Maya whipped the bike to the right, brought it to a stop in a cloud of fumes and burning rubber.

"I've come for the Master!" Her voice rang out, cutting past the shouts and the bullets. She barred her teeth and said, "I'm answering his call."

The vamps closed in, suspicion heavy on their pale faces. Black eyes drifted past her to study Adam. The tension that swept over the crowd had Maya leaping from the motorcycle and jerking Adam behind her.

"He's got no scent." This came from a short, bald vamp who stepped forward with his gun raised and his lips peeled back into a snarl. Ah, the one in charge. The boss always liked to speak first.

Maya's gaze dropped to the gun. Probably just regular bullets, in case any curious humans happened by. The shots would hurt like hell, of course, but it wouldn't be anything fatal to her.

But she couldn't afford to be slowed down.

Maya lifted her hands, moving them in a fast blur, and locked her claws around Adam's throat.

"Don't even think about hurting my gift," she warned, voice deadly.

The vamps hesitated.

"What is he?" This came from the leader, who eyed them both with deep suspicion.

Maya smiled at him and deliberately pressed her claws into Adam's flesh. A trickle of blood flowed down his neck.

He didn't flinch. His body was rock-hard beside her.

"He's a dragon," she said, and brought her mouth to his throat, licking away the blood. "He's going to make Nassor very, very happy."

A rumble swept through the crowd. Most of the vamps began to inch back.

But the guy in front just curled back his lip. "Bullshit."

"Adam." A little demonstration would be in order. "Why don't you show these guys just what you can become?"

He held up his arm.

The skin slowly began to shift colors, getting darker. The flesh become harder. Scaled.

"That's enough," she said, not wanting to push him too far, yet.

Adam's arm transformed back to a man's.

"Are you crazy?" The vampire shrieked, raising his gun. "That bastard can kill us all!"

Well, at least he believed her now.

"No, he can't." Sorry, Adam. "He's linked with my blood, and he'll do whatever I want." She turned slightly, looked up into his eyes. Sleep.

He blinked.

She'd never wanted to force her power onto him, but there wasn't an option now. If the vamps thought he was any kind of threat, they'd never let him inside.

Sleep.

His eyelids flickered. "Y-you…"

She forced the compulsion on him, hard and deep.

Then she stepped back as his body began to fall.

Adam hit the ground with a thud.

She forced a shrug. Glanced back at the leader. "Problem solved."

The vampires rushed forward, hands reaching for Adam's body with greedy lust.

"No!" She stepped in front of them. "This one's for the Master, and only the Master."

The guy who'd been screaming at her minutes before now spit onto the ground and snapped, "Fine, but when he's done, we get what's left over."

Maya laughed at that. Idiot. "There's not gonna be anything left."

She grabbed Adam, hoisted him over her shoulder. Barely felt his weight. "Now are we gonna stand out here, screwing around all night, or do I get to see Nassor?"

"What's happening?" The whisper from Daniel, his second in command, drifted on a breath of sound.

Lucas tightened his hold around the binoculars. "They're going inside." Although not the way he'd anticipated.

What game was the vampire playing? He'd thought she wanted him to wait in the shadows and then attack to cause a distraction for her and the dragon.

But what if Maya had a different plan in mind? What if she had been playing him? What if she was inside, even now, telling the others about his pack? He could be walking straight into a trap.

Lucas was willing to bet the dragon sure as hell hadn't counted on being carried into the vamp's lair, unconscious. Vulnerable.

Could he trust her? "What's our move?" Daniel asked.

Lucas drew in a deep breath. He'd never trusted a vampire before.

Maya had gone back into Temptation to save Jordan. He couldn't overlook that fact.

Of course, she'd also been the one to nearly kill his brother.

"Lucas?"

"For now, we wait."

If the vampire betrayed him, he'd make absolutely certain it was the last thing she ever did.

Maya was taken through the entrance gates, led across a courtyard, and escorted up to the main entrance of the fortress. As she walked across the cobbled courtyard, she could feel eyes on her, dozens of them, watching her every move.

When she stepped inside the main building, the stench of death flooded her nostrils.

Humans had died here. The stench was old, as if the bodies had long since decayed and turned to dust. But she also caught the smell of fresh kills. Sweet blood.

"We'll put him with the others," the vampire in front of her said, glancing over his slightly stooped shoulder.

The others. Yeah, she'd expected that Nassor had a backup power supply. "No. He doesn't leave my sight." Like she'd trust any of the hungry bastards around a dragon's blood.

The vampire's face tightened. "He goes with the others."

They were in a long hallway now. One lit with faint, fluorescent lighting.

Where was Nassor? She heard the moans then, the whimpers.

Prey.

The Born Master had to be close.

Maya kept her gaze on the vamp leading her. " He is a very special gift. One I'm taking straight to the Master." She didn't know how much time they'd have before the wolves attacked. The closer she could get to Nassor, the better.

The vampire grunted. "You don't wanna be facing him yet."

Ah, but he was exactly the one she wanted to face.

Slick, time to rise and shine.

She felt the sudden alertness of his body.

This was gonna hurt. Not her so much, but-

"Shit! Something's wrong, the bastard's awake!" She threw Adam against the heavy stone wall.

The vampire spun around, terror on his face and in his black eyes. "What? No, he-"

Maya already had her gun ready. She grabbed the vamp and pressed the barrel right against his heart. "Don't so much as breathe hard," she said, "or you'll see what it feels like to be burned from the inside out."

He stilled instantly. "Y-you're bluffing."

"I don't bluff." She smiled, a hard barring of her teeth. "Holy water bullets. The kind just right for cooking vamps."

He swallowed hard.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Adam rise to his feet. "You all right?"

A muscle flexed along his jaw. "A warning would have been appreciated."

Yeah, but a warning would have tipped off the vampire.

She glanced around the hall. She'd tried to time her attack for the moment when they had maximum cover. She didn't think anyone had seen them, but just in case, it was time to cut to the chase.

"Look, asshole, either take me to Nassor, or I'll kill you." Simple. Straightforward.

"If I take you to him, I'm dead." His black eyes were beady, full of hate and fear.

The guy just didn't get it. "If you don't start moving your ass, you'll be dead in the next five seconds."

"At least you'll make it fast." The vampire shook his head. "Nassor won't."

"You-"

Adam grabbed the vamp, his fingers locking around the back of his neck and spinning him around. "I won't make your death easy," he said, his voice a hard rumble. "I'll slice your flesh away, then make you beg for my fire."

Maya's brows rose. Okay. She hadn't quite been expecting that.

The vampire began to shake. He hadn't thought she'd torture him, but obviously, he had no doubt that Adam would carry out his threat.

And neither did she.

"I-I'll sh-show you j-just-"

Maya caught the stench in the air then. Too-familiar. "Adam-"

A thunder of footsteps.

Adam swore, slammed the vamp against the wall, and lunged in front of her.

Too late.

The vamps surrounded them, a mass of claws and teeth that came from both sides, trapping them in the middle of the hallway.

So much for the sneak attack.

Laughter. Mocking male laughter that made the hair on her nape rise. She knew which asshole was having himself a good old time even before Torrence pushed his way through the army of vamps.

Adam leapt forward.

"No!"

The vampires grabbed him, six of them taking him down and pounding him into the floor.

Shit.

Maya swallowed back the fear that rose in her throat. Adam couldn't take the vamps in his human form. What the hell had he been thinking? She forced her gaze to lift and to lock on Torrence's. "If they kill him, Nassor's going to be pissed."

Torrence lifted his right hand.

The attack on Adam immediately ceased. Torrence smiled at her. "Ah, come now, we both know a dragon can take a hell of a lot more punishment."

Yeah, but she didn't want to see him suffer.

Torrence's gaze shifted from her to Adam.

Maya's whole body tensed.

She could so do with a distraction about then. Where were those damn wolves? "Dragons are wild, unpredictable beasts." His mouth frowned with distaste as he stared at Adam.

"So hard to control."

"You're fucking dead!" Adam yelled, the words rumbling from within his chest. The air around them grew thick and a deep, menacing growl filled the hall.

Torrence stepped toward Maya.

She still had her gun in her hands. Ready to fire. No way could she take them all out, but she could hit Torrence straight in the heart.

But then the other vamps would rip her apart before she could get to Nassor.

What would happen to Adam? To Cammie? "He was protecting you, wasn't he?" Torrence asked.

Maya didn't answer.

"I saw him. He put his body before yours-and he attacked." Torrence tilted his head to the side.

"Got a pet, do you, bitch?"

She bared her teeth at him.

He lifted his hand, ignored her gun, and pressed the tip of his claws against her cheek.

Maya felt the warmth of blood on her face.

"Get away from her!" Adam wrestled free from two of the vamps, broke the neck of a third-not something that would kill the guy, but it would definitely take him out of commission for a bit.

Her eyes closed. No, Adam, don't-

The claws dropped to her throat. "Move and I'll cut her head off."

Her lashes lifted and she met Adam's desperate stare.

Dragons-so fierce. So emotional. Damn, but the guy made her heart ache.

Torrence circled behind her. "Drop the gun." He whispered the command into her ear.

The gun hit the floor with a clatter. Maya was hoping a bullet would shoot out at the impact and kill one of the goons. No such luck.

Adam wasn't moving. The vamps had him pinned to the ground. His head was tilted up, and he stared straight at her.

"You've got a weakness, don't you, dragon?" Torrence taunted. "And it's this bitch."

Adam didn't speak.

"Let me tell you what's going to happen." His claws dug into her neck. "You're going to do what I say, when I say it, or the woman's going to find herself without a head."

"Adam…" If he shifted into the dragon, he could take the vamps surrounding him, she knew he could.

But she also knew the shift wasn't fast. He'd need precious minutes to fully transform-and she'd be dead before the dragon could fight.

At least he'd survive.

"Don't worry about me," she said, her voice firm as she gazed down at him.

"Fuck that!" He made no move to fight his captors-or to transform.

"I've always known there was something special about a female vampire's pussy," Torrence murmured and she felt his tongue lick down her face, tasting the blood that fell from her cheek. "It's all that drinking and fucking-makes men into slaves."

The scent of smoke teased her nostrils.

The dragon was close.

Change, Adam. Change. Forget about me-you have to stop them so Cammie will be safe.

She didn't know if he heard her mental plea, but she drove the words as hard as she could through their blood bond.

"Get him up."

The vampires dragged Adam to his feet. His eyes never left Torrence's face.

"Nassor wants them-and we don't want to keep the Born Master waiting."

Where were those damn wolves? The vampires yanked Adam down the hallway.

"You shot me, bitch." Torrence grabbed her hair, jerked her head back.

She ignored the pain and said, "And I'm going to kill you."

He laughed at that-right in her face. "When Nassor's done with you, we're going to play." His mouth pressed against her throat. Licked away the blood. " If there's anything left of you."

Then he shoved her down the long hallway, and the rest of the vampires swarmed in behind her.

"Lucas?" Daniel's voice was tense.

He put the binoculars down. Fifteen minutes. Maya and the dragon had been inside for fifteen minutes.

There was barely any activity outside the fortress.

Doubt nagged at him. Was it a trap? Or could he trust her? Was there even a choice? Fuck it.

Time to hunt.

He threw back his head and howled.

CHAPTER 17