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Which meant someone, or something, else had come in thatway.

Letting his instincts take over, Dante closed his eyes and “listened” for her blood to call to him, but she must be too far away already. His head pounded and his heart raced as he dried his clammy palms on his thighs. If anything happened to her, he had no one to blame but himself for being so stupid as to leave her down here by herself while he was so faraway.

But he knew what had taken her. And he knew what they wanted. Grabbing the box, he shoved it back into his waistband and went up to his apartment.

Shea found him in the bedroom when she came to check on the pets. She eyed the holsters strapped to his bare chest and the pair of Smith & Wesson .500’s he was loading. “Trouble in paradise?” she joked.

“Laney is gone. I’m going afterher.”

“And you need pistols that would stop a herd of zombies to win herback?”

“Or a group of demon-possessed vampires,” he growled. He didn’t worry about anyone noticing the weapons. Humans tended to keep their distance from him. Even their so-called law enforcement.

Shea stepped in front of him as he made to leave. “Wait,” she ordered. “I’ll get the guys together and we’ll go withyou.”

“There’s no time. I can’t hear her anymore. She’s already too far away.” When Shea opened her mouth to argue with him, he roared, “MOVE.”

With a loud sigh, she did. “We’ll followyou!”

“There won’t be anything left for you to kill,” he growled. Then he slammed out thedoor.

Dante had a sense of déjà vu as he stood in the parking garage, half-expecting a van with blacked out windows to come squealing around the corner. But the garage was quiet this time of night, appropriately enough.

Out on the street, he paused. The never-ending rain had let up, leaving a damp mist hanging in the air, but Dante didn’t even feel it. The lights of the city guided him as he headed west, toward the docks. He didn’t stop to think about why he went that way, he justdid.

He was a little over a mile away when his blood surged and his fangs shot down in his mouth. Chills skated across his skin, the heat behind his eyes telling them that they were glowing with an unnatural light.

Laney.

She was close, and she was alive. He palmed his weapons and kicked it into vamp speed. He would have his female back within the hour, or he would die trying.