Shayna launched four knives at the creature as a strong wind chilled my bare skin. The shape-shifter took flight while my sisters and Misha’s family yelled below.

Pain and weakness kept me from changing, but not from acting. I tugged one of Shayna’s knives free from the creature’s neck and jammed it into his eye. His clamp on my wrist released and I plummeted to the ground, landing on what felt like a giant hand.

Emme had caught me with her force. She lowered me as the shape-shifter flew toward the rising full moon with Misha. “I’ll find you, Celia Wird. I’ll find you!”

“Master!” Tim yelled. “Master!”

The Catholic schoolgirls collapsed against one another, bawling hysterically. Tears escaped my eyes as I watched Misha’s writhing form disappear into the moonlight. The bad guys had my guardian angel—my friend—and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could do.

Hank solemnly draped his cashmere coat over my shoulders as I broke down. Emme hurried to heal me. I jerked violently when her light enveloped me. The bastard shape-shifter had crushed my arm in two places. The pain receded, but my tears did not. For whatever reason, the shifter had come for me. In my place, he’d taken Misha and my last defense against Anara’s wrath. There would be nothing to keep Anara from killing me now.

Emme’s healing touch kept me from falling into a state of despair, but just barely. If Misha died, it would be my fault. He could have escaped with his family. Instead he’d stayed and fought to protect me.

Emme released me and rushed to where Taran lay across Shayna’s lap. I hadn’t realized she’d been hurt. “What happened to Taran?” I managed.

Emme held Taran’s face. “She was drawing lightning when the pterodactyl smacked one of the vampires into her.”

Taran awoke—in a really bad mood. She took in the carnage and sorrow around her. “For shit’s sake, did we at least win?”

Tim kicked the bits of asphalt near his feet. “No. We killed one shape-shifter, but the other abducted the master.” His shoulders slumped, and he was unusually pale. It was more than the need to feed from blood loss; Tim was frightened. What he did next, though, scared the bejeebers out of me. He knelt at my feet and bowed his head. If that wasn’t bad enough, the remaining vampires followed his lead. “Celia Wird,” he said, his voice grim, “mistress of the House of Aleksandr, we pledge our devotion to you.”

“Our devotion,” repeated the vampires.

“We will serve only you, until our destruction or your death.”

“With our existence we serve only you,” echoed the others.

My jaw fell open, unable to comprehend the vampires’ actions. Tim lifted my hand to his lips and tried to kiss it. I yanked it from his grasp. “What the hell, Tim?”

Tim scowled at me. It was more of how he usually treated me, so I relaxed ever so slightly. “Give me a break, Celia. I’m trying here!”

“Trying to do what?”

“Swear our allegiance to you. With the master gone, we belong to you now.”

I really had to work on my language. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to curse like I did then in front of my baby. But the pleading expressions of the surviving vampires proved their sincerity and desperation.

“Everyone on the ground now!” Dozens of deputy sheriffs spread out around us.

My sisters fell to the ground. They were smart. The deputies appeared jumpy and ready to shoot the crowd of blood-smeared suspects standing amid scattered limbs and demolished vehicles. I let out a sigh. “Okay, everyone. Time to convince Tahoe City’s finest there’s been an earthquake.”

The vampires’ heads snapped up, instantly entrancing the deputies. My sisters followed me quietly when I left them to approach the dead shape-shifter. Her T. rex form had dissolved. In the street lay a naked woman, surrounded by sections of her broken skull. She couldn’t have been older than forty, and despite her broken body, I was left with the impression she was once beautiful. It sickened me to think what she’d sacrificed for power. She’d hurt so many and gained nothing as far as I was concerned.

Agnes walked slowly to my side, tugging nervously on her pigtails. “Will she stay dead or do we need to do something special with her body?” I asked, knowing her expertise on the supernatural.

“She can’t come back, Mistress. She surrendered her soul long ago to her deity in order to gain her ability to transform. We need only to dispose of the body.”

I touched the corpse with my finger, wanting to have as little contact with it as possible. She might have been dead, but I could still sense evil permeating from her skin. I shifted her deep into the ground and returned to the vampires.

Liz bowed before me so deeply, the strands of her ice-blond hair brushed against the asphalt. “The deputies believe an earthquake took place as you requested, Mistress. They’re helping to locate eyewitnesses so we may influence their memories as well. Do you desire anything else of us?”

Liz was so solemn then, and so sad. I would have preferred her bitchy and self-centered disposition rather than seeing the level of gloom she carried like a casket. I closed my eyes and willed myself to be strong. “Yes. Stop calling me Mistress, find me some pants, and get someone here to tow what remains of the cars.”

Though Liz remained close to tears, she smiled a little. “As you wish, Celia.”

Taran muttered a few swears. “I don’t like this, Ceel. You can’t adopt the damn bloodsucking prom squad. You’re not one of them.” Her comment earned her a few hisses from the surrounding vamps. She rolled her eyes and flipped them off.

I rubbed my face. “I know, Taran. But for the moment I’m all they have.”

Shayna threw her hands in the air. “Ceel, you’re a mess. How can you possibly take care of a family when you can’t even take care of yourself?”

Shayna’s question made me defensive, especially given my pregnancy. Like Misha’s vampires, I was all my baby had. “I owe it to Misha to watch over them until his return.”

Emme stared at the ground. “What if he doesn’t return, Celia?”

I couldn’t think about life without Misha. He was my friend. “I’ll phone Uri when we return to the house and figure things out. For the time being, I have to assume the role of head of his family.”

A cellphone rang from inside the overturned Yukon. Shayna crawled in to retrieve it. It was Koda, and guess what? He was pissed. “Baby, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all night.”