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with a relentless demand. The pull of the neighborhood was incredibly strong. Mary Ann's gentle voice, the church, Velda and Inez. She shied away from thinking the word home. She had no home. She was a nomad. A loner.

Why wouldn't Nicolae get out of her head?

She had no reason to worry about him or feel guilty. Nicolae probably was making the entire thing up. Except she'd never caught him in a lie. She'd spent a lifetime looking for his lies to prove to herself he was a vampire. She glanced briefly at the men, then down at the ground, continuing her steady pace. She needed physical action.

One of the three men straightened, took two steps toward her as if to intercept her. Destiny let her breath out in a hiss of anticipation, eagerness coursing through her body like adrenaline as she turned toward him, waiting. Waiting. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath with her. Two rats scurrying near trash cans sat up on their hind legs, motionless, waiting expectantly.

She felt him then. Nicolae. Real, not imagined. Close. There was no beautiful voice, no soft words to turn her from her intended path. But when she swung her head, her gaze meeting her would-be attacker, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Destiny knew immediately that the hungry flame burning deep in her belly betrayed her, glowing red hot in the depths of her eyes. "What kind of idiot are you?" she taunted him, then glared at the others, daring them to attack her.

She heard Nicolae's soft laughter then.

You should have lured them with sex.

Something in his voice made her shiver, an underlying menace that told her it wouldn't have been a good idea.

Call me to you.

Her breath escaped between her teeth, a hiss of anger. Before anything else, she should have asked Mary Ann if all men were such pains in the butt. She was not going to call him to her. She would not be enticed. Lured. Tempted. She would have left Seattle for good to escape him, but she had unfinished business. She had promised Inez and Velda she would check into the problems in the neighborhood. "Cowards," she sniffed with contempt and turned her back on the three men, who were staring in outright alarm at her.

Had there been a small surge of power in the air? Had Nicolae interfered in some way, enhancing the fire burning in her, allowing the three men to see the danger they were in? Destiny whirled around, her vivid gaze seeking out every nook and cranny. The rats. They had hunkered down closer to the trash cans, staying small in an attempt to keep from being noticed. She glared at them until they hid in the midst of the trash.

Are you following me? Don't you dare try to follow me!

Nicolae wouldn't dare. Destiny paused at the entrance to the narrow street, tapping her fingernail against the wall. Of course he would dare. He was a hunter.

Her anger was fading. All she could think about was the aching need in his voice, the stark hunger in his eyes. Despair was a sharp knife piercing her heart each time she remembered the flicker of pain crossing Nicolae's face. She leaned her weight against the wall and looked up at the stars. The wind was blowing stronger now, shifting a blanket of gray fog so that it spread across the night, blotting out stars and muffling sound. A fine drizzle began to rain down on her. She glanced at the rats scurrying for cover. Something in the way one of them moved caught her attention - the way it kept her in sight, the round, beady eyes shining with far too much intelligence. At once a chill went down her spine. She went still inside, her senses flaring out to discover the others. And there were others. This time she had been truly drawn into an ambush.

Chapter Seven

Destiny moved slowly, carefully positioning herself as she examined every inch of her surroundings. The wind was kicking up paper and small leaves and whirling the debris down the street. Her wary gaze slipped over the buildings, took in every detail, every shadow. She had come looking for a fight; she was in for an all-out war.

She needed room to maneuver. Smiling sweetly at the little rat, Destiny glided swiftly into the open, out from between the towering buildings into the middle of the street. "I see you are in your true form, Pater. Ever the