Years of fighting and surviving had made Skye smart and fast. She had her knife out within a second of seeing him.

He attacked immediately, swinging his thick, meaty arm at her head as he reached for a weapon. She slashed out, cutting through his shirt and deep into his arm. Blood gushed from the wound.

In a heartbeat she smelled the metal of a gun. It glinted in the dim hallway and she ducked instinctively, slashing out at his stomach as he fired.

The sound exploded in the small space. The strip club filled with screams and shouts and the wild scramble of people trying to get out of the way.

As blood soaked the front of his shirt, he struggled to take aim again and Skye saw it in his eyes that he knew he was a dead man and that he intended to take her with him. She slashed again, this time feeling the searing hot pain of a bullet along her side.

The roar of his gun deafened Skye to the report of another gun. But just as she would have lunged forward and struck again, her attacker's head rippled, blood and brain matter spraying across the walls and Skye, painting them with the foul taint of evil.

Skye looked to where Caldwell stood, eyes dazed, face pale and pinched as she slowly lowered her police-issue revolver. Rico moved to Caldwell and began talking to her.

Brann stepped forward then, a pleased look on his face. It would seem we made a good trade, he purred in Skye's mind. His smile widened as his gaze shifted between Skye and Rico. Interesting. You stand there wounded and yet your mate comforts another. Perhaps the magic of the Angelini bond has been greatly exaggerated.

Skye felt Gian tense as she lifted her lip in a silent snarl and said, Go to hell, Brann.

The older vampire threw back his head and laughed. Why is it that those who have my blood running through their veins are so disrespectful?

Rico came to Skye then, his face tight, his thoughts conflicted, torn between his duty and his desire to protect her. Gian's voice was cool with censure, Do not trouble yourself. I will see to her needs.

Carajo! Cia's a cop, my partner, and until tonight she's never even drawn her gun on anyone, much less killed someone! He turned his back on Gian and leaned in to get a closer look at where the bullet had grazed Skye's side. Resentment flashed through him along with relief. He'll heal you?

He can. But we need to get out of here. I'm sure someone has already called the police.

Fuck! I can't just let you walk away. This is a crime scene-there'll be an investigation.

There are plenty of others who saw the attack and can witness that your partner did what needed to be done. You'll be here for hours and I am injured. Does the law require that I stay here and bleed-her eyes shifted to include Gian and Brann-when someone could take me for treatment? You know where to find us.

Rico's nostrils flared and she could feel him searching the connection between them to ensure that his will was his own. A different type of pain shimmered through her at his distrust and she started to turn away from him.

His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to turn and face him again. Fuck. I'm sorry. I couldn't get a clear shot. His hand trembled slightly and she could feel him trying to get control of his emotions. Go-I'll take care of things here.

Skye allowed Brann and Gian to take her arms as though she needed their help to leave. Sirens filled the night, but when they would have hurried her, she said, "If we can find the servant's car, we may find where the witch has gone."

Brann nodded and disappeared into the night. Gian swung her into his arms and moved through the parking lot quickly, his mind touching hers as she followed the scent of tainted blood down the darkened street.

They found the servant's car a block away just as several squad cars screamed past with their lights flashing. We'll return later, Gian said as a blood-red Viper stopped beside them, its passenger door opening to reveal Brann behind the wheel. Amusement flickered through Skye and she wondered why she'd thought Brann would want to avoid attention.

Gian eased into the cramped confines of the car, the movement sending pain through Skye's side. While she'd been tracking her assailant, she'd been able to keep her mind off the gunshot wound, but now the pain rushed in like a fiery explosion. She couldn't stop the sharp intake of breath, nor the way her body bowed and tensed when Gian shifted to close the car door.

Another patrol car screamed by before Brann pulled away from the curb. In the darkness Skye could see Gian unbuttoning his shirt and despite the pain radiating through her side, her body tightened with anticipation.

His eyes met hers and she was caught in the flame deep in their centers. We can wait until we are alone, or we can do this now, he offered.

Skye hesitated and Gian stroked her hair. You are my companion. Among our kind, the sharing of blood with a chosen one is often done in front of close friends.

She wavered for a second then leaned forward and gave a small lick across his tiny male nipple. Gian hissed and the flames in his eyes leaped and danced. One fingernail elongated, sharpening and curling into the beginnings of a claw. He scraped above the nipple and blood instantly welled, beading and rolling across the tight brown areola.

Skye hesitated again and he said, I can blur the reality of this if you wish. She shook her head and covered his nipple with her mouth, her mind focused solely on him, on the way his body tightened as intense pleasure whipped through him each time she sucked, each time she drew his blood.

The bond between them intensified along with the need to join physically. The throbbing pain in Skye's side changed form and became a pulsing, raging hunger in her cunt. Her body grew damp, her pussy soaked and the smell of her desire filled the car.

Along the blood-link, she heard Brann growl, Finish it, Gian! in the second before Gian slid his hand into her pants, pushing her legs apart and exploring the wet slickness of her, then plunging his fingers in and out of her tight channel, striking her clit forcefully until she arched and sobbed in release.

The orgasm left her almost as weak as the gunshot wound would have. She lazily lapped at Gian's nipple then buried her face in his chest.

He was rock-hard against her buttocks and she rubbed back and forth, her thoughts focused on his erection. He was close to coming.

Don't, Gian warned. There is no time. In a minute Rafael will join us. He may have located the witch.

The sexual lassitude dissipated slowly at his words. Skye shifted and Gian hissed as her buttocks rolled across his cock. She looked out the window and saw that they had neared Toppers. The parking lot was crowded with police cars. The patrons who hadn't fled were corralled with yellow crime scene tape.

They drove past without slowing and Skye's mind cleared enough to ask, "Did Rafael break into the car?"

Brann chuckled. "Yes. My companion has his share of useful talents."

Skye studied him then, taking in his long blood-red hair and aquiline features. He reminded her of a powerful jungle cat-as lethal and deadly as he was sensuously masculine. It was hard to picture him with another man.

Brann turned toward her, trapping her with the full force of his gaze. Be careful where your thoughts take you, he warned in the silky voice of a predator.

Gian hissed and shifted Skye, freeing her from the trap of Brann's eyes. Along their bond he warned, Never forget that Brann is a force to be reckoned with.

Skye acknowledged his warning with a shrug, her eyes already drawn to the man that waited next to Gian's car. That's Rafael? she asked, taking in the long blond hair, the muscle shirt that showed off his upper body, the faded jeans that emphasized his huge cock. He was gorgeous-a fantasy man who looked like he belonged on a poster, or in a centerfold.

That's Rafael, Gian growled, censure in his voice at her thoughts.

Skye laughed and pressed her mouth against his, teasing along the seam of his lips with her tongue. I took mates, I didn't go blind.

Gian's fangs extended and he captured her lip, biting down just hard enough so that several small droplets of blood welled to the surface in an erotic warning. Skye's nipples tightened at the threat.

Brann eased the car over to where Rafael waited and Gian slipped out with Skye still in his arms. "So this is the missing Angelini mate?" Rafael said, his voice holding a hint of some private amusement.

Gian flashed his fangs, but didn't answer. From the car, Brann said, "What have you got?"

Rafael pulled a folded newspaper from somewhere behind him and the smell of tainted blood washed across Skye's senses. "Three addresses circled," Rafael said. "Kyle and Nahir have checked two of them already. They're on their way to the third now." He grinned. "It's only a short distance from the last house they burned."

"Get in," Brann ordered.

Rafael's eyebrows went up. He turned and looked to where Gian still held Skye in his arms. He sniffed the air and his eyes went dark, his mouth soft in a parody of arousal. "Ah, restraint always wears on Brann's nerves."

This time the command was stronger, silent, though Skye could feel the whip of power in the air. Rafael shrugged and got in the Viper.

* * * * *

Except for the color and rundown condition, the house was the twin of the one Skye had escaped from. "Is she here?" Skye asked as Gian parked his car behind the Viper.

"She's here."

Kyle and Nahir emerged from the darkness as Skye got out of the car. Something had changed since the last time they'd hunted together. Before there had been caution, but now they gathered in front of the witch's house like people going to a party.

Rafael slid out of the Viper. When Skye's gaze flew to the fresh bite mark on his neck, his lips curled with insolence and he gave her a sketchy salute.

Her mind flashed to the conversation that she'd overheard between Haley and Kisha, and Skye agreed with Kisha's snorted comment. God, what an arrogant ass. I'd like to see him brought down a peg or two. I don't know what Brann sees in him, except maybe a challenge.

Gian touched Skye's arm and brought her attention back to him. "You and Rafael will have to go in first. The witch will have felt the death of her servant, she'll be waiting. Do not let her lure you into the circle with her."

When Skye would have asked why, he showed her horrifying pictures of demon-guarded witches then said, "If she is powerful enough to create vampires using her dark magic, then she is powerful enough to summon greater forces to protect her. She is not invincible against our shared power. When I call you to me, you must come immediately, you must yield to me instantly." Skye nodded though her heart pounded hard and fast. Gian leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. Go now. When you're in the room with her, move around the circle, distract her.

Skye and Rafael walked in silence to the front door, the vampires only several steps behind them. This way of hunting was foreign to Skye, almost unnerving. "Shouldn't one of us take the back?" she asked.

Rafael smiled and proceeded to kick the door in. "You watch too much TV."

For a second Skye was stunned by his arrogance, but once she'd taken in the fact that there was no immediate danger, her sense of humor surfaced. She bent forward and turned the doorknob, illustrating that it hadn't been locked and gaining a genuine smile from her aggravating companion.

Behind them one of the vampires hissed, not amused by the byplay. Rafael turned and made a sweeping gesture. "Please come in."

Black candles lined the walls, their flames flickering over symbols that held no meaning for Skye but caused her survival instincts to rise to the surface and her soul to shudder.

"Same old, same old," Rafael said. "You'd think they'd be more original." He grabbed Skye's arm. "Don't worry, we've got this covered. The symbols are there to lure the weak, especially new vampires with a greed for more power."

The scent of tainted blood and dark magic was heavy in the air. Skye could feel the witch's waiting presence in the room at the end of the hallway.

"Kind of like being cannon fodder," Rafael quipped after the two of them had traveled the hallway and stepped though the doorway.

As Gian had suspected, the witch waited at the center of an ash-lined circle. As soon as she saw Skye, her eyes narrowed with hate. "There's a special place in hell waiting for you, Angelini."

Skye laughed and her heart settled into a controlled rhythm. This she understood. Her hunts had ended this way many times, with a game of cat and mouse played around insults.

"And for you," Skye said as she moved to the left. "Where's Marina?"

Rafael went to the right, Gian and the other vampires fanned out in equal distances around the circle, chanting low and in a language that Skye couldn't understand.

The witch's laugh was an unpleasant sound against Skye's skin. "Go look for her, Angelini. See if you can save the poor pathetic human."

Skye shrugged. "There'll be plenty of time for that. I doubt this will take long. If you were so powerful, you wouldn't be here like this, your fledglings lost and your servants dead."

The witch screamed in fury and the vampires chanted louder.

Inside the circle, the air shimmered, like heat off the desert, and Skye sensed something powerful fighting to break free and take shape. She edged closer to the circle and the witch lunged at Skye.

But Skye was quicker, jumping away and asking, "Ready for justice yet?"

The chanting grew louder then stopped abruptly. Into the silence Brann said, "A fair question, and because I'm a fair man, I'll give you a choice-a quick death or an ugly one...Iselda." At the use of her name, the witch shrieked.

Before Skye could react, Iselda leapt halfway out of the circle and grabbed Skye's lower legs. The shimmering power that Skye had seen before surged forward and true terror kicked in. From the depths of her soul came the word demon.

Skye fought the witch's hold, struggling to keep from being dragged into the circle as the vampires started chanting again, their voices layering one on top of the other.

Brann's voice rose above the rest and as they reached a crescendo, Skye heard him say the witch's name in the instant before he plunged the witch's own athame into her heart.

Blood gushed from her every opening, rancid and evil. It should have been a killing blow, but Skye could sense that Iselda wasn't dead.

Gian's voice commanded, Come to me, just as Skye fought her way free of the witch's hands.

Without thought, without question, Skye went. He pulled her against his body and she let her soul and mind flow into his, joining all that she was to him.

Oaths and blood-magic united the vampires. As one, their power pushed the witch's body back into the circle, trapping it with the demon she'd summoned.

With the knife driven through her heart, she could do nothing but shriek and scream as the demon devoured her, leaving behind only blood-soaked clothes and the black athame that Skye had used to save herself from being a sacrifice.

The vampire voices lowered to a whisper and once again Brann spoke, invoking a different name...and the vibrating shimmering energy disappeared.