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the cracks and been left to kill various women in his wanderings across the country. If the procedure left him in a fugue state with half his mind destroyed, all women would be safer for it.
    "Well, all right," Brunswick said at last. "But just you."
    Victor shook his head. "I'll need two of the men. It takes three."
    "Alessandro and I will assist you," Edward announced, and then added, "I presume one of us was to be the recipient of the stake he was reaching for? That being the case, it seems only right that we assist in handling the man."
    Victor nodded reluctantly and turned the mortal to make him exit the restaurant. Lerner had been docile ever since he'd touched his wrist. Victor was able to control his mind and behavior somewhat so long as he was touching him. He continued to be unresisting as they led him outside.
    They dealt with Lerner quickly. Edward, Alessandro, and Victor circled him, each touching his arm or face as they invaded his thoughts and wiped them from his mind. Once finished, the man was unconscious. They moved him, leaning Lerner against the building next door, then Victor took out his cell phone and flipped it open to press a quick-dial number. Edward and Alessandro waited patiently as he called Argeneau Enterprises, explained the situation, and arranged to have the man picked up.
    "Do we wait here for them to collect him?" Alessandro asked as Victor flipped his phone closed.
    Shaking his head, he pocketed the phone. "He isn't going anywhere and they shouldn't be long. Come on."
    He led them back inside.
    "All taken care of?" DJ asked as the trio reentered the restaurant. The other men still stood by the door.
    Victor nodded and asked, "Do we meet Elvi now?"
    "Soon," Brunswick said, and then glanced around. "We'll need a bigger table now that you're all here. I'll see what I can arrange."
    "And so there are four of us," Harper said as the officer slipped away.
    "You mean five," Alessandro corrected.
    "DJ is only here because he drove me," Victor explained.
    "Ah." Alessandro nodded, and it was Edward who said, "That's still more competition than I expected."
    "No competition at all, really," DJ pointed out. "She can't be the lifemate for all of you."
    "That's not entirely true," Harper corrected, and when the other immortals turned to him with surprise, he said, "I had a friend back in Germany in Victorian times. He and his cousin met a woman neither of them could read. She could have been a lifemate to either of them."
    DJ's eyebrows drew together. "What happened?"
    "They both courted her. She chose his cousin." He glanced away briefly before admitting, "My friend was sure he would never meet another who would suit him so well. Unable to bare the thought of watching his cousin enjoy the happiness he might have had, he destroyed himself."
    Silence fell in the group as they absorbed this news and then Brunswick returned.
    "I've arranged to switch tables with Jenny Harper and her friends. Follow me, boys." Brunswick didn't wait for agreement, but turned and headed off.
    "I have never quite gotten used to being called ' boy' by men who look older, but are really far younger than myself," Harper commented.
    Victor merely smiled as he started forward.
    "Sit down," Brunswick instructed once they'd reached the table.
    "Actually," Harper murmured as the rest of the men sat, "I think I'd like to go thank Ms. Harper and her friends for giving up the table for us. If you'll excuse me."
    Without waiting for Brunswick's permission, Harper moved away, slipping through the tables to the booth they'd been at earlier.
    Brunswick frowned after him, but then turned back to the table and said, "I need to go in the back and see if Mabel and Elvi have arrived. I shouldn't be long."
    He started to turn away, but paused, eyes narrowing at something by the entrance. Victor turned to glance that way, eyebrows rising at the sight of an agitated, gray-haired man in the vestments of a priest rushing toward the officer.
    "Teddy