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tonight and have earned my respect . ”
    Tezra wished she could touch Bernard’s thoughts, to free him from the vampire’s control, but she had no way to reverse what the vampires had done to him. She prayed they’d leave her alone so she could concentrate on finding a way to escape.
    She shielded her mind, which came as natural y to her as taking a breath. She hid her thoughts always as a habit to keep herself safe, but she’d learned to do it only after she’d put her family’s lives in jeopardy. She mental y squashed the feeling of hopelessness deep into a pocket, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
    “I feel you are much more dangerous than you appear,” the vampire said. “My brother is too concerned about you, too drawn to you. What are you contemplating?”
    The idea he knew she could communicate telepathical y sent a shard of ice hurdling down her spine. Then she realized he was only speaking to himself and couldn’t break through her impenetrable shield.
    “Daemon is here , ” a panicked vampiric voice said from the other room.
    Her heart raced, her mind a fog, but any lure of sleep instantly faded. The vampire who had gained access to her apartment was involved in taking her hostage? Hel , why should that surprise her?
    The vampire near her bed cursed under his breath. “I’ll be right there.” The door shut and the lock clicked.
    Hoping none of the vampires had been left behind to guard her, Tezra sat up on the squishy mattress and listened. Shrouded in darkness, she couldn’t see a blamed thing, yet she sensed no vampire nearby.
    The vampires communicated with each other in the other room.
    “Daemon, what a pleasure.”
    “You mean, ‘what a surprise’, Atreides. What are you up to now, my brother?”
    The one who had kidnapped her was Daemon’s brother?
    Not wanting to miss a word, Tezra barely breathed.
    “Why do you always fault me?”
    “Don’t play coy with me. You have turned Tezra’s bodyguard. Why? When the SCU learns he has disappeared, there will be an uproar, and I won’t have it.”
    So Daemon wasn’t in on changing Bernard, nor had he anything to do with taking her hostage. Stil , he could have murdered the policeman at her apartment and planned to kil her too.
    “He isn’t totally turned. He hasn’t fed.”
    “ And he won’t. You’ll wipe his mind of the night’s activities and free him , ” Daemon warned.
    She sighed, a bit relieved he’d let Bernard go. She sensed the hostility growing between the two brothers. Would Daemon aid her too?
    Not wanting to chance it, she made her way to the door and groped around the wal until her fingers touched a light switch. With the utmost care, she flipped it up. No il umination. The blood rushed in her ears, her adrenaline surging. Feeling her way past the bed to the window, she touched the top of the frame and flipped the lock open with a metal ic click that she was certain the vampires could hear al the way to the California border. Moonlight glistened off steel bars caging her in just like the home for troubled teens where she’d been incarcerated. She swore under her breath.
    She closed her eyes and tried to reason a way out.
    Struggling to make the right choice, she thought to reach out to Daemon. She’d let him think it was another vampire tel ing him the truth about her captivity, only she’d channel the message to Daemon and only Daemon.
    Her head pounded with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration. She wasn’t certain she’d be successful, and she was afraid she’d let Atreides or the others know she had the telepathic gift.
    She intended to copy one of the younger men’s thoughts to disguise her own telepathic voice. She was certain Daemon wouldn’t recognize it as hers, because she’d never shared her telepathic voice with him, but maybe he’d believe her, or the man she pretended to be, and come to her aid.
    “The others seem to be hiding some news from me. What has happened, Atreides ? ” Daemon