She opened it, and a young man, about sixteen years old, stood there.

“Can I help you?”

“Is Madoc here?” he asked, looking past her almost nervously.

“No. He’s—” She didn’t have time to finish the sentence. He barreled through the doorway, grabbing her throat in one strong hand. He kicked the door shut behind him and shoved a rag over her nose and mouth.

A sharp, medicinal scent burned her nose and throat. She clawed at his arm, but it did no good. Her fingers had gone weak, boneless.

The world began to fade away, and with one last panicked thought, she shouted Madoc’s name.

Ricky had done it. He’d knocked the crazy chick out. Now all he had to do was get her outside the walls and he was free. No more Sentinel prison. No more boring school all year round. No more rules.

The guy with the creepy eyes was going to give him more money than he could spend in one lifetime. They’d already gotten him an apartment and a sweet ride. And they’d promised not to kill the girl—he’d made sure of that.

Ricky was no murderer.

He peeked out into the hall and saw no one coming. He grabbed the big suitcase, rolled it into the suite, shoved the crazy chick’s body in it, and zipped it closed.

She was so skinny, she fit easily. No sweat.

He’d pop her in the trunk, then drive out the gates. He was allowed outside the walls during daylight one day a month. Today was that day, and it was going to be the last time he ever had to ask for permission again.

Madoc!

Nika’s shout slammed into his brain, propelled by pure, raw panic. Fear exploded inside him as he realized she was in trouble. Big trouble.

He was halfway to Joseph’s office, but he spun on his heel and sprinted back the way he came. He reached out for her through their link, feeling nothing.

If she was dead . . .

His feet pounded hard. He accidentally shouldered a kid out of his way as he passed, slamming him into a wall. The kid tripped and fell, but Madoc didn’t give a fuck.

He ripped his cell from his belt and dialed Nicholas. “Something’s happened to Nika. Can you see her?”

“I’m looking now. Hold on.”

Madoc kept the phone pressed to his ear and fumbled for his key card as he ran, dropping it. He didn’t stop to pick it up. “Unlock my door or I’m breaking it down.”

He rounded the corner, saw the light on his lock turn green, and slammed through the opening like a battering ram.

“Nika!”

She didn’t answer. A frantic, ten-second search of the place showed no sign of her.

Nicholas’s voice buzzed in his ear. “There was a boy at your door. He pushed his way into the suite. Came out thirty seconds ago towing a big suitcase.”

Madoc had passed him. “If he hurt her, the little pissant fucker’s going to die.”

He charged back out into the hall, chasing down the kid. As he cleared the corner, he saw the boy look over his shoulder, panic, and sprint away, leaving the suitcase behind.

“I see him,” said Nicholas. “Let him go. Take care of Nika.”

Like he had to be told that. He’d find and kill the fucker later. Right now he needed to get to Nika.

It seemed to take forever to reach the end of the hall. It stretched out into eternity, growing longer with every step he took.

What if she wasn’t in the suitcase? Even worse, what if she was, but it was too late?

A million different thoughts flooded Madoc’s mind, clogging it with terror. He felt streaks of wetness drying on his cheeks, but paid them no attention.

Finally, he reached the bag and ripped the zipper open. Nika lay curled inside, her head bent at an awkward angle. She didn’t make a sound. He couldn’t see her chest move.

A wounded sound poured out of him with every breath. His hands shook as he reached for her.

Her skin was warm. So soft.

He pressed his fingers against the side of her neck, but he was shaking so hard, he couldn’t tell if what he felt was her pulse or his own trembling.

His fingers brushed the luceria and the faintest hint of color danced within the band. It wouldn’t do that if she was dead, would it?

Madoc lifted her out, shoved the black nylon away, and cradled her in his arms as he hurried to Tynan’s suite. He was the best healer they had. Even if he hated Madoc, he had to help Nika.

Liam appeared beside him. “Nicholas said you might need some help. What can I do?”

Madoc felt her chest rise, pressing against his. She was alive.

Relief threatened to buckle his knees, but he held it together and kept moving forward.

“Wake up Tynan. He needs to fix her.”

Liam said nothing, but he sprinted ahead.

Tynan’s door was hanging open when Madoc got there. He rushed inside, through the living area, and down the stairs to where Tynan slept.

Liam had already woken him, though he didn’t look alert. His voice was thick and groggy as he said, “Lay her down.”

Madoc didn’t. He didn’t want to let go of her.

Tynan rubbed his eyes and gave himself a shake. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Some kid knocked her out and stuffed her in a suitcase.”

Tynan leaned over her, making Madoc go tense. He didn’t want the fucker touching her blood. Not ever. But how else was he going to figure out what had happened to her?

The Sanguinar straightened, picked up Nika’s delicate wrist, and felt for her pulse. “She’s been drugged. I can smell it. Give her a few minutes to wake up on her own.”

“Can’t you do something?”

Tynan stared at Madoc with more than a hint of anger glowing in his ice blue eyes. “I’m weak. Some asshole broke my neck yesterday.”

“I’ll give you blood. Whatever you need. Just make her better.”

“It’s not enough. Not after what you did to me.”

Madoc swallowed hard, trying to dislodge his pride from his throat. “I’m sorry,” he told Tynan, staring right into his eyes. It was a dangerous thing to do with a Sanguinar in the best of circumstances, and these were far from that. “I lost control. Joseph already knows. You’ll have your justice. There’s no excuse for what I did.”

“None,” agreed Tynan, his gaze cold. “Though we both know the reason.”

Madoc shot a worried glance toward Liam. He wasn’t sure if he could still be sent to the Slayers now that his lifemark was no longer bare, but he didn’t want to risk being forced apart from Nika. No one could ever know he’d once been a candidate for death.

“My blood oath,” offered Madoc. “I offer you my blood oath to save Nika’s life and make up for the harm I caused you. I freely give you as much blood as you need, as often as you need, so long as it doesn’t impede my ability to protect Nika.”

“That’s a good start, but it’s not enough.”

“What more can I give you?”

“Children. I want your vow that you’ll let me try to cure your sterility.”

Madoc didn’t even need to think twice, though he knew that whatever Tynan intended to do to him would probably hurt like hell. “Fine. Whatever you need to do. Just save her. Please.”

A flare of white light spilled from Tynan’s gaze. A slow, victorious smile stretched his mouth. “Done.”

Tynan counted Madoc’s vow as a great victory. The man had no way of knowing that Tynan never would have asked for his death. He needed him too much to throw away perfectly good blood for the sake of justice.

Madoc also didn’t need to know that Nika was perfectly fine, and that the drug she’d breathed in would dissipate within a few minutes, leaving her nauseated, but with no lasting damage.

Madoc’s panic was a lever Tynan could not refuse to use. And now he had another candidate for his fertility experiments. Not a bad day’s work.

Tynan took Madoc’s offered arm and drank deep, sending the man to sleep to avoid any more unfortunate accidents. Tynan’s neck was still stiff from yesterday.

Liam stood over them, watching, so Tynan finished feeding on Madoc’s powerful blood and made a show of healing Nika.

It took little effort to speed the effects of the anesthetic in her system and wake her up. While he was at it, he healed the few small burns on her fingertips and the bit of bruising he’d sensed along the walls of her vagina.

Little Nika was no longer a virgin, a fact that Tynan found promising, considering Madoc was now his personal guinea pig.

“She’ll be fine,” Tynan told Liam. “She just needs to rest a while. I’ll keep Madoc here for a bit longer.”

“He stays, I stay,” said Nika, her voice groggy.

“Then I’m staying, too,” said Liam, clearly mistrustful of Tynan’s intentions.

Tynan shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m not going to do anything to him he didn’t give me the right to do.”

Let them watch. He didn’t care. Madoc was his now, and he intended to make the most of his new subject. He’d give Madoc the fertility serum he’d been working on, and then implant him with an insatiable appetite for sex. Between those two things, he’d know in a month or two if his latest cure had worked.

Tori’s pains had been getting worse all day.

She knew what it meant. She knew that the dull ache in her back meant it was time. The thing inside her was ready to be born.

Darkness seemed to close in around her, forcing the chill of the cave walls against her skin. It sucked the heat from her blood, and along with it, all hope that Nika and that man would find her before it was too late.

No one had come for her, and until now, she hadn’t realized just how much hope she’d put in the stupid idea that they might find her. She would have been better off not hoping at all, because now the loss of hope seemed almost too much to stand.

Beneath the skin stretched too tight over her belly, the thing shifted, causing a bulge to slide under the surface.

Tori wished she didn’t hate it. She wished that some kind of maternal instinct had kicked in, helping her get through these last few long months. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t imagine it as a real baby with soft pink skin that smelled sweet. All she could see was Zillah’s fangs, the way sweat beaded up on his pale gray skin, and his too-long fingers as he held her down.

Tori shoved the memory away and focused on keeping her emotions in check. Whenever she was afraid, the need to reach out for Nika was harder to resist.

Unfortunately, Tori was scared to death. The thing inside her was going to come in the next few hours, and it could easily kill her. And if it didn’t, she knew what her future would hold. Once the thing was born, Zillah would come for her again. He’d hurt her again and put another thing inside her.

Somehow, death seemed better.

Another painful spasm gripped her back. She sucked in a breath and forced it out between her teeth.

She would not call out for Nika. She would not repay years of her sister’s companionship and kindness by letting her suffer through the birth of this thing along with Tori.

Nika deserved better.

“It’s time, isn’t it?” she heard Zillah say from deep within the shadows outside her cell.