His jaw shifted. "We doona do it unless we have a good reason."

Like making sure a woman fell in love really fast?

She jumped to her feet, glaring at him. "Did you ever use mind control on me?"

His mouth thinned. "Aye."

She cried out with rage. "You bastard!"

He stood. "Let me explain."

"No! I knew I fell for you too fast. You - you were making me - "

"Nay! I only controlled you once. Ye were in the sea and freezing to death. I told you to sleep so ye wouldna see me teleport you to the patio - "

"You teleported me?"

"Aye. So I could put you in the hot tub. I was trying to save you."

And she'd been so grateful, so impressed, so ready to fall completely in love. But what if he'd manipulated the whole thing? "Did you arrange it all? Did you know about the panther?"

"I dinna know Carlos was planning to frighten you."

"Carlos?"

Robby winced. "Carlos Panterra. He's a shifter."

She stumbled back a step. "Carlos was the...?"

"Panther, aye."

"He's a cat?" And her boss was a dog. She shook her head. Was her next door neighbor a goldfish? "He scared the hell out of me. Why?"

"He was playing matchmaker. He thought if I rescued you - "

"What?" Her anger exploded again. "I was never in any danger? I thought you'd save my life. You tricked me!"

"I did save you. Ye were freezing to death."

She paced away, her hands clenched. Was nothing the way she'd thought it was? She whirled around to face him. "Was any of it real? Can you swear that you never manipulated my thoughts or feelings?"

"Never. I wouldna want yer love if it was false. Yer feelings were yer own. And they have always been real."

Tears gathered in her eyes. "What would you know about my feelings? I've gone through hell and back because of my feelings for you!"

His eyes glimmered with pain. "I have, too. I love you, Olivia. I have always loved you."

She covered her mouth to keep a sob from escaping. Damn him. She walked away, headed for the vanity area of the motel room. She spotted herself in the mirror, her eyes glistening with tears and her mouth twisted in pain.

She jerked to a stop. Robby wasn't there. She spun around. He was there. She glanced back at the mirror. He had no reflection. He wasn't a real person.

She doubled over as pain stabbed her gut. She'd fallen in love with an illusion. She could never have a real life with Robby. All her dreams of a future with him were gone.

"Olivia, sweetheart." He took hold of her shoulders.

"No." She pulled away as tears streamed down her face. "I wanted it to be real. I wanted to love you forever."

"Ye can. Sweetheart, we can work this out."

She collapsed on a bed and covered her face.

The bed shifted as he sat beside her. "We'll be all right, Olivia."

She sniffed. "I'm not angry anymore."

"Then ye've accepted me?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm...in mourning. I've lost the future I thought we would have together."

He sighed. "If I could be a normal man for you, I would."

She sat up and pulled at her sticky sweatshirt. "I can't sleep in this. And I didn't pack another shirt."

"No' a problem." He vanished.

She started. "Damn." She looked around the room. He was really gone.

And she was really in love with a vampire. How could this ever work out? A few minutes later he reappeared with something clutched in his hand.

"You went to my apartment?"

"Aye. I brought you something to wear." He handed it to her.

It was the nightgown she'd put on that he'd promptly removed the night he'd taken her virginity. Her eyes misted with tears. What was she going to do? It hurt too much to just reject him. She needed to learn more about him.

She took a deep breath. "Tell me everything."

He told her about his job, and how he and his friends were battling the evil Malcontents. A vampire named Casimir was their leader, and he was the one who had tortured Robby.

"Casimir murdered the people at the farmhouses?" she asked.

"Aye. He and his minions."

"How many...minions does he have?"

"Just a handful, we believe. He needs to replenish his army. He'll either find more vampires or make them."

She grimaced. "Why didn't he change the people at the farmhouses into vampires?"

"They were probably good people. Good people turn into good vampires."

"Like...you?"

Robby nodded. "Death doesna change a person's nature."

She thought about that a moment, then inhaled sharply. "The children! Oh my gosh, with everything that's happened, I forgot."

"What children?"

"There were children living in those farmhouses, and they've disappeared."

Robby grew pale. "Bloody hell. Casimir must have taken them."

"Why? Why would he take innocent children?"

"They're lighter and easier to teleport with. They're an easy food source."

Olivia gasped in horror. "They're snack food?"

Robby stood. "I need to go."

She rose to her feet, too. "Can you find them?"

"We'll do our best." He touched her cheek.

She stepped back. "Don't. Please. I've had a lot thrown at me in one night. I'm not sure I can handle this."

He gave her a wry look. "Ye'll get over it."

"How can you be so sure?" Her heart felt so heavy, so burdened with pain.

"Because ye love me." He vanished.

CHAPTER 24

The next evening, Olivia busied herself at her apartment, cleaning and doing laundry. She even cooked some moussaka. Anything to keep from dwelling on the fact that this was Friday night, the night she'd thought Robby was going to propose.

Now she knew better. He'd planned on telling her he was a vampire.

She was sick of hearing about it. On the drive back to Kansas City that morning, J.L. and Barker had talked endlessly about vampires. J.L. thought their powers were awesome. Barker was grateful there were good ones to combat the bad ones. They'd spent a good thirty minutes speculating on what the Malcontents would do next, then another thirty minutes wondering how the CIA would cover up what had happened.

Olivia had been ready to scream by the time they arrived at the office. At least the afternoon had been spent on something different. She and J.L. had interviewed some of Yasmine's relatives. One of Yasmine's sisters admitted that she'd seen her two days earlier. She claimed not to know where Yasmine was hiding, but she'd loaned her debit card to her sister.

After more investigation they learned the debit card had been used at an ATM machine on the Kansas side of Kansas City. They canvassed the neighborhood but didn't find her.

Olivia was exhausted by the time she made it home that evening, but she still kept busy. If she stopped for a moment, her thoughts would return to Robby, and the pain would rush back.

How could she have a relationship with a vampire? He could never share a day with her. Or a meal with her. He would never grow old. And what would it mean to her? Would she continue to age until she lost him? Would she never have children? Would she be lured into a dark world and become one of them?

She shuddered. Love should bring a person joy and life, not darkness and death.

She watched the news while she ate her supper of salad and moussaka. Her fork froze halfway to her mouth when she recognized the scene on the television. A helicopter was flying over the farmhouses in Nebraska. The reporter claimed ten people had died from a new deadly strain of the flu. The public was warned to stay away from the area. It was believed to be the same strain of flu that had recently caused eight deaths in South Dakota.

Olivia set her fork down. The Malcontents were leaving a trail of death down the center of the country. She prayed the children would survive.

When the sun went down, she closed all the blinds and wondered where Robby was. Was he waking up from the dead? Would he spend the night hunting for Casimir and the Malcontents?

She was washing dishes when her cell phone rang. She quickly dried her hands. Part of her hoped it was Robby. Part of her dreaded that it would be. "Hello?"

"Liv, turn on the news," J.L. said. "Hurry."

She went to the television. "If this is about that cover story, I already - " She gasped.

There was a picture of Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary on the screen. A headline read: EIGHT INMATES ESCAPE.

"Do you see it?" J.L. asked.

"Yes." She turned up the volume.

The news anchor reported a strange incident at Leavenworth. Eight of their worst inmates had simply disappeared from their prison cells. The guards had no idea how it had happened.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" J.L. asked. "What if it was teleportation?"

Olivia sank onto the love seat. "You mean the Malcontents teleported in and took them." She closed her eyes briefly. Robby had said that Casimir needed to expand his army. And if he couldn't find evil vampires, he would make them. What better place to find evil people than a federal prison?

The news anchor continued with his report. "This just in. We are now able to identify the eight inmates who escaped. If you see any of these men, notify the authorities immediately. Do not approach them. They are extremely dangerous."

He recited names while the prison photos were flashed on the screen. "And the last prisoner - Otis Crump."

Her heart plummeted into her stomach.

"Shit!" J.L. shouted. "Olivia, get out of the apartment now. Go straight to work. I'll meet you there."

She froze, staring at Otis's photo on the television screen. He was free. Not only free, but if Casimir had freed him, he might soon be a vampire. Otis's claim that they were destined to be together forever took on a sinister new meaning.

He would come after her. And if he succeeded, she would end up either dead...or undead.

"Liv!" J.L. yelled on the phone. "Are you there?"

She jerked out of her stunned trance. "I'm here. I'm leaving. See you soon."

She ran into her bedroom to put on some socks and her athletic shoes. Then she strapped on her holster and sidearm over her blue jeans. Her heart pounded. Otis could be on his way to her apartment right now. If he was alive, he might be driving. If he was already a vampire, he might be able to teleport straight into her living room.

She threw on a jacket and stuffed an extra clip of bullets into the pocket. How fast could someone become a vampire? She had no idea. Could her bullets kill a vampire? She hoped she wouldn't have to find out.

She rushed into her living room just as a form suddenly appeared. Her heart lurched.

"Oh God, Robby!" She pressed a hand to her chest. "You scared me to death."

"Ye're in grave danger."

"Yeah, I know." She hurried past him to the console by the front door. "Otis Crump could be on his way here."

"I've come to take you to safety."

"No thanks." She collected her handbag and keys.

Robby strode toward her. "Ye must let me protect you."

"I don't think so." She opened the door and stepped onto the front porch.

"What are ye doing?" His eyes were wide with shock. "Ye canna leave on yer own."

"Watch me." She closed the door in his face and locked it. She hurried down the stairs, stifling a grin. That had felt surprisingly good.

As she strode toward her car, her stride hitched a bit when he appeared in the parking lot. He wasn't wearing a kilt tonight. His black cargo pants and black T-shirt hugged a muscular body. Leather straps across his chest probably meant his claymore was on his back. His brow was furrowed with fierce determination.

Damn, he was good looking. And as much as she chafed against his he-man tendencies, she had to admit there was a raw masculinity to him that made her bones melt. She forced herself to look away and headed for her car.

He followed her. "Perhaps ye doona understand the gravity of the situation. We know it was Casimir and his minions who helped the prisoners escape."

"I already figured that out." She pressed her keypad to unlock her car.

"Then ye should know the Malcontents could be transforming the prisoners into vampires right now, including the bastard who's obsessed with you."

"I know." She reached for the door handle.

He leaned against the car door, blocking her. "I can take you to a safe place where no vampire can get to you."

"Including you?"

His jaw shifted. "Ye have no reason to fear me. I would never harm you."

"Tell that to my breaking heart," she muttered.

His eyes glittered an intense green. "There is no reason for you to suffer. We could be together. Ye only have to accept me for what I am."

"I can't do that right now. Please move, so I can go."

"Bugger," he muttered, and stepped back. "Dammit, woman. If ye love me, ye will stay loyal to me. Ye willna stab me in the back with betrayal."

She flinched. He was accusing her of wrongdoing? How dare he? "If you loved me, you would have been honest with me!"

His face paled and a glint of pain flickered in his eyes. Her heart clenched in her chest. Damn, she hadn't realized he was hurting as much as she was. She usually knew exactly what other people were feeling.