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tied at the corners of the altar. The prisoner’s eyes were open, but the pupils were huge and completely unfocused. Drugged—and more than drugged—Dee suspected. Energy hummed around the altar.
    In the girl?
    Oh, goddess, she hoped not!
    “How far into the ritual were they when you showed up?” she asked. Her only answer was a shrug from Piper.
    Dee bent over the girl, and brushed hair from her sweat-damp forehead. “What do men know, sweetie?” she asked, voice as gentle as possible. “You’re safe now, I promise. I know you’re afraid, but we’ll take you home.”
    The girl’s skin was burning hot. She moaned and squirmed in her bonds, her hips arching. Her nipples were hard, a sharp tang of arousal rising off her body, along with an electric pulse of energy. Too much energy for a frail mortal vessel to hold.
    Some of this had to be bled off or the girl’s brain and body was going to burn out. The rescue would mean nothing if she died from the magic surging through her.
    Dee gave a quick glance at the vampires and werewolf. She shook her head. The obvious solution to help the girl was out of the question.
    Dee swore under her breath.
    This would not be pleasant, but you did what you had to do. She closed her eyes, forced her muscles to relax. Took a deep breath. Then Dee placed a hand on the victim’s forehead, dropped her shielding, and whispered the incantation to establish a connection with the girl.
    “What the hell are you doing?” She heard Piper shout. Then the blast of energy bored into her, and everything exploded around her.
    * * *
    Leviathan sat in the shadow of the chimney on the roof across from the Burners’ house, his head covered by the hood of a black sweatshirt. Black leather gloves protected his hands. Sunglasses gave his eyes protection, though they wouldn’t be much help once the sun rose higher. He’d be gone by then, anyway.
    One by one he felt his mortal slaves dying, or dropping unconscious, becoming prisoners of the good guys. He had no interest in rescuing them from their fate. They knew nothing, even about their own slavery. What they thought they were doing was pure nonsense.
    What mattered was that the spell he’d tortured out of the Tower wizard and planted in the minds of the Burners Coven had actually worked. The Cave wizard had railed at him for this deviation from the plan, but Leviathan wasn’t working to the mortal’s timetable. The plan was not coming to fruition until they were together again.
    Now that he’d found the youngest Leviathan he could bring him back to the Tribe fold. Would the boy obey a simple order to come home? He wasn’t a boy anymore, was he? No matter if that was how Leviathan saw him, he was a Prime, one who had pledged himself to a Family. He let a female rule him. He took the drugs that weakened his instincts even as they let him exist in daylight. He was chained by rules. Perhaps he was so used to the chains he didn’t feel them anymore.
    Poor boy.
    Leviathan would make his brothers whole again.

Chapter Fourteen
    “What did you do?” Piper demanded. McCoy was kneeling beside the altar. She was shaking. He dropped down beside her. “Tell me!”
    His words were harsh and angry. He was angry with himself, for being scared, and even more angry at McCoy for scaring him. Something reckless and stupid had just happened, and he wanted to shake her for putting herself in danger.
    What physically happened was that McCoy touched the bound woman. What Jake felt was a powerful surge of dangerous energy rushing out of the woman and into McCoy. It was not his imagination, even if he had no tangible or telepathic proof anything had happened. Magic? Had to be magic, which was far too weird for a simple vampire’s understanding of the world.
    McCoy looked up slowly. She might be mortal, but Jake was certain her eyes glowed bright electric blue for a moment when their gazes met. Her intensity certainly burned into him, leaving him hot, hard, and