Everything was ready. Roxy paced the small clinic, moving from window to window, constantly looking outside in search of Reaper and Briar and poor, wounded little Crisa.

"Roxy, you need to stay away from the windows," Jack said for about the tenth time. "If we get spotted in here, our entire plan goes up in smoke without passing go."

She shot him a scowl. "We should have heard from them by now. Shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, well, we'll hear from them long before you'll see them. We'll get a mental shout-out as soon as they can send one."

She nodded, knowing Jack was right, even as Vixen came over to lay a hand on her shoulder and nodded toward the rear corner of the waiting room. Ilyana was sitting in a chair there, her eyes riveted to the door. She was so still she seemed to be holding her breath.

Roxy met Vixen's eyes and got the message. She pulled her nervousness under control and went over to Ilyana, pulled a chair up beside hers and joined her there.

"They won't bring Matt. I know they won't," Ilyana said softly.

"What makes you so sure?"

Ilyana met Roxy's eyes. "Gregor is expecting an attack. He'll have Matt hidden. And even if he doesn't, Crisa is the main goal here. She's one of them. They'll make her the priority."

"Over an innocent child?" Roxy shook her head. "You don't know these people very well, if you really believe that."

"I know Briar well enough. She wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone but herself. Hell, she's said it often enough. I doubt she'd even be helping Crisa if not for the power of that blood bond they share. And that was against Briar's will."

Roxy shook her head. "Briar had a choice. Let Crisa die, or share blood with her. None of us could have forced her. There's more to that one than you know, I think."

"Humph."

Clearly Ilyana didn't believe that.

"But there's more than just Briar," Roxy went on. "Reaper is with her, and so is Eric Marquand."

"Marquand is a stranger. We don't know anything about him."

"I'll tell you what I do know, Ilyana," Roxy said softly. "I know Raphael. He's a good man."

"He's a former CIA assassin," Ilyana corrected.

"He's a good man. And if there's a way to save your son for you, he'll do it."

"Someone's coming!"

They both looked up sharply as Mirabella turned toward the door. Seth and Vixen flanked her. Topaz drew a weapon, one of the tiny tranquilizer guns they all carried to protect themselves from Reaper's rage. She checked to be sure it was loaded, then tucked it into the back of her designer jeans.

"It's a mortal," Jack said. "A cop."

"Hell." Roxy lowered her head and massaged her brow with one hand. "Don't kill him, guys. Please? Not unless you really have to."

Jack sent her a playful look. "You're ruining all our fun, you know that, don't you?"

"I've got this," Topaz said. "The rest of you, get out of sight."

And with that, she went to the door, just as the knob began to turn. The officer was testing the lock. When he found it engaged, he punched in the code that would open it. Drawing his weapon, he cautiously pushed the door wider and stepped inside.

Topaz was standing right in front of him when he did. He started when he saw her. His hand tightened on his gun, but something kept him from raising it. Something in Topaz's eyes, Roxy thought, as she watched from the next room, through a tiny crack in the door.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the cop demanded. "This is private property."

"I know. What made you come?" she asked.

"Just put your hands up and turn around."

She shook her head slowly. "Oh, come on. I'm no threat to you. You want to talk to me. You can see there's nothing wrong here. Just tell me, what made you come?"

"Dispatch got a call," he said, speaking slowly. "Neighbor reported someone moving around in here after hours and got suspicious."

"They must have been imagining things," she said. "There's no one here. Everything here is fine."

"What do you mean no one's here?" he asked, looking at her as if he thought she might have mental problems. " You're here."

In the next room, Roxy shot a worried look at Jack. Jack whispered, "He must be exceptionally strong-willed."

"We're not going to be able to let him leave, are we?" Roxy looked at the man. He was handsome. His soft brown hair was cut short and neat, and his body was strong and lean. He had kind eyes. Sharp, knowing, kind eyes. She looked again at Jack, listening as Topaz made another attempt to gain control of the man's mind.

"There's no one here," she said again, her voice taking on a soft, hypnotic cadence. "Everything here is fine, you can see that clearly. You've found nothing amiss here. You need to be on your way and report back that there's nothing wrong here."

He frowned until his brows touched. "You're standing right in front of me, lady." And still he couldn't quite lift the gun. "I'm going to have to take you with me. Is there anyone else here?"

" No one is here." She was beginning to sound a bit impatient. No doubt it ticked her off to be unable to enchant a man with her looks and the combined power of her mind and will.

The cop reached for the radio mike that was clipped to the front of his uniform shirt. Topaz's hand closed over his so fast that he couldn't have detected the movement. She clamped hold of his wrist. "Don't do that."

He met her eyes, and she quickly gripped his other hand, the one holding the gun.

"No, Roxy," Jack said softly. "I'm afraid we're not going to be able to let him leave."

Just as Briar, Eric and their "passengers" were about to emerge from the woods onto the road where they'd left the car, they sensed a solid wall of drones at the forest's edge. Briar dropped to the ground behind a tangle of brush, gripping Eric's arm and yanking him down with her. She lowered Matt to the ground, telling him to stay low. The poor child was petrified.

Then again, so was she. But oddly, not for herself.

Wide-eyed, she looked around them, and while she couldn't see any others nearby, she could feel them. They were approaching from both sides, and more were coming up from behind.

"We're surrounded," she whispered.

Eric released his hold on Dwyer, who crouched beside him, trembling with fear. Then he laid Crisa gently on the ground.

"How is she doing?" Briar asked him.

Eric met her eyes, and his were grim. "Not well. We need to get that chip out of her brain, and we need to do it soon."

"All right." Briar moved Matt, pushing him closer to Eric. "You're going to stay with Eric and Crisa. All right?"

"Stay? Here?" B-but...the drones..."

"I'm going to take care of them." She dug in her pocket for the keys to the car that waited by the road side. It was Seth's Mustang, and it was faster than hell. She handed the keys to Eric.

"What are you thinking?" Eric asked. "Briar, you can't-"

"Look, I was going back anyway. Reaper's still in there. This just speeds up my plan a bit."

"What plan?" Eric demanded.

She lowered her eyes, because she had no plan. Not much of one, anyway. "I'm going to go out in the open, make sure the lugheads see me, and then make a run for it. It'll lead the damn drones away from here. They're not too bright. They'll come after me, and by the time it occurs to them that Matt and Crisa aren't with me, it'll be too late. Because the second they come after me and give you a clear path, Eric, I want you to take Matt and Crisa and make a break for that car. Get in, take off and don't look back. Do you know where the clinic is, where the rest of the A team is waiting?"

"Yes. But I'm not going to leave you to fight off those creatures alone." He peered out of the brush at them. "What the hell are they?"

"They start out as the Chosen, I think. Humans with the belladonna antigen and certain other physical characteristics in common. That protruding forehead, the oversized bodies, the strength. I've heard that they're lobotomized before they're transformed, but I think there's more to it than that. What you see is the result." She sent a look at Dwyer. "What I don't know is where you find such a steady supply of them."

Dwyer swallowed hard and lowered his head. "I can't tell you that."

"Oh, you'll tell me everything I want to know, Dwyer." She gripped his shirt front and jerked him closer to her. "Or are you not getting that your life is in my hands right now?"

He met her eyes and swallowed hard.

Eric clapped her shoulder. "There's no time, not now. The drones are closing in. Have no fear, Briar. I'll make him tell us what he knows once we get clear of this place and the innocents are safe."

"Oh, he's not going with you," Briar said.

Dwyer's eyes widened, and his head snapped up.

"You and I have unfinished business, Dwyer. More than a little. You're coming with me."

"I can't go back there. I can't! Gregor will kill me."

"He'll probably kill me, too, if the drones don't do it first. Buck up, pal. It's for the greater good and all that bullshit."

Matt shook his head. "Wait. If you take me with you, they won't hurt you. Dad will have told them not to hurt me. And sometimes they listen to me. I can make sure they don't hurt you."

Briar smiled slightly as she looked at the boy, feeling a little awed. "You're a brave little shit, you know that?" Then she tousled his hair, an act so unlike her that she surprised herself by doing it. "Tell your mom I said she'd better take good care of you, pal.

And tell her...for a human, she's not so bad." She glanced toward Eric. "Do everything you can for Crisa."

"You have my word on that, Briar." Then he thinned his lips and pierced her eyes with his. "Rhiannon was right about you."

"Oh, hell, that arrogant bitch doesn't need to be told that. It'll just swell her head more than it already is."

"Be careful, Briar," Eric said. "Reaper will never forgive me for leaving you, if anything bad should befall you."

She frowned at him.

"He loves you, you know. And I don't blame him. You're quite remarkable."

"God save me from sappy men. You're as bad as he is." And with that she rose from her hiding place, gripping Dwyer by the back of his neck, so he was forced to rise with her.

"Leave me with them!" Dwyer pleaded. He pulled free, dropping to his knees again. "I'll tell you how the drones are made. I'll tell you everything

"Too late." She crouched beside him, ready to yank him upright and make him run.

"I'll tell Eric, once we get clear, and I'll tell the rest of them, too. I promise I will."

"No."

She jerked at him. He had tears forming in his eyes now. "They can't save Crisa without my help. I know how to get at the chip."

She looked to Eric for confirmation. He shook his head. "I think I can manage just as well without him. I have the files." He patted the satchel over his shoulder.

She nodded and tugged at Dwyer again. He tried one more tactic. "I'll tell you Reaper's trigger word. The one you still don't know, the one that will break the rage after the first trigger word activates it. The word that will end it."

Briar hesitated, because that was precisely the information she'd been hoping for and planned to demand. She looked at him. "If I find out you lied to me.

"I won't lie. And I can give you more. There's a hypnotist-the one who programmed Reaper in the first place. I'll give Eric his name, and if Reaper survives this, he can track him down, make him deprogram his mind. But in the meantime, the trigger word..."

"What is it?" she demanded.

"You'll let me go with Eric?"

"Yes, just tell me. What is it?"

"Mongoose."

"Mongoose?" She rolled her eyes. "You guys sure don't use much imagination for this shit, do you?" She looked at the man.

"There's just one more thing. I need to know what really happened to Reaper's wife."

The man's face turned to stone. "He killed her. It was-"

"Uh-uh. I mean what really happened."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do, and you're too good at blocking your thoughts. So I'm left with no choice but to find out in my own way.

Besides, I could use a boost of strength." Without taking her eyes from him, she said, "Can you carry them both to the car, Eric?"

"I've done fine so far. I don't know what this is about, Briar, but I trust your judgment. Do what you think is necessary, but do it fast."

She nodded, and gripped Dwyer by the front of his shirt. "Reaper's wife," she said. "Remember." And then she jerked him forward and sank her fangs into his throat. He struggled as she drank him into her. He fought to block his mind from thinking of the thing she'd commanded him to think about, but she drank deeply, and kept taking, and told him mentally, I'll take it all, if you make me. And then I'll know anyway.

And then it came. Images. Memories. The truth.

She jerked free of him, her eyes still glowing, bolstered by the fresh blood, and full of energy and raw fury. When she let go of the man's shirt, he slumped to the ground.

"You make sure he talks, Eric, once Crisa and the kid are safe. We need to know how those drones are made."

"And the rest?"

"I've got all I need."

"You have my word," Eric said. "He'll tell us about the drones. And I'll get the contact information on that hypnotist he mentioned, as well. Good luck, Briar."

"Thanks."

Swiping her hand across her mouth, she sprang from the brush and began to run. She didn't intend to use her top preternatural speed. She knew she couldn't hope to outrun the drones, not when they surrounded her on all sides. Besides, she needed to be sure they saw her and followed. Her goal was only to lead them as far from the others as possible, to give them the best possible chance for escape.

As soon as she'd put a hundred yards between herself and her cohorts, she stopped, put two fingers to her lips and cut loose with an ear-splitting whistle.

She felt the attention of every drone in the forest turn toward her. And then she turned and ran.

Even as she raced through the forest, running at a high speed that was still a nearly mortal pace, she felt something swelling in her chest. A feeling she could barely believe existed in her. It was, she thought, the realization that what she had been denying for so long was nothing more than the truth. Okay, she cared about them-about Crisa, about Matt, about all those sappy white-hats in Reaper's gang-more than she cared about her own safety.

More than any of them, though, she cared about Reaper, and it was him she imagined herself running toward as she moved through the night.

And even though she was facing death right then, the feeling that suffused her wasn't a bad one. It actually felt good to care. As if a long dormant part of her heart had suddenly been reactivated. Jump-started. Electro-shocked into life.

"Here they come!"

Ilyana heard Topaz's shout and spun to face the clinic door even as it burst open.

The first man who came through, shoved from behind, was a mortal. It surprised Ilyana that she could tell the difference now with no more than a swift glance, but she could. She'd spent enough time around the undead to have learned the subtle differences. This man was haggard, exhausted, afraid, as he stumbled into the room.

Behind him was Eric Marquand, with Crisa in his arms. She was limp and still dead, by all appearances, but Ilyana knew that looks could be deceiving in Crisa's kind. They all looked dead when they rested.

As she watched, the other vamps crowded the doorway. Jack took hold of the mortal by one arm. "You're Dwyer?"

"He is," Marquand said. "See to it he's unable to run away."

"Got it." As Jack pulled away from the throng with Dwyer in a firm grip, Marquand handed Crisa off to Seth. "Get her onto a table and get some blood into her. We need to operate immediately."

Seth nodded, taking Crisa, turning away and heading into the treatment room. Vixen, Topaz and Mirabella followed. And then Marquand lowered his head and turned slightly, extending a hand. "Come on, son. It's all right now."

As he spoke, Eric stepped aside.

Matt came in slowly, his eyes huge as he looked around the room. Ilyana sucked in a gasp, and his eyes flew straight to her.

And then he ran to her, crossing the room in a heartbeat and flinging himself into her arms.

She hugged him hard as tears flooded down her face. She ran her hands through his hair over and over, and she held on as if she would never let go. When she finally did, it was only to kneel in front of him and kiss his damp cheeks.

"Dad told me you were dead," Matt said, his words broken, his voice hoarse. "But then I found out you weren't."

"No, I'm not. I'm fine, and now you're with me. Everything's going to be okay now, baby, I promise. We'll never be apart again."

"If he finds us-"

She clutched him tighter. "We have friends now, Matt. Powerful friends." As she said it, she lifted her head to find Roxy smiling down at her, standing very close by. Beyond her, the others were watching through a doorway, and Eric was there, as well.

"They'll protect us," Ilyana said. "He'll never get you again, not with them helping us."

Matt sniffled and frowned, pulling away far enough to stare into her face. "But I thought you hated vampires."

"I thought so, too." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "But they brought you back to me. I can't hate anyone who would give me something so precious, now can I?"

"They're good," Matt said. "They really are. I can tell, you know."

"I know you can," she said.

"Even Briar," he added very softly, almost whispering.

And as soon as he said it, Ilyana frowned and looked around the room again, her gaze settling at last on Eric.

"Where is Briar? And what about Reaper? Why aren't they with you?"

"There's not much time, so I'll explain as I work." Eric marched into the treatment room, unloading the files from the satchel over his shoulder as he did. He spread them on a table, noting, as he did, an open door to a closet, where Dwyer sat on the floor, bound and gagged, beside another man, a mortal, dressed only in a T-shirt and boxer shorts.

Eric frowned.

"Cop," Jack said, closing the door on the two captives. "Came to check out a neighbor's report of movement in here after hours. Guy was too strong-willed for mind control, but we managed to force him to radio in that all was clear. Then I put on his uniform to drive his car out of here, in case the neighbor who called in was watching for that."

"Where's the car now?" Eric asked.

"Hidden. Safe. But you can bet his absence won't go unnoticed long. There will be more of them."

Eric nodded. "Go through these files. I need anything that looks like an X ray or a diagram of Crisa's skull, so I can see where the chip is."

One of the captives thumped on the closet door. Eric ignored the sound and turned to the cabinets, opening them, and removing items and instruments one after the other. "Did you get some blood into her?"

"Tried," Vixen said softly. "She can't seem to swallow."

Nodding, Eric went to the table, where two units of blood rested. He hung one bag on an IV pole and quickly ripped a needle free of its plastic protection, inserted it into one of Crisa's veins, taped it in place and finally connected the long tube that ran from the bag. He made some adjustments and watched as the blood began to flow into her body.

"We don't know for sure what happened to Reaper," he said as he worked. "He went to the front door to distract Gregor, giving Briar and me time to access the basement lab through a hidden passage-one I knew about but was fairly certain Gregor didn't. We found Matthias and Crisa there, and carried them out. We never heard anything from Reaper, though,. And we should have, so my best bet is that Gregor has him."

"Or has killed him," Jack muttered.

Again one of the captives thumped on the closet door. Probably with a foot, since their hands were bound. "Shut up in there!"

Jack ordered. Then he turned his attention to Eric again. "What about Briar?"

"That one," Eric said, and he shook his head. "We were surrounded by drones as we made our way through the woods. There was no way out. So she went off on her own, led them on a chase, to give us time to get to the car and get away." He looked at them each in turn, his gaze lingering on Ilyana. "I tried to talk her out of it, but she was having none of that. Said it was more important that Matthias and Crisa get to safety, said she was going back anyway, for Reaper."

Ilyana blinked. " Briar said that?"

"I tried to make her take me with her, Mom," Matt said. "I told her the drones wouldn't hurt her if I was with her, but she wouldn't let me go. She said to tell you..." He sniffed and closed his eyes.

Ilyana knelt and clasped his shoulders. "What did she say to tell me, hon?"

"To take good care of me. And that for a human, you're not so bad."

Ilyana stared at him, dumbfounded. And then she rose slowly, and looked at Jack. "We have to get her out of there."

Again one of the captives thumped the closet door. Jack grimaced, stomped to the door and yanked it open, glaring down at Dwyer. "What the hell is it?"

Dwyer made muffled sounds behind his gag, so Jack knelt and yanked it downward. The man licked his lips and said, "You won't find any X rays in those files. But you don't need them. The chip's on the right side, toward the front of her head. If you shave the hair away there, you'll see the spot marked by an X-shaped scar."

Eric came toward him. "I'll need a drill to get through the skull, correct?"

"No," Dwyer said. "We used a small bore to remove a circle of the bone, and we didn't replace it."

Eric frowned. "Pull him out of the closet and untie him. Clearly he can assist in this procedure." He nodded at the officer, who looked confused and terrified. "Sir, you have my assurances that you'll be out of here just as soon as possible, unharmed. Be patient just a bit longer." Then he looked at the others. "Is it really necessary to put the poor man to so much discomfort?"

"I'll see to him, Eric," Mirabella said. "I quite agree with you." The others frowned at her, and she pursed her lips. "Really, there's simply no excuse for bad manners."

As Jack hauled Dwyer out of the closet and untied him, Seth spoke up. "We need to go after Briar and Reaper. How many of us do you need here to help you with Crisa and our two unwilling guests, Eric?"

Eric considered the question for a moment. "Leave me Roxy and Ilyana. Matthias, of course, needs to stay here for his own safety. One other vampire should be enough to ensure we keep our captives in line and get through this undiscovered." He looked around the room. "Mirabella, will you stay?"

"Of course," she told him.

"Good." He glanced at Seth. "Take the others and go. You know where the mansion is?"

"Yes."

"Be careful. There are around two dozen of those... creatures guarding the place, and I have no doubt Gregor will be expecting

you."

"Got it. Let's go."

"One other thing, Seth. You all know the word that launches Reaper into an uncontrolled murderous rage, correct?"

"Nightingale," Seth said.

"The word to return him to normal is mongoose."

Seth's brows went up. "How--"

"Briar traded the CIA man his life for it, just before she went off to put her own on the line," Eric said. "I figured you all ought to know, just in case. Using the word is a better option than darting the poor man, after all."

"Thanks." Seth frowned. "Though I have to admit, I'm going to miss having an excuse to shoot the son of a gun from time to time." He looked at the clock on the clinic's wall. "We only have a few hours until sunrise. Let's move."

"Seth, I parked around the block, to avoid having the car seen here." Eric tossed him the keys. Then he eyed the instruments on the tray, completely focused now on the task before him: Crisa, and removing that chip from her brain.

Seth and the others trooped out the door, closing it behind them. The remaining group gathered around Crisa, who lay draped in sheets on the stainless steel table. "Roxy," Eric said. "I need something to clip her hair, and a razor to shave it once I find the spot."

Roxy rattled through some drawers and brought the required items to him. Eric bent over Crisa's head, moving her hair with his fingers. When he found the spot he was looking for, he turned on the electric clippers Roxy had located and they began to buzz softly.

And then, suddenly, Crisa's body began to tremble and shake on the table. Frowning, Eric set the clippers down and reached for her, even as the shaking became a full body convulsion.

"Hold her down!" he shouted. "Now!"

He didn't need to tell them. Roxy and Ilyana were already there, grasping Crisa's legs, shoulders and waist to keep her from shaking herself right off the table.

As the spasm eased, Roxy pushed her hair out of her eyes. "What the hell was that?" she whispered.

"Death throes, I imagine," Eric said softly. "We have to do this now." He reached for the clippers again, as Matthias crowded his way up beside the table and closed his hand around Crisa's.

"Be okay," he told her. "Crisa, you have to be okay."