Her screams had been the worst, though. Every single one had torn at Thomas's heart like a claw, ripping deep. But that had stopped hours ago and she had rested peacefully and deeply since then.

When Bastien had suggested Terri get some sleep earlier, she'd hesitated, and then had lain down on the opposite twin bed, telling them to just shake her awake if they needed her before falling into a deep, exhausted sleep. Thomas and Bastien had been alone since then, both of them working together to feed her the occasional bag of blood or give her another shot when she began to show signs of pain.

"It might upset her if she wakes up to find you covered in blood as you are," Bastien pointed out.

Thomas glanced down at himself and frowned. Neither of them had changed since returning to the townhouse and both now wore clothes that were wrinkled and blood stained. However, Thomas was pretty much soaked in a combination of Inez's blood and the two bags he'd spilled. It was dry now, crusty and unpleasant, and it would definitely upset Inez if she woke up to see him like that, he supposed.

He nodded, but hesitated, his gaze slipping back to Inez again.

"I'll stay with her," Bastien assured him solemnly.

"Thank you," Thomas murmured automatically as he released the hand he'd been holding and got to his feet.

"It's the least I can do," Bastien said with a sigh and then met his eyes. "I'm sorry Thomas. I never should have put her in danger like that. I never would have had I realized this would happen."

"It's all right, Bastien, I know you wouldn't have," Thomas interrupted, waving away the apology. Lucern's earlier words flowing through his head, he added, "Besides, you're family and even immortals make mistakes."

"Thank you," Bastien said quietly.

Thomas shrugged and then added in hard tones, "However, I wouldn't have been so forgiving if she'd died."

"I know," Bastien said solemnly. "I would have lost you along with her."

Thomas didn't bother to deny it and simply turned away. He never would have forgiven either Bastien or Etienne if he'd lost Inez because of them. Never.

Grabbing his knapsack, he slipped from the room and crossed the hall into the bathroom to take a quick shower and pull on clean, or at least, mostly clean clothes. Thomas had run out of fresh clothes, but at least the ones he pulled on weren't covered with blood.

Returning to the bedroom, he nearly crashed into Etienne as the other man was leaving.

"The rest of us are going to go search York for any sign of Mother or the immortal."

"Rachel's the only one who saw him," Thomas pointed out with a frown.

"Yeah, but Terri did that sketch as per her description and Rachel says it's dead on. So each couple is going to take a third of the city center and go street by street."

Thomas nodded wearily. He'd forgotten all about the picture Terri had sketched in the bedroom between Inez's fits. Rachel had hovered, fussing over this and that, saying, "The nose was a little bigger...the eyes more squinty...the hair shorter...." until she thought Terri had it just right.

"Bastien and Terri are staying with you and Inez," Etienne continued, slipping around him to the stairs. "But call my cell if you need us."

Thomas watched him go, and then continued into the room.

Terri was still asleep, but Bastien glanced up as he reentered. The man had bags under his eyes from exhaustion, a very rare thing indeed with their constitution.

"You should sleep. You're exhausted," Thomas said as he dropped his bag, and moved back to sit on the side of the bed.

Bastien hesitated and then glanced down at Inez, before saying. "If we give her another bag of blood, I think it would be safe for both of us to catch some sleep."

Thomas glanced at Inez. He didn't want to sleep, but knew Bastien wouldn't if he didn't at least pretend he intended to, so he nodded.

Much to everyone's relief, Inez's teeth had come on around mid-afternoon. Aside from being a sign that she'd survived the worst of it and was nearing the end of her turning, it made feeding her easier and much less messy. Bastien bent to retrieve a bag of blood from the now almost depleted cooler, then took out another and offered it to Thomas. When he shook his head, Bastien hesitated and then popped it to his own teeth as Thomas grabbed one of the dry but blood-soaked towels and waved it back and forth under Inez's nose. Her teeth protruded at once and he popped the bag to her fangs with little effort.

It didn't take long for either bag to empty, and then Thomas crawled onto the bed next to her. He lay down on his side, leaving some room between them to keep from disturbing her in the small twin bed.

The moment he did, Bastien lay down and cuddled up to Terri in the next bed. His breathing soon became deep and even, telling Thomas that he'd fallen asleep.

Despite his intention not to sleep, Thomas soon found his own eyes drooping closed as he too drifted into sleep.

Chapter Seventeen

Inez woke and shot up into a sitting position, fear making her heart pound in a rapid tattoo. It took her a moment to blink away the remnants of the nightmare that had chased her from sleep and realize she was in one of the twin beds in the bedroom at the townhouse.

Sucking in a deep breath of relief as the fear began to slip away, Inez peered around the room, her eyes widening at the chaos evident. Bloody clothes and towels lay strewn everywhere, and an incredible amount of empty blood bags lay in a corner, tossed there with little care.

Her gaze slid to the man in bed beside her. Thomas. He was wearing different clothes than she recalled from the night they'd laid their trap and was asleep on his side, perched on the very edge of the twin bed. She saw his face wrinkle with irritation in sleep as her movement allowed a circle of light to splash over his exhausted face and the sight made her smile.

Inez turned her head toward the bedside lamp between the beds with some vague idea of turning it off so it wouldn't wake him, but her eyes stopped and widened at the sight of Bastien Argeneau and Terri on the second twin bed in the room. She was under the covers, but he was on top. Unlike Thomas, Bastien still wore the same clothes he'd had on the night of the trap. They were now wrinkled and crusted with dried blood. Like Thomas, his face was exhausted and almost gray with it.

Reaching for the lamp, she switched it off, then lay back in bed. Unfortunately, she couldn't seem to get back to sleep. She wasn't tired, but she was hungry, and suffering mild hunger pangs with it, which made her wonder how long she'd been out of it. Long enough that Thomas and the others had gone through a lot of blood, she guessed, recalling the pile of empty blood bags in the corner.

And the bloody towels. She frowned and began to carefully move various body parts one at a time to see where she was hurt, but everything seemed fine. Other than the hunger pangs, she wasn't suffering pain anywhere, yet she distinctly recalled jamming her leg back between the immortal's legs as he raced down the street, and then the terrible wrenching pain. She seemed to recall thinking it had been broken, but now thought it must have just been dislocated or something, because it seemed fine and hadn't hurt when she'd moved it.

Everything after that was a blur, except for an explosion of pain as her head had slammed into concrete. That would have bled copiously she supposed. Head wounds always bled badly. Her head felt fine now too, though. It was only her stomach bothering her.

Inez slid her legs to the side and eased up into a sitting position, her movements slow and steady to prevent waking Thomas.

She sat still on the side of the bed for a moment, waiting to see if she would be suddenly struck by dizziness or pain. When neither happened, she got carefully to her feet, surprised to find her legs a bit shaky. They held her up, though, and worked well enough, she found, as she stepped away from the bed. Inez had nearly reached the door, guided by the crack of light seeping under it, when she realized she was buck naked.

Grimacing, she tried to think where her suitcase would be in relation to the door. Inez doubted Rachel and Etienne would appreciate her traipsing through the house starkers.

But the longer Inez stood there in the dark, the better she could see, at least enough to make out vague shapes in the room. Supposing the slim line of light creeping under the door was helping, she moved to the suitcase lying open on the floor. Inez intended to put on clothes, but came across the silk robe first and allowed her hunger to convince her to slip it on instead and then stood and moved back to the door again. Her hunger pangs were getting stronger with every passing minute and she was eager to raid the refrigerator.

The house was silent and empty when she descended the stairs and Inez wondered if Rachel and Etienne were still sleeping, but the lights would probably be off if they hadn't already gotten up. They must have gone out, she thought as she walked up the hall to the kitchen.

The light in the kitchen seemed to be the only one not on in the house. Inez flicked it on as she entered, her feet taking her straight to the refrigerator. She pulled it open and looked over the contents with interest. There was a lot in there, but most of it needed to be cooked and she was too hungry to wait. Spotting some cheese, she picked it up and then grabbed a scotch egg, closed the refrigerator door, and carried the food to the counter. The kettle was half full, so she pushed down the button to start it heating.

Inez then grabbed a plate from the cupboard, opened the plastic wrapping on the Scotch egg and spilled it out. The moment it hit the plate, she set the wrapping down, grabbed the sausage-wrapped egg and took a bite out of it. Inez preferred them warmed up, but they were edible cold and she was too hungry even to take the time to microwave it.

Chewing and swallowing, she turned her attention to the cheese, but it didn't open as easily as the egg packaging. Scowling, she moved to the end drawer and pulled it open. Inez reached in to retrieve a knife, but paused when a slight breeze brushed against her cheek. She looked up, her heart skittering with alarm when she saw that the back door was cracked open.

Dropping the small paring knife she'd originally reached for, Inez grabbed a large butcher knife instead. She didn't pull it out of the drawer, but simply clutched it in her fingers as her gaze slid over the edge of the door, noting that the lock was broken. The door had been forced.

A shuffling sound from behind made her swivel slowly, her hand remaining in the drawer, still clutching the butcher knife as she turned to peer toward the archway leading into the hall. Some part of her wasn't terribly surprised to find the blond, bearded immortal standing there. Her gaze skimmed over his black clothes and overcoat.

"You healed quickly," he commented, his gaze sliding over her in the pink silk robe. "I was sure the leg was broken."

"I thought so too," she admitted, peering down at her legs hidden by the robe. She tugged the robe up slightly, with her free hand, revealing her perfectly healthy lower calf. Inez then turned the leg slightly, using it as an excuse to shift slightly to the side, enough that it hid her hand as she slid it out of the drawer, bringing the butcher knife with it. "I gather it was just dislocated, though."

His gaze slid back up to her face, one eyebrow raised. "And the head wound?"

"They always bleed a lot. Fortunately, it isn't troubling me much today," she said calmly, thinking how bizarre this all felt. She was having a perfectly civil conversation with a man who had repeatedly attacked her. Clearing her throat, Inez asked, "Was it you who controlled me in Amsterdam too?"

He shook his head. "That was someone else."

She nodded, but frowned. "Why?"

"I'd guess because the boss ordered it," he said simply.

"But why me?" Inez asked.

"I have no idea why he did it, but my orders were to keep you and Thomas here in York and off Marguerite's trail...to kill you both if necessary to accomplish it." He shrugged. "You keep thinking up other places to look."

Inez nodded slowly. "Marguerite's alive, then?"

"As far as I know," he answered.

Inez stared at him silently, waiting, but when he simply stood there, the tension of the passing moments began to get to her and she asked, "So you're here to kill me?"

He suddenly shifted one side of his long coat, revealing the sword that it had hidden. That and his answering smile made her blood run cold, and her fingers tightened on the knife behind her back.

"Why haven't you taken control of me?" Inez asked, suddenly eager to draw out the conversation and put off whatever he had planned for her.

"I wouldn't want you to think I was a coward, afraid of a tiny mortal female," he said, his mocking voice laced with anger. "Uncontrolled and with that butcher knife you're hiding behind your back, you have a fighting chance...don't you?"

Inez jerked with surprise and realized while he hadn't been controlling her, he must have been reading her. Either that or he'd simply been aware of what she was doing when she'd drawn the knife out. So much for the advantage of surprise.

"Are you done with your questions now? Can we get to the killing you part without your whining about cowardly behavior and so on? Or," he added with malice, "do you need to see the size of my penis to assure yourself I have more than a tootsie roll?"

"Er...no, I'll take your word on that," Inez muttered, her gaze slipping around the room, scoping out where everything was and looking for anything that might help her against him.

A soft click sounded behind her and Inez suddenly recalled the electric teakettle she'd set to boil.

"Good. Let's get to it, then, shall we?"

Inez glanced sharply back at the blond man as he withdrew the sword from his waist.

"That's a little bit of overkill, isn't it?" she asked, finally pulling the butcher knife from the drawer and bringing it around to her side. Much to her relief, his eyes moved to the small weapon. Taking advantage of his distraction, she reached back with her right hand to grab the teakettle.

"Perhaps," he admitted, turning his attention back to his own much larger blade. Holding it up, he turned it this way and that, watching the kitchen light shimmer off of it. "But it's my lucky sword and I haven't had much luck with you so far."