A boy, whether vampire or not, can be confined for only so long before he becomes a battering ram-running up and down the hall, smashing into the doors, pleading with his

"jailer" for release-desperate for a little air and a lot of sky.

Four Impure guards stationed ten feet on either side of her, Kate sat on the steps in front of the SoHo house, watching Ladd weave in and out of the three trees near the curb, bending down every so often to inspect a bug or a scrap of paper towel or a cigarette butt.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm in the middle of February, and she hadn't the heart to force him back inside after the five minutes she'd promised him.

After all, today was her last day with him. She wanted to give him something nice to remember her by.

"What is it?" she cal ed, as Ladd dropped down on his haunches again.

"Piece of wire, I think."

"Don't touch it," she warned, hearing sirens in the distance. "Could be sharp."

"What's that sound?" Ladd asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Police siren."

"Ooh, I want to see."

"You stay where you are," Kate instructed.

It was getting closer, the wail nearly upon them. Then out It was getting closer, the wail nearly upon them. Then out of nowhere, like something from a movie, a cab came screeching around the corner fol owed by several police cars, lights flashing. With another squeal of tires, the yel ow cab raced down the street and crashed into two parked cars just a few feet away from the house.

"Ladd, get up here," Kate cal ed, as one cop after another jumped from their cars and surrounded the vehicle, guns drawn.

"Ladd," she cal ed again, running down the few feet to the tree where he had been investigating the wire, the guards right behind her. "Come on. Inside."

But he wasn't there, wasn't by the tree.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Kate screamed at the top of her lungs, her gaze flashing everywhere at once.

But it was no use.

The boy was gone.

The search went on al afternoon. Those who could handle the sun were out trol ing the neighborhood, checking bus stations, arcades, movie theaters, anywhere a child might wander off to. While inside, Nicholas and Alexander connected with the Eyes and the Internet to see if there were any reports of a found child.

For obvious reasons, they couldn't go to the police, but Kate knew in her gut this was no random act of kidnapping or Ladd just taking off. As she entered the house, the sun stil high in the sky, she knew there was a decision to be made.

Nicholas pulled her into his arms and gave her a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "We'l find him."

"Not like this, we won't." She hated that he was being so understanding, so damn nice to her. She didn't deserve it.

Forget the guards. Ladd was her responsibility, and she'd just al owed someone to take him-right out from under her nose. "We know who has him," she said darkly. "Those bastards wanted him from the start."

A low snarl sounded from Nicholas. "If it is the Order, then I wil go. At first dark. They wil not deny me my balas."

Kate nearly laughed. The Order was not a sentimental lot.

They didn't give a shit about keeping a child with his parent

-especial y if that parent was a descendant of the Breeding Male.

She pulled away from Nicholas and left the room, went upstairs. He would have an easy decision now. His flesh-and-blood of a brother, or the veana who had al owed his son to be taken.

If only the boat could come for her sooner.

She sat down on the bed, put her head in her hands.

Ladd. Goddammit! He'd just lost a mother, and now this.

He must be scared out of his mind. He must hate her . . .

Licking her dry lips, Kate slid her gaze over to her bag, which sat empty in the center of her bed. The plan had been to wait until it got dark, until Nicholas and his brothers left for the hunt.

Fuck!

Her freedom waited at the docks, an unknown, uncharted destination that had fil ed her with at least a modicum of hope. And here she was again. Two directions in which to run. Yet this time, there was no question in her mind where she belonged.

She dressed quickly, and left the room in the very clothes she'd original y entered it in. In the hall, she paused and looked at Ladd's door, then headed past it to the room she knew from Sara's true mate love story boasted a fire escape.

Nicholas felt as though he were being stabbed over and over. Not by the cool metal of a blade, but by the knowledge that he could do nothing save sit on his hands until the light changed. While the balas who could be his son was held by the treacherous ten.

"You look like a dog who needs to piss," Lucian grumbled, standing in front of the recon map in the library, growing irritated with Nicholas's incessant pacing near the door.

"I feel useless!" Nicholas slammed his fist against the door, leaving a mark like an animal paw print in the wood. "I need to find him, get to him."

"I'll go before the Order," Lucian offered. "Christ. I'll demand the boy be returned."

"No." Nicholas pointed a finger at him. "You're not giving them any more reasons to morph your ass than they have already. I am trying to reach Dillon, but even if she does agree to go, I think it may only anger the Order." He sniffed darkly. "They want me to come before them and beg. I know it."

Alexander burst through the door at that moment, nearly col iding with Nicholas. "Any news on the balas?"

"No," Lucian said, returning to his map. "But Sugar Ray here believes the kid's being held by the Order."

"I'm leaving for the mountain at first dark," Nicholas said.

"If Ladd is my offspring-"

Alexander cut in quickly, "There is no more 'if,' Duro."

Both Nicholas and Lucian stopped and gave their eldest brother their ful attention.

Alexander nodded. "The test is complete."

"You spoke with Bronwyn," Lucian said, an edge to his tone that was always present whenever the veana was mentioned.

"She cal ed a moment ago," Alexander explained. "I spoke with her very briefly because Evans came in and I thought he had news-"

"Is he mine, Duro?" Nicholas interrupted.

"Yes."

The room went silent for a moment, and within it Nicholas took quick inventory of his emotions. No highs, no lows, just a feeling of confirmation, as though he and his insides had known al along that Ladd was a part of the Roman family.

Evans rushed into the room then. He looked anxious as his gaze flickered in Nicholas's direction, but his eyes refused to focus. "Sir . . ."

Sudden fear replaced every shred of contentment within Nicholas. "What's wrong? Is it the balas?"

The Impure shook his head, muttered something about "females" and "fire escapes."

Nicholas was on top of him, coiling over him like a cobra ready to strike. "Speak, dammit!"

Shaking, Evans looked up at him. "Your veana is gone."

It was as though his world had imploded, and the cry that he released from his burning lungs made the windows throughout the entire house tremble and threaten to shatter.