“They’ll tell me more.” A human, a woman, they’d never think she was a threat. “I’ll go inside, tell them I’m looking for my lover.” She shifted her legs, ignoring the faint ache between her thighs.

The growl that broke past Cain’s lips had the hair on her nape rising, but Miranda held her ground. “I can get more information with my cover story than you’ll get by threatening it out of the vampires.” Yeah, okay, the prospect of strolling into a vampire feeding room made her mouth dry up, but it was better than doing nothing.

“You go in there, you can get yourself killed.”

She lifted one brow. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to do a damn fine job of watching my ass, won’t you?”

His teeth snapped together. “Baby, watching your ass is already one of my top priorities.”

So he’d proven very well minutes before. Her gaze darted to Santiago. Did he know—

“What the hell?” Sam’s disgruntled voice called out as he pushed past Santiago. “Who said it was okay to have some kind of damn party in my office?”

Technically, it wasn’t his office, but Miranda refrained from pointing out that obvious fact. Sam had his eye on the sheriff’s position, and, sooner or later, the office probably would be his.

“And what the hell happened to my desk?” He ran his hand over the deep groves that Cain’s claws had created. “Looks like some jerkoff took a knife to it.” He cursed under his breath. “McMillan is goin’ to be pissed.”

Miranda kept her eyes averted and hoped that her cheeks weren’t flaming too much.

The chair squeaked as Sam threw his body onto the leather. “What’s this shit? Miranda.”

She finally glanced his way, only to see that Sam was glowering at the computer screen. “I’ll be damned,” he said.

Cain stepped forward. “We never did get around to talking about just what you were doing in here.”

Sam looked up at him, brows raised. “I’ll tell you what she was doing, Lawson. Setting a trap for Roberts, with herself as bait.”

The heat from Cain’s eyes seemed to scorch her flesh. “No, she wasn’t.”

“Uh, actually”—Miranda cleared her throat—“I was.” She jerked her thumb toward Santiago. “The FBI took my computer, so I had to use Sam’s. I made a profile, one guaranteed to snag Paul’s attention.” If he were still hunting on that site, and her gut said that he was. He’d already chosen three women from those Web pages.

“We’ve tried making profiles before.” This announcement came from Santiago. “The guy won’t bite—”

“He bit me.” On the Web and in the flesh. “And I can get him to take another bite. Justgive me some time.”

“I don’t like this plan,” Sam said very clearly.

Yeah, but what was new with that? If there was any chance of danger to her, Sam would never be on board with her idea.

But he wasn’t the one making the call on this. Miranda held Cain’s gaze and waited.

After a moment, he gave a slow nod. “You’ll have your time, Miranda.”

“What?” Santiago barked. “But we’ve had plants on—”

“Miranda’s the real thing, Santiago. If we don’t track him in the feeding rooms, and he goes back online to find prey, he’ll find her.” A pause. “And we’ll be waiting for him.”

Sam snorted. “Like you were last time? ’Cause that worked out so well.”

Cain turned his stare on him. “He won’t get away from me again.” A vow.

Miranda believed him.

“If you’re going to Miami,” Santiago said, “you’d better hurry and get your asses on the road.”

The feeding room was waiting.

Cain moved until he stood at her side. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

Hell, no. Her lips parted. “Yes.” It felt like she’d been living most of her life on the sidelines, watching others live and take chances.

Now it was her turn.

Cain lifted his hand. “Then let’s go, baby, and I’ll show you a whole new world.”

Of blood and death.

She placed her palm in his, lifted her chin, and pretended that her knees weren’t shaking as they left the station and headed for hell.

Seven

Just after eleven p.m., Miranda walked past the doors of one of the biggest feeding rooms in Florida. Her head was held high, her walk was confident, a little cocky even, her skin pale, and her skirt a bit too short for Cain’s peace of mind.

The guards stationed at the doors didn’t hesitate. They waved her right inside, as they’d been doing with all the attractive human women he’d seen in the last hour.

Time for him to make his move.

Cain sauntered across the street. Headed for the door. The place wasn’t located in the trendy, tourist area of Miami. It was hidden on the broken backstreets, in a building that looked like it could be torn down by the city at any moment.

The male guards stiffened when he approached. Their scents marked them as humans, and if he played his cards right, the guys wouldn’t realize he didn’t belong in their little death trap until it was too late.

He flashed fangs, just the edge of his teeth, and never slowed his steps. Closer inspection would show the differences between his shifted teeth and those of a vampire.

But he wasn’t going to give the humans time for that inspection.