Lukas and Elizabeth joined Lukas’s companions as they converged in the middle of the street.

“We’re about to get company,” Lukas said. From the tense looks on the faces of the vampires, she could tell that wasn’t a good thing. “Ricky, take Elizabeth and hide in one of the houses. Keep her safe.”

“That’s my slave you’re ordering,” Pierced-face commented. His gaze slid to her. “There will be a price for his services.”

Elizabeth shuddered before she could stop herself, knowing her fear would only please him. He wanted her blood. Maybe even her body.

“You’re not touching her,” Lukas replied evenly. “But if you want my attention on the fight, and not on guarding what is mine, Ricky must protect her.”

Pierced-faced watched him, his displeasure evident. But, finally, he nodded. “We’ll discuss payment later.” He turned to the kid with the glowing hair. “Take her and hide in that house,” he said, pointing to the one they stood in front of.

“Yes, master.” Ricky motioned to her with his head and started toward the front steps.

Lukas stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the other men, hiding his own expression from his companions. “If you’re in danger, scream. I’ll come.”

“Be careful.” Was she really telling a vampire to be careful in a fight? Apparently, she was.

Lukas’s beautiful eyes crinkled at the corners, warming to the blue of a summer sky. “I will. Now go.”

He released her and stepped back. But as she hurried past the other two vampires, she felt their gazes following her, thick as tar. They made her skin crawl, both of them. If anything happened to Lukas, she was going to have to run.

Ricky waited for her in the doorway of the house she and Lukas had already inspected. When she stepped inside, he closed the door and headed for the dimly lit stairs. “We’ll get a better view from an upper window.”

“Watch the rotted step,” she warned.

She followed him up the stairs and to one of the windows looking down on the street below.

“So you’re a slave?” she asked. “Are you . . . ?”

“Am I what?” His tone was hard and not particularly nice. “Human?” He snorted. “Yes, I’m human. After a couple of years in this place, the magic turns humans immortal, and our hair starts to glow. They call us Slavas. Once we become a Slava, we can never go home.” His tone was too matter-of-fact. As if he’d long ago gotten over it.

“I’m sorry. How long have you been here?”

“Almost eighty years.”

Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped. Eighty years? No wonder he was over it. He’d have nothing, and no one, to go back to.

As she watched out the window, she saw the vehicle, a black Cadillac Escalade, pull into view, trailed by a cloud of dust. The moment it came to a stop, four males alighted with inhuman speed and grace.

The one in front curled his lip. “York scum. This is Gonzaga territory.”

Pierced-face scoffed. “Does Cristoff Gonzaga attempt to claim all of the Nod, now? We’re nowhere near Gonzaga lands, and you know it.”

The Gonzaga vamp pulled his sword. “As long as we’re searching for the sorceress, wherever we choose to search is ours.”

“And what if we find her first?” the bearded one, Butch, drawled.

The Gonzaga vamp scoffed. “And what good will she do any of us in your hands? Cristoff is the only one who possesses the ritual to renew the magic. Without it, she’s useless.”

“You don’t know that,” Pierced-face said.

A second Gonzaga vampire pulled his sword. “Be on your way, scum. Or would you rather die here?”

Lukas’s companions drew their swords. Lukas drew two.

Elizabeth caught her breath, glancing at Ricky. “Are they really going to try to kill one another?”

“Of course. The York and Gonzaga kovenas are enemies.”

Even as he spoke, the seven vampires all but disappeared, flying at one another so quickly that she lost sight of them. Four against three. Only Lukas took on two opponents at once, swinging his swords in an incredible display of strength and dexterity. She’d often thought he should have been a Viking. Now she wondered if he’d actually been one. Her fingers gripped the window frame, her breath turning unsteady. Watching him fight was at once terrifying and thrilling.

Lukas, dammit, you’d better not die.

“If this battle turns against us, I suggest you run,” Ricky said beside her.

If Lukas and his friends died. “Do you think the other vamps will find us up here?”

“If any of them are fear-feeders, I guarantee they will.”

The thought chilled. “Where would I run to?”

“I don’t know.” He made a sound of amusement as if it was all a joke. A sick one, but a joke. “There’s no escaping this place. Once you’re brought to Vamp City, you’re here for life. For most people, that’s not very long. For a few of us, it’s very long indeed. Just run. Maybe you’ll get lucky. The very last place you want to be taken is to Cristoff Gonzaga’s castle. He’s a pain-feeder of the worst kind.”

As her gaze remained glued on Lukas’s faster-than-lightning moves, a yell turned her attention briefly to the other two battles. She watched as Pierced-face’s head rolled from his body and hit the dirt with a thud.

Elizabeth gasped, clutching the window frame.

“Well, hell,” Ricky muttered. “He was my master. Sorry, chickadee, you’re on your own. I’m leaving.” Without a backward glance, he darted out of the room. Escaping.

For one pregnant moment, Elizabeth wondered if she should follow him. But, no. Not as long as Lukas was still alive.

Her pulse racing with fear for Lukas as much as herself, she turned back to the window just as a second head rolled, this one belonging to one of Lukas’s opponents. The battle was now three against two, but Lukas once more battled two at once. How long could he keep that up?

In the street, the remains of the two dead vampires exploded suddenly, one after the other, raining down around the fighting vamps like ash, leaving nothing visible behind. And then a third head rolled as Butch took down his opponent, at last, leaving only Lukas fighting two Gonzaga vamps.

Elizabeth expected Butch to go help Lukas. Instead, he disappeared.

Had he run? The coward!

But a moment later, she knew exactly where he’d gone when she felt a strong, unwelcome arm grab her from behind and yank her away from the window, that bushy beard scraping against her temple.

“What are you doing?” she cried. “Why aren’t you helping him?”

“He’ll be fine. And I’m hungry.” He struck, his fangs impaling her neck like two red-hot spikes.

Elizabeth screamed.

Chapter Eight

ELIZABETH GASPED, STRUGGLING against the vampire’s iron hold, moaning with a pain far worse than any she’d ever known. Her vision began to waver, her stomach started to roll. Lifting her foot, she drove her heel back into her attacker’s knee, but he didn’t even grunt. With her arms pinned to her sides, she was helpless. And he was draining her blood!

God, so much pain. Tears ran down her cheeks, tears of agony, of fury, and of frustration that she couldn’t do a thing to stop him.

“Lukas.” She tried to scream his name, but the word came out as little more than a gasp, her vocal cords all but immobilized.

The vampire released her suddenly with a furious growl, the fire in her neck increasing tenfold as she felt her flesh rip. She cried out, stumbled forward, then turned to find not one vampire but two in the room with her. The one who’d bitten her. And Lukas.

She sank back against the window with relief.

Lukas looked like a berserker of old as he stared at his companion, his eyes burning with rage, the sword at his side dripping with blood.

“I just wanted a taste.” Butch lifted his hands like a kid caught swiping a cookie off a classmate’s lunch tray.

Lukas blurred. His sword whistled. A second later, the bearded one’s head rolled with a thud to the floor.

Elizabeth’s legs gave way, and she slid down the window until she was crouched low, shaking, a warm stream of blood running down her throat.

Lukas whirled toward her. His eyes dark with concern, he started forward, wiping off his sword and sheathing it.

But she shook her head. “Stay back.” The words were but a whisper. She was so cold. Still in so much pain.

“You’re in shock, sweetheart.” He reached for her slowly, his voice low and soothing. “I won’t hurt you. You know I won’t hurt you, Lizzy-mine, but I have to do something before you lose too much blood.”

She started to list sideways, and he caught her, sweeping her into his arms and pulling her tight against the hard body that she’d once known so well. The smell of battle clung to him, but beneath it was the familiar and beloved scent of Lukas, and she sank against him, curling her arm around his neck.

She held on tight as he carried her downstairs and laid her on the leather sofa. As she looked up at him, he stroked the hair back from her face with a featherlight touch, his eyes pained.

“I won’t hurt you,” he murmured, sinking to his knees on the floor beside her. “I promise, sweetheart.” Then he dipped his head to her bleeding neck.

“Lukas?” She stiffened, tried to push him away, but like the other vampire, he was impossible to move.

She went rigid in anticipation of more pain, but she felt only the tickle of his soft hair against her jaw and a featherlight brush of lips. And then the strange sensation of tugging, of pulling. Had he bitten her? She’d felt no hot, stabbing spikes this time. No stabbing at all.

Little by little, the pain began to lessen, then ebb. With the realization that Lukas had bitten her without hurting her, as he’d promised, the tension began to leave her body, only to be replaced, moments later, by a tension of another kind.

An erotic, intense, pleasure began to build low inside her.

“What are you doing?” she gasped, her voice normal once more.

He didn’t answer, and how could he when his mouth was fastened to her neck? But his hand lifted to stroke her hair, his touch calming her, as his bite stole the last of the pain and filled her only with a pleasure that made her gasp, that made her body hot and restless.

“Lukas, stop.” She tugged at his head. “Please stop.”

Slowly, he did, lifting his head, looking at her behind a monster’s mask. His pupils had turned stark white, his incisors had lengthened and thickened and sharpened to fine points. And they were covered in blood. Her blood.

She stared at him in horror. He closed his eyes and turned away. Lifting her hand, she felt the stickiness along her neck, but her fingers encountered only sores, not the open flesh wounds she knew should be there.

“What did you do?” she asked quietly, this time reaching for him, touching his jaw.

He turned back to her, his eyes once more normal, but guarded. Sad. His mouth was closed, his fangs no longer visible, if they were still elongated at all.

“I’ve initiated your healing,” he said simply, and she saw that his fangs were about half the size they’d been before. “Vampire saliva contains healing properties that rush into your bloodstream with my bite.”

Pressing her hand against his cool cheek, she shuddered. “Thank you for saving me.”

His eyes warmed slowly, his mouth softening to something close to a smile. “You mean the world to me, Lizzy. I hate that you were brought here. This is no place for you.” Pulling her close, he pressed his cheek to her hair. “But I’ve missed you so much.” His words were filled with such pain, such a depth of longing, mirroring the misery she’d lived with these past two years.

It didn’t matter what he was or how he fed. He was her Lukas.

Snaking her arms around his neck, she buried her face against him. “I’ve missed you, too. I thought . . .”

Her voice cracked, and he pulled her tighter, stroking her hair. “You thought I’d left you. That I’d walked away. Never, Lizzy-mine. Never.” Slowly, he pulled back until she could see his face. He ran his thumb along her cheekbone. “If there had been any way to return to you, I would have.”

The depth of emotion in his eyes rocked her, filling her heart until she thought it might overflow. “I believe you. Deep inside, I could never accept that you’d intentionally left me without even saying good-bye.”

“Never.” His cool palm stroked her cheek. “A hundred times I thought about sending word to you. But I could think of no logical reason for my staying away without telling you a truth that would be impossible for you to believe. All along, we’ve held out hope for a sorcerer or sorceress who would save us. I told myself that once I was free, once I knew my life would not end here, I’d find you and try to make it up to you.”

Her brow furrowed. “How could you get word to me if you’re trapped here?”

“Not all vampires are trapped within Vamp City. Some can still come and go as they please. I have a friend, Micah, whom I would have trusted to give you a message. He’s the only one I trust to get you safely out of here if I can get word to him.” He kissed her softly, passionately, then pulled back, his eyes shining with so much emotion, the same emotion that pulsed inside her.

“I want you safe, Lizzy-mine. I love you,” he said tenderly, his eyes aglow. The words she’d waited so long to hear.

Tears sprang to her own eyes. “I love you, too, Lukas. I have almost from the beginning.”

He kissed her again. “I know,” he whispered against her lips. “The way you used to light up when you saw me warmed me in a way nothing and no one has in centuries. I tried to harden my heart against your sweetness, not wanting you to know of my world or the sordidness of it. But I failed, Lizzy. I failed within days of meeting you and fell head over heels in love with you.”