“Zack . . .”

“I know, I know.” He drew back, breathing hard. “I think I’d better go before this gets out of hand.”

Kaitlyn followed him to the door, rose on her tiptoes to kiss him good night. They couldn’t go on like this, she thought, watching him disappear into the darkness. He had to be as frustrated as she was.

Sighing, she closed the door. Right or wrong, tomorrow night she was going to seduce Zack Ravenscroft.

Drake stared at the man standing across from him. “Are you sure of this information?”

Gregor nodded. “I overheard the end of the conversation myself.”

“You are sure Lucien was speaking with Nadiya?”

“Positive.”

Drake regarded Gregor for a moment. Gregor was the third son of his father’s seventh wife. “What were you doing at the Italian Fortress?”

“I have been courting Lucien’s oldest daughter.”

Drake raised one brow. “Indeed? How long has this been going on?”

“A few months,” Gregor said with a shrug.

“Do none of our women appeal to you?”

“Have you seen Rosalia?” Gregor asked with a wry grin.

“Point taken.” Rosalia was one of the most beautiful women Drake had ever seen, with her long red hair and flashing black eyes. “If you hear anything else, let me know immediately.”

“Yes, my lord.” Gregor inclined his head, then left the chamber.

Drake ran a hand through his hair. Gregor hadn’t heard anything specific, certainly nothing useful, but the fact that Nadiya had been in contact with Lucien spoke volumes. Drake had long known that Lucien coveted the Carpathian Fortress. Not that he was alone. Nearly every Master Vampire was jealous of whoever held the Fortress in Romania. It was the birthplace of their race, the largest stronghold in the world. It had been ruled by a member of the Sherrad family for as long as their kind had existed. Many had tried to claim it—some by force, some by cunning, some by treacher y—but none had succeeded.

There were those who feared the Sherrad rule would come to an end if Drake were defeated in battle. He had no son to avenge him, no son to reclaim the Fortress if it was taken. But there was Andrei. And Stefan . . .

Drake moved to the window and stared out over the valley, the current problem temporarily forgotten as he wondered yet again about Stefan’s whereabouts. Stefan, his favorite brother, gone these past twenty years.

Drake braced one hand against the edge of the window. “Where are you?” he murmured. “Why have you not come home?”

Stefan Sherrad stood in the shadows outside Ravenscroft’s Casino, his thoughts momentarily turning inward. More than twenty years had passed since he’d left the Carpathian Fortress, and he had missed it every single day. And yet the pain of seeing the happiness his brothers had found had driven him away, and kept him away. He did not begrudge Andrei or Drake the love they had found, wished them only continued happiness, but he could not be there to watch when his own heart remained broken. And so, like a coward, he had run away.

Rumors had sent him here. Trouble was brewing in Romania, and it involved Drake’s daughter. Secrets did not long remain secrets in his world. The vampire population was not large. Gossip quickly spread from one Fortress to another. While visiting the Fortress in New England, Stefan had heard rumors of unrest in his homeland. A little discreet eavesdropping here, a little snooping there, and he had learned that Daryn Korzha had been killed in Nevada by an unknown assailant. The information had naturally piqued Stefan’s interest, since he and Korzha were related. But it had been mention of Drake’s daughter in the same breath that had sent Stefan to Lake Tahoe, located between Northern California and Nevada.

A little discreet snooping had turned up Kaitlyn’s address, along with the fact that she was often seen in the company of Zack Ravenscroft, owner of Ravenscroft’s Casino.

Moving toward the entrance, Stefan wondered what manner of man Ravenscroft was, and what his intentions were toward his niece. But it didn’t matter.

He had come to take Kaitlyn home. But first, he wanted to meet Zack Ravenscroft.

Zack frowned as a tall, dark-haired man dressed in jeans and a black denim jacket over a white shirt approached him. Though the similarities were subtle, there was no mistaking the resemblance between the stranger and Kaitlyn. Could this be her father? And if so, what was he doing here?

Silly question, Zack thought. If he had a daughter, he would certainly want to meet the man she was dating. He wondered if Katy had spoken to her father recently and let it slip that he was one of the so-called Others. No doubt he would find out soon enough.

“Are you Zack Ravenscroft?” the stranger asked.

Zack nodded. “And you’d be?”

“Stefan Sherrad.”

Not the father, Zack thought, but the missing brother. “What can I do for you?”

“I am Kaitlyn’s . . .”

“Uncle,” Zack said, finishing Sherrad’s introduction for him.

Surprise flickered in Sherrad’s eyes. “You know of me?”

“Kaitlyn’s mentioned you once or twice. Does she know you’re here?”

“Not yet.”

Zack crossed his arms over his chest. “So, what brings you here?”

“I am sure you can guess.”

“Did her father send you?”

“No. I have not spoken to my brother in quite some time.”

Zack gestured at the bar behind him. “Can I get you something to drink?” He already knew the answer, but for the moment, he thought it better to pretend he didn’t know Sherrad was a vampire.

“No, thank you.” Stefan glanced at the patrons crowding along the bar. “Perhaps we could speak in private.”

“Sure.” Zack moved away from the bar and walked swiftly toward the elevator. He didn’t look back to see if Sherrad followed.

They were silent until they reached Zack’s office.

Stefan glanced around. The room was large, sparsely furnished with a desk, a computer, a file cabinet, and a couple of chairs.

Zack took a seat behind the desk, gesturing for Stefan to take the other chair. “What do you want?”

“I would like to know what your intentions are toward my niece.”

“I’m in love with her,” Zack said. “Not that it’s any of your business. She’s a big girl, after all.”

“She is her father’s heir.”

“So?”

“Do you know who he is?”

“She said he was a businessman in Romania. I assume he’s rich,” Zack said with a shrug. “But so am I.”

“Is that all she told you?”

“What else is there?”

Stefan studied the other man, wondering just how much Ravenscroft really knew. It seemed unlikely that Kaitlyn would have revealed her true nature to a mortal. To do so was strictly forbidden. Yet Ravenscroft claimed to be in love with Kaitlyn, and if she was in love with him . . .

Stefan sighed, remembering Cosmina. She had been mortal, and he had broken the laws of their people when he confided in her. But what man of honor could make love to a woman and not tell her the truth? He was sorely afraid that Kaitlyn would feel the same.

“I wanted to meet you,” Stefan said, “to let you know I am taking Kaitlyn home.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“She hasn’t mentioned it to me.”

“I have not yet spoken with her.”

“What if she doesn’t want to go?”

“I am afraid the choice is not hers. Her life is in danger here, as you well know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am talking about Daryn Korzha. I believe you killed him.”

“You know about that?”

Stefan nodded once, curtly. “She is not safe here.”

Rising, Zack leaned forward, hands braced against the top of the desk. “I think I’ve proven I can take care of her.”

“Perhaps,” Stefan said, also rising. “But there are things going on you are not yet aware of.”

“Is that right?”

“For your own safety, I advise you not to pry into affairs that do not concern you. Good evening.”

Zack frowned thoughtfully as Stefan Sherrad left his office. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he muttered. “Anything that concerns Kaitlyn is my affair.”

Kaitlyn was dressing for her date with Zack when the doorbell rang. He was early, she thought, glancing at her watch. A last look in the mirror, and she hurried down the hallway to open the front door.

And came face-to-face with a short, stocky man holding a gun. She knew, by the blank expression in his eyes, that he was under some sort of mind control.

Had Nadiya sent him? If so, had she told him to kill her?

“You. Will come. With me,” he said, gesturing with the gun for her to follow him. “Now!” he added, when she didn’t move.

Kaitlyn stared at him, her mind racing. She took a step forward, intending to wrest the gun from his hand, when a dark shape rose up out of the shadows to her left and slammed into the man, knocking him off balance so that he tumbled down the porch stairs.

Without waiting to see who her champion was, Kaitlyn slammed the door and locked it, then stood there, one hand pressed to her heart. She was debating what to do next when she heard a knock at the door.

Was it the gunman? Or the man who had apparently come to her rescue? She hadn’t heard any gunshots. Did that mean the intruder had been incapacitated?

She tapped her foot a moment, then peered out the front window. And into a face that looked remarkably like her father’s. Could it be . . . ?

“Kaitlyn, open the door.”

His words carried the sound of home and she opened the door, then stood there, too stunned to speak.

“Kaitlyn.”

She stared at him a moment: Was it possible?

“I am your unc . . .”

“Stefan.” It could be no one else. He looked enough like her father to be his twin. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?” She glanced to the left, then the right. “Who was that man? Where is he?”