havers went down into his lab and paced around, loafers slapping against the white linoleum tile. after two trips around the room, he came to rest in front of his workstation. he stroked the graceful enameled neck of his microscope. looked up at the fleets of glass beakers and the battalions of vials on the shelves overhead. he heard the humming of refrigerators, the droning purr of the ventilation unit in the ceiling. caught the lingering, medicinal specter of lysol disinfectant.

the scientific environment reminded him of his intellectual pursuits.

of the pride he took in the strength of his mind.

he considered himself civilized. capable of shelving his emotions. good at responding logically to stimuli. but this hatred, this anger was not something he could sit with. the feeling was too violent, too energizing.

plans spun in his head, plans involving bloodshed.

except who was he kidding? if he raised so much as a swiss army knife at wrath, he was the one who'd be left bleeding.

he needed someone who knew how to kill. someone who could get close to the warrior.

when the solution came to him, it was obvious. he knew just whom to go to and where to find him.

havers turned to the door, satisfaction bringing a smile to his lips.

but when he caught his reflection in the mirror over the deep-bellied lab sink, he froze. his shifty eyes were too bright, too eager. the nasty grin was one he'd never worn before. the fevered flush on his face was in anticipation of a vile result.

he didn't recognize himself in the mask of vengeance.

he hated the way he looked.

"oh, god."

how could he even think such things? he was a physician. a healer. he'd devoted himself to saving lives, not taking them.

marissa had said it was over. she'd broken the covenant. she wasn't going to see wrath again.

yet didn't she still deserve to be avenged for the way she'd been treated?

and now was the time to strike. the approach to wrath was uncluttered by the threat that marissa might get caught in the crossfire.

havers felt a shudder go through him, and he assumed it was horror at the magnitude of what he was considering. but then his body lurched, and he had to reach out to steady himself. vertigo threw the world around him into a blender, and he tumbled over to a chair.

wrenching free the knot of his bow tie, he struggled to breathe.

the blood, he thought. the transfusion.

it wasn't working.

in despair, he fell from the chair to his knees. brought to the ground by his failure, he closed his eyes and let himself sink into blackness.

wrath rolled onto his side and took beth with him, keeping them joined. with his erection still twitching inside of her, he brushed her hair back. it was damp with her delicate sweat.

mine.

as he kissed her lips, he noted with satisfaction that she was still breathing hard.

he'd made love to her properly, he thought. slow and deliberate.

"will you stay?" he asked.

she laughed huskily. "i'm not sure i can walk right now. so, yeah, i think lying here is a good option."

he pressed his lips to her forehead. "i'll return just before dawn."

as he withdrew from the warm cocoon of her body, she looked up. "where are you going?"

"i'm meeting with my brothers and then we're going out."

he left the bed and went to the closet, dressing in his leathers, pulling his holster onto his shoulders. he slipped in a dagger on each side and grabbed his jacket.

"fritz will be here," he said. "if you need anything, pick up the phone and dial star forty. it'll ring upstairs."

she wrapped a sheet around herself and rose from the bed.

"wrath." she touched his arm. "stay."

he dipped down for a quick kiss. "i'm coming back."

"are you going to fight?"

"yes."

"but how can you? you're..." she stopped.

"and i've been blind for three hundred years."

her breath sucked in. "you're that old?"

he had to laugh. "yeah."

"well, i've got to say you're holding up just fine." her smile faded. "how long will i live?"

a shot of cold dread hit him, stealing a couple of heartbeats from his chest.

what if she didn't make it through the transition?

wrath felt his stomach lurch. he, who was all chummy with the grim reaper, suddenly got cracked in the gut with some base mortal fear.

but she was going to make it, right? right?

he realized he was looking at the ceiling, and wondered who the hell he was talking to. the scribe virgin?

"wrath?"

he yanked beth against him, holding her tight, as if he could physically bar her from her fate if it was a bad one.

"wrath," she said into his shoulder. "wrath, honey, i can't... i can't breathe."

he loosened his hold immediately and looked down into her eyes, trying to force his to focus. the strain pulled the skin of his temples tight.

"wrath? what's wrong?"

"nothing."

"you didn't answer my question."

"that's because i don't know the answer."

she seemed taken aback, but then arched up onto her tiptoes. she kissed his lips. "well, however long i've got, i wish you would stay with me tonight."

there was a pounding on the door.

"yo, wrath?" rhage's voice carried through the steel. "we're all here."

beth stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself. he could sense she was closing up on him again.

he was tempted to lock her in, but he couldn't bear to keep her as a prisoner. and his instincts told him that however much she might wish things were different, she was resigned to her fate, as well as his role in it. she was also safe from the lessers at this point, as they would see her only as a human.

"will you be here when i get back?" he asked, drawing on his jacket.

"i don't know."

"if you leave, i need to know where to find you."

"why?"

"the change, beth. the change. look, it'll be safer if you stay."

"maybe."

he kept his curse to himself. he wasn't going to beg.

"the other door out in the hall," he said. "it opens into your father's bedroom. i thought you might like to go in there."

wrath left before he embarrassed himself.

warriors did not beg. they rarely even asked. they took what they wanted and killed for it if they had to.

but he really hoped she'd be there when he got back. he liked the thought of her sleeping in his bed.

beth went into the bathroom and took a shower, letting the hot water soothe her nerves. when she got out, she dried off and noticed a black robe hanging on a hook. she put it on.

she sniffed the lapels and closed her eyes. wrath's smell was all over it, a combination of soap and aftershave and...

male vampire.

good lord. was she actually living this?

she walked out into the chamber. wrath had left the closet open, and she went over to look at his clothes. what she found was a cache of weapons that petrified her.

she eyed the door that led out into the stairwell. she thought about leaving, but as much as she wanted to go, she knew wrath was right. staying was safer.

and her father's bedroom was an enticement.

she would go there and hope that whatever she found didn't give her palpitations. god knew, her lover was providing one shock after another.

as she stepped out onto the bottom landing, she pulled the lapels of the robe closer together. the gas lanterns flickered, making the walls seem alive as she stared at the door across the way. before she lost her nerve, she walked over, grabbed its handle, and pushed.

darkness greeted her on the other side, a wall of black that suggested either a bottomless pit or an infinite space. she reached past the jamb and patted the wall, hoping she'd hit a light switch and not something that would bite her.

no luck on the switch. but a minute later her hand was still attached to her arm.

stepping into the void, she moved slowly to the left until her body hit something big. given the clapping of brass pulls, and the smell of lemon wax, she figured the thing was probably a highboy. she kept going, feeling her way around until she found a lamp.

it came on with a clicking sound, and she blinked at the glow. the lamp's base was a fine oriental vase, and the table under it was made of mahogany, and very ornate. no doubt the room was done in the same fabulous style as the upstairs.

when her eyes adjusted, she looked around.

"oh... my... god."

there were pictures of her everywhere. black-and-whites, close-ups, colored ones. she was all ages, from infancy through childhood and into her teens. in college. one was very recent, having been taken while she was leaving the caldwell courier journal's office. she remembered that day. it had been the first snowfall of the winter, and she'd been laughing as she'd looked up at the sky.

eight months ago.

the idea that she had missed knowing her father by a margin of seasons struck her as tragic.

when had he died? how had he lived?

one thing was clear: he had great taste. great style. and he obviously liked the finer things. her father's vast private space was resplendent. the walls were a deep red that set off another spectacular collection of hudson river school landscapes set in gilt frames. the floor was covered with blue, red, and gold oriental rugs that glowed like stained glass. but the bed was the most magnificent thing in the room. it was a massive, hand-carved antique with dark red velvet drapes hanging from a canopy. on the bedside table to the left, there was a lamp and yet another picture of her. on the right, there was a clock, a book, and a glass.

he'd slept on that side.

she went over and picked up the hardcover. it was in french. underneath the book there was a magazine. forbes.

she put them back and then looked at the glass. there was still an inch of water in it.

either someone was sleeping here... or her father had died very recently.

she looked around, searching for clothes or a suitcase that would suggest a guest. the mahogany desk across the room caught her eye. she went over and sat in its thronelike chair, getting swamped by carved arms. next to the leather blotter there was a small stack of papers. they were bills for the house. electric. phone. cable. all in fritz's name.

so... normal. she had the same things on her desk.

beth eyed the glass on the bedside table.

his life had been abruptly interrupted, she thought.

feeling like an interloper, but unable to resist, she pulled open the shallow drawer under the desktop. montblanc pens, binder clips, a stapler. she slid it back into place, then reached down and looked into a larger drawer. it was full of files. she picked one out. they were financial records?a

holy shit. her father was loaded. really loaded.

she glanced at another page. as in millions and millions and millions loaded.

she put the file back and shut the drawer.

certainly explained the house. the art: the car. the butler.

next to a phone there was a picture of her in a silver frame. she picked it up, trying to imagine him looking at it.

where was a photo of him? she wondered.

could you even take a photograph of a vampire?

she went around the room again, looking in each of the frames. just her. just her. just...

beth bent down.

and with a shaky hand reached out for a gold frame.

inside was a black-and-white picture of a dark-haired woman looking shyly into the camera. her hand was on her face, as if she were embarassed.

those eyes, beth thought with wonder. she'd been staring at an identical pair in the mirror every day of her life.

her mother.

she brushed her forefinger down the glass.

sitting blindly on the bed, she brought the picture as close as her eyes would bear without her vision blurring. as if proximity to the image would close the distance of time and circumstance, bringing her to the lovely woman in the frame.

her mother.