.Chapter Eighteen .

Tessa knew just as well as Deven that those terror filled words were a lie. The son of a bitch was standing right there out of sight. He was holding her hostage, forcing her to lie to them.

She held the woman"s gaze and realized it was something slightly different. She was terrified but there was a glimpse of something close to hope there too.

"It"s going to be okay. We"re here to help." She repeated the words Deven had started with. "I know you must have some questions. Can we sit down and talk?"

She shook her head. "Stay there."

"Okay, no problem." She offered a supportive smile or as close to one as she could manage. "We need to talk to you about your husband. I'm sure you were notified about the shooting that happened in Los Angeles. And I'm sure you already understand that there was a lot more to it than you were told."

The woman was trembling, but her voice was almost steady. "James is a good man. He"s a Navy SEAL, a hero."

"It"s okay. I"ve seen your husband"s file. I know he was one of the good guys. He made a difference and saved lives."

Mrs. Bishop couldn't wipe her face with the baby in her arms. The slow drip of her tears continued through each word. "Stop saying was. He is still my husband."

What could she say to steer the conversation and help the woman to understand? "But he"s not the same, is he?"

"He didn"t ask for this to happen. Why are you hunting him like he"s the villain?"

The poor woman was in a nightmare position. She already knew her husband wasn't going to be okay. But she still couldn't bring herself to betray him. "It"s going to be alright, Pamela. We"re only here to make sure you"re safe."

"You won"t hurt him?"

"Not if he comes with us willingly."

The arm around the woman tightened and she flinched. "Please, James. Please, just let us go."

"I can"t let you go." The words were slurred by a lisp as if uttered around long fangs. "We can be together. Forever."

"James, I"m too scared. I don"t want to be like that." The woman was trying so hard to connect with the man she'd once known.

Deven moved a step closer. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but it won"t work anyhow. He is not strong enough to turn you into a vampire."

"Lies."

He moved another step closer. "It"s the truth. Even your maker rarely succeeded. It"s not like in the movies. Reality is based on cruel statistics." The wife was paying close attention. Had she actually been considering giving in? "The one who turned your husband was a first-generation vampire. He is crazy strong and hundreds of years old. And he"s only able to successfully turn one out of every ten people he tries to convert. The other nine died. As a newly made vampire, your husband has almost no chance of success. Let's say, maybe one percent. Probably not even that high."

"It"s all lies. Don"t listen."

Deven told them the truth, despite how cruel it seemed. "It"s the truth. If you try to turn her, it"s not love. It will be nothing more than murder."

"James, I don"t want to risk it. You know I don"t have good luck. It"s too dangerous."

"It"s the only way we can be together."

"No..." She yanked and lunged forward. Only to be jerked back with the sound of tearing cloth and a cry of pain. Another twist and she pulled free. Just long enough to thrust the toddler away from her and her husband.

The baby was airborne just a moment before Tess frantically caught him.

"Save him." With that single demand, Pamela Bishop spun and raced toward the back of the house. She flung open a sliding door and rushed out into the rain. The vampire chased her. And Deven was chasing him.

And she was left behind holding the baby? "What the hell?" What did she know about babies? Plenty enough after so many foster siblings, but was this what she should be doing?

What about Deven who was going to be facing off against a mad vampire in the worst possible conditions? No, Deven was strong. Even if he was still dealing with the trauma from his past, he wouldn"t let that stop him from doing the job.

Of course, he could handle it, but she didn't want him to have to do it alone. Wasn"t that the point of her being here with him? She was his back up, his partner.

But it wasn"t like she could just toss the baby aside. It stared at her wide-eyed as if he"d burst into tears at any moment. Could she leave it inside and alone? Would that be safe enough? She looked around for a crib or playpen. There was a playpen in the corner of the living room.

But as she started to put the toddler down in the safety of the pen, his grip tightened over her shirt.

Now what?

* * *

Deven flinched as the wind pelted him with the waves and rain. The back of the house had almost no land to it. Little more than thirty feet of yard and rocky shore before it reached the edge of the bay. Any other day he could imagine the setting would be tranquil and idyllic with blue water and gentle waves. At the moment though, it sucked. And sprayed and left him choking on water that should have been air.

And how the hell was the wife so fast? Somehow, she had raced from the house and was running along the rocky bank in her bare feet almost faster than he could go on four paws. And attempting to keep up in human form left little time to worry about the storm or water.

The vampire caught her first but only for a moment. Then she threw herself out of his grip and into the water. The spray of salt water was enough to hold back the vamp. They"d both be weakened by the salt in seawater and somewhat in this fresh and saltwater mix. Maybe this was the vamp's first contact with saltwater and that was what caused the hesitation but whatever the reason, Soldier Boy lurched back up onto the shore.

And the wife flailed wildly in the crashing waves. Never mind the vampire, she was going to end up drowning at this rate. He hated to let the vamp go even for a moment, but Tessa"s words reminded him to be the good guy. He had to save the wife first.

Before he could consider any other options, he jumped into the crashing waves and thrashed very gracelessly toward the wife. Somehow, he reached her and dragged her up from the water, locking one arm over his shoulder. Then he used brute strength and gritted teeth determination to stagger them both toward the shore.

They were both choking and coughing up water by the time they reached a post marking the property line. Still half in the water he braced the wife in place.

Maybe it was his fried nerves, but he suddenly remembered a pep talk that Quinn had given him many years before. He"d gone on and on like he tended to do, but the gist had been, "No matter how scared you are, someone is even more scared. So what if I had to save your ass that day? Someday you"ll be the one doing the saving. Maybe that"s the whole point of being alive."

He couldn"t deny that his body was reacting to the storm and the water. But he wasn"t locked up in that fear. And he had saved the woman from drowning. Not that she was safe yet, but she was that much closer.

He wrapped her arm around the post. "If you can, stay out of sight."

She was still gasping for air. Between the efforts she forced out some words. "Don"t leave me."

He helped her out of the water and guided her to the neighbor"s side of the low white fence. It provided a little protection. "He"ll be looking for you."

"James won"t hurt me or our baby."

He hated to be the one to tell her, but she wasn"t going to understand without knowing the full truth. "I know he was a hero when he was alive, but he"s not now. He"s already killed more than fifteen innocent people."

Her wide-eyed gaze flashed to his. "No, it can"t be."

"It is. The man you loved already died."

Her face crumpled and the sobs came in earnest. "Oh… James."

"I'm sorry."

Her trembling fingers were knotted in his shirt. "Please, wait! Even if he did what you said, does he have to be killed again?"

The chances of Bishop regaining even a small amount of his control, or him even being able to be reasoned with were small. But that didn't mean the odds were zero. And it wasn't as if he had chosen this path himself.

"Please…"

"I can't promise anything but if he can be saved, we will try to make it happen." That was the best he could offer. Even that was probably little more than hollow words.

He felt for her. Situations like this were harder on the victims than any other because it meant she"d have to lose her husband twice. And her last memories of him would be of this monster that he"d become. It would twist any happy past they might have shared. And prolonging this suffering was not kindness.

"Stay out of sight." He pried her fingers loose. "It will all be over soon."

He ducked back to the other side of the fence in time to see Tessa emerge from the house. What the hell was she wearing? He could barely make it out through the rain. She had the baby tied to her chest inside a bright pink raincoat. One small hand waved out from the side.

The vampire flashed from the right, rushing her.

He lurched forward but he"d never make it in time. He drew up his gun, took aim and fired.

Tessa sprouted wings and brandished her dagger. A blinding bluish circle blocked the vampire"s advance. Some kind of barrier? When had she learned that? She was so damn amazing. Far too good for him.

The vampire tore at the invisible protection. How strong was it? How long would it last? As far as he knew this was the first time that she"d ever created a barrier.

He rushed forward once more. His bullets either hadn"t connected or hadn't made a difference.

Between the wind and rain, and all of the twenty-five feet, it felt impossibly far away. Just as her barrier shattered... the vampire struck out with claws and fangs.