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  Please let them be either in Utah or Nevada. The vampires should be at both facilities by now. “Good. I’ll come to you. Just tell me where.”

  “I’d rather come and get you.”

  “I’m sure. But that isn’t going to happen.” She kept her voice calm and resolved even while her stomach clenched. “I will meet you anywhere you wish, but I will not tell you my location.”

  Silence filled the line for a moment. “You can’t protect your former mate from me forever, Cara.”

  “Talen is more than capable of taking care of himself.” Even she could hear the bitterness in her voice.

  “Ah,” Lorcan’s satisfied tone nearly made her gag, “You have seen the true colors of the vampires, have you?”

  “I am not having this discussion with you, Lorcan. Do you wish to meet up or not?” God, how was she going to save not only Emma but herself?

  “Yes, I am in Wheatland, Cara. I’m warning you, should the vampires find me and attack, I will kill your sister—with great pain. And Cara, I’ll enjoy myself.”

  She believed him. The truth echoed in his voice; he would sacrifice a potential mate in this instance. “Where the hell is Wheatland?”

  He sighed. “The human educational system truly has failed you. Wheatland is in eastern Wyoming.”

  Damn it. The vampires were nowhere near. It would take them at least three hours to reach Wyoming. “I need some time.”

  “You have two hours. Then I start cutting pieces of this obnoxious bitch off.”

  So, she’d head north. She could stall Lorcan for the extra hour it took for the Kayrs brothers to show. “Fine. I’ll call this number when I reach Wheatland. And I will speak to my sister before I tell you where I am.”

  “Of course. I look forward to seeing you again.” He clicked off.

  Chapter 31

  Cara stood still for a moment, her mind reeling with the possibilities, her gaze flying around Talen’s office. She had to save her sister, and she had to leave Janie to do so. Talen would make sure Janie was protected even if something happened to Cara. The bastard might have married Cara to breed her, but his affection for Janie was obvious. A deep voice wondered if the affection he showed for her was true as well. She told the voice to grow up, the files didn’t lie.

  The voice told her to grow a pair and fight for what she wanted. Fight for the man and stop being a chicken shit. Damn voice.

  Punching keys on the computer, she found the most direct route to Wheatland. Basically, head north for about one hundred forty miles. She could do that.

  She calmed herself with several deep breaths, her gaze calculating as she scanned Talen’s office. She remembered the hidden room at Jordan’s and wondered where Talen would keep his weapons. Somewhere safe. Somewhere away from Janie. She ignored the wall of windows and concentrated tapping on the side walls. They sounded alike. Not hollow. With a frustrated sigh, she sat back down and drafted a quick note to Max and a longer one to Janie.

  Exhaling all her doubts, she opened her mind to Talen. “You there, mate?”

  “Yes. In the middle of something here, Cara.” A mental sigh came over loud and clear. “Emma’s not here.”

  An image of a building nearly reduced to rubble filled her mind. “I know. I’m going to meet her in Wyoming.”

  “No, you’re not.” Rage and fear edged each word.

  He had the audacity to tell her what to do? Seriously? Fury had her shields slipping for just a moment. “I don’t take orders from you, mate.” She sneered the last word.

  Silence. Then, “I can explain the file, Cara.”

  “Meet me in Wheatland, Talen. I’ll stall Lorcan until you get there.” She slammed down hard mental shields before he could reply. Boy was he going to be pissed.

  She wondered at her ability to do what she was about to do. The option remained for her to wait until Talen arrived, but Lorcan had sounded serious about hurting Emma. In fact, he’d seemed almost eager to do so.

  Plus, her sister was an incredibly strong psychic—she’d be waiting for Cara, knowing of her plan.

  Taking a determined breath, she ran into the kitchen and grabbed two knives off the counter, one she tucked into her right sock, the other she kept in her hand. With a quick prayer for help, she jogged to the garage which she opened with a punch of a button. She stared bemused at the black Hummer and a sleek two-seater sports car. Hmm. Well, in for a dollar … Relief bombarded her as she found the keys in the ignition of the sports car, which purred to life like an awakened tiger, and she couldn’t help but compare its muted roar with Talen—both sleek, hungry, and promising unimaginable power. She couldn’t control either one of them.

  She sped out of the garage, wondering how soon Talen could arrive in Wyoming. She punched her foot to the pedal and ignored her queasiness as the pretty pine trees blended into one long green blur outside. She reached Wheatland in just over two hours and wearily pulled into a Texaco outside of town to make her phone call. Her stomach revolted again, probably from fear they’d inject her with the virus as soon as possible. She wondered if she should’ve waited for backup.

  With a sigh, she parked next to the light blue telephone booth and stepped out of the car into the mellow spring air. She grasped the side of the sports car as the world spun around her, and with a deep breath she centered herself before walking slowly, carefully into the booth. She ran her credit card through the slot and punched in the number before she could change her mind, knowing they’d be able to trace the phone call and seeing no reason to lie about her whereabouts.

  “Hello, Cara.” Lorcan’s satisfied tone made her want to gag.

  “Put my sister on.” Her voice sounded calmer than she had hoped.

  “Of course.”

  A shuffling came over the line, then “Tell me you did not come to Wyoming.” Outrage rose her sister’s voice an octave.

  “Hi, Emma. Good to talk to you, too,” Cara said wryly.

  “Damn it—Cara, run! Now!” There was the sound of a scuffle, her sister swearing like a trucker, and then silence.

  “As you could hear, your infuriating sister is just fine,” Lorcan hissed.

  “Yes.” Cara agreed, a lump in her throat. How long Emma stayed fine was certainly up in the air.

  “Where are you, Cara?”

  “I’m at the Texaco east of town.”

  “Ah, good. I will send men to retrieve you. And, if you are not with them when they return …” He let the threat hang across the line.

  “I will be, Lorcan.” She had come this far, it was too late to back out.

  “I look forward to starting our life together.” His eerie voice almost had a calming quality. Almost.

  “I don’t suppose it matters that I don’t want a life with you?” Maybe she had misread him.

  “Not in the slightest.” His laugh rivaled the scariest Halloween recording ever made. “But you should consider yourself lucky we can return you to human form and rid you of the vampire’s taint. Otherwise, I would just have to kill you.”

  Cara’s mind reeled for an appropriate response. There wasn’t one. Dread pooled like dinosaur sludge in her gut as she thought of Talen, while he may have married her because she was a potential, he wouldn’t have killed her if things hadn’t worked out. There truly wasn’t a question of who the good guys were here.

  “My sister had better be in one piece when I arrive, Lorcan.” She hung up the phone, grimacing at the pretty sports car. She’d better hide it before the Kurjans showed up.

  Tucking the second knife into the small of her back, she sat on the yellow curb with her chin cradled in her hands when the shockingly white van pulled up. The gas station sprawled behind her with empty asphalted parking slots. There was little activity on the outskirts of town, and she figured she was on her own as she took in the silent vehicle. The windows were tinted almost black but she knew who, or rather what, lay inside waiting for her. Dread slid inside her stomach in even time with the van door opening; before she c
ould peer into the darkened interior, the stench of evil rolled outside and her heart stopped. She stood and took one step forward.

  She faltered on her next step as Talen’s voice wove strong and sure through her conscious while she stared into the darkness. “Do not get into that van.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” she thought back to him as strong as she could.

  “Run into the sun away from the van, mate.” Anger thickened his voice, and her heart jumped to life in response.

  She shook her head, her thoughts swirling. She had to save Emma. She tried to send back a plea for Talen to take care of Janie should she not survive this. She took another step toward the van just as a cascading wave of pure fury rolled through her brain to land in her heart, and with a cry, she saw blackness.

  “Fuck. I think I short-circuited her brain,” Talen growled in anger from his seat in the modified helicopter.

  “Seriously?” Dage turned in astonishment. “Do you know how rare that kind of connection is?”

  Talen cut golden eyes at his brother. “Who cares? Now she’s out cold, and I can’t tell where she’s going.” He turned back to watch the landscape below them flash by. “And she ran from me. What kind of connection is that?”

  “She went to save her sister, Talen.” Dage concentrated on flying the bird at a greater speed than he should. Jase and Conn muttered something to each other in the backseat.

  “Well, that’s my fucking job, isn’t it Dage?” A fierce growl rode through the words.

  “Actually, it’s my fucking job, brother. And don’t you forget it.” Dage’s tone matched Talen’s.

  Talen swung pained eyes at Dage. “Do you really think Emma’s your mate?”

  “I know it.” An absolute tone echoed through the earpieces.

  “Well good fucking luck.”

  “Thank you.” Now the tenor was dry. “And frankly, you’re more pissed at yourself than your mate.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You should’ve told her about that damn file, Talen. Also, leaving her access to the computer and that account? Of course they’d contact her.”

  “I was trying to keep her mind occupied while we searched for her sister.” In truth, he hadn’t been thinking. In fact, he hadn’t thought straight since he’d met the little scientist. “And you’re wrong.” Talen’s jaw snapped shut.

  “About what?” Dage asked.

  “I’m more pissed at my mate. A fact she will soon regret.”

  Dage shook his head. “I’m pretty sure you don’t understand women.”

  Talen shrugged. “I don’t care. But mine will understand me.”

  Dage checked several gages. “We’re five minutes outside of Cheyenne. Has she regained consciousness?”

  Talen closed his eyes to better concentrate before reopening them. “No. Not yet.” He turned his anxious gaze out the window.

  Cara came awake in strong arms with a cry, but the arms were wrong—too long, too cold, and too unwelcome. She looked up into swirling purple eyes and nausea slammed into her.

  “Hello, Cara. Do you faint often?”

  “No. Put me down.” She peered around Lorcan at some type of dark tunnel with thick stone walls. Underground, again. His booted feet sounded softly on what must be a dirt floor, and his pasty white skin glowed above her face while he stopped before a rounded wooden door, kicking it open with one foot.

  He put her on her feet and gave her a quick push inside. “I’ll be back for you.”

  The door slammed shut, and a key scraped through a lock. She stared across a round underground room and blue eyes met identical blue eyes for a startled beat. “Emma,” she breathed as she met her sister halfway, and they clasped each other tight.

  “Cara,” Emma said with a groan and stepped back. Her tired face scrutinized her younger sibling. “Holy crap. You’re pregnant.”

  “What?” Cara said through tears as the room tilted dangerously.

  “You. Are. Pregnant.” Emma grabbed both her hands. “You didn’t know?”

  Cara shook her head. “No. I guess it makes sense, but … I’ve been on birth control. I know it’s never one hundred percent, but …” Her mind spun as Emma enfolded her in a gentle hug. “Are you sure, Emma?” She already knew the answer, even before her sister nodded. Emma’s psychic abilities had never failed them. Of course, who the hell knew if birth control worked against vampire seed for God’s sake?

  Cara took a deep breath and studied her big sister. “You’ve looked better.” Emma’s dark hair lay tangled around her slender shoulders, a purple bruise marred light skin and covered one entire cheekbone, and dark marks of worry slashed under her eyes.

  “Yeah, and you’re knocked up,” Emma retorted before moving toward the door and yanking a mangled lipstick tube out of the back pocket of her faded jeans. “The door is a thick wood, and I’m close to picking the lock. The walls are made of stone bricks, and we’re under the ground somewhere, but I saw a map when I first got here and think I can figure the way out.”

  Cara raised an eyebrow. “You’re picking the lock with your lipstick, Em?” Man, her sister had lost it.

  Emma snorted. “It’s a lock pick camouflaged as a lipstick, dummy. I’ve been on the run for two months—believe me, I’ve been preparing for this.” She moved forward toward the door and inserted the pick into the old-fashioned lock before bending to one knee and starting to twist. “All those times Daddy locked us in the closet is actually coming in handy. Funny, huh?”

  “Not really,” Cara retorted. “He really was a bastard, wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah. Maybe he’s enjoying hell right now.”

  “You think so?” Cara bent closer to watch her sister manipulate the lock.

  “Yeah. I don’t think you can use God to beat the heck out of people and then get away with it.”

  Her mind still reeling, Cara slid down to the hard dirt floor, not needing to check for the knife at her back—it was clearly gone. Dust and wet mold made her sneeze. She belatedly remembered the knife hidden in her sock before leaning down to pat her leg. Damn. Lorcan must have taken the weapon while she was unconscious. “So, where are we, Em?”

  “Somewhere in Wyoming. At a new facility because something happened to their stronghold in Portland. The good news is that this place isn’t fully staffed yet, and they brought me here only because they knew you were fairly close.” Emma rubbed her hands on her jeans before returning her attention to the lock. “This is a temporary facility—I have a feeling their permanent one would be a lot harder to escape from.”

  “Yeah, we raided the place in Portland—though I don’t think that one was fully staffed yet, either.”

  Emma turned surprised eyes her way. “You raided the place?”

  “Uh, yeah. They kidnapped a friend of mine, and we had to go and get her.”

  “Who exactly is ‘we’?” Emma turned back to the lock.

  “Um, well, my husband, Talen, and his brothers.”

  “You’re married?” Emma’s voice rose to an odd pitch.

  “And mated,” Cara said quietly, wondering how much Emma knew. She had her answer when her sister swiveled around to face her and paled to near white.

  “Not to a Kurjan?”

  “No.” Cara leaned forward to pat her sister on the arm. “To a vampire.”

  “What? You married one of the vampires?”

  “Yeah. What do you know about them?” She chose not to mention Dage and his interest in Emma.

  Emma shrugged. “They’re mortal enemies of the Kurjans, look like us except for their eyes, and also need mates with enhanced abilities.” She ran a rough hand through her rioting hair. “I guess your empathic abilities made you a potential.” Her eyes focused in concern. “Where’s Janie?”

  “Safe.”

  “Thank God.” Emma studied her closely. “Were you forced?”

  “To mate?” Cara blushed to the roots of her hair.

  “Yes.”

  “Um. No, not really.
”

  “Not really?” Emma’s gaze hardened.

  “Not at all, actually,” Cara sighed as she dropped her hands and blushed again under her sister’s searching gaze.

  “Where is he, Cara?”

  “On his way,” she said miserably.

  “On his way?” Emma frowned, storm clouds brewing in her eyes.

  “Um, yeah. They were at least three hours out and I could get here faster without waiting for them.” Cara whispered the statement, a deep flush rising under her skin to pool in her face.

  “Why didn’t you wait for them?” Emma asked in astonishment. “Since neither of us are exactly strong fighters, a sworn enemy of the damn Kurjus would come in handy right now.”

  “I know.” Cara sighed. “But Lorcan said he’d start cutting off your body parts if I didn’t hurry.”

  “And?” Damn it. Her sister knew her too well.

  “And I found a file in Talen’s desk ordering for him to mate and bear sons.” Cara avoided her sister’s eyes by looking around the small, empty room, but only yellowed stone walls and a dirt floor were visible. She just couldn’t go into the whole branding situation yet.

  “Oh. So you were pissed?”

  Cara nodded.

  “And you were hurt?” Emma’s voice softened.

  Cara nodded again and blinked back tears.

  “Okay, we’ll figure all of that out later. Right now we need to get the heck out of here before some doctor arrives. If Lorcan knows you’ve mated, he’ll try to use the virus on you.”

  “You know about it?”

  “Yes. The lab I worked at helped develop it, but we thought we were curing genetic diseases. We had no clue the Kurjans even existed. When I found out, I tried to destroy the virus, but it was too late.”

  “And they came after you?”

  Emma nodded. “Yeah. They knew about me from day one; it was always their plan to ‘acquire me’ after we developed the virus.” She flushed. “And they checked into my background and found out about you and Janie. It’s my fault you’re here.”

  “It’s their fault, Em.” Cara closed her eyes and concentrated on reaching Talen. Only static filled her head, and she wondered if whatever had happened earlier had broken their connection. If so, she fervently prayed that the results were temporary.