He kicked the human again, harder this time. Blackwood's eyes opened and he scuttled across the floor, coming to rest against the back of the desk where he jiggled into a sitting position, his eyes watching Raj fearfully.

"You're leaving town tomorrow, Blackwood. And you won't be back. Not Buffalo, not New York. I don't want you setting foot in this part of the country ever again, you understand?"

Blackwood nodded rapidly.

"You'll forget Susan Siemanski ever existed. Sarah Stratton is someone you've never heard of. You or any of your people contact her or come anywhere near her ever again and I'll know about it. You believe me, don't you, Edward?"

Another spasmodic nod.

"Good. Then we're done here. Just one more thing.” He rested his gaze on Blackwood and blinked lazily. Blackwood's mouth opened and he tried to scream, but nothing came out.

Cervantes closed the doors behind them as they left the library, walking unhurriedly down the hall, their booted feet silent on the thick carpet. Raj snagged one of the waiters as they passed the kitchen, grabbing the man's arm and catching his gaze. “I think Mr. Blackwood might be having a heart attack,” he said, and then wiped the man's memory of himself and his people and walked out the door.

Chapter Thirty-six

She was in a car, the rough fabric of the seat abrading her naked skin like steel wool. She groaned and tried to roll over, but she couldn't. She was weak, too weak. Something was wrong. There were voices, men talking, arguing briefly, and then the car swerved suddenly, crushing her against something metal. Her eyes cracked open to darkness and she realized she was not in a car, but in the trunk. Salty tears rolled down her cheeks, burning like acid.

The car stopped and the trunk lid opened, blinding her with the dim light. Someone was there, a big man reaching for her, picking her up like she weighed nothing. He walked a few steps, lifted his arms and . . . she was flying through the air, her scream of terror nothing more than a pitiful whine. Rocks bit into her flesh as she hit the ground and rolled down a hill, stiff weeds and brush tearing and scraping.

She lay still, unable to move, listening as the trunk lid slammed, as car doors closed and the engine faded into the distance. Shivering in the cold, nearly gagging with the stench of wherever they'd left her, she forced her eyes open and stared up at a moon that was little more than a curving slice of white in a clear sky. It was beautiful. Despite the overwhelming smell of rot, despite the freezing air biting into her bare skin, she smiled. And somewhere in her brain, a small voice told her what she already knew. She was dying. She quieted the voice, just turned it off. She gazed at the sickle moon, and at the brightly lit buildings much too far away to do her any good and then closed her eyes.

Sarah sat up in with a cry, reaching automatically for the switch next to her bed. She fell to the floor with a hard thump, yelping at the feel of cold linoleum where there should have been a warm rug. Her heart hammered as it all came back to her in a rush. The crowds of reporters, the warehouse . . . Regina!

She crawled on all fours, finally locating the table next to the bed where she'd left her watch. She checked the time on its illuminated dial. Nine o'clock, but was it morning or night? She scrambled to her feet and opened the door. A wave of sound, truck engines and shouted voices, greeted her. She stumbled outside and down the stairs, almost falling against Danny, the lady killer who'd been Raj's bartender at the club that night in Manhattan a hundred years ago.

"Whoa, beautiful,” Danny said playfully, standing her upright. “You okay?"

"She's alive,” Sarah croaked. The voices died and she was aware for the first time that she'd interrupted a meeting of some sort. Raj was standing there, and so was Em and a bunch of other vampires and humans. And they were all staring at her. She found Raj's face in the crowd. “She's alive. Regina Aiello. We have to find her."

The expression on his handsome face remained dark and cold.

"Please,” she begged him, tears of fear and frustration shielding her from the ice in his gaze. “You can hate me if you want, but please find her. Please, Raj. They never listened to me before, and they all died. But we can save Regina. Please. Please." She sat down on the stairs, sobbing, her heart breaking. This couldn't be happening again. Not again. Damnit! She wouldn't let it happen again!

Angrily rubbing away her useless tears, she grabbed the railing and stood. Raj was still staring at her. She thought there was a glimmer of compassion in his gaze, but she couldn't trust it. Not when Regina's life was at stake.

"I know where she is,” she told him, her voice growing stronger with every word. “And if you won't help me, I'll find her myself.” A small sob escaped her lips with the last word, and she swallowed hard.

"Get dressed,” he told her sharply. “Danny, you and Cervantes come with me,” he ordered, his eyes never leaving Sarah. “Em, send the teams out, but stay in touch."

Sarah was still zipping her jacket when the industrial-sized door rolled up and they sped into the night. Danny was driving, so she told him what they were looking for. All she had to go on was what she'd seen through Regina's eyes, but she'd recognized those buildings in the distance.

"Which way, beautiful?” Danny asked, stopping at the first big intersection they came to.

Sarah sat on the front bench seat of a huge SUV, with Danny on one side and Raj on the other, his arm slung over the seat behind her. He shot Danny a scowl at the endearment and let his big hand drop to her shoulder, pulling her slightly away from the other vampire. She cleared her throat, determined not to be cowed. They couldn't do this without her. “We're going to the university campus. You know where that is?"

"Sure thing,” Danny said, winking at her. “It's a big place, though. Anywhere special?"

"South of the medical center, but we're not stopping. I just need to position myself relative to the main buildings and we'll go outward from there."

"What?” Raj snapped.

"I know what Regina knows,” Sarah said calmly. “She's on a hillside of some sort south of the campus. The distance is difficult to judge, but it smells like a dump or a landfill."

Raj swore beneath his breath, but nodded at Danny who grinned and turned right, gunning the truck well above the speed limit.

Sarah's heart lifted when they reached the campus. She'd been pretty sure she was right about the buildings, but seeing it brought tears of relief to her eyes. Buffalo was a very flat place, and she'd questioned the idea of anything like a hill in the vicinity. “That's it,” she whispered. “That's exactly it.” She gulped down her tears. “Okay, can you drive that way, Danny?” she pointed in a generally southward direction. “I'm not sure exactly . . ."

"I've got it, darlin',” he said with a charming grin. “I'll find your girl for you."

Raj growled softly over her head and Danny sobered immediately, becoming all business. She heard a snort of laughter from the backseat where Cervantes sat. He'd been silent until this point and she'd almost forgotten he was there.

Sarah fidgeted nervously as they drove further away from campus. She kept glancing back over her shoulder, trying to align their position with what she could see of the buildings. Cervantes was watching her every time she turned, his eyes gleaming a pale yellow in the low light. That would have startled her once upon a time, but the last couple of weeks had made her pretty much immune to the oddities of vampires.

Someday in the future, when all of this was over and her life was back to something close to normal, she'd do a little research. There were a lot of things her friend Cyn hadn't told her about vampires, like the fact that their eyes glowed in the dark or when they were angry, or about how perpetually aggressive they were, constantly testing dominance against one another. But maybe it was just the ones who hung around the really powerful vampires, like Raphael or Raj. There had to be hundreds, probably thousands of them, who lived quiet, uneventful lives.

"Sarah."

She jumped at the sound of Raj's voice. The truck had stopped. Danny's hands were clenched on the steering wheel, and she could feel the tension fairly zinging off Raj's body next to her. And there was something else. She drew a breath and nearly choked. The smell was disgusting. “Oh my God,” she gasped. She began pushing at Raj, desperate to get out of the truck. “Get out,” she demanded. “Let me out!"

"Sarah . . .” He started to say something else, but then he shrugged and opened the door, sliding out of the way, catching her when she would have fallen from the high seat. The ground underneath her feet was squishy with moisture, the dirt and debris broken down by the constant freeze and thaw cycle of this time of year. She spun around until she could see the buildings in the distance, and then took off.

"Wait!” Raj called after her, but she ignored him, trading glances between the uneven ground that she could barely see beneath her feet and the campus lights far away. “Sarah.” His heavy hand grabbed her from behind, scooping her up and holding her when she tried to break way. “Stop it,” he ordered. “We'll find her,” he said in a softer voice, next to her ear. “Look."

Danny and Cervantes were standing nearby, eyes glowing in the pitch black night as their heads swiveled slowly from side to side, seeming oblivious to their surroundings and yet keenly aware of everything at the same time. Raj's arms around her loosened, but he didn't let go of her, preventing her from interfering in whatever it was his minions were doing. Almost as one, the two vampires stared at the same spot, down the hill from where they were standing.

"My lord,” Danny said, but Cervantes was already moving faster than Sarah could follow. One moment he was five feet away from her and the next, he was so far downhill she wouldn't have been able to see him, if not for the pale glow of his eyes. Danny moved closer to Raj, as if whatever they'd found made him uneasy, bringing out the ingrained vampire need to protect his master that Cyn had talked about.