“Leave her alone, Aidan,” Marie admonished. She had never heard him tease before, and it was something she found welcome and astonishing. But they were all on thin ground with the newcomer, and Aidan had to keep Alexandria with him to survive. They all had to tread cautiously, to be careful not to drive her away.

Perversely, Alexandria didn’t want Marie to stand up for her. She didn’t want to like the older woman. She wasn’t going to like any of them. She absolutely would not. And why did she have to be so aware of Aidan’s body against hers, the strength in his fingers? She didn’t have to be afraid of him any longer. What more could he do to her? She was already the walking dead, wasn’t she? She was going to defy him.

He brought her knuckles to his mouth, whispering, “No, you are not. And the silly things you think. ‘The walking dead.’ Where do you come up with this nonsense?” His mouth brushed her skin, sending darts of fire racing over her nerve endings. “Allow me to guess. Thomas Ivan.”

“Maybe he does use that term. I don’t remember.”

“Is Mr. Ivan the gentleman who came to see Miss Houton?” Marie inquired cautiously.

“Call her Alexandria, Marie. This is not a formal household, and you are no servant. You are my family and friend.”

“Please do,” Alexandria seconded at the pressure on her fingers.

“I would like us to be friends,” Marie said.

That made Alexandria feel small and petty. After all, this woman she was resenting was the one taking care of Joshua when she was unable to do so. Immediately on the heels of that thought came anguish, as a bit more of the truth slid into her brain. Her breath caught in her throat, and she fought for air, strangling, choking.

Aidan pushed her head down toward the floor. “Breathe, cara. It is not so difficult. In and out.

Keep breathing. Marie, please take the boy into the other room.”

“What’s wrong with my sister?” Joshua demanded, clearly rebelling.

Alexandria fought the madness swirling in her brain. She would not allow Joshua to be affected by this whole insane nightmare. She sat up and smiled at him, a bit pale, her smile tentative but there all the same. “I’m just a bit weak, like Aidan said. Perhaps he’s right, although I hate giving him the satisfaction, he’s so bossy lately. You go on with Marie, and I’ll just sit here until I feel well enough to get to bed myself.”

Joshua’s eyes lit up. “Maybe Aidan should carry you. He’s very strong. He could do it, you know, like in the movies.” He sounded eager.

“I could do that,” Aidan agreed, winking at Joshua.

He looked very sexy, enough that he seemed to rob her breath again. “I don’t think so.” Alexandria sounded firm.

Aidan suddenly stood, inhaling sharply, his attention clearly on something other than those in the room. Alexandria felt it, too. A disturbance in the air, a dark, creeping evil moving slowly but surely toward them. It spread like a dark stain over the sky, the air thickening until it was difficult to breathe. A low murmur began in her mind, the words foreign, beckoning, impossible to understand, but she knew their significance. Something was tugging at her, attempting to draw her outside.

A sound escaped her lips, an inarticulate cry of terror, so muffled it was nearly nonexistent, but Aidan turned his golden eyes to her immediately. Horrified, Alexandria clutched his arm. He ‘s out there, she thought in terror. She dragged Joshua to her protectively, inadvertently clutching him too tightly.

Do not alarm the child, cara.The voice in her mind was calm and soothing, so gentle it reached into the chaos of fear and found strength. Hecannot enter this house. He does not know for certain you are here. He is seeking to draw you out.

Alexandria kept her fingers curled around Aidan’s wrist, needing the contact with him. She took a deep breath and smiled down at Joshua. He was looking up at her with curious blue eyes, wondering at her sudden gesture. Marie and Stefan were staring at her, alert.

Aidan gently pried Alexandria’s arm from around the child. “Marie, you and Stefan should close down the house at once, then put Josh to bed.”

There was command in his voice, and the couple reacted instantly. They had been through an attack before and knew the danger, even though they couldn’t detect it as Aidan and Alexandria could. They hurried Joshua through his good-nights and began to usher him from the room.

“Keep Joshua with you tonight. I must go out,” Aidan instructed them. Then he touched Alexandria’s face with gentle fingers. “ Cara,I have to go out and remove this threat. You will stay here. If anything happens to me, take the boy and go overseas to the Carpathian Mountains. Find a man named Mikhail Dubrinsky. Stefan and Marie will help you. Promise me you will do this. “ It is the only way Joshua will be truly safe. He did not inform her yet that their bond was already strong enough to endanger her if he were to die. Aidan did not even allow the possibility to enter his mind. He could not die. Would not allow it, now that he had reason to live.

There was something so compelling in his voice, in his eyes, in the push at her mind, that Alexandria reluctantly nodded. As divided as she was in her opinion of what Aidan Savage was, of who he was, and what his intentions toward her were, she did not want him to leave the house and face whatever was out there.

“I thought Paul Yohenstria was dead.” She whispered the words, the fear in her a living, breathing entity.

He is dead, cara. This is another.The words were in her mind only, and for the first time she recognized the bond between them. He could talk to her at will, enter her mind, and see her thoughts. As you are able to do with mine. Reach for me, and you will find me at any time. I must go now.

Alexandria tightened her hold on him, unwilling for him to go out into the thick cloud of evil surrounding the house. “If it is not Yohenstria, then what is out there?” She was trembling, not even attempting to hide it from him.

“You know, Alexandria. You already know there are others.” Aidan bent his head and brushed the top of her silky hair with his mouth, lingering for just a moment to breathe in her scent. “Do not leave the safety of this house.” It was a clear order.

Alexandria nodded. She had no intention of going out to face another evil creature. How many of them were there? How had she gotten into this endless nightmare? How far did she trust Aidan Savage?

She watched him stride away from her, complete confidence in every line of his powerful body. He never turned his head, never once looked back at her. He moved with the silent precision of a predator, already stalking his prey. Fear for his safety curled in her stomach. She should be rejoicing. She was free of him for the moment. She could take Joshua and run away, far from this place, far from this city, where none of his kind could ever follow them. Yet the thought of never seeing Aidan again was suddenly as terrifying as being in his possession.

Alexandria followed Aidan to the door. As he went out, she was left staring at the heavy oak door he closed behind him. It was quite beautiful, with intricate stained-glass panels unlike any she had ever seen before. But her mind could not focus on anything. Not the artistry of the glass, not even Joshua. It registered only the bleakness of her existence without Aidan.

She stood there, alone and frightened, trembling with fear for him. She could feel the heavy shadow moving away and knew that Aidan was drawing the danger away from the house, away from Joshua, away from Marie and Stefan—and away from her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, seeking him, seeking the truth of Aidan’s words. She found him in fierce battle, his mind a red haze of joy in the hunt. She felt his pain as claws raked his chest. She clutched her own chest, her heart pounding.