Think only of me, of what I wish to do to you. I do not care if the others are close. I want to slowly remove this dress, slip the buttons from their holes and allow the dress to slip from your body and pool at your feet. Feel me. So hard for you. I am always like that now.

It was impossible to think about anything else when he spoke like that to her.

Think of me when I’m inside you. When I am a shield and a destroyer. Think of only me, Emeline. Do this for me.

She nodded. I’ll try. It shouldn’t be that hard. His body was pressed so tightly against hers, the fullness of his cock reminding her how it felt when he was inside of her.

He pulled her down on top of him, his body hard beneath hers, his arms around her waist, his chin on her shoulder. Just that fast he shed his body, Gary following him. Sandu and Ferro followed suit. To her shock, Andor joined them.

She tried not to think about why they needed five men to go after Vadim’s splinter if he wasn’t there to defend himself. It took a moment to realize that when Dragomir left his body, he also pulled out of her mind. He’d left behind the feeling of his mouth and hands on her, of his body moving gently in hers, but he’d taken care to remove his mind from hers.

She took a deep breath. He was up to something, that man of hers – something dangerous, or he wouldn’t have completely left her like that. He never did. Sometimes he moved in and out of her mind, but for the most part, since he’d claimed her, he had stayed just close to the surface. She pushed gently into his mind, her touch subtle, barely there, so she was able to see what they were doing.

He had moved to her brain very quickly, Gary following. Sandu positioned himself in front of the baby, ready to shield her if Vadim became aware and attacked. Ferro and Andor positioned themselves on either side of her brain, right where the sliver was located. She saw it through Dragomir’s eyes. It was a dark crescent-shaped shadow lying in a crevice. She would never have noticed it, but all of a sudden it took on an ominous, vile appearance.

Then Dragomir’s light began to fade until it was so dim she could barely make it out. How did one do that? His spirit shone bright. What was he doing to make himself diminish? Then she knew, his heart and lungs slowed. He was more vulnerable than ever. She held her breath. Knowing. Wanting to scream a protest, but afraid it would alert Vadim and further endanger Dragomir. He was so reckless, willing to put himself in harm’s way. They’d talked about it, but nothing could prepare her for the things he insisted on doing.

He moved so gently into the splinter, barely a touch, his spirit merging, traveling. A long way. She felt his spirit drawn from them to a distance. Then she was hearing the sound of the sea. The boom of a wave crashing over rock. She felt the ground moving in a swelling rhythm. Again, the sea. Dragomir moved closer, and she could suddenly see the water. It was dark and frightening in the long expanse. There was a ship ahead, anchored in the water. Waiting for Vadim and the others. She felt his glee.

There were men and women on the ship. Several children. As the vampires swept in from the night sky, panic erupted. Screams. She closed her eyes, but she refused to separate herself from Dragomir. If he had to see the carnage, the least she could do was hear it. For what seemed an eternity, Dragomir stayed in the background, hearing and feeling what Vadim was. Watching the sickening massacre. Then Vadim was soaring over the ocean again, back toward San Diego. Twice he plunged into the water, stayed underwater near a long, thick cable and then he was back in the air. Her heart jumped. She recognized that cable. She’d seen it before.

Dragomir withdrew very slowly and then stepped back to give Gary room to work. Gary was very precise. He had done this twice already and he knew exactly how to destroy the splinter. He hit the sliver hard with laser precision, running up its back, incinerating layers of cells quickly.

Vadim jumped into the sliver, throwing up a shield, halting the attack, having learned from the last two. He sliced deep into Emeline’s brain. Excruciating pain radiated through her head. She screamed, jerking in Dragomir’s arms, trying to throw herself clear so she could run from it.

Andor leapt into action, inserting his spirit between the sliver and Emeline so that the next slice never touched her. Vadim abandoned her brain, throwing himself into her deoxygenated bloodstream so that he was quickly carried toward her heart. He began jabbing at her vein as he did so, driving holes through the three layers of tissue making up the tubing. Ferro was there, his spirit nearly blinding the master vampire as it burned through another layer of cells, incinerating them. Vadim was forced to stop damaging the vein in order to survive. He leapt to the heart. She could feel his triumph.

Dragomir and Gary were already there waiting. While Ferro and Andor had chased him from the brain, they had moved surreptitiously into the heart. As Vadim entered, their combined spirits hit him, white-hot light incinerating the cells too fast. The sliver dissolved into ash, curling into itself to try to protect even a few cells. Vadim had already lost the other two slivers and a piece of his heart. He fought to protect what he had left, even though it was only a few cells. He tried to make it to the lower chamber, desperate to get to the fetus via the umbilical cord. Andor was there, blocking the way. Dragomir was behind him, Gary and Ferro on either side. The four together incinerated the remaining cells, destroying the splinter.

17

The sea rocked gently back and forth, a cradle holding vast amounts of salt water. Beneath the black, glassy surface, great long arms of kelp reached first one way as the water tugged them, and then the other. The arms reached up from the ocean floor so that only the top of the canopy showed, and then only briefly.

As she swam, Emeline caught glimpses of hidden sea life when the kelp opened the lanes. Near the surface schools of fish moved in and out of the stalks, sometimes with a barracuda or yellowtail tuna pursuing them. It was the explosion of color that made the scene so beautiful, although oftentimes, over the years, she was never certain whether or not she was adding to the vivid colors.

Curious sea lions rocketed through the long blades, and sometimes she stopped to watch them play. Most times she swam along the rocky reef below, where pastel sea fans swayed back and forth with the surge and so many sea creatures made appearances. There were lobsters moving in and out of cracks, and octopus and moray eels peeking out of crevices. Bat rays rested in the sand, although it was night, and feeding time, so most were beginning to stir.

The kelp forests were generally between thirty and eighty feet deep, but these went down even farther, their air-filled bulbs planted in the uneven floor. She had been here countless times and knew the way as if it was her own home. She had been exploring the kelp forest from the time she was very young. She dove down into that wondrous world, glancing sideways to ensure Dragomir was with her. She wasn’t afraid; this – dreaming – was her forte. She knew exactly what she was doing – and she knew what she had to show him.

Other than his initial shock when she’d first taken him with her, sharing her dream, he had remained silent, content to allow her to lead the way. She stayed close to the ocean floor, moving in and out of the stalks straight to the large round pipes that stretched out for miles. The pipes were very large, tall enough that a man could easily stand in them. Wide enough to allow several men to walk side by side inside of them.

Instead of following the pipes out to the sea, staying on the floor of the ocean, she headed back toward San Diego.

Wait, I need to follow this out. Find out what is going on.

She stopped, turned back to him and caught at his arm, shaking her head. She’d done that already so many times. Recalling a dream, she could change the details, and she had, night after night, ever since she was a child. She had explored all the way to the end of the pipes.

It is like the catacombs ahead. People lying in wait to be taken by the vampires. There was horror in her voice – in her mind. She couldn’t do anything to save them. Or rescue them. She knew, because she’d spent months, years, trying to discover a way. In the end she’d given up and continued her explorations, trying to determine what the vampires no one believed in were up to or even – when she was so young – if they were real.

There is nothing to be done for them. But this is where I think is most important for you to see. I thought it wasn’t real because I’ve dreamt it for so many years, but… Follow me. She attempted to pour demand into her voice. She didn’t have the dominant trait that allowed him to speak so softly yet command everything and everyone around him. She had to be emphatic, insistent, to get her way. She should have known better. It took her pointing in the direction she wanted to go and a quick shake of her head. He was already swimming toward her, following her lead.