Prologue

Josef Kostan could scarcely believe his eyes at the sight before him.

"Sarah?"

She gave him a bewildered look before glancing around the office again. She almost tripped over her own feet before catching the back of one of the chairs stationed in front of the desk. She shook her head as if to regain focus and her eyes locked onto Josef, who conveyed back what he hoped was a welcoming smile.

The woman tried to speak, but could not form her words. She took one tentative step after another until she stood directly in front of Josef. Her hands reached up and lightly brushed his face with just her fingertips, as if recording every contour. His eyes closed as he savored her touch.

"Sarah," he whispered, reaching up for her hands and bringing them close to his chest. "How … how did this happening? How are you ... awake?"

Sarah exhaled audibly and gently pulled out of his grasp. Josef released her and watched as she slowly circled behind the desk. "I … I was at your house. In New York. Found myself in your bedroom. At least, it was the same room we always slept in. But it was … different. The furniture. The paint. It was all different."

She turned and sat in the castered chair behind the desk, laying her hands flat on its surface as she whispered, "I … I had lines of fluid running into my veins. Equipment I've never seen before situated around the bed. All manner of things I've never seen or heard of before. Strange people I've never seen before."

"And then I found that not only did I lose sixty years of my life, but you decided to leave me and move to California. You're … someone else now. And … the man who helped me, I told him that I owed him because somehow he was able to wake me, but - "

Josef leaned over the desk. "Sarah, words cannot describe how sorry I am, but I felt the same today as I did all those years ago. You don't know what I went through trying to wake you! I had the finest doctors come in from all around the world and examine you for months! They did everything they could! I did everything I could!"

He walked around the desk and knelt by her side. "There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about you, Sarah. You have to believe that. But you have to tell me this. Was it Malcolm Rehnquist? Did he do this?"

Sarah turned to look down into his face. She started to answer but instead stretched her hand haltingly for it again. The motion was interrupted first by the sound of a door slamming next door, followed by women arguing. "I can't believe he's here, Simone. Not after what he did to Mick," one voice exclaimed.

"Beth! Please calm down," another voice pleaded. "I understand you're mad at Josef, but he was only doing what he felt was necessary."

Both voices seemed to grow closer. Indeed, as their owners appeared out of the passageway separating the office from the quarters next door; Beth Turner and Simone Walker. They came to a stop at the sight before them.

Beth spoke first. The angry expression on her face gave way to evident surprise as she recognized Sarah. "Josef … what - how …?"

Simone took a cautious step forward, directing her attention to Josef. "Who is she, and what is she doing here?"

Josef rose and held up a hand to forestall further questioning. "Beth already met her, but you haven't had the honor, Simone. This is Sarah Whitley."

Beth still stood stunned to silence, but Simone gave Josef a perplexed look. "Sarah Whitley? The woman you said you tried to turn over sixty years ago? I thought she was in a coma." She turned to Beth for reassurance. "You've seen her before. Is this the real Sarah?"

Beth bit her lip as she looked the woman over, who had risen from her seat to stand beside Josef. "I don't know how, but it's her, Simone. Awake, but it's her," she said, returning an angry gaze to Josef. "How did this happen?"

"Beth, if I had the answer to that question, I would share it with you." Josef gave Sarah's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before continuing. "The main thing is that she's safe."

"No." Sarah pulled at Josef's elbow. "That's what I wanted to tell you. It was Malcolm Rehnquist who helped me. I - I wanted to see you, but I wanted to do it on my terms. I didn't want to rush it. But … I felt woozy in his car and … I must have passed out. Then I found myself waking up here."

"There! Don't you see?" Josef shot a pleading look at Beth. "She had no chance, Beth! Rehnquist could have done anything with her! Mick recognized that! She was in no condition to defend herself awake or asleep! You must see that!"

Beth sighed and looked over at Sarah. "Sarah, I am happy that you're safe. I really am." The anger in her tone suggested otherwise. "I'm sure the story concerning how you awoke from your sleep is very interesting. But now I need to find out how I'm going to get Mick back so I would appreciate it if you all would leave his office."

Sarah's eyes widened as she slowly walked up to Beth and took her hand. Surprisingly, Beth did not resist. "Mick? Mick St. John? You know him?"

Beth shared a glance with Simone and Josef. "We all do. Do you know him?"

"No. I know that he met with my father. He was the one who informed my father of my situation." She glanced over her shoulder at Josef before continuing. "I know that whatever you may think Josef did, it wasn't his fault. He didn't ask for … this to happen. I didn't ask for this."

She gave Beth's hand a quick squeeze. "I know what I say will matter very little to you now, but whatever sacrifice your Mick made to guarantee my safety, I am grateful."

The tightness in Beth's face faded slightly. She wiped at her eyes with her free hand as she whispered, "Thank you."

Sarah nodded and released her hand. She turned and picked up her handbag and suitcase left by one of the couch on the floor and walked past Josef to the door. "Sarah? Where are you going?" he asked.

Sarah stopped and slowly turned around. Her eyes didn't meet Josef's as she stammered, "I - I don't know. I - I just remembered I have no idea where I am. I don't know how I got here, where I'm going to sleep - I have no idea what to do now that my father is dead."

Beth gasped at the revelation. Josef quickly walked up and took the suitcase from her hand. "You can stay with me, Sarah. I'll take you to my place, and we'll figure out what to do about your father."

Sarah raised her eyes to look at Josef. She started to speak, but instead shook her head. "Charles - excuse me. Josef," she said, giving him a rueful smile. "I wanted to do this on my own terms. That hasn't changed. So I will need a little time to myself."

With that, she reached for the suitcase. Josef sighed and set it on the floor pausing only to extend the trolley handle. "Your suitcase has wheels. You can drag it behind you," he said, guiding the suitcase's handle into her hand. "Simone will see to it that you are checked into a hotel."

The two exited the office, leaving Beth and Josef alone. Josef shook his head in bewilderment before saying, "Beth, for what it's worth, I'm not going to let Mick even leave the state. I have the Cleaner tracking him right now."

As if on cue, Josef's cell rang in his jacket. He snatched it out and connected the caller. "Yes?"

Beth watched the expression on Josef's face changed from one of expectation to a look of disappointment. "Are you certain?" A pause before responding. "Very well."

He disconnected the call and held the phone in his hand before turning to Beth. His head hung low and his eyes refused to meet Beth's. "The Cleaner got to the hangar that Rehnquist's plane was occupying," he said haltingly. "The plane is still there. She found it empty. There was no flight plan filed and no telling as of now if they took another plane or another mode of transportation."

Beth did not speak immediately. When she started to, the words caught in her throat and she stopped. She covered her mouth with her hands and turned and faced the window.

Josef walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder, surprised that she did not snatch away from his touch. "I … I swear to you, Beth, I will not rest until I get Mick back. You have my word."

Beth stared straight ahead out of the window, but lowered her hands to her sides. The two words she spoke were soft, barely audible, but the power behind them offered a sense of sobering finality.

"Get ... out."

#

Beth sat on Mick's couch, her legs drawn into her chest, staring at the cell phone resting in her hand. The afternoon sky gave way to evening darkness, so the device offered the only illumination in the apartment.

The CD player played a slow song that almost imitated a funeral dirge, but it was barely acknowledged as she concentrated on the picture of Mick she took during their beach picnic months ago. She remembered taking the photo, Mick never looking as happy as he was when she snapped the photo, a shot of him with a smile that made her smile the first time she saw the final product.

Now, looking at the picture, it made her want to curl up into a ball on the couch and die.

The phone vibrating in her hand for probably the twentieth time interrupted her thoughts, signifying the receipt of yet another text. She sighed and pulled up her messages, grimacing when she saw the majority of them were from Josef. She did not even bother to open them.

Simone sent one offering words of encouragement and a plea to forgive Josef. "He can be overbearing at times. We both know this," the text read. "But we both know he loves Mick. Please have some faith in him."

"I wish it was that easy, Simone," she whispered to herself as she closed the message. Seeing nothing else worth reading, she started to drop the phone on the couch beside her, but halted the process when it began ringing.

If this is Josef, I will answer it, and rip him a new one, she thought to herself as she answered. "Hello?"

She was greeted by a male voice on the other end. "Beth! Please tell me you haven't gone and done something crazy!"

It took a brief second for her to place the harried voice. "Logan? What are you talking about? And why are you calling me?"

"I'm calling you because Kostan was worried that you were planning on staking him straight through. When he told me what happened, I can't say I blame you if the idea crept into your brain."

She found her chuckling, despite the ache in her heart. "Logan, you are a Godsend. I needed a laugh. Thanks."

"No need to thank me. Josef knows you're pissed at him so he came to me to try to find him. Don't worry. I'm working every possible angle."

Beth could almost hear the unspoken "but" in his tone. "Anything else, Logan?"

"You caught that, huh? Mick said you were smart. All right. A few of us caught wind of what happened. What Kostan did - big no no. Turning a vampire over to another goes against the code."

"Code? Wait, does this match up close with what Emma Monaghan did a few weeks ago? About revealing that vampires exist here in the city?"

"Close. Dangerously closed. Which is why Kostan is bankrolling me trying to find Mick. Beth, if enough of our kind here in Los Angeles finds out what he did, he is as good as dead. He knows that."

Beth sighed. She leaned back in the couch, drawing her knees up into her chest. Despite the anger she still felt, she could not see Mick's best friend executed for turning him over to Malcolm Rehnquist. The thought of vengeance never even occurred to her. "Mick wouldn't want that to happen to Josef, so do what you can on your end. I'll see what Guillermo has in stock for you."

"Well, like I said, Kostan is bankrolling me for the search, but if you just happen tomorrow to come across a pint of A positive -"

"It's yours. And Logan? If anyone makes a move against Josef, let me know, okay?"

Logan hesitated in answering. "Beth, this is a vampire situation. If a human interferes -"

"I'm not going to interfere. You are going to find Mick as quickly as possible because once you do, he will be the deciding factor in saving Josef."

She disconnected the call and the screen switched back to Mick's picture. Her eyes began to well up with tears, but she forced them back. "No. No more crying. The next time I cry, it will be when we're in each other's arms."

She gazed at the picture until sleep claimed her.

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