Michael stood several feet away, squeezing the trigger of Selene's Beretta. His eyes were black with hybrid fury, just like Marcus's. Sonja's pendant rested against his chest.

The hail of bullets from the gun blasted Marcus off Selene. He tumbled backward into the snow, and she scrambled back onto her feet. Veering right to avoid being tagged by the Beretta's furious discharge, she raced to join Michael. Together, they watched in horror as Marcus rose from the snow and began stalking toward them, against the scorching gunfire. Blood streamed down his face, but the silver bullets only slowed him down. Michael's jaw dropped in amazement.

He's not just an Elder anymore, she realized. He's a hybrid Elder.

"Go!" she shouted.

They turned and rushed through the misty forest. Selene noticed with alarm that the shadows cloaking the woods were rapidly lifting as dawn approached. The ceaseless flapping of mighty wings pursued them as they fled toward nowhere in particular.

Selene wondered what would kill her first, Marcus or the sunlight?

The empty flat-deck truck came barreling down the mountain road. Behind the wheel, Ivan Bogrov yawned and tried to stay awake. He had been driving all night, since dropping off a load of timber at Piliscsaba, and now he just wanted to make it back to Szentendre before his exhausted body completely gave out. The sun would be up soon, and he was sorely in need of a hot shower and several hours of sack time. He scratched at the itchy gray stubble carpeting his jowls; a shave wouldn't hurt either. The snowy road forced to him to drive slower than he would have liked, but at least he had the road to himself.

Or so he thought.

Something dashed in front of his headlights. Ivan slammed on the brakes, and the truck slid to a stop atop the icy road. "What the h.e.l.l?" he blurted in Russian. He had only glimpsed the figure for a second, but it had looked like a man...sort of. There was something wrong about it, though. He recalled a fleeting impression of slick, s.h.i.+mmery skin and weird black eyes.

Maybe I've been driving too long without a break.

Ivan peered through the frosty winds.h.i.+eld at the road ahead. He was fully awake now, his heart pounding. Had he hit...whatever that was? He couldn't see over the hood. I don't think I hit anything. He hadn't heard or felt a collision. Should I get out of the cab and check?

He found himself reluctant to venture out of the truck, and not because of the cold. What if it was still out there? Before he could make up his mind, the driver's-side door was yanked open from the outside. The door clanged loudly against the body of the truck.

Huh? He spun around in his seat.

To his surprise, an incredibly s.e.xy woman stood right outside the cab. Her dark brown hair and glossy black clothes stood in stark contrast to the virgin snow covering the landscape. The tail of her coat flapped in the wind, revealing a svelte figure that appeared to have been poured into skintight black leather. Luscious brown eyes looked him over.

Ivan's jaw dropped. His eyes bulged. "What the f.u.c.k?"

Not that he was complaining, of course.

"Mind if I drive?" she answered him in Russian.

The trucker ran his eyes up and down her enticing body. A hot shower and shave were no longer the only things on his mind. This trip's definitely perking up, he thought. A smirk showed through his stubble. What the wife doesn't know can't hurt her....

"You can sit on my lap and blow the horn," he said with a leer. "How about that?"

Crunch! A body landed heavily upon the hood of the truck, yanking his gaze away from the leather-clad babe at the door. Ivan threw himself backward against his seat as a monstrous figure glared back at him, crouching atop the hood. Black eyes and jagged fangs drove all thought of s.e.x from his brain. Terrified, he looked back at the woman, to confirm that she was seeing the same thing he was.

This can't be happening!

Her glowing blue eyes regarded him with amus.e.m.e.nt. A sly smile revealed the tips of two sharply pointed canines.

"Maybe next time, sweetheart."

Vampyr! Half-remembered folk tales and horror movies rushed through his mind as he lunged frantically for the pa.s.senger-side door. He shoved the door open and literally threw himself out of the cab. His heavyset body slammed into the snowy curb, but he was up and running madly away from the truck before another moment pa.s.sed. Abandoning his truck, he bolted east toward the rising sun. The daylight called out to him like a life buoy to a drowning man.

Please, G.o.d! he prayed. If you let me get away from these freaks, I swear I'll never f.u.c.k another hitchhiker again!

Crouching in front of the winds.h.i.+eld, Michael watched the nameless trucker haul a.s.s into the woods. Poor guy, he thought, sympathizing with the panic-stricken driver. A few nights ago, I would have reacted the exact same way.

Now he didn't even look like a member of the same species. Acting on instinct, Michael had morphed into his hybrid form during their flight from the winged demon. Beneath his bloodstained s.h.i.+rt and jacket, his chest had expanded, its muscles bulging with superhuman power. His skin had taken on a s.h.i.+mmery, iridescent hue. A mane of wild brown hair framed his b.e.s.t.i.a.l features, which were more human than a werewolf's, but still unmistakably feral. Bony claws jutted from his bare hands and feet. The gilded pendant dangled around his neck.

Without giving the trucker another glance, Selene clambered into the driver's seat. "Get in!" she shouted urgently.

Michael started to comply, then something in the sky behind them caught his attention. His black eyes squinted to get a better look. Noticing his reaction, Selene glanced back over her shoulder.

"Oh, s.h.i.+t," he growled.

Marcus came soaring out of the forest. He dived toward them, swooping down over the road like a prehistoric bird of prey.

"Hang on!" Selene yelled. She threw the truck into gear and hit the gas.

The sudden acceleration almost threw Michael off the hood. Instead he scrambled over the roof of the cab and tumbled into the open bed at the rear of the truck. An eight-foot-tall wooden fence ran along both sides of the empty deck.

He rose to his feet and grabbed on to the wall for support...just as Marcus slammed into him with bone-jarring force. Michael was thrown backward across the deck, shattering the rear window of the cab right behind Selene's head. The sudden impact left him dazed and seeing stars.

The Elder's wings contracted into his back. His claws dug into Michael's shoulders. He whipped Michael around and hurled him down onto his back. Marcus pounced on his fallen opponent, bearing down on Michael like a ton of steel. Hybrid versus hybrid, they grappled upon the wooden floor of the deck. Marcus's batlike face was only inches away from Michael's slightly more human features. Two pairs of molten black eyes testified to their kins.h.i.+p.

This thing is actually related to me? Michael thought as he fought for his life. He tried to break the Elder's grip, but Marcus was far too strong. The Elder's eyes widened at the sight of Sonja's pendant swinging around Michael's neck. He let out a high-pitched screech of satisfaction as he s.n.a.t.c.hed the pendant, snapping its delicate golden chain with a vicious tug. Then he hit Michael with a backhanded blow that sent the younger hybrid tumbling over the back of the truck.

At the last minute, Michael grabbed on to the floorboards with his claws. He dangled precariously over the edge of the deck, hanging on for dear life. His bare feet hung suspended above the icy pavement behind the truck. Marcus stood astride the deck, watching to see if the other hybrid fell.

Selene! Michael thought desperately. Help!

Through the cracked rear window, he saw her looking back over her shoulder. Keeping one hand on the wheel, she raised her Beretta and fired back through the window. Shattered gla.s.s exploded outward as she blasted Marcus with round after round of red-hot silver. The Elder wheeled about angrily as the bullets tore through his undead flesh. The pendant slipped from his fingers, the sound of it hitting the wooden floorboards completely lost beneath the noise of the Beretta. The pendant bounced across the empty deck.

Selene didn't let up. The relentless barrage drove Marcus back across the truck's bed and over the edge. His wings snapped open, carrying him up and away from the snow-covered asphalt. He growled furiously as he flapped off into the early-morning murk.

Michael tried to pull himself back up onto the deck.

Is that it? Selene wondered. Is he gone?

Glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw Michael hanging off the end of the truck. Should she stop the vehicle and give him a chance to climb back into the empty bed? What if Marcus was still after them? She eased up on the gas, uncertain what to do next. The snowy road stretched before her, leading to G.o.d knew where.

She started to brake, only to spy Marcus diving out of the sky once more. He flew alongside the truck, directly to her left, then careened against the driver's side of the cab, using his indestructible body as a battering ram. The five-ton truck rocked to one side as if it had been hit dead-on by a wrecking ball...with wings.

"s.h.i.+t!" Selene cursed. She struggled to maintain control of the truck, the ice-slick pavement not making her task any easier. In the mirror, she glimpsed Michael swinging violently from the end of the truck. Momentum hammered him into the side of the bed. He scrambled to get a better grip on the wooden railing. Hold on, Michael! she pleaded with him silently. Don't let go!

For a second, she feared that the truck was going to flip over altogether, but, to her vast relief, the vehicle quickly righted itself, planting all four wheels back on the road. Looking ahead, she spotted a tight curve coming fast. She tugged hard on the wheel, barely making the turn in time. Beyond the bend, she saw a high rock wall approaching on the pa.s.senger's side of the road. An icy glaze frosted the craggy granite.

It would be nice if I didn't run into that, she thought. She steered with one hand, keeping the other hand locked around the grip of her Beretta. She looked about anxiously for Marcus, having momentarily lost track of the homicidal Elder. Where the devil did you fly off to?

A explosion of gla.s.s fragments answered her question as a taloned hand smashed through the cab's side window. Powerful fingers closed around her throat, throttling her. Marcus pulled his head and shoulders into the cab.

"Dead or alive," he snarled, "you will give me what I want!"

His jaws opened wide, eager for her flesh and blood. Not so fast, she thought, whipping the Beretta around. She opened fire, sending a round right down his throat.

The blast blew him away from the cab and sent him spiraling out of control. Gagging, he coughed up a ma.s.s of blood and silver. Selene hoped that would be enough to discourage him permanently, but she underestimated the Elder's persistence. His flight path stabilized and he swooped around the truck to the pa.s.senger's side of the cab.

Selene got a bead on him and fired off three shots. Marcus dodged the bullets and she squeezed the trigger again. The gun made a doleful clicking noise. Dammit! she thought. I'm out of ammo!

A malevolent grin stretched Marcus's monstrous visage as he started to climb into the cab from the pa.s.senger's side. Via the mirror, Selene saw that Michael was aware of her danger. Grunting through clenched fangs, he redoubled his efforts to pull himself up into the truck bed so that he could come to her defense.

She knew he wouldn't make it in time.

Marcus's claws reached out for her....

Selene yanked hard on the wheel, swerving to the right. The speeding truck sc.r.a.ped against the solid rock face, smas.h.i.+ng Marcus between them. He wailed in agony as his back and wings were crushed against the granite outcropping. Immortal bones snapped like twigs. Selene rode the rocky wall for at least thirty meters, holding hard on to the wheel. Sparks flew where the cab's metal frame sc.r.a.ped against the stone.

Sorry, Michael, she thought. The wild ride threw Michael against the side panels of the truck, but Marcus had it much worse. Blood gus.h.i.+ng from his spinning frame, he tornadoed down the side of the truck and out the back. This time, his battered wings did not spare him a nasty landing. He crashed to earth amidst the snow and gravel, hitting the road headfirst. A cloud of dust and frozen powder billowed up into the truck's taillights as Marcus rolled to a stop in the middle of the road. Watching in her mirror, Selene allowed herself a smile of satisfaction. The mighty Elder looked like roadkill.

But not for long.

As his demonic form receded into the distance, she saw Marcus rise slowly to his feet. The ugly b.a.s.t.a.r.d had survived! Grimacing in pain, he tried to close his wings, but the injured pinions refused to tuck back into his shoulders. Sc.r.a.pes and bruises covered every inch of his unsightly flesh. Blood trickled from multiple wounds. He glared murderously at the fleeing truck, but made no move to continue his pursuit...for now.

We've hurt him, Selene concluded. That will have to be enough for now.

Checking on Michael, she saw that he had finally managed to make it back into the truck bed. He watched Marcus's dwindling figure warily, before finally accepting that the chase was over for the time being. His hybrid attributes dissolved back into his flesh as he reverted to his human guise. He lifted something from the floor of the bed, then made his way toward the cab.

A weary groan issued from him as he awkwardly climbed through the shattered rear window and dropped into the pa.s.senger seat beside her. Cold air invaded the cab through the broken windows. Bullet sh.e.l.ls and shattered gla.s.s littered the floor and seat cus.h.i.+ons.

He was visibly exhausted. Sweat covered his face and chest. He was breathing hard.

She knew just how he felt.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She ma.s.saged her bruised throat, which was still tender where Marcus had throttled her. That's nothing, she thought. I got off easy.

She gave Michael a rea.s.suring nod.

He stared blankly at the snow-covered road ahead. She could tell he was trying to process what had just happened. "He's a hybrid, isn't he?"

"Yes," she said. There would be time enough later to share her theory as to what might have triggered the Elder's transformation. Her own mind was still reeling at the concept. Something is seriously wrong here, she realized, even more than I had antic.i.p.ated. Why had Marcus attacked them, especially if he didn't care about Viktor's death? What did he think I was hiding?

She gave Michael a serious look, just to make sure he understood what deep waters they were in. He nodded back at her and held out his palm. She saw that he was holding Sonja's pendant, now splattered with hybrid blood; she realized that was what he had retrieved from the floor of the truck bed.

"He wanted this," Michael said. "Why?"

I have no idea,she thought. He had explained to her the historical significance of the crest-shaped pendant: how it had once belonged to Viktor's daughter, Sonja, before the coven executed her for consorting with a lycan. Lucian had stolen the precious keepsake and treasured it until his death earlier tonight. But what did Marcus want with the pendant?

"I don't know," she admitted.

A brilliant red glow on the horizon, clearly visible in her rearview mirror, reminded her of a much more urgent issue. After creeping up on them for what felt like hours, dawn was finally arriving. Was it just her imagination, or could she already feel the heat upon her skin? Sonja, she recalled, had been destroyed by the sun....

"We have another problem."

Chapter Twelve.

The sky above was growing brighter by the second. Selene squinted at the spreading radiance. The daylight obviously hurt her eyes, making it hard for her to see. Michael suddenly wished he was driving instead.

Thankfully, the dawn had no effect on him, perhaps because he started out as a lycan before becoming a hybrid. He leaned forward in his seat, peering through the winds.h.i.+eld for some place they could take shelter. At first all he saw was endless trees and snow, then he spotted some sort of structure up ahead, off to the left. "Keep going," he urged Selene. As the truck raced down the road, he got a better look at the building.

An access road led to some sort of huge mining facility, which looked like an enormous brick warehouse built into the side of a mountain. An unmoving ore breaker climbed the slope to one side of the warehouse. Smokestacks rose from the roof of the complex, but Michael didn't see any fumes billowing from them. A sign posted just before the turnoff announced that the mine had been shut down due to environmental concerns, which probably explained the lack of activity. Perfect, Michael thought. If we're lucky, n.o.body's at home.

"There!" he said, pointing toward the turnoff.

Just then, the sun peeked over the horizon behind them. Sunlight flashed upon the rearview mirror and the shards of broken gla.s.s scattered around the cab. Selene gasped out loud and Michael heard a sound like bacon sizzling in a pan. She yanked her hand away from a stray beam of light. Michael saw that her knuckles were burned bright red. Wisps of smoke rose from the scorched skin. The smell of burning flesh, familiar to Michael from his nights in the ER, filled the cab.

Jesus Christ! He'd known, of course, that sunlight and vampires didn't mix, but he'd never actually witnessed the phenomenon with his own eyes. That happened so fast!

Selene ducked her head, trying to keep her face in the shade, but a ray of bright sunlight struck her cheek. Her smooth white skin blistered instantly, and she bit back a scream of pain. She lost control of the wheel and the truck veered alarmingly toward a snow-filled ditch at the side of the road. A wall of oaks and beeches loomed beyond the ditch.

"Get down!" Michael shouted. He grabbed the wheel, experiencing a sudden flashback to the first time he had gotten into a car with Selene. Wounded by Lucian, she had pa.s.sed out behind the wheel and plunged her Jaguar into the Danube. No way, he thought. Not again!

Selene crouched down below the dashboard, away from the deadly sunbeams. Michael smelled the smoke rising from her scalded face. The plaintive whimper that escaped her lips offered only the barest hint of the pain she had to be going through. That's a second-degree burn at least, he thought. She needed immediate first aid.

The turnoff to the mining complex was right in front of them. Selene floored it as he cranked on the wheel. Acting in tandem, they took the access road leading up to the main building. Michael spotted railroad tracks and empty steel carts lying alongside the road, but didn't see any workers going about their business. He silently blessed whatever environmental agency had shut down the seemingly deserted facility.

Sunlight continued to infiltrate the interior of the cab. Michael knew that the dashboard wasn't going to protect Selene much longer. A wooden garage door blocked their way, but he didn't ask Selene to let up on the gas. "Brace yourself!" he warned her as the five-ton truck crashed through the garage door into the building. "Now...hit the brakes!" Their front fender clipped a parked jeep, sending a shudder through the entire cab, before the truck skidded to a halt.

Michael let out the breath he had been holding and let go of the wheel. A quick look around revealed that they were inside the facility's motor pool. Auto lifts, engine stands, lathes, jacks, oil stands, wheel dollies, battery chargers, tire machines, and other equipment were arrayed throughout the cavernous s.p.a.ce. Tool racks lined the walls. Dried grease stains marred the concrete floor. A number of freight trucks, in various states of repair, were parked all around them. Their stolen truck fit right in, especially after all the damage they had inflicted on it.

If we get through this, he thought, we're going to need another car.

Selene lifted her head, then quickly thought better of it. Deadly shafts of light penetrated the unlit garage through dirty windows and cracks in the brick walls. She curled herself up into a tight little ball upon the floor of the cab. The collar of her trench coat almost covered her head.

"Hang on!" Michael told her. He hopped out of the truck and looked around for something to block the sun. Grabbing a greasy tarp off an abandoned engine stand, he flung it over the truck's winds.h.i.+eld. That should buy us a few more seconds. He worked frantically to make the vast garage more "vampire-friendly." He punctured some metal cans with a wrench, then splashed black paint all over the windows. Hybrid muscles shoved heavy steel racks and tool cabinets in front of the gaps in the walls. The smashed garage door posed a bigger problem, but the sunlight had not yet made it all the way across the floor of the motor pool. Michael figured he still had time to get Selene to a safer location...if they moved quickly.

The garage was noticeably darker by the time he got back to the cab. Tugging open the driver's-side door, he tossed her a gray wool blanket he had found. "Come on!" he said. "Let's get you out of here."

Selene didn't need to be asked twice. He caught a glimpse of her blistered hands and face as she hurriedly wrapped the blanket around her and scrambled out of the cab. Michael hustled her across the garage toward the rear of a semi-trailer. A padlock guarded the trailer from intrusion, but he snapped it apart with his bare hands. He rolled up the back door of the semi and helped Selene inside before climbing up into the trailer after her. The metal door clanged loudly as he yanked it back down.

By now he was convinced that the remote mining complex was completely uninhabited. If all this commotion hadn't attracted any agitated guards or employees, then nothing would. If a truck crashes into a building and n.o.body hears it, he thought facetiously, is there really a crash?

The back of the truck was loaded with crates of engine parts. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the dark, while Selene took off the blanket and laid it down on the floor of the semi. He winced at the ugly burns and blisters scarring her face. Years of medical training kicked in, and he bent down to take a better look at the burns. She forced a smile, but he could tell she was still in pain. She tried to turn her seared cheek away from him.

"Hold still," he told her.

"There's really no need," she insisted.