“He has a God complex. He is a psychopath.”

Quinn sighed. “What are you gonna do?”

“There’s only one thing I can do: find him and take him down. Knowing how he operates, he trusts no one. He’ll be the only one with all the information about how the program is set up and how it works. If he falls, the program will dissolve into nothing.”

“That is if he’s the head.”

“He has to be.” Müller had always hated authority, and even back in Buchenwald, resented his superiors. As a civilian, there was no chance in hell that he would take orders; Müller would be nobody’s underling. He would be the leader.

“How are we going to find him?”

“Let’s continue with Brandt’s son. He’ll lead us to him. Anything on the key?”

Quinn shook his head. “Guess what, there are no lockers at the airport. Homeland Security crap I suppose. I’ll check out the Greyhound and train stations tonight.”

“Do that. He couldn’t have gotten here without anything on him. He has to have stashed his stuff somewhere.”

And hopefully Brandt would lead them right to the organization. Even though Brandt had claimed not to know where Müller was, it didn’t mean much. If only the top brass in the organization knew where headquarters was located, and therefore where Müller could be found, then it could only mean that Brandt wasn’t part of the top brass. Simple as that.

Zane slammed his fist into this palm. He was itching to find Müller, now more than ever. If he was really head of this neo-Nazi breeding program—and Zane was convinced he was—then he needed to be taken out as quickly as possible. Vampires and hybrids were already superior to humans in strength and speed. Allowing Müller to create a race, which was even more superior—combined with his motivation to dominate as many people as possible— would put all of humanity at risk.

Zane couldn’t allow that to happen. This evil had to be annihilated.

***

“You can’t just show up at his house,” Lauren whispered as she turned off the faucet in the ladies restroom at the University. “He won’t let you in.”

Portia combed her fingers through her hair. “I’m not going to just show up and wait for him to open the door. I’m going to break in.”

Lauren shook her head. “You do know that everybody is going to blame your behavior on my bad influence, don’t you?”

“Nothing will happen to you. By the time anybody finds out, the deed will be done.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Portia nodded. “You weren’t there, but I’m telling you, Zane was all over me. If his colleagues hadn’t shown up, we would have had sex last night. Unfortunately, by the time he came back, I was asleep, even though I tried to stay up and wait for him.”

Lauren applied lipstick to her lips. “Why not wait until tonight?”

She couldn’t wait. Throughout her morning classes, she hadn’t been able to concentrate, and had relived Zane’s kiss and touch a hundred times. She was burning up. If she had to wait another hour, all the fire trucks in this city wouldn’t be able to douse the flames.

“I can’t.” The need to have him, to feel his body joined with hers was growing too fast and too strong.

“How are you planning on getting rid of Oliver?” Lauren motioned her head to the door, on the other side of which Oliver was waiting for them.

“Don’t worry. He’s only a human. I’ll be gone so fast, he won’t know what hit him.”

“Careful. Nobody else can get a hint of your vampire speed, or we’re both in deep shit.”

“You worry too much.” Portia smiled to herself.

Ever since she’d met Zane, she’d become more confident in herself. She was willing to take risks for what she wanted, because what she wanted was worth it. Zane’s hands on her were worth it. And once they’d had sex, maybe he would want more. Because she wanted more. She wanted to get to know him, to explore what was under his mask of indifference and violence. To see what he was hiding from the world; to discover what he was protecting so fiercely.

Yes, she admitted it, if not to Lauren or anybody else, to herself: she should probably run as far as she could from Zane, but she knew she couldn’t. The force that drew her to him was too strong, like a current she couldn’t swim against any longer. It was better to give up the struggle and allow herself to drift to him and land in his arms.

“Are you ready?” Lauren’s eyes pursued her in the mirror.