She walked to the door, pa.s.sing Zane and Quinn, keeping her head high, not wanting to show the pain inside her.

"Is there anything you want me to tell Oliver from you?" Quinn asked.

The softness in his voice almost made her want to burst into tears, but she clenched her jaw instead and stared straight ahead into the hallway. "You can tell him to go to h.e.l.l."

She didn't attempt to escape when Zane led her to his Hummer and opened the pa.s.senger door for her. She knew it would be wasted energy. He was infinitely faster than her, and by the looks of it mean enough to inflict pain should she not comply with his wishes. She wasn't in the mood for physical pain right now a" the emotional pain she felt was hard enough to cope with.

And there she'd thought she was falling in love with Oliver. Oh G.o.d, how stupid! And all the while he'd been deceiving her as to his intentions. At the first opportunity, he'd ratted her out to his colleagues. How could she have been so wrong about him?

"I need some more information from you. How many guards were on the premises?" Zane asked as he set the car in motion.

"There were always four of them guarding the top floor where we all lived and where they fed from us. But there were more of them."

"How many more?" Zane insisted.

"At least seven or eight others. They rotated in and out."

"And how many girls besides you?"

She hesitated. "Why do you want to know that?"

He tossed her a sideways glance. "Because I need to know what we're dealing with."

Unease crept up her spine. How would he use this information? To plan what to do with the girls? Where to set up shop once Scanguards had "freed" them?

"I asked you a question."

"I don't know how many."

He clenched his teeth. "Talk, or I'll make you talk."

She had no doubt that he would, and she also knew that she had no strength left to fight him. "I can't be sure, a dozen, but there's one girl I hadn't seen in a while. I can't be sure that she's still alive. And two new ones arrived recently. But I think it's twelve."

"All Chinese?"

Ursula nodded.

"Good."

Then Zane fell silent. Clearly he wasn't the type to make small talk. And luckily she wasn't in the mood for it either.

During the rest of the short drive, she stared out the window. When Zane pulled the Hummer to a stop only a few minutes after they'd left Quinn's house, she took in her surroundings. They were parked in front of a large corner building. It had four floors from what she could tell, and it looked like it was built around the turn of the century, or maybe a few years after it.

Zane motioned her to exit the car. Ursula closed the car door behind her, then looked at the large entrance door. Next to it, a bra.s.s sign was affixed to the wall. When she reached the door with Zane by her side, she read it. Executive Services, it said. Zane rang the door bell while she wondered what kind of business was located behind those elegant doors.

The intercom crackled. "Yes?"

"Zane for Vera."

The buzzer sounded, and Zane pressed against the door, holding it open for her. Hesitantly, Ursula stepped inside. An elegant and opulent foyer leading up to a majestic staircase greeted her. To her left there was a lounge of sorts from which soft music and voices drifted to her. Along the right side, she noticed several doors.

Ursula followed Zane as he walked closer to the large staircase that dominated the far end of the foyer, her eyes still scanning her surroundings. As she walked past the lounge, she slowed her steps and focused her eyes. Women in revealing dresses sidled up to men who sat on comfortable chairs and sofas. She honed in on one couple. As the man drank from his gla.s.s, the beautiful black woman next to him draped her leg over his thighs, rubbing his crotch.

Ursula's gaze whipped to the people who sat on another sofa not far from them. A similar picture presented itself. The woman was opening the man's shirt, slipping her hand inside, while he, in full view of everybody, pushed the spaghetti strap of her dress off one shoulder and palmed her suddenly exposed breast.

Ursula turned to Zane and glared at him. "Ohhh! You brought me to a brothel! How could you?"

Not even from Zane would she have expected such cruelty, but apparently her skill at a.s.sessing people sucked. Zane was that cruel to bring her to the same kind of place she'd only just escaped from. That here, the merchandise was s.e.x rather than blood didn't matter. It was still the same thing.

Zane shrugged as if he didn't even understand her objection. "It's safe. And it's run by an ally. But what's most important, n.o.body will suspect you here."

At the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs, Ursula turned her head. A gorgeous Chinese woman in an elegant business suit glided down the staircase, her walk as graceful as that of a princess. Her black hair was piled high on her head, and her face was enhanced with subtle make-up, emphasizing her expressive eyes. She looked no older than thirty.

"Zane," she greeted the vampire in a husky voice.

Zane simply nodded, then pointed to Ursula. "Vera, thank you for agreeing to this. This is Ursula."

Vera let her eyes run over Ursula, giving her a thorough inspection. "So you're the special one. I'm Vera. I run this place."

She stretched out her hand, and Ursula felt compelled to shake it. Despite the polite gesture she couldn't suppress her next comment. "So you're my new jailor."

"Ouch!" she replied dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest, before glancing at Zane. "What have you done to her that she has such a bad opinion of us?"

Zane grunted. "Nothing."

"I see, so you were your usual pleasant self."

When Zane glared back at her, Ursula almost wanted to smile. It appeared that Vera wasn't afraid of him. She had to be a vampire herself. No human would dare p.i.s.s off Zane, nor would many vampires.

"As Samson requested: keep her here, don't let her out of your sight, and don't give her any access to a phone or any other means of communication. She's not to have any contact with anybody from Scanguards, particularly not with Oliver."

Vera raised her lids. "Oh? What's the poor guy done now?"

Ursula huffed at that. Poor guy? "Jerk!" she let out under her breath. First he'd seduced her and then he'd betrayed her.

"Ah, I see. Well, leave it to me. I'll take good care of her."

Without another word, Zane turned on his heels and left. When the entrance door fell shut, Vera put her hand on Ursula's arm and motioned her up the stairs.

"I'm having a room made up for you on the top floor. It's very secure and comfortable."

Ursula tossed her a sideways glance. "You mean I won't be able to escape."

Vera gave her a chiding look. "Now, now. Why so hostile? I was planning to treat you like a guest. If you'd rather be treated like a prisoner, however, that can be arranged."

Ursula pressed her lips together.

"Listen, my dear, I've been told what you've been through, and it's something I wouldn't wish on anybody. But it happened, and you have to let it go. I look at you and I see myself when I was your age."

They reached the second floor and continued on to the next flight of stairs.

"Only I was pregnant then," Vera confessed.

Surprised, Ursula looked at her. "But you're a vampire, aren't you? If you know all this about me and are a.s.sociated with Scanguards, you must be one of them."

She smiled. "Yes, of course. But I was human once. And young like you."

"You're still young. Look at you."

"My sh.e.l.l is young, but inside, I've aged. I've grieved for the child I was never able to raise. And the years I wasted trying to get revenge for the wrong that was done to me. Don't make the same mistake I did. It's time to live."

Ursula dropped her lids. "I wish it were that easy. But I'm not alone in this. There are others like me, and as long as they're suffering, I'm suffering." She hadn't forgotten the women who'd become her sisters over those years, the women who'd endured the same hardships as she had.

"Let Scanguards take care of them." Vera opened a door to a room and motioned Ursula to enter.

A young woman was putting finishing touches on the bed, then moved into the adjacent bathroom.

"Do you trust Scanguards?" Ursula asked.

"With my life. They're honest and dependable. You won't find anybody with higher ethics than the men who work for Scanguards."

Ursula huffed indignantly just as the young woman exited the bathroom. "Well, if that's the case, then I guess Oliver is the one bad apple that spoils the batch!"

"Oliver?" Vera asked, clearly surprised, and even the other woman stopped in her movements and stared at her. "Oliver is the sweetest man anybody could wish for. Full of integrity, honor, anda""

"Integrity? Hah! He betrayed me the first chance he got!"

Vera lifted her eyebrows, then turned to the girl who'd made up the room. "Is everything done?"

"Yes, Vera. The linen is fresh, and there are warm towels in the bathroom. Everything's clean."

Vera nodded. "Thank you, Karen, it's very kind of you to help out. I know that's not your job."

"I don't mind." Karen left the room and pulled the door shut behind her.

The moment they were alone again, Vera's face turned serious. "I'm sorry that you feel like that about Oliver. Maybe you've seen a side of him that I didn't know. Anyway . . . " She pointed to the nightstand. "This is a house phone, it only connects within the building. If you need anythinga"toiletries, food, or anything at alla"just dial zero, and one of the staff will bring you what you need. There's a selection of clothes in the closet. I'm afraid some of it won't be to your liking, but there are some tame nightgowns and T-shirts among the items that will suit you."

Vera turned to the door.

"I'm sorry. I'm not angry at you," Ursula apologized, feeling bad because the woman had been open and friendly and all Ursula had done so far was complain. "I'm just . . . "

"No need to explain. It's none of my business, I'm sure."

When the door fell shut behind her, Ursula threw herself onto the soft queen-sized bed and allowed her tears to flow freely. All she could think of was Oliver and the fact that he'd betrayed her.

27.

Oliver ran faster than he ever had. Vampire speed could reach up to forty miles an hour for short bursts, and he was glad for it now. He didn't care who may have seen him, questioning their sanity. All he was concerned with was to get home before his colleagues could whisk Ursula away.

His heart beat like a jackhammer, and his breaths rushed in and out of his lungs as he finally turned onto his street and ran up to the entrance door of his home. He jammed the key into the lock and opened it, then bolted into the foyer.

"Ursula? Ursula!" he cried out.

No reply. The beast inside him howled in frustration.

"Ursula, where are you?" he repeated and ran to the stairs when he caught a movement to his right. He whipped his head toward it.

Quinn stood in the door to the living room, his hands buried in his pockets. "She's gone."

Furious, Oliver stormed toward Quinn and pushed him against the doorframe. "Where is she?"

His sire shook him off with ease. "They took her to a safe place."

"Where?"

"I can't tell you."

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "You can't or you won't?"

"Both."

"Then you're against me."

Quinn shook his head and gave him a stern look. "I'm protecting you. The state you're in there's no telling what you'll do. Do you really think I would allow this kind of temptation to remain right under your nose and watch how you destroy yourself? I didn't sire you to see you throw away your life!"

"You have no idea what's going on inside me!"

He noticed that Rose and Blake had come out from the living room.

"None of you! You have no trust in me! I can make my own decisions. But you don't believe that I can resist temptation. You think me weak! I'm not a child, G.o.dd.a.m.n it! I know what's right and wrong! But you all believe that you have to think for me! Give me some f.u.c.king credit! All I wanted was your support and your love! And instead you suffocate me! You treat me like a juvenile delinquent who's about to commit a crime! d.a.m.n it! I was never going to hurt Ursula! I care about her!" He took a breath of air, filling his lungs, before he continued, "She trusted me! And now?"

He knew what Ursula thought of him now. He didn't have to be a brain surgeon to figure that out. She hated hima"he was certain of ita"because she thought that he'd betrayed her trust and broken his word. He'd promised her to keep her secret safe.

Oliver pointed his finger at Quinn. "If anything happens to her, I'm making you responsible."

Then he turned and ran to the door that led to the garage. He descended the stairs, jumped into the minivan, then raced out of the garage and into the night. He had to find Ursula.

He reached Scanguards' headquarters in the Mission a short while later and drove into the underground parking garage, letting himself in with his access card. After parking in his a.s.signed s.p.a.ce, he took the elevator to the executive floor. When the elevator doors opened, he noticed the frantic activity that made the normally-quiet floor buzz like a beehive.

Oliver approached the large meeting room, where many of his vampire colleagues were hovering. He tapped one of them on the shoulder.