CHAPTER THIRTEEN

C arlos stood on the back porch of the house savoring the victory, knowing that Yonnie would soon slide out of the shadows next to him. He didn't even turn his head as his friend sidled up to him and slapped Yonnie five without looking at him.

"Absolutely beautiful," Yonnie murmured with appreciation.

"Sweet," Carlos said, staring at the moon with a half-smile.

"All pro," Yonnie said with a low chuckle. "Now who's your daddy?"

Both men laughed and nodded, still not glancing at each other. Tara's graceful presence only caused them a mild start.

"What are you two out here scheming up now?" she asked, her arms folded and her expression containing a scowl.

"Baby, what?" Yonnie said, appearing completely innocent. "We ain't doing nothing. Why you always so suspicious?"

"Because I know you two," she replied, unfazed.

"C'mon now, Tara, don't be like that," Carlos said in an upbeat tone. "Me and Yonnie were just working out logistics for the road."

"Yeah, okay," she said sarcastically. "Then why do you have a sound block around the house that not even the big audio sensor can hear through?"

Yonnie looked at Carlos,and Carlos looked at Yonnie. A rapid mental connection bound them. That you, man?

Naw, man, you throw that down?

Aw, shit.

Right.

"Tara, baby, go in the house," Yonnie said, glancing at her briefly. His tone was polite but also told her the request was nonnegotiable. She withdrew slowly, but kept her gaze fastened on both Carlos and Yonnie. "Then... I'll just help with the list of items the team will need to transport and have at the ready once in La Paz."

Yonnie glimpsed Carlos, noting the way the muscle in his friend's jaw was working. "Thanks, baby."

Both men waited until Tara was out of earshot and her svelte form had disappeared into the house.

"All right," Yonnie said. "I'ma say this once. Be cool, and hold the line. He's on the defensive. Keep it that way, no matter what you hear. Otherwise, you'll undo all the ground you just gained."

Carlos didn't answer, but kept his mind sweeping the landscape and his gaze affixed to the moon.

Suddenly Yonnie and Carlos looked at each other at the same time. The bleating, feminine, SOS message pierced their minds at vamp decibel carried on a coven frequency, but the collision of female voices was unfamiliar.

Yonnie outstretched his hands, sending a black, swirling tornado away from his body as Carlos covered them both with a Neteru shield. Neither men spoke as Guardians rushed through the house, following Mike and Tara, who had both heard the dark turbine whine. Weapons were poised and Marlene was immediately covered by Shabazz. The team fell into formation taking cover and waiting to see what Yonnie's transport net had dragged in. Yells for Damali and Cain got sucked into eerie silence, confirming what both Yonnie and Carlos already knew--Cain was blocking interference.

Torn, Carlos remained steadfast. The team needed his shield, yet Damali might be in danger. He just had to pray that Cain hadn't lost his mind, even though he knew by now that Damali could battle her way out of Hell, if necessary. Everyone stood back as two hooded entities fell to their knees in the dirt before Yonnie.

"Smoke 'em," Shabazz said.

Mike lowered a shoulder cannon loaded with an RPG hallowed-earth shell. One of the hooded beings looked up, her small, frightened face nearly ashen as she stared at Mike's cannon.

"Hold your fire!" Bobby shouted.

Dodging the edge of the Neteru shield and past Big Mike's huge hand when the older Guardian attempted to flat palm his chest, the agile smaller Guardian jumped down the steps and ran toward the two women.

"Bobby, no!" Marjorie shrieked.

Berkfield was down the steps running after Bobby. "Son, no!"

Dan was on Bobby's heels, Glock raised, as the younger Guardian crossed the twenty-five-foot distance in an all-out sprint.

Before Dan could fire to cover his man, Bobby had swept up the hooded female and had her squarely behind him. "It's Jasmine! Hold your fire!"

The other crimson-hooded being lifted her head to reveal that she was human. Her eyes locked with Dan's and he slowed his dash to a jog then stood completely still.

"Gabrielle sent us," Jasmine wheezed, her gaze going to Bobby before it went to Yonnie.

Bobby stroked her long, black hair away from her face, stared into her almond-shaped eyes and kissed her hard. His fingers traced her small face, remembering every touch as a tiny flicker of blue static caressed her fragile, Asian features. "Sanctuary," he shouted back toward the team.

"Dude," J.L. said slowly, coming down the steps still armed, "we can't--"

"They stay!" Bobby shouted across the clearing. "Robert, listen to me--" "Stand down, Dad! Tell him, Rider!" Bobby said, breathing hard, now body-shielding Jasmine with outstretched arms, his weapon cocked.

Yonnie and Carlos just looked at each other for a moment as tension bound the team in silence.

"She was, uh... well, his first, at uh, Gabby's," Rider said, his expression strained to the limit as Marjorie covered her mouth. "The timing is bad, but since when did that stop our team, huh?" He looked at Yonnie. "If Gabrielle sent her, and I can vouch for the fact that she's an initiate of hers... she's clean." Rider peered around. "Aw, c'mon, guys... if they're initiates, they haven't taken a dark oath yet."

"What about the other one?" Mike said, only lowering his shoulder cannon by a hair.

"She's everything Christine promised," Dan murmured, walking toward the young woman who cowered on the ground. "What?" Marlene croaked through a strangled whisper.

"Oh... man . . ." Carlos dropped his shield. "Everybody hold your fire."

"When did my daughter come to you, Daniel?" Tears brimmed and fell as Marlene pushed her way to the back porch rail.

Dan looked up at Marlene from where he stooped beside the hooded young woman. But his attention soon left Marlene as a pair of wide, stricken gray eyes met his. He pushed the crimson hood back from the girl's face and a profusion of shoulder-length, auburn curls spilled forward, partially covering her creamy tea-and-milk complexion. "What.... is your name?" Dan whispered in awe.

Rider slapped his forehead. "Oh, for the love of Pete! Not now, son."

"When," Marlene repeated, "did Christine come to you, Daniel?"

"In the mansion compound," Dan said quietly, his eyes never leaving the gray ones that held him for ransom. "She told me she would come bearing a message... God, you're gorgeous."

Marlene shook her head and leaned against Shabazz.

"And she told me you would be mine," the young woman whispered, drawing Dan closer.

"You stay," Dan said quietly. "Sanctuary granted."

"Coven vibration, man," Yonnie said through his teeth. "You need to back up off that, brother, until we're sure what we're dealing with."

"Jesus wept and I know why," Big Mike said, shaking his head and finally lowering the cannon.

Dan helped the young woman up. "She stays--or I'm out, with Bobby. Period. Fuck it. End of discussion. A team angel sent her! For me, that's enough of a passport." He and Bobby stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the two hooded women.

"My daughter is an angel?" Marlene's eyes searched Dan's.

"Yeah," Dan said flatly. "In my mind, she just earned her wings."

"Shit . . ." Jose said. "Can't do nothing with that. I guess they stay, huh?"

"The message?" Yonnie shouted, losing patience.

"Que pasa?" Carlos yelled, opening his arms with a frown. "You don't roll up on a Guardian compound under these circumstances unless you bringing serious word or knowledge. We can't carry dead weight, especially not right through here. So, what's up?" "I'm Heather," the girl behind Dan said. "Jasmine and I are the last ones left at Gabrielle's. She said not to speak to you unless the space was sealed with a prayer."

"Mar, you up for it?" Carlos said, issuing an apology with his eyes toward Yonnie and Tara.

Marlene nodded as the two vampires walked away and the team drew near the porch. Once Marlene had murmured Ashe, Heather held Dan's hand, kissed him quickly, and began speaking a mile a minute in broken Scottish brogue.

"I'm 'alf Scot, Druid, my mother is of Stonehenge. Me Da' is from Gambia, West Africa, and is one of the last keepers of the Wasu Stone Circles. I work with stone energy, and Gabrielle was to give me citizenship here in exchange." Heather dropped Dan's hand as her eyes filled and her gaze went to Jasmine. "She's able to draw pictures to life... learned in the Philippines, and escaped horrors to be safe with Ms. Gabrielle."

Heather looked up at Marlene and then Marjorie. "We have to bond with your daughter--she's got the wiccan gift, too." Her wide-eyed gaze went to Bobby. "He's almost full wizard and needs the Stonehenge magic. But there's so much trouble . . ."

Marjorie was down the steps before anyone could stop her. "My sister, what's happened? My son's a wizard, my daughter... I can't even say it--talk to me!"

"Lilith came," Heather said quickly, the tears now spilling down her cheeks. "Gabby told us that one day she would come, and she felt it in her bones. She wanted us all safe, and began sending all her girls away for safety, one by one, and we were the only ones who could be shielded with a prayer." Heather looked away. "We hadn't taken the oath, or a man, and--"

"That's bullshit, if ever I heard it, and you'd better come up with a story stronger than that," Berkfield said, crossing his arms. "This old cop ain't stupid. Both these chicks have been working in a brothel, and ain't none of them kids--what are you, hon, twenty- three, twenty-four, and this one--"

"It's true, Dad," Bobby said, meeting his father's glare. "And do not ask me how I know." He held Jasmine's hand tightly and immediately flung two wicker chairs off the porch from where he stood, yards away. "Convinced now?" He turned back to Jasmine and hugged her, ignoring the stunned team. "She brought that out of me, and she stays."

Krissy covered her mouth. "Oh, my God, Bobby... you can do that now, too?" She laughed and looked at J.L. "I thought I was the only one in the family!"

J.L. looked down at his shoes. "I thought we'd be letting your folks know about it under different circumstances, Kris... timing, in front of the team." He looked at her quickly and then at Berkfield's revolver. "When your dad didn't have a gun . . ."

"Can we get back on point?" Carlos said, giving Berkfield a glare to stand down. "What's the deal with Lilith?" His gaze roved the emotionally spent team and he cut Dan a look to get his hands out of the redhead's hair.

"She's gonna install a new Chairman and start rebuilding Level Six. That's what Gabrielle told me to get to you in exchange for sanctuary. She's worried about Master Yonnie and his wife, Tara. That's all she knows, but Lilith is temporarily running the Vampire Council, and she said anyone who has that in them could be tempted into a throne."

"Tara isn't his wife," Rider said, and then hocked and spat over the porch rail.

"Now you believe 'em?" Dan said, holding Carlos's line of vision. "Isn't that enough to give them sanctuary?"

"Yeah," Carlos said. "Open the lines. I need to go talk to my boy."

So much of what Heather, had said made sense that Carlos slowly descended the steps and placed his hands on Heather's skull to sense for fraud. None was there. He had to shake his head to keep his focus burrowing into her mind as the sexual charge flitting between her and Dan practically arced in his palms.

Carlos drew his hands back. The newbie was a keeper--it was either that or put a bullet in Dan's skull. The woman also wasn't lying about never having a man. But he'd take bets that Dan might try to rectify that tonight. Carlos nodded with a resigned sigh; Gabrielle's topspin, plus Christine's spiritual intervention had definitely led her to them, as the old tracer from her days as Raven was unmistakable. Just looking into Jasmine's eyes and feeling the vibe wafting off Bobby, he didn't even need a security check. Both women had clearance.

"Y'all go into the house and get these newbies weapons. I need a word with Yonnie and Tara." Carlos let his breath out hard. Just what he wanted; the cosmos had a perverse sense of humor. Two scared newbies and Damali temporarily out of her mind.

"I'm going with you," Rider said calmly as Carlos crossed the yard.

Carlos didn't have the energy to even argue, and when Yonnie and Tara met them, he sent the full message of what they'd learned telepath-ically to keep it from Lilith. Yonnie nodded and then wiped his brow.

"If it goes there," Yonnie said quietly, "you be the one to dust me."

"Naw," Carlos said. "It ain't gonna go that far. I went to council and came back holding. Could use a good man on the inside. Remember, as long as there's hope, there's a fighting chance."

"I don't know if I can resist temptation like that, bro," Yonnie whispered, his gaze going to Tara and then, oddly, to Rider. "Keep her behind whatever barriers you've got, if I take a throne. Can't say what would happen."

"You can resist," Tara said, going to him and touching his face, but then pulling back as she saw Rider's reaction. "I'd asked you for a human, and you--"

"What?" Rider whispered, stunned.

"He didn't, though," Tara said quietly. "Don't ask me the circumstances."

Rider began walking away. "I guess this really is good-bye, then."

"Hold it, hold it," Carlos said. "This is important info. Need a seasoned sharpshooter on this, man, just in case it gets wild."

Rider stopped but didn't turn around. Yonnie looked away, as nervous sweat formed on his brow. Tara closed her eyes and neared Carlos.

"Give us all some hope," she whispered.

"For real, man," Yonnie said just above a murmur as he stared at Carlos. "You know what that level can do. If I go there, I ain't got a fighting chance at Light conversion... at least she will, unless I get back to her first." He turned away. "After an elevation like that, I know I will-- and she will come to me."

Tara turned away, holding her head high.

"I'll wait for you with her, then," Rider said between his teeth as he spun to face Yonnie. "Hollow points locked and loaded."

Yonnie simply nodded. "Take your best shot. But she'll take the bullet first for me as my wife. Ask Carlos to school you on what a wife in the Dark Realms will do." He stepped closer to Rider who had a weapon leveled. "Rivera--that's the only motherfucker I'd take a bullet for. Him and me ride or die."

"All right, y'all," Carlos said, finding himself once again trapped between alliances and loved ones. "It hasn't happened yet, we got time, and I'd feel an elevation if it happens to my boy. Rider, keep your aim on anything tagging along with Tara or Yonnie that ain't right, since you got da nose for sulfur and can shoot dead aim blind--but my boy ain't the target, so listen up." Waiting until all eyes were on him, Carlos shot the telepathic message first to Yonnie, then Tara, and then forced it into Rider's head: The thing of most importance is that Lilith is in the mix again. That's critical info. If she's down at Level Six, we know how to feed her bogus vamp leads for a while, especially if Gabby sent us two operatives to work with that Lilith thinks she can trust. But if she's rebuilding council, no doubt she's also laying for those beings in Nod to flood out of the breach.

Carlos looked at the group hard before resuming his message. Think about it. One nick that isn't lethal and she's got daywalkers with super powers. The prime directive is to get Cain back on his side of the veil with the rip sealed before Lilith can find a way to open it further. The way I see it, the clock is ticking like a motherfucker.

Cain was standing by a tree deep in the brush by the time she caught up to him. Just by his rigid posture she could tell he was furious. He heard her approaching, she knew it was impossible for him not to, but he kept his back to her. Damali sighed.

"Carlos was only trying to help," she said quietly.

"You defend him after what he has done to you?" Cain turned and stared at her with fire in his eyes.

She didn't give a damn, and was sure he wasn't expecting to see her arms folded over her chest. "That's our business," Damali said, glaring at him. "What went down privately within our relationship has nothing to do with you." She let out her breath hard and dropped her hands to her hips. "Now, listen. The man trusted me to come out here to do an energy exchange in good faith, so--"

"Spare me the lesson on chivalry," Cain bellowed. "He's playing games!"

"And you're not?" Damali said, cocking her head to the side.

Cain folded his arms and gave her his back again. "I most assuredly am not, and take offense at the suggestion." His voice had come out as a low, disgusted mutter.

Damali shook her head and smiled. "You all are both posturing, and you both know it."

Cain turned around, seeming genuinely shocked.

"Queen? Goddess? Angel? In front of my man? What were you trying to do, start a war in the yard?" Damali closed her eyes and ruffled the locks up from her shoulders to allow the night breeze to cool her neck. "And Carlos hasn't called me 'baby' so many times in one sentence since I don't know when."

She thought about the kiss Carlos had given her in front of the team, too. Showmanship, but she'd gone with it. Cain was wrong for verbally overstepping his bounds on family property. They were both wrong as rain, but Carlos deserved to at least have his dignity salvaged in front of the team. He'd only kissed her in front of everybody like that once, when he'd breached the compound for the first time. The sweet memory flowed over her and almost made her chuckle. Carlos Rivera was a trip. Men. She looked at Cain hard. Another trip on two legs. "Y'all both need to stop."

"I'm sorry if I offended you by stating what is my truth."

Aw Lawd... Damali sat down hard on the ground Indian-style and laid the golden staff across her lap. "Cain," she said on a weary exhale. "It's late. You have to go home. We need to do this transfer to get you back through the rip. After everything that's happened, and with the team on the run, I can't deal with this."

"I am sorry that I have become such an energy drain to you."

She rolled her eyes but forced patience into her tone. The last thing she needed on her hands was an entity with an attitude. "Listen," she said, as delicately as possible. "What you showed me back there was nothing short of phenomenal. I owe you. I care about you. I want you safe and your world secured. Everybody's nerves are on edge, and this atmosphere is dangerous for you."

Her statement seemed to bring him around slowly and to take some of the sting out of the rebuff. He pushed himself away from the tree, came to her slowly, sat before her, crossing his legs like a huge yogi, and stared at her with less hurt fury in his eyes.

"I am sorry," he repeated quietly, seeming a bit embarrassed for his outburst. "It is this density. The night... all the new wonders. This world is so vastly different than I imagined."

He tilted his head, offering her a quizzical look. "In my pool, I would receive impressions from you about phenomena that I did not understand. But as I sit on this earth, and have touched nature, my mind is being bombarded by sensations and knowledge that makes me unsteady. Do you follow?"

She didn't quite understand and nodded just to mollify him. But as he stared at her there was something very different about his eyes that drew her to their liquid silver fire.

"Your irises," she whispered, watching the silver and gold in them shimmer, but in a translucent way. Just under the metallic hue she could see fast-moving blurs of information careening by as though one long streaming video that stopped for a second each time he blinked. Maps of the world, La Paz's grid. Computers. Laboratories. The space shuttle.

Cain massaged his temples but kept his now unblinking gaze on her. "Damali," he whispered like an excited child. "Men have walked on the moon. Have taken flying battleships there? What are the half-human half... I do not know? They are in white coverings."

She smiled, feeling a warm sense of comfort in sharing with him. "Yep. Those are astronauts, humans with suits to help them breathe. Here's how we record music. Movies. Videos. Uhmmm... oh, clubs. Airplanes. Yachts... Here's New York. LA. Philly."

He laughed as she opened her mind, and she could literally feel him pulling not only from her but from everything else around them. At one point the information siphon became so intense, she winced.

"Slow down, slow down," she said, laughing. "You'll give us both an aneurysm."

"This is unbelievable," he whispered and sighed. "Normal humans can see cells with machines and do the surgeries that once only the master healers could do? Incredible."

He reached for her hands and she gently placed them within his palms as he stared into her eyes. But his gaze was distant, as though his focus went right through her in order to watch the newness of the world. She enjoyed how utter fascination etched across his handsome face.

"The weapons are terrible," he murmured, his eyes momentarily growing sad. "Horrific. But many great advancements, yet these are also misused. So many dichotomies. Why do they not respect the delicate balance of the elements? That which is natural? This black smoke... oh, the dark, oily waters . . ." He made a face.

"You'll have to ask someone way wiser than me," she said, chuckling and loving his awe as he took it all in with pure innocence. It felt so good and so right to share with this kind, handsome entity that meant her no harm. His affection was misguided, but... as entities went, in her mind, he was good people.

Finally she felt him slowing down and he took a deep breath as though coming up from under water, winded.

"That was a lot for one sitting," she said with an easy smile. "I'm gonna miss you. Like you once told me, you tickle me."

He smiled and squeezed her hands. "Thank you, sweet one. This is the best gift anyone has ever given me."

They sat that way for what seemed to be a long time, although only a few minutes had passed.

"Do you feel ready to try the transfer?" she asked, not wanting to rush him, but also not wanting to tap dance on Carlos's unusual restraint.

He nodded reluctantly. "If I must." "Aw, don't sound like that. You said it yourself, you have to go back."

He shrugged and then set his jaw hard. "Yes. That is imperative and the right thing to do. I just abhor withdrawing from you."

Damali swallowed a smile as his expression became forlorn. "It is the right thing to do."

"I do not suppose you would visit me from time to time... just to update our conversations?"

She couldn't keep the shy smile off her face as she looked down at his wonderfully graceful hands and shook her head no.

"I have missed my opportunity, then."

She glanced up at him and his eyes had normalized.

"The conundrum will always be a puzzle to keep my mind occupied." He smiled at her, his gaze seeming to imprint her into his memory inch by inch.

She arched an eyebrow, silently asking for clarity.

"What would have happened if I had allowed myself to flow with the very deep impulse I had... by the pool... or in my bed?"

Damali swallowed hard, no smile on her face, as the hot memory flashed back with all the heat the scenario contained. "We wouldn't have gotten to Marlene in time. All things work for the greater good."

"Wise. Yes. You are becoming an oracle."

They both chuckled to break the tension.

"But I shall have your energy in my lonely space... your voice, a whisper echoing off the pool's surface and in my sheets. Your vibrations... every detail within it, down to your sweat, held within my sanctuary."

"You should cleanse your space so that--"

"What, and chase you from my bedroom?" he said with a slight smile, shaking his head slowly. "Never again."

She was flattered beyond his imagination, but still... it was time for him to go. "Okay. Before this gets thick again between us, and we kick up any more drama, let's do the transfer. You've got a kingdom to put in order. I've got a team to get to safe haven."

"Spoken like a true queen." His voice was less than enthusiastic, but he closed his eyes, began meditative breathing, and relented.

"Thank you," Damali said quietly, beginning to go into the Light trance with him. But it was odd. Nothing was happening. No energy was flitting from her hands to his.

They both opened their eyes at the same time. Only problem was, his had gone silver again.

"I don't know what's wrong."

He looked off into the distance. "I cannot concentrate. My stomach . . ."

"Your stomach?"

He closed his eyes and shuddered, and then dropped her hands. "There is a burning . . ."

Damali covered her mouth as his fangs crested and his hands began to tremble. "Blood hunger . . ." "No. Impossible. I have never had to deal with that abomination." He gathered his arms around himself and began to slowly rock back and forth. "This is just... The cramping will stop. I have expended too much energy during the battle within my realm. Then in the place called laboratory. Then while we healed your mother-seer. It is only fatigue. My muscles--" He stopped as a mild convulsion seized him for a moment and made him begin to pant.

Damali watched beads of clear sweat begin to dampen his brow. She dug the rod into the ground, hoping to get it to charge from natural sources, but with her own energy so low, it didn't. It was like working with a dead battery.

"Cain, no offense, but, I think in this density, at night, after all you've been through, you might have a slight problem that up until now, over on the other side--"

"You are so beautiful," he rasped, now gazing at her like she was both dinner as well as a conquest.

Damali stood in one lithe jump; he matched her.

"You need to eat. I'm gonna ask Yonnie or Tara to drop a deer for you, brother. All right? Maybe--"

He'd pulled her to him so hard and fast that their bellies collided, temporarily knocking the wind out of her. In one shuddering sweep, he dragged his nose from her collarbone up to her throat and inhaled so sharply that the sound set off butterflies in her stomach.

"I don't want a deer, I want you," he said in a harsh whisper against her neck.

She tried to extricate herself from his iron hold, but couldn't. Oddly, she wasn't afraid; it was just a bad situation to be in with her man several hundred yards away. It also wasn't about setting off a brawl by freaking out and calling Carlos.

"You may have never experienced this on the earth plane, but you've got a little vamp in you, and y'all get like this after a battle. You have to let me go," she said calmly as he nuzzled her neck. "I'll get you fed, and... okay, you have to stop," she added, trying to stave off the heat he produced by his hold. "This is beyond tacky. I don't do tacky, okay? Lemme go."

"After a battle... devastation, I've never felt it like this. You torment me. I remember... in my lair. By the pool. In my arms in bed... I can actually feel it. The look on your face... your scent," he whispered through mating-bite-length fangs as he dragged his nose back down her neck, turning her knees to jelly. "When your valley flooded, the scent is still--"

"All right, all right, see, now, this is gonna really get us in trouble, big time. My team is inside, my whole household will be in a possible uproar--no. Marlene needs her rest, and this will definitely upset her. Chill. I'll get you the deer; you feed, and come down. Okay?"

"One nick," he whispered, his breaths so ragged that he could barely stammer out the words. "He even agreed. He knew I was turning, transitioning... and offered you. He knew, just as you know, a deer will not stop this burn in one as old or as strong as me. It will be days before I normalize. Agony, only wetted by the taste of a fawn. This is why he agreed. Rather this and my swift departure, than having to endure my stay with you between us for another night."

"I think that was a theoretical bluff," Damali said, trying to peek over Cain's shoulder to see if Carlos was anywhere around. It made sense, but still. Permission to receive a nick was crazy, and she was fairly sure that Carlos wasn't really down for all that. However, what she did know for sure was Carlos wanted this guy gone fast, and he of all people would know what an energy- exhausted, post-battle vamp would need to give him enough of a hit to bring him down and send him packing. Okaaay... She glanced over her shoulder back toward the house.

But just turning her head had exposed her throat more than intended, and the slight pivot had sent a shudder through Cain that quickly ignited one within her. The look on Cain's face was paralyzing. But something was also happening to the night. It seemed suddenly darker, denser in a way that she couldn't define. She had to get him out of the earth zone and back over to Nod!

"I have never broken a vein with a woman in my arms," he rasped against her throat. "Ever... and I can smell the blood within you, sweet tinged by silver." He pushed her hand down his abdomen until her palm made contact with his erection. "Your pulse is here, too." "Cain, you have to feed fast before you lose it," Damali said, panic making her stand on tiptoes to peer over his shoulder for signs of Carlos. When he battle bulked and held her tighter, her throat went dry. "But not my jugular. My man will wig!"

"Then not where he first marked you," Cain finally whispered, becoming positively unhinged as she turned in his arms and he found the other side of her neck to nuzzle aggressively. "Respect for another man's province, but he should not have thrown a bluff so sweet in a starving man's direction."

She didn't know if it was Cain's complete understanding of a Neteru's capacity to burn out a vamp's insides from an unsanctioned siphon, or if it was because he still maintained a level of honorable control, but under any other circumstances, she knew she should have been dinner by now. She was about to flat palm him to back him up when his hands slid down her sides, caressed the now- writhing Sankofa on her spine, and made her crazy. Her fist found his hair and she jerked his head back to make him stop, gain some mental distance, and look at her.

"One nick," she said firmly, no nonsense in her tone. "Not where I was first marked. You take a short siphon, enough to temporarily stop the burn, get your energy balanced, and get your head together. Then we work quickly to get you zapped back to Nod."

"As you so desire," he whispered so hotly she almost closed her eyes.

His granite hold on her relaxed to a sizzling, erotic caress. She could see his eyes almost cross as his lids slowly closed and she released his hair with a trembling hand. The moment she let go of his locks, he found the permitted side of her throat. His attention to the now-oversensitive skin made her whole body dampen with both fear and anticipation.

She'd never let another one of them do this... this was wild... it was sorta exciting, very strange, she had to relax, not keep waiting for Carlos to go ballistic... damn this Neteru vamp entity was all that... her mind was reeling as he took his time and found her sweet spot.

A wet, glistening enamel fang slid up her throat, sending so much pleasure into her skin she could feel the vein constrict and rise on its own. She braced for the sudden strike, but instead felt the slow, agonizingly sensual depression on her neck that caused pure delirium. Her heart skipped three beats, her spine practically liquefied beneath his steady hold.

The soft siphon dredged tingling, moving, vibrating sound up through every cell. She could hear her own pulse thudding in her ears then become a low bass line of insistent rhythm. His gentle suckle released ribbons of color beneath her fluttering lids that chimed like tiny bells. His hands worked against her back as though his palms were smooth, hot stones massaging profound sensations through her spinal fluids until it wet her mind and wrapped around it in a silvery glow of near orgasmic pressure. Intense pleasure parted her thighs for him to stand more tightly between them. Even through her clothes she could feel his deep phantom entry all the way to the hilt. Her voice expired on a long, quiet gasp. "Oh... my... God . . ."

He pulled out of the bite with a blinding shudder that left her wanting. He didn't even have blood on his lips as he kissed her deeply and then groaned into her mouth at such a low rumbling decibel that she came.

"Devastation, do you want me to stop?" he whispered, his eyes searching hers for permission to take her all the way. "Come to me, in my house, and I will show you so much more that your body can do." His deep, sensual voice stole her reason, filleted it, and sent subsonic waves that contracted her womb with each word. "He is a young amateur. You have not even begun to enter your full glory as a queen. Let a king provide you with that insight. Cross with me."

She hesitated, panting, while his fingers gently depressed their way up each vertebra of her back, hitting chakra points like pebbles skipping still water, setting off a hard climax with each touch. What did he ask her? For the first time in her life, she wasn't really sure of anything. "Uh . . ."

He lowered his head and kissed the place where he'd bitten her, making her fingernails dig into his shoulders. She could still feel him inside her, moving against her like a slow, thunderous tide although he remained physically still. Her whole body was vibrating, tears stained her cheeks. Guilt lacerated her, but he felt so good. She couldn't lift her head, or get her mind to cooperate to make her mouth speak. She'd thought all bites were the same... delivered by a sudden strike, but knowledge was a dangerous thing. All seduction bites were not created equal. Oh, shit, this brother was awesome. She was definitely the slain, not the slayer tonight. She was feining for a hit worse than he was, which was so out of order that it scared her.

She looked at his gorgeous, glistening fangs that caught moonlight, and tried without success to understand what had just happened. A slow dissolve of her old reality began to settle into her mind like a thin mist of sudden questions. Why had she felt so guilty? Why was this wrong? Why was it all right for Carlos to fully experience the world, but not her? Why was he allowed to still have close contact with female friends who had been more than friends, but not her? Why had developing the full range of her gifts or herself been so adamantly opposed? What gave a double standard the right to exist? Why did she feel like a gate had been closed around her, up until now?

Damali's gaze sought Cain's for answers that she knew he didn't own. The answers were within her, where her choice resided, but she couldn't go there at the moment--not messed up like this. She tore her eyes from his, looked back at the house through half- shut lids, and then up into his mesmerizing silver-gold eyes again and practically melted as his hot gaze focused on her cleavage.

"Decide, before I go in again. I will not be able to stop," he whispered. "I am also human."