Tad yanked me away, putting himself between us. "No kissing my sister, fang face."

Dahlia's eyes widened. "Well, well. You must be Tad. I see the genetics run strong with you two." She leaned in and kissed him too. Only he didn't pull back.

I stared as they locked lips, oblivious to the world around them. Men all in black poured out of the building waving guns as they stripped off their masks.

"Ummm, Tad. I think we should go." I grabbed at his arm, but he shook me off and all but picked Dahlia up, his hands tight on her b.u.t.t.

I grabbed the back of his jacket and jerked him away from her. They unsuctioned with a pop. "I said we have to go."

His bottom lip bled, and he stared up at me with a rather blank look on his face. Dahlia cringed. "d.a.m.n, I rolled him."

"You what?"

The men shouted, and one of them called to her. She waved. "Come on, you can come with us. We'll sort this out."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"You want to stay with the Supe Squad?" She ran toward the Hummers, and I knew I didn't really have a choice. Especially when from behind us the clatter of boots on the asphalt told me all I needed to know. We were stuck between a rock and a rock-hard biscuit.

I didn't think, just scooped Tad up over my shoulder and ran for the Hummers. The fact that I was running with my brother over my shoulder only confirmed that I was anything but human, and for the moment I was glad. I wouldn't have been able to get him out without the extra strength.

I pushed him ahead of me into the backseat of Dahlia's Hummer and slid in, sitting on top of him.

Dahlia hit the gas and we peeled out.

"Won't they follow us?" I asked.

From the pa.s.senger side a man peered back at me. "You're new, aren't you?"

"Is it stamped on my fricky-d.i.c.ky forehead?" I snapped.

He grinned, his fangs showing clearly. "Not quite. But close. What are you?"

I didn't want to tell him in case he decided he shouldn't have anything to do with Tad and me, so I kept my mouth shut. One step at a time. "Dahlia, can you drop us off somewhere?"

"Nope, sorry. Remo said to bring you in."

I groaned. Of course the big bad mob boss wanted to talk to us. Or worse. Eat us. What a mess.

I took a breath and tried to sort through the last few hours of my life. In that time I'd been in a motorcycle chase, been interrogated by a werewolf, run from gunfire, and been kissed by a vampire. A girl vampire, no less. As if picking up my thoughts, Dahlia grinned into the rearview mirror. "I didn't swing both ways before. But that's part of being a vamp. It ramps up your hormones like crazy, makes you irresistible. Which is why we're supposed to stay away from the humans."

I thought for a minute. "What did you mean when you said you rolled Tad?"

The other pa.s.senger glared at her. "Yeah, what did you mean by that?"

She didn't shrink in her seat, only shrugged. "I'm still learning, Max. You know that." Her eyes went to me again. "Basically means I made him a bit of a pet. It's temporary, but the more you do it the harder it is to undo it. Right?"

"But not with me?"

"No, I tried to roll you. I couldn't." She stared hard at me and I stared back.

"You look like you're bunged up and trying too hard to push to squeeze a p.o.o.p out." I leaned back in my seat. Tad let out a groan, stirring, but not waking.

Max burst out laughing. "Oh s.h.i.+t, Remo is going to like her."

Dahlia nodded. "Yeah. I'm thinking he might too. I just can't decide if that's a good thing or not."

Max shrugged and smiled over at me. "If Remo likes her, we all have to."

The vampire was handsome; I'd give him that with his dirty-blond hair and dark-brown eyes that seemed to be full of mischief. "How long have you been a vampire, Max?"

"Ten years."

That was before the Aegrus virus had appeared on the scene. He grinned at me. "Yup, I did it just because I wanted to. I loved the idea of never seeing the sun again, my family, or the world I'd grown up in."

Shame flickered over me. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't a.s.sume-"

"Everyone does it, kid." His smile softened. "Especially in this world. Are you human? Are you a Supe? Are you a monster or a magician? I didn't become a vamp because I wanted to. My wife was dying and I tried to save her, selling myself to the highest bidder to pay for her chemotherapy." He shrugged again. "So am I still d.a.m.ned to h.e.l.l, or am I a hero wrapped in monster clothing?"

His words hung in the air between us. "I don't know."

He turned away from me. "I do. I'm a monster. Just ask my wife."

Oh, G.o.d. The pain in those four words all but resonated in my chest.

Tad woke up but kept his eyes down as he squirmed underneath me, breaking the silence. "Why did you go with them?"

"Not like we had a choice," I said. "Besides, Dahlia's my friend. I trust her."

She grinned at me and I grinned back, though it was a strain after what Max had revealed. "We almost died together. Now here we are, being chased by the SDMP. Together again, just like old times."

"Exactly."

The SDMP gave up faster than I thought, their lights fading behind us as we drove out through the valley toward the mountains. Dahlia didn't slow the Hummer down, though. We drove for over two hours, out of the city and into the lower floodlands that met with the base of the coastal mountains. Dahlia and I laughed and talked. I told her about how the nurses all thought she'd died, and Max kept looking at me oddly. Like he couldn't decide what to make of me.

I didn't care. We were safe and with a friend.

Only . . . One of those wasn't right. We weren't safe at all, not if we were going to meet a vampire mob boss.

"Why were you guys at the detachment?" Tad asked.

Dahlia shared a look with Max. "Looking for something the boss wanted."

"Did you get it?"

They shrugged in unison and said no more.

Dahlia pulled the Humvee off onto a dirt track that bounced us around, our heads brus.h.i.+ng the low ceiling of the vehicle. The road twisted and turned, and around a sharp right-hand turn we came to a stop. "Here we are."

I peered out through the winds.h.i.+eld. "Tad, look at this place. It's huge!"

That was an understatement. It looked like a castle had been plucked out of Europe and plopped in the middle of the floodplains. Right down to the moat circling around the place and the drawbridge that lowered as Dahlia crept the Hummer forward. I counted at least seven spires curling up into the sky.

"s.h.i.+t. We can't go in there, Lena. We'll never get out."

I glanced at him. "Really? Never? Never ever, never, never ever?"

Dahlia giggled and high-pitched her words. "Never ever ever?"

"You two are unreal," he muttered, and Max grunted in what I a.s.sumed was a form of male agreement.

The four of us slid out of the Humvee as the other two armored trucks pulled up on either side. No one came to greet us, but vamps spilled out of the other vehicles. I wanted to press against the Hummer and lower my eyes. But . . . Tad was vulnerable. I wasn't for some reason, which meant I had to do this for both of us. I thought about the last meeting I'd had with a banker who'd thought he could charge me a higher interest rate on my loan because I was a woman. I didn't let that happen then, and I wouldn't let either of us get taken here any more than I would let that banker take me for a ride.

I stood up straight and met each vampire's gaze with one lifted eyebrow.

Tad stayed behind me. "What the h.e.l.l did Merlin make you that you can't be rolled?"

"I'm a naga, like you. Maybe the females are just naturally stronger." I didn't want to say I didn't know. But I didn't want to say nothing. Tad shot a look at me and I shrugged. "Well, it is a possibility."

Dahlia motioned for us to follow her. "Come on. We didn't get what we were looking for at the SDMP, so Remo is not going to be happy."

Max put a hand on my arm, tugging me forward. "All the more reason to distract him with your friend here. Right, Alena?"

He pulled me in the opposite direction from Dahlia, and I went along. Not because I wanted to, I just didn't want to fight if I didn't have to. He led Tad and me into the castle, and I realized again everyone else was bundled up, whereas I was completely comfortable in my tiny dress. "Tad, how are you doing?"

"Fine. Embarra.s.sed. You know I hate redheads. They're stupid, and just from kissing her I could catch the dumbs."

I gasped, spun, and slapped him hard, knocking him back several steps. "Don't you talk about Dahlia like she's a horrible person. As far as I'm concerned she's one of my best friends. So you just shut your fat mouth."

He lifted his eyes to mine, shock filtering through. "I came back to you from the dead only a few hours ago, and you'd put your friend you've known for weeks ahead of me?"

I stepped closer to him and lowered my voice. Not because I thought it would actually keep the vamps from hearing. No, that wasn't it at all. "I lost you five years ago. I cried every day for years. Every. Day. You were my best friend, Tad. If it had been reversed, I would have sent a letter or called, or just shown up. Something to tell you I was okay. That I was alive. I wouldn't have let you grieve like that."

His face paled. "I couldn't get out until recently."

"Buffalo b.a.l.l.s." I spit and spun on a heel. "You are in my bad book, Mr. Budrene."

"I paid for you to be turned!" he yelled. I whipped around, my hair flying out in a twirl along with my skirt.

"You owe Merlin a favor. You didn't pay him."

Tad stepped closer to me so we were nose to nose. "I did pay him. You turned him down. I had to offer him a favor in order to get you another chance."

Chagrin flowed through me. I put a hand to my forehead. "I'll fix it, then. You won't owe him anything."

"How?"

"Merlin can have the favor from me."

A low, sensual laugh rolled out from behind us, and I slowly turned.

The man who walked toward us was not what I'd expected. A vampire mob boss made me think of the old Italian bloodlines, fine-boned men with heavy accents and suits custom made for their slim builds. Maybe an extra-long mustache.

This man who approached us was anything but that. He was taller than me by a good five inches, which put him easily at six five, and was built as though the person in charge of his genetics were making a Viking warrior. Thick muscles in his arms and chest strained against the long-sleeved pale-gray s.h.i.+rt he wore. His hair was shorn close to his head, a perfect buzz cut that gave off only a hint of color. Light brown, I was guessing. In his chin were two piercings that looked like fangs hanging from the middle of his bottom lip. He lifted his top lip in a tight snarl, and the effect was obvious. What was better than two fangs as a vampire? Four, of course. As he drew closer, the tattoos on his neck were visible, a curl of dark ink I couldn't fully make out other than it started from somewhere under his s.h.i.+rt.

I finally locked eyes with him. Dark eyes, like the night in which we stood right down to the hint of purple that flickered in their depths. d.a.m.n, he made Roger look like a total pansy. Not that Roger wasn't a pansy, but if I stood them side by side, my husband would have fit in this man's shadow in more ways than one.

He frowned and I frowned back. "Who are you?"

"Alena." I lifted an eyebrow. "And who are you?"

Around us a quiet, collective groan rose in the air. He smiled, though it was a mere hard line of his lips. "Remo. And I am master here, so watch how you speak to me, Alena."

Something in his tone reminded me of the pastor at our church. Like I was not good enough to stand in his presence, let alone disagree with him. Anger snapped through me. No more, I was not going to let another man try to put me in my place.

I pulled myself up to my full height and tipped my chin in his direction. "I will dang well say what I want, to whom I want, regardless of how important they think they are."

The crowd around us s.h.i.+fted back with another low groan. Remo stepped closer and I put out a hand, stopping him, poking him in the chest with a single finger. Even that much contact sent a flare of awareness through me. This man was dangerous.

And a part of me rather liked that fact.

"Personal s.p.a.ce. Respect it."

Both his eyebrows shot up. "What are you?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "I'm not telling." I wanted to groan, because the words did not deter him but only seemed to draw him closer. Dang it all. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing. What was I saying?

"I think I could make you tell me." His eyes roved my body once, sliding down and then back up to stare into my own again. "Anything I wanted."

"I doubt it." What in the world was wrong with me? He brought out the worst in me, the parts I'd tried my whole life to tamp down. The mouthy, sa.s.sy girl who got in trouble for making inappropriate jokes during Sunday school. I'd almost forgotten about her. She'd been far more like her yaya than Mother had wanted.

We stood there staring into each other's eyes for several minutes. He frowned, opened his mouth, shut it again, and then smiled. A slow curling of his lips, just enough to show the flash of white teeth again.

"Oh, I think I like you. Apparently you are right, I can't make you do what I want. At least not in the conventional sense. You seem immune to being rolled, and there's some fire in there. You weren't always a firebrand, though, were you?" Remo reached out and touched a finger under my chin. I twisted my head away from him and batted his hand away. The feel of his skin on mine was far too personal.

"Did I give you permission to touch me? No, I didn't. Let me be crystal clear. You don't touch me or my brother without permission." I stepped back. "Tad, we're leaving."

"There are no cars that come out this way. No public transit." Remo smirked.

"We'll walk. We have a lot to talk about. And we won't turn into crispy critters when the sun comes up." I herded Tad ahead of me as if I knew where I was going. I waved to Dahlia as we went by. "Thanks." She tossed me something and I caught it. A set of keys.

"Take it. I'll catch up with you later." She winked at me and I winked back.

Remo growled from behind us. "Dahlia, you are going to end up in the box."

I didn't know what the box was, but I doubted it was anything good. I couldn't let her suffer for us. I stiffened and spun. "Dahlia, you want to come with us?"

"Yeah"-she glanced at her boss, then to us-"I do."