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Kambyses actually laughed now, delighted, and a grudging warmth stole over Dominique’s heart. Didn’t this man only want to be known and loved despite what he was? Perhaps. But Dominique still wouldn’t let him have Cassidy without a fight.

And he was nowhere near done fighting.

“Do with them as you wish, Nico,” his sire said, looking as pleased as Dominique had ever seen him. “Enjoy your night.”

The moment Dominique was sure Kambyses had gone ashore, he turned to Jackson and Garrett. How far dare he go with them? How deeply buried in their psyche was Kambyses? If he wasn’t very careful, he would condemn them to a swift death and Cassidy to an eternity of night.

“The cruise is over. Time for you two to go home.” Using all the compulsive power he could muster and keeping his voice just within human hearing range, he continued, “Find all in your family you have not seen in too long. Cherish them. Tell them you love them.”

“Absolutely,” Jackson said with all the conviction of a parishioner confirming a pulpit proclamation.

Garrett nodded. “Best idea I’ve heard all week.”

Dominique crouched down between them and put a hand on each of their shoulders. When he had both their attention, he finished with a monumental punch of compulsive energy that would have knocked them unconscious if they had any fight left in them at all. “Do it tonight.”

31

Definitely No Vampires

“Wake up, golden one. Wake up!”

Samantha didn’t need much prodding to rouse from her fitful doze. She sat up on the sofa in a tangle of blankets, sweater and skirt. “What? What happened?”

“Someone comes.”

Pushing her hair off her face, she tried to gauge Serge’s vibe on this observation. The apprehension rounding his eyes was not encouraging. She reached for her phone on the coffee table. Wednesday, four-twenty-seven in the morning. Her brother and step-uncle had been MIA since Sunday, and the last she heard from Dominique was a terse text of “they r back” several hours ago, with no response to her requests for clarification.

“Well? Who is it? Do we need to run for our lives?”

Serge shook his curly head.

“Oh, good. I think.”

A car door slammed outside. A second one followed. She went to the window, peered between the blinds, and wondered if she was still asleep. A figure jogged up the driveway and came into the circle of light cast by the porch lamp. “Oh. My God.”

The visitor rapped sharply at the door, and she rushed to open it. Jackson scooped her up in his arms. “Sam! I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you. But I’m sure going to try.”

She squealed with surprise. Baby brother was back and happier than she had seen him since before losing his twin. She held fast to him, feeling his joy wash over her.

“I love you so much,” he said, and she all but melted. Whatever may have caused it, she liked this new, more relaxed version of him.

“I’m so glad you’re back, Jack. We were so worried.”

“Oh, nonsense,” someone else said from the door. She angled her head and felt her face drop when she saw Garrett standing there, hands on hips, sporting a fresh tan and an ear-to-ear grin. “Can’t a guy take his nephew on a cruise?” he asked jovially. “C’mere, girl. You’re a sight for these sore, old eyes.”

Before she could comprehend what was happening, Garrett had pulled her away from Jackson and smothered her in his arms. Garrett, her stepfather’s brother, hunter of vampires and calculating killer. Garrett, the man who had made it clear that she was nothing to him but a pretty piece of fluff that kept getting in the way.

Her relief evaporated in an instant.

Something was wrong. Horribly wrong.

She gingerly backed out of the embrace, all her senses now awake, most of all her sense of unmitigated alarm. The whiff of smoke she caught clinging to their frumpy jackets made her flesh crawl. That had to be the smell of him, the one, the ancient vampire they went to find and put down. So they had found him—and failed.

Jackson waltzed into the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by a counter and two bar chairs. “You got any beer? We need to celebrate.”

Garrett looked around. “Nice place you got yourself here. Oh, hi there.” He waved at Serge, who sat ashen-faced and statue-still in the sofa.

“What is happening?” Samantha mouthed at the vampire. Serge shrank back. His eyes glazed over into that disconnected look he got when he was checking into his own reality.