The lights suddenly went out right along the building. I waited, watching for several heartbeats, then, when the lights remained out, silently thanked Iktar and walked out of the trees. The camera above the doorway didn't move, even though I was peripherally in the camera's sensor range.

I rapped on the metal. The sound seemed to echo, but for several seconds, there was no reply.

Then a gruff voice said, "Yes?"

"I've been sent here to collect some reports."

A small hatch in the middle of the door slid aside, and blue eyes stared out at me. "Lady, we just been hit by a power blackout. No one is coming in these doors until we have the generator up and running."

I shrugged casually. "Fine. I'll just tell Mr. Merle you said I couldn't have them."

I turned to go and the guard swore softly. "Fine, fine. Just wait a moment."

The hatch slammed closed, and after several seconds, the door opened enough for the armed guard to step through. He was a big man, all muscle and broad shoulders. I couldn't tell what sort of gun he held, because while I'd been trained to use them, I didn't really like them and, like any sane person, tended to avoid them whenever possible. Hence, I'd skipped all the theory stuff on makes and models.

And really, who fucking cared what brand or type it was when it was aimed at your face? Any gun was scary this close.

I slowly raised my arms and did my best at looking defenseless. Which wasn't really hard, considering the gun and the fact I was naked. Actually, it was hard to look anything else but helpless when sans clothes.

He held the gun steady while he looked quickly around. In reality, I could have taken him out there and then, but that would have given warning to those inside.

When he was sure there was no one hiding in the bushes, he opened the door and motioned me inside. As I moved past him, I noted not only the thin strand of wire around his neck—a sure sign that he was shielded from psychic intrusion—but the knife at his side and the second gun strapped near his shins, barely visible through his tan trousers.

"Stop," he growled, before I'd taken three steps beyond the door.

I did as he bid, lightly drawing in his scent while trying to "feel" him with my other senses. He actually smelled quite nice—a mix of sage and sharp spice. But I wasn't getting anything along the sensory lines, which meant he was human. Anything else I would have recognized.

The door slammed shut and darkness consumed us. Bolts thudded home, then the guard's hand gripped my arm with unerring accuracy. Which suggested he was one of Starr's "enhanced" humans, because there was no way in hell a normal human could see in this darkness. Hell, I could barely see, and I had wolf sight. Switching to vampire infrared solved that problem, but he didn't have that option.

Or maybe he did. Who knew what gene pool Starr's people had been paddling in of late?

"Walk," he said, tugging me forward.

"Damn dark in here." I forced a quavering note into my voice. Acting helpless and scared couldn't hurt.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to lead you astray." Amusement touched his voice. "Though I'm telling you, if we weren't in this place, I'd be tempted to let you lead me astray."

"And here I was thinking you didn't notice."

"Lady, present any man with a naked woman, and they're going to notice, no matter what they're doing."

How very true. Unless, of course, they were as highly trained—or as gay—as my brother. Though Rhoan did appreciate a good female form, even if it didn't excite him. Concern flicked through me as I thought of him, and I frowned, wishing once again he was telepathic. I needed to talk to him, needed to know that he was okay, that this vague sense of unease had nothing to do with him.

But that wasn't an option, and there was nothing I could do except concentrate on the here and now. "Well, at least I know I'm not losing my touch."

I bumped against him as I said it, and he chuckled softly. "Stop flirting, ma'am. It's appreciated, but I'm likely to end up with my balls in a sling if I tried anything in this place."

"Isn't that a little harsh on you boys in here when everyone else is allowed to sample the goods?"

"Yeah. But we're better paid than them."

"Money isn't everything."

"No, but living long enough to spend it is."

Which he wouldn't because I couldn't afford to leave witnesses. And that was a damn shame, because he actually seemed like a nice man, even if he was working for a monster. I closed my eyes briefly. I couldn't think like that. I simply couldn't.

I had to kill them to throw the heat off me and Rhoan. There was no other choice.

"How are they going to know?" I said.

He glanced at me. My infrared vision made his eyes glow strangely, but even so, amusement was very evident. This man might be attracted, but he wasn't about to be distracted. Damn.

"There's another guard in security. He'd tell."

"And here I was thinking grown men were above being tattletales."

"He values his life, just like I do."

"What if he joined in the fun? He could hardly tattle if he's guilty of the same crime."

The amusement got stronger, touching his lips. But for the first time, excitement spun through the air.

"I don't think Mr. Merle would be too pleased if we did his lady."

My snort was derogatory. "I may be his latest fuck, but I'm not his lady."

He grinned. "You sound like a woman not being satisfied."

I arched an eyebrow, and lowered my voice several notches as I said, "And are you the man who's going to relieve that problem?"

He glanced at the door ahead, then back at me, and cleared his throat. "Probably not."

Well, this was definitely a first. A naked woman throwing herself at a man, and him refusing. It looked like I was going to have to use my werewolf aura because while I could take out one well-trained, well-armed man, I wasn't sure enough of my skills to take out two. Not when I had to beat bullets as well. And given the time restraints, and the fact that even this guard was showing wariness, I just couldn't afford to play around.

We stopped at the door. The guard pressed his thumb into the scanner, keyed in a code—which I noted—then pushed the door open. The room beyond was only semi-dark, lit by a flashlight that sat on the middle desk, its bright light beaming upward and splashing across the ceiling. There was no one else in the room, but as the door clicked shut behind us, the second man came and poked his head through a doorway across the other side of the room.

"Just about to fire up the emergency generator." His gaze ran down my body and a smile tugged his lips. "You're one hell of a messenger, lady."

Though this second man wasn't as big as the first, he also wore a thin strand of wire around his neck. Obviously, in the security heart of his empire, Starr wasn't taking chances with having just the one mode of psychic protection for his men. And personal shield wires like these weren't disrupted by power blackouts. I'd have to get them oft to get the information I needed. Luckily, a wolfs aura worked on a base level rather than mental, so the wires weren't going to be a hindrance.

"The papers are on my desk, Joe. I'll just finish cleaning the generator before I start her up. The maintenance boys have been damn slack."

He disappeared again. Joe had barely taken a step when I unleashed my aura, flicking it across him like a live thing, letting the heat of it overwhelm him, until the desire to take what he wanted, what he craved, was all-consuming.

I knew what it felt like. Knew the flame of it, the way it snapped control and made you need as you have never needed, because Misha had once used his aura on me. But at least I'd had the option of negating the power of it with my own aura. I could have controlled just how much it affected me.