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position.

Reginald ignored the display of incompetence. As long as the lunatic didn't topple the truck, Reginald didn't care about Thomas' intelligence. He was a servant and nothing more. "They're storm clouds with too much wind, from the look of them." He laughed, picturing himself as a meteorologist a couple hundred years ago, when people got their news from an attractive man on a glowing TV screen. Those were good times.

"What's so funny?" Thomas asked, his face turning paler, if that was possible.

"Just drive," Reginald said slouching back into the seat.

But it didn't matter how fast Thomas drove, it was inevitable. They were headed directly into that storm. When the wind blasted the truck, it nearly blew them off the road, or what was left of it. The ice was slick and Reginald felt the truck slip across the smooth surface. He reached for the door, holding on as they slid. Thomas regained control and slowed.

The few animals that fared well in the wild were scattering, running in the opposite direction of the truck. Thomas' gaze watched wolf, rabbit, and fox trying to escape what they were driving into. "Sir, perhaps we should turn around?" Thomas was never so brazen, but he couldn't keep his thoughts to himself. If they spun off the road and died, Reginald would kill him.

"Keep driving," Reginald said, ignoring the man.

Thomas protested, "Them animals are running, sir. Running. That's not like them. Their natural instinct is to hide. The only thing that flushes 'em out anymore is bad. I gotta say - "

"You've said enough," Reginald snapped. "I realize you think that death may lie ahead of us, but I know with utter certainty that it lies behind us, waiting with a fang and scythe." Pressing his fingers to his throat, Reggie thought of the head that rolled across the throne room floor, eyes still wide in shock. "We will not turn back. Sophia will kill the King and anyone who is in her path. I do not intend to be there when it happens. Drive on."

Chapter 7

When they emerged from the cave, Will had the supplies he stripped from the frame of his bike. Although the vehicle he'd taken went down, it was still able to be ridden. But, first things first. They had to find a wolf.

Kahli tucked her bright hair under the white body suit. Will said it didn't need a coat, but she felt exposed. The bodysuit fit her like a second skin, clinging to her frame and revealing every curve. When she finally was dry enough to pull it on, she shimmied the neckline up to her throat where she fastened a plastic clip to hold in her body heat, and turned to Will. She felt his heart jump before she had a chance to look at him. Maybe this bond thing isn't so bad? she thought. At least it gave her a tiny clue as to how he felt about her. He thought she was something to look at, that much she knew for certain.

Will didn't look too bad in his white bodysuit, either. It clung to his slender body, moving with his toned chest and strong arms. Kahli looked away before she had more time to think about what it meant - about the attraction that was there - and the fact that she wanted more. There was something majorly wrong with her brain. Maybe she'd been alone too long, or maybe Will was everything she needed, and it didn't matter what kind of blood ran in his veins.

But he's a vampire, a voice hissed in the back of her mind as she studied the sweeping muscles that defined his broad shoulders. Blood matters. Blood is what separates us from them - it's what makes us human - it's what makes them monsters.

Will felt her gaze, but said nothing. He masked his thoughts so well that it was difficult to tell what he thought about anything. Kahli studied him while they were in the cave and aside from what he revealed, she didn't learn much. The main thing she felt over and over was his eyes sliding over her form, followed by an increase in his pulse. The steady sound beat in her ears, but his attention could have been for any number of reasons. It didn't mean he had feelings for her. He saved her, because the King would kill him if he didn't drag her back. Kahli wasn't a fool. She knew he couldn't tell her