Ronin glared at Niabe’s retreating back. Every muscle in his body tensed in desperation to follow her. She had mocked the memory of his lost mate and disrespected his new one, but all that paled in comparison to her ultimate sin, threatening his daughter. Every second Niabe continued to draw breath was one second too many. Yet he forced himself to remain in place, pressing his boots against the stone tiles until his toes went numb.

With the fury of the Heat quenched, Ronin's thoughts were clearer than they had been in days. Attack was impossible. Retreat was their only option.

Sanaa, however, moved to follow Niabe into the back of the library. He caught her by the arm and held her back.

"We can't let her walk away," Sanaa insisted.

He moved forward, pressing her body against his as he pulled her toward the door. "This isn't up for debate. We can't fight her here."

Sanaa wrenched her arm from his grasp just as they crossed the threshold of the door. She turned and tried to brush her way past him, but Ronin was bigger and taller. He blocked her, wrapping his arms around her waist again and dragging her down the block toward his truck. A few passers-by glanced in their direction, stopping to gawk at the domestic squabble.

The last thing they needed was a would-be Good Samaritan calling the cops. Ronin took Sanaa by the shoulders and turned her body to face him. "There's a dampening ward, remember? You go back in there, and the only thing you'll do is get yourself arrested. How long do you think you'll last against her locked in a cage?"

The harsh words left a bitter taste in his mouth, especially now, when he could already feel the mating bonds taking hold. He could feel Sanaa's heartbeat, her fear, her anger as intensely as if they belonged to him.

She relaxed as his words sunk in, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "We can't just go back to the house and wait for the next attack."

"I don't plan to." He slid a hand into her pocket, caressing her thigh for a moment as he plucked his keys from the denim folds. "She's got to come out of her hole sometime, and when she does we'll take the fight to her."

They moved the car further down the block, out of sight of the entrance and waited. Ronin had written half a dozen stakeout scenes in his career. Two people trapped in a car provided an ideal setting, inescapable. The impending encounter with the villain provided tension, the perfect catalyst to emotional revelations. Add two people who have too much to say to one another and too many reasons to leave it all unsaid and there was no surer way to guarantee a deep revelation.

Unless, of course, both people had nothing left to share. The last vestiges of secrets between them were almost gone. Ronin could already see the slight difference in his reactions to her. The way he always found little ways to touch her, brushing his fingers against her soft skin as she climbed in and out of the truck after trips to find a restroom or fetch food. By nightfall, he has nearly memorized every detail of Sanaa's face, every shift of her expression.

She hadn't accepted the mating bond, yet. Not fully. He could see it, although he couldn't explain even to himself exactly how he knew. Why should she have accepted it? However he explained the Heat, it was only words to her.

"Kane said they moved to the village for the night," Sanaa said as she ended her call. "The Elders were anxious about him being in the mountains alone."

"Those old fools are smarter than they look.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are we really going to fight about that again? I figured you'd be sick of it by now."

“Actually, I always thought arguments are part of the fun of relationships. The way a person forms a counterpoint tells a lot about the sort of person they are."

Sanaa quirked an eyebrow and leaned back in her seat. "I'll bite. What kind of person am I?"

Ronin turned to look at her, leisurely studying her face, though he had already memorized her features. Everything had changed for him, but nothing had for her. “You are a doubter. You believe half of what you see and less than a quarter of what you're told. Especially when you hear good news. You figure the other shoe is going to drop because it always does. And if you’re expecting it, then it can’t hurt you as badly. “

She flinched and looked away, letting him know that he was closer to the mark than she thought he would be. “It works more often than it doesn’t.”

“Pretty lonely way to live. Believe me, I know.”

Sanaa didn’t comment. She jerked her head toward the entrance of the library. Niabe emerged from the glass doors and headed up the block toward her own car.

Ronin turned his engine over and followed Niabe back to the highway and across town. Niabe pulled over at the gates of a massive compound on the outskirts of the city. Ronin parked as she punched a code into the gate and drove through.

Without a word, Sanaa and Ronin climbed out of the truck and approached the gate.

“I don’t suppose you saw the code she typed?” Sanaa asked.

“Didn’t need to.” Ronin extended his hand, drawing and focusing his powyr at the gate. A ball of heated energy burst from his palm, ramming into the gate and knocking it off its hinges.

A sense of dread crept over Ronin as he led the way up the dimly lit driveway. Something wasn’t right. Every move Niabe made was designed to catch them off guard. Her cleverness had almost proved deadly twice.

A clever dark walker would never lead the enemy to her lair.

Ronin froze in mid-stride, holding out a hand to warn Sanaa back. Too late. The floodlights hidden on the poles that lined the drive way kicked on, flooding the path as brightly as sunshine.

Niabe stood at the entrance of an elaborate mansion, hands on her hips and a mischievous smile on her lips. “You should have taken my advice, Sanaa.”