He needed her to know something else as well: that he was Daniel’s spawn. Within him, he’d always felt the same nature at work, the one that could easily brutalize others. The same instincts had made him a good fighter, he knew that, so he wasn’t completely disgusted by who he was; just grateful that the darkness he carried around with him had an outlet. Given his blood-madness, given that he wasn’t in control, he could hurt the woman.

“Lucian, please listen to me. I’m here to get you out of this prison. Rumy sent me because I have a gift for making disguises. We’re just not sure if it will protect us from Daniel.”

He lifted his head. “I can hear Daniel coming now. He’s not far away. You have to leave.”

Footsteps sounded on the stone floor. He looked up, barely able to make out the faces of the men who entered from the tunnel to his left, not far from the woman. The guards had been coming in and out, cleaning him up, making him presentable. His vision cleared once more and he recognized Daniel, who had a couple of guards and a med tech with him.

“Give him two ounces,” Daniel called out. “He’s spiraling from blood-madness and I need him coherent.”

Daniel’s voice always sounded like he could give seminars on positive thinking. The bastard was charismatic, charming, and filthy rich—in a literal sense, because he’d made his fortune off the backs of anyone who came near him. He saw nothing wrong with inflicting pain to get what he wanted.

The more pain the better.

As the guards advanced, Lucian’s mind slipped away. Ancient memories surfaced, of being bound to Daniel’s table, enduring his “corrective punishments,” as he liked to call the torture he inflicted on his sons. He wanted Daniel dead. More than anything in life, he wanted the bastard dead.

He struggled in his chains, straining to get at Daniel. But what could he do, bound as he was?

One of the guards got a little too close and four centuries of battle experience took over. Lucian slid onto his side, kicking out with his foot at the same time. He connected with the guard’s leg and sent him sprawling. The man shouted in agony, his knee shattered.

The other guard backed off.

Lucian leaped to his feet, once more pulling at the chains, trying to get to his father.

Daniel smiled. “Just Taser him. I haven’t got all night.”

The uninjured guard drew his weapon and fired.

As a searing pain shot through his chest, Lucian roared. A terrible electrical charge followed that caused his arm and back muscles to seize, then spasm.

The Taser.

Vampires and electricity didn’t mix.

He fell to his knees, rolling onto his back. The charge paralyzed him long enough for the tech to come at him with a needle-less syringe and to slowly insert two critical ounces of blood deep into his mouth. He sputtered, struggling to swallow, but the blood tasted so good and at the same time began having a positive effect.

The moment his lucidity improved, he started calming down, though his body still jerked with aftershocks. The paralysis, though beginning to fade, kept him immobile.

He shifted his gaze to the far wall, to the human who had been talking to him, and there she was. She hadn’t been a hallucination after all. Better yet, Daniel couldn’t see her. The woman’s disguise held, and for the first time in months hope rose that he might just make it out alive.

For a long moment, he stared at her. She was dressed simply in jeans, a light-green T-shirt, jogging shoes. She was beautiful with deep-auburn hair that flowed in waves past her shoulders. Her creamy skin gave her an almost angelic appearance. Her nose was straight, her cheekbones high and strong, yet she watched him with tears in her light-brown eyes. No doubt she wasn’t used to Daniel’s barbaric ways.

Yet what surprised him was how clearly he could sense her emotions—as though he had some kind of connection to her. She was frightened by where she was, but there was something more, a powerful determination to do what she’d come here to do.

He remembered now. She’d spoken of Rumy; Rumy had sent her here. If all went well, this might just work.

He glanced back at Daniel, who stared at him with arms folded over his chest. Daniel really didn’t seem to be aware of the woman, even though he was one of the most powerful vampires in their world. He’d reached the highest form as an Ancestral, those vampires with tremendous power who tended to rise to positions of leadership or, in Daniel’s case, autocracy. Daniel all but ruled the vampire world.

And with that much power, he should have seen the woman.

Yet he hadn’t.

Was it possible she really could get him out of here?

The dose of blood eased Lucian and helped him to start healing the debilitating effects of the Taser. Even so, his body felt raw, reminding him of the torture he’d endured over the past year in the prison he’d previously inhabited. Daniel had brought him here, along with his brother Marius, but he’d quickly separated them. Lucian had no idea where Marius was.

Daniel called to him. “Is your head clear now?”

Lucian sat up, swiveling to face the man who’d sired him. His father wore an expensive, tailored suit of dark-blue silk, a goatee trimmed close, with his short, dark hair slicked back. His eyes were light blue with a hint of green, not quite teal, but lighter and flecked with gold. He defined all that was evil in their culture.

Lucian despised what his father stood for. “What the fuck do you want anyway?”

“I want you to return to me, Lucian. That’s all I’ve ever wanted from you and your brothers.”

“I know you have Marius imprisoned here somewhere, but where’s Adrien?” There were three brothers in all. Recently a human female had taken Adrien from their previous, shared prison, but he hadn’t seen him since. He didn’t even know if Adrien was alive.

“I’m not here to discuss Adrien. I want to talk about you and what I can do to persuade you to join my ranks.”

“Not a goddamn thing.”

“You’re being absurdly stubborn for a prisoner in chains.”

Lucian just stared at him, letting him feel his hatred. The man had been his torturer as a child. He would die before he ever joined Daniel’s ranks.

Daniel gestured with a sweep of his hand. “Let me be specific. I need help finding the extinction weapon. It seems you and your brothers all have a special kind of tracking ability, and with just a little effort I know you’ll be able to find it. Join me, Lucian, help me gain a weapon that will allow me to rule our world for the next millennium, and you can share in that power. Just think what that would mean for you: the position of prominence, the enormous wealth. And together we’d be invincible.”

“I’ll never return to you. And after four hundred years, I don’t understand why the fuck you’re still asking. My loyalties lie with those who seek justice and equality in our world, not monsters who enslave and torture the innocent.”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed to thin, unreadable slits. But Lucian knew that expression well. Nothing good would follow. “I don’t think you’re getting the picture. You’ll do this for me and like it or you’ll die, Marius with you. It’s that simple.”

“Then kill me now, Father, because I’d prefer death to serving you and I’m sure my brother would feel the exact same way.”

Daniel pulled his lips back, revealing the sharp points of his fangs. He moved in swiftly, before Lucian could get out of the way, then placed a hand on top of Lucian’s head. An excruciating stream of power flowed from Daniel’s hand, once more paralyzing Lucian.

“This is just the beginning, my son. I have more in store for you. Trust me, little by little I’ll tear you down until you will do anything I want you to do. For now, feel my power.”

Pain ripped through Lucian, traveling down his spine and into his legs. He roared once more, then fell back unable to breathe, to think, to move. It took several seconds before he could finally make sense of his surroundings once more.