Allie took the cup from Caleb's hand as he came up beside her, dwarfing her. "I thought you were sleeping," she said.

"I thought you were going to leave this to me."

"Your way won't work."

"You don't know that."

Allie glanced at the contents of the cup and her expression softened. She took a sip. "Yes, I do."

Slade grunted and frowned. "Some mate you are. Coffee's not good for her."

Tucking her into his side, Caleb placed a kiss on the top of Allie's head. "Leave her be, Slade."

If Jane hadn't seen the expression on Caleb's face, she never would have believed it-vampires could love. Deeply, because clear as day, Caleb loved Allie.

"You won't say that if she gets sick."

Caleb shrugged as Allie leaned against him. "You'll take care of it."

Apparently, Slade was not only s.e.xy, he was a miracle worker.

"Keeping her healthy would be easier if she didn't get sick in the first place."

Allie placed her hand on Caleb's chest, total trust in the gesture. Jane, to her surprise, felt a pang of jealousy. The ease of interaction between the couple was something she'd never seen, but always dreamed of.

"I'll only have a little."

"Why don't you take care of Allie, Slade, and we'll entertain Jane?" Torque offered in a deep drawl that resonated s.e.x appeal. A s.e.xuality to which Jane, being female, was not immune.

Slade whipped about with a snarl that immediately reminded Jane of why she was standing here in too-big clothes, trying to escape.

"The h.e.l.l you will."

She took a step back, but that wasn't any good, because behind her was Caleb.

Caleb took the cup from Allie and took a sip while she watched, grimacing as he did. "Don't know how you can drink it with all that cream and sugar." He indicated Jane's retreat with a tilt of the cup. "Do you still think she can't be forced?"

Allie nodded and took her coffee back. "If she was the type who could be forced, Sanctuary would already have the information they wanted."

Allie's perception was as scary as Caleb's condescending att.i.tude was annoying.

"Are you reading my mind again?"

"Nope. Just commenting on the obviousness of your nature."

Great. Now she was obvious to the people who had kidnapped her. Slade turned. She ducked under his hand and angled past Caleb. "I need coffee."

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the edge of the grin Slade flashed the weres. "I'll join you."

That was all she needed, the distraction of him while trying to gather her thoughts. "Don't bother."

The door clicked shut behind her.

"It's no trouble. We need to talk anyway."

8.

"FOR somebody who wanted to talk to me, you're not saying much," Jane muttered three hours later as Slade led the way across the lawn between the houses.

"That's because you've dodged every attempt."

"Are you implying that I've been avoiding you?" Amazing how self-righteous she could sound.

"Well you certainly haven't been running in my direction."

"And why should I? You kidnapped me."

"I rescued you first."

"But now you won't let me go home."

"You've got a point there, but I also have a good reason."

A reason they were on the way to see. Jane kept telling herself the child wasn't her problem, but with every step across the hard ground she knew she was only kidding herself. She had a feeling Slade knew it, too. The man seemed to understand her on a level that wasn't comfortable to a woman used to being anonymous. On the other hand, in any other situation, she might have worked up to finding it comfort able. At least with a friend, as she had begun to think of Vamp Man. Which just sent her back into the hopeless spiral of what she really wanted versus what she should want, compared to what she should do.

She clenched her hands into fists in the pockets of her borrowed coat. How the h.e.l.l had her carefully crafted simple life gotten so complicated? With every step, the too-big sweatpants pulled at her legs in little tugging pleas to go back. She didn't want to do this. Didn't want to face her demons. Especially when they were manifested in the face of an infant.

She stopped.

Slade turned. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think I'm ready for this."

"It's just a baby."

"You know it's not just anything, otherwise everyone wouldn't be insisting I meet him."

"Fair enough."

Rocking back on her heels she asked, "How bad is he?"

Slade glanced at her, all pretense gone. She could tell from the expression on his face that the answer he was going to give her was the one she didn't want to hear. She only had time to dig her nails into her palm before he said, "I won't lie to you. He's not good. He has the thin, gaunt look of poor nutrition-"

"But he eats?"

"Goes at the bottle like a wolf at a spring kill."

Yet he didn't gain weight. Excitement nipped at her reluctance, demanding she find out more. Which would be a mistake, because the more she talked about anything related to her research, the more personal the subjects became. The deeper the failures struck.

The front door of the main house opened. Light spilled into the yard in a yellow flare of invitation. Allie stood there, wearing her hope in her eyes. Jane turned on her heel.

"I'm going for a walk."

To his credit, Slade didn't say what he had to be thinking. He didn't call her a coward. He merely looked over his shoulder with that expression on his face that said he was employing telepathy. Even the word freaked her out. Almost as much as the concept intrigued her.

"You're talking to Caleb, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Looking back, she saw Slade's brother come up behind Allie and put his arm around her shoulder. Between Slade's reasoning and Allie's subsequent pleas, Jane hadn't stood a chance not promising to help. Part of her resented the manipulation. The other part was resigned to it. "Have him tell Allie that I keep my promises. I'll be back. It's just that I . . ."

"Need a minute," Slade finished for her. She could have kissed him for understanding.

There was another second of silence, and then Allie lifted her hand and waved.

Jane smiled. "She's a heck of a person, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Slade nodded. "Allie has principles. She believes in the Karmic good and keeping the balance."

"She says she doesn't believe in might makes right."

"Nope. She and Caleb had problems with that when they first got together."

"You're not going to tell me he brought her around?"

He chuckled and fell into step beside her. "No, I'm not going to tell you that."

"You're not going to tell me she brought him around?" She could see a lot of things, but the hard-eyed Caleb as a pacifist? Not hardly.

"I'm not going to tell you that, either."

Her hands ached. Opening her fingers one by one, she released the tension. "Good, because that would totally blow my first impressions of the man."

"Yeah. Caleb doesn't bend easily."

Whereas Jane's impression of Allie was that she could bend like a willow.

"They're very different, aren't they?"

"In some ways. But in others, the important ones, they're very much alike. They protect each other, take care of each other." His gaze met hers. "They're both good people. And they deserve better than this."

And he wanted to give it to them. It was becoming evident to her that Slade had a highly developed sense of responsibility.

"But this is what they got."

"Yeah. And it's not a mess to make a meal of."

The old-fashioned phrase made her blink. "How old are you?"

"In this century or the last?"

Turning, she braced her feet and squared her shoulders. "Are you trying to shock me?"

"Just trying to ease into the subject."

"Thanks." He didn't say anything more. She stared at his lips, which were just like the man. Always tempting and never delivering. Yanking her gaze from his mouth, she asked, "How did you all come to be vampires?"

"Way back in 1862 Caleb was out riding fence. Someone bushwhacked him, gut shot him, and left him for dead. A pretty little vampire came along. Asked him if he wanted to live. He thought she was an angel and said yes."

"It must have been quite a shock later when he realized she hadn't been an angel."

"You could say that. Tore up the family for quite a while."

"Was he the one who changed you?"

"Yes."

"Did you ask him to?"

He glanced at her. "That's a sore point I'd advise you not to be bringing up too often, if you know what's good for you."

Apparently she had an idea what was good for her because the urge to throw herself into the man's arms and cry "Take me, fool!" just wouldn't go away. For G.o.d's sake, she hadn't even known she had a floozy gene and now it wouldn't shut up.

She started walking again toward the row of houses that formed the edge of the compound, frustration fueling her strides. Between the structures corrals perched. Horses occupied most of them. From all indications Slade's home was also a working ranch. Cowboy vampires? The facts kept getting more strange. Slade kept pace easily, and that just annoyed her more. Did he have to match her at everything? "How can I know what's good for me here, where nothing makes sense?"

"By following my lead."

"You're the man who's keeping me hostage."

"I'm the man keeping you safe."

"From Sanctuary." The mythical evil Sanctuary whose society she hadn't yet figured out. It could consist of just the members she'd already met.

His fingers flexed and his mouth set in a straight line. "Yes."

"If you want me to believe you, you might have to be a bit less ... reserved in your answers."

"Fine. No. We didn't ask to be converted, but it's always been the Johnsons against the world, ever since our folks died, so it was only right that Caleb brought us over rather than going on alone."

She stopped, planted her feet again, and caught his eye. He had the most beautiful eyes, even when they were narrowed with caution. "Just for the record, so there's no misunderstanding, I don't agree with that. I think people should have a choice. If they say no, it should be respected."

"You didn't have to say that."