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tightly.

"This isn't a choice. How can you act like it is?" The muscles in Cole's neck were corded tight. He had trouble keeping his voice even. He looked at his hands like he didn't know what to do with them.

"Everything we do is by choice, even here. How can you act like it isn't a good choice for me? Yes, I might die in nine months when the baby is born, but that's better than my odds tonight if I go with you. Cole, this is the best I can hope for. It's the best decision for me." Cole stared at Cassie, his eyes pleading with her, but she wouldn't change her mind. Cole needed to go on without her. Cassie was weak. She knew she'd only hold him back. Pretending to be excited about the Pairing, lying and saying she changed her mind, had to convince him to go on without her.

Before Cole had a chance to say anything else, Brianna popped her head out of the doorway and hurried into the hall. Cole stepped back and tried to hide the emotion in his eyes. "You forgot your negligee, Cassie." Brianna walked toward them quickly, holding out the black lace. "Hey, Cole. Too bad your girl ran off. Guess you won't be having any fun tonight."

Through gritted teeth, he muttered, "Guess not."

Brianna looked at Cassie and said, "Find Alice and get back. You're missing everything." Brianna's eyes slid over Cole's body once, before returning to his face, "We're talking positions. Tell the guys they better be ready." She winked at him, and turned on her heel, heading back into the room.

Chapter 21

By the time the King's men realized what they were tracking, it was too late. The sun was already high in the sky. It was well into the day after the King had fled the palace and he was running out of time. Bellowing from the back of his car, he exclaimed, "It's nearly noon, and we aren't any closer than we were this morning! It's like that demonic girl is running in circles! How is she still alive? The storm last night should have killed her." The King was growling by the time he finished speaking, his voice low and menacing. He rubbed the back of his hands, resisting the urge to strangle the person sitting nearest to him.

The Tracker, Celticad was a large man with dark stubble on his massive jaw. His arms were the size of hams and covered thickly in dense hair. He clutched a live rabbit and held it in his lap. Celticad was a fearsome sight when he was human. After he turned vampire, not even his own kind wanted him around. He had too much power in those muscles, too much strength in his body, compared to the rest of them, but there was reason for it. The King had kindly slipped this Tracker extra vials of blood since the famine began. It was foolish to allow his guard to become weak, but that was unpreventable. Too many vampires receiving extra rations would be noticed, but one loner, freakishly large vampire, much less so.

Celticad was aware of the King's strength. While he fought viciously and feared no one, Celticad feared his King. There was something about the King that was different, stronger. The King's skin didn't have that sickly yellow tint, his eyes were cunning - always plotting, always thinking - and his wrath was swift. This particular setback was not Celticad's fault, however the King had no one else to blame.

"There was no way to know, your Highness." Celticad would not apologize. They tracked the item that the King told them to. While he would never say that this was the King's doing, Celticad wasn't about to take the blame or throw it on his men, either. The King stared furiously, straight ahead, fuming. His fingers rested on the door. He pressed so hard into the plastic handle that it snapped under his palm. Celticad did not acknowledge it. Instead, he continued, "The tracking device was contained within another animal. She must have realized it was there and removed it. There was no way to know we weren't tracking a human."

"No," The King said calmly, "of course not." Turning his golden eyes on the Tracker, he lifted his palms, like he was being reasonable, "There was no way to notice a change in body temperature or heart rate, no indication whatsoever that the chip was in a goddamned rabbit!"

Celticad