His hand caught and spanned her throat. “I will do almost anything for you, Savannah, but how I must complete this task is distasteful.” He found himself explaining, as she had requested, when his every aggressive male instinct told him to simply force his will on her. He could not bear for her to believe he thought so little of her abilities. “I do not want you to witness the depravity in these men’s minds, nor do I wish you to witness the wind of death whirling through their midst. You cannot have it both ways. You want me to save this woman. I will do so. But not within your sight. Go home and wait for me there.”
Savannah shook her head. “When will you get it through your thick skull that I’m your true lifemate? Me. Savannah Dubrinsky, daughter of the Prince. We shared our minds from before my birth. You can’t hide from me what you are, who you are. Even in the midst of blood and death, even with the beast at work, I will always see your true self.”
“Do as I command you. And know this. If for any reason you choose to disobey my orders, you will be putting the woman’s life in jeopardy. I will always see to your safety first. That means if I am distracted by your defiance, I will see to your obedience.”
“You are the most stubborn Carpathian male alive,” she said, exasperated, but she caught his head between her hands and dragged him down to capture his mouth with hers. “Be safe, lifemate. That is my command to you. Be certain you do not disobey my order.”
She turned and glided away, back the way they had come, without so much as a glance over her shoulder. Her hips swayed gently, erotically. The rising wind played with her long hair. Gregori watched her, unable to tear his gaze away.
* * *
Chapter Eleven
Finally Gregori turned his head slowly, ferally, and walked purposefully toward the narrow alley beside the building. Brown grass, dried and exhausted with its effort to flourish, was crushed beneath his feet, but there was not a sound to betray his presence, not even the disbursement of air. Once he was hidden from sight, he scanned the area to determine the exact placement of all those in the building and any other humans in the vicinity.
He dissolved instantly, one moment solid, the next invisible. He checked the building: all windows and doors were locked securely. The woman inside screamed, agony, terror, in her voice. The sound brushed at his mind, but he blocked it out, scanning three entry points to the interior. He chose the one beneath the building, through some cracked and crumbling rotted boards.
For a brief moment his image shimmered in the dark, compressing as it did so, shrinking smaller and smaller until a only little mouse nestled in the dried grass. It sat up on its hind legs a moment, whiskers twitching in the air. Then it rushed across the dirt and grass and scampered through a small crack beneath the stairs. The opening was narrow, but the little creature was able to squeeze into a space within the walls.
The insulation was old and thin, most of it long gone, and the mouse scurried quickly through the wall until it found a small knothole leading into a darkened room. The smell of blood and fear made its heart pound, but the predator deep within its tiny body snarled, exposing fangs and a dark, deadly purpose. The mouse hesitated before crossing the yellowed linoleum, its ears twisting this way and that, whiskers high, scenting for danger.
There was no one in the first room, which appeared to be an unused storage area. It smelled musty with mildew. Gregori’s form grew, solidified, then shimmered into nothingness once again. He could hear the conversation from the next room clearly. Three men were arguing, one clearly disgusted by what they were doing.
“This girl is no more vampire than I am, Rodney,” he snapped. “You just like doing this sick stuff. This one’s some kid who likes to hang out with her friends pretending she’s got fangs.”