His driver held the rear door of the limo open, and Stephen climbed out. “Wait here.”

“Yes, Stephen,” Terry said very respectfully.

Terry had been exceptionally careful and well behaved since the incident with Marie at the club. He had settled down remarkably well, and Stephen found himself grudgingly pleased with his newest child. He hadn’t expected that. He had turned Terry not because he needed or wanted another mouth to feed, but because he’d given his word to the man. He hadn’t expected to find him useful, but he did.

He headed for the house and dismissed thoughts of Terry from his mind. He was looking forward to seeing Marie again. She had visited with him a few times now at the club, but this was the first time she had invited him to her home. He would have preferred it to be just the two of them, but this visit was business not pleasure. At her urging, Marie’s father had finally agreed to a meeting to discuss Techtron’s current aims in the city, but he was determined to enjoy some part of the evening with her despite that.

The door opened as he approached and Marie stepped out of the house to greet him. He smiled and reached to take her offered hands in both of his.

“Thank you for coming,” Marie said blushing in a charming manner.

Seeing it made Stephen feel lighter of spirit. He truly did enjoy her. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Come inside. Dad is looking forward to meeting you.”

He released her hands, and Marie led the way into her home. Stephen followed noting the unhappy faces of a pair of security guards hovering just inside. He nodded to them, acknowledging their watchfulness. One ignored him, the other nodded back. Both were tense, hands ready to reach for the suspicious looking bulges under their unbuttoned jackets. They wouldn’t have occasion to use their weapons against him, but if they tried, he could easily disarm them. He did not fear them and took no insult from their guardedness. There were many dangers in the world and Marie deserved protection.

“That will be all, Andrew, thank you,” Marie said.

Stephen smiled as the guard struggled to find a reason not to leave her with him.

“Yes, Miss,” Andrew finally said, though he was obviously far from sanguine. He waved his colleague away and busied himself closing the door, and if he did so a little slowly to extend the time to remain nearby, what of it?

Marie smiled at Stephen and took him deeper into the house. “Dad is in his office. He usually is.”

“How sad.”

“Sad?”

“That he has you and such a lovely home but does not emerge from his office more to enjoy you both.”

Marie laughed. “You are such a tease.”

“I’m glad that I can make you laugh, but I’m quite serious. Many things are said of my kind, most are unpleasant, but we do have an appreciation for beauty and the finer things. You might say that being dead gives us a unique perspective on life.”

Marie stopped and turned to face him. She was suddenly quite close and confrontational. “Don’t do that! You’re not dead. I don’t like hearing you say that you are!”

“Hush, it’s all right. I’m used to it.”

“It’s not. You’re parroting AML’s line. You can’t beat them by joining them, Stephen. That might work in some things, but not in this. Prejudice and bigotry should be fought, never tolerated. AML are the worse examples of humanity. Don’t emulate them, please.”

“AML are only the most vocal. It’s refreshing that they’re willing to back word with deed. Strange to think, I know, but I prefer an enemy willing to fight me in the open to the snide comments and backroom deals that the government relies upon. Politics,” he sneered. “And politicians invariably disgust me. Backstabbing two-timing liars most of them. They smile to your face while quietly slipping poison in your wine or a dagger in your back.”

“At least politicians don’t go around setting bombs and killing the innocent.”

“Do they not? Not with their own hands perhaps, but that’s what the military is for. Let us not argue over the rights and wrongs of wars undertaken on our supposed behalf. I’m here to see your father about a different kind of war, a more shadowy kind happening right here in LA.”

Marie glared, frustration in her tense stance, but after a moment, she relaxed her posture and sighed. “Sorry. I don’t mean to ruin your first visit it’s just that...” she sighed again. “You sound entirely too much like dad, especially when he thinks I’m being naive. I don’t like being condescended to.”

“I didn’t mean to do that.”

“But you do think that I’m naive? No, it’s all right; I can see that you do. To you we probably all seem like children—”

She didn’t give him time to refute that.

“—but I’m not. I’m a grown woman with a good brain in my head.”

“Indeed you are,” he said and smiled appreciatively.

She blushed. “Well, okay then.” Her eyes darted around and briefly caught his before she realised that she was doing something dangerous. They skittered away to settle upon his lips. He moistened them and she flushed harder. “Dad is waiting,” she said weakly, entranced by his mouth and the smile that widened seemingly of its own volition.

He truly did enjoy her. Truly. “Then by all means, let us not keep him wondering where we are.”

She nodded and led the way to a door.

William Stirling was a rotund man in his sixties, his hair was thinning but still dark, and the beard he wore was speckled with silver. He looked up from his desk comp as they entered and stood to greet them. He smiled at Marie, his love for his daughter shining upon his face. Stephen liked him for it and his obvious suspicion when those pale blue eyes came to rest upon him.

“This is Stephen, Dad,” Marie said and added, “Be nice.”

“When haven’t I been nice to your guests?” William said and grinned when she rolled her eyes. “Well, all right, but this one isn’t a potential boyfriend. You can’t expect miracles.”

“He didn’t like Terry,” Marie confided to Stephen.

“I like him for that,” he replied and laughed when William beamed at him. He seemed to be a very jolly fellow; he was glad for Marie’s sake. “I’m pleased to meet you at last.”

William nodded and indicated seats. Neither of them offered to shake hands. Stephen rarely offered, knowing that most humans would refuse and be uncomfortable refusing, and perhaps William was one of those people, as he seemed relieved. He was less sanguine however, when Marie chose to sit next to him on the same couch, leaving her father standing alone. She grinned at him, and William muttered something under his breath before finding his own seat.

“I’ve reviewed the reports that Marie commissioned,” William began, sending his daughter a mock glare, but his pride in her was obvious. “They are, unfortunately, damning. I will say right now that these projects were not and are not sanctioned by me or Techtron’s board.”

“Convenient,” Stephen said ignoring Marie’s gasp and her father’s flush of anger. “I’m a businessman as you are. Not on the same scale of course, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are head of your House—Techtron—and are therefore responsible for what it does, just as I am responsible for what those who are sworn to my House do in its name. Techtron is working with an outlawed group, terrorists who spend their time killing and persecuting people like me.”

William glared. “Not Techtron. These clandestine projects are not on the books. They’re the sole responsibility of one man only, and he will be disciplined. I can assure you that Wilson is finished at Techtron, and any on the board who knowingly abetted him will be jettisoned along with him.”

That was very satisfying. This mess had been festering for months. Without Marie’s intervention, he would still be trying unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting like this one. Satisfying then that they had made such great progress all at once, but it didn’t solve the underlying problem of AML. He wasn’t sure anything could solve it, but in the short term cutting off its funding would help.

“What about Wilson’s other activities? His meetings with Newman, his indirect funding of AML through shell companies owned by Techtron?”

“I’m in the process of tracking down all of them. Once I know how he managed to hide the syphoning of funds, and where those funds were transferred, I’ll shut down the entire operation. That’s one reason I agreed to this meeting. I want your agreement to allow me to investigate Wilson properly without interference. I’m aware of what you could do, but I’m asking you not to. I need to learn the extent of the rot before I start cutting. I don’t want a recurrence of this a few years down the line.”

Stephen nodded thoughtfully. He could understand the need to clean house properly. William’s acknowledgement that he needed his cooperation to do that was gratifying. He had considered just killing Wilson more than once, but that really wouldn’t solve the AML problem. Perhaps mapping their various sources of funding would begin that process.

“How far along with it are you, may I see?”

William nodded. “Marie, the red folder on my desk if you would?”

Marie stood and went to her father’s desk, but before she located the folder there came a crash and a shout from somewhere in the house. Startled, she looked up and took a step toward the door to investigate. Stephen reacted instinctively to shield her and bar her way. It might be nothing, but then again it might be something. In a minor display of power, he was across the room and in front of the door. He held up a hand, and Marie stopped where she was in the middle of the room.

“What’s going on?” William said, his face beginning to darken with suspicion.

“I have no notion. Perhaps nothing, but for Marie’s sake allow me to investigate.” He opened the door and peered out, but nothing seemed amiss. He advanced.

“Be careful!” Marie called.

“I shall,” he said without turning. Something felt out of place, but he couldn’t quite get a sense of it. He had the distinct feeling he had forgotten something. “I’ll be back shortly.”

He closed the office door firmly, wishing he could have locked it and stationed a guard to protect its contents. A few of his wolves would have been handy about now, or that security guard he met earlier. Yes, where was the fellow? He looked about himself but the house seemed deserted. The shout should have brought the man running, surely.

He listened intently and thought he heard something coming from the back of the house. He headed that way opening doors and peering into rooms. There was no sign of disturbance and he began to feel a little silly. Perhaps one of the staff had dropped something and the mishap had caused him to shout in startlement. He frowned; he didn’t believe that—

The attack came out of nowhere and he was flying off his feet, snarling in pain. His chest was on fire! Not literally, but it hurt as if flames were consuming him. He crashed to the floor on his back, his hands ripping at his shirt and the flesh beneath. He tore the silvered daggers out of his chest, vowing bloody vengeance. As soon as the hated metal left his body, the coolness he associated with healing replaced the pain. The great beyond and the coolness of the grave was a balm to his kind.

He sprang to his feet and threw the daggers aside as his attacker arrived. It was a vampire, a young one, and his aura felt strange. He remembered Gavin’s description of O’Neal; how his aura had felt weak one moment and powerful the next. This newborn was the same. Suddenly he feared for Marie and her father. Were they still safe? He had no time to check; he was busy fighting for his life. He thought longingly of his sword and wished he’d brought it, but as with prayer, wishes did him little good. He had his strength and his fangs. They would have to be enough.

Fists and feet hammered his body, but they did little to harm him. They did succeed in annoying him—they made it hard to retaliate effectively when he had to block the strikes. He used his speed, one of his greatest assets, to get behind his opponent and that was that. He grabbed the man’s head and wrenched it hard back with a nice little twist to complete the move. The neck snapped. It wasn’t a killing tactic, but it did inconvenience the man. It was hard to see your enemy and fight effectively with a broken neck. He didn’t give him time to heal. He twisted the head all the way around, ignoring the man’s snapping jaws and his scrabbling hands. Another full turn and he ripped the head free. The body froze for a timeless moment, and then collapsed like the dead thing it was.

Another dagger came out of nowhere and buried itself in his belly. This time he simply brushed it away, threw the head at this new attacker, and charged. The human’s eyes widened in fear. He ducked the incoming head and brought up a machine gun of the type Angel sometimes carried. The man triggered a burst, but Stephen was already inside his reach and sweeping the arm holding the weapon aside. Bullets stitched the walls and ceiling, but none came close to their intended target. He grinned, his fangs fully extended and the man screamed. He didn’t have time to scream a second time, a severed carotid artery and missing windpipe did tend to inhibit them.

He spat the morsel out and stepped aside to avoid the pumping blood, letting the soon to be corpse collapse writhing at his feet. He chose not to feed in Marie’s house. It would have helped speed his healing, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing it where she might see.

He could hear gunfire outside now, and more shouting. Security was apparently fighting back. He ran toward the sound. He didn’t know who the attackers were, but AML would be a good bet. Gavin had fought and killed O’Neal, a newborn vampire, and here he was being attacked by another. AML were involved in Michael’s abduction, and perhaps this attack was an attempt to replicate that success, or perhaps William was the target. Wilson may have learned about the subject of their meeting and sent them to disrupt it. It didn’t really matter now; killing them did. Whoever they were, they had proven themselves to be a diverse group. He had never heard of AML working with non-humans before.

He found the fight. Security guards lay dead or dying upon the ground outside along with a similar number of their attackers. Going by numbers alone, he would say it was a standoff, but who was to say there weren’t more of his kind on the grounds. He found a familiar face among the defenders. It was one of the two men he’d met briefly earlier. He couldn’t recall his name but that didn’t matter. What did was Marie’s safety.

“Let me deal with this,” Stephen began, joining the man behind the cover of a pretty balustrade overlooking the formal gardens. “Take someone with you and protect Marie. Do you have a safe room here, or a way to get her off the property?”

The man hesitated. “Yes but—”

“Don’t argue with me. Get Marie and her father away from here.”

The man nodded. He patted his companion’s shoulder and together they scurried back into the house, keeping low. Stephen watched them go, and let his fangs descend. He was going to slaughter everything not belonging to Marie and enjoy it; perhaps enjoy it too much, but she would be safe and hopefully never know what he’d done to ensure it.

He laughed at the thought of what he was about to do and breathed deeply of the nighttime air, enjoying the sensation of raising his power. He rarely got the chance to let himself off the leash of discipline so hard won over the centuries. Truly, this night would be one to remember. His eyes flashed to silver, looking like liquid metal orbs in their sockets as he turned his power loose on the night. It manifested first as speed, second as physical strength, but perhaps the most impressive from his enemy’s point of view was his glamour. To them, he appeared like a black winged avenging angel as he slaughtered them. They felt the wind stirred by his beating wings, felt the feathers on skin as he enfolded them in his embrace. It was glamour, just illusion, but all too real to men and women with no defence against it.

Screams filled the night air, and machine guns chattered as terrified people fired at phantoms, often hitting their compatriots in their panic. One by one, he silenced their voices, their blood and screams devoured by the black-winged angel of vengeance. He fed and fed and fed until he could swallow no more, and simply allowed the blood to flow out of them upon the thirsty ground. His wounds healed, replaced by fresh ones, but those healed almost instantly. His power was on him in full measure, and he raged through the grounds killing everyone he found.

Finally, he came back to himself, covered in blood and feeling empty again. He should be full to bursting, but he wasn’t. He had drained a dozen humans. That would usually be enough essence to last weeks, but he had spent it all like a spendthrift upon killing his enemies. He did not regret it, but hunger was gnawing at his vitals again. He eyed the corpses, but they didn’t appeal. A shifter might take a bite out of a corpse and take no ill effect, but his kind could not feed upon the truly dead, not even upon the recently dead. They needed live blood and donors.

He turned in a circle hopefully, but he sensed only death in the darkness. Bodies littered the ground all around him in every direction. Bent and broken weapons were stuck in the lawns and flowerbeds, their barrels planted in the soil like macabre garden ornaments. He pulled at his sodden shirt and grimaced at the feel of it peeling away from his skin. Edward would not be happy about this. His suit had been Armani, ordered especially for this occasion.

He tugged his tie loose and over his head. He shoved it into his jacket pocket and felt for his comb. He could do nothing about the blood on his shirt, but he could at least make an effort. He hoped Marie and her father were long gone from here, but if not, he didn’t want them thinking ill of him. He combed his hair and removed his jacket, folding it over one arm and holding it to cover as much of his bloodied shirt as it would. It was the best he could do. He headed back to the house.

He entered through the rear and retraced his earlier route. When Terry appeared with Marie, he smiled in relief that quickly turned to alarm. She was crying, and Terry was holding her upper arm tight enough to bruise. Anger surged, and suddenly he knew what he’d forgotten earlier. It had been Terry. He had forgotten he was here, but more than that, he couldn’t feel their bond. With his child right before him, he couldn’t feel it. Impossible! He gaped in utter surprise and shock when a group of newborn vampires exited the office at Terry’s back and paused to watch.

Terry laughed and shook Marie roughly, making her cry out.

Stephen snarled, and would have launched himself at the traitor, but fear for Marie held him back.

“She’s dead the moment you don’t do what you’re told,” Terry said. “My new master has sworn that I can have her.” He licked his lips ostentatiously. “He swore that I can have her in any way that I want her. He promised. All I have to do is deliver you, and here you are. Sound familiar?”

Stephen frowned. It was a variation on the deal he’d struck with Terry in exchange for bestowing the gift upon him. He had asked for an introduction to Marie. Terry had promoted himself as her boyfriend at the time, a lie as it had turned out. He was using a similar gambit again. He never had been very bright or original.

“Don’t hurt her, and I’ll come with you peacefully.”

“You will anyway, or she’s dead.”

He snarled at the threat, taking an involuntary step, and suddenly Terry had Marie’s throat in his hand. She gasped, her eyes bulging and pleading.

“Stop!” he shouted in horror as Terry squeezed the life out of her. Goddess damn it stop him! I swear if she dies I’ll kill every one of you!”

The vampire audience shifted unhappily but they did nothing.

Stephen dropped to his knees and clasped his hands behind his head. “All right damn you!”

Terry grinned and allowed Marie to breathe. She gasped and sucked at the air greedily. “Very good. Put the cuffs on him.”

One of the vampires advanced nervously. He was carrying a pair of heavy-duty rune cuffs; police issue by the looks of them. Constructed of titanium steel alloy to withstand a vampire’s strength and electroplated in silver, the runes engraved in the metal of each cuff would prevent shifters from changing shape and would absorb magic of any kind. If those went on his wrists, he would be helpless.

He cast about for ideas, but one squeeze of her neck would send Marie to her judgement before the Goddess. If he could get Terry to let her go for just a few seconds, he could kill him and his friends. None were strong enough to withstand him one on one, or even two on one, but there were five including Terry.

The cuffs closed upon his wrists, and suddenly his anger drained away with his strength. The last thing he heard as he spiraled into oblivion was Marie crying his name and Terry’s laughter.