Sleep.
His eyelids flickered. "Y-you…"
She forced the compulsion on him, hard and deep.
Then she stepped back as his body began to fall.
Adam hit the ground with a thud.
She forced a shrug. Glanced back at the leader. "Problem solved."
The vampires rushed forward, hands reaching for Adam's body with greedy lust.
"No!" She stepped in front of them. "This one's for the Master, and only the Master."
The guy who'd been screaming at her minutes before now spit onto the ground and snapped, "Fine, but when he's done, we get what's left over."
Maya laughed at that. Idiot. "There's not gonna be anything left."
She grabbed Adam, hoisted him over her shoulder. Barely felt his weight. "Now are we gonna stand out here, screwing around all night, or do I get to see Nassor?"
"What's happening?" The whisper from Daniel, his second in command, drifted on a breath of sound.
Lucas tightened his hold around the binoculars. "They're going inside." Although not the way he'd anticipated.
What game was the vampire playing? He'd thought she wanted him to wait in the shadows and then attack to cause a distraction for her and the dragon.
But what if Maya had a different plan in mind? What if she had been playing him? What if she was inside, even now, telling the others about his pack? He could be walking straight into a trap.
Lucas was willing to bet the dragon sure as hell hadn't counted on being carried into the vamp's lair, unconscious. Vulnerable.
Could he trust her? "What's our move?" Daniel asked.
Lucas drew in a deep breath. He'd never trusted a vampire before.
Maya had gone back into Temptation to save Jordan. He couldn't overlook that fact.
Of course, she'd also been the one to nearly kill his brother.
"Lucas?"
"For now, we wait."
If the vampire betrayed him, he'd make absolutely certain it was the last thing she ever did.
Maya was taken through the entrance gates, led across a courtyard, and escorted up to the main entrance of the fortress. As she walked across the cobbled courtyard, she could feel eyes on her, dozens of them, watching her every move.
When she stepped inside the main building, the stench of death flooded her nostrils.
Humans had died here. The stench was old, as if the bodies had long since decayed and turned to dust. But she also caught the smell of fresh kills. Sweet blood.
"We'll put him with the others," the vampire in front of her said, glancing over his slightly stooped shoulder.
The others. Yeah, she'd expected that Nassor had a backup power supply. "No. He doesn't leave my sight." Like she'd trust any of the hungry bastards around a dragon's blood.
The vampire's face tightened. "He goes with the others."
They were in a long hallway now. One lit with faint, fluorescent lighting.
Where was Nassor? She heard the moans then, the whimpers.
Prey.
The Born Master had to be close.
Maya kept her gaze on the vamp leading her. " He is a very special gift. One I'm taking straight to the Master." She didn't know how much time they'd have before the wolves attacked. The closer she could get to Nassor, the better.
The vampire grunted. "You don't wanna be facing him yet."
Ah, but he was exactly the one she wanted to face.
Slick, time to rise and shine.
She felt the sudden alertness of his body.
This was gonna hurt. Not her so much, but-
"Shit! Something's wrong, the bastard's awake!" She threw Adam against the heavy stone wall.
The vampire spun around, terror on his face and in his black eyes. "What? No, he-"
Maya already had her gun ready. She grabbed the vamp and pressed the barrel right against his heart. "Don't so much as breathe hard," she said, "or you'll see what it feels like to be burned from the inside out."
He stilled instantly. "Y-you're bluffing."
"I don't bluff." She smiled, a hard barring of her teeth. "Holy water bullets. The kind just right for cooking vamps."
He swallowed hard.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Adam rise to his feet. "You all right?"
A muscle flexed along his jaw. "A warning would have been appreciated."
Yeah, but a warning would have tipped off the vampire.
She glanced around the hall. She'd tried to time her attack for the moment when they had maximum cover. She didn't think anyone had seen them, but just in case, it was time to cut to the chase.
"Look, ass**le, either take me to Nassor, or I'll kill you." Simple. Straightforward.
"If I take you to him, I'm dead." His black eyes were beady, full of hate and fear.
The guy just didn't get it. "If you don't start moving your ass, you'll be dead in the next five seconds."
"At least you'll make it fast." The vampire shook his head. "Nassor won't."
"You-"
Adam grabbed the vamp, his fingers locking around the back of his neck and spinning him around. "I won't make your death easy," he said, his voice a hard rumble. "I'll slice your flesh away, then make you beg for my fire."
Maya's brows rose. Okay. She hadn't quite been expecting that.
The vampire began to shake. He hadn't thought she'd torture him, but obviously, he had no doubt that Adam would carry out his threat.
And neither did she.
"I-I'll sh-show you j-just-"
Maya caught the stench in the air then. Too-familiar. "Adam-"
A thunder of footsteps.
Adam swore, slammed the vamp against the wall, and lunged in front of her.
Too late.
The vamps surrounded them, a mass of claws and teeth that came from both sides, trapping them in the middle of the hallway.
So much for the sneak attack.
Laughter. Mocking male laughter that made the hair on her nape rise. She knew which ass**le was having himself a good old time even before Torrence pushed his way through the army of vamps.
Adam leapt forward.
"No!"
The vampires grabbed him, six of them taking him down and pounding him into the floor.
Shit.
Maya swallowed back the fear that rose in her throat. Adam couldn't take the vamps in his human form. What the hell had he been thinking? She forced her gaze to lift and to lock on Torrence's. "If they kill him, Nassor's going to be pissed."
Torrence lifted his right hand.
The attack on Adam immediately ceased. Torrence smiled at her. "Ah, come now, we both know a dragon can take a hell of a lot more punishment."
Yeah, but she didn't want to see him suffer.