Malcolm lay in bed thinking, and foremost in his thoughts was Aya. Last night had been wonderful, but at the same time aggravating. He'd had to expend too much energy blocking out those women downstairs. good Lord, he hated being stuck with them. He didn't even know all their names. He'd never spent any real time with them. During vampire sex, he'd simply imagined making love to a woman's body. It might have felt good to the Bridals ladies, but the body he imagined might as well have belonged to Abvn. It wasn't real. It wasn't any of them.It wasn't even Aya. That, too, had annoyed him. He had imagined Aya in his mind, but he knew it wasn't really her. He didn't know what she looked like naked, and now his imagination wasn't enough. He wanted the real thing. And he believed she did, too. Last night she had complained about not being able to touch him or hold him.He had to complete that formula he was working on. If he could stay awake during the day, he

She was dressed and sitting on the chaise, tying her shoes, when he came into the office. He removed another bottle from the mini-fridge and popped it into the microwave. He was fully dressed now—black jeans and a gray polo shirt. His face was washed, his hair brushed. He was absolutely beautiful and apparently still hungry.The microwave dinged and he poured the warmed blood into a glass. "I owe you my thanks."Sipping from the glass, he strode toward the desk. "I shouldn't have allowed myself to get so hungry. You were very kind to help me after… what I did.""You mean after biting me?""Yes." He looked irritated as he sat behind his desk. "I prefer to look at the positive side of this.""You're kidding, right?""No. A few nights ago, you fainted at the mere sight of blood. I had to help you through the dental procedure, or you would have fainted again. But tonight you fed me blood. You're conqueri

"Can they see me?" Aya watched the scroungy assortment of vampires through the window."No." Jacob stood next to her in the viewing room. "Not as long as you keep the lights off. It's a one-way glass."Aya didn't know anything about market research, but she figured it had to be more interesting than watching television all night. "I'm surprised there's such a thing as poor vampires. Can't they use mind control to wheedle money out of people?""I suppose," Jacob answered, "but most of these people were already broken before they became vampires. They only think about their next meal, like a junkie and his next fix.""That's so sad." Aya observed the ten vampires who had come to Baal corporation for a free meal and the fifty-dollar incentive. "Vampirism doesn't change a person very much, does it?""Nay." Erling stood at the door. He had insisted on coming along as her personal bodyguard. "A man will stay true to his

Malcolm had made it to the closet and was opening the door.Suddenly a loud blast deafened her. The ground shook. She grabbed at the blinds to steady herself, but they swayed, causing her to stumble. Alarms rang out. And another sound that Aya realized was people screaming."Oh my God." She peeked out the window. In the glare of the morning sun, she spotted a plume of smoke."An explosion?" Malcolm whispered. "Where?""I'm not sure. All I see is smoke." Aya glanced back. He was sagging against the closet door, deathly pale."They timed it this way, so I couldn't do anything."Aya peered through the blinds again. "It's the wing across from us. The cafeteria! Elizabeth was there." She ran to the phone and dialed 911."There… will be many people there." Malcolm pushed away from the door, stumbled forward a few steps, and fell to his knees.When an operator answered,

"Are you sure you want to go in there alone?" Jon asked as he parked down the street from Stephan's house."I won't be alone for long." Aya checked her purse. It was stuffed with lengths of rope for tying up prisoners. She pulled out the cell phone she'd borrowed from Edward Cafe and punched in the newly memorized phone number for Malcolm's house."Cafe," the head of Malcolm's daytime security answered."We're in place. I'm going in.""Good. Keep the line open," Edward warned her in his nasal voice. "Here. Malcolm wants to talk to you.""Be careful," Malcolm warned her."I'll be fine. Jon's here if I need him." Aya opened the car door. "I'm setting the phone in my purse now. See you soon." She propped the open phone on top of everything in her purse.Jon gave her an encouraging nod. She climbed from the car and walked toward Stephan's house.At Baal corporation, she'd given Malcolm another dose of the formula before they teleported to his house.There, with Edward Cafe's advice, they'