Running from Trevor wasn’t the answer. She had to make sure he didn’t want to hunt her down.

“I can’t go with you right now,” she heard herself saying. “I have work this afternoon. People are waiting for me.”

“Dinner, then.”

“I’l be in Ontario.”

“Ontario, California?”

She nodded.

“That’s fine. I’l come to you. Tel me where. Seven o’clock okay?”

“Okay,” she breathed, feeling as if she was about to step off a cliff without her wings. “The Elephant Bar in Montclair.”

“I’l find it.” His gaze darted over her face. “Promise me you’l be there.”

Siobhán felt her lips curling into a smile. “You don’t trust me.”

“You look scared. You don’t have to be. I’d never hurt you, and I won’t let anyone else hurt you, either.”

Despite her turmoil and weakness for him, it was so good to see him whole and strong and confident. He was so powerful y vital, a potent force of nature.

“Trevor. You have to understand. You and me . . . It can’t happen. My job won’t all ow it. Ever.”

“Jobs can change.”

“Not mine. I was born to do it. There’s no other choice for me.”

He smiled and pul ed out his cel phone. “Let’s just start with dinner, okay? What’s your number?”

She gave it to him and he texted her, watching as she pul ed her cel out of her pocket to read, 7 at the Elephant Bar w/Trevor.

“Now you’ve got my number, too,” he said. “Promise me you’l be there.”

“I promise.”

He backed away, looking boyishly anticipatory and darkly handsome. “Seven o’clock, Siobhán. But I won’t mind if you show up early. You can show up late, too, and I’l still be waiting, but I’d rather you didn’t. It’s going to be hard enough waiting the next four hours.”

“Bye, Trevor.”

“Try ‘see you soon’ instead. That sounds better.”

She found herself blowing him a kiss, a completely spontaneous gesture that shocked her as much as it seemed to shock him.

“Can I talk you into a real one of those?” he asked, his voice husky.

“Seven. I’l see you then.” She was smiling when she got to her car. She smiled all the way back to the Point. It was only when she passed through the gate that reality hit her hard enough to somber her mood.

She was fal ing for a mortal. She was fal ing, period.

* * *

“This is harder than I thought it would be,” Siobhán murmured, looking through the viewing window at the three vamps being held in cages. Two males and one female. all young—only a couple decades past the fledgling stage. “I have to infect them and watch the il ness take them over, and I can’t put them to sleep like the others because I need to monitor how long they retain higher brain function. I can only pray the progression of the il ness isn’t too painful.”

Carriden set his big hand on her shoulder. “We’ll heal them with our blood when the time comes.”

“If we don’t lose them first.” She set her hand over his, feeling guilty that she’d be leaving soon to see Trevor. Her one comfort was the knowledge that once she infected the vampires, she would be confined to the infirmary and lab indefinitely. There would be no chance for Trevor to see her again.

“These three were part of a cabal in Anaheim,” she said softly, referring to a family-type unit of vampires. “They’d traveled away for fun and returned to find all their friends slaughtered. Damien’s investigating.”

“Someone else took them out? It wasn’t us?”

“It’s not an order either Adrian or Damien gave.” She mul ed her emotional response—the emotions she shouldn’t be feeling—to the plight of the three vamps. They were clearly distressed and that affected her. “Everything’s fal ing apart. The lycans are in the wind, the vampires are ravaged by this disease, and presently we’re the only cure. There are times when I wonder if the end is nigh. If this delicate balance between the three factions has final y crumbled.”

“If it has, We’ll go down in a blaze of glory.”

She faced him, shaking her head with a smile. “That simple, cowboy?”

“Sure.”

“Since I’m going to be trapped in the lab for a while, I’m heading out to shop and pick up some things to keep me occupied and comfortable.

Probably buy some bath stuff, maybe some hair dye. Books and fashion magazines, too.” Siobhán deliberately elaborated on her purchases to keep him from volunteering to come with her. “Need anything?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Okay. When I get back, We’ll get things going.”

His head tilted to one side. “You seem better today. More upbeat.”

“It was good to get out in the sunlight for a few hours. I need to make an effort to do it more often.”

“Whatever the reason, it’s good to see.”

She squeezed his hand. “You’re a good friend, Carriden.”

“Friend?” He frowned, obviously considering the merits of the word over others they’d used, such as “col eague.”

Laughing softly, she headed toward the door. “Think about it. You might like it.”

Chapter 10

Trevor glanced at his watch for the hundredth time as he paced the walkway in front of the Elephant Bar. It wasn’t quite seven and he’d already been waiting almost half an hour. God, he was nervous. And anxious. Siobhán had been so skittish. He was afraid she wouldn’t show up. Then he’d have to track her down somehow . . .

“Trevor.”

He spun at the sound of her voice and stared as she approached, riveted by her perfection. He’d never seen a woman so stunning. She was petite and delicate in appearance, her piquant face framed by a trendy cut that suited her features perfectly. She was lush and curvy in all the right places, and yet she was a tiny thing. The top of her head barely reached his shoulders.

“Siobhán.” His voice was deep and gruff, his blood pumping fast and hot. He was struck with that feeling of rightness again, the bone-deep certainty that he was where he was supposed to be with the woman he was supposed to be with. You’ll know, his sister Stel a had told him long ago. When you find the one, you’ll know.

“Have you been waiting long?” she asked, her words laced with a gorgeous resonance that vibrated through him.

“Twenty-eight years. Give or take a few weeks.” He caught her up in his arms as if they’d known each other for months rather than moments.

“What took you so long?”

Her hands went to his shoulders, her stunningly blue eyes shining in the glow of the streetlamp behind him. “What am I going to do with you?”

she asked softly.

“I’ve got a list.”

That made her laugh, and his breath caught at the beauty of the sound.

She brushed his hair back from his forehead, her gaze sliding over his face in a warm caress. “I wish I could keep you.”

“I’m afraid you’l have to. You won’t be able to get rid of me.” He adjusted his grip, aligning her body to his and marveling at the fit. As smal as she was, her curves melded precisely with his, as if they were two halves of a whole. He wasn’t the kind of guy who thought in terms like that usual y.