"i'm...i'm sorry," she stammered. "i should be thanking you."

"he'll be all right. that was quick thinking on your part, bringing him here."

"i was going to take him home. i've got some...some blood there, but it isn't fresh, and he looked so pale...and you were closer."

"i doubt that any of your old blood would have worked on that belly wound."

"thank you for saving him."

"as i recall, you said you'd do anything i asked."

her gaze flew to his face. "yes. i...i did."

"did you mean it?"

she nodded, unable to speak past the growing lump in her throat.

"come here, then."

she stared at him, her heart racing. she willed herself to move forward but her feet seemed rooted to the spot. not like this, she thought. please, not like this.

when she didn't move, he closed the short distance between them. as though spellbound, daisy stood motionless while he drew her body against his, then pushed her hair behind her ear.

his fingers traced the curve of her throat. "sweet," he murmured. "so sweet."

his tongue skimmed over her skin, hotter than any flame. why hadn't she realized he would rather have her blood than her flesh? and why was that thought so disappointing?

placing one finger beneath her chin, he tilted her head back, then claimed her lips with his.

as always when he kissed her, daisy's mind seemed to shut down. his lips were firm on hers, cool at first, then slowly warming. his tongue teased hers as his hands cupped her buttocks, drawing her against the unmistakable evidence of his desire. and in that moment, she would have given him anything he asked.

she felt bereft when he took his mouth from hers. she blinked up at him, her eyes filled with desire and confusion. "i thought..."

"did you really think i'd take advantage of you?" he asked.

still confused, she lifted her chin defiantly. "don't you want me? i said i'd do anything."

"oh, i want you all right, more than you can imagine. but when you come to my bed, it'll be your idea, because you want it, not because you think you owe me a favor." he raked a hand through his hair. "you'd better go check on your brother. he's waking up."

before she could ask how he knew that, erik vanished from her sight.

daisy stared at the place where he had stood only moments before, thinking how incredible it was that he could just disappear into thin air like that. what was she going to do about erik? she knew he wanted her in the most primal way, but he wanted more than that. he wanted her body and her blood, her heart and her soul. how could she surrender herself to him? how could she not, when she wanted him as much as he wanted her? ever since the night she had met him, he had been in her mind, in her heart. it didn't matter how often she told herself it was foolish to even think of having a relationship with him, the thought was always there, like an itch she couldn't scratch.

"it's impossible," she muttered. "the whole thing is impossible. he's a vampire, you're a blood thief. your father and alex are hunters."

daisy scrubbed her hands up and down her arms. how could she and erik ever find any common ground between them, besides the insatiable desire that flared between them whenever he was in the room? her parents would never accept him. and what about her friends? her best friend's little sister had been killed by a vampire. jennifer would never, ever understand how daisy could be friends with one of the undead, let alone be in love with one...

in love. for the first time, daisy admitted she felt more for erik than just affection, more than an undeniable attraction. she was deeply, hopelessly, in love with him. she didn't know when it had happened, didn't know if what she felt was real or if he had worked some sort of supernatural vampire mojo on her, but it felt right. it felt real.

in love with a vampire, daisy thought. how could that be? she had been taught since childhood that they were no longer human, that it wasn't a crime to destroy them or to sell their blood. hunting vampires, marketing their blood online, those were considered laudable occupations.

oh, lord, what was she going to do now? how could she explain her feelings to her family, to her best friend, to herself?

try as she might, she couldn't find an answer. feeling the mother of all headaches coming on, she pushed the tumultuous thoughts from her mind. alex was waking up. dealing with her brother was something she could handle.

taking a deep breath, she went downstairs to the guest room. she paused a moment, then opened the door and stepped inside.

alex was sitting up, his back against the headboard. he glanced around the room. "daisy, what the hell's going on? where am i?"

pasting a reassuring smile on her face, she sat on the edge of the bed. "don't you remember what happened?"

"happened?" alex blinked at her, and then he frowned. "oh, yeah, we went looking for rhys."

daisy nodded.

"yeah, i remember now. we found a lair." alex looked at her, his face as pale as the pillowcase behind his head. "i found his resting place...i was going to stake him when he sprang at me..." his eyes narrowed. "i don't remember much of anything after that."

"i went in looking for you," daisy said, forcing a smile. "just in the nick of time."

"was it him? was it costain?"

daisy nodded.

"and you killed him?" astonishment swept over her brother's face. "hot damn, the reward's ours!"

daisy shook her head. "i don't think i destroyed him. i staked him, but i think i might have missed his heart."

"you didn't make sure? you didn't take his head?"

"at the time, i was more interested in getting you out of there." for the moment, she decided not to tell her brother that he had been half dead, or that erik had given him his blood and saved his life, both facts she was certain alex wouldn't appreciate, at least not at the moment.

alex's gaze moved around the unfamiliar room. "so where are we?"

"a friend's house," she said with a shrug. "it didn't seem smart to go home."

"yeah, you're probably right," alex agreed somewhat dubiously. and then suspicion flared behind his eyes. "what friend?"

daisy worried her lower lip with her teeth. there was no point in lying. sooner or later, erik would appear and alex would know where they were.

she was about to answer when alex said, "this is his house, isn't it? the artist's?"

"yes, it was closer than ours and i...i didn't know where else to go."

alex snorted. "you think an artist can protect us from the likes of rhys costain?"

"i don't know," daisy said quietly. "i hope so."

erik propelled himself across the city to rhys's main lair; when he found it empty, he went to check on the house where the vampire council met.

a harsh command silenced lucifer as erik vaulted over the fence and landed on the front porch. a glance at the lock showed it had been picked. dreading what he might find, erik pushed the door open and stepped inside. the scent of fresh blood was unmistakable.

expecting the worst, he was relieved to see rhys sitting on the sofa, his fangs buried in the neck of a leggy blond erik recognized as one of the girls from la morte rouge.

rhys lifted his gaze when erik entered the room.

"sorry," erik muttered. "i didn't mean to interrupt your dinner."

snarling softly, rhys pushed the girl aside and licked the blood from his lips. "what the hell are you doing here?"

damn! why hadn't he anticipated that question? he rarely showed up on rhys's doorstep without an invitation or a darn good reason. unfortunately, he didn't have an invitation, and he couldn't very well tell rhys that he had just stopped by to see if he had survived daisy's attack.

"well?" rhys muttered impatiently.

stalling for time, erik cleared his throat. what possible excuse could he give? "i was in the neighborhood," he said, keeping his voice carefully casual. "thought i'd stop by and see if you were in the mood to go hunting down by the docks." he gestured at the blonde sprawled on the sofa. her eyes were closed; a drop of bright red blood glistened like a ruby on her slender throat. "i didn't know you were ordering in."

rhys glanced at the girl, as if he had forgotten she was there. "you want to go hunting? what's the occasion?"

"nothing special," erik said with a shrug. "just thought i'd like some company for a change."

rhys grunted softly. "i'm glad you're here." giving the girl a nudge, he gestured for her to leave the room.

rising, her legs none too steady, the blonde left the house.

with a wave of his hand, rhys closed the front door. "i was attacked today."

"attacked?" erik repeated. "by who?"

"i don't know. he didn't leave his smell behind, but i've tasted his blood. i'll know him when i find him."

erik swore under his breath. if rhys found alex, he would find daisy. and if he found the o'donnells at erik's house...damn! erik didn't want to think about what that would mean. "are you all right?"

"what do you think?" rhys draped his arm over the back of the sofa. "it was a near thing, though."

with a casualness he was far from feeling, erik dropped into the chair across from rhys. it took every ounce of his self-control to keep his face impassive, his manner relaxed.

"he wasn't alone."

erik went still as he waited for rhys to go on.

"he had a girl with him. a tasty-looking little morsel with auburn hair and green eyes. when i find her..." he licked his lips. "for all that she was a fragile-looking thing, she had spunk." lifting one hand, he rubbed his chest. "drove a stake through me, she did. an inch or two to the left and it would have been all over."

he'd seen her, erik thought, his hands clenching into tight fists. rhys had seen daisy.