"you're right," alex said. "bring me a slice of that pie, will you?"

with a nod, daisy left the table.

alex looked at erik. "i take it you're not having dessert."

"no."

"no taste for sweets?"

erik glanced at daisy, who was standing at the dessert table. "it depends on the sweet," he remarked.

alex frowned as he followed erik's gaze. "what are your intentions toward my sister?"

"intentions?"

"you know what i mean. she said you've only known each other a couple of weeks, but it doesn't look that way to me. i see the way she looks at you," alex said, leaning forward. "the way you look at her."

"we're attracted to one another," erik said mildly. "it's quite normal."

"is it? you're hiding something from her, something..." alex frowned. "i don't know what it is, but you're no good for her."

"perhaps not," erik said candidly. "but she's very good for me."

"what's good for you?" daisy asked, taking her seat beside erik.

"you are," he said, smiling.

alex pushed his plate away. "i'll wait for you in the car."

daisy gestured at the pie on her tray. "what about your dessert?"

"forget it," alex said curtly. "i'm not hungry anymore." rising, he stalked out of the restaurant.

"he's not going to make this easy, is he?" erik remarked.

"he's never made anything easy," daisy muttered. "do you want to go?"

"no, finish your dessert." he turned to look out the window. the sun was still visible above the horizon. "take as long as you like."

daisy wasn't sure she could endure another day and night on the road with erik and her brother.

last night, after they left the restaurant, the atmosphere in the car had been tense, to say the least. daisy had managed to distract alex while erik transported himself from the restaurant into the backseat. pleading a headache, he had pulled the blanket over his head. daisy had taken a turn at the wheel, grateful to have something to occupy her mind. alex had sulked in the passenger seat.

at dusk, alex had climbed into the backseat and daisy had relinquished the wheel to erik.

and now it was night again, and erik was driving.

"how much longer?" daisy asked.

"we should be there a little after midnight," erik replied. they had made good time since leaving the motel three nights ago. he was reasonably certain they would be safe once they reached boston. he and rhys had never exchanged blood; there was no blood link between the two of them, no way for rhys to find him.

it was different with alex; rhys had tasted alex's blood, which might allow the vampire to track him over a short distance, but even rhys costain couldn't follow a scent that was twenty-six hundred miles away. unless alex had also tasted costain's blood.

of course, that was a question erik couldn't ask daisy's brother, since he wasn't supposed to know that a vampire was after the two of them. but it was something they needed to know. he would have to ask daisy about it. he didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner.

blood was a strong bond. erik had drunk from daisy and she had tasted his blood, which had created a bond between them, one that daisy remained unaware of due to the fact that erik kept his mind closed to her. he would always be able to find her; if he so desired, he could read her thoughts. if he opened his mind to her, the link between them would work both ways, allowing her access to his thoughts as well. such a bond grew stronger with each exchange of blood, forging a connection between vampire and mortal that could only be broken by death.

erik swore softly. if alex and rhys had exchanged blood, there was no point in running away. rhys would be able to home in on alex's blood whether alex was across the street or across the country.

erik slid a glance at daisy. her eyes were closed; her lashes lay like dark fans against her rosy cheeks. in all his years, erik had never created another vampire, never bonded with a mortal, mainly because he had never met anyone, male or female, he wanted to be bound to, until he met daisy. and now, through some cosmic quirk of fate, he shared a blood link with the notorious blood thief.

needing to clear his head, erik lowered the car window. a blood-red moon smiled down on him; the cool night air caressed his skin like the hand of a familiar friend. he had learned to love being a vampire just as he had grown to love the night--the sounds, the silence, the sense of belonging. he was a creature of the night now, one with the darkness in ways no mortal could or would ever understand. with his enhanced night vision, nothing was hidden from him. he saw the brown and white dog skulking through the shadows, the barn owl perched in an oak tree alongside the highway, the mouse foolishly trying to cross the road.

to be a vampire was to see things, hear things, that were beyond the limited abilities of mortals. many vampires, drunk on the power of what they were, began to regard mortals as little more than food. rhys was one of them. he had been a vampire for so long, he had forgotten what it was like to be human.

to erik's dismay, there were times when he caught himself thinking along the same lines, viewing mortals as little more than sustenance. when that happened, he made himself stop and think about his wife and children, about the love they had shared, their hopes and dreams. vampire though he might be, he had always tried to hang on to some vestige of his humanity, to remember what it had been like to be a mortal man, a husband and a father.

his gaze slid over the woman beside him. she was a young female in the prime of her life with her whole future ahead of her. one day, she would give up being a blood thief, settle down with a decent young man, and raise a couple of kids. whether he liked it or not, a 325-year-old vampire had no place in daisy o'donnell's life or her future.

hearing a subtle change in alex's breathing, erik glanced in the rearview mirror. daisy's brother sat up, stretching. he grimaced when he met erik's gaze.

erik grinned wryly. alex made no secret of the fact that he didn't like erik dating his sister. good thing he didn't know the truth, erik mused, his grin widening.

"according to daisy's directions, we should almost be there," erik remarked.

"yeah," alex said. "take the next off ramp and turn right at the first stop sign."

erik glanced in the rearview mirror again. "you want to tell me why you dislike me so much?"

"i don't trust you."

"any particular reason why you feel that way?"

"nothing i can put my finger on, but in my gut, i know you're not what you seem."

erik grunted softly, impressed with o'donnell's intuition. "whatever you might think, your sister is safe with me. believe that if you believe nothing else."

"what do you want from her?"

"what does any man want from a beautiful woman?" erik grinned inwardly as alex's face turned an angry shade of purple. "calm down before you bust a blood vessel," erik said. "i'm kidding."

"i doubt it," alex muttered.

erik met alex's gaze in the mirror again. "i'm in love with her," he said quietly. "i know you don't approve and you'd rather i wasn't here, but i really don't give a damn what you think. she's in danger, and until she's safe again, i'll be nearby whether you like it or not."

"turn left here," alex said gruffly. "we're home."

daisy woke up when the car came to a stop. she glanced out the window, overcome with a sense of peace when she saw the light shining in the front window. her mother always left a light burning in the window when one of her children was away from home, whether they were going to be gone for an evening or indefinitely.

she looked up when erik opened the car door and offered her his hand. "here we are."

she nodded as she placed her hand in his and let him help her out of the car.

erik tossed his keys to alex. "why don't you get the bags?"

daisy tugged on erik's hand. "you're staying here, with us, aren't you?"

"i don't think so."

what was she thinking? of course he wouldn't want to stay with her, not when her father and brothers were hunters. "will i see you tomorrow night?"

"i'll be here."

"where are you going to stay?"

"i'll find a place. don't worry about me. and don't let that brother of yours do anything stupid. if you're smart, you'll both stay indoors as soon as the sun starts to set. i doubt if rhys knows where you are, but it's not worth taking the chance. if he finds alex, he'll kill him. and you, too. don't doubt it for a minute."

daisy swallowed hard. if he was trying to scare her, he'd done a first-rate job.

"do you know if alex ingested any of rhys's blood?"

"drank it, you mean?"

"yeah."

"i don't think so. why?"

"let's just say things will be less complicated if he didn't."

"less complicated?" daisy frowned at him. "in what way?"

"rhys has your brother's scent, but i'm pretty sure he can't track that this far. if your brother and rhys exchanged blood, rhys will be able to find him no matter where he goes. if they didn't, then alex is probably safe here." erik ran his knuckles down her cheek. "and so are you."

"i never thought to ask him about that."

"well, if rhys doesn't show up in the next day or so, there's probably nothing to worry about."

"should i talk to alex about it?"

"probably wouldn't hurt."

"all right."

needing to touch her, he ran his hands up and down her arms. "until we know for sure, remember what i said about staying inside."

"i will."

"hey, daisy," alex called from the porch. "you comin'?"