Nikolai reached to the length of wood that had been driven through the glass, his shoulder, and straight into the seat behind him, and wrenched it out with a roar that would likely echo through the streets for hours to come.

Behind them, the second vehicle had only just stopped in time, preventing Henry and Ivan from slamming into the rear of Nikolai’s car.

The men in the back had already jumped from the car, brandishing guns he hadn’t known they’d had, but they wouldn’t do any good now, anyway.

He could barely believe what had just happened. It had all been so fast. One moment, he’d been driving with Lauren’s head rested on his shoulder, and the next second she was gone, and he’d been left with a length of wood shoved through his shoulder. Not that he cared about his own injury. It didn’t matter—nothing mattered with Lauren gone.

Henry came running over. “What the hell happened?”

“He took her. The goddamned vamp who bought her.”

“You’re sure?”

He gestured to the hole in his shoulder. It was already healing, but that didn’t stop it from hurting like a motherfucker. “You think anyone else did this?”

Ivan’s eyes widened. “Shit.”

Nikolai rounded on Henry. “You believe me now? I told you Deacon had sold her! We need to go back to the club right now and get him to tell us who the vampire is”

But, to his frustration, Henry shook his head. “No, I have a better way of finding her. There’s nothing stopping Deacon from lying, but my magic always tells the truth.”

Nikolai stared at him. “You’d better be right, or I’ll be holding you responsible.”

“Which way did they go?” Henry asked.

Nikolai pointed ahead of them. “That way, but we’re never going to catch up. That son of a bitch was flying.”

He didn’t think it was possible for Ivan’s eyes to widen further, but they did. “Flying? Actually flying?”

“Yep. Like a goddamned bird.”

Henry nodded. “It’s rare, but not unheard of.”

“But he has Lauren,” Nikolai snarled.

He wanted to rage at the world, to pick up the car and lift it from the road and throw it after the retreated vampire. He wanted to get his hands on him and tear him limb from limb and bathe in his blood. Never had his fury reached such extremes. He thought he might lose his mind to it. The idea of another vampire biting her made him crazy. To taste that sweet nectar, when he, her Bloodmate, hadn’t even done so yet was more than he could bear. What if the son of a bitch bit her and took it too far? What if he hurt her? What if he killed her?

Around them, people had begun to gather to watch the spectacle. Behind them, horns began to blare, trying to get the traffic moving. The sound did nothing to help Nikolai’s mood, and if it weren’t for the presence of one of The Directive beside him, he would have gone back and torn whoever was beeping their horn from their car.

“Listen to me, Nikolai,” Henry said, taking control. He was a smaller man, and seemed more reserved than either he or Ivan, but at the same time he had a way of commanding attention. “The other members of my team are already on their way. We can drive to meet them from the Channel Tunnel to try to save some time.”

Nikolai checked the time. It didn’t normally bother him that he could only move around freely during the night, but now the frustration of his reality gripped him. It was now the early hours of the morning, and in a mere few hours, he was going to need to be back in his penthouse, in his bedroom, which had been specially designed to keep out the light, sleeping.

“Shit!” He slammed his fist against the car, leaving a sizable dent in the body work. “How long is it going to take for them to get here?”

“They’ll be on the first train, so they’ll be coming ...” The understanding of his predicament dawned on Henry’s face. “It will be daylight by then.”

Nikolai nodded. “Yes. I can’t come with you.”

How could he be sleeping when Lauren was in mortal danger? He’d told her that he’d protect her now, that no harm would ever come to her, and he’d failed her. She’d been snatched while he’d been sitting right beside her. How were they supposed to defeat this vampire?

Henry must have sensed his frustration. “Try not to worry, Nikolai. This vampire, whoever he may be, won’t have bought her to kill her. If he wants her blood, he’ll make sure she survives to continue feeding him.”

The words caused hatred to coil deep within him. Had he ever felt such hatred?

“You’re saying we have time to find her, but the problem is we don’t. I’ve been afflicted with The Thirst, and she’s my Bloodmate. How long will it be before I lose my mind completely? Hours? Days? Weeks? How long do I have before I become a danger to myself and others around me?”

“It won’t be hours, Nikolai. Don’t worry about that.”

“But days?” he prompted.

Henry glanced away and nodded. “Yes, most likely days. I have a way I can find out for sure, but it will need a spell.”

Nikolai rubbed his hand over his mouth. Already he could feel the tightness at the back of his throat, an itching need working its way through his veins. He didn’t care about his own life, but if he lost his mind, what would happen to Lauren? Would The Directive continue to work to find her, or would they give up? And how would she feel if she heard he’d been taken down because he’d started to slaughter and rape? It would break her heart, and he couldn’t imagine being the person to cause her such pain. Just the thought caused an emptiness to appear inside his chest and start to grow.

More blares of car horns sounded behind them.

“We need to move the cars, sir,” one of the bodyguards called out. “We’re starting to cause a disturbance.”

“Is yours still drivable?” Henry asked Nikolai.

“Yeah, so long as I don’t mind driving without a windscreen while sitting in a pool of my own blood.”

“I’ll drive,” Ivan offered.

Nikolai shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I can do it.”

“We’ll go back to your building,” Henry instructed, “and take things from there. Things can and will be done while you’re sleeping, Nikolai. And don’t blame yourself. You can’t help how your body works.”

His thoughts went to how he’d tried to reach for her, even though he’d been pinned to the car seat with the length of wood. His hands had caught her ankles, but he’d had to let go. “I could have been faster, I could have held onto her.”

“Then both of you would have torn that girl in two. You did the right thing.” He put his hand on Nikolai’s shoulder. “Please believe that.”

He wanted to, but still he found himself going over and over what had happened, trying to see if there was more he could have done. He should have seen it coming, he should have swerved, he should have ducked out of the way when the length of wood came crashing through the windshield. But the truth was it had happened so fast he’d barely had time to think. As a vampire, he was fast, but he was nothing compared to the vampire who had taken her. And then the other vampire had flown away with Lauren in his clutches.

How was he supposed to fight that? How were any of them?

“One of my colleagues, Delia Costanzo, is an ancient vampire, and a day walker,” Henry reassured him. “Whoever this other vampire is, he’ll be no match for her. And the other member of our team is Mac Ferguson, a powerful wolf who’s worked for The Directive for twenty years. I know it doesn’t feel like much, Nikolai, but you have the best people behind you. If we can’t find Lauren, no one can.”

“That’s what worries me,” he muttered.

The car horns had built to a cacophony, and they had no choice but to get back behind the wheel. Nikolai didn’t want to be driving back home without Lauren beside her. Right now, he had nothing to go on to try to find her. Because the damned vampire had flown, he wasn’t even able to track her scent. He tried to centre in on himself, hoping to pick up on her voice, as she had on his, but there was nothing.

With his hands clamped around the wheel, not caring that splinters of glass were spearing his flesh, he drove back to his building. He parked his car in his reserved spot and climbed out, just as Henry and Ivan pulled up behind them.

Needing to figure out their next move, they went back up to the penthouse. The place felt bereft now, as though the soul had been stolen out of the place.

Henry didn’t bother to take off his jacket or even sit down. “I’ll go and pick up my colleagues,” he told Nikolai. “Don’t fear, we’ll work tirelessly while you’re sleeping to find out who took your Bloodmate. That’s our job. I’ll leave Jennings and Price here with you to make sure the other vampire doesn’t come here while you’re sleeping to finish the job.” He nodded at Nikolai’s injured shoulder.

“Don’t worry about me. I don’t need damn bodyguards,” he growled.

“Nikolai, we don’t know what sort of frame of mind you’re going to be in when you wake. We’re assuming The Thirst takes days rather than hours to fully take hold when a vampire is separated from his Bloodmate, but the truth is the cases of these are so scarce, we can’t know for sure. The bodyguards aren’t purely for your safety. They’re to make sure you don’t go on a rampage after you wake.”

Nikolai ducked his head, chastened. Of course, this wasn’t all about him and Lauren, though that was what occupied his heart and mind. The Directive needed to consider everyone, including the general population. A rampaging vampire in the middle of London was going to look bad on everyone.

“Okay,” he said, relenting. “But please, if you find any way of waking me, even if it’s only to let me know what’s happening, then do so. I don’t care if it causes me physical harm. I’d rather that than go another second knowing Lauren is in danger, with me unable to help her.”

Henry nodded. “Of course. We’ll do everything we can.”

Ivan also had to sleep in the day, so Nikolai gave him the guest room, which was also designed for vampires. It wasn’t as though he had many human friends. Or many friends at all, for that matter.

Already, the push of the sun rising affected his body, pulling down on his limbs like gravity had suddenly grown stronger. If he didn’t shut himself in his bedroom, he’d become a statue. Frozen, and unable to react, shortly before bursting into flames.

It tore him up inside, but he had no choice.

“Just do your job and find my Bloodmate.”