she wanted to go hunting? as agitated as austin was, a little action sounded good. and maybe they could capture a vampire who knew shanna's whereabouts. "yeah. i'll be there."

at midnight, he met emma in central park by the entrance of the zoo, close to the gift shop. the revolver in his shoulder holster was loaded with silver bullets. they wouldn't kill a vampire, but they would sure hurt and slow him down. slow him down enough that austin could ask him a few questions. and just to be safe, austin stuffed a few wooden stakes in the inside pocket of his lightweight jacket. emma's wooden stakes were in the handbag slung over her shoulder.

they strolled north along the brick pathway.

"garrett turned in his contract to ms. stein today," emma spoke quietly as she scanned the grove of trees on the left. "ms. stein was concerned that you hadn't turned yours in yet."

austin walked on her right, surveying the area to the right. "i turned it in last night at dvn."

"what?" emma halted. "you went inside dvn at night?"

"yeah. they hired me to do a show, so i figured i had a legitimate reason to go there. and i'm supposed to be ignorant about vampires, so why would i avoid the place? it seemed like an excellent opportunity to check them out."

"it was, but good heavens, austin, it could have been dangerous. did any of the vampires try to jump you?"

"no."

"well, tell me more. what did the place look like?"

"it looked sorta... normal."

"what did you do?"

austin shrugged. "i turned in my contract to the director of the reality show."

"what's his name? he's a vampire, right?"

"no, she's human. and her name is darcy newhart." austin hesitated, then decided to confess. "she's the mystery woman."

emma gasped. "the one you took a hundred photos of?" she laughed. "oh, this is priceless. she's your director?"

"yes."

"and you're sure she's human?"

"yes. definitely."

"how can you be so sure?"

"she had a chocolate drink on her desk. and she has a pulse."

"she let you feel her pulse?" emma studied him closely. "you're still smitten with her, aren't you?"

more than ever. austin kept walking. the pathway forked, and he gestured toward the left path that headed uphill. "let's go this way."

emma walked beside him. "how does she feel about you?"

he shrugged. he knew she felt desire for him, but she was reluctant to admit it. or to admit that she was trapped in the vampire world.

"have you snogged her yet?"

he made a face. "what's that? it sounds kinda nasty."

emma snickered. "oh, i'm sure it would be with you."

he shoved her on the shoulder.

with a laugh, she stumbled to the side. "i only asked if you'd kissed her."

"ah." in that case, he had thoroughly snogged her. and it hadn't been at all nasty.

"well?" emma quickened her steps to keep up with him. "did you kiss her?"

"i plead the fifth."

"you did kiss her!"

"i didn't say that."

she snorted. "pleading the fifth is the same as admitting guilt."

"we're innocent until proven guilty here. you brits have it backwards."

she grinned. "but i'm right, aren't i? you snogged her."

he kept walking.

"you should be careful, austin. what do you really know about her other than the fact that she consorts with the enemy?"

"i'm doing some research on her. and besides, we have a... connection. i can get into her mind very easily, and believe me, there's nothing evil there."

"i hate to rain on your parade, but if she knows you're reading her mind, she could be manipulating what you see."

"she doesn't know i'm there. she's a complete innocent." austin stopped and looked to the right. in the dim light, he could make out the shapes of trees and a large rock. "speaking of innocents, did you hear someone cry out?"

"i'm not sure." emma pivoted, scanning their surroundings.

austin listened carefully, but could only hear the leaves stirring in the wind and emma's excited breathing. he closed his eyes and concentrated. an attacker could easily muffle the cries of his victim, but the victim would still be screaming in his mind. one time in eastern europe, he had located a group of women and children in an underground torture chamber by tuning in on their silent cries of mental anguish.

oh god, help me!

"over there." austin pointed to the large outcropping of granite. a woman was being attacked on the far side. he removed his revolver and motioned to emma to go to the right. she took off quietly, pulling a wooden stake from her bag as she went.

he skirted the large boulder, then paused when he heard a feminine whimper. great. it would be just his luck to pounce on a couple of lovers. he leaped clear of the rock, pointing his gun at them. holy shit, this was the real thing. two male vampires had a woman pinned against the rock. one was biting her neck; the other was yanking her pants down her legs. the bastards!

"release her!" he approached slowly, his gun steady.

the second vampire let go of the woman's trousers and turned to glare at austin. leave us, mortal scum, and forget what you have seen.

fortunately, the mental command of one vampire had little effect on austin. he heard it and swept it aside. "i'm not leaving. you are. permanently."

with a hiss, the vampire strode toward him. "how dare you defy me? you fool, you cannot stop us."

"oh, yeah?" austin noted the vampire had a russian accent as he took aim and fired.

the vampire jerked. he grabbed his shoulder where blood oozed from the wound. his face contorted with pain. "what have you done?"

"i'm using silver bullets. they do sting a bit, don't they?"

the vampire growled and lunged forward.

austin fired again, and the vampire slipped, falling to his knees.

meanwhile, the first vampire withdrew his fangs from the woman's neck and turned toward austin. "you bloody svoloch." he pulled the girl in front of him for protection. "you think a few silver bullets will stop us?"

austin cursed silently. he couldn't shoot as long as the vampire used the woman as a shield. he moved slowly to the left, searching for a clean shot.

the wounded vampire rose in the air and landed softly on his feet. blood trickled from his two wounds, and he bared his teeth with a snarl. "i am stronger than you. you cannot stop me."

"maybe not, but i can take all the fun out of it." austin shot him again. he howled in pain and crumpled to the ground.

"svoloch!" the first vampire strode toward austin, dragging the woman with him. "you will die!"

suddenly, he jerked to a stop. an expression of shock, then pain crossed his face. he released the woman who collapsed on the ground. he arched his back, letting out a long moan as his body crumbled into dust.

emma stood there in his place, still holding the wooden stake that she'd stabbed into his back. she looked down at the pile of dust in front of her black athletic shoes. "i did it," she whispered. "i killed a vampire."

the second vampire scrambled to his feet. "you bitch! you killed vladimir."

"and now, it's your turn." emma strode toward the wounded vampire with the stake upraised.

"you won't get away with this. vladimir will be avenged!" the wounded vampire wavered in the air, then vanished.

"no!" emma hurled the stake at him, but he had teleported to safety, and the stake simply flew through the air. "no, dammit!"

austin ran toward the injured girl, whipping out his cell phone. he punched 911, then checked the woman's pulse. "i need an ambulance. quickly. she's dying." the pulse in her neck was very weak. he gave directions to their location while emma cleaned up the crime scene. she put away her wooden stake and scattered vladimir's pile of dust.

"we did it!" she punched the air with a closed fist. "our first kill! aren't you glad you came?"

"yes, i am." if they hadn't come along when they did, this poor woman would have been raped and murdered by those damned vampires. they truly were demons. once again, his job made sense. the vampires were evil and deserved to die.

and he knew what he had to do. he would warn sean that his daughter was about to marry a demon.

"what time is it?" maggie whispered. she fidgeted, trying to find a comfortable position in the hard wooden pew.

"i don't know," darcy whispered back. "about five minutes past the last time you asked me."

vanda snorted. "and about ten minutes past disaster!" her booming voice echoed across the high vaulted ceiling.

"shh! not so loud." maggie glanced across the aisle at the other wedding guests.

when they'd entered the church, darcy had been appalled how all the guests were sitting on the groom's side. of course, they were all vamps from roman's coven, but still, she'd thought someone needed to make shanna feel welcome. so, she'd taken a seat on the bride's side. vanda and maggie had joined her, but the rest of the ex-harem had refused. they were sitting across the aisle, whispering to each other. it was saturday night, and everyone was waiting for the wedding to start.

and waiting.

gregori had finally gone to see what was holding things up.

"you look wonderful, darcy," maggie whispered.

"thanks. so do you." earlier in the evening, darcy, vanda, and maggie had dashed off to macy's, searching for fancy, new dresses for the wedding. darcy's dress was a maroon silk sheath with a matching sparkly jacket. maggie was wearing a hot pink flapper-style dress with rows of spangles. vanda's dress was slinky, sexy, and purple to match her hair.

unfortunately, the other ladies had dressed to the hilt in their old world finery. cora lee's ball gown boasted a hoop skirt with row after row of lace-trimmed flounces that looked like they'd been attacked by an army of silk ribbons and flowers. the whole, huge atrocity was bright daffodil yellow, making her look more like a school bus than a delicate flower.

princess joanna's head was covered with a veil, then topped with her finest gold circlet. a white wimple was draped under her chin. her dark green velvet gown had a long train in the back and her matching cloak was trimmed with embroidery. her jewel-encrusted girdle hung loosely around her hips.

even maria consuela was sporting her favorite hat - a conical headdress set back on her head and covered with a transparent, gauze veil. the flared sleeves on her woolen gown hung down to her knees, the cuffs trimmed with fur.

the vestry door opened, and gregori appeared with a worried expression. he strode toward them.

darcy stood and eased into the aisle. "what's going on?"

the ex-harem leaned toward them to listen.

"i don't know," gregori spoke softly, but darcy felt sure the vamps could hear him with their extra-sensitive hearing. "my mom should have been here twenty minutes ago. i hope she's all right."

"have you tried calling her?" darcy was concerned, too. gregori's mom, radinka, had only been released from the hospital a few days earlier. she'd been injured during the malcontents' latest attack on romatech. she'd also befriended shanna, so shanna had asked her to be the matron of honor in the wedding.

"her cell phone is off," gregori answered. "i tried calling angus since he was in charge of bringing shanna and my mom here, but he's not answering. something's seriously wrong."

the ex-harem began frantically whispering to each other. the news spread across the pews 'til all the guests were quietly discussing the matter. darcy wondered if the malcontents were behind this. they were a group of vampires who hated roman with a passion. since they believed in a vampire's sacred right to feed off humans, they had rejected roman's synthetic blood and periodically did nasty things like bomb romatech industries.

gregori sighed. "no one is answering their damned phones. the priest isn't here. i don't know what to make of it."

"i know what has come to pass!" princess joanna raised her hands in triumph. her jeweled rings sparkled in the candlelight. "the wedding has been cancelled. the master has come to his senses and rejected that hideous mortal."

maria consuela's cone-shaped headdress bobbed as she nodded enthusiastically. "he has realized how inferior she is. santa maria, my prayers have been answered." she lifted her rosary and kissed the jeweled cross.

"wait a minute." gregori scowled at them. "i like shanna."

"me, too." darcy came to the bride's defense.

"ha!" princess joanna sneered at them both. "i would expect you to side with her. you modern types always stick together. you whine about being sensitive to other people's needs, yet you do not give a thought to our suffering. that mortal wench stole our master and our home!"

"i do declare - " cora lee flipped open her lacy yellow fan. "i was never so humiliated in all my life."

lady pamela smythe-worthing removed a handkerchief from her silk reticule and dabbed at her eyes. "it was simply too horrid to bear. if i wasn't blessed with such a miraculous constitution, i would have withered away in utter despair."

just go ahead and wither, darcy thought with a groan. she was so tired of these women's endless complaints. it never occurred to them to actually do anything about their fate other than constantly bemoan it.