It irked her that he showed no regard for her limitations. After all, she was human, or witch, not a vampire, who could run without breaking a sweat.

Desperate to make him slow down, she searched for something to make him listen. She grasped at something she’d heard Luther cry out during his nightmare. “Who’s Vivian?”

Luther came to a dead halt. His shoulders pulled back, his hands curled into fists. But he didn’t turn his head, didn’t look over his shoulder. Which was almost worse than if he’d whirled around and glared at her.

Only the breaking of twigs beneath her shoes was audible as she caught up with him. When she reached him, she heard the deliberate breaths that came from Luther. She recognized them. Those were the breaths of a person trying desperately not to succumb to a fit of rage or panic. She knew, because she’d been there before. Been at the point where the sheer mention of a name, of an event, catapulted her back to that moment, making her relive her ordeal again.

And at this very moment, she regretted having asked the question. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, choking back a tear. “That was uncalled for. It’s none of my business. I apologize.”

“No, it’s none of your business. So stay out of my life, or you’ll regret it.”

She already did. But it was too late to take anything back. Too late to turn around and start fresh. They were both in this now, and they had to see it through. Soon, she would have the name of the man who’d kidnapped Isabelle, and with Scanguards’ help, they would catch the guy and rescue Samson’s daughter.

“Now move,” Luther ordered gruffly. “If you can’t keep up with me, you’d better turn back now.”

Katie focused all her energy on her legs. She had to see this through. She owed Isabelle, and more so, she owed Samson. He’d been instrumental in saving her life twenty years earlier, and now was the time to pay back her debt.

Even if that meant duking it out with a vampire who clearly couldn’t stand her.

“I’m coming,” she murmured to herself.

17

Luther bit back a curse. He knew Katie would be trouble. He just hadn’t expected the trouble to start this early. Or his reaction to it to be so uncontrolled.

The nightmares had gotten less frequent than twenty years ago, but they’d never stopped. At least this time he hadn’t dreamt the version where his bloody hands clawed into Vivian’s pregnant belly. The symbolism of that particular dream didn’t escape him. It signified his own guilt, because it had been his unborn child that had killed her. He had as much blood on his hands as if he’d killed Vivian with his own claws.

He’d come to the conclusion that there was only one way for history not to repeat itself: he would never commit to another woman.

“You okay?” Luther grunted, glancing at Katie, who walked next to him.

He’d slowed his tempo, knowing his anger had made him unreasonable. It wasn’t her fault that he’d had a nightmare, and that she’d heard him call Vivian’s name. In fact, he was surprised that she hadn’t bolted, and had instead tried to wake him from it.

Luckily, Katie hadn’t succeeded, or he might have unwittingly unleashed his rage on her. A fellow V-CON had once found himself at the mercy of Luther’s claws, when Luther had awoken during a nightmare. Because of some temporary overcrowding in the prison, several V-CONs had had to double up in cells for a few weeks, until a number of prisoners were moved to facilities in other parts of the country.

Katie didn’t reply. Well, maybe he deserved the silent treatment.

“We’re almost there.” He didn’t expect an answer.

“I didn’t mean to listen to what you said in your sleep.”

He grunted, not knowing how to respond to the apology. Thank you? Yeah, that didn’t sound right. He was glad that in the distance ahead of them, a concrete wall appeared. Luther could already see it with his vampire vision, but he knew Katie’s eyes couldn’t penetrate the darkness like his. He reached his hand out and grabbed her elbow to stop her.

Her breath hitched. “What?” Her green eyes sparkled like precious emeralds in a bed of black velvet. Lush and tempting. More beautiful than any jewel.

“Once we’re inside, you have to follow my commands to the letter. Do you understand?”

Katie nodded.

“There’s an emergency access tunnel leading into the center of the prison. We’ll use it to get in.”

“How do you know about it?”

“I designed it.”

Her chin dropped. “What?”