Feel free to explode, I sent to the man as I dropped him over the center of the river. The moment we separated, he became whole again, screaming and flailing as he fell toward the water. He detonated only a few feet above the river itself; his hand had probably released his grip on the detonator as he dropped. The explosion sent my misty particles blasting upward at a tremendous rate of speed, and I was frightened out of my wits when I finally stopped tumbling through the air. Emergency sirens were sounding and vehicles with flashing lights were converging on the river when I came back to my senses. I wasn't sure what they'd find, if anything, but they were far enough away that I wasn't immediately worried for the vampires I'd left behind.

Robert was sending desperate mindspeech by that time. Lissa? Lissa, are you all right? Lissa? They were all vampires; they'd heard the explosion.

Keep your shirt on, the blast sent me into another country, I think, I returned, my mental voice a little shaky. I felt dizzy (if that was possible in my current state), turning several time in an attempt to get my bearings. I couldn't determine immediately from which direction I'd come. Finally, floating off in what I hoped was the right path; I slowly made my way back.

The rogue vampires must have been killed already when I arrived; I didn't see any evidence of them but two humans were still alive when I floated inside the building. The ground-level floor was the place for questioning, it seemed; I could tell that compulsion had been laid already as I came back to solid form.

Merrill came to my side, wrapping me in a tight embrace, which surprised me a little. He kept me in the crook of his arm while we both listened in on the interrogations. Wlodek was asking questions while Gavin and Russell held the two humans.

"We wanted to expose both the vampires and werewolves and get rid of all of you," one of them hissed in anger. "You're an abomination. Filthy blood drinkers."

"And just how did you learn of our existence?" Wlodek asked in a conversational fashion, ignoring the insult.

"Tate, here, told us all about you," the young man said, indicating his companion. "You're devil sp.a.w.n, straight from h.e.l.l. I hope you all die." Wlodek never turned a hair or blinked, even. Likely, he'd heard all this before. Tate stood by, frowning at his companion, angry that they'd been forced to spill everything they knew. Dark-haired with a thin build, Tate couldn't be more than twenty, I figured. His companion looked a bit older, but his eyes were wild and filled with hate.

"Are you all right, Lissa?" Merrill whispered against my ear.

"Yeah, I just got disoriented when the guy blew himself up over the water," I whispered back. "I dropped him into the river and he exploded just above the surface." Merrill hugged me against him and we turned back to the conversation.

"So, Tate," Wlodek turned to the other young man, "How did you learn of us?"

"My father was a werewolf. He was killed when he made a challenge," the kid's voice was sullen. "I want all of you to die. Vampires and werewolves."

"Get Weldon Harper on the phone," Wlodek snapped at Flavio, who whipped out a cell phone and began punching numbers.

"Don't turn me over to them," Tate whined.

"We do not interfere with werewolf justice," Wlodek said indifferently, turning back to the first human. "Do you have connections to the werewolves? Are you related to any of them by blood?"

"No."

Wlodek nodded to Russell, who held him tightly with only one hand. The death was swift. I'm not sure I ever saw Russell move, but a broken neck is an effective way for a human to die. Russell allowed the body to fall while the one who'd been identified as Tate looked on in horror.

"Weldon is on the line, Honored One," Flavio held out the cell. Wlodek took it. "Weldon, we have a young man in custody who claims his father was a werewolf. He and some of his human friends attempted to destroy a few vampires tonight." Wlodek listened for a moment. He hadn't informed the Grand Master that he'd been one of the vampires threatened. "What's your full name, boy?" he asked instead, holding a hand over the phone.

"Tate Briggs," the kid said.

"Oh, lord," I put a hand over my mouth. Wlodek heard, whether I wanted him to or not. He lifted an eyebrow at me.

"I believe there's someone here who may have information for you," Wlodek said, motioning me forward.

The phone was held out to me. My fingers were shaking a little when I took it. Weldon thought I was dead. He was about to find out differently. "Grand Master?" I spoke into the phone.

Weldon, to his credit, barely hesitated and I'm sure he knew Wlodek was listening in on both sides of the conversation. "Lissa, I'm glad to hear your voice," Weldon said smoothly. Gavin was watching me while he held Tate Briggs.

"Grand Master, this young man says his name is Tate Briggs. Is this Lester's son?" I knew the answer before Weldon gave it to me; the kid drew in a shaky breath.

"Yes, it's Lester's son," Weldon growled. "Is the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d causing trouble?"

"You might say that," I confirmed. "He and a few friends took up a career in terrorism tonight."

"Are any of them still alive?"

"Just Tate. He's the only blood relative to a werewolf."

"Lissa, do something for me, all right?"

"I'll do my best, Grand Master."

"Look that punk in the eye; tell him you are Pack and that the Grand Master will come to deliver his justice in person."

"All right, Grand Master." Lowering the phone, I looked at Tate Briggs. He bore a resemblance to Lester-I could see it now. Plus, once I'd had a chance to get close enough to scent him, I knew. "The Grand Master says to tell you I am Pack," I said. "He also says to tell you that he is coming to deliver justice himself in your case. I want you to know, and this is from me only, that I helped fight off your father and his followers. There was no honor in your father and there is none in you. Your father would have condemned you if the peace had failed. I pity you and your short-sightedness." I held the phone back to my ear. "The message has been delivered, Grand Master."

"And then some," Weldon chuckled in my ear. "Let me talk to Wlodek again, so we can hammer out an execution date."

Dutifully I handed the phone back to Wlodek, who nodded at me and spoke again to Weldon. Merrill put his arm around me again when I returned to his side.

Russell and Radomir ended up taking custody of Tate Briggs. They placed cuffs and chains on him and hauled him off toward a waiting car. I wondered if he was going to be locked inside one of the cells I'd been kept in, but put it out of my mind.

"Now, what shall we do with this?" Wlodek toed the body with the broken neck. "We have four others just like it in the bas.e.m.e.nt."

"Too bad I got rid of the bomb," I said. "That would be an ideal situation."

"We may be able to come up with something," Wlodek said, glancing at me. "What did you have in mind?"

Merrill and Gavin helped me while Charles typed the note on his computer (using gloves, of course). The note was then placed inside one of the cars the young men had driven to the site. Someone else would be getting rid of the second vehicle. Actually, Wellington, the stuffy old British vampire, had given me the idea. He'd bl.u.s.tered about a faction gaining popularity in Great Britain, which wanted to eliminate the monarchy altogether. Even followers from other countries were joining the movement. When the charges were delivered by vampires driving up in an unmarked van, Robert and Will, both wearing gloves, set them up.

The note we'd left in the car spelled out their dissatisfaction with the monarchy and that the five young men were planning group suicide as a form of protest. At least one member of the Council snickered a little over the whole thing.

"Who owns the building?" I asked Merrill quietly while the charges were being laid. Since this was my idea, I was going to be responsible for destroying somebody's property.

"Wlodek, I believe," Merrill was smiling slightly.

"Ah."

"Come along, Lissa," Gavin lifted me up one handed and hauled me toward his Mercedes.

"Hey," I tried to slap his hand but it wasn't working very well. Gavin buckled me into the pa.s.senger seat in no time and then came around to the driver's side. "We need to be far away when this blows," he said, putting the car in gear.

"Can we go home slower than we got here in the first place?" I grumbled, pulling the mirror down to look at my face. "c.r.a.p, why didn't you tell me I look like I've been in a hurricane?" My hair was quite windblown and I may have had a black smudge or two on my face.

"Lissa, I was afraid you were dead when we heard the explosion," Gavin said, zooming around a corner.

"He didn't explode until just before he hit to the water," I said. "I didn't know he was going to turn to mist when I touched him-I just wanted to take away the detonator." Gavin wasn't doing much in the slowing down department, so I held onto the edge of my seat as he rounded another corner at a blinding rate of speed.

"Lissa, stop talking. If I had a heart, I'd be having an attack right now." I stopped talking and drew my knees up to my chest in the seat.

"Franklin, why are you waiting up?" I gave him a hug as soon as we were in the kitchen.

"I was worried," he said, brushing strands of tangled hair away from my face.

"I'm fine, Gavin's fine and Merrill's fine, too. In fact, Merrill should be here any minute," I patted Frank's shoulder and let him go.

"Merrill's here, now," Merrill walked in behind us. "Franklin, go to bed. You look worn out."

"All right," Franklin said. "At least I know you won't want breakfast in the morning so I can sleep late." He took off toward the stairs.

"I'm worried that he's the one who'll have the heart attack," I said softly as Franklin walked away.

"Lissa, I would very much like to take you over my knee," Gavin said, changing the subject.

"And I will fight you every step of the way and most likely never speak to you again," I said.

"That's why I only said I'd like to," Gavin frowned at me. "You have no idea what I was thinking when you went off like that, and then when the others came upstairs afterward and said you'd disappeared with the bomber..." he didn't finish.

"I didn't know what else to do, Gavin. Honest. Can we leave it for tonight?"

Merrill stood nearby, listening. "We'll leave it for tonight," he sighed. "I think I'll go sit in the hot tub and forget this for a moment."

"That is an excellent idea." Gavin grabbed me up again and took off at full speed toward the spa room. That's how he and I both ended up in the hot tub, completely naked. Gavin just ripped through my clothing while I attempted to stop him. His claws were out a little and there wasn't any way I wanted to argue with those things. He dumped me in the water first, before removing his own clothing. I got to see every inch of him that night, and some of those inches were rather large and rigid. I had to look the other way.

Merrill, dressed in a swimsuit, dropped in on the other side, lifted an eyebrow slightly and never said a word. Merrill was nicely built but Gavin's shoulders were wider and there wasn't any part of him that wasn't tight or a pleasure to see.

The hot, frothing water was pure bliss as I sat there, even though Gavin held me firmly against his side. At least he wasn't pulling me into his lap; that might have been a bit much. Instead, I leaned my forehead against Gavin's shoulder. Merrill climbed out after a while and left us. Gavin began speaking in French, murmuring words against my hair. I didn't understand any of it, with the exception of one short phrase, je t'aime.

Wlodek spoke by phone with Merrill the following evening during my lesson, informing him that Weldon would arrive in a week for the execution. Wlodek expected Merrill, Gavin and me to be there when Weldon carried out the sentence against Tate Briggs, since the Grand Master requested my presence. I didn't want to go. "You must," Merrill said after hanging up with Wlodek. "It is considered an honor to receive an invitation such as this."

"Merrill, this is an execution. Remember, I've seen werewolves fight before. This is going to be b.l.o.o.d.y."

"Lissa," he held my chin in his fingers, "look away if you want. Wlodek wants you to be there and I'm sure Weldon desires your presence because you are a member of his Pack."

I blinked up at Merrill and sighed. "What should I wear," I asked, turning away from him.

"Wear something dark but tasteful."

"Because the fur and the blood are going to fly, no doubt."

"More than likely."

"I have to get used to this, don't I?"

"Yes. It is difficult to understand, Lissa, how you can fight someone so successfully, or drop the boy's companion into the water so he may blow himself up, and yet hold back from something like this." His bright blue eyes examined my face carefully.

"I can't explain it either," I shrugged. "Maybe because this is a spectator sport and not in defense of my life."

"I see," Merrill said and left it at that.

Gavin brought a ring, just as Merrill had instructed and presented it to me in Merrill's study (in Merrill's presence), before the designated week was up. The center diamond was two full carats with smaller, round diamonds twisting and swirling around the band. It was huge and beautiful and it felt like a great weight around my finger when Gavin slipped it on. Gavin took me out afterward, to a restaurant.

"What is this?" I asked, as he led me down a sidewalk on a narrow street in London.

"You'll see," he said, guiding me down brick steps that led below street level. After reaching the bottom of the steps, we walked forward for perhaps twenty feet before coming to a thick, steel door. Gavin pulled a card from his pocket and swiped it through a reader at the side. The door opened automatically, closing behind us once we were through. We walked another ten feet in darkness before coming to a small pool of dim light, where two vampires stood guard before another door. I was beginning to worry a little at that point.

"Gavin," one of the vampires acknowledged while the other opened the door for us. I was ushered into the only vampire restaurant in the London area. Muted sounds of silver and gla.s.ses clinking mingled with voices talking and soft music. The interior was dimly lit, but it may as well have been daylight to the vampires present. Perhaps twenty private booths lined the square perimeter of a s.p.a.cious room, with a bar at one end, complete with a vampire bartender. The scents of human women mixed with that of vampire males, varying in ages from younger to very, very old. And the decor? Human five star restaurants might compare to this one. Maybe.

"This is El Diablo," Gavin said, removing my wrap. He'd insisted I wear a dress, so I'd worn a c.o.c.ktail length black dress he found adequate. Gavin was dressed in a suit; I seldom saw him in anything else. A Maitre d' came, pa.s.sed my wrap off to another vampire and led us to a booth. I think he might have bowed to Gavin if he thought it might get him somewhere and not look pretentious.

Gla.s.ses of blood were offered right away, in champagne flutes, no less. "This is the place for vampires to bring their dates, mostly human," Gavin explained quietly. "They have a fully functioning kitchen in the back, with a human chef. The waiters and bartenders are vampire. Flavio owns this and it has been in operation for nearly twenty years."

A woman moaned in the throes of o.r.g.a.s.m across the room, making me lift an eyebrow at Gavin. "This falls outside the rule," he said, reading the question in my eyes. "It is considered a private club and not a public place, plus it is common knowledge that you should have a date if you come here. This way, if you get excited from the smell of blood, you have your own ready supply available."

"Okaaay," I breathed, glancing surrept.i.tiously about the barely lit room.

"It is my hope that you will allow me to take from you, love," Gavin nuzzled my neck. "You may replenish yourself with blood from the bar or drink from me in return. And, as this is somewhat public, you will not be obligated to have full s.e.x. Also, be aware that anything said here may be overheard and repeated."

"Oh, tell me that now," I hissed quietly.

"Lissa, love, they serve blood mixed with the alcohol of your choice. You may drink safely here; I will make sure you come to no harm." He pushed my gla.s.s of blood to me. "This is the house specialty, blood with champagne."

"And what if I make a lot of racket and pa.s.s out if you bite me?" I whispered. Honestly, why hadn't he warned me before bringing me here? I figured it would be reported if I smacked his shoulder, so I kept my hands in my lap.

"Then I will carry you out and be the envy of everyone here," he smiled.

"You are a piece of work, you know that?" I grumbled.

"Come, try this," Gavin nudged the gla.s.s of blood a little farther in my direction.

"On your head be it," I said, lifting the gla.s.s. "I should warn you, I can't hold my liquor; it goes right to my head. Four gla.s.ses and poof, I was vampire," I said, waving an arm. Gavin placed an arm around me and lifted my free hand for a kiss. The alcohol-laced blood was good. Really good, I suppose I should say. Gavin handed his off to me as soon as mine was finished and called for two more. I was drunk after the third one.

"Now, little Lissa," Gavin nuzzled my neck, pulled back to kiss me and then nuzzled my neck again, nipping it lightly. "You will remember this time, my love," he gripped the back of my neck in his hand, pulled my body against his and sank his fangs into me. My breaths were coming in a series of whimpers as he brought me to climax just with his bite. Sure enough, just like the other times, I blacked out for a little while. When I woke, I was in Gavin's arms. He was murmuring my name and kissing me again.

"You taste so sweet, my little love," he murmured. "Take from me, Lissa. I want to feel the nip of your teeth."

"Gavin," I slurred his name a little.

"Come, love. Just a little. Let me know what the true pleasure is."

I blinked up at him before putting my arms around his neck. "I'm supposed to kiss you, first," I put my mouth on his throat, over the point where his pulse should be. His scent was nearly drugging me that close, so instead of kissing him, I licked his neck and nipped his skin a little. Then I placed the kiss, holding the back of his neck as firmly as I could. Wondering how my small fangs would feel to him-would they be enough to satisfy? I pierced his throat and drank.

Gavin groaned and gripped my body fiercely against his. "Yes, Lissa," he moaned, and then moaned again when I disengaged. I licked his neck to eliminate any stray drops of blood. Now it was his turn to close his eyes. I don't think he pa.s.sed out or anything close, but he was definitely happy.

"I have only read accounts in the past concerning the pleasure one may receive from the bite of one's mate or lover," Gavin whispered against my ear. "Those accounts did not do justice to the reality." He smiled down at me. "You may take from me any time. Rest a.s.sured I will most certainly enjoy it."

Gavin didn't have to carry me out of the restaurant but he certainly had a tight grip on me when I wobbled out. I heard the whispers behind us as we left-vampires telling their dates or companions about the first female turned in seven hundred years.