As Quinn stepped inside, next to him, another person appeared. Instantly alert at the appearance of the unknown vampire next to Quinn, Zane jumped up and reached for his stake. He’d have to deal with Quinn later.

Quinn quickly raised his hand. “This is Cain. He’s the man who identified the pin you found on the assassin.”

“Assassin?” Samson interrupted, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Long story. I’ll fill you in later,” Zane quickly replied.

Samson nodded curtly. “I’ll hold you to it.”

Zane gave a short nod in agreement and turned his attention back to Quinn and Cain. The vampire was a little over six feet tall, well-built with short dark hair and a permanent shadow where his beard would have grown were he still human.

Cain nodded in greeting. “Quinn flew me in today so I could help.”

Quinn shrugged toward Samson. “I borrowed one of the jets.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Samson replied. “How is Cain gonna help, no offense.”

The stranger nodded. “None taken. I might be able to identify some of the members of the breeding program.”

“We already know who the head is.”

Quinn nudged the vampire. “Tell Zane what you told me.”

Cain cleared his throat. “There’s going to be a big event in two or three days.”

“What kind of event?” Zane asked impatiently.

“A blood-bond. Apparently the leader has found a suitable hybrid to mate with the princess.”

“Princess? What the f—?” This wasn’t England with royal families and all.

“They say, it’s his daughter. She’s supposed to start a dynasty of superior hybrids. He’s found a hybrid she’ll mate with.”

Zane’s heart stopped. Portia was supposed to blood-bond with some hybrid her father chose for her? “No!”

“That’s why he won’t kill her,” Quinn added. “He needs her. She is his ticket to his master race.”

Zane tried to shake off the thought, but couldn’t. “He can’t do that. She’s mine! Portia is mine!”

Voicing it in front of his friends and colleagues, brought reality home. He couldn’t kid himself any longer. Without Portia, he was nothing, merely an empty shell without a heart. Only with her, he had a chance at life. Her father might need her to create his master race, but Zane needed her to survive.

“We don’t have much time then,” Amaury said. “We have to find her before the ceremony or …”

Amaury didn’t complete his sentence, and he didn’t have to. Zane knew the implications only too well. If Portia was blood-bonded to another man, she was lost to him. Only killing her mate would set her free. And even then, would Portia open her heart to Zane again? Would she be able to forgive him for what he’d done? Because, after all, it was his fault that she found herself in this situation. He’d been the one to cast her out without considering the consequences. He’d driven her back to her father and into hell. Had he thought things through for a moment, he would have seen that it didn’t matter who her sire was. She was pure and good despite the seed she came from.

“Do you know where this ceremony will take place?” Samson asked Cain.

“It’s somewhere on the West Coast, that much is certain, but I never got to find out where. The location is kept secret. Only a few people know.”

Zane glanced at Quinn, remembering something. “You left me a message that you found some phone numbers on Brandt’s cell. Was that just bait to get me to come back?”

“Thomas extracted some partial numbers. We have an area code and a prefix.”

“Where?”

“Seattle. The prefix identifies a neighborhood called Queen Anne. But—”

“But what?”

“We can’t be sure that’s the place where Müller went.”

“It’s all we’ve got.” Just a straw, but Zane clung to it for dear life.

Samson nodded. “It’s the best we can do.” He turned to Amaury. “Mobilize the troops. We need everybody we can get.”

“I can help,” Cain interrupted.

Zane perused the vampire. He’d helped them so far, but could he be trusted? “You wanted to be part of the breeding program. I understand that you’re disgruntled about being rejected, but why would you help us now? What’s stopping you from running back to them and warning them that we’re onto them?”

The tall and well-built vampire ran his hand through his dark hair. Zane silently wondered why Müller had rejected him. He appeared strong and intelligent, and from what Zane could tell, he was fairly decent looking too.