Jozef found some last shred of pride and snarled, “I'll see you there, you Pollack bastard."

Raj smiled, dipped his head in agreement and said, “Maybe you will.” He swung his arm down in a smooth arc, shoving the stake so hard and deep that his fist hit the vampire's thick chest with an audible thud. Jozef fell backward with a gasp, a look of disbelief flashing briefly across his face before he disappeared in a shower of gray dust. Raj heard a long exhaled breath behind him as Celia died along with her mate, their lives wound far too tightly by the long mating bond for her to survive his death.

Serge and Charles fell to their faces, groveling, begging for their lives, in what they had to know was a useless effort. No one involved in this operation could be permitted to live. It violated the most basic tenet of Vampire. Raj didn't even spare them a glance, stepping over the pile of dust and entering the house. Em could take care of these two. He wanted to find Sarah.

Chapter Forty-eight

In the basement, Sarah watched with some amusement as Estelle Edwards tried to jam the desktop computer into a narrow box. The doc was sweating buckets and grunting like a pig with the effort, but it wasn't working. She finally gave up, letting the awkward CPU drop to the floor with a crash. She was swearing viciously, using words Sarah knew existed, but had never actually heard spoken before. Wow.

The door at the end of the corridor thundered open, hitting the wall with more force than usual. Edwards looked up in panic before her mouth tightened into a grim line of determination. This was not a woman who gave up easily. She pulled the keys from the pocket of her white lab coat and quickly uncuffed Sarah from the table, grabbing a fistful of her hair and dragging her backwards across the room to face the door. Sarah stumbled, her bound feet struggling to find purchase, but the woman only tightened her grip, bringing tears to Sarah's eyes. It felt like her hair was being torn out by the roots.

"Don't say a word, bitch,” Edwards hissed in Sarah's ear, and she could feel the sharp point of something poking into her back just above her kidney.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall, and then more loud noise as someone kicked in the doors of the three cells. She sucked in a relieved breath, knowing Trish and the others had been found in time, but then blew the breath out quickly when the movement caused Edward's weapon to slice into her skin, drawing blood.

The noise stopped suddenly and she heard a familiar growl that made her smile. Raj was coming.

Raj stormed toward the last door in the corridor, the only one standing open. He could smell the night air coming through a broken window, but above that was the scent of blood—Sarah's blood. Emelie would have raced around him, but he held her back with a sharp command, stepping into the doorway himself to find none other than Estelle Edwards, and clutched before her, her head wrenched at a painful angle, was his Sarah.

Raj let his gaze roam over his lover's body, noting the dark bruise on the side of her face, the purpled swelling of bare ankles where someone had bound her feet with plastic ties so tight she could barely stand. He catalogued the injuries, tallying up the damage he would inflict on this human before he killed her. He looked up and met Sarah's eyes, seeing the defiant flash of angry gold despite her predicament. He smiled and said gently, “Sarah."

"Hey, Raj.” She managed a grin. “Quite a set up—” She cried out as Edwards jerked her back and Raj smelled the flow of fresh blood. The woman had a knife. And she was cutting Sarah with it.

His rage was so great, it was nearly paralyzing. He snarled loudly, opening his mouth and baring his fangs. “Emelie."

Emelie came up next to him. “Yes, my lord."

Edwards stiffened, and said, “You let me out of here, or I'll kill—"

That was all she managed to say before everything changed. With movements far too fast for the human eye to see, much less respond to, Raj crossed the room and spun Sarah away from Edwards, throwing the doctor toward Emelie who grabbed her and broke her wrist as an inducement to drop the weapon. Raj's attention was all for Sarah, scooping her up and setting her safely on the examining table before whirling to face the human woman who was screaming in pain, cradling her broken arm.

He crossed the small room in one long step and wrapped his fingers around her throat, cutting off the noise. “I met your husband, Dr. Edwards,” he said softly. Her eyes bulged and her face began to purple as she struggled for air, clawing at his fingers with her only functional hand. “He deserves better,” Raj said. He dropped Edwards to the floor and Cervantes was there, throwing her limp body over his shoulder. He left the room quickly, footsteps pounding down the hall and up the stairs.

Raj turned back to Sarah who looked up as he approached, her eyes filled with worry as well as relief. Emelie was crouched in front of her, carefully cutting away the plastic ties which were buried in the flesh of her swollen ankles. Raj met Sarah's eyes and smiled grimly. She had a right to be worried. As relieved as he was to find her alive and reasonably well, he was furious that she'd put herself in this position in the first place.

He picked up her bound hands and snapped the metal handcuffs, tossing them across the room. Her eyes filled with tears and she rubbed her wrists carefully, crying out loud when Em finally got the ties off and the blood surged back into her feet.

"Emelie,” he said softly, never taking his eyes off Sarah.

He felt more than saw Emelie glance from him to Sarah and back again, and heard her sigh. She leaned in to give Sarah a hug, whispering, “We'll talk later."

Raj scowled at her back as she left the room, and then transferred that scowl to Sarah.

"I know,” she said in a resigned voice. He picked her up and moved her farther back onto the table, gently lifting her legs one at a time to soothe away the pain, sending warm drifts of power into the swollen tissue of her feet and ankles. It would have been faster to share blood with her, but he knew she wouldn't want that.

"Raj,” she said in a small voice. He glanced up at her. “Are you pissed?"

He released her foot carefully and took her in his arms, holding her against his chest and feeling the steady thud of her heartbeat below his ribs. He kissed the top of her head. “I'm happy to see you alive."

She sighed contentedly and sank into his embrace, scooting forward to wrap her arms around his waist.

"I'm also pissed as hell,” he added dryly. Her arms tightened and she rubbed her face against the front of his sweater.

"I'm sorry,” she said.

"I'm sure you are."

She slapped him lightly. “Don't be mean. You know what I meant."

He chuckled softly and held her, knowing it couldn't last. His enemies had come close to taking Sarah's life. He couldn't take that risk again, couldn't let Sarah pay for what he was. “We have to get you out of here,” he said finally. “Was this the main location?"

"I think so. Edwards pretty much lived in here and I think all the data was kept here. I don't know if she uploaded anything."

"Simon will take care of that. This place, this entire project, will disappear. It never happened."

"I'll need to disappear again too,” she said on a tired breath. “Blackwood saw to that before he scuttled out of town."

Raj sighed and pulled away. “Simon can help you,” he said. “Anything you need, you can ask him or Emelie. They'll get you a new identity, transportation . . . whatever's necessary."

Sarah looked up at him and he could see the confusion and hurt on her face. “Raj?"

"I can't stay, Sarah, and I can't take you with me. I've got . . . responsibilities. Things I have to do now that—” He cut himself off. She didn't need to hear every bitter detail of his new life as a vampire lord. It would be months before he had the territory under control. Months spent traveling, meeting and defeating challenge after challenge, destroying those who'd grown too independent under Krystof's rule to accept a new lord, gathering in those who needed help, either from neglect or simply the trauma of the transition. Months of exhausting, brutal work followed by a long, long lifetime of rule. It was a burden he'd never sought, but it was his burden, not Sarah's. She deserved better.

He took her face in his hands, stroking his thumb over her soft lips, tenderly kissing her swollen temple with its ugly bruise. She closed tear-filled eyes as he bent to kiss her one last time, lingering to savor the sweetness of her mouth. “I'll send Emelie in.” He left before she could open her eyes, before he could see the pain he'd just put there.

Emelie came around the corner, still scowling after Raj's departing back. She took in Sarah's hurt, bewildered look and crossed to her quickly, shaking her head in disgust. She tsked loudly and said, “Men are such idiots. Makes me glad I'm a lesbian.” She looked Sarah up and down, frowning at her injuries. “Didn't he share blood with you?"

Sarah blushed. “No."

"Well, what the hell was he doing in here then? Jesus, I can't believe—"

"It's not his fault,” Sarah insisted, jumping to Raj's defense. “It's me. He tried, um, before and I wouldn't, that is, I didn't—” To her horror, she started crying.

"Oh, baby,” Emelie breathed. “What will I do with the two of you now?” She held Sarah, letting her cry away all the fear she'd been pushing back since they'd bonked her on the head and thrown her in the backseat of that car, all of the pain from her wretched aching feet and arms, the throbbing in her head. And most of all the pain in her heart at the thought of never seeing Raj again.

"Better now?” Emelie asked.

Sarah nodded, reaching for a tissue from the nearby stand. She blew her nose and threw the used tissue in the trash. “Sorry."

"That's okay. I'm used to it. Raj has that effect on a lot of people."

Sarah laughed and felt her eyes fill with fresh tears. She looked down at her hands so Emelie wouldn't notice and saw the blurry outline of a white card. She frowned and looked up at Em.