Luc snarled at the loss of the girl. He stopped where the portal had opened, knelt, and placed a hand against the ground. He closed his eyes again, trying to follow the signature through a map that formed in his mind, but he lost it after its fourth change. Whoever had taken the human knew what he--by scent he had caught—was doing. 
	“Nya!” he called, his coat flaring as he spun toward the house.
	Nyaira was by his side in just a couple seconds. She looked around a moment before her gaze settled on Luc. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.
	“Zere gone,” he snarled, his stride toward the house never wavering. The feral anger on his face could have made even the bravest man shrink back in fear. “Escaped zrough a portal.”
	“Seems like a lot of trouble for a single girl, powers or not.” Nyaira got in front of him and pressed her body against his, bringing him to a stop. “Come, [i]mon cœur.[/i] She can’t be worth [i]this[/i] much trouble.” She raised her left hand to brush it against his face.
	She tensed when Luc grabbed her wrist in a grip tight enough to crush a human’s bones. “You ‘ave no idea, [i]mon chéri.[/i]” he snarled. “And if Alexander ‘ad a ‘and in ziz as I suspect...” Luc’s words trailed off, and his gaze shifted to her hand held in his. “You scratched ‘er, no?” His angered tone turned contemplative. He continued without waiting for Nyaira’s answer. “Touch nozing, and follow me.” He released her, walked around her, and headed to the door. “Per’aps ziz mis’ap may yet redeem itself.”
	Nyaira stared at his back for a moment, confusion on her face, then followed.

[center]*	*	*[/center]
	Victoria listened to Illyad’s story quietly, her gaze once more on the carpet. She bit her lip at the prospect of the other two vampires killing Alex, a concern in her eyes from years of friendship even a supernatural race could not erase.
	[b]“But you.”[/b]
	Victoria looked up as he continued, searching for any sign of misgiving.
	When he finished, she sat, hard, in the chair and tangled her fingers in her hair. This could not be happening.
	[i]But it is,[/i] her mental voice whispered.
	“Is my... [i]ability[/i] really [i]that[/i] rare?” she asked in a hoarse whisper. “That I..” she swallowed, “that I’m being [i]hunted[/i] for it?” Her pitch rose with the last word.  “And the monsters. At the school. You can stop them, right?” She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm her nerves and thoughts.
	Victoria glanced to her arm at his question, uncertainty on her face. The scratches looked a bit worse than she had first thought. She snorted at his statement. “It might be an improvement,” she muttered in an ill attempt at lightening the situation. She released her breath and carefully pulled her fingers from her hair. “I...” she hesitated, part of her wanting to say yes, and the other screaming at her for even considering it. “I can take care of it,” she finished quietly, standing. “Just point me toward your bathroom?”