"You won't be here anyway, because you're not invited." Ever the teenager, Anne delivered the blow with practiced snottiness that would have been devastating to someone in the eleventh grade.

Max couldn't see what effect it had on the vampire. "So, when does she get here?"

"What, are you afraid?" She took a step closer, still holding the rope. A second tug set him swaying, just a bit.

He thrashed his legs. He hoped it looked like an attempt to keep her away.

"Is little Max afraid of the big, bad girl?" She squeezed the trigger again.

Almost close enough. She was almost close enough, and his hands were nearly out of the cuffs. He'd have to time it exactly…

She took another step forward, raising the drill. "How about… the eyes?"

"How about, no?" Max swung forward with the momentum he'd built up, knocking the drill from her hand as he locked his legs around her rib cage. She'd made a mistake starting with his fingers, one that had worked to his advantage. Wet with his blood, the leather had become slippery. The missing digits made his hands small enough to slip from the cuffs, and the weight of his body did the rest.

He took her down with him. They landed with a thud, skidding across the bloodied marble. He didn't want to think about the sticky pieces of his former fingers getting crushed beneath them. He had her pinned now, so it would be a damn lousy time to get distracted. Before she could collect her wits to scream, he grabbed her head and twisted, snapping her neck. It wouldn't kill her, but it would sure incapacitate her.

The vampire who'd been guarding Bella raced forward with a roar. Max grabbed the drill, depressed the trigger and caught him in throat as he charged. "Sorry, couldn't have you calling for help."

The vampire writhed on the floor, directly under the oculus. Max grabbed Anne's limp, unconscious body by the legs and pulled her beside her cohort. "Sorry, kid. You were a good egg, for a while."

Shielding his eyes, he pulled the rope, flooding the room with light.

"Max, no!" Bella screamed. In the blinding pain of the moment he saw her stand, and fall.

"Damn it, Bella!" If she'd have stayed put, his chances would have been much better. He skirted the direct beam of light, his skin sizzling from the limited exposure. He managed to scoop her up and deposit her into the chair again before he burst into flame.

"Will you be quiet? Do you want the whole freaking house to come in here?" He stopped, dropped and rolled into a shadowed corner. "Wheel yourself over here and let's go."

The horror on her face as she approached broke his heart. He knew how he must look. Blood on his arms, dried and fresh. Mangled hand, missing toe. He couldn't have looked too hot before he'd inadvertently set himself on fire.