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remaining trace of blood. I was satiated and felt stronger than I had in days.
    “What are you looking at, Priest?” I asked sourly.
    Drake shook his head in disbelief and pointed one large finger down to my feet.
    Yaqui lay in front of me in a bloody, broken heap. Her neck was broken and torn open. I had gorged on her blood. It was no wonder I felt so restored, so powerful! Her blood was the most ancient off all vampires. She was, or at least had been, the head of the Toltec line. Now she lived on in me.
    “How ironic,” I muttered. As I glanced up, I viewed a wry smile that was spreading very quickly across Drake’s face.
    The giant man shifted from one foot to the other as he stared down at the lifeless body of the Ancient Vampire Queen. The muscles in his arms and legs rippled as he moved.
    “No irony involved in this,” he said dryly. “She broke her word to me and that is unacceptable.”
    I blinked for a moment and stared, incredulous at the thoughts that were building in my brain. He had actually cared about her.
    Forgetting that Drake had Ancient blood running through his veins, I was startled when he spoke.
    “Yes, even I have a heart. I was lost after she bonded and turned me. She was all I had in the world other than my thirst for power. Yaqui promised me a seat at her right hand after she conquered your Clan. Now I see it was just a veiled attempt to take your blood and your lover. She was so taken with a King…a human turned Vampire King.”
    “Why did you break my bonds? Why did you feed me? Surely you know now I could end your life?” I asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.
    Drake was silent at my question. I steeled myself for a lunge or blow against me.
    A long, deep sigh escaped his throat and he laughed quietly at the confused look that must have been spreading across my face.
    “You could kill me if you want,” he said, “but I think you need me just as much as I need you right now.”
    His arrogant smugness was irritating but I kept silent.
    “Nothing from the great Vampire Queen? No words of anger or hatred? Nothing at all? I am no longer even worth a droll thought?” Drake stood and stared at me with bemused eyes as the sarcasm spewed forth from his lips.
    “The only thing I need from you is the whereabouts of Hannah’s bastards. I know damn well you are familiar with where they are hiding. I have a task to finish and whether you want to help me willingly or not, is none of my concern.” My voice was low and calm. I had not felt this confident in days. Whether it was the Toltec blood coursing through me or hatred...I no longer cared.
    I stared at Drake from under my eyelashes and waited for his next move.
    Drake’s feet were quick and silent as he seemingly materialized at my side. I jumped as he thrust my dagger into my hands. “Here, you may need this if you are to follow where I will lead you.” He hissed.
    The weight of the dagger was familiar and comforting. I could sense, at least for now, that Drake was not out to harm me. I thrust the weapon into my boot and quickened my pace to keep up with his as he hurried out the door and into the night.

Chapter Five
    The evening air was cool and fresh on my face as I sped after the long-legged vampire priest. For a brief second a pain caught in my breast as I thought of the cool evenings I had spent with Andrew. They were evenings when he and I would walk around the gardens and talk of flowers and plants. Evenings when I would feast on his lifeblood in the moonlight, which would inevitably lead us to feast on one another in every sexual act imaginable until we lay sweaty and exhausted in the dew-covered grass. He was my partner in every way possible; both while human and as the Vampire King. My heart and body ached with need and my eyes filled with bloody tears at the great sadness I felt being apart from him.
    Drake stopped quickly and held his hand up. I brushed my tears aside and silently moved up behind him.
    “What is