John stood and turned to her. "There. That'll warm the place up soon."

Firelight flickered behind him, outlining his legs. Meghan's eyes traveled up his body, and oddly, she wished he'd take off his coat so she could get a better look.

Drawn by the warmth, Meghan stepped forward, extending her hands to the fire to warm them. A sigh of satisfaction rose up from her, and John's jaw clenched.

He cleared his throat. "How are you feeling? I can still take you to the hospital."

"No. I'm better. Fine. Really."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

He nodded. "Let me know if you change your mind."

"I will."

"I'll go make us some hot cocoa. You should probably get out of those wet jeans. I have some sweats you could wear while they dry."

Meghan opened her mouth to refuse his offer, but instead said, "That would be nice."

John went through the open door, leaving Meghan to sort out what the h.e.l.l she thought she was doing.

Getting into a car with a stranger was bad enough. Letting him drive her to his home was worse. Getting undressed in his house crossed the line.

It had to be the head injury. That was the only explanation she could find.

He came back out. "I laid some clothes on the bed. Feel free to get a shower if you think it will help you warm up."

"I shouldn'ta"" she started to say, when John reached for her. His fingers brushed featherlight over her forehead, outlining the bruise.

"You're safe here. I promise," he said, and Meghan believed him.

She knew she didn't know this man, but she felt like she did. She felt like she'd always known him. "Thanks."

He nodded. "I'll call the sheriff. We'll get you back on your way as soon as possible."

"Okay," she said, but at that moment she realized that the urge to go, to move, had left her. Whatever it was that had been driving her was gone now, as if she'd reached her destination.

Looking at John's face, at the gentle care shining in his hazel eyes, Meghan wondered if perhaps she'd found whatever it was she'd been sent to find.

Before she could dwell on that bizarre idea too long, she went into his bedroom, grabbed the clothes, and locked herself in the bathroom.

When she came out fifteen minutes later, rosy and warm from her hot shower, and saw John's face, she knew the news wasn't good.

"The sheriff said his men are busy dealing with accidents all over the county and that if you're safe, you should just stay put. Looks like we'll be spending the night together."

Joseph didn't think his night could get any worse.

Grace hadn't shown up for work and was apparently missing. Some of the human teens had gotten into a fight and several of them had needed st.i.tches. The Indonesian Theronai wanted to know where Nika was. Two more Theronai from Australia were due in tomorrow. Nika had left and gotten herself into a mess with Madoc that was taking valuable resources away from their objectives. Iain hadn't reported in for weeks, so Joseph had no idea how Iain's hunt for the Synestryn offspring was progressing. They still hadn't caught the saboteur he knew in his gut still lived among them. And to make matters worse, Carmen was refusing to speak to him. She'd skipped practice, which was the one bright spot in his day.

He didn't see what the big deal was. What the h.e.l.l was so wrong with him that she didn't want to claim him as her adoptive father? She'd been taking his advice and learning from him for months. He'd taken care of her basic needsa"given her a place to live, food. He'd even convinced her to take a couple of online cla.s.ses from a nearby community college.

Wasn't that what fathers did?

Joseph let out a long sigh. He was so tired. Weary down to his bones. Maybe it was time to step down and let someone else take over leadership of the Theronai for a while. He didn't think he was going to last the remaining years of his term.

Not that there was anyone else clamoring for the job. Like him, they all preferred being out in the field rather than behind a desk.

His phone rang and he almost let it go to voice mail. But as s.h.i.tty as his day had been, he figured it couldn't get any worse.

"Yeah," he answered.

Nicholas was on the line, his voice tight. "We've got another problem."

The pounding behind Joseph's eyes grew heavier. "Is someone else hurt?"

"It's Thea. She was raped."

Rage poured through Joseph at the thought of someone hurting one of the humans under his protection. He shot up from his desk and headed down the hall, gripping his cell phone hard. "Where is she?"

"Briant is tending to her. She refuses to talk to anyone. The only reason Briant knew was because he saw what had happened to her when he took her blood to heal her. He called me."

"Who did this? I swear I'll kill them myself."

"It was Chris. He's turned."

Joseph came to a dead stop. He could hear voices flowing out of the main hall, sliding around him but not quite sinking in. He felt cold. Dead inside.

He knew what he had to do and the thought nearly killed him.

"Where is he?" asked Joseph. "I need to confirm that it's true."

"You can't go alone. I'll get Liam and meet you in the training yard."

"Where is he, Nicholas? Tell me."

"No. If he's turned, he could kill you. I can't let that happen. We need you too much. We're doing this together."

"I'll find him myself, then." He couldn't stand the idea of sentencing Chris to death, but even worse would be forcing the rest of the Theronai to watch it happen, knowing that they could be next.

His feet felt heavy as he headed toward Chris's suite. The sword at his side was a cold rea.s.surance and he prayed he wouldn't need to draw steel on the man who had been his friend for more than a century.

Joseph rounded a corner and saw that Nicholas and Liam had already beaten him to the door and were barring his path.

"Step out of the way," he ordered his men.

Nicholas's scarred face darkened and his mouth went flat. "We go in together."

"I need to do this alone."

"You can't," said Nicholas. "You've been away from the battlefield too long. You're out of practice and more likely to get yourself killed than not."

Outraged resentment made Joseph's spine straighten. "I am not weak," he snapped.

"I didn't say you were. I said you were out of practice. Big difference."

"Out of my way."

Joseph had always thought of Liam as a gentle giant. He rarely spoke and spent as much time playing with the human children as he did killing Synestryn. But there was nothing gentle about the fury blazing in his eyes right now. "He hurt Thea. I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else. Including you."

With that, Joseph rapped on Chris's door.

All three men's hands went to their swords, though both Liam and Nicholas prevented Joseph from getting within reach of the door.

A bleary-eyed Chris swung the door open, glaring at them. A trio of nasty scratches burned along his cheek, and the neckline of his T-shirt was ripped.

Thea had fought him. The fact that she'd had to made Joseph want to roar in pain. He should have protected her. He should have known something like this could happen.

"That s.l.u.t sent you, didn't she?" spat Chris. "I didn't do anything to her she wasn't begging for and you all know it."

He spun around in disgust, leaving his door open for them to enter.

"Show me your lifemark," said Joseph.

Chris stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around. His nostrils were flared in anger and his hand moved to his sword. "What?" he asked in a chillingly quiet tone.

"You heard me. Take off your shirt."

"No. Get the h.e.l.l out."

"That's not going to happen. You've been accused of a serious crimea"one I know you never would have done unless your lifemark was barren."

"I'm leaving," said Chris. "I don't have to take this kind of s.h.i.t from any of you."

"I'm your leader. You'll do what I tell you to do."

"Oh, yeah? You're too weak to order me to do a d.a.m.n thing. You have to bring backup with you like some kind of human."

Joseph refused to let that remark bother him now. Later, he knew he'd spend a lot of time going over things in his heada"wondering if his men weren't right to question him. But not right now. Right now, he was going to pretend he was still strong enough to enforce his leadership upon a man whom he would likely have to sentence to death.

"Take the shirt off or I'll do it for you."

"f.u.c.k off."

Joseph drew his blade and slashed it between Nicholas and Liam, slicing a cut along Chris's chest.

Chris drew his blade, but Nicholas and Liam were ready for trouble and charged him. Nicholas took control of his sword arm while Liam drove him to the floor. Chris's head hit hard enough to stun him.

Joseph bent down and ripped the shirt open the rest of the way.

Chris's b.l.o.o.d.y lifemark was barren.

A wave of grief threatened to drive Joseph to his knees. He swiped the edge of the shirt over the cut, just to make sure that the blood wasn't obscuring a leaf or two. It wasn't.

"How long?" asked Joseph. His voice sounded thick and shaky.

Rather than answer, Chris roared in defiance and fought against the men's hold.

"Answer me or I'll bring in a Sanguinar to rip it from your mind."

"f.u.c.k you."

Joseph's hand moved slowly, his limbs heavy with resignation as he dialed Briant. "How's Thea?"

"Sleeping. I repaired the physical damage and removed the memory at her request. She'll be fine in a few days."

"Thank you."

"If you need me to, I can serve as her witness. Her memory is mine now."

"That won't be necessary. I have all the proof I need. Come to Chris's quarters. I need you to question him."

"I'm sorry. I'm too weak after tending Thea."

"You can have all the blood from him you need. He's no longer one of ours."

"His lifemark is bare," guessed Briant.

Joseph didn't answer him. The burden of what he had to do now was already bleak enough. He didn't want to talk about it. "As soon as you're done with Chris, I'm taking him to the Slayers."

Chapter 12.

Madoc woke to the feeling of Nika's touch on his face. He recognized it before even opening his eyes.

She was safe. He hadn't gotten her killed. For a moment, he let himself revel in that, letting the feeling ease some of the pressure pounding inside him. His precious Nika was safe.

Her featherlight fingers slid along his brow, over his eyelids, along his cheek until she was stroking his mouth. He couldn't resist the urge to flick his tongue out a tiny bit so he could taste her skin.

"You're awake," she whispered.

He opened his eyes and stared up at her. She was lying next to him on a bed, leaning over him. Any anger he felt at having his plans to die tonight interrupted vanished. If he'd died, he wouldn't have been able to feel her touching him right now. He knew it was wrong, but he didn't care. "Surprised me, too. I thought for sure I was a goner. What happened?"