless steel table. His hands were up in the age-old surrender sign. “Look, I don’t know who or what you are, but this girl had nothing to do with anything. Don’t hurt her. Do what you have to do to us, but get her an ambulance.”

Gregori kept his silver gaze focused on Rodney. The man was looking wild, the dark compulsion of the kill on him. Gregori could see so clearly; now so could Gary. Rodney needed to kill. It was as necessary to him as drawing in his next breath.

“Look out,” Gary warned as it occurred to him that the vampire, no matter how dangerous, had stepped between Rodney and himself to save him. He glanced over at the third man. It was clear that the vampire had saved him from Todd Davis also. Steeling himself, he moved around to get in a better position to help the creature.

“Do not,” Gregori hissed softly. He waved a hand, and Gary was unable to move, locked into some invisible prison. “Turn your head the other way.”

The flash in the room was bright, like a mushroom cloud of lightning. The sound cracked the walls on two sides of the structure, thundering in Gary’s ears so that for a moment he was deaf and blind. The house itself shook, rattling the windows like an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Rodney and Davis lay on the floor, lifeless.

Gary stared in horror at the two blackened bodies, then reached out a tentative hand to touch the invisible barricade that had somehow protected him. To his astonishment it was gone. Immediately he went to the girl. She was still breathing, but her pulse was shallow and thready. He tried in vain to undo the manacles locking her to the table.

“You are leaving fingerprints,” Gregori informed him softly. He stared at the wide steel bands for a moment, and they simply fell away from her wrists and ankles. “Go now, walk away from this place. I will meet you at the end of the block.” The silver eyes stared straight into Gary’s eyes. “Be there. I can find you any time I wish it.”

“She needs help.” The human was determined to stand his ground.

“A crowd gathers while you waste time. I can shield you from their eyes if you go now. Later, there will be too many. The girl will be fine. Do as I say.” Already Gregori was turning his attention to finding the damaging prints of the other man, removing all memory of him from the girl, and ensuring that those outside the house would not remember the short, slender man in the gray suit who went out the back way.

Gary Jansen made his way slowly through the people now rushing toward the house. No one even glanced at him, actually knocking into him without seeming to be aware of it. In the distance was the wail of sirens. Fire department. Police. Ambulance. He was shocked, his mind almost numb. Whatever creature had stepped in and saved his life had more power than he had ever conceived a being could have. His brain replayed every movement, every word. He couldn’t believe he had been allowed to simply walk away. The creature hadn’t even taken his blood. For that matter, he didn’t know if the creature drank blood. He got to the end of the block, and weakness hit him. His knees turned to rubber, his legs to jelly, and he had to sit abruptly on the curb.