She walked to him and pulled the chair next to him out from underneath the console.

“How did you even get in here? HQ is practically on lockdown.”

Katie shrugged, giving him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but I had to come. I know in my gut that I can help. I have to do this.” She leaned toward him, giving him a brief hug.

Haven was a big softie who loved her and couldn’t deny her anything. As if he wanted to make up for the time when he hadn’t been there for her. A long time ago, he’d risked life and limb to find her after she’d been abducted as a baby. He’d since made peace with the man who’d taken her, because it had been vital to keep the balance of power in the vampire and witch world.

“Please,” she murmured, employing all her sisterly charm. “Just let me watch. Maybe I’ll see something that will help us find Isabelle.”

Haven sighed. “If Samson catches you here, you’re on your own.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re the best.”

He rolled his eyes. “Apparently somebody else is even better, otherwise you wouldn’t even have made it inside headquarters.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but Haven lifted his hand. “I don’t want to know whether it was Wes or Yvette. Then at least I won’t have to get mad at either one of them.”

Katie smirked. “That’s why we all love you.”

“Yeah, right.” He turned back toward the window and looked down at the goings-on in the room below.

“What are they doing to him?”

“Lie detector test.”

“What?”

Katie peered down into the room. Luther’s shirt was gone. His hands were chained to the table, his feet to the floor. A big machine on wheels stood next to the table. Thomas, with Eddie’s assistance, was placing electrodes onto Luther’s chest. She leaned closer to the window, focusing her eyes on Luther’s skin.

“Oh my God,” she murmured to herself. Luther’s chest was marred by scars. She strained, trying to get a better look. Burn marks? By the looks of it, there were many of them, large and small. She could only imagine the pain they must have caused when he’d obtained them.

“I thought vampires didn’t scar.” Katie exchanged a look with her brother.

“Maybe those are from when he was human.”

She nodded and changed the subject. “Does a lie detector test even work on a vampire?”

“This one does,” Haven claimed. “Thomas designed it.”

“He’s kind of a genius, isn’t he?”

“Yep, pretty brilliant. Though Eddie isn’t far behind.”

“How does it work?”

Haven shrugged. “Can’t really explain it the way Thomas can, but basically, when a vampire who’s strapped to the machine has the urge to answer a question with a lie, the electrodes administer a blast of UV light to his skin, burning him.”

“So a lie detector and torture device in one? But how does the machine know if a vampire is lying?”

“In principal it’s similar to how a human lie detector works. Something to do with subtle changes in the vampire’s aura that the naked eye can’t detect, but the machine can. And as soon as it does it sends a signal in the form of a UV blast. Pretty effective, if I may add. I’ve seen it in action.”

“How?”

“Eddie and Thomas tested it out on each other. Made sense. Because of their bond, they could immediately sense when the other one would lie and then program the machine accordingly.”

Curious, Katie peered down into the room. Luther appeared calm, as if he’d resigned himself to his fate. As if he didn’t care what happened to him. An odd calmness emanated from him. It was Zen-like. It fascinated her, made her want to know more about him, and find out what went on behind the unreadable façade of his handsome face.

“He said to Samson that he was in prison for twenty years. What for?” she asked, turning to her brother.

“A murder plot.”

At Haven’s short answer, she gasped. “Murder?”

Her brother nodded. “It was before my time, and nobody talks about it much. But apparently he was trying to kill Delilah and Nina. Delilah was pregnant with Isabelle at the time. The attempt was thwarted by Scanguards, and Luther was put away.”

Open-mouthed, she stared down at Luther. “No wonder Samson was so enraged. Do you think Luther came back to finish the job? Maybe kill Isabelle instead?”

Ice shot through her veins at the thought.