"All good, I hope," Daisy said, offering her hand.

"Of course it's all good," Brandon said. "I'm not telling her any of the bad stuff until she says 'I do.'"

"Good idea," Daisy replied.

Paula resumed her seat beside Brandon and Daisy sat in the overstuffed chair across from them.

"Where are Dad and Alex?" Brandon asked.

"Oh, they went out this morning," Daisy said. "They should be back soon. I hear you've been shopping."

"Yeah, Paula bought out most every store in town."

"Really?"

"Not quite," Paula said, poking Brandon in the ribs.

"Really," Brandon said. "This girl has a credit card and she knows how to use it."

"Brandon, stop it," Paula said, blushing.

"She doesn't like people to know her family's rich."

"Oh?" Daisy tried to keep her surprise from showing. Her mother hadn't mentioned that the O'Reilly family had money.

"My dad writes computer software," Paula said with a shrug. "He's very good at it."

"That's great," Daisy exclaimed with a smile.

"Well, we just stopped by to drop off a few things," Brandon said, rising. "And now we're going to dinner. You wanna come along?"

"No, I don't think so. I've been cleaning my room all day and now I just want to relax." It was partly true. She didn't want to leave until she knew her dad and Alex were okay. But mainly she wanted to be here if Erik showed up.

"Okay, sis, catch ya later. Tell Dad I'll be late."

Daisy waited until Brandon and Paula left the house, then grabbed her cell phone and dialed her father's number. There was no answer. Frowning, she disconnected the call and dialed her brother's number. Again, there was no answer.

It would be dark soon, so where were they?

She jumped when someone knocked at the door. She peeked through the peephole, hoping it was her dad and Alex. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Erik on the front porch.

Unlocking the door, she smiled up at him. "Hi."

"Hi."

She stepped back so he could come in, frowned when he made no move to enter the house, and then remembered he couldn't enter a home without an invitation. "Come on in, Dracula," she said with a grin.

"Very funny," Erik muttered as he followed her into the living room. He took a quick look around. The walls were off-white, the carpet a deep shade of forest green; the furniture looked worn and comfortable but not shabby. There were books and knickknacks on several shelves, numerous framed family photographs on the fireplace mantel. The morning paper was spread out over the coffee table.

"Sit down," Daisy said, taking a place on the sofa. Her earlier smile had vanished. Worry lines creased her brow.

"What's wrong?" Erik asked, sitting beside her

"My dad and Alex went hunting this morning. They should have been back by now. They're not answering their phones..."

"Idiots."

"Can you find them?"

"Maybe, but it's doubtful." Boston had roughly six hundred thousand people. Finding two amongst so many could prove to be difficult. Then again..."I might be able to follow their car," he remarked, thinking aloud. Every vehicle carried its own individual scent.

"They took Dad's truck."

With a nod, Erik left the house with Daisy close on his heels.

He paced back and forth across the driveway, then closed his eyes, sorting through the myriad scents of gasoline, trees, and grass until he located the truck's singular smell.

"Well?" Daisy asked.

"Go back inside and lock the door."

"No way! I'm going with you."

"Not this time. You'll only slow me down. Keep your phone on. I'll call you if I find them. You call me if they show up here."

"But..."

"Daisy, we don't have time to argue about this."

"Oh, all right." She didn't like the idea of being left behind. She wasn't used to it. After all, in her own way, she was a hunter, too.

He kissed her quickly, and then he was gone.

Moving too swiftly for human eyes to follow, Erik followed the distinctive scent of the O'Donnells' truck, passing ancient red brick sidewalks, Federalist houses, and soaring towers made of glass. The trail ended near Dorchester Bay. Amid the smell of salt water, diesel oil, smoke, and fish, he caught a new scent, that of vampire.

He followed the vampire's scent to a luxury yacht. It took little effort to make the jump from the shore to the deck of the ship. There were humans below, and a vampire. The smell of blood roused his hunger.

Going below, Erik followed the vampire's scent into a stateroom where he found the two O'Donnell men lying on the floor, bound and apparently under some kind of supernatural enchantment. He was moving toward them when he realized he was no longer alone.

Erik whirled around, fangs extended, and came face-to-face with one of his kind. Clad in a pair of black trousers and a loose-fitting white shirt, the vampire was tall and lean and looked to be in his late twenties, though his aura was much older.

"What are you doing here?" the vampire asked. His voice was mild, though his eyes blazed red.

"I know these two," Erik said, gesturing at Daisy's father and brother. "They're not to be harmed."

The other vampire lifted one brow. "Indeed?"

Erik nodded.

"They violated my lair. They tried to destroy me. I am within my rights to do with them as it pleases me. And it pleases me to kill them."

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that."

"No? Who are you?"

"Erik Delacourt."

"Ah."

"You know me?" Erik asked.

"I have heard of you. It is said you are a close friend of Costain's."

Erik nodded, wondering if that was good or bad. "Who the hell are you?"

"Tomas Villagrande."

Erik swore under his breath. Villagrande was the Master of the East Coast vampires, and was even older than Rhys. It was rumored among the ranks of the Undead that Villagrande was one of the first of their kind, that it was Villagrande who had bequeathed the Dark Gift to Dracula himself. Erik didn't know if that was true, but Villagrande's preternatural power was unmistakable.

Villagrande folded his arms over his chest. "Why do you care if these two live or die?"

"They're related to someone I hold dear."

"That does change things, does it not?" Villagrande mused aloud. "And yet the fact remains that they are mine."

Tension thrummed through Erik as he summoned his power. If the other vampire wanted a fight, so be it, although pitting his strength against that of a much older vampire seemed like suicide.

"This someone you hold dear, is it a woman?"

"Yes."

"Ah. And is she young and beautiful beyond compare?"

Erik nodded even as he wondered what game Villagrande was playing.

"You are in love with her?"

"Yes."

"An overrated emotion to be sure," Villagrande remarked, his voice melancholy. "Yet I confess that I, too, have been caught in that snare from time to time. Tell me, are you willing to challenge me in combat to save these two?"

Erik swore inwardly. He had hoped it wouldn't come to that, but he couldn't go back to Daisy and tell her he had failed. Better not to return at all. "If I have to."

Villagrande stroked his chin as he contemplated Erik's decision. "She means that much to you, this woman?"

"And more."

Villagrande laughed softly. "I do not wish to kill you. You have trouble enough. Take them and go."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Villagrande smiled, showing a hint of fang. "Never let it be said that Tomas Villagrande stood in the way of true love. As for your inept friends here, I am surprised they have survived as long as they have. They should wake in half an hour or so. You might tell them to be more careful in the future," he said, and with a wave of his hand, he vanished.

Erik stood there a moment, his senses searching for some trace of Villagrande. It was then that he realized he might have made a fatal mistake in giving Villagrande his name. A word from the East Coast Master of the City and Rhys would know where to find Erik, which would lead him to Alex. And Daisy.

Cursing his stupidity, Erik untied Daisy's father and Alex. Hefting a man over each shoulder, he transported himself to the shore. A thought carried him to Daisy's front porch.

She answered before he knocked, making him think she had been looking out the window, waiting for his return.

Her eyes widened when she saw her dad and brother. "Are they...?"

"No, just unconscious."

"Thank the Lord!" She had been terrified that Erik had found them too late. And then she frowned. "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing. They'll come around in a few minutes."

"How do you know?"

"The vampire they found told me so."

"Oh?" There was a wealth of curiosity in that single word.

Erik lowered Noah O'Donnell onto one end of the sofa and Alex onto the other. "I don't know how we're going to explain this," he muttered.

"Alex has a GPS on his phone. I'll say I called the police and they tracked it, and then I called you.... No, that won't work. The police would have taken them to the hospital and doctors would have kept them there until they regained consciousness. What are we going to do? How are we going to explain how they got home?"

"Beats the hell out of me."

Daisy frowned thoughtfully as she glanced at her dad and Alex. "Why didn't the vampire kill them?"

"He was going to." Erik had no doubt that, had he arrived a few minutes later, he would have found Villagrande dining on his captives.