What if she’d had another vision that led her in a completely different direction?

What if she’d been attacked or kidnapped on the way?

What if she’d wrecked the damned Jeep and was even now lying hurt alongside the road?

What if she was simply lost?

The worrisome thoughts had looped through his mind, gnawing at him until he felt like climbing the walls.

Then, at last, he’d heard the sound of the approaching vehicle and watched as she made her way to the lair, clearly unhurt. From one beat of his heart to another, his savage fear had mutated to fury.

A fury that had gone ballistic when she admitted that she’d left herself vulnerable because she wanted to protect him. Dammit, his entire life had been an empty struggle for survival and even after he’d made his deal with the devil to try and alter curs into Weres, he’d known that there was something vital missing.

Then he’d stumbled across Cassie in the caves of the demon lord and he’d realized with crystal clarity that she was his reason for existing.

There had been no trumpets or angels singing or freaking rainbows and unicorns. Just an acceptance that he had been created to protect the prophet in a world gone mad.

Now, his burst of outrage faded and he just wanted to hold the female who meant more to him than life itself and savor the lavender scent that soothed his wolf as nothing else could.

“Are you hungry?” he at last asked.

She shook her head, her hands wrapped around his waist and her head resting on his chest.

“No.”

“Are you sure?” He brushed his lips over her temple. “I have chocolate.”

She pulled back, her eyes filled with a sudden glow of anticipation. “Chocolate?”

With a smile, he led her through the large, airy kitchen decorated with blue and white tiles and gingham curtains and up the stairs to the second floor. Then, with a tug he had her in the bedroom that was dominated by a carved walnut bed. Leaving her standing next to the armoire, he entered the closet and returned with a slim black and gold box.

“Straight from Godiva in Brussels.” He crossed to stand beside Cassie, pulling the lid off to reveal the truffle temptations. “It’s so decadently good it will spoil you for any other chocolate.”

“Really?” She reached to take one of the small chocolates, popping it into her mouth.

Caine waited, a low growl rumbling in his throat as her eyes slid shut in sensuous pleasure and her tongue peeked out to capture the tiny crumb on her bottom lip. He bent down, stealing the speck of chocolate with a swipe of his tongue.

“Just as I’ve spoiled you for any other man,” he whispered against her mouth.

She shivered, her hands lifting to smooth over the hard muscles of his chest. “Arrogant.”

He nibbled down the line of her jaw. “Confident in a manly man sort of way.”

“Hmmm.” She angled her head to offer her throat in a gesture that sent an explosion of heat through his body. “You haven’t told me how you got here ahead of me.”

He found the tender spot at the base of her neck that always made her heart beat faster. “A story for later,” he murmured, his tongue stroking over her racing pulse.

She pressed her slender curves tight against him, but she refused to be completely distracted. “You’re hiding something from me.”

“Nothing important.” He’d be damned if he allowed the thought of Yannah to spoil the mood. “Right now I don’t want to think about anything but you.”

Just for a second she held herself rigid, as if wanting to press for an answer. Then, with a soft sigh, she melted against him. No doubt she understood better than he did that their time together was limited.

Stroking his hands up and down her spine, Caine buried his face in the curve of her throat, soaking in the rare moment of peace.

He lost track of time, but his senses remained on full alert. Which meant Cassie was unable to hide the sudden change in her heartbeats.

“What is it?” he demanded.

“They’re coming,” she whispered.

“Who, Cassie?” He pulled back, his heart squeezed in a painful vice at the sight of her eyes shrouded in white. He gripped her beautiful face in his hands. “Cassie, stay with me. We have to get out of here.”

“It’s too late.”

Even as the words tumbled from her lips, Caine felt the unmistakable change in air pressure. Whirling toward the doorway, he reached back to make sure Cassie was hidden behind him as there was a shimmer in the air.

The shimmer solidified into four distinct shapes and Caine struggled to rein in his wolf as he recognized the vampire and his Three Stooges from the wine cellar.

“Leech.” He curled his lips in open disdain. There was no point in trying to be diplomatic. They’d come to take Cassie and he would either kill them or die trying. Nothing diplomatic about that. “And his stray mutts. Did you come to get your asses kicked?” He sent the male cur a taunting glance. A cur’s downfall was always his temper. “Again.”

“The master wants the prophet, Were,” the vampire stated the obvious in a frigid voice. “This time you won’t be allowed to stand in my way.”

“Not in this lifetime,” he snarled, already shifting when Dolf stepped forward, his eyes sparking with crimson light.

“Bring it on,” the cur challenged.

But even as Dolf took another step forward the leech was grabbing him by the arm, the cold prickle of his power like shards of ice piercing Caine’s skin.

“The spell, you idiot,” he hissed.

Lost in his transformation to wolf, Caine barely heard the words, but he caught the flash of green fire as the cur lifted a crystal. Then, trying his best to protect Cassie with his half-turned body, he braced for the explosion of magic.

Gaius would never change his opinion of magic. Or magic-users. If he had his way, they would all be burned at the stake, just like they were in the good old days.

But he had to admit that the cur’s spell had achieved results.

Spectacular, if gruesome, results.

Taking a cautious step forward, Gaius studied the male Were who had been frozen in midchange. The face had elongated, but retained human characteristics, while his body was oddly twisted and covered in patchy fur.

It was . . . unnerving, to say the least.

With a shake of his head, he turned his attention to the female lying on the floor beside the contorted Were, obviously caught in the same spell. She looked incredibly young and fragile as she sprawled unconscious on the hardwood, but Gaius understood that the visions she carried in her head made her the most powerful weapon on the face of the earth.

Which made her a potent bargaining tool.

“It worked,” Dolf muttered at his side, seeming as surprised as anyone at the success of his spell.

“So it did.” Gaius snapped impatient fingers toward the silent Ingrid. “What are you waiting for? Get the restraints on them.”

With a visible shudder the female cur crept forward, tugging on leather gloves before removing the silver shackles from her bag. “Holy shit,” she breathed, snapping the cuffs around Caine’s distorted wrists. “That’s nasty.”

Gaius watched as the cur efficiently placed matching cuffs around the Were’s ankles before she moved to perform the same service on Cassandra. Instantly, the stench of searing flesh filled the air.

The silver would keep the prisoners incapacitated even if they did manage to wake from the spell.

Once she was finished she moved back to stand at Dolf ’s side, her hand running an intimate caress along the bulging muscles of his bare arm.

Gaius didn’t bother to disguise his grimace. He had more important things to hide.

“Take your sister and search the rest of the house,” he commanded of the male cur. “Start in the cellars.”

“Why? We already know that—”

“I gave you a command, dog.”

Both twins flinched at the icy warning in his voice.

“Fine,” Dolf muttered, grabbing his sister by the hand and pulling her out of the room.

Waiting until he could hear their footsteps descending the staircase, Gaius pointed toward the witch, who hovered near the door, as if ready for a quick retreat. “You.”

“Sally,” she reminded him in sullen tones. “It’s not hard to remember.”

He ignored her complaint. “Go outside and make sure the spells are still intact.”

Predictably, the witch narrowed her gaze in suspicion. Unlike the curs, she had a functioning brain. Unfortunate, but nothing that was going to spoil his plans.

“What are you plotting?”

“I’m plotting to keep us from being ambushed. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No problem.”

“Then go.”

She studied him for a long minute, then with a shrug, she turned to head out the door. “Whatever.”

Gaius remained frozen in place until the door had shut behind the witch and he could sense her moving down the staircase and out of the house. Only then did he cross to kneel beside the unconscious Weres, making certain they remained locked in the spell before he tugged the medallion from beneath his sweater, clutching it in a white-knuckled grip.