wrath walked up the front steps of darius's house. the door swung open before he could reach the brass handle.

fritz was on the other side. "master, i didn't know you were?a"

the doggen froze as he saw beth.

yeah, you know who she is, wrath thought. but let's be cool.

she was jumpy enough as it was.

"fritz, i'd like you to meet beth randall." the butler kept staring. "you going to let us in?"

fritz bent down low and bowed his head. "of course, master. ms. randall, it is an honor to finally meet you in person."

beth seemed taken aback, but managed a smile as the doggen straightened and moved from the doorway.

when she stuck her hand out, fritz gasped and looked to wrath for permission.

"go ahead," wrath muttered as he shut the front door. he never could understand the strict traditions of the doggens.

fritz reached out reverently, clasping her palm in both of his and dropping his forehead to their joined hands. words in the old language were spoken in a quiet rush.

beth was clearly astonished. but then she had no way of knowing that by offering her hand to him, she had paid him the highest honor of his species. as the daughter of a princeps, she was a high-bred aristocrat in their world.

fritz was going to be glowing for days.

"we'll be in my chamber," wrath said when the contact was broken.

the doggen hesitated. "master, rhage is here. he had a... little accident."

wrath cursed. "where is he?"

"in the downstairs bathroom."

"needle and thread?"

"in there with him."

"who's rhage?" beth asked as they started down the hall.

wrath paused by the drawing room. "you wait here."

but she followed when he walked on.

he turned around, pointing over her shoulder. "that wasn't a request."

"and i'm not waiting anywhere."

"damn it, do as i say."

"no." the word was spoken without heat. she defied him with total calmness and strength of purpose.

as if he were no more an obstacle in her path than a throw rug.

"jesus christ. fine, lose your dinner."

as he stalked down to the bathroom, he could smell the blood all the way out in the hall. this was a nasty one, and he really wished beth weren't so hell-bent on seeing for herself.

he pushed the door open, and rhage looked up. the vampire's arm was hanging over the sink. there was blood everywhere, a dark pool on the floor, a little pond on the counter.

"rhage, man, what's up?"

"sliced and diced. lesser got me a good one, right through a vein, down to the bone. i'm leaking like a sieve."

in a blurry composite. wrath caught the movement of rhage's hand going down to his shoulder and up into the air. down to his shoulder, up into the air.

"did you get him?"

"hell, yeah."

"oh... my... god," beth said. "oh, dear god. is he stitching?a"

"hey, who's the cutie?" rhage said, pausing on the upstroke.

there was a strangled sound, and wrath moved, blocking beth's view with his bodv.

"need help?" he asked, even though both he and his brother knew he had nothing to offer. he couldn't see well enough to close his own wounds, much less someone else's. the fact that he had to rely on his brothers or fritz to tend to him was a weakness he despised.

"no, thanks." rhage laughed. "i'm a good little sewer, as you know firsthand. now who's your friend?"

"beth randall, this is rhage. an associate of mine. rhage, this is beth, and she doesn't do movie stars, got it?"

"loud and clear." rhage leaned to one side, trying to see around wrath. "nice to meet you, beth."

"are you sure you don't want to go to a hospital?" she said weakly.

"nah. this one's just messy. when you can use your large intestine as a belt loop, that's when you hit the pros."

a croaking sound came out of beth's mouth.

"i'm going to take her downstairs," wrath said.

"oh, yes, please," she murmured. "i'd really like to go down... stairs."

he put his arm around her, and he knew how affected she was by the way she melted into his body. it felt so good to have her relying on him for strength.

too good, actually.

"you cool?" wrath said to his brother.

"damn straight. i'm leaving as soon as this is done. got three jars to collect."

"nice tally."

"would have been more if this little gift hadn't come by air mail. no wonder you like those stars so much." rhage moved his hand around, as if he were tying a knot. "you should know tohr and the twins are"?ahe grabbed a pair of scissors off the counter and snipped the thread?a"continuing our work from last night. they should be back in a couple hours to report in, just as you asked."

"tell them to knock first."

rhage nodded and had the sense not to follow up with any commentary.

as wrath led beth down the hall, he found himself stroking her shoulder. her back. then he curled his hand around her waist, his fingers sinking into her soft flesh. she fit well against him, her head coming up to his chest, resting on his pectoral as they moved together.

too comfortable. too familiar, he thought. way too good.

he held on to her anyway.

and even as he did, he wished he could take back what he'd said to her on that sidewalk. about her being his.

because that wasn't true. he didn't want to take her as his shellan. he'd been worked up, jealous. picturing that cop's hands all over her. pissed off that he hadn't killed the human after all. the words had slipped out.

ah, hell. the female did something to his brain. somehow managed to unplug his well-developed self-control and put him in touch with his inner fricking psycho.

it was a connection he wanted to avoid.

after all, fits of insanity were rhage's specialty.

and the brothers didn't need another hair-trigger loose cannon in the group.

beth closed her eyes and leaned against wrath, trying to shut out the picture of that gaping wound. the effort was like blocking sunlight with her hands: parts of the image kept seeping through. all that bright red, shiny blood, the raw, dark pink muscle, the shocking white of bone. and that needle. puncturing the skin, pulling the flesh out to a point, breaking through with the black thread?a

she opened her eyes.

open was better.

no matter what the man said, that was no little scrape he was dealing with. he needed to go to the hospital. and she would have argued the point more strenuously, except she'd been a little busy trying to convince her pad thai to stay put.

besides, that guy seemed pretty darned competent at fixing himself up.

he was also one hell of a looker. even though the gore was distracting, she couldn't help but notice his dazzling face and body. short blond hair, iridescent blue eyes, a face that belonged on the big screen. he'd been dressed as wrath was, in black leather pants and shitkickers, but his shirt had been cast aside. the muscles of his upper torso had stood out in sharp relief beneath the overhead light, an impressive display of strength. and the multicolored tattoo of a dragon that covered his whole back was a total stunner.

but then, it wasn't as if wrath were going to hang out with some scrawny tax accountant-looking nancy.

drug dealers. they were clearly drug dealers. guns, weapons, huge amounts of cash. and who else got into a knife fight and played doctor on themselves?

she recalled that the man had borne the same circular-shaped scar on his chest that wrath did.

they must be in a gang, she thought. or the mob.

she suddenly needed some space, and wrath let her go as they walked into a lemon-colored room. her feet slowed. the place looked like a museum or something she'd expect to see in architectural digest. thick, pale drapery framed wide windows, rich oil paintings gleamed from the walls, objets d'art were tastefully arranged. she glanced down at the carpet. the thing was probably worth more than her apartment.

maybe they didn't just deal in crack, x, and heroin, she thought. maybe they worked the antiques black market as well.

now there was a combo you didn't run across very often.

"this is nice," she murmured, fingering an antique box. "very nice."

she eyed wrath when she got no response. he was standing just inside the room, arms folded across his pecs, at the ready even though he was home.

but then, when did he ever relax? she thought.

"have you always been a collector?" she asked, trying to buy some time so her nerves could settle. she walked over to a hudson river school painting. good lord, it was a thomas cole. probably worth hundreds of thousands. "this is beautiful."

she glanced over her shoulder. he was focused on her, paying no attention to the painting. and there was no expression of pride or ownership on his face.

which was not the way someone looked when their things were admired.

"this is not your house," she said.

"your father lived here."

yeah, sure.

but what the hell. she'd come this far. she might as well play along.

"then he obviously had plenty of money. what did he do for a living?"

wrath walked across the room, toward an exquisite, full-length portrait of what looked like a king.

"come with me."

"what? you want me to walk through that wall?a"

he pushed one side of the painting, and it swiveled outward to reveal a dark corridor.

"oh," she said.

he gestured with his arm. "after you."

beth approached carefully. the glow of gas lanterns flickered over black stone. she leaned in, seeing a set of stairs that disappeared around a turn far below.

"what's down there?"

"a place where we can talk."

"why don't we stay up here?"

"because you're going to want to do this privately. and my brothers are likely to show up soon."

"your brothers?"

"yes."

"how many of them are there?"

"five, now. and you're stalling. go on. nothing will hurt you down there, i promise."

uh-huh. sure.

but she put her foot over the gilded edge of the frame. and stepped into the darkness.