Disclaimer: I do not own the Dark series. That all goes to the ingenuity of Christine Feehan. I do have rights to my own made up characters though.

"Isa, I don't feel so good," Rachel groaned.

Isa rushed over to her younger sister and cradled the girl's head in her lap. "What is it Rachel?" Isa demanded in a gentle whisper. "What do you feel?"

"There's darkness. Lots of it. It's coming here. Make it go away Isa. I can't stand it." Rachel moaned.

Isa and her twin sister Diane exchanged a telling look and Diane nodded. Isa held Rachel close and make soft cooing noises to calm the girl. Of the three of them, Rachel was the most sensitive to the darkness that lived inside people. If she said that it was coming, it was only a matter of time before it would be there.

We have five breaches along the outer perimeter. Diane informed Isa telepathically. Isa stored the knowledge away from her younger sister.

"Rachel, I want you to be calm, and whatever happens, don't fight them or run from them. They won't touch you yet." Isa said stroking her sister's hair.

Rachel cried silently, but didn't object. She trusted her sisters. They were her life. They would never betray her. Isa took deep breaths to calm herself and reached outside. Five sources of pure evil. There was no light in there soul. She couldn't touch them. She could not manipulate their bodies. For the first time in years, Isa felt real fear. Can you track them Diane?

No, Diane said immediately with a mental shake of her head. They have something else helping them that I cannot get past. There is something very powerful at work here Isa. I believe we should be very afraid starting now.

I fear sister, that you are right. Isa closed her eyes and held Rachel tight. If they were already inside the outer perimeter than there was no escape. It had been a mistake on Diane and Isa's part and now they would all pay for it. Diane…

Yes Isa?

Don't die.

Isa could almost see her twin sister smile. I wouldn't dream of it.

The sun hadn't set yet when Hadrian rose from the ground, his rest disturbed. His brothers, Gaul and Byzantine, were with him on the surface for the same reason. One of their human servants was being controlled. The man's mind was active and alert, but he had no control over his body. Something that the three brothers did not like hearing. The three brothers reached into their servant's mind. The touch was demanding and feminine. Must save Rachel. She cannot die. Rachel must live. Save her.

It was almost a compulsion yet somehow different. It was more primitive. The brothers followed the order back to the source. Hadrian felt stark terror, fierce pain, and resignation. The emotions were vivid and almost blinding. They nearly brought him to his knees with their intensity. It had been so long since he had ever felt. And now…now of all times he had found his lifemate. "Hadrian?" Gaul's voice was quiet and compelling.

"We find and protect the woman at all costs." Hadrian growled launching himself into the air. His brothers exchanged a single look before following their brother. They simultaneously tracked their human servant and the woman to find them. They would find the woman and protect her at all costs. She was his lifemate and the one's terrorizing her were all dead.

The building was a warehouse on the outside of town. It looked abandoned, but the three brothers knew otherwise. They came in from three sides. Hadrian took the form of a large Bengali tiger and stalked into the front entrance. The smell of old blood was thick in the air and laced with the scent of freshly spilled blood. Anger boiled inside Hadrian. The brothers found the entrance to the underground chamber and entered silent and undetectable. The sight nearly made Hadrian lose all control. There were three females in the room. One was small and childlike, her body folded into a compact size as she was huddled in a cramped cage. The other two females were bound to replicas of ancient Roman crosses with gags and blindfolds. Blood ran down their bodies in tiny rivulets. The more muscled of the two females was rigid in an attempt at composure. The other female had the gag crushed between her teeth as a knife was run down her right arm. It was she that was his lifemate. It was she who had sent out the call. It was she that Hadrian would kill for and claim.

Hadrian made himself visible and lunged at the man who had just harmed his mate. He took the man's neck between his jaws and snapped it. His brothers dispatched of two of the other men while the third and final human monster cowered in the corner with a wild savage look in his eyes. Hadrian turned back into a human and stalked over to the human. "You will tell us everything human."

The human crumbled easily to his will. He confessed the purpose of him and his companion. They had been hunting for vampires. They had been sent after the twin females and believed that the younger female in the cage was merely their servant. They had been torturing the vampires believing that it was their duty. The human had been almost certain that his companions had enjoyed it. Hadrian and his brothers reached into the human's mind until they had all that the human's mind. "For your crimes, you will be give justice." The three brothers growled as they killed the man with their power.

Hadrian left the man's dead husk and turned to the woman who was his lifemate. He cut her free from the cross and took her into his arms. "I will return soon enough." Hadrian said turning to his brothers. Gaul held the muscled woman protectively in his arms while Byzantine cradled the terrified woman-child to him.

"It seems we were all fortunate," Byzantine said with a twisted smile.