She started to shake her head, when he caught her hand and dragged her toward a set of escalators.

"Where-where are we going?" she asked as she trailed after him, nearly stumbling as they stepped onto the moving treads. His hand tightened on her, again offering her balance. "I think she's up here," he said, cocking his head as if to home in on a faint sound. She? Mina paused, her first thought that he must be sensing one of his women. The idea doused her pleasure at the ferris wheel ride like a splash of icy water on a newly lit flame. But she didn't pull away from him. Maybe she needed to see this reunion to remind herself why she should fear him.

He led her past the Empire State building created out of interlocked small plastic blocks. Then toward a pink facade that looked like a dollhouse. He kept going until he reached an aisle lined with different dolls, all with hourglass figures and catlike eyes.

Mina glanced around, expecting a live woman who matched these dolls to turn the corner and exclaim, "Sebastian!"

But instead she heard a small noise. A soft sniffling.

Sebastian dropped her hand and walked toward the end of the aisle. Curious, she followed.

In among the boxes with pink and purple castles pictured on the fronts, a small girl huddled, clutching a ratty-looking stuffed animal, her chubby cheeks blotchy from crying.

Sebastian approached the girl, slowly. Then he crouched so that he was eye level with her.

"Hi there," he said softly. "Are you lost?"

The little girl clutched her animal tighter, refusing to look at him.

"It's okay," Sebastian assured her. "We'll help you find your mommy."

At the word mommy, the little girl's face crumpled and more tears rolled down her face.

"Shh," Sebastian soothed, then held out a hand. "Come on, Mina and I will help you find her."

The little girl still hesitated, but finally she blinked up at Sebastian, and Mina saw large cornflower blue

eyes. The child couldn't be any more than three or four.

When the girl saw Sebastian, she blinked again. Then she slipped her hand into his, her chubby baby fingers looking impossibly tiny against his broad palm.

Sebastian rose and helped the girl stand. When he turned and saw Mina's stricken look, he offered her

an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. We'll find your mother."

Mina knew that reassurance was for her as much as for the child.

They walked down the aisle, back toward the open space at the entrance of the dollhouse facade.

"What's your mommy's name?" Sebastian asked the girl.

"Mommy," she said, in a soft, quavering voice.

Sebastian smiled at Mina. "Of course. Silly me."

Mina watched as Sebastian knelt again. "What's your name?"

"Ananda."

Sebastian paused. "Amanda?"

The girl nodded. Mina noticed that the girl was now watching Sebastian with wide, awed eyes as if she

was looking at a fairy godfather or an angel.

"Hi, Amanda. I'm Sebastian, and this is Mina. Can you tell me what your mommy looks like?"

"Like me," she said, "only big."

Sebastian laughed at that. "Okay, so we'll just look for the second prettiest girl in the store."

Mina smiled as the girl stared at him, not sure what he meant, but then she smiled shyly. It seemed no

one was immune to his charm.

Sebastian rose, and they headed toward the escalator. "Let's go see if they can page your mother."

But before they even reached the escalators, a blond woman with an older boy in tow came bustling

toward them.

"Amanda!"

The little girl squealed, "Mommy," and pulled her hand out of Sebastian's, running to the woman. The

woman scooped up her child, her relief reaching Mina, making her take a sigh of relief too. Amanda explained to her mother who Sebastian was, not even remembering Mina. But then Sebastian had been her hero. The mother thanked them, and Mina noticed that mother, like daughter, seemed enchanted by Sebastian. But, as much as she didn't want to admit it, so was Mina. On the walk back to her apartment, both Mina and Sebastian were quiet. Occasionally, Sebastian would comment about something, the weather, something in a shop window, but then he'd fall silent again. "Are you all right?" he finally asked, when they reached the outside stoop, which led up to the green front door of her apartment building.

She nodded, but then she admitted, "I don't know."

"What don't you know?" He tilted his head, trying to catch her gaze, but she continued to stare at a wad of chewing gum flattened onto the pavement. "You confused me," she admitted, still not meeting his gaze. "Me?" he said, sounding surprised. "Hell, I'm easy to figure out."

"No, you're not," she said, looking up at him.

"Well, what's confusing you?"

"Why you helped that little girl."

He laughed. "That's easy. She was lost and scared and needed help."

Mina bit her lip, considering whether she should ask her next question. Finally she decided she had to

ask. "You didn't do it to impress me? You know-to make me think you are nice?"

Sebastian's smile faded, and his golden eyes grew cool, the fire in them extinguishing.

"To make you think I'm nice," he murmured. "I guess that would be the only possible reason, wouldn't

it?" He didn't say another word. He simply turned and walked down the street away from her. Even though she wanted to call him back, she just let him go. Maybe it was for the best if he left and never saw her again. Before she decided to think he was one of the nicest guys she'd ever met. Chapter 13 Sebastian stormed into Rhys and Jane's apartment, barely acknowledging his brother, who leaned on the kitchen counter, as he strode to the refrigerator, whipping the door open.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he did see Rhys raise an eyebrow and set down the mug he was holding.

"Good morning."

Sebastian grunted, staring into the white interior of the fridge.

"Can I help you find something?" Rhys asked, his tone blase, even though Sebastian knew he must be curious about his abrupt behavior.

"I'm looking for some of that crap that you and Jane drink."

Rhys moved to peer into the fridge over Sebastian's shoulder. The only items on the shelves were

several clear bags filled with blood. And an old bottle of mustard-still hanging around from Jane's mortal days.

"Hmm," Rhys said, pretending to ponder Sebastian's gruff request. "Well, good luck finding that."

Sebastian fought back a sneer as he snatched one of the bags and brushed past Rhys to get to the

counter. He opened the cupboard and pulled out a mug. He started to open that bag, then paused, turning to his brother.

"Do you think I'm nice?"

Rhys frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Nice. You know. Do you think I am?"

"At this moment? Or in general? Because at the moment, you're coming across more deranged than nice."

Sebastian glared at his brother. Okay, he did know that he had just barged into his place. He knew that the shirt he'd thrown on was wrinkled-he glanced down-and misbuttoned. He knew that his hair was sticking out in a fair impression of Einstein's, but he was thoroughly incensed. He'd been livid when he got home last night, and he hadn't risen feeling any better.

"Did you know that I'm on the list of the most dangerous vampires in New York City?" Sebastian pointed at himself. "I am the third most dangerous vampire in this whole city."

Rhys raised an eyebrow again, although he didn't look like he knew whether to be impressed or shocked. "Really?"

"Yes," Sebastian said, turning back to the bag of dark red liquid, popping the stopper with more force than necessary. "Apparently some group called the Society of Preternaturals Against the Mistreatment of Mortals-do you know this group?" He turned a suspicious eye to Rhys. "Are you a part of it?"

Rhys gave him an exaggeratedly wounded look. "Sebastian, dear brother, don't you think if I was affiliated with the Society, I'd have made sure you were the Number One most dangerous vampire in the city?"

"Ha-ha," Sebastian said, scowling down at the mug as he poured himself a full cup of the cold blood.

"I do know of the Society," Rhys said, all humor gone from his voice. "They are an extremist group, who branched off from Dr. Fowler's teachings." "Yes, I know that." Sebastian took a drink of cold liquid. He made a disgusted noise and set the mug aside.

"They're pretty out there," Rhys added.

"I know that too."

"So how did you learn all this? I wouldn't expect you to even pay attention to this sort of stuff." Then realization lit Rhys's eyes. "That vampiress who tried to sabotage the club was a member of the Society."

Sebastian nodded, picking up the cup again, taking another sip. "Yep."

"Shit."

"Yep."

Both brothers were silent, lost in their own thoughts about the whole thing, when Rhys asked, "What does this have to do with being nice, though?" Sebastian stared at his brother. "I went to confront Mina."

"Mina?"

"Wilhelmina. The saboteur."

Rhys nodded, waiting for Sebastian to continue. When he didn't, Rhys said, his voice more than a little confused, "And she said you weren't nice?"

"Well, not so straightforwardly. But yes."

Rhys stared at him for a moment. "And her opinion bothers you why?"