I drove fast and furiously down the highway. Faster than I’d ever driven before. There was something in Logan’s face, a sort of desperation, which told me we needed to get there. Now! People honked their horns and flashed their lights in the darkness, as I swerved between them into any open spot I could make up ground in, narrowly missing some cars by inches. The drive back was horrible. We were both tense and worried. Horrible thoughts swirled around in my mind, until I couldn’t take it anymore and focused solely on driving. I kept my eyes on the road.
“Come on, come on!” Logan shrieked between his teeth. “Pick up. Damn it!” he said for the tenth time, during the drive. He’d been trying to get a hold of Frank, Greg or any of the other hunters since the moments we’d gotten into the car.
Ten minutes later my stomach felt like ice. I’d given him both Claudia’s and Quintenn’s cell numbers. And he’d gotten no answer. Claudia never didn’t answer, no matter what she was doing. Oh my god, I thought, please let her be okay.
I drove the Lancer right up to the front steps of the Manor and we both raced from the car. We bolted up the stairs, but as I opened the door and started to walk through Logan caught my wrist, pulling me to a stop and back slightly. “Hey, be careful, okay. We don’t know what’s going on.”
“Fine,” I answered, impatiently. Whatever was happening, we wouldn’t know until we got inside. Waiting around here talking about what we may or may not find wasn’t helping anybody.
Logan sighed, obviously being able to tell what I thought, and I watched as he pulled a knife out from his belt. He slipped silently through the door, with me following behind him.
Inside, the house was quiet and absolutely deserted. Alana and the council members, including Callie, had been called back to the city, so I knew it wasn’t going to be as busy. But this? It was eerie quiet and I was struck by de-ja-vu. This reminded me of the day when we had first met the hunters and we’d made our deal.
I looked at Logan in front of me. His neck and shoulders were tense and his body looked ridged. He wasn’t behind this, the hunters weren’t, I was sure. And knowing this didn’t make me feel better. It made me feel worse. A hundred times worse.

There was only one person who had the smarts and resources, not to mention the desire to pull this off. To be able to attack the Manor, and catch a group of well trained hunters and a house full of vampires unprepared. Logan must have known that, I thought. He wasn’t stupid.
I was afraid. Afraid for the people I cared about, and it was that fear that suddenly sent me sprinting down the halls of the Manor. Logan cried out in surprise, as I raced past him, calling for me to come back. But I didn’t. I didn’t stop and I didn’t slow down. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, glancing through the open doors I passed, and seeing no one.
My worry increased, starting to take over me. I was aware of Logan as he caught up to me. He was a fast runner, I though dimly. He ran beside me, but I didn’t acknowledge him. I ran down the stairwell and, running into the gym, stopped short.
My heart plummeted through the gym floor, and my throat felt tight, as my worse fears became reality.
Micah stood in the middle of the room. He had hold of Claudia in one arm and his other hand held a large silver knife. And it was positioned over Claudia’s heart. All over the room Death Walkers and hunters were scattered, being held back or restrained by vampires that worked for Micah.
I sensed Logan enter the room behind me, his body tight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small vampire slowly walk up to him and take the knife out of Logan’s hand. He didn’t fight him. We were out numbered, and however much he hated it, he knew it. The vampire also took the two other knifes out of his belt, including Logan’s father’s dagger, and threw them across the floor.
“How nice of you to finally join us, my love.” Micah smiled at me, a twisted smile that showed his fangs, and made my heart swivel up. “We’ve been waiting for you for quite a while. You two certainly took your time getting back. I wonder what you could possibly have been doing.” Micah spoke with his voice filled with malice and perhaps a tiny amount of jealousy. His eyes drifted to Logan, his fangs showing more.

Logan merely held his head high and met Micah’s gaze with a narrowed one of his own.
I felt the world around me rush as Micah’s words, and the meanings behind them, sank in. I realised what he meant. Why the vampires had attacked us at the church, and then let us go, when they could have easily killed us. They’d been a distraction, meant to keep us busy while Micah ransacked the Manor. It was a trap. And we’d walked right into it.
“What do you want?” I asked Micah, but I already knew. Hadn’t it been a common thought amongst the hunters, and us, that Micah would come back? We just hadn’t thought this would be the result.
“You, of course” Micah answered simply. “I must admit that I was a tad disappointed by our last encounter. Things didn’t quite go as I’d hoped they would.” He winked at me. “But don’t worry Roxanne; I have more realistic expectation’s now.”
Oh god. What did he mean? “And what are they exactly” I asked, my voice shaking much to my dismay.
He smirked. “I’m sure you can guess, you’re a smart girl, my love. That doesn’t matter though. What does matter is that I realised that the last time we saw each other, I didn’t give you enough incentive to take me up on my offer.” He gestured around the room and looked pointedly down at Claudia, who was squirming in his grasp. “Now, believe I have.”
I took an intake of breath. My stomach felt rotten, just rotten. What choice did I have? What the hell could I do?
“You’re not going to let us live, anyone can see that.” Logan spoke up coldly, beside me. “Even if she does take you up on your offer,” he paused, his eyes narrowing and boring into Micah. “And you know she’s not going to.”

Micah looked at Logan, eyes blazing with anger, before shifting his gaze to me for a moment, his face hard. He looked furious and absolutely dangerous. Then he looked back to Logan, and when he spoke he was deadly calm. “Oh, but I will,” he spoke, looking at Logan. “You see I have plans for you young hunter. All of you.” He spoke through clenched teeth. “And unfortunately those plans rely on you all living..... for a while longer, anyway.”
I had been watching Logan as Micah spoke to him. He’d kept his face blank as he listened to what was most obviously a threat. He looked in control, showing Micah nothing of what he actually felt. I wished I could be like that, but I wasn’t. I knew my horror and disgust was written all over my face. Much to Micah’s pleasure.
I knew I had to give Micah an answer. I wanted desperately to make it as colourful as I could, but I knew that, that wouldn’t be a smart thing to do. Not while we were all at his mercy, even though I hated to admit it. “No,” I said, shaking my head fiercely. “I won’t take your offer. I’ll never be with you. You can never have me.” I looked Micah directly into his eyes. “I’d rather die.”
I looked away from Micah’s fiery eyes and found my gaze locked with Logan’s. His eyes burned into me, the way they sometimes did, although this time it wasn’t anything that hurt. It only made my every nerve feel alive; filling me with thoughts and emotions I never thought I’d feel. Logan’s lips twitched as he looked at me.
Micah had been staring at me, and seeing the look Logan and I exchanged, exploded. I don’t know what he read in it exactly, but he was shrieking. “You belong to me! No one else can have you.” He looked at me, his eyes more dark and deadly then even I’d ever seen them look. “You’ll die before I let that happen!” he shouted, throwing Claudia out of the way. She was instantly grabbed by another of Micah’s vampires and restrained.
I watched, stunned as two vampires grabbed Logan by the forearms, pulling him back out of the way. And away from me. Micah flew across the room, with dangerous sparks flying off him and stopped in front of me.

Some vampires are unbelievably strong. The older they are and the more human blood they consume, the stronger they are. And Micah... he was old. In one swift blow he threw me across the room. I slammed into the wall on the other side, and as I collapsed onto the floor I saw that everybody in the room was pinned back, out of his way.
Pinned back and unable to help me.
There must have been more than a dozen people in the room. All trained and dangerous in their own rights, but still he had been able to have them all restrained without having to lift a finger. These vampires that worked with him would do anything for him, I realised in a daze.
In another swift motion he was across the room, and picking me up by the throat. I struggled, trying to get out of his grip, but it was no use, he was too strong. He pushed me back against the wall and bit, hard and deep into my neck. I gasped as the strongest pain I’d ever felt flowed, from the point where his fangs bit in, down and through my body.
I could hear the shouts and cries of outrage. Hear the hissing from the vampires, the cursing from the hunters. I could hear them as they struggled and pulled, trying to wretch themselves out of the grasps of the vampires that held them. They struggled, struggling so they could help me.
It was as though I lost all control over my body. I stood frozen, helpless. I was as helpless as a fly in a spider’s web. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t scream. God! I wanted to scream! All I was able to do was dig my fingernails into the wall. The pain was taking over. Slowly the cries and noise drowned out. My eyes stared blank ahead, not seeing anything.
Then, looking straight ahead I locked eyes with somebody. Their eyes were a mixture of shock, surprise and anger. They were struggling too. Struggling desperately, more than anybody else. I could see in their eyes that watching me was hurting them. That they wanted to do something. Anything. But they couldn’t help me. No one could.
Then the expression changed. It was filled with rage and a desperate need to protect me. And more..... so much more. It was an expression I never thought I’d see from those eyes. Those icy blue eyes, that always seemed to see me. Even when I thought no one else did. The eyes that I was sure saw the real me.

I found myself lost in them, desperate to think of anything but the pain. The whole thing only lasted about two minutes, but for me, it felt like an eternity. An eternity of pain and despair. Then Micah stopped, pulling his mouth from my neck. He took a step back, kissed me on my frozen lips and walked away. I was slightly aware that the other vampires were leaving too, but it didn’t register completely.
I slowly sank to the floor. Shaking. I fought to make sense of what had happened, but my mind was no longer making sense. My thoughts were jumbled and nothing stuck. My whole body was shaking. Why was I shaking? I felt cold, all over.
Then as if someone popped a balloon, the whole world came unfrozen. People were running and screaming towards me.
“Oh my god! Roxi. Roxi, talk to me.” That sounded like Claudia’s voice shouting. Claudia is that you?
My vision was getting fuzzy, nothing looked right. It looked as if I was staring down a long tunnel, but I wasn’t seeing anything, or anyone. Only blackness.
“Blood. She needs blood!”
More shouting. Why were they shouting? I couldn’t understand.
“She need’s to lie down. Help me. Please! Help me!”
No, I thought. Who was pulling me? I didn’t want to move. I wanted to stay exactly where I was. Wherever that was, I couldn’t remember. “Oh my god, oh my god,” spoke a shaky voice. Was that me? My voice sounded strange. I sounded strange.
“It’s alright. I’ll carry her” spoke another voice, one that I knew. Blue eyes, I thought. Very blue eyes, nice eyes. “It’s okay, I’ve got you,” the voice said.
Warm arms wound around me. They didn’t feel hot, against my cold body, just warm. And strong. Safe! They made me feel safe. Then I felt like I was in the air, only I couldn’t be sure. “No!” Me again. I think. Maybe. I couldn’t tell anymore. If my lips moved, I had no control over what came out of them.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” The voice spoke again, agitated and sounding upset.
“Okay.”
He wouldn’t let go and I didn’t want him to let go. He wouldn’t let go, I thought.
But I did.
I slipped down into the blackness that surrounded me. It wrapped around me, pulling me deeper down. The last thing I remember hearing, was a voice near my ear. One that was both familiar and one that had a tone in it I’d never heard before.
“I’m gonna kill him, if it’s the last thing I do!”