He clenched his fist against the surge of anger. He'd seen this done before, though thankfully only rarely. Matthew had, in some sense, become a thrall, but not one like Nikki. In Matthew's case, his mind and his will had been sucked from his body, leaving him little more than a robot, waiting to fulfill the wishes of his master. It took a vampire with exceptional telepathic abilities to achieve such a thrall. He could never have done it, despite the fact his gifts were very strong. But Elizabeth could. Michael, what's wrong with him?

His mind has been wiped. His anger surged through the link. He felt her wince, then her growing horror. What do you mean, wiped?

Just that. Let's go in for a closer look.

She regarded him doubtfully. Do you think it's safe?

Yes. The trap door had already been sprung, and there was no feel of magic in the air. Cordell was either extremely confident no one would find their way through this darkness, or he was a fool. Maybe even both.

He helped Nikki step over the hole, then guided her past the metal spikes that had threatened to skewer him, and the loose stone that had opened the trapdoor. No sense in hitting it a second time, just in case Cordell wasn't a fool and he did indeed have a second trap waiting.

"Matthew?” Nikki let go of Michael's hand and walked across to the teenager. There was no response from him, no spark of life. It was if she were facing a robot. A chill ran through her. She squatted down beside him and gently pinched his cheek. “Matthew?"

Michael stopped behind her and crossed his arms. His anger was a storm crowding the link. He knew who was behind this, even if he wasn't saying. Not that it took great intelligence to guess that it was probably Elizabeth.

The teenager didn't respond to either Nikki's touch or her words. She glanced up. Michael's face looked as grim as she felt. Why would someone do this? He's only a kid, for God's sake. They could have just asked him to do what they wanted. They didn't have to do this. No, they didn't.

She bit her lip, studying Matthew again. What are our options now?

He is little more than a robot. He has no future like this.

What he was really saying was that they had no option but to kill him. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I know. But you can't. Not yet. Maybe whoever did this to him could undo it. No one can replace what has been wiped.

She bit her lip. Can you touch what remains? We need to know why they kidnapped him. If we can't save him, we have to at least try to stop this from happening again. Nothing remains in him, Nikki. Nothing but memories, and the need to obey. Memories? Michael might not be able to access memories, but she could. She dug a hand into her pocket. Matthew's watch had survived the dunking, but Michael grabbed her wrist before she could wrap her fingers around it.

Damn it, don't be a fool. His mind voice was as fierce as his grip. You risk losing yourself in his thoughts.

Then be my anchor and pull me out if you feel it's dangerous. He'd done it before when Jasper had kidnapped Jake. We have to try this, Michael. It's our only chance. He sighed. That was one of the things she loved about this man. He was willing to admit when she was right, and he didn't go on arguing endlessly.

Get comfortable on the bed. I'll open the link fully and keep watch. The minute I feel your thoughts begin to blur into his, I'm pulling you out.

Though she wasn't entirely sure what he meant, she nodded and sat down on the bed beside Matthew. The teenager didn't move, didn't react in any way.

The link opened fully, and Michael's mind ran beside hers, a field filled with the brilliant color of his thoughts and emotions.

Ready when you are.

His thought was a breeze of wariness. He might be helping her, but he still wasn't happy about it. She could feel his fear, see it in the unhappy tinge of gray that swirled through the link, through her. She licked her lips and curled her fingers around the watch. While he hadn't worn it for a few days, the images still came thick and fast, thudding through her mind.

Control it, Nikki!

She frowned, concentrating on the images, sorting through them quickly. Found the ones she wanted and dived deep—so deep that she become one with them...

* * * *

...Matthew scrubbed the back of his hand across his nose. He hated the darkness, hated the cold, and hated the fact he was so damn scared he was almost pissing his pants. He had pissed his pants when Lizzie jumped him. She'd laughed and later brought him back a fresh pair but, he could still smell the stink on his skin.

He touched his neck. It was swollen and sore and he had no idea why she'd bitten him. Sucked him. It hadn't really hurt at the time, though. Just scared the piss out of him. Next time it would be better, she'd promised. Next time, you might just get lucky. He didn't want there to be a next time, even if it did mean staying a virgin. He just wanted to go home. Footsteps echoed across the silence. He edged back against the wall. The door opened and light filled the room, making him blink. The squat stranger was back. Behind him stood Lizzie. Her eyes looked weird, bright yellow and somehow intense. Like a cat's, he thought, just before it pounces on a mouse. He swallowed heavily. He didn't want to be her mouse. “What do you want with me?” He sounded like a girl, his voice all high and shrill.

"The time has come to prove your worth, young man.” The stranger's voice was as dead as the smell in the air. “Elizabeth, bring him along."

She walked into the room, a smile touching her lips. Lips that were the color of blood. His blood, maybe. He gulped, squeaking in fright when she grabbed him. But she didn't bite him, just dragged him one-handed to his feet and pushed him toward the door.

The stranger was ahead of them, wheeling down the corridor at a rate of knots. A weird little light rotated above his head, sending flickers of red and green up the walls. They reached some stairs and stopped. The light above the stranger's head pulsated, fading in and out of color. The stranger levitated in the air, scooting forward. Matthew gulped. Lizzie chuckled and dug her nails into his back, propelling him up the stairs.

They came to a doorway, then a small room. It hadn't been used for a while and was filled with dust. Mom would have had a fit. They didn't stop, heading into a warm, well-lit corridor.

"One wrong word, and you're dead meat,” Lizzie whispered, then licked his ear. It felt like she was tasting him. He shuddered and sidled away. She chuckled again. A woman stood at a counter, serving a couple of men decked out in shorts and sweatshirts. The stranger greeted her. She smiled and waved and didn't even look at him and Lizzie. It was like she didn't even know they were there.

They went down the hall and into an office. Computers lined the wall. Lizzie locked the door, and the stranger stopped in the middle of the room, then swung around to face him.

"You once boasted you could get into any computer you liked, even government ones." He'd said many things he hadn't meant. “Yeah? So?"

The stranger smiled. He had teeth like Lizzie's, long and sharp. “What about bank computers?"

"Oh yeah, that's easy.” Banks thought they were clever but they weren't. They'd never picked up any of the cash he'd transferred.

"Could you transfer money from one account to another, then on to another, creating a trail of money so confusing the authorities will never sort it out?"

"I suppose.” He frowned. “These your accounts? I don't want to be involved in anything illegal.” Not too illegal, at any rate. Stealing a few extra dollars was one thing. Stealing thousands was another. He didn't want to end up in jail.

The stranger's smile turned nasty. “You will do as we ask, one way or another.” His gaze slid past him.

“Elizabeth? I think another session is called for. He's not quite pliable enough." A hand grabbed him. He tried to scream, but it lodged somewhere in his throat. He felt her hands, felt her teeth, felt her thoughts in his mind. But his scream became silence, just endless silence...

* * * *

...Nikki's silent scream reverberated through Michael's soul. He wrenched her free from Matthew's memories, and caught her as she slumped forward. Her whole body was trembling, her mind a tangled mess of Matthew's memories and her own.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?” a dry voice said behind him. He froze for a second and silently cursed his luck. Elizabeth was the one person he didn't need right now. He must have been so caught up in watching Nikki that he hadn't even sensed her nearness. He pushed Nikki back against the wall, holding her upright with one hand, then turned to face his maker. She leaned casually against the door frame, a smile touching her ruby lips and ice in her eyes. He wondered briefly what he'd ever seen in her.

"There was no need to destroy the teenager's mind, Elizabeth. We both know you could have achieved control without going to this extreme."

Her shrug was grace itself. “You know I have a taste for virgins. Sometimes excitement gets the better of my control."

If she'd wanted to control her instincts, she would have. But she liked destruction just as much as she liked the fresh taste of an unwoken mind. Or body. Matthew had no doubt provided her with a double dose of pleasure.

"What brings you here? There's nothing left of the boy to play with.” He glanced briefly at Nikki. She still looked out of it, but awareness stirred through the link.

Elizabeth raised a dark eyebrow. “I might ask you the same question, only I guess the answer is somewhat obvious. You always did fancy yourself mankind's savior."

"Not a savior. Just a protector."

She waved an elegant hand. “Same thing. When will you learn they are not worth it?" Never, if it meant joining the likes of Jasper. And maybe even Elizabeth. “Why are you doing all this?

You certainly don't need the money."

"It was just a game at first.” She hesitated, shrugging. “Now I have little real choice in the matter." He frowned, not understanding why. Elizabeth was nearly eight hundred years old. There weren't many vampires left alive who had the strength of mind to overpower hers. And the brief glimpses he'd had of Cordell certainly hadn't led him to believe he could. So why did she have no choice? Why couldn't she leave, as she seemed to want to do?

Then he remembered the heat in her touch. “Cordell put an imp in you."

"You always were quick.” Amusement glimmered in her eyes. “Yes, one of the energy creatures now shares my body, and through his control over it, Cordell governs most of my actions." Most, but not all. Maybe because of her age, she'd retained a degree of control over the imp that Rachel and the other vampires had not.

"It will kill you, you know."

"It cannot. It merely resides within me, controlling me when I'm within Cordell's boundaries." If her actions now—or lack of them—were anything to go by, then she was currently well outside those boundaries.

"The imp killed the young vampire who was supposed to meet us at the airport, Elizabeth. His body could no longer contain the imp's heat, and he literally melted. Ginger has already told us her form will not long contain her. What makes you think your fate will be any different?" A frown flickered across her face. “You lie."

"You would taste it if I did."

"Yes.” She hesitated, then shrugged and glanced at Nikki. “Is this your thrall? Does she taste as pretty as she looks?"

"Keep away from her, or I promise you, I'll tear your cold heart out of your chest.” He kept his voice flat, devoid of any emotion. But anger rose in him, as well as fear. Elizabeth was a bigger danger to Nikki than she had ever been to him.

She raised her eyebrows again. “Touchy. One might be inclined to think you cared for her." He shrugged. “She suits my current needs, and I have no wish to make another." A red cloud of annoyance flashed through the link. Nikki was awake. And listening.

"I'm sure she does,” Elizabeth murmured. “She looks ... athletic. Boringly so." The annoyance became a cloud of indignant anger, and he had to bite down on his amusement. Boring was one word he would never use to describe his and Nikki's lovemaking—what little there had been of it so far.

"However,” Elizabeth continued, pushing away from the door frame,"I did not come here to discuss your thrall. Your presence has presented me with something of a quandary." Tension knotted his gut. He watched her carefully, knowing from the past that she would give no warning if she chose to attack. “You cannot take the teenager."

"Don't be tedious, Michael. I must. What I don't want to do right now is have to kill you."

"Presuming you could."

Her smile was that of a mother indulging a child. “What is the point of protecting him? Without me, he is nothing. An empty shell."

"I don't mean to protect him, Elizabeth."

"Ah. Well. I can't let you kill him. Not yet."

Her canines were beginning to show. She was anticipating the fight, even if she wasn't yet ready to actually fight him. “Then we are, as you say, at an impasse."

"Not really,” Nikki muttered and flung out her hand. Energy seared through his mind and across his skin. Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise, and she jerked backwards, tumbling down into the well. After several seconds there was a splash, then silence again.

"That witch deserved a good dunking. Boring indeed!" He grinned, even though he knew the sudden swim would only make Elizabeth angrier—make her more inclined to go after Nikki.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I take it you've recovered from the trip through Matthew's memories?"