I had no idea what his plan had been when he took an angry step toward me, and I didn’t get the chance to find out because that one step forward had been enough to set Dexter off. Abruptly, he struck at the Syphon, biting into his cheek.

The Syphon cried out in both surprise and pain, bringing his hand up to his cheek. “Bitch. You f**king bitch.”

“Why thank you.”

As he began double-blinking and shaking his head, I knew that stage one was starting to take effect. Any other time, I might have sat back and watched the show, but not now while Jared was in danger.

Instead, I cracked my whip at the vampire that was attacking Chico, winding it round his ankle. I then used the vampire as a bat, whacking the Syphon hard enough to send him hurtling in the air and crashing into the broken shack. He landed hard on one of the jagged pieces of wood and it pierced right through his chest. A loud groan escaped him just before he turned into ashes.

That groan had barely ended when my attention was back on Jared – he was still struggling against the tentacles that were pinning him to the ground. Worse, a scowling Pagori was bent over him with his arm pulled back, ready to punch. Not just punch Jared, but punch his fist into Jared’s chest.

I lashed my whip at the Pagori, curling it tight around his throat. Then, practically feral in my anger, I dragged him to me with the whip. He clawed at it wildly, trying to free himself, but he froze when Dexter’s head was suddenly only inches from his face. He actually whimpered, and who could blame him?

Dexter spat venom into his eyes, making him groan through gritted teeth and scrub his eyes madly. When he finally opened them and saw me standing with my elbow reared back, he knew what I was going to do but I was too fast for him to stop me, too strong for him to do anything about it. In under a second, his heart was in my hand, and then both he and his heart were ashes − something I wouldn’t have been able to do if it hadn’t been for the extra strength.

Snarling, I turned to Tentacle Boy, who had the sense to look worried.

There was no trace of that nervousness in his gruff voice, though. “You hurt me with that whip or you sic that snake on me, and I’ll pull his limbs from his body.”

“That would be a shame. He’s good with those hands.” Plan in mind, I went to absorb the energy of the Earth beneath my feet, but it had already come to me, waiting for direction.

Seeming to notice the mercury glow to my irises, Tentacle Boy stared at me studiously. “What are you?”

“Empress of the f**king universe.” And then I caused a spike of earth to sprout from the ground between his legs and smack him hard in the balls. Blokes always did the same thing when that happened; they momentarily tensed and then all energy seemed to leave them as they dropped whatever they were holding and fell to their knees, cupping their balls, and that was exactly what he did.

Before Dexter or I could have any fun with the sod, a pissed-fricking-off Jared jumped to his feet, grabbed the vampire’s head, and snapped it from his body. Swiftly, the Keja was ashes.

“Feel better?” I asked Jared, slightly amused by a move that was more about anger management than vengeance.

He frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah.”

Looking around, I noticed that there appeared to only be a few of Orrin’s vampires still fighting. The man himself was still standing at the rear entrance with Blake, watching the whole thing. The memory meddler was looking pretty nervous but Orrin looked cool as a cucumber, which made me wonder what his gift was.

The weird bugger clapped. “Impressive. Very impressive. Oh, and I do like that pet of yours, Samantha.”

Do you think the squad will be okay taking out the ones who are left? I asked Jared. Because I really want to hurt this silly little twat.

Max is in a coma, Stuart’s in a trance, and Damien – though fully conscious and still fighting – has a hole in his chest that’s so huge, you could put your hand through it. How about the others?

I hadn’t been expecting to hear any of that. Salem’s face has been burned with acid but he’s otherwise okay. David’s arm has been savaged by a tiger but Chico’s watching his back so he can stay in the fight. Who’s watching over Max and Stuart?

Reuben, and Damien – the guy might be injured, but he sure can fight.

It was true: Damien had become great at combat. Please tell me Butch got out with the baby.

Yep, he’s waiting at the campground. There isn’t many of Orrin’s vampires left now, and with Chico, Harvey, Reuben, and Denny still going strong, I think they’ll be fine dealing with them.

Then let’s have a chat with Orrin. Wait, where’s Jude?

I’m not sure, but I have a strong feeling she’s inside that house looking for the other female vampire.

That did sound like Jude. All right, let’s deal with him, but we can’t kill him. He belongs to Jude. With that in mind, I decided it would be better to return Dexter to his tattoo form – I couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t kill the bloke. “Novo.” Instantly Dexter seemed to melt into my body, which appeared to shock the living shit out of Orrin. Good.

I cracked my whip at him, intending to trap him with it so that I could cart him inside the house. To my utter shock, the whip flew through him as if he wasn’t even there, like he was merely a ghost.

“Much like you, Samantha, I have a substantial gift,” Orrin explained, seemingly enjoying my confusion. “It has its advantages in many situations.”

It was Jared who guessed. “Density control. You can manipulate the density of your own body. Rare.”

Shit. Now what do we do?

Fuck if I know.

“That’s right, Jared. You – fortunately for me, but unfortunately for you – cannot harm me. Even with all that power, Samantha, you cannot harm me. Nor can those talented men there.”

A fleeting look allowed me to see that the squad were now the only ones remaining – though many of them were worse for wear – and they were beginning to gather behind us.

A click of Orrin’s fingers was followed by the swift appearance of a stout, cheery looking female. “Moira, be a dear and take care of these people.” He gestured to Jared and the squad.

Suddenly the squad began to drop to the ground, one by one. Instinctively, I brought my shield up and extended it around Jared before the woman could place her focus on him – which appeared to agitate the hell out of Orrin. “What did you do to them?” I demanded.

“Don’t be alarmed, they’re merely in a very deep sleep. After a few hours – it differs from person to person – they’ll wake again. It’s a useful gift to have when you’re caring for babies.” He signalled to Moira to return inside. A nervous Blake went with her.

Jared asked the very question that was bugging me. “Why didn’t you get her to do that at the beginning?”

“I wanted to see what Samantha was capable of. And it’s not often you get the chance to observe the Heir and his own personal squad in action.” Orrin gave me what I guessed was supposed to be a reassuring smile. “I had considered plucking you out of harm’s way so that we could leave a little sooner, but I was confident that you would escape it unscathed. And I was right, wasn’t I?”

I had to have heard him wrong. “Excuse me, but it sounds like you have the impression that I’m going somewhere with you.”

“Well of course you are. You think I don’t know what the brothers did to you? You think I didn’t play some part in what happened?”

“What do you mean?” growled Jared. Yeah, it had been dumb of Orrin to admit that in front of a very protective Jared.

Orrin sighed. “The brothers are what you might call…I guess sociopaths, is probably the best term.” And wasn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. “They know what’s right and wrong, they just think the rules don’t apply to them. It’s what makes them such good scientists − no guilt or ethics to interfere.

“They’re both obsessed with the idea of glory, of making a discovery or an achievement that no one else can match. Their goal is to create the ultimate vampire − a blend of all three. Unfortunately, the brothers can be a little eccentric and unpredictable, but the right amount of motivation and the right amount of adoration from me had them focusing on the task.”

He looked as though he actually expected us to praise him for that. Snort.

“Unfortunately, none of their experiments turned out well. I admit, I didn’t actually think they would be successful.” He tilted his head as if in thought. “Maybe they can find a way to amplify my gift so that it’s strong enough that I can manipulate the density of other peoples’ bodies, too.” He shrugged.

That gave me an idea. Call Reuben, I told Jared.

Baby, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s in dreamland right now.

So wake him up using your telepathy.

I don’t think that’ll work.

Try, I growled.

Hey, don’t get pissy with me.

I can’t just – You know what, we can argue later. Just try to wake Reuben, and tell him what to do. I addressed Orrin then, hoping to keep him talking. “I can understand why the brothers would want to create a hybrid – it’s all about glory, all in the name of science. But what’s in it for you?”

His smile was creepily wide. “Tell me, Samantha, what vampire out there wouldn’t pay – and pay very well – to become as powerful as you?”

“So this is about money?”

“Isn’t that what makes the world go around? Come on, you’re a Sventé. Or, should I say, you were a Sventé. You know what it’s like to be seen as the weaker breed, to feel the weaker breed, to be dismissed, and to be targeted. If someone had offered to make you stronger, given you the opportunity to help yourself, wouldn’t you have jumped at their offer?”

I did kind of get his point. After all, that was exactly what I had done. Sebastian had appeared with his offer to get me out of my shitty situation and find something better, and I’d taken it. But this…this was a little different. “I’m surprised at you, Orrin – and not in a good way.”

“Surprised, how?”

“See, it’s not a shock that the brothers haven’t looked beyond their goal – they have tunnel vision. But you…I would have thought you’d have been able to see the bigger picture. How can you not see the complications and possible consequences of what you’ve done?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t follow.”

“That’s my point. Let’s say I was to Turn a human. They’re not going to become a Sventé, they’re going to become just like me. So will other humans I Turn, and any humans that they turn. The same applies to any vampires that the brothers work their magic on. Before you know it, you have a new breed of vampire. That’s not good.”

Orrin inhaled deeply as he considered that. “I don’t see why it would be a huge problem. Sventés, Kejas, and Pagoris have co-existed well enough. Why would the introduction of a new breed be such a bad thing?”

“Because this new breed will be stronger. A lot stronger. That’s a threat to the status quo. Although it chafes most, they do accept that Pagoris are the most powerful of the three breeds, they accept that Kejas are a close second, and that Sventés are the weakest. They accept that that’s the way of things. Introducing a stronger breed will unsettle everyone. Sventés will worry that they’re now easy pickings. Kejas won’t like that they’ve gone a step down in the hierarchy, now being in the place that Sventés once had. And Pagoris, so used to sitting on the throne, won’t like that they’ve lost that throne. They’ll all want to react, and it won’t be pretty.”

Uncertainty briefly flashed on his face. “The point may be moot since, for all I know, you’re no longer able to Turn humans. I will take you to the brothers and let them look at you. They can tell us more.”

The bloke lived in another reality if he thought that would happen. “Here’s the thing…I don’t have any intention of leaving Jared or the squad to go anywhere, let alone with you. Shame, isn’t it.”

He was quiet for a moment, studying Jared intently. “We could take him with us, I suppose. But not conscious. Jared is too powerful for us to take any risks with him.”

“Jared is right here,” snapped my fiancé. “And Jared isn’t going to let you take him or Sam anywhere. It’s really that simple.”

“I didn’t come this far to allow you or anyone else to be a hindrance. Samantha comes with me. I assure you, she’ll come to no harm.”

Jared snickered, crossing his arms over his chest. “The brothers said the same thing. Then she went through nights of agony and all kinds of weird stuff happened. Forgive me if I’m not reassured.”

“Then look at it this way: harming her would totally go against what I’m trying to achieve. Therefore, it makes no sense that I would hurt her, does it?”

Scepticism dripped from Jared’s smile and voice. “And I suppose you’re going to let me and the guys go free.”

Orrin jiggled his head. “If Samantha agrees to drop her shield and come with me, I shall agree to simply have Moira put you to sleep for a while – long enough for Samantha and I to be gone. I do not like to kill for killing’s sake.”

Unreal. “But you don’t mind mothers being butchered and their babies being sold?”

“That’s just business, nothing more.” He returned his attention to Jared. “You know what it’s like to yearn for things like power, respect, and status. Unfortunately, nobody came and took me to the Grand High Master. I had to get those things for myself. And I have.” He seemed to take pride in that. “Once Samantha agrees to drop her shield, Moira will put you to sleep long enough for Samantha and I to leave.”