Gavin's arms were around me and his body was leaning halfway over mine when I woke the evening after Christmas. Of course, we were completely naked-Gavin had seen to that. "You are such a sleepyhead," he mumbled against my hair.

"Well, why didn't you wake me up?" I turned in his arms so I could face him.

"I did try. New ones are this way," he said. "They sleep longer."

"Oh, so the big, tough, older vampires wake up quicker?"

"Yes. And go to sleep later, much of the time," he kissed me, then sucked and nibbled on my lower lip. I didn't get the shower I wanted until long after that.

"I think you did get your wish, your hair is definitely growing out," I ran my hands through it; it was nearly an inch in length, now. "Charles told me that hair grows about half an inch a year."

"For the younger ones, perhaps," he said. "Would you like to go out? We can go to the West End, if you like."

"You want to go to the West End? That's so unlike you," I smiled. "What are we wearing?"

"Casual, I think," he smiled back, his dark eyes twinkling a little. They should twinkle; he'd gotten s.e.x nearly a dozen times since he'd shown up without warning. Gavin dressed in nice jeans after his shower but he still didn't have a shirt on.

I wore my short cashmere coat over a nice top, jeans and boots when we went out. Gavin had a long sleeved dress shirt on but it was a b.u.t.ton down in (gasp) a light blue. He also wore the leather jacket he sometimes used with a more casual outfit. We parked where we could find a s.p.a.ce and walked down the sidewalk. Plenty of people were out and wandering-Christmas had fallen on a Friday so this was Sat.u.r.day night in Dallas. With all the time Gavin and I spent there earlier in the year, we hadn't gotten to see much of it at all.

Gavin pulled me closer to him when we saw a group of young people coming toward us. All were dressed in long black leather coats, their hair dyed black, fingernails black, lipstick, if they wore it-black. They were harmless, only out to have some fun, I think. Gavin, in his usual, overprotective way, was making sure. I wondered if those kids would ever realize they'd walked right past an a.s.sa.s.sin for the Vampire Council.

Nowadays I looked at everything with different eyes. None of the vampires I'd met appeared to be anything other than human. Why would they want to stick out? That was just an indication to someone of what they might be. Vampires are hidden for a reason, Merrill said. The race had to be protected. I'd learned the hard way just how vulnerable we were during the day-I didn't wake until nightfall and had no way of knowing how long Gap and his werewolves stood over me, waiting for sunset to come. I slid an arm around Gavin's waist at the thought and he tightened his arm about my shoulders.

We sat and had a gla.s.s of wine at a bar after a while, watching people come and go. There were all sorts there, some of them coming from the basketball game down the street. The West End isn't what it once was, but it still draws plenty of people.

The week I spent with Gavin at the safe house was almost perfect. He didn't lose his temper and he took me shopping several times, helping me choose a dress to go dancing in and then appropriate shoes. The dress was a deep blue so I could wear my sapphires. On New Year's Eve, we crashed a party in a hotel. Gavin employed compulsion to get us in and we looked as if we belonged with that crowd, all of whom were wealthy. I think the Dallas Mayor was there, plus some state representatives or senators. It was a black tie affair and Gavin had come prepared, let me tell you. I don't know how many women stared at him over the course of the evening. Gavin was there to dance, though, and we did.

Strangely enough, we ran into Winkler and Weldon at the party. Winkler had an invite, of course. We only talked for a little while. Well, I talked, Gavin glared. And then, Gavin pulled me away before Weldon or Winkler could ask me for a dance. Winkler did tell me to be at the house the evening of the second; they were flying out the morning of the third. I must have frowned because Gavin asked me about it later.

"I think I hate that stupid body bag, even though they get me out right at sunset," I grumbled, taking off my jewelry.

"Better that than getting burned, Cara," Gavin kissed my bare shoulder. The dress had narrow straps and he'd slipped them down for better access.

Gavin kept me in bed most of the first, making love to me one last time before I had to clean up and go back to Winkler's on the second.

We did a whirlwind trip back to the east coast; the werewolves of the now defunct Sugar Grove Pack had cost us time and several visits had to be postponed so Weldon, Winkler and Kelvin could recuperate. Before our trip back east, Weldon carefully leaked information regarding the fact that vampires were now cooperating with werewolves. He hoped to avoid further incidents. I wasn't sure what Wlodek might think about that but I couldn't blame Weldon. I was a little sick of the problems myself and I sure didn't want a Sugar Grove repeat.

We were in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas and Florida during that trip, some states having more than one Pack to visit. It was while we were in Florida however, that something happened to worry me and raise my suspicions.

At his request, I'd been lending my mystery books to Kelvin after reading them. He hadn't returned any of them to me, though. Some people are very lax about that sort of thing, but I couldn't see that he was lugging books around in his bags. Maybe he was one of those people who left things behind in hotel rooms. Maybe. One night in Sarasota Springs, after we were returning from dinner with yet another Packmaster and his human wife, Kelvin stopped at the front desk of our hotel. Handing an envelope off to the desk clerk, he asked her to mail it for him. Weldon and Winkler didn't pay it any mind but my skin itched. I tapped Winkler on the shoulder when Kelvin wasn't looking and told him I wanted to go outside for some air. The werewolves rode the elevator to the third floor without me.

The girl at the desk handed over the envelope without protest after I placed compulsion, and I laid a second one for her to forget she saw me. Once inside the women's restroom just off the lobby, I opened the envelope. It was addressed to someone in Dallas. Inside, I found six pages from the novel I'd last loaned to Kelvin.

All right, that had me stumped. Why would he be tearing pages out of a novel and sending them to anybody? And why wasn't he telling me about this if that's what he intended to do with my books? The book itself was a best-seller, so those pages could be obtained anywhere by anybody. I sat there in the stall for the longest time, trying to come up with an answer. When I did, the knowledge frightened me. I looked up a number on my cell and made a call to a local bookstore that stayed open late.

The desk clerk might have wondered why I was telling her to rip six pages from a paperback I hadn't read yet, stuff them inside Kelvin's envelope and then re-seal it, but she was under compulsion and didn't ask. Once again, I instructed her to forget the whole thing. The envelope was placed into the outgoing mail pile, the girl nodded at me and I went on my way.

"Did you get enough air?" Winkler was teasing me when I walked inside Weldon's suite-he was there watching the late news with the Grand Master.

"Yeah. The view is nicely bland from the rooftop," I lied. Kelvin was puttering around in Weldon's bathroom when I arrived, but left quickly to go to his own room. I went inside the bathroom afterward and sniffed around. Kelvin had touched Weldon's deodorant and his shaving cream. He hadn't tampered with them further than that (not that I could tell, anyway). Kelvin was now on my list and would get as much of my attention as possible from now on.

We were in Arcadia, Florida, which is near the center of the state, the following evening. The Packmaster owned farmland and allowed his pack to run on some of it. Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit the beach while we were in the state; there wasn't any time. I kept my eyes and ears open around Kelvin, though, and I overheard one phone conversation, saying there was more coming. More coming. Well, things were getting interesting. I did notice that Kelvin didn't ask for any more books. Maybe he had as much from me as he wanted.

"I don't know how she knew your name," Merrill pa.s.sed the gift basket over to Griffin. "Franklin kept this in the fridge for you since some of it was perishable."

Griffin smiled slightly and lifted the basket. "Lissa's different," he said.

Chapter 10.

We made our way west of the Mississippi, landing in Kansas City just after nightfall. Winkler was rubbing my neck when I woke on the jet and handing my unit of blood to me when my eyes unglued. Winkler has a great smile, no doubt about that. Weldon also informed us on the way to our hotel that he was changing plans a little-going to the west coast next which meant Oregon and California. Then he intended to swing back through Arizona and New Mexico, before doing Colorado last of all. He'd fly to North Dakota after Denver, and I'd be on the Council's jet back to England. The changes were fine with me. I'd never been to Oregon before and I was looking forward to it. Weldon had a confirmation and a wedding there.

Kansas City had to be taken care of first, however. The new Packmaster in the Kansas City area lived in Overland Park and we went to dinner not far from a Barnes and n.o.ble in Leawood. Winkler knew I wanted to go; I'd given a little moan of desire when we'd pa.s.sed it while driving to the restaurant. I also had a whopping huge gift card in my purse for Barnes and n.o.ble-my Christmas gift from Winkler. Honestly, no disrespect to Gavin or anything, but the way to my heart might lie through a bookstore.

Weldon and Winkler had coffee in the cafe at the bookstore and Kelvin walked around outside while I shopped. That told me right then he hadn't been reading any of the books I'd loaned him. If you read and you're next to a bookstore, you're going to look. It can't be helped. Since I didn't want to donate any more to Kelvin than I could get away with, I only bought three books and Weldon and Winkler were happy to leave. Kelvin was snapping his cell phone shut when we walked out the door.

Weldon confirmed the Packmaster in Overland Park the following evening and then we flew to Wichita. This was where Lester Briggs' biggest supporter, Bart Orford, had been Packmaster. My skin itched the moment Winkler unzipped my body bag on the jet that night.

"Winkler," I grabbed his arm and practically hauled him off the jet. Desperate to find a spot where we could talk without being overheard, I walked as far away from the plane as I could, dragging him along. "There's something going on here, I just feel it," I whispered.

"Lissa, we know this was Bart's Pack," Winkler attempted to soothe me.

"I know that too, Winkler, but I have a really bad feeling about this." How else could I tell him? I just had a feeling. This was almost like standing in front of the Council, telling them how I felt when Weldon was walking into a trap. Well, running as a werewolf into a trap might be a better description.

"How are your pilot and co-pilot on protection?" I asked. They were werewolves too; I just didn't know what they could do as far as guarding or fighting went.

"You think we need them?" Winkler was running hands through his hair.

"Yeah. Feel free to make fun of me all you want if nothing happens, Winkler. But I'm telling you, my skin is crawling."

"Lissa, I don't think Weldon will pull these guys away from their job," Winkler sighed. "Just be on guard, all right? We'll get through this." He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a lop-sided grin.

"Winkler, I sure as h.e.l.l hope you're right," I said as we walked back to the jet.

We made it through dinner with the Packmaster. It was a little boring, to be honest. I was beginning to think Winkler was right and I was only jumping at shadows as I sat on the sofa in Weldon's suite later. The Grand Master snored softly in his bed only a few feet away. One of my new novels was in my hand and I was reading when I heard footsteps walking down the hallway outside. People come and go inside hotels all the time, but it was three in the morning so I set my book aside, just in case. Winkler's connecting door was open, too. He usually left it that way. Truthfully, I expected the footsteps to walk right past on their way to another room on the same floor. They didn't. What shocked me most was the knock on the door with the accompanying, "Police. Open up."

"f.u.c.k," I muttered, tossing my book aside. Weldon was out of the bed like a shot as was Winkler next door. They were both pulling pants on while Weldon told me to answer the door and to be careful when I did it.

There were two officers standing outside, their guns drawn when I pulled the door open. "Is there a problem?" I asked, shivering a little. I had no idea what was going on. I'd been shot before and survived it, but had no idea how badly Winkler or Weldon might be wounded if they were hit. How did werewolves react to gunshot wounds? Were silver bullets required, like in the movies? I had no idea. Compulsion also came to mind, but if these guys had been sent to our room for a reason, then more would come.

"Back up, put your hands against the wall there and spread 'em," the officers still had their guns trained on me.

"What's the meaning of this?" Weldon was behind me now and Winkler was right behind him.

"You're all under arrest," the second officer said. "On suspicion of murder."

"You will tell me now just exactly why you think we murdered someone," I placed compulsion, then. No way was I going to stand there and let them put their hands all over us. We hadn't done anything. Not in the last couple of weeks, anyway, and these were Wichita cops. "And put those guns down, too."

Both cops lowered their weapons. "There are two dead hotel employees downstairs and somebody placed a phone call saying you three did it," one of the officers said.

"We didn't do it, we've been asleep," Winkler a.s.serted. "Besides, what proof do you have?"

"We have the murder weapons," the other officer said.

"You'll not find our fingerprints on them," Weldon scoffed.

"Oh, lord," I muttered. "How quickly will somebody else be up here to check on you two?" I asked the officers, placing yet another compulsion for them to answer my questions only with the truth.

"About five minutes," one said. We had a dark haired officer and a nearly bald officer. Baldy was the one who spoke.

"Winkler, get on your cell phone," I ordered, thinking as fast as I could. "Call Tony Hanc.o.c.k. Now. If you don't have a direct number, I do." I still remembered the number he'd given me; it wasn't the one on his card. Somehow, I knew he'd answer the one I had when he might not answer anything else.

"Here," Winkler handed the cell phone over to me. I dialed as fast as I could.

"Winkler, what the h.e.l.l do you want and how did you get this number?" It was an hour later on the east coast but still too early to be calling anyone. Tony's voice was rough from being wakened from a sound sleep.

"Tony, it's not Winkler." I knew he'd recognize my voice.

"Lissa? Lissa, where have you been?" Tony was wide-awake now.

"Tony, I don't have time to chat. We've got real trouble here. I'm in Wichita, Kansas right now and somebody is trying to frame me, Winkler and another man. Tony, I only figured out recently that they've been collecting our fingerprints and now the cops are here, telling us that somebody was murdered in our hotel and they have the murder weapons. I'm giving good odds right now on whose fingerprints will show up on whatever it was they used to kill those people."

"Lissa, which hotel?" Tony was up and getting dressed, I could hear that plainly.

"The Saint James," I told him. "I only have a minute or two before more cops show up. They'll arrest Winkler and someone named Weldon Harper, Tony."

"Is there some way I can get in touch with you?" Tony asked. I gave him my cell number. "Got it," he said.

"Call me during night hours only," I said and hung up.

"Weldon, your little s.h.i.thead Kelvin has been collecting our fingerprints," I said, turning to mist. "I'm sorry but I can't go to jail with you guys. For obvious reasons. I'll take the blood and my phone charger with me." Weldon and Winkler both nodded so I waited until I was nearly mist to take my present compulsion off the cops and to place a new one: "You never saw me, I wasn't here," I said and disappeared.

Winkler and Weldon both growled but allowed the cops to search and handcuff them. I'd given Winkler's cell phone back to him before changing and they took that. The cooler of blood was now with me, along with my purse and cell phone charger. At the last minute, I floated into Winkler's room and pulled out the envelope of cash I'd stuffed inside my suitcase, turning my laptop case to mist along with it. I waited until the werewolves were herded toward the elevator before I left as well; the forensics team had shown up, ready to take our hotel rooms apart. Misting inside Kelvin's room, I found that the little s.h.i.t had left, taking his bags and other belongings with him. It was probably a good thing, too-the cops would've had a third murder on their hands if I'd found him.

Compulsion is a wonderful thing. It got me a room at a nearby hotel with cash, no credit card and an a.s.sumed name. Once inside the room I called Merrill in New York and brought him up to speed. It was too late to call Wlodek or Charles; it was day in Great Britain and they'd be sleeping. It was nearly daylight in New York, too, so I had to hurry and give Merrill the information I had. Charles got an email as well-a rather lengthy one, as I explained the current situation with Winkler, the Grand Master and me. I also called the hotel desk clerk, informed him that I was a day sleeper and hung the Do Not Disturb sign on my door. No sense in tempting fate any more than I had to. The last thing I did was call Davis. Thankfully, he kept his cell phone by his bed so I told him what was happening. He said he'd have Winkler's lawyers out in force in no time and he would be on the next flight up. I thanked him, told him to call if he needed something and barely ended the call before I conked out with the sunrise.

"Lissa?" It was Merrill's voice on my cell. He'd been trying to get me to wake for several minutes already.

"Merrill?" My voice and my head were still thick with sleep.

"Lissa, sweetheart, we have a safe house set up for you. There are two vampires on their way to escort you there," he said. "Get your things together. Is there any incriminating evidence inside the other hotel room? Anything that might raise suspicions?" He was asking if anything would point to my being vampire.

"No, I don't think so. I got the blood and my laptop out."

"Thank goodness." Merrill heaved a sigh of relief.

"I don't have any clothes, though, other than what I'm wearing," I said.

"I understand. The two who are coming will help with that."

"Do you know who they are?"

"No. This is someone that Charles and Wlodek were able to get. They just happened to be in the area. They're not local."

"All right," I said. It didn't matter, I'd know by their scent they were vampires.

"Lissa, Wlodek notified Gavin. He may be calling."

"Merrill, you know he's only going to yell," I muttered. Of course, Merrill heard.

"I know." Merrill didn't sound happy about it either.

"Tell Franklin I'm okay for now," I said. I didn't want him worrying.

"I may have to lay compulsion on my human child and I don't like doing that," Merrill said.

"Don't let him fret," I said. "Tell him I love him."

"I will." Merrill hung up.

I had to break the lock on the cooler, since Winkler still had the key. I had just drunk my blood and placed the portion I couldn't finish back inside when the knock came on my hotel room door. Answering cautiously, I was relieved to find two vampires standing there. One was at least six-six with white-blond hair cut short; the other was around six feet or so with darker hair.

"Dalroy," the white-haired one introduced himself. He had a slight Texas accent. "This is Rhett," he nodded at the other vampire. I shook hands with both of them; they didn't seem to mind. Rhett took the cooler while Dalroy grabbed my laptop. All I had to carry was my purse; the envelope of cash was now inside my laptop case.

They had a rental waiting outside for us and I caught up with them after checking out of my room. More compulsion was necessary, of course. I crawled into the back seat of the Cadillac they had, breathing out a relieved sigh. "We hear this could turn into a right mess," Dalroy said over the back of the pa.s.senger seat. Rhett was driving and nodding his agreement to Dalroy's words.

"You don't know the half of it," I muttered angrily. "Any word on Winkler and the Grand Master?"

"We've only been up a little while ourselves. We were intending to check the newscasts and the online stuff when we get back to the safe house. Don't worry; we'll get you out of here safely if we have to." Dalroy gave me an encouraging smile.

"I don't intend to leave until Winkler and Weldon are free and cleared of charges," I said.

"The Council might disagree with you on that," Dalroy pointed out. "Personally, I'm with you. Somebody is behind this, I think, and they want to take werewolves and vampires down. Or at least expose all of us," he added grimly.

"Yeah," I said. "I get that idea, too." Dalroy had a ruggedly handsome face but looked as if he'd seen a lot of life, both human and vampire. He smelled about the same age as Charles, though. Rhett was a little younger than Dalroy and I knew by the scent that Dalroy had made him. There was enough of a difference in their ages, though, that I knew Dalroy hadn't broken any rules to make his vampire child.

We pulled up to the safe house after half an hour of driving, and Rhett and Dalroy carried my things inside. Rhett offered to go out and buy clothing for me so I handed over a list. "Are you sure this isn't going to embarra.s.s you?" I asked. There were bras and underwear on the list.