There's nothing so unsettling as seeing an incubus demon set loose in a convent of nuns. I'd seen plenty of terrible things in my century of life, some of them horrifying enough to make a blind man grateful for his lack of sight. But right then, standing in the middle of a convent, that one had to take the prize.

I clutched my threadbare bible in one hand, holding it aloft like a shield. In my other, I held my crucifix, clutching it by Jesus's foot. His left, the one splayed over the top and pinned to the metal by a golden nail, had long ago been worn down to a nub of ivory. The nail's head bit into the pad of my thumb as I worried it back and forth.

The incubus I'd been brought here to expel had no idea I had entered the room. Neither did the nun the incubus was riding. Both were too lost in the throes of his feast to find any awareness of anything except their own lusts. That they were so lost in it they couldn't feel the shift in electricity of the room as I shouldered my way past the cluster of nuns crying outside in the hall was indicative of how gluttonous this incubus was. He should have sensed me by now.

I paused two feet from the bed. I tried not to look at what was happening on top of the aged sheets and woolen blanket. For her sake I would avert my gaze, I told myself, but I knew later I'd have to admit it was for my own. The room smelled of sex and incense.

Whispers from the Mother Superior fed my hearing from behind me. I kicked the door closed behind me, cutting off her prayers and the knowing weeping of the nun's peers who had clustered around the doorway long before I arrived.

There was evidence they'd tried to exorcise the demon themselves. In the faint light of the one LED night light, I could make out an incense brazier toppled onto its side as it rolled into the corner. Several rosaries had broken and their beads and strings lay scattered across the wooden floor.

Cigarette-box sized was a generous exaggeration to describe the size of the room, so those beads and strings crunched under my boot as I stepped closer to the foot of the bed. Its iron wrought headboard racheted against the plaster wall, letting the awful kathunk kathunk rebound on every surface in grotesque amplification. Each time it struck the wall, a new wail went up from the hallway.

I felt my gorge rise at shame this sister would feel later because I knew there'd be no way to assuage her guilt about it. Not with the things she was letting the demon do to her, that she was doing to him. I doubted she'd even find solace in her God when this was all done and she was free. Didn't matter that she wasn't at fault. Didn't matter that she couldn't have done anything any differently than she was doing right then.

Demons are cunning and they are powerful. And I knew it all too well.

All I could do for her was stop this madness as soon as I could and let her find her peace wherever she could in the aftermath.

It wasn't for me to ask why she was so entranced. Whatever had happened in this convent to let a demon infiltrate was none of my business.

I was here to complete my job and move on.

I lifted my Bible, aiming it at the incubus's back.

I heard the demon suck in a breath just a moment before I struck the thing over the head with the book. Hard enough that it fell sideways. Like hitting a bear with a fly swatter. It would be stunned for a second but just wait for the response if you dared.

"Bastard," I said and clotheslined it with my elbow as I fell onto it, throwing my entire weight onto its ribcage. I pinned it there, wriggling over top of the aged nun. It went to smoke before I could sear it with the crucifix.

I was left lying prostrate across the nun's lap. The little night light bled a golden glow over her brow. Her eyes fluttered.

"Get your asses in here," I hollered over my shoulder. My knee crabbed down between spindly old shins as I tried to free myself from the wool blanket she was tangled in. "Sweet Jesus, if you don't hurry the hell up..."

The door rattled open and I heard the rustling of nightgowns and whispers of terrified women. I patted the old nun's cheeks with my fingers, gently at first, then rougher as she moaned with residual pleasure. She hadn't yet started the ascent into consciousness. She was still in the throes of it all and while her writhing hadn't stopped, it was at least, mercifully, abating.

Not fast enough though.

"Fuck," I said because the next creepiest thing to a an old nun succumbing to an incubus demon had to be her ankles hooking mine. I crab-walked my way off the side of the bed, my throat thick with revulsion and pity. I swung my gaze to the terrified eyes of the Mother Superior.

"Get her out of here," I said. "Now. This room is tainted."

I could smell it stronger now that I was on the bed, that clotted stink of arousal and magic. The aroma of sulfur just beneath it all.

Several of the women brushed past me to help the old nun from her bed. They swaddled her in the blanket and eased her to her feet. She swaggered, drunk on demonic power, and a ghost of a smile swept across her face.

"God help us," one of the younger nuns said. One look at her face in the golden light told me she knew the expression on the old nun's face well.

I hovered near the wall and watched them wrestle her from the room.

"Not you," I said to the abbess. "You stay."

She paused and it took a long time for her to turn around to face me. When she did, she wouldn't meet my gaze.

"I'm not interested in what invoked the demon," I said and I thought I saw her shoulders sag in relief. "I need supplies."

"I know who you are," she said, crossing herself and touching her forehead with her thumb. "Have we exorcised one demon to be replaced with another?"

I barked out a laugh. "A devil's bargain, you mean?" I said and crossed my arms as I shook my head. "I have no intentions of slipping into your bedchambers one by one and deflowering you all. I gave up Christian love a century ago."

She leveled me with a black-eyed stare. "You know what I mean."

"No," I said. "I don't. Your order paid me to come. They asked me to provide a service. I expect to complete it as bargained and move on."

"It's not done?" she said, wringing her hands. Several liver spots caught the light as her hands moved over each other. I guessed her to be younger than the afflicted nun. Her hair spilling out behind it still had thick swaths of red.

I leaned over the bed to extract my Bible from the tangled sheets. A stain of blood peeked out from beneath and I jerked the top sheet over to cover it up so she wouldn't see it while I was there. It might save some of the humiliation if she thought I'd not noticed it. The book, I laid down on the nun's night stand. Sheaves of paper from inside, delicate and gilt-edged, fluttered to the floor.

"You have an infestation of them," I said as I met her gaze again. "Not just one. I can smell them. And no. It's not over. It fled when attacked but it will be back. Probably with its host."

She chewed her lip and sank onto the edge of the bed. It creaked and when she heard the noise, so reminiscent of the sounds it had made just moments earlier, she bolted back to her feet.

"It can't come back. This has been a nightmare."

I didn't want to know any more about the nightmare than what I'd already witnessed. It was my experience that too much information was usually way too much information. I deflected her obvious plea for comfort with an order. One I thought she could use and one I could control.

Shit needed to get done and yakking about it was not going to get us anywhere.

"I need you here in the room with me," I said. "You're going to be the bait."

I yanked the sheets up over the mattress and smoothed them out. "Now," I said and extended my hand toward her. "Come lie down."

She was an older woman. I guessed somewhere in the neighborhood of 60. She'd been beautiful once because she still retained a porcelain skin with bright green eyes to go with that red hair. A China doll, really. Whatever had driven her to take vows, it wasn't because she thought she'd lead a spinster's life. Looks wouldn't matter, though. Incubi didn't care about age or looks.

"Lie down," I said again.

She touched down on the mattress with a tent of fingers before slowly perching on the edge of the bed. When she looked up at me, it was with grit in her features. She would do what she had to in order to save her women, even luring a demon to her bed. I had to admire her spunk.

"I will not undress in front of you," she said and lifted bare, delicate feet onto the mattress. Her nightgown lifted high enough that I could see all the wear in her body had gone to her knees. They were red and rough from hours of kneeling.

I might have protested what her words might have meant, but in truth, I didn't really care what she thought of me.

I reached down and pulled her nightgown back down so it fell below her knees. The fabric settled down over her shins and I caught her looking at me with those black eyes.

"I'll be in the corner," I said, jerking my chin to the shadowed part of the room where the first nun had hooked her robe. I thought it might conceal enough of me that the incubus would feel safe to sneak back out.

She picked up my Bible from the nightstand and clutched it against her chest. I sighed to myself and tugged it gently by the corner till it slipped free.

"Bait," I said, explaining again what her role was and why she couldn't have the book. "We want him to come to you." I caught a glimpse of a gold chain in the folds of her neck and hooked a finger beneath the delicate chains. "This too," I said.

She swallowed but reached around her neck to unclasp the cross from her neck. Her fingers touched my palm like a moth as she dropped the chain onto my outstretched palm.

"Nothing will happen to it," I said and she nodded. "They aren't particularly susceptible to religious objects but it's best not to take the chance.

I nodded curtly but reassuringly as I backed up three steps to the corner. "Just lie there," I said. "If you fall asleep, it's fine. You don't have to be awake for this."

I saw her chin lift defiantly. She wouldn't sleep, I knew. She had enough backbone in her that I wasn't even sure the incubus would find her vulnerable enough to risk seducing her.

Not that it mattered. I didn't plan to let the thing get within an inch of her body.

I stood there cloistered in a swath of terry cloth that smelled of incense and soap for another hour or so. My neck spasmed from holding myself so rigidly at attention. The breathing of the Mother Superior never shifted to that lazy regular cadence of sleep. I had the feeling that the shadow of her on the bed was as stiff as I was.

It was the whisper of the demon that alerted me of its arrival. Surprised as I was that it still hadn't shown itself, I strained to see through the darkness. I was too intent on the nun and the bed, expecting the demon to slip from the shadows closest to her so it could slide over the nun's torso and pin her to the mattress.

Nothing but shadows showed themselves. I leaned forward, edged the robe to the side for a better view. The clicking, shushing, humming sound intensified, releasing an electric sort of tension into the room. I felt my hairs stand on end even as the nun moaned beneath her breath.

I felt a touch on my shoulder. The lightest, most teasing of touches.

Then I realized the demon wasn't tempting the nun on the mattress. And it wasn't one demon but three.

And all of them had come for me.

Demon's breath washed over me in a sweet, caramel fragrance that clotted on my palate. It had been two and a half decades since I'd met an incubus, and that encounter had ended with the near-death of a fae-human crossbreed.

I'd steered away from taking any jobs with incubus demons after that. This was the first in all that time and I only took it because I knew the life of the cloistered. Theirs could be a tough lot even without suffering demon attacks.

Whatever these demons were doing here, I knew it had nothing to do with devouring the chastity and frustrated carnal desires of a bunch of nuns. No. It was something else entirely. The back of my neck prickled with threat.

My breath came in short, sharp inhalations as I tried to sharpen my senses to what was going on around me in the semi-dark. I had memorized the room when I'd entered, part of a long-ingrained habit, so I knew the layout even in the dark. The real issue was the distortion that came with darkness, even with my night vision adjusted to the lack of light.

I knew the bed was along the wall, that a crucifix hung over the headboard, that the closet was nothing more than an open rack where she hung her few items of clothing. I'd noted the room was sparse, as expected, but that the nun had hung a painting behind the door where no one would notice her earthly possession. The rest of the walls were bare.

That meant when a shadow moved just past the robe and danced on the wall, it wasn't a trick of the light. When another broadened onto the ceiling, and through the gaps between fabric and plaster, I knew there was more than one. If I hadn't been able to tell from the number of moving shadows, the overpowering stench of pheromone was a dead giveaway. I was surrounded.

Apparently stealth and surprise were out of the question. The nun was unnecessary.

"Leave the room," I said, loud enough for her to hear even if she was asleep, which I knew she wasn't. "Right now. Get out."

I barked out the order and got back a low-throated chuckle in return that had not come from the abbess. It wafted around the robe to meet me on my side of the fabric.

I didn't wait for the nun to touch bare feet to the floor. Instead, I rammed the robe aside and tossed it somewhere on the floor with a single movement. I was left exposed and if the demons cared to take a good look at me as I lunged for them, they'd see the demon in my own eyes, ready to cut through the guts of their power until they were true dead and nothing but a memory.

"Come on you bastards," I said. I wasn't about to let them slip away before they decided corporeality wasn't a good idea. I couldn't fight a shadow. I needed them whole. "I know you're here for me. Show yourselves."

I spread my feet wide, planting them to brace myself. I stole a look at the nun, hoping she'd found her feet and was on her way out the door. She wasn't. She perched on the edge of the bed with her knees up beneath her plain night gown.

"Get the fuck out of here," I said to her. She stared back at me from the bed, all owl-eyed and rigid with nervous energy for all of one second before she shot a scalding look my way. I had the insane thought that she would scold me for swearing.

I lunged for her, grappling for her wrist in the same motion. I could apologize later if I had to. Right now, I just needed her gone.

The bones felt fragile beneath my grip. I tightened anyway, using the momentum I'd gained from the movement to heave her off the bed. She shrieked in surprise.

That was the precise moment the demons chose to show themselves. Three sets of leathery black wings opened like sails to the wind, eating the air. Just out of phase with the light in the room, they had all the ghostly residue of fascia, creating a film that threatened to cling to anything it touched.

Heat suffused the room as demons slipped through the portal of shadow. The sticky warm fragrance of liquid caramel saturated the air currents. I thought I was losing the ability to breathe from the thickness of it.

The nun too, it seemed. She swooned beneath me and fell backward on the bed. She would have taken me with her, if not for my reflexes triggering the release of her hand. She collapsed onto the bed and bounced lightly just once as the springs sighed and let go. Her legs jutted out from the edge, spread wide beneath the bleached nightgown.

The priest in me almost reached to right her posture to afford her some modesty. I resisted. It was too late to do anything for her. I had seconds, moments at best, if I was going to walk away unscathed.

I took a step backward toward the wall behind me, putting my back to something more solid as two of them stepped into the light of the lamp.

"It's about fucking time," I muttered and aimed myself at the chest of the nearest one as I doubled over and thundered toward it.

I collided with its stomach. I expected hard muscle. What I met was more like jello. It sucked me in and blocked off my nose and mouth. For a moment, I struggled to breathe.

Not fully corporeal, then. Duly noted. I was never too old to learn something new.

The last incubus I'd fought had taught me well. They are not averse to religious artifacts. They are not repelled by crosses or holy water or bibles. But when they are as corporeal as they can get, they can be hurt. This one hadn't phased all the way in yet, and I'd been too quick. I had to remain calm. I wouldn't smother. Just a second or two more and it would be solid enough to be hurt for real.

I aimed to hurt them as badly as I could. And I could hurt most things pretty badly. One of the few perks of being tethered to a demon.

It took a second and no more for the soft underbelly to turn to lean muscle, the kind you'd find in a rabbit, slinky and stringy. I struck out the moment I felt the change. It curled over me as it staggered backward against the door. The sound of its hooves clomping along the old wooden boards made the nun stir, finally. I heard her call out for her God.

"Don't look at it," I yelled. "Just get out."

The incubus folded over my back twitched and rolled sideways to escape. I grabbed for my crucifix around my neck and yanked it in two, pulling the dagger out from the sheath of the long line of metal that formed the vertical part of the cross. I stabbed into its belly. Once, twice. Another time for good measure.

Hot fluid rained onto the back of my head and poured down into my eyes.

I went blind, and with blindness came the threat of panic. If not for the demon within, I'd have lost it. I knew I would have. No man is immune from the fear of losing his sight. It's far too primal.

As quickly as the room had gone hot and sweat-soaked when the demons arrived, frigid air clamped down around the room. I heard the nun moan in drowsy pleasure. The demon behind me chuckled low in its throat even as I fought to free myself from the dying body of the one I'd stabbed to death.

"She's mine, Saint," it said and the voice made my skin crawl as it said my name.

I sank to my knees, not out of fear but to free myself from the leathered carcass and wings that had netted me.

Incubus demons are not terribly strong. They have no real magic except to overpower unwitting victims with their potent lure. Humans were their favorite prey because humans were susceptible to the temptations of flesh. It's in our DNA and in our primal survival instinct to procreate.

So I went slack beneath the weight of the demon that held me. Took a breath, reached out with my other senses. I oriented myself in the room by the sounds the Abbess cooed and moaned out into the darkness.

I gathered myself as I crouched there. Let the demon within me reach out for its distant kin and project to me their places in the room. I felt each of them, their positions in the chamber. One had curled itself over the nun. The other was waiting for me to intercede, assuming I would be driven to salvage the reputation of an order I revered.

But I didn't revere anything anymore, least of all the priesthood that had shunned me. Instead, I projected the third's location. I saw it as it lurked at the nun's bedside, waiting for me to go to her, to take out the incubus that was even now dragging its claws down the front of her night gown. The tearing sound it made put a whimper in her throat that slipped from her parted lips like sigh. Some part of her knew she didn't want this and that part would be the one that drove her insane finally if the incubus wasn't stopped.

I cut through the leather of the wing holding me down, slicing through the membrane from top to bottom until I heard the blade strike the floor. Freed, I brandished the blade still in my hand as I pushed through the folds of skin and made for the incubus who waited for me in the shadows, thinking it was invisible to me.

It wasn't ready for me. No doubt it thought I would save the nun first. Even so, the blood coating the floor and my hands and face hindered a clean strike. It was sloppy, I knew it was sloppy, but it did what I needed it to do. The blade entered the incubus's eye and went hilt deep. I twisted with both hands as I blinked through the blood coating my vision. With a hard knee upward, I brought the demon down and dropped with him.

We both fell together, me to a crouch and him onto my lap. I yanked the blade from its eye and ran it sideways across its throat.

It died without a sound.

The other one, however, would not. It released the nun with a banshee shriek, almost too high-pitched to hear, and then it leapt on me.

I twisted beneath it, avoiding its gaze. Incubus could transform to succubus in a heartbeat if it thought the change would give it the best chance to feed. Even in the darkness of the room, lit only by that small light, I'd have a hard time resisting if it caught my eye.

I held my breath as I pinwheeled with him clinging by his claws to my shoulders. It sang terrible, high-pitched and discordant notes in my ear, trying to take me off guard.

The blade fell from my grip when the incubus grabbed for my throat. I heard it skitter across the floor at the same moment I felt the chain around my neck holding the crosspiece of the crucifix stretch and pull and dig in.

I coughed. Gagged. Bucked beneath the demon as I tried to release its hold.

I couldn't free myself. The claws digging in sent enough pain to break through the adrenaline and I winced as I spun and threw myself backwards. We both struck the wall with the full force of my two hundred ten pounds. It fell off me and rolled onto its belly.

Its bare and hairy backside mooned me and as it tried to find its feet, I could make out the pendulous drag of balls and the smallest glimpse of its barbed member.

"Hornier than a goat with three cocks," I muttered through a mouthful of demon blood. "Let's see what if we can turn those blue balls a nice shade of red."

I kicked as hard as I could at the flesh that showed between its thighs.

It fell forward onto its forehead, clutching at its crotch as it curled over its lap, wings pulled down and around itself. The moans it let go were pitiful. Any man would empathize with its pain as it rocked back and forth.

Except it was ruse and I knew it when it started to slip back into shadow because I hadn't followed up the attack with a killing blow.

"Hell no," I said and jumped on its back.

It couldn't shadow portal out with me riding along. It had long stopped trying to push out its lure and had turned to instinctive self-preservation, so it wasn't ready for me when I muscled my hands beneath its chin. I wrapped my hands around its neck. Squeezed.

Panic-stricken, the incubus realized it couldn't survive. It sensed its death and I knew it. My own demon felt its cousin's oncoming peril and sent a shriek of rage up through my subconscious. It did not want me to win.

I had no more sense of where the nun was anymore. I didn't know where the bed was in relation to the door. I wasn't sure where we were oriented in the room. I wasn't even aware of more than the feel of the demon's throat beneath my hands and the effort that was making my head ache. I almost stopped breathing as I dug my fingers in tighter. I felt it try to swallow.

The demon within slammed itself back and forth in the cage where I'd imprisoned it a century before. Furious. I sensed its hope die as the demon beneath my hands gasped for life.

"You picked the wrong fucken monster killer," I said to it. "There's armor in my belly."

I inhaled one last time to feed my hands enough oxygen to give one final squeeze.

That did it. The incubus spasmed. In a last eruption of muscle, it reached out. Somehow it found my chain again. The force of its death broke the links. They clattered to the floor like rosary beads and when the cross beam struck the wooden floor, it made a cracking sound.

That was when I knew I was most royally fucked.

Lightening struck the wall a full second before the sound of the plaster splitting had the chance to make it back to my ears. The incubus went to a buzz of black insects beneath my hands and body. The cloud whirred around in a black whirlwind and fell like a rash of hail onto the wooden floor.

I fell backward onto my haunches, spent and aching. My head lolled back on my neck. The other bodies transformed as well, all swirling dirvishes of black. Their bodies became nothing but soot coating the floor.

Their deaths were not quiet. All Hell mourned their passing and it sent a cacophony of protests that funneled and wormed about the chamber. I caught sight of the nun on the bed with her eyes wide, her chest heaving as she panted her fear and relief.

The noise was sufficient to bring the entire convent rushing to the room. The abbess was still on her knees on the bed, but she was holding her nightgown closed over her chest. Her hands trembled as she clutched the rent pieces together. I knew she was in shock. I knew she would need aid and succor.

But I had my own problems.

I staggered back to my feet and ran my palms over my chest, checking for the crucifix. Maybe I'd imagined it breaking. Maybe I hadn't lost it to the incubus's grasp.

My fingers met nothing but cotton and leather and skin. No charmed chain. No spelled crucifix. The stone set in the cross bar did not meet my fingers with a pulsing heat.

Someone said my name. One of the nuns, maybe. I swung to the direction the voice came from.

"Mr. Saint?"

Yes. One of the nuns who had ushered me into the room in the first place. She was the one speaking. Young. She was hugging the abbess against her side as she sat with her on the bed.

"Mr. Saint, are you alright?" she said.

Was I alright? Good question. I felt for the demon inside like a man with a toothache touches his gums and finds the pain still a sharp and lancing hurt.

Someone touched my arm, maybe to check for a pulse or shock or to comfort me. I wasn't sure. I turned on that gentle touch with a growl in my throat. The diminutive novice backed away against the door. Her eyes dropped to her hands but there was no mistaking the fear in her face before she averted her gaze from mine.

I leveled all my rage at the abbess who seemed to be coming round to a sense of composure.

"Where the hell is it?" I growled.

She responded to the panic in my voice by swinging her wide-eyed gaze to mine. If she was struggling to come to terms with what she'd just suffered she showed no signs of it. Her composure just enraged me more. Didn't she know how bad this could get?

"Jesus Christ," I barked out. "Find it. We need to find it."

I fell to my knees and dug under the bed. Someone switched on the light overhead as I reached deep beneath the springs and groped amid several dust-bunnies and what I thought was a magazine.

Voices murmured from behind me and over my head. Feet whispered across the floor as they rushed to help the aging nun from the room. They were going to leave me there. All of them. Just take off and leave me to dig for the crucifix by myself. Fucking nuns.

Bare legs flashed in my peripheral as I swept beneath the iron bed with my hands.

"Fuck," I said as I groped to the left and swept my palm along the floorboards, fingers stretching and wriggling. I was far too big to fit beneath the industrial bedding and the mere thought that I couldn't but should notched up my panic.

"Calm down, Mr. Saint," one of them said. The abbess, I thought.

As if I could maintain a stoic calm when I could feel the demon within squirming like it had just slipped its zip-tie handcuffs and felt the breeze of freedom first time in centuries.

"You can be calm," I barked into the dust. "You can afford to be." I sneezed against my forearm and that made me even angrier. "Fuck."

Someone clucked in disapproval over my head but I ignored it and the sounds of cooing, of sharp orders, of women running in and out on bare feet.

I only felt better when my fingers brushed against cold metal. I groaned in relief when I grasped the hilt of the stipe. I pulled it back with me as I retreated to the room again and sat back on my haunches on the floor next to the bed.

"Thank you sweet baby Jesus," I said and opened my palm to stare down at the crucifix. Coated in blood and soot and dust, I couldn't quite make out the spelled stone set in the middle of the crosspiece and stipes. I scraped at the stone with my nail. The edge fetched up against something. A crack, maybe?

"We don't appreciate your language, Mr. Saint," said the Abbess.

I paused to look at her, taking in the frown holding her mouth in a tight line.

"You think I care what you appreciate?" I said, stressing the last word. "I just saved your ass and your precious virginity. You can appreciate that." I rubbed the stone of the crucifix against my shirt to remove most of the goo coating it.

If my tone or the words bothered her, she kept her reaction to herself. The novices and initiated crossed their arms over their chests even as the old abbess held her torn nightgown over her bosom.

"You should leave now," she said cooly.

I heaved myself to my feet, distracted as I studied the stone. Something wasn't quite right with it.

"Do you think this is a crack?" I said, holding it out to the novice who had seemed concerned about me in the first place.

She shook her head, now afraid, it seemed to have anything to do with me.

"Never mind," I said and made for the lamp so I could inspect the cross in better light. I held it beneath the swath of yellow glow as the abbess herded them from the room. I thought I heard her telling them to hurry.

"Shit," I said as my inspection revealed exactly what I feared. There, in a smooth line, cutting the stone directly in half, the crack caught the light.

"Mr. Saint?" The novice again. I swung to face her. The crucifix went forgotten in my hand as I dropped my arm to my side. Some sort of buzzing had started up between my ears. I hadn't suffered tinnitus for over half a century.

"I think I need help," I said to the nun.

She was the only one in the room with me now. A gentle looking soul. Big, lipid eyes with lashes heavy enough to look like extensions though I knew they weren't. My throat ached looking at her. I swayed on my feet. Blinked multiple times.

She took a step toward the door, backing up as though she'd glimpsed a lion and realized she was in the cage with it.

Maybe she was. I felt something stretch inside me. I had the distinct impression that I was working the muscles of my neck sideways, easing long ingrained kinks that had gone unnoticed till that moment. And yet, I wasn't consciously doing so. If I was cracking my neck, it was totally autonomic.

With each second, she looked more horrified.

"Please," she said and both her hands went behind her as she felt for the doorknob.

The door rattled. I thought it might open and she'd fling herself through the gap in door and frame and be gone before I could show her how much I appreciated her kindness.

"Please?" I said.

Someone else moved my hand and it flicked out in front of me. As if by a sucking wind, the door slammed into its frame, proving she had managed to open it. Just a little. But not enough. A dark chuckle moved up my throat and I managed to catch it before it escaped. I didn't want her to be too afraid. Not yet.

I advanced on her.

She was so vulnerable. So pure. I wondered what her blood would taste like if I was to nibble down on that white neck. How would her skin would feel beneath my hands? Where was the most delicious part of her body that would provide the tastiest bit of fear? I could cut into that skin with blade or nails or teeth. Should I dance in her blood? Bathe in it?

"Mr. Saint," she said in a tremoring voice. "Hale."

One more step. That's all it would take, and I'd be close enough to reach out for her. To feel her bones beneath my hard fingers.

"You know his name," I said and the gravel in my voice sounded off, like two voices were speaking not one.

"We all know your name, Hale," she said and I had the impression she'd been schooled in the psychology of negotiation. Say a name. Personalize the connection. Make your quarry feel as though you know them.

I smiled at her. My lips stuck to my teeth.

"You're Hale Saint," she whispered. "A mercenary who used to be a priest."

My neck cracked as I tried in vain to shake off the feeling of my skin crawling off my body.

"Someone's been doing her homework," I said in a throaty voice. "But you don't have all the facts. Not even half."

She edged sideways as I got closer. I saw her sneak a look toward the bed. My blade lay there on the mattress. Someone had found it after all and placed it ever so conveniently within reach.

She wouldn't make it to the blade, though. She had to know that.

I sidled one more step toward her. She was going to bolt for the knife. I knew it before she did. I also knew she wouldn't be able to use it. She'd flounder, her Christian values in conflict. She'd need a good reason to take a human life.

"I was excommunicated a century ago," I said to her and caught her attention.

She paused, uncertain. Should she feel pity for a man who was flung out of the order or was she just confused about the timeline. Maybe a bit of both.

I tensed all over, ready to lunge for her. I could almost taste her fear. The scent of it clung to the air by its nails and it was as savory as the aroma of a meat pie.

"A century?" she said in a whisper.

I nodded. I knew I didn't look one day older than I'd been at thirty two when I'd abandoned the order. The only thing that changed in my appearance was that the spindly, unfit physique was much more muscled now. There were hard edges of scars and old wounds that changed my looks the way hard living does to any face.

I dropped my voice in a conspiratorial whisper to match hers. "I fight demons for anyone who will pay my fee but I fight angels too if the pay is good enough." I grinned half-heartedly as I went on. "And I share my soul with a demon."

That last did it. She dashed the last few steps to the bed and the predatory demon inside relished in the way she flung herself in desperation to the mattress.

I had her pinned beneath me in one movement.

And that's when the door burst open and a wet flood swept over me. I heard my own hiss. My body recoiled instinctively from atop the petite nun.

I ended up crouched in the corner with my booted feet sinking into the mattress, my back against the wall. The little nun scrambled from the bed and ran for the door, pushing past the abbess who stood just inside the room.

Her retreat knocked aside a large but empty glass bottle that by some miracle hadn't shattered on impact. It spun wildly along the floor and collided against the foot of the bed.

I was alone in the room except for the abbess. She had pulled a robe over her torn nightgown after she'd left the room, and evidently had time to rob her stores of holy water.

And find herself a shotgun.

She pointed the over and under at me without so much as a single tremor. It was a heavy weapon, one that should have made her shoulders sag.

"Get out," she said in a faint echo of the command I'd given her not ten minutes earlier.

I licked my lips, thinking I might be able to find some defense, but gave up when I caught sight of the young novice in the hallway, blinking at me in terror. I shifted my gaze from her to the abbess, feeling much clearer now.

"Someone has to pay me," I said and lifted my arms in surrender.

Robbed of the demon's lust after the soaking with holy water, I felt entirely human again. I gave up the pretense that I might have any sort of defense that might make a difference to these women who had just spent the last three weeks suffering the attentions of several incubus demons.

The abbess waved the business end of the barrel at me as she moved sideways so I could exit the room. "You'll get your pay, Mr. Saint."

"But no thanks, I'm guessing," I said.

Her expression didn't change. It held onto the determined clench of jaw as she laid her finger on the trigger. "I am not going to ask again."

I flattened my back against the wall as I slid toward the doorway. The novice and several other nuns parted like waves in the Red Sea.

The abbess took no chances that the demon would peer back through and pressed the barrel of the shotgun against my spine as she walked me down the hall and into the foyer.

The chains from my broken crucifix clutched in my grip slapped against my ear as I walked with my hands over my head all the way to the door. I paused only long enough to hook the bag of money that sat at the bottom of the steps like a fat black toad.

Someone had thoughtfully seen fit for it to be waiting for me.

I didn't bother to check to see if it was the amount agreed upon. In truth, in light of what had happened, the money was the least of my concerns. I had far more troubling things to worry about than whether or not the convent had paid the ten grand I'd requested. And those troubling things were not going to wait. I just rammed my hands in between the zipper teeth and plucked out a couple handfuls of bundled money. What was loose, I left inside. Probably ones and fives from the weekly collection plate.

I practically ran down the stone exterior steps. I'd come by cab, all the better to create the anonymity the cloister required of me because they didn't relish the idea of news getting out to other orders that a possessed monster hunter had arrived at their doorstep.

That meant I'd need to hail one too. I halted beneath the streetlamp at the edge of the courtyard and swiveled around to get my bearings. The night was brisk with a full moon hanging over the rooftops of the borough. I doubted any school aged children would be out and about, but the convent was an old order, its building aged stone and brick and located next near a school zone.

I sighed as I thought about the possibility of several loitering teenagers to contend with and me with my demon showing. The older buildings wore graffiti and sat in lots filled with cigarette butts and soda cans.

I tucked the crucifix and its broken bits into my pants pocket and hefted the bag higher, so it wouldn't slip off my shoulder as I fled through the borough to the main street in order to hail a cab.

I didn't carry a cell phone into assignments unless I knew I had a safe place to stash it while I faced whatever nasty I was hired to neutralize. It didn't just afford me the confidence that I'd not lose the damn thing but also allowed me to hike the price by two thousand. Added risk and all.

I had a feeling it was going to cost all my haul and more to dig myself out of the mess I'd just gotten myself into so I was glad I'd insisted on the cell phone waiver. I mulled over the possibility that I was wrong as I headed toward the noise of traffic and the brighter lights of the city proper. I'd not lied to the young nun. A century earlier, I had been excommunicated and I did share my soul with a demon.

I felt for the cross now as I walked. My behavior with the young novice confirmed my suspicions about the state of the spelled stone on my crucifix. That stone, a blood-red drop of amber, embedded in the cross hilt just between the outstretched arms of Our Lord, had been spelled a century ago by a fae changeling and it was the only thing that kept my demon dormant. The sinking feeling I'd had when I ran my nail along the stone in the cross wasn't just an irrational concern. It was cracked. And that meant it was just a matter of time before the demon took full advantage.

The magic that bound it to me in the first place had been difficult and it had required some terribly black magic, but we'd managed to wrestle the demon into a small space behind a veil in my soul. The demon's essence kept me alive and offered me some perks that enabled me to sell my services to those who were badgered by the unworldly. It was costly magic too as my bank account could attest to half a century later when she'd had to re-spell the stone.

But I didn't think she'd do it for me again. Not for even double what I'd paid last time. We hadn't exactly parted on good terms, since the spell had nearly killed her.

I didn't think she was likely to help me now, but I had to give it a shot, and there was one place I was most likely to find her. Rosario Grace thirsted for one thing besides dark magic, and that particular brand of alcohol was only served in the kindred district.

I wasn't keen on crossing the threshold of the Rot Gut Tavern to find her. It was owned and run by a vampire with a checkered past, who had got hold of fae magic to help spell small chunks of absinthe-soaked sugar. His bar had the reputation of draining nearly empty and abandoned drinks into a vat filled with the absinthe crystals. In the 70s the college kids called those kinds of drinks Purple Jesus's but those mortal concoctions couldn't deliver the same magic-juiced blast of hallucinations that the Rot Gut cocktail did to those of the tavern's patrons who elected to give the drink a whirl.

I'd been to the tavern twice in my lifetime: one of them was to track down and kill a vampire lodging in the safe rooms there. It had been a bloody, loud, and brutal killing and I'd been paid enough by the Regent of the Cult of Artemis to hold me over for a full year. The second time was when I'd got dragged inside by a vampire I was trying to neutralize.

Although I'd only been there twice, I knew the tavern well. Mostly because the fae he'd got to spell those first crystals was the same fae who spelled my crucifix. Rosario got addicted to her own spell.

While I dreaded the thought of seeing the old fae hanging over a seedy bar in a place where she consumed her own magic, I desperately hoped she'd be there.

I hailed a cab easily and when it took me across town without the demon in me so much as blowing him a kiss, I thought it best not to tempt fate. I got him to let me out a block away from the Kindred District and all but ran the rest of the way.

I knew the back alley entrance by the stink of blood and old magic. The neon sign above the door phased in and out of time in a high pitch that buzzed deep in my ears. Unlucky were the mortals who mistook this back entrance for a regular tavern. They'd become targets to the lazy vampires who used the bar the way rural hunters used deer stands to take down their trophies.

Truly unfortunate were the ones who ended up abducted by the clientele and taken away from the bar altogether. Their fates would be far worse.

Even the detritus surrounding the back door looked suspect. The dumpster rats were double the expected size. A curious looking length of insulated wire snaked over the surface and disappeared underneath a pile of garbage. A woman's shoe, just one, lay drunkenly on its side near the door and the neon sign lit the large, irregular shaped blackish stain nearby and turned it pink at the edges.

I didn't need to inspect it to know it was blood. I could smell the sick of the woman who'd fallen prey to a monster a day or two earlier if my nose was right. Not vampire. Not even werewolf. Something that would have drained her blood and taken instead the skin and bones.

I stamped down the delight of the demon that twisted within at the thought of what that stain might mean, and I determined to see this through. Whatever had happened to that chick had nothing to do with me. She was gone and there was nothing I could do for her now.

Fayed was at the bar and all but hissed at me when he saw me as I stood in the door frame, reluctant to step inside because I didn't want any creature inside to see me and assume I was here for them.

I didn't have time for that shit. Not now.

"Fuck me," Fayed said and several red-eyed vampires swung around on their stools to stare. While Fayed had been more subtle, those vamps did hiss, recognizing the human in me but understanding somehow, that the mortal spirit was somewhat sidelined by evil.

I braced myself and stepped over the threshold.

The amber lights glinted off the glasses, reflecting in the red liquid within. Not full blood, just drops of it in alcohol. I knew those vamps had fed already and were lingering over a drink the way humans did with coffee or wine.

"I'm looking for someone," I said and could have bit my tongue off for the habitual opener.

His fangs dropped as he let go any pretense that the bar was normal.

"I told you never again," he said.

He nodded to a burly looking fellow who hovered at the entrance to a back hallway. He in turn, nodded to someone hidden in the shadows of that hall. I counted five thick-necked vampires slithering out from the darkness and forming a line across the room, all facing me.

"Not like that," I said and threw my hands up to show them I wasn't working. "I'm not here for that."

I didn't want to start anything. I didn't have the time. I could already feel the demon within rolling over behind the veil.

"Some other time, maybe." I said to the bouncers as I spread the hands wider, doing my best to appear casual and non-threatening. "Give me a couple weeks and I can come back and oblige you fellas if you think you're up to it."

Fayed blinked at me for a moment and his gaze narrowed. Then he gestured with one hand and the vampire bouncers backed off. I felt them in the shadows watching me as I crossed the room to stand at the bar. All the vampires sitting there, and one diminutive fae in combat fatigues, shot me disgusted looks before claiming their glasses and moving to the back of the room.

I remained alone at the bar with Fayed. The fae in fatigues wasn't Rosario Grace. Even with her glamour, I'd recognize the sprite red-head. This one was the dark fae's own assassin, not my grandmotherly fae changeling whose glamor resembled Sissy Spacek, and like the vampires in the bar, not my concern tonight.

I spread my palms along the bar top and leaned forward. My neck hairs lifted, causing the skin to creep along my spine. Someone was watching me. Probably several someones.

"I need Rosario," I said.

Fayed tossed a bar cloth onto the faucet of the sink to his left.

"Can't help you."

"When was she here last?"

He eyed me for a long while before he spoke, and then I supposed only because I wasn't just leaving despite the obvious threat of his posture.

"Haven't seen her for over a decade."

My gut clotted up. "A decade?" I said. "Then where are you getting your crystals?" I nodded to the bottle of Rot Gut prominently displayed over the bar to indicate I knew exactly where he was getting his supply.

He heard the accusation in my voice but he'd been alive a lot longer than me. I doubt he was afraid of much, Fayed.

"You think a little demon blood can scare me?" he muttered as though he heard my thoughts. He snorted. "Hell, I drank demon blood on a dare my first year I was turned."

"I don't have demon blood," I ground out because there was few things that pissed me off more than that insult. "But I do have a demon's power."

He sucked at his teeth and without taking his eyes from mine, reached beneath the counter. When his hand came back up, his fingers had looped around a bottle neck, and his pinkie had snagged a glass.

He dropped the glass onto the counter and poured.

"Do you know where vampires got their powers?" he said, almost idly as he pushed the glass toward me.

"You screwed your demon mothers?"

He tapped the glass next to my hand with his nail. Twice. I shook my head.

"We are descended from gods," he said. "While rumor has it the demon you got in that soul of yours is the lazy one who wrestled with Jacob." He laughed but it was a harsh, unhappy sound. "So don't try to pretend you're all badass, Saint." He tapped the glass. "You want to take space in my bar, you drink."

I lifted the glass, not because he had bullied me into it, but because he had a point. I was taking up space and if some awful thing of the night wanted to sit at that bar, it meant it wouldn't be out there harassing some poor mortal. The faster this got done, the more likely someone out there lived.

Besides. I really, really wanted to get hold of Rosario. He waited until I guzzled down half the drink before he spoke again.

"I pay a witch in the Shadow Bazaar for the absinthe," he said. "Not that it's any of your business, but I have a stake in my clientele believing I do still sell the real thing. I go to the Kennel when I need more and she supplies."

"I wouldn't say witch-spelled garnishes are the same thing as fae-spelled."

He shrugged and eyed the glass till I upended it again and drained it.

"This witch just happens to be fae-born."

I nearly choked on the crystal instead of capturing it in my teeth as I'd wanted. It went down hard and landed with a lump in my stomach.

"Fae-born?" I said. "Is that possible?"

"Wait about ten minutes and then you tell me," Fayed said with the flash of a smile. "I think her magic is almost as good as Rosario's. But you'll need to go the Shadow Bazaar if you want to hire her. She doesn't...get out much."

"Fuck," I said and shook my head. "I do not want to ride those gates," I said. "They hate me."

"Everyone hates you, Hale," he said. "Now drop a hundred for the drink and get the fuck out of my bar. "

He was right. In the tavern, in the community in general, I was a pariah, hunting them down one by one for money. A contact one moment might be a victim the next. Going to the Shadow Bazaar would put a target on my back more than it would solve my problems.

I dug into my pocket for a hundred and dropped it onto the bar. Fayed slipped it from the surface and it disappeared without him taking his eyes off my face. He blinked, waiting for me to leave, and I sighed beneath my breath. I had the feeling Rosario had been around plenty but he just didn't want to help me.

I'd have to wait for Rosario because I was definitely not going through one of the gates. Even with a demon attached to my soul like a leech, every single gate to the Shadow Bazaar was painful.

I gave Fayed a long look and slid off the bar stool. I'd have to find another way to track her down.

With a heft of the bag over my shoulder again, I headed to the door and out into the night.

The door barely closed behind me when I noticed a long black shape lifting from the pavement. It warped itself into a wolfish looking figure as I watched and it took but three seconds to recognize it for what it was.

A HellHound.

The hound's head reared as its nostrils flared to scent me. My hand released the money bag out of instinct and feinted to the side as it charged me. Smoke rose from the pores of the asphalt in red, sulfuric plumes. The beast struck the door just as reflex and the habit of taking in every little thing that could act as a weapon bade me grab for the woman's shoe. I flung it at the hound's back with the needle-point of the heel cutting through the air as it left my fist.

I didn't wait for it to embed in the hound's gelatinous flesh. I stooped and yanked on the insulated wire and leapt for the demon. The coil stank of garbage as I coiled it and lassoed the beast around the thick neck. I yanked it backwards before it could turn to face me, and pulled hard like the wire was a rein that needed effort to stop a stampeding pair of horses.

Three twists around my forearm gathered the wire closer, hauling the demon toward me. It shrieked, an ungodly sound that rent my eardrums even as it pierced the shadows.

Nothing would come to help it. No earthly ears would hear it dying and no hellish fiend would care enough to get involved.

I garroted the thing as expertly as any mafioso but it took a lot of effort. Standing over its decapitated body, I watched it twitch its last and waited for it to disappear.

But it didn't disappear.

It transformed.

And I nearly vomited.

The door to the bar opened as I fell to my knees and ran my hands over the unmoving body of a young human woman.

"Call 911," I barked at whoever opened the door. I saw boots and fatigues. The fae assassin, then. What was her name again?

"Kelliope," I said, finding the name in the muddle of panic. "Call 911."

I started pumping on the woman's chest. One. Two. Three. Keep pumping. No need to breathe into her nostrils anymore. Just doing the CPR was just as effective. Wasn't that the last advice? Fuck. Mortals were so fragile.

"Do it," I said and looked up at the fae. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

She shrugged one shoulder as she looked down at me. "You want me to call for help for a dog? You really are fucked up on Rot Gut, Saint."

She stepped over the woman. Her boot caught on the edge of the dead girl's jacket. I couldn't bear to hunt for the head. The head. I remembered. I'd removed her head. CPR was useless. An ambulance was useless. I raked my fingers through my hair and almost let slip a manic laugh.

I sat back on my haunches, breathing hard enough to make my throat hurt. I blinked twice, feeling dizzy.

The woman became a mangy stray dog. Then a hell hound. Then a woman again.

I bolted to my feet. I couldn't be sure what I'd just killed. My hands went to my face. The demon within laughed and whispered something I couldn't make out. I was certain I heard the demon within taunting me, telling me it would take a child next and then a babe, and then...oh and then, such wonderful chaos it would wreak.

I backed away slowly, muttering old prayers that meant nothing to me anymore that I'd killed a stray dog and not a woman but I knew...I knew there were no stray dogs in the city. Cats, yes. Rats. Snakes. But dogs?

I turned on my heel and fled. Like it or not, I had to go to the bazaar.

With singular focus, I sought out a place of magic, knowing something around the tavern would leak out and reveal itself to be of supernatural origin. Fayed's tavern didn't own a portal to the bazaar, at least I didn't think so. It would be too obvious and the owner of the bazaar, an immortal in the guise of a man but not of this world, wouldn't want riffraff into his territory.

But there was magic there. A dozen vampires born of magic, a fae assassin on the premises, several shifters of various kinds.

There was magic. And a demon rode my soul.

That should be plenty to transport me to the nearest gate. I just had to find the height of the power that coiled around the air. I felt for the broken crucifix in my pocket. I found the wads of bills and sought it in the other pocket. I thought of that tiny novice, her white-washed face and tender shoulders. The mortal in me, the one who had lived a century earlier felt a pang of guilt, but the demon just grew hunger.

The sound of boots clattering along the pavement beyond the mouth of the alley alerted me that I wasn't alone, that three, at least two, human women were heading my way. I smelled their perfume before I heard their voices. High-pitched. Laughter.

Blood. Fresh, moving, liquid blood. And more than that. Supple bodies to leap into and flee. It would just take one mortal shell to tempt the demon.

Even now it was flexing its will.

I staggered at the mouth of the alley, gripping the side of the building with both hands as they sauntered into view. They moved into the light of a streetlamp. One of them had her arm slung around the other. She kissed her date soundly on the cheek, nuzzled her ear. Both of them tittered. I smelled the lust on them both. The demon smelled it.

I couldn't stop myself from stepping in their path. The satchel dropped by my feet, forgotten. I swayed on legs that felt like birch trees being buffeted by hurricane winds.

"Spare a smoke?" I said and the first one, the one nuzzling the neck of her companion as she led her up the street, she was the one to answer.

"I'll send smoke up your ass," she said and pushed her lover ever so gently to the side. She jerked her chin to my right, indicating the woman should skirt me and keep going. "Bugger off, Vin Diesel."

She didn't look scared, but the pulse in her throat was tripping along like a rabbit on a hard run. Even if the demon's night vision hadn't shown it to me, I'd have heard her heart beat, it was that racing. Like a runaway train on a broken track.

"I'm told I look more like Ragnar," I said. "Maybe not quite as kind."

I knew how I'd look to her as I advanced. I'd buzzed my hair along the sides long before any sort of mohawk or fauxhawk had become vogue. It kept the blood sluicing along without clotting in my hair. I'd been handsome as a mortal. Father what-a-waste the women had called me. But even if this woman wasn't a lesbian, she'd not find me attractive. She'd find the demon's gaze terrifying. She'd imagine the hard muscles were for inflicting pain and death. She'd see beneath the facade to the monster and killing machine beneath.

And I didn't care.

"I need something from you," I said, trying not to sound as threatening as the demon wanted.

"Like I said: move on." She sidestepped me, glancing over my shoulder to be sure her lover had got a safe distance away. I had to admire that. I might have let her go but for the insistent pull of the presence beneath the veil.

"I can't," I said. I was a step or two away from her. She smelled like bacon and curry. Broad shoulders rolled beneath her leather jacket.

"Like Hell you can't, Mister." She dug into her pocket, presumably for mace or a weapon. Didn't matter. She wouldn't find it in time.

The woman behind me screamed an instant after my fingers went round the lesbian's throat. I threw her up against the wall of the building and heard bricks crack against the back of her head. She cried out. Her feet dangled near my shins.

I knew there were a dozen or more gates into the bazaar. Some said there was a Blood Gate and a Fire Gate. I wasn't sure what the others were or whether the keys to the portals all worked the same. I only knew one gate. It was a gate I'd traveled before and it was the gate I would take tonight.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I really am."

I squeezed until she gasped and her eyes bulged. She struggled to breathe and I crooned to her as she approached death. I was vaguely aware of someone pounding on my back. I shoved at them with one hand as I leaned in close to the woman beneath my grip. A waft of mint mouth wash hung around her mouth.

"Fucker," her friend yelled at me. She was kicking me now. Tiny gnats biting at my calves.

"Run," I ground out but it wasn't for the woman kicking me. It was for the woman beneath my grip.

She had one breath left. I knew the feel of it sucking out of her chest, bucking to be freed so she could drag in one more life-saving gulp of air. One last breath and if I played it right, it would unlock my door in time to let her live.

Blackness swirled around me. I let her go, spreading my arms to the sides. I had one, fleeting thought for the bag of money I'd left abandoned on the street before pain lanced through me.

My back arched and my head rolled back on its shoulders as something ferocious yanked at my solar plexus. Yanked hard and pulled upward, as though it was trying to pull my spine through my belly button. The cracking of bone met and married the sound of my viscera squelching in a roiling, unseen fist.

I'd broken through. The gate, the only one I knew of, the one that a demon might pass through if the bargain is met with just the right amount of blood and evil intent, it opened for me.

But it was most mightily pissed.

The demon gate had a score to settle with me. The last time I'd passed through it I'd had to make a pact with the demon inside in order to use the gate. The demon wanted blood and while I refused to feed it human blood, I had no qualms about giving the hellish thing a taste of another sort.

I'd torn through the last time. The gate was meant for demons and not mortals, but I had a loophole. I had no qualms about using it if it was going to get me into the Shadow Bazaar, but the gate did not want to portal me.

As I expected, it sent demons of every sort to capture me and either expel me or consume me.

And each one that reached out for me, raking its nails through my psyche or latching onto my skin with pointed teeth, I grappled and held tight. I bit down on any sulfurous flesh that came near or cut through with my blade. I soaked myself in demon blood as I traveled. It sizzled on my skin, coated my palate, and got in my eyes and I made the gate pay dearly for trying to hold me inside ever longer.

But the demon within got its blood and it used its energy to deliver me safely to the other side. Safe, but not completely sound. I'd never tried to ride the gate again.

This time, the damn thing nearly turned me inside out as I passed through. It didn't even bother sending other demons to me to try to hold me. It put all its energy into making the trip as terrifying and painful as possible. I felt its glee as it tortured me.

By the time I found myself on the other side, I was a quaking, trembling mess. The residual memory of the young woman's throat beneath my fingers made me retch. I vomited three times by the time I was able to curl myself up into a ball on my side. The last of the sick sat in a revolting puddle near my face as I lay on the cold cobblestones in the middle of an alley.

I was lucky to be alone when I landed but I knew that luck wouldn't hold up. Shaking, I put a hand out to try to rise at least to my knees. I collapsed beneath my own weight, unable to muster the strength to hold my head up. I tried to tell myself it was all the effects of the gate but a flash of that young woman's face swam before my eyes and I quivered deep in my belly.

All I could manage was to roll over onto my back so I could at least take in my surroundings, figure out where in the bloody bazaar I had been dropped. If I was going to be sick again, then at least I could use the time it took to swallow down the bile to get my bearings.

The streetlamps buzzed overhead with purple light. A sticky fog moved over the buildings. The skyline was filled with large, flying creatures with wingspans that reminded me of dragons. The air smelled of various things, not the least of which was rotting flesh.

But at least I didn't sense immediate danger. Other than a steady drip drip drip of water somewhere to my left and the wheezing inhalations my lungs dragged out of me, the alley was quiet.

I was sure the demon inside was sufficient to let the bazaar cloak me in shadows.

Not that the bazaar was a perfectly evil place. I was sure there were other, less awful things that came to the bazaar to do business or to socialize or even just pass through from one of the nine worlds to the next. But all I'd seen on my last entry was enough to convince me never to come back no matter how much money I was paid.

I didn't have the luxury of choice now. What was it Fayed had said about his fae-born witch? That he went to the Kennel for his supply? I knew the Kennel. Most mercenaries knew The Kennel by reputation at the very least.

I tried once again to push myself up onto my feet. I might have managed at least my knees but before I could do more than roll onto my side, I felt a hand on my head. Pain lanced my skull as I felt several hairs tear free of my scalp.

Whoever had hold of my hair had decided to help me stand. And they were doing it by pulling me to my feet by my hair.

The hard pull on my hair made me rise to follow just to lessen the pain. My feet scuffled twice before they managed to find solid footing. The stinging in my scalp was the only thing that kept me on my feet. I leaned into the assault, wrapping my core into a ball, digging for my blade beneath my jacket even as I curled inward. Whoever the hell had me by the pompadour was going to suffer when I got a chance to recover.

"Hale Saint," said a gritty-edged voice. "As I live and don't breathe."

I knew the voice but the information did nothing to quell my silent, pained anger. Rather, it turned the smoldering anger into a seething rage.

"Errol," I said to the incubus, knowing even as I said his name that he was flanked by several werewolves. I could smell them, the wet fur and manky stink of holing up too close together too often.

I didn't move a muscle of my neck to save myself another lancing bite of agony filtering though my hair roots. Instead, I crabbed my fingers into my pocket till they found the blade. I uncoiled it from the string of broken links that had once been my crucifix.

"If you know what's good for you," I said in a quiet voice. "You'll let me go. Tell your dogs to back off."

He laughed over my head, and I had the feeling it was showtime for his shifter buddies.

"I know many things that are good for me," Errol said. "One of them is to feed my dogs fresh meat every full moon."

"It's not the full moon," I said. "So you can tell them to go beg for their rations somewhere else."

As the wolves came into the light, I thought better of pulling the cross hilt from my pocket. They were all fur and muscle and sinew and hard, very hard bones beneath it all. I didn't want to risk harming the cross any further. Instead, I shoved it deeper into its burrow of fabric. I kept a pistol in a holster behind my back, but it was unloaded after I'd emptied it into a werewolf the day before. The call for the nunnery hadn't needed silver bullets.

So, it seemed I'd have to rely on good, old fashioned muscle.

No demon enjoys getting punched in the stomach and I was in perfect form for it. I fired two swift jabs into Errol's soft belly. It took two more, plus a pinch of his left nipple before Errol let go.

He either stepped away or was forced back, but thankfully, he released his hold of my hair. I threw another punch, awkwardly, not ready to let go my rage. It didn't land, not that I was surprised, but it did put off balance. Again.

The werewolves growled but they didn't attack.

"Scared, huh?" I said to the shadows that shifted on nervous feet.

One of them stepped forward, but Errol lifted his hand and stopped him. I swung rheumy eyes to the incubus. He was all washed in a haze of red. He was wearing Hugo Boss, a strange vanity for an incubus who had lost most of his powers in a deal with me dozens of years earlier. I wasn't sure why he'd dress to impress unless he'd taken to trying old fashioned charm to get what he wanted.

I swallowed down the growl that rumbled in my own chest.

"My boys don't scare easily, Saint," Errol said in response to my comment. "But somethings off with you. And it intrigues me to see what that might be."

I swung on him, regaining my balance, my chest heaving as I struggled to catch my breath. Damned portal.

"Losing your mind again, Saint?" his chortle annoyed me.

"Fuck you," I ground out and the voice, though mine, had dropped a register.

"I do love a good fuck," he said and circled me, his protection fanning out at his motion to do so. "Especially when I'm in need of a good dinner."

He flicked his wrist and one of them came at me. Instinct saved me and that was it. I ducked and swung, my fist flying out and grabbing a handful of furry throat.

"I'm not here on assignment," I said. "I'm just here to meet someone."

The werewolf gnashed at me with bared teeth. I leaned sideways just in time to avoid a nasty bite.

"Trust me," I said through teeth clenched against the burn still slicing through my lungs from the journey in. "I'm not interested in you or claiming any sort of money you owe me."

Just like that, the wolf let me go and he phased back into a half-man, half-beast as I watched. The crunching of bone met my ears and I winced involuntarily as they reassembled themselves into a burly, but still hairy man who crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't owe you anything," Errol said.

I shrugged. "Whatever you think doesn't matter to me at the moment."

He did owe me. The bargain I'd forced a fae to make to grant him a good quarter of his powers back did not come cheap. He'd not paid me the full amount and I'd not gone looking because he'd been holed up in this damn bazaar ever since. "I'm looking for Rosario."

"Grace?" Errol said, his eyes narrowing to slits. I thought I could see the shadowy movement of his membranous wings flick out behind him, but I shook the image from my mind. He didn't have those anymore. Hadn't had them in near a century.

"Yes," I said, ignoring what my eyes insisted in telling me was wrong. "Rosario Grace. Don't read too much into it." I said as an afterthought. The last thing I wanted was for Errol to think something was wrong with me. He was already suspicious and he was too cunning to have poking about my business.

"No one has seen Rosario in fifty years." He edged closer, sniffing, I thought, trying to scent untruth in the air. "Why are you really here."

I held still beneath his scrutiny. "Then I guess I'll have to settle for the next best thing. You know of a fae-born witch works at the Kennel?"

It was bold and bald to lay the need out there like that but I was losing time. Just because I wanted fae magic didn't have to mean I was losing my grip on the demon.

He stepped even closer. His brawn shuffled around him in a tight cluster.

"You look a little wan," he said. "Like a ghost of yourself. You having trouble with the demon again?"

I didn't answer the taunt. Having trouble with the demon was a mild euphemism for the Half Century slaughter the rest of the supernatural world called what I'd done in the guise of the demon the last time the stone broke.

"You still have a taste for children?" he said. "I can hook you up with a few. One of our witches has acquired several six year olds--"

"I just told you I'm not here on business."

He waved his hand as he barked out a laugh. "That's not business. It's pleasure." He eyed me thoughtfully. "At least it seemed to be fifty years ago." He grinned a hateful grin then jerked his chin toward the nearest shifter, the hairy bloke.

"Take Saint to the Kennel. Introduce him to Vivianne." He eyed me with a laugh in his eyes. "If you can get our sweet fae-born witch to talk to you, let alone help you, be my guest. Just leave a thousand in her tip jar. She shares with the house and I am in the market for another silky blouse."

"Shirt," I said with a snort. "You fucking idiot. Human men do not call their shirts blouses."

He took that bit of information in with a blink and a shrug then waved his brawn toward a door at the end of the alley. He disappeared into the shadows before I'd gone three steps.

When we stood in front of a leathery looking door, I realized why the place was called The Kennel. The door wore a snarling wolf face and was covered from top to bottom in hide. The stink of blood was stronger here and I realized why. There was gobs of flesh and blood all over the cobblestones.

"Monsters," I said.

The guy's grin did nothing to convince me otherwise. "You're the monster here, Saint," he said and gave a series of sharp raps and taps.

Immediately, the door shriveled and contracted and then roared out at us with a mouth that spread across the width of the door and flashed a row of nasty teeth with razor sharp points. Flesh flew out in every direction and landed with gut-rolling splats against walls and pavement.

I leapt back and raised my fists on instinct but even as I braced for attack, the door swung wide and I glimpsed the throbbing lights and pulsing music of a nightclub beyond the frame.

"Welcome to The Kennel," Errol said from inside the door. He struck a pose that might have looked charming to an innocent mortal. Even so, he had that greasy porn star vibe and I couldn't imagine anyone finding him the least bit alluring.

"I see you have enough power to teleport," I said as impassively as I could manage. I shouldered my way past him, trying not to brush against any part of him.

"Teleportation is a human term," the incubus said. "We prefer shade walking."

He nodded at his bouncers who moved aside, leaving a path through the crowds that lead my eye to a broad bar surrounded by several naked humans. All of them had been stuccoed with magic paint from hair to heel.

"So where is she?" I said, pretending I didn't see the way a beautiful mulatto woman's paint transformed to a nun's habit.

"You're welcome," Errol said as he jerked his chin at the bar.

I shot a look his way. There was something off in his voice.

"This isn't a trap, is it?"

He laid his fingers against his chest so innocently, I knew whatever came out of his mouth next would be a lie.

He clamped down on whatever he was going to say and pointed toward the bar again. I followed the line to a smooth-faced brunette behind the counter with eyes so ice blue I could see them from where I stood. At last. The fae-born witch.

I abandoned the incubus and his dogs and headed to the bar.

She was busy slinging what had to be blood drinks based on the red stains that webbed through the alcohol like ink in water. Behind her, a bank of bottles that sparkled from within with bubbles of white light, phased in and out as though they couldn't quite hold onto reality. I imagined they were specialty liqueurs from one of the other nine worlds.

I slid onto one of the stools and tried to decide whether I should wait till I caught her attention or just demand it. The mulatto woman approached the bar. Her painted on glamor shifted to a sexy nun outfit but I blinked hard, and saw beneath the haggard, ill-fed, mortal woman she was.

Indentured. I hadn't seen one this close before. I swallowed down the sudden water that flooded my mouth as she came too close to the demon's sphere of energy.

"Back off," I growled and she sent me a vacant, glassy-eyed stare. When she didn't move, I made to shove her away but felt a wave of dizziness swim behind my eyes. Everything tunneled down for a moment. I laid my palm on the bar top to steady myself. This wasn't going to be easy.

I blinked at it as my fingers curled under. The skin looked so paper-thin I didn't think it was my own hand until I tapped my nails on the counter. The contact that rattled up into my hand told me I wasn't seeing things. There were even liver spots on my skin for Pete's sake.

"Get you something?" A woman said from the other side of the bar.

I looked up at her, this Vivianne who was supposed to be fae-born, who the ancient vampire Fayed assured me was as good as Rosario. Her gaze lingered on my face for a moment, patient and expectant before her brow furrowed.

"You alright, old man?" she said.

I swiveled on the stool, expecting to see someone behind me. The room revealed dozens of mortal magic-painted Indentured served drinks to vampires and shifters alike. One of them was bent over a vampire's lap, her neck arched as he bit down into her nape. I shuddered while the demon salivated.

A soft rap on my hand. "I asked you if you were alright?"

"Vivianne?" I said, turning back to that piercing blue. It was unnerving, no matter how beautiful she was.

"That's right." Her eyes narrowed. "You know me?"

I shook my head. "Fayed sent me. He said you could help me."

She rocked back on her heels and crossed her arms over an ample bosom barely contained by a lace corset ribboned in red and black. I tried to stifle the wriggling of the demon within as it responded to the way her movement seemed to offer the creaminess of her skin. And yet, I didn't get the sense she was doing it on purpose.

"I don't do age spells," she said with a furtive look toward one of the corners where a shadowy figure watched us. "You want a drink, I can do that for you. Spell a bit of memory magic into it so you can recall your good old days of unabashed randiness, but I can't restore your youth, old man."

Old man. She was right about that. She had to be what? Twenty six to my one hundred thirty two? Usually, women found me attractive. It wasn't a fact I exploited or cared about but it still stung.

I fumbled for my pocket as I thought about the women I'd turned down in the last decade and compared them to her, all in the time it took to realize that no matter how much I dug, I couldn't quite get a grip on the chain. It seemed to flee for every effort to lasso it. Strange. I could barely feel anything.

She was waiting with a look of barely suppressed impatience.

I struggled to feel for the cross inside the burrow I'd shoved it into. I might have chalked it up to good old fashioned lust over the filly behind the counter except I was pretty sure the only thing that should go numb was my brain in that case. Besides. I hadn't lusted after a woman in decades.

I started to curse when my hand curled around the crucifix, but I managed to bite down the obscenity before it made me look any more like a sour old codger than I already seemed to.

The sharp cold metal led my fingers to Jesus's outstretched arms where the curve of the stone marked the intersection of stiles and crossbar. My nail fetched up on a now obvious crack. My heart sank as I pulled it out and inspected it before laying it on the bar in front of her.

"It's broken," I said and shoved my hands back in my pockets to keep them from traveling over the bar. I was terrified to see if they shook.

Her hiss of air as she inhaled so sharply, so quickly, was enough to pull my eyes to her face.

"You know the work?" I said, assuming her reaction was indication that she did.

She shook her head as she stared at me, then she blinked, not once but twice. She sighed heavily, frustrated, almost, at something I didn't understand.

"I'm sorry," she said as she reached beneath the bar. "Sometimes my sight plays tricks on me."

She pulled out a tall glass. It clinked against the surface as she plopped it in front of me. A wave of her hand and one of those sparkling bottles floated off the shelf into her hand.

"Ambrosia?" she said. "You look like you could use it." She gave a light laugh.

"Sure," I said distracted as I nodded but held her gaze. "You didn't say if you knew the work." I sent a meaningful glance toward the crucifix.

She shrugged as she poured. "Is there something special about that Christian abomination that I should recognize?" she said. "I mean aside from the blade sheathed inside?"

I lifted the glass and held it up so I could swirl the liquid in the pulsing light of the club.

"You looked like you recognized it." I hedged. I didn't want all my cards out there all at once. If she knew Rosario, maybe she knew where she was.

She snorted. "I told you. My sight. It plays tricks on me. For a second you looked...well, you looked like you were a hundred years old."

"If it's any comfort to your powers, I am," I said. "But that's not why I'm here. I need something from you. Fayed thinks you can spell that stone for me. The original spell restrained a demon. Pretty effectively," I added, ignoring the times I'd lost myself to the damn thing.

She inclined her chin toward the drink. "You gonna drink that or is it going to come out of my hide?"

Strange comment to make, I thought, but the drink didn't look any more spelled than anything else she'd poured for other patrons and they all looked alright. I upended it and swallowed a rush of pear tasting sparkling liqueur. Sweet, but not cloying. It warmed my chest and hicupped in there. I grinned at her, trying to show an affable side to her that might predispose her to aiding a man in need.

I must have grimaced instead, because she leaned across the counter and hissed a few conspiratorial words at me.

"Don't blame me," she said. "I had no choice."

That was when I noticed a shadowy figure peel himself from the dark corner near the bar and approached us.

I slid my gaze to her then to the glass.

"You set me up," I said.

Two vampires nearby moved aside as the creature, a dark fae by the tar-like color of his hair, approached the bar. I recognized the underboss of the fae-kin cabal immediately and cursed my momentary lapse of judgement. I glared sideways at the young fae-born witch and she edged away with both hands clasped against that creamy bosom. I hoped none of them would catch my subtle sleight of hand as I closed my fist around the crucifix and dropped it into my pocket.

She mouthed an apology then clamped her mouth closed.

"Hale Saint," the underboss said in a drawl that was an obvious affectation he'd acquired since I'd seen him last. "I'm amazed any of the portals let you through the bazaar. Maddox keeps them locked pretty tight to humans."

"Part demon," I said with a shrug. I caught sight of Errol from the side of my eye and realized by his sliding glance over the fae that it wasn't an accident at all that I was there. Not by a long shot.

"I'm not here on business," I said with the vague thought I'd been saying it a lot lately and it had gotten me nowhere useful. But I did manage to find the the wisdom to lift my hands in surrender. I was outnumbered here and I knew it. Even the demon within had gone silent. That couldn't be a good thing.

He motioned to the pretty fae bartender to fetch him a drink and she did so fast enough that I didn't see the glass until it was in his hand, frothy and electric blue. He titled it toward me.

"What sort of dark accident could bring you into the Kennel if not business?" he said over the rim before swallowing the entire wash of liquid with one gulp. He belched politely into his fist as he regarded me. "Well?"

I squared my shoulders. I knew the writhing of shadows behind him meant several of his made-fae waited for a call to arms. The door behind me had long gone back to its wolfish skin and I had no idea if it would open for me again. Several doors led to different colored chambers where sounds from within quarreled with each other before mixing into the temple-pounding tempo of music here in the main bar.

I hadn't sighted any other escape but the door I'd come in and he knew it.

"I came looking for a witch who can spell an object for me," I said.

He looked over at Vivianne. "And you think you can just ask one of my Indentured for such a spell?" There was enough accusation in his voice that Vivianne sucked in a frightened breath.

So that was what she meant by having the drink paid for with her hide.

"I didn't know she was yours, Horatio," I said, calling on a long-dead memory to extract his name. I bit down on my revulsion at the term of possession as I sketched a short bow in his direction, trying for subservience in light of my desperate need. "I'm happy to pay you for her service."

The demon howled from within. Oh how low I'd fallen to be begging a fae monster to let me pay him for the use of a slave. I felt a fist of disgust deep in my belly. Not just for the humiliation but for that poor girl who no doubt had seen far worse than a monster hunter begging a monster.

"You know now," he said. "And I'm not interested in selling you one second of her time or a spark of her power. She owes me one hundred more years of service. I own her body, soul, and magic."

He looked her over thoughtfully. "She even agreed upon pain of death to honor her contract. She's rare, you know. We haven't had a fae-born witch in nearly three centuries."

"She's very useful to me," he went on. "Spells mundane objects like nobody's business. Earns me quite a bit in the outside bazaar but even more in here where she can entrap just the right sort by spelling their glasses." He shot a meaningful look at the glass I'd abandoned on the bartop. "Yours for instance, what do you suppose she spelled your glass with?"

My voice came out in constricted, gritty syllables as I spoke between clenched teeth. "Such actions have to be illegal."

He shrugged. "Maybe somewhere in the nine worlds such duplicity is punished but here?" He clasped his fingers together over his chest. "This place is like the ninth world Internet. Unpoliced."

I already felt the dizziness. "Maybe no one will police you, but I'm sure someone, something, will exact vengeance."

He rocked back on his heels. "I'm not the young fae you once knew, Hale," he said. "I have what you would call pull. " He indicated the fae surrounding him. "I've come up in the world."

"Got dragged through the filth of the world you mean," I said. "I would have thought after your brother you might have learned a thing or two."

His eyebrows rose an inch at mention of his brother, a fae I'd had to excise from his world by order of the Unseelie court. I'd never asked what his offense was. It didn't matter to me. It never mattered. I was paid handsomely and that was the end of it.

But this fae obviously wasn't about to let a man go with the comment that he was just doing his job. No one ever did. I'd been the subject of vengeance hits before, but not quite so cunning as this. It made me think this fae wasn't just an angry, revengeful sibling. No one loved their family that much.

"You have plenty of connection, now, it seems," I said, starting to negotiate but he held up his finger and when he did, the fae witch gasped in pain and staggered backward.

"I'm not interested in hiring you in any capacity," he said and while it appeared he thought I would be aghast at his treatment of his servant, he didn't ease up when I didn't rush to her aid. Instead, he doubled down on whatever magic was torturing her, unseen but for the pain in her face and body. She whimpered as he kept talking, oblivious to the pain he was inflicting. "Vivianne is mine. I can twist her insides until they are so corkscrewed that they'll never come undone but she is valuable."

I gripped the crucifix in my pocket because if I didn't, I was afraid I'd strike him. I had to talk my way through this one. Brute force was not going to be helpful.

"You're willing to hurt one of your best earners just for ego's sake," I said. "I'm flattered you think so much of me."

Horatio released his hold on her. She collapsed against the bar and even from the corner of my eye I could tell she was doing her best to recollect herself and was losing.

"When we last met," he said. "I told you that you would live to regret harming my family. It took almost a decade to find a priest of your world who hated you enough to send you into a den of incubus demons." He looked over his shoulder at where Errol stood running his hands down the back of a painted Indentured woman. "We're partners in this business and Errol does desire so badly to have all his powers back. He's very useful for that reason."

I put my hand out to steady myself as I put the pieces together. I'd suspected the incubus demons had been trying to trap me. Now I knew why.

"The worst is you don't even remember what you did to my brother," he said. "You didn't care enough to record his name or his offense. I doubt you even remember what you earned--"

"Fifty thousand dollars and a fae stone," I said.

He had no idea what that job meant for me. I did remember. In fact, I couldn't forget because it was the stone Rosario had to replace when the first had broken. It was the reason we'd fallen out. She'd crossed the dark fae-kin cabal she said, just to help me, and there would always be a target on her head.

Like then, I was ready to sacrifice whatever I had to in order to get the stone replaced. I'd said as much to Rosario back then before the darkness took me. I'd argued it wasn't about me and my immortality or the powers and strength the demon imbued me with. It was about the havoc that demon could wreak through my body and the toll it would take on hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives. I didn't confess that I just wanted to live. After leaving the church, I didn't owe a confession to anyone.

She had ignored my plea and the demon within had shown her exactly what it cost.

The darkness. I had no recollection of it, of the things I'd done--or rather that the demon had done in my stead as it took over my body. Then, the stone hadn't been cracked like it was now, just dinged a bit, enough to loosen the hold the spell that kept it bound in shackles behind my consciousness. It took days before it crept out and took me unaware. Later, I would realize it took its time planning its coup.

I killed the woman I was with at the time, I knew that. It was the last image I saw with my own eyes, the last thing I felt with my own flesh before the darkness came.

The rest, as they say, was hearsay and history.

Now, the fae-stone Rosario had spelled and placed in my crucifix had more than just a ding that knocked something loose in the spell. It had a large crack that caught my nail when I slid my fingertip across its surface. I'd seen the energy from the spell burst into the nun's room. I knew from the last event what it meant now.

The demon was biding its time.

I faced off with the fae underboss who stood in front of me. I didn't care what he knew, what he hoped, or what emotional toll it would take on him to know the truth.

"Your brother became a liability to the unseelie court. They wanted him tortured and executed. I gave him a quick death. They spared your life because I asked them to."

I walked toward him, conscious that his hired muscle could splinter me into a thousand pieces if they wanted to and that I wouldn't die from it. I'd suffer instead because the demon soul-partner granted me immortality. So long as it rode me, I lived.

That didn't mean I relished the idea of thrashing about in pain until it took the hint and used my weakness to take over my body.

"You were meant to be part of that execution," I said to the fae. I expected him to look shocked. When he wasn't, I realized he knew exactly what his brother had been doing and what price he might have paid. And he didn't care.

He rolled his shoulders. "I run the cabal now," he said. "They touch me, they suffer and they know it. I have fae of all sorts working for me and with me."

He snapped his fingers and one of the men moved toward the fae witch. When he grabbed her by the hair and started yanking out from behind the bar, my stomach knotted up. I couldn't risk losing her if she was the only thing keeping me in control of my own body.

"If you want the girl," he said. "I have a feeling you won't stop till you get her. I know your reputation, Hale. You're a bulldog. I hate dogs."

He ran his finger across his throat and one of his bouncers started for the girl, his hand lifted toward the witch as though he planned to jolt her with a blast of fae magic. I expected light to emanate from his hand and crackle across that delicate throat, slicing it like a laser.

"My darklings can merge with the shadows," Horatio said as the girl struggled against an unseen force. "They have a little extra affinity with the shadows than just being able to become shadow. They can harness it. Place it deep within the soul of a fae."

The girl sounded as though she were strangling and yet there wasn't a single touch laid on her throat. It took all my focus to be able to make out the stream of whispery smoke curling toward her and entering her nostrils as she fought to drag in breath after breath.

"I hate to lose her," Horatio said, "but I'd rather she be dead than risk you getting what you want from her."

He sliced his throat with a gesture and the darkling pushed out more smoke, this time black as pitch and as thick as a python's belly. She choked on the density of it.

"You'll have to find some other witch to spell your crucifix."

"I'll buy her," I blurted out. "Not just her services. I'll buy out her contract."

I was aware that I'd lunged forward only when my boot struck the edge of the bar. It shocked me to hear my desperation and it must have surprised him too. With a quick gesture, he motioned for the darkling to let her go. I sagged beneath my leather jacket when she collapsed against the bar, dazed and with her hands climbing her throat instinctivley. Hurt, sure, but alive. Her eyes darted from him to me and back again.

I tried not to look to relieved.

"Name your price," I said.

His smile moved across his face like a snake uncoiling onto a warm rock. He stroked his throat with the back of his fingers, leaving a trail of glitter.

"I do have one price I'd accept for such a rare treasure."

"Whatever. Just name it." I shoved my hands in my pockets, feeling for the wads of cash I'd kept before dropping the money bag.

"Not money," he said and nodded toward the center of the room. I'd been so focused on hooking up the witch to hire out her magic that I hadn't noticed an impressive looking cage hanging from the ceiling by steel chains. While it was cloistered in shadow, it was clearly something that got lit up with ceremony when it got activated. Even from this distance, I could see the latent magic swirling around its base like heat waves on pavement.

"You fight in The Kennel, and win," he said. "And you can have her contract."

She made a sound from beside me that made me turn to her in alarm. She shook her head back and forth and bit down on her lip to silence the words that tried to exit when the fae boss turned his glare on her.

"I'll do it," I said, ignoring the look of horror on her face.

A moment later, he howled out a very human sounding whoop of celebration and hollered something that sounded like: We have a warrior for the evening.

The entire room applauded. A cacophony of bets ensued, papers got pulled from thin air and brandished, bids scribing across the fae parchment in blue magic before sailing toward a bookie booth I hadn't noticed either.

"You shouldn't have done that," she rasped out as the darkling gripped her arm. She fought him as she dragged her toward the cage that was even then descending from the ceiling.

"Fae bargains," Horatio tutted with a shake of his head. "You must be desperate indeed, if you agreed to one, Saint."

He lifted his hand above his head and made a whirling motion. A second later several someones man-handled me along through the crowd behind Vivianne and the darkling. I didn't struggle. There was no need. I was ready to fight. I needed to fight. The demon inside would be out raging its way through the entire bazaar and then the ninth world anyway if I didn't.

The only thing I didn't allow them to do was push me unceremoniously into the cage. I shrugged off their holds and walked in on my own steam, head held high, shoulders rolling as I took to my corner. Whoever my opponent would be, I'd make short work of him.

I spun around to face the fighter.

"You?" I said, confused as Vivianne shrunk into the corner. "What are you doing here?"

The door clanged shut. The cage shuddered to life, rocking and rolling as if it were a large bear rising from hibernation.

"Oh hell, no," I said and started to reach for the bars to keep from stumblin.

The witch yelled at me.

"Don't," she said. "Look."

My gaze slid to the bars set mere inches away from each other. Where they weren't covered in sharp barbs or blades, they glistened with an oily residue.

"Poison," she said. "Or drugs or paralytics. You never know until you fall against one."

She sank down onto the floor, bringing her knees up to her chin.

I felt the hoisting of the cage from the floor. Faces outside turned upward to watch us as the cage lifted. It swayed subtly as lights sparked to life around us.

"I don't understand," I said.

She canted her head at me, the black hair falling along her neck to cover the fae cabal's stamp of indenture.

"Don't you?" she said. "In the Kennel, the cage warriors fight to the death."

Fae bargains were a most evil thing. More evil than the devil inside me, truth be told, and I'd forgotten that inconvenient fact in my desperation.

I didn't expect it to be an honorable bargain but I couldn't have expected that to win, I'd have to kill the witch whose contract I wanted to buy. The cunningness of the bargain was a thing of beauty, really, if I'd been in a position to admire the duplicity.

Desperation had made me sloppy. The noise from below turned to a din of verbal assaults leveled at us from below, drowning out my curses I leveled at them. All of them. Monsters and depraved creatures each and every one. Not one of them showed any pity for the woman who spelled their drinks. Instead, they slung whatever objects they had to hand when it looked like she wouldn't fight.

I watched the way she cringed when someone threw a drink at the cage. She was no fighter. This would be nothing but a massacre.

But it had got her to her feet, in the end. She stood, finally, once the cage locked into place. The killer in me took note of the way she stood, the soft side of her face that looked like she had a weak bone on the right cheek. Maybe it had been broken recently, maybe it was a defect. That vulnerable spot might only need a single blow before it cleaved in two. I noticed she was barefoot and saw the advantage in that even as her toes curled into the floor.

I knew without really looking that she was left-handed. I knew if she used her hands for magic, it would be that left I'd have to stay clear of. Even so, if Horatio said she was valuable, I'd have to be careful not to underestimate her.

The way she'd slipped into the cage without me noticing told me she was quick on her feet. She was soft-footed too, moving with a quiet grace that might be deadly if I didn't keep her in my sights the whole time.

All those things and more saturated my mind as neatly as breath. I didn't have to consider them. It was an autonomic reflex by this time, to map out and register all those things that might hinder or help me in a fight. I was used to it by now. Fighting for my life? Just another Tuesday.

Fighting for my life against the only woman who could keep my miserable carcass breathing? Not so much.

"Do you have magic?" I yelled out to her over the din of atrocities slung at us from below. She winced visibly when a long bone clattered against bars and crackled with magic before dropping to the floor below.

"Are you fucking daft?" she yelled back. "Why the hell do you think I'm here?"

I side-stepped without thinking about what I was doing, angling myself for the best attack.

"I mean can you protect yourself?" I said.

I was already trying to work out the kinks, find a loophole. I wondered if I could strike a blow that would stop her heart momentarily. Just enough to trick the cage into opening again. Presuming that the magic coiling about the cage would release under the edict of a completed bargain.

"I'm a witch," she said with more indignation in her voice than fear. "I'm not a mage."

She backed away from me and it was only then that I realized I was prowling up to her. I forced my feet to stay still and she halted three feet away. I didn't want to spook her.

A pixie slammed into the cage right then, drowning my response. I glanced down to see a werewolf in half-transition looking up at us. He'd tossed the pixie apparently. It flitted about drunkenly before righting and aiming itself at the wolf's left nostril.

I didn't have time to wait to see what would happen when it rammed itself into the cavity. I turned my attention back to the witch instead.

In the time it had taken for me to glance aside and back again, her hands had gone behind her back. I really should have asked more questions. Judging from the rabid excitement below, I assumed it was all going to be negative.

"Some witches have mage-like magic," I said loud enough to carry over the ruckus. I wasn't sure myself if I was feeling for intel so I could stand against her, or if it was to help her stay alive. Because if I had to fight, I would, and it would not go well for the little witch.

"I spell objects," she said in a low voice. I noticed her hands were behind her back, reaching behind her. "I can't cast magic that way."

"Perfect," I said. "We're fucked."

"Ya think?" She took another step backward, too close to the barrier for my comfort. I made an involuntary lunge for her, thinking to grab her away, keep her off the bars.

That was when I realized that she hadn't entered the cage barefoot at all. She had taken off her shoes while she'd been huddled into her corner and was now clutching that ballerina slipper like her life depended on it.

It wasn't like me to miss something so crucial, but I had. I ducked sideways as the shoe sailed across the cage, narrowly avoiding the blow.

When it struck the bars, it made a distinct chinking noise. The metallic sound of gears engaging crackled through the air.

That sound hadn't come from the cage's magic or from the shoe connecting with it. The sound of magic, that was what it was. The stink of it rose like smoke from a smoldering fire.

I spun so that my side was to her just as the shoe rebounded back at me from the side of the cage. It spun heel over toe in my direction, slicing through the air with tiny wings that whirred as they cut the air.

I almost reached out to catch it till I realized the wings were made of steel. The glint off the edge of one winked at me as it went past. The shoe landed on the floor at her feet.

"All you can do is spell objects, huh?" I said, noting that the wings folded back onto themselves and disappeared into the sole of the loafer.

"Valkyrie wings," she said with a shy grin. "Razor sharp."

I didn't have time to be impressed. She lobbed the other shoe at me and this one had all the rage of hellfire in the heat it emitted. A blast of it singed my hair.

I lumbered for her out of instinct. The crowed cheered from below as the action seemed to finally be starting. I had to stop her before she ended up making me hurt her out of self-defense.

"Stop it," I said. "We have to figure this out, we have to--"

I went dumbstruck as she peeled her shirt up over her head in answer. The lights of The Kennel, the magic that sizzled all around us, the glitter that the pixie had left hazing the air, they painted her skin with a glow that looked ethereal. Fae-born witch, I reminded myself. Not just any witch, but one with all the beauty of the high fae.

Her breasts swelled over her demi cup bra. The long-dead priest in me wanted to pull my coat off and toss it over her, keep her from lecherous eyes, but something else pushed that impulse aside. The demon unfurled its tail and dug its claws into my psyche. I wanted her. Badly. I throbbed with the lust for the entire moment it took her to ball the shirt up over her head, for the seconds it took for the sleeves to sprout tentacles that sported three, repulsive heads as she let it drape in front of her again.

One of the heads stretched toward me as she held the shirt by the hem.

"Hell no," I muttered and fell to a crouch just as a shower of flames spat out from its mouth. I duck-walked three feet before shoulder-rolling out of range. This was getting out of hand.

"Fuck, woman," I said. "We can work this out."

"There's nothing to work out." She said. "I fight or I die."

She leaned back on her heels as the writhing material of the shirt went parallel to the floor. Each head from each sleeve tugged on her, making her buck backward just to stay on her feet. Voracious, I thought. Those things were starving.

And the crowd was loving it. Someone tossed up an orb of some sort that glowed bright enough to blind me for a moment.

"I won't kill you, I swear it," I said. "Not if we can figure something out."

"You don't get it, do you?" she said. "There is no out. And I'd rather die than go back to that prick."

And that was it. I knew she had every intention of fighting me until she was nothing but a bloody pulp.

I charged for the first sleeve, grabbing hold of it before the heads could realize what I was doing. I had to duck underneath and grapple with the material where the scaly flesh petered out into fabric. It was easy, really. The heads had no sentience. They flapped about and bobbed up and down, but once I was past the worst of it, I managed to dig my fingers into the seam and tear.

The witch grunted with the effort of standing and holding her ground. The heads were writhing about like eels on a dock. The fabric tore beneath my fingers and for one second, I felt like I had the upper hand.

Then I realized the creature she'd called to with her magic wasn't just any magical being.

It was a hydra. And I now had to deal with six heads instead of three.

One of the heads clamped down on the back of my leg and I arched forward in pain and reflex. It bit down hard, and I could swear I felt a sting of venom burn up my veins. I lashed out in rage, whipping into the sleeve where the fabric met scaly flesh. I looped my finger around that lizardlike skin and I twisted, gritting my teeth as one of the other heads scraped against my throat.

I thought it was going to tear into me. It's breath smelled of sulfur and fabric softener. The witch gasped as I wrenched the thing aside and ducked to snag the hem of the shirt.

I pulled and yanked, using the fabric as purchase to make my way toward each head one by one. The heads, all three of them, curled around my waist and collided into my back and waist, tearing into the fabric of my jacket.

Even with the leather covering my spine and softer flesh of my kidneys, it was only a matter of time before the other sleeve, with its three heads would knock me off balance.

"Stop," I said to the witch. "Neither one of us can win this way."

I didn't want to hurt her but I couldn't hold out much longer before self-preservation kicked in. I needed her.

It was just as the second sleeve of hydra demons worked their way beneath my belly and one of their mouths clamped down on my stomach that I saw my salvation.

There, just outside the cage not three feet away, weaving her way through a cluster of vampires hassling one of the servers, was Rosario.

Rosario. She looked a bit younger, not as stooped as when I'd last seen her. But that last time had been a glamor meant to elicit pity from me. I knew the fae beneath all that magic was sharp and beautiful, much like she was letting herself be seen now. Her hair was the same strawberry blonde, cut in a blunt fringe over bright blue eyes.

I didn't need the fae witch after all. Rosario caught my eye. I thought she mouthed words of encouragement. I didn't have to die in this cage fighting off the witch who could help me stay human.

"Finish her," Rosario shouted at me.

I wrenched myself free, stumbling backwards as my grip on the shirt let go with the effort. The hydra took a peeling of skin from my belly at the sudden thrust, and blood sprayed over the cage floor. A whiff of excrement met my nose. I didn't feel anything for three full seconds, then my stomach burned.

I didn't dare look at it.

A burst of magic from below punctuated a victorious cheer. Someone had bet on the witch, apparently.

I swung on Vivianne. She'd dropped the shirt at the shout from Rosario and must have known she couldn't win. The look on her face certainly indicated her fear. If her eyes got any bigger, they'd take over her entire cheeks.

The hydra heads writhed on the floor at her feet, attacking each other as she pressed herself deeper into the corner and dug at the buckle of her belt.

The primitive instinct to surrender in the face of danger forced my hands in front of me. I noted the terrified look in her eye. She had hurt me, and she knew it. She also realized I didn't need her anymore. Whatever she planned for me with that belt of hers, it was going to have to be killer.

But shadows already crept into the corners of my vision. My hand went to my belly and felt something warm and viscous. Blood. Maybe a blob of viscera.

I didn't need to look down to know I was bleeding out. I felt like an old man lumbering toward her. All sensation was leaking out my fingertips.

"The demon, Saint," Rosario yelled from outside the cage. Her voice was hoarse, as though she hadn't spoken in a dog's age, but it was her. I knew it.

"I can see the demon," she said. "Everyone can. It's taking over."

Three things scared the beJebus out of me. One was dying. Doesn't matter how old you get, how long you live, or how much time you think you have, when you've done the sorts of things I've done over the years, seen the things I've seen, and know--really know--where you're going to end up when you expire, you have a healthy terror of death.

The other had to do with mirrors, and the reason why will die with me.

The last was my worst fear and I'd lived through it already twice in my lifetime. I swore there would never be a third.

I slid my gaze to the witch.

"Can you see it?" I demanded of her. "Can you see the demon?"

I didn't want to let her see panic on me but it was hard to keep the edge of it out of my voice.

One quick nod in my direction moved her black hair like ripples in ink. It was all the confirmation I needed. In truth, I would have known anyway by the sheer look of terror on her face. That kind of horror only played on an expression when the victim had an epiphany of how badly she was going to be damaged.

And she was about to be damaged very badly. She'd fight, sure. That she hadn't been paralyzed by shock and adrenaline in those first moments we'd entered the cage was evidence of the kind of stuff she was made of, the things she'd endured under the fae-kin cabal's hold. She'd fight and she'd fight hard. She'd find a way to battle the demon that took over me the same way she'd fought me.

She'd wage her war until she lay dead.

And that was when I knew I had to kill her. If only for her sake. She didn't deserve what the demon would do to her when it peeled back the veil of spell and magic that was probably no more than a tatter of gossamer by now.

It was just a matter of time unless I acted now. If I finished all of this right now, I might never need to worry about the demon having control. Because now I had Rosario.

Rosario could shove the demon back down. Rosario would be the savior of us all. I just had to kill the witch first. And I had to be quick about it. I had to act now.

I leapt for the hem of the shirt the witch had abandoned and snatched it from the floor, deftly avoiding the tangle of heads that were fighting for dominance as they writhed on the floor of the cage.

In a single movement, I flung it sideways. One of the heads snapped down on air as it whizzed by, and I had the feeling I'd just missed getting my throat torn out. I barely heard the sizzle and crack of the bars as they connected with the skin of serpents. The witch backed into a corner. She had her belt nearly pulled from her jeans.

I lunged for her without mercy. The demon kicked me from inside, like a sharp toed boot with steel girthing. I felt it the way it felt to drown. It couldn't hurt more than if someone had kicked me in the stomach while I was deep underwater. My lungs didn't just burn, they felt scalded. My stomach was a bit of meat being seared on a hot griddle.

I drove for her throat the way a dying man reaches for that last gasp of life. My fingers closed around her neck and I felt the suppleness of her throat. My fingers noted her swallow of surprise

She deserved a quick death but I couldn't bring myself to cut her or mar her features in any way. She didn't deserve that. A flash of image came to me of that poor lesbian I'd used to get into the bazaar. On the heels of that memory came a thousand more. Some images were nothing but half-remembered reels of massacre and carnage, and I held my own breath to suffocate them from my thoughts.

The demon began laughing loud enough in my head to make me wince. I wanted to stop up my ears. It was too loud, without volume control, and it was a shrieking, razor-sharp sound.

I thought I was screaming right along with it until a soft touch landed on my shoulder. I expected a desperate clutch from the witch but she was gentle. Too gentle.

"Please," she said as she sagged beneath me. "I..can't..."

"Just die," I said through a tight throat as I squeezed harder, not enough to break bone or cartilage, just enough to stop the begging. I didn't think I could stand to hear the pleading. "Go quietly."

Her complexion began blooming with the flush of trapped blood. The ice-blue of her eyes sought mine, so I closed my eyes against a blur of water so I wouldn't see the look of despair. I didn't want to see the light go out in them. I didn't want to catch sight of myself and the hateful look on my face as I took her last breath.

A voice shredded through the miasma of thought. That same raspy sound from before. A voice I knew and yet was somehow just a bit different.

"Finish her, Saint," Rosario called up to me. "Win your battle. The demon is there. Right there. Don't wait. Do it."

Right there. I knew she was right. I could feel the tatters of veil being dragged away from the hooks that held it in place. I felt the magic tear. I smelled it somewhere in the deep recesses of my sinuses, a metallic, old blood smell.

The pregnant inhalations of the Kindred below was proof enough that the witch was dying, that the demon was climbing into my skin, that I was sinking into oblivion as it took over.

"Go," I said. "Die. Just die."

The witch wheezed beneath my grip. I felt each futile attempt to drag in air. I swayed on my feet, trying not to slip in the blood drooling from my belly. I couldn't feel pity. I couldn't. A thousand lives depended on it. And yet...

Yet something wormed its way into my thoughts. Rosario never called me Saint. She called me Hale. Sometimes she called me bastard, and more often than not she called me prick.

But never Saint.

The wheezing grew softer. The thready feeling of pulse in the witch's throat came only once every two seconds. She was a bag of water in my hands. Her legs splayed out around me as I crouched over her. I had the feeling I was bleeding all over her.

But Rosario never called me Saint. Saint was for business. Those who bought me and used me for their own ends. I thought of the last time I'd heard Rosario's voice. The last time she said my name. A curse. A declaration that she'd never speak to me again. Even then, she had used my Christian name because she said it humanized me.

A bark of laugh escaped me, one that rattled my throat. That creature calling for the witch's blood wasn't Rosario at all. It was a glamor. A bad one if I really thought about it and I'd almost fallen for it.

If I killed this witch, the demon would take me and there would be no Rosario to stuff it back inside. In my body, the demon would do terrible things to whatever got in its way and in the end, it would be me that went to Hell to suffer the consequences. My body would heal as it always did because the demon bargain gave me immorality as well as strength and those two things would make a mockery of all life before it turned on me and let me live with the consequences....years, maybe decades later.

Such was the nature of the fae underboss's cunning plan. I might win the Kennel fight but I'd be bereft of the tools to keep my humanity when I did. I'd be a worse pariah than I was now. I'd be hunted even as I razed every house, home, town, and city I wandered into. Because the demon had been chained far too long and it would want to have its vengeance. It would glut itself on blood.

I let go the witch's neck so suddenly I was shocked when she made a sound halfway between a bark and a gulp. I fell backwards without the support of her body to hold me upright. She fell into herself as though she had no bones.

The Kindred below erupted into hisses and angry shouts. A bottle flew up to strike the bars and burst into a hail of glass. And then, it went deathly silent. Even the music clenched in one, frozen heartbeat.

I crawled onto my hands and knees and then scrabbled my way to the witch's side. Whatever goo met my palms, I ignored. When I got close enough to see she was still alive, I watched her struggling to breathe, feeling each of her inhalations myself as I hauled in air with gasps that made my shoulders heave.

"Get up," I said in a hoarse voice.

The witch lifted her head and blinked at me. Stupefied. Still dazed. The curtain of her black hair fell back from her jaw and cheeks and she blinked again twice, trying to reset her faculties.

She seemed to remember she was supposed to be trying to kill me and reached for her belt again in a feeble movement too weak to accomplish anything but she clung to it just the same. It hung limp from her wrist.

"Can you speak?" I asked her.

What was the bargain again? Fight and win and you can have her contract.

There was a loophole.

"Can you speak?" I said again.

Her hand raked her throat and she coughed. Good. Nothing was broken.

"Concede," I said. The iciness was receding. Warmth stole over my body but it wasn't one that came from a core of health. Like the numbness of frostbite, it was false heat given me by the demon yawning awake.

"Concede," I said again. "Hurry."

Her head lolled to the side as though I had broken the bones beneath, but I knew better. I had been firm but not too rough. I fell to a crouch in front of her, thinking of that poor young nun for some reason. I tried a gentle tone.

"Say I won," I murmured. "Just say it."

Her fist came up, belt in hand and the buckle in her grip went red hot. With a punch, she connected my cheek with the metal and I howled in pain and rage as it burned down into the flesh.

"Concede," I commanded and the demon inside pealed out roll after roll of laughter. I felt it pulling itself forward with long nails that dug into my tissues. Pain lanced my temple but I tried not to wince.

"Fuck you," she said. "I'm not dying in this place. Not today. Not ever. You're as good as done for. Why would I concede when I'm winning?"

Her voice had a mania to it that scared me more than the feeling of my own impending death.

"Horatio didn't bargain for death," I said, gritting my teeth against the pain. I yanked her hand away, jamming my thumb the trigger point on her wrist to force her to release it. The buckle, belt and all, fell to the floor with a thunk.

Someone below started chanting kill him kill him kill him.

"Horatio bargained for my win," I said, trying to catch her eye. "He made a mistake. We don't have to die. We can both live if I win, but these people, these creatures, they won't if you don't hurry."

Dizziness swam over my vision as I watched her face for signs of comprehension. I worried she was too far gone to manage any reasoning. The sheer weight of impending doom was enough to knock me on my ass again.

"Am I dead?" she said in a tone of wonderment. Her fingers reached out for my cheek and she cupped it like a lover might. Her eyebrows scuttled together in bewilderment.

My shoulders weighed about a hundred pounds. My spine creaked when I leaned closer to her. I was getting cold. So cold. Someone had reached inside my open belly and slipped a block of ice in the viscera.

"You're not dead," I whispered in a rasp that surprised me. I sounded like the old bishop in my order in the hours before he'd been taken by the plague. "You're hurt but you're not dead."

"Then why do you look so old?" she asked. "Are you dying?"

Her words could have been a hammer on my skull.

I was aging. I should have realized it earlier.

The demon didn't just want to take over my body; it wanted to be free.

And if it shed me, then a century's worth of years was going to catch up to me.

And that could only mean one thing.

My death.

I should have realized the demon wouldn't be satisfied with taking over my body this time. I'd been a fool to think it would only want a few years of carnage. No. It wanted out. It wanted its freedom. Being held against its will had made it spiteful. That was why it had waited when the stone that tethered it to me was obviously broken enough to offer it ample space to wriggle out. It planned to use my weakness to leap completely free.

And that meant I was going to die. It was both a relief and a terror. Relief that I wouldn't murder countless innocents and terror at what waited for me when that last breath whispered out of my lungs.

I sat back, defeated. Now that I knew what was happening, I didn't have the energy to do more than roll onto my haunches.

"You win," I said and waved her away. "I'm dying."

My head hung between my arms as I planted my hands on the floor.

"Go tear up your contract," I said as I looked, really looked at the clotting puddle beneath me. I sniffed and smelled my own excrement in the fluids. I'd nicked my bowel before during a fight back in the eighties. I knew the smell. My nose crinkled in offense.

"Go get your contract before he changes his mind."

I heard her moving but didn't look up to see if she was going for the door or for a weapon to finish me off.

I found I couldn't hold myself up anymore. My teeth ached as the demon wormed its way through the last of my tissues. I wondered when the blackness would start. When the death rattle would take me. I wondered if the demon would wait till the last second to leap or if it would cut through me to deliver the last, killing blow from within.

Whatever it had planned, a hundred years of hatred and festering bitterness might make that a painful last moment.

"You really think he's going to give me my contract?" the witch said. "You're really that stupid?"

It took a surplus of energy to lift my gaze to hers. The blue of her eyes swam in front of me like an icy river. "I didn't live this long being stupid, woman," I said.

She sucked the backs of her teeth as she inched closer, close enough that I could smell the magic on her, the candy floss smell of all fae. I could see a thready scar at her hairline so fine it might have been a gossamer thread tying her glamor to her body.

"Horatio offered you the chance to buy my contract," she said. "He said nothing about what I'd get if I won."

I had to lower myself to my forearms because my shoulders ached. When I did, her arms went round my upper back, helping me down without me completely collapsing. It was too compassionate an act. My eyes stung in light of the fight she'd just put up.

"You won," I said. "He has to let you have your contract. He has to free you. Why else would you fight?"

Her laugh was bitter. "You say it like you think I had a choice. He has owned me since I was two. He'll own me until I am older than the demon trying to wriggle its way free of you."

"You see that, eh?" I said, feeling the weariness pull up over me like a blanket.

"Everyone sees it," she said. "It's like a a photo with double exposure." She shivered and I felt it tremble across my shoulders as she held me. "But it doesn't matter. Horatio owns me. I do what he says." She didn't have to say anything about consequences if she didn't. She didn't have to.

"He'll only maintain possession if I lose," I said.

She could have just given in. It would have been so much easier.

"And then I would have a new master," she said quietly and I slumped onto my side at the words. For her, would there have been a difference? One master or another. She had fought for her life and intended to die at my hand rather than be a possession any longer. But she wasn't about to go down without a fight. She'd said as much, but I'd been too mired in my own concerns to listen.

"I'm not used to doing good," I said. "I don't think about others as a rule. I'm sorry," I mumbled and was surprised I meant it.

I heard her move again but didn't feel anything until I realized she had lifted my head onto her lap.

"Thank you," she said. "For trying. Doesn't matter why."

She sighed deeply, no doubt waiting for me to die so she could go back to her indenture. A thought crossed my mind that she might try to kill herself now that I had failed to do it and that she was still a slave to the fae-kin boss.

I sagged into her lap. I was still afraid, but I thought it might not be so bad to die in someone's arms. A lifetime ago words might have tripped over my tongue as I sat in the same position she had, holding onto a dying man or woman. Words I'd not uttered in a century: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in our hour of...

I fumbled around, trying to move my hands, but they refused to obey. I wanted my crucifix. Broken or not, whether I had abandoned the faith or it had abandoned me, I wanted it. It had been with me all these years. An entire lifetime. Taken from my mother's bedpost as she died. Wrapped around my neck as I'd sought the order and a reason for pointless death of innocents. I'd worn it beneath my cassocks as I was ordained. I'd kissed it at night as I prayed for my mother's soul.

It was the crucifix I used to exorcise a demon from a mother during her lying in, to purge the evil so it wouldn't jump into the soul of the innocent harbored within her body. My cross had held that same demon at bay for mostly all the decades in that century that followed. I didn't deserve to have it in my grasp as I breathed my last, but I wanted it. I wanted to think of my mother, of that last mother, of that babe I'd sacrificed myself to save.

It was the one good thing I'd done in my entire worthless lifetime and that crucifix was the thing that stole my faith in the end. I wanted it.

She must have felt me fumbling because she dug her hands into my pocket for me. She made a thoughtful sound when she pulled it out.

"This is what you wanted of me?" she said.

I didn't nod. I couldn't. I just looked up at her and she met my gaze with razor sharp insight in her face.

"The magic is leaking," she said and turned it over in her hand. "Powerful magic. Fae, I think."

I swallowed my response. Spasms started working my muscles.

"It's a binding spell," she said. "One borne of blood and shame and human sacrifice. The darkest of magic. Someone died for this spell. Someone gave up all they were for it."

She splayed it over my chest, but I didn't feel it make contact. I was numb inside and out.

"If I fix it, it will mean you win," she said.

I blinked at her. Was she offering to spell it? Right then and there?

I only had the strength to exhale a breathy yes. Anything. Anything to stay alive.

She laid both hands on the cross and hummed as she closed her eyes. I felt a soft warmth against my chest where the cross lay.

And then all hell broke loose.

The demon heard her and it was ready to fight tooth and nail to abandon its prison and leave me dead in its wake. To her credit, Vivianne kept her hands steady over the stone despite the thrashing of my body as it gave itself to the demon. Powered by blood magic, she'd said, the worst kind of fae power, where someone had to lose themselves to cast it. She'd have no way of knowing that I'd been that first casualty.

The second was Rosario. She'd given the best of herself to spell it for me. It had cost her and I had let her pay the price because I wanted to live.

Like I wanted to live now.

But the demon did not want me to survive. It tasted its freedom and it wanted to leap. I seized in Vivianne's lap, my body arching painfully upwards, my legs splayed out in a wide V. My heels dug into the floor of the cage and I felt each impact of my shoulders against the floor. I wasn't numb anymore. I felt every damn lancing jolt of pain the demon razored through me as it fought her attempts to keep it shackled.

Through it all, she murmured her magic through fingertips and palms, letting her body do the work. The demon shrieked loud enough it shook the cage. I knew everyone below had started to back off because I heard them yelling in warning to each other. Get away. Back off. It's coming. Take cover.

Take cover. It would do no good when the demon escaped. Fae, shifter, incubus, human alike would quake before it. Legion was its name and legion was its power.

Some Kindred probably eddied forward, drawn to the darkness of the power that lent me strength and immorality. I lived so long as the demon inside me remained tethered to my soul.

But I could feel Vivianne winning. The pulse of her magic finally saturated enough of the stone that I felt it warm my core. My skin began drawing together in painful gathering puckers that made me want to scratch at the edges. I felt the granulation of my tissues, that glistening and bubbled healing that worked its way from inside out, knitting me together even as the demon's rage grew to a toxic case of poison ivy slithering over my skin, inside my viscera, coiling into my throat.

But it backed away as she advanced. I felt its retreat like you feel a sudden clearing of your sinuses. I gasped at the shock of breathing again without effort. The clarity burned. It brought tears to my eyes.

She smiled down into my face, encouraging me to hang on. Through the blur of water, I could see the black curtain of her hair swing aside to show her eyes had become lit from within. All golds and yellows and muted shades of sepia swirled in them. Her full lips were set in a tight line. The gentle curves of her throat moved like slow ebbs of water in a bloated river. I wanted to draw my thumb along her jawline, touch the pulse that throbbed beneath her skin, visible and alluring.

She caught my eye as her palms pressed harder against the stone, driving it deeper into my skin. It dug in painfully but I held on, just like she said. I pinned my gaze to hers.

"Almost there," she said but it sounded like almost was a lot closer than a moment or two. The shift was palpable. She knew she'd won. It was evident in the pressure against my chest, one moment hard and demanding, the next releasing just enough that I didn't feel my heart hammering against the crucifix.

"Hold on, Hale." Her voice a rasp as though something had burned her throat. "Hold--"

I tried, but something slipped past the barricade right at that moment. I bucked backward in spasm. Something had hold of me from inside. A pincer grip right at my solar plexus, twisting hard enough that I felt my connective tissue tangling and drawing everything tight. She let go a cry of surprise. Then of pain. The whimper rose and shifted in tone.

A word slid through my clenched lips. "Stop," I said. "Let go." I tried to squirm away from her touch. "Let go; it has you."

It had us both. I wasn't sure how it had found the strength beneath her assault, but I knew it planned to leap free and it wasn't just going to abandon my body when it did. It was going to take her. It would use the bridge she'd created to do it. All that power, all that magic in one body. It could have her and its own magic and oh the wonderfully deviant and evil things it could do.

"The price," I said, fully aware that the demon had grappled for her soul and that she was fighting hard not to let him have it. "The price of the magic. It's too much. Let go."

But she didn't let go. She doubled down. The pressure of her hands intensified even as she moaned in pain and protest. I thought of the blood we'd had to spill, Rosario and I, in order to bind the spell, to lay down the barricades to keep the demon from undermining the magic. I gasped beneath the weight of her hands. We hadn't spilled blood as was demanded for such dark magic. She was vulnerable.

She was going to fail.

The crowd below began murmuring their rapt attention. Someone sent a flare of magic up to coil around the cage. Light flecks, like snow, fell on my face. Such a peaceful sensation against the violence of what was happening in those three feet of contact.

"Stop," I said. "Let go. It's too much."

Something tugged free from within. I knew a second, no more, and the demon would evaporate, pour itself into the thread of connection. It would fill her. It would steal all she was and leave her a hollow shell satisfied with nothing but death and pain.

I couldn't let that happen. Not again. Rosario had to be contained for a decade to recover from the sacrifice of the blood she'd spilled to save me. I never recovered. I was nothing. A worthless, greedy immortal killing to fill a hole in me carved out by the spell. I would never be what I once was.

I couldn't--wouldn't--see that happen in her. Not now. Whatever had happened here between us, the compassion she'd shown me, was too precious to contaminate.

I wouldn't let her pay that price.

I found the strength to pull myself free of her hands and roll sideways. I curled into a ball, holding the demon there in the cradle of my solar plexus. Whatever was left of the demon, whatever a vestige of evil that still had roots in my soul, it was enough that the demon couldn't exist without it.

I prayed to a god who had abandoned me that the demon would risk it all to tear it free.

"Take me," I said with my face planted in the floor. The metal of the cage stank of magic and it tasted of blood. My lips grazed the floor as I spoke and heard again the man I was at thirty two. Cocky, arrogant. Brought low by pride. I could exorcise any demon. I had the hand of God on my soul. Who would dare try me. What evil beast had the gall to disobey.

I sobbed into the floor as I curled tighter around the last bit of rooted evil. "Take me. Leave her be."

A century ago, those same words uttered to save an unborn infant. Uttered once more like a prayer because that god who had abandoned me would never hear.

"Damn you, you unholy thing, come back."

A shudder, no more. With a chest tightened by fear, I lifted my head to search for the witch. A moment where I caught Vivianne's eye and I thought her mind had gone. They were milky white, glazed over with power. But was it the demon's or hers?

My answer came in a heartbeat. She thrust her arms wide. She bowed backward, arching her chest so sharply I thought her back might break. Something had her. Something powerful.

When she said my name, I almost got to my feet to obey her voice. It called to me. It hooked me and compelled me to obey. And I would obey. Whatever it was, I was hers.

"Hale Saint," she said, with smoke and hellfire in her voice and I realized she had dove with me into the depths of hell to find the roots of that evil being, that she had the last tendrils of power in her grip.

"Hail, Saint," she intoned. "You are joined. This demon, this saint, these two through one stone, never cracking, never broken, never vulnerable until she who casts the spell wills it."

A great and mighty magic indeed. It rushed me with the strength of a hurricane. Those below called out for their own magic to shield them as it swept over the cage. That was when I noticed her hands were covered in blood. It ran in thick, viscous streams down her wrists. Blood. My blood. We had spilled plenty of it in the cage. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity.

Even the crowd below fell silent when she called out the words I'd forgotten were the bargain.

"I concede," she said. "I give up."

Then she collapsed like a spent bag of flour, and the Kennel erupted in roars and cheers.

When the door was flung open, Rosario was gone. In her place stood the fae-kin boss and he looked most mightily pissed. I didn't even have the heart to be angry.

I pushed myself to my feet, my cross clutched against my chest. Before I shoved it into my pocket, I had closed the distance to the witch. She was out cold but she was alive. Her chest rose slowly but steadily.

She was so light I barely felt her in my arms as I scooped her up. I swung to face Horatio.

"You heard her," I said. "She concedes. I win."

His mouth pressed into a hard line. Whatever was beautiful about fae no matter the gender, he was not attractive in that moment. But he waved his hand with a flourish. The contract that appeared hung in the air between us.

"Sign it," I said, ignoring the fact that it was not paper and seemed to be made of flesh of some kind.

"We don't sign papers like some primitive human," he said with a peevish tone that indicated exactly how pissed he was for making a bad bargain. "Indentured fae contracts are in our blood and body."

I was mere feet away from him. The cage had lowered all the way to the floor. Beyond its bars, I could make out Kindred of all sorts collecting and paying out in magic. I noted no one looked happy.

"Whatever it is you have to do, do it," I said.

He sighed heavily but gestured with a flourish pretty enough a dancer could have made it to enthrall an audience. I supposed there was an audience watching, all of them eager to see what the dark fae would do to unbind an Indentured fae. I might have been curious to see for myself in another circumstance, but for now, I just wanted it over.

Vivianne moaned as her neck arched up off my arm as I held her cradled, but she didn't wake as the mark on her skin peeled away from her skin. I watched the branding, now an opaque reddish bit of flesh instead of the black inky thing it had been on her neck, rise in front of me.

It hovered in the air just above her head, a filmy thing that made my stomach clench in disgust for the thing it represented.

I waited for what seemed an insufferable amount of time while he gathered his showmanship for his audience below. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"End it," I barked at him.

With a shrug he waved at the parchment. The vellum sailed toward me and I cringed without meaning to. I didn't want the thing to touch me.

"Not me," I said, letting my revulsion for it slip through my lips. "Her. Give it to her."

He rocked back on his heels in surprise. For a moment, I thought he'd refuse.

I lifted one eyebrow in expectation. He couldn't hide the rage that stole over him but he pulled back the vellum just the same. It hovered over her solar plexus. The branding navigated toward it. When it connected with the contract, it came together like a magnet to iron. The sound of it was enough to make Vivianne's eyes flutter open for a millisecond.

"Even dark fae honor their bargains," Horatio said.

"You want a medal or something?" I said.

He scowled at me. "Get out, Saint," he said in a threatening tone. "You may have found a loophole in a fae bargain, but I own this bar."

A crush of bouncers clustered around me.

"I have one more bargain for you," he said with an oily grin as he threw up a flare. The light transformed to bright red letters in the shadows of the ceiling. "You make it to the door in sixty seconds and you can live."

He didn't have to tell me the other part of the bargain, what would happen if I didn't make it to the door. I wasted no time shouldering my way through. Her heel caught on kindred as we pushed past them. I didn't bother to check the timer as I reached the door. I knew by the way someone pushed it open that I had made it. Whether or not Horatio had wanted to make it impossible for me to succeed, didn't matter. I wasn't coming back.

I didn't have to ask to be sent back to the ninth world. I was forced out. Leaving the bazaar took less time, less pain, than entering and I had to guess it was because of the fae in my arms. It dropped us where I had entered. I couple of blocks from Fayed's.

The cabbie I hailed didn't look twice at a tall, muscular man covered in blood pushing into his back seat with an unconscious woman in his arms. I laid her tenderly across the backseat and gave him an address and one instruction.

"Make sure to give the nuns two of these to look after her." I passed him three wads of cash. "The other pays you to honor the fare."

The money was the thing that made his eyes widen. Go figure. How much had the man seen in this city that it took a wad of bills to surprise him.

"I'd deliver her myself," I said. "But the abbess threatened me with a shotgun last time I was there. You ever piss off a nun bad enough for her to pull an over and under on you?"

His jaw slackened as he shook his head.

"Yeah," I said with a hint of immodest humor. "It's not pretty. A man has to be pretty evil to piss off a nun that way."

His swallow was audible enough that I knew he got the point. Even so, I had to press it.

"You okay with this job?" I said and held his gaze through the open door.

He nodded.

"Don't disappoint me." I let the demon shine through my gaze as I held his. "What's your name?"

"Gideon," he said.

"Well, Gideon," I said and reached over the seat to touch his ID. "You don't know it but you just survived a deadly encounter with a maniac. I suggest you never meet the maniac again." I pulled his ID from the mirror and pocketed it with a meaningful gesture.

He nodded again, this time dropping his gaze to the seat.

"I understand," he said.

I grunted my satisfaction and withdrew from the cab. I pushed my palm against the door, sealing it closed as silently as I could. Three sharp raps and the cabbie pulled away. I watched it go as the rising sun glinted off its yellow roof and made a halo spread out across the trunk.

I'd seen plenty of things in my century of life, most of them horrifying enough to make a blind man grateful for his lack of sight. But right then, standing in the middle of a city street with a fae-born witch enroute to a convent, I didn't think I'd ever see anything so hopeful.

If the story entertained you for a spell, you can pick up a freebie story set in the Shadow Bazaar when you join Thea's Tribe.

Thea is a NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling Author. She used to have a black lab at her feet when she wrote, warming up the calves. It can be cold in rural Nova Scotia. Now it's just a cuppa tea keeping her warm.

Whether she's finding ways to lure Isabella Hush into the Shadow Bazaar or throwing the switch on a new monster, her urban fantasy pulses with dark themes and action-packed intrigue. Her characters are always deeply wounded creatures struggling for redemption. The romance is slow-burn but worth it, and the humor just might have a touch of Canadiana. A major fan of Dannika Dark and Patricia Briggs, she hopes you enjoy slipping into the skin of her�characters�as much as she enjoy theirs.

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ISABELLA HUSH SERIES She just stole an enchanted relic. Now she'll pay... https://readerlinks.com/l/44427

WITCHES OF ETLANTIUM If a witch can't control her power, who will control her? https://readerlinks.com/l/t53gj-87

GRAVES FILES Hunting is grave business. https://readerlinks.com/l/797207

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REAPERS REDEMPTION Who reaps the souls of the supernatural?� https://readerlinks.com/l/t53gj-1984

VAMPIRE ADDICTIONS A naughty, sexy, snarky vampire romp� https://readerlinks.com/l/t53gj-1984

THETA WAVES She has the power to save the world; he was born to destroy it.� https://readerlinks.com/l/t53gj-1005

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Assassination is a young person�s game.

I don�t mean the planning of it�that�s for the old guys. Men with cigars in smoky rooms hidden from the rest of the world, plotting out who lives and who dies. Men like The Director.

But the actual death-dealing?

That�s for more nimble people. The ones who can hide immobile for hours waiting for prey, then transition to running in a heartbeat. The ones who aren�t afraid of death themselves.

The ones who have nothing to lose.

Clark told me that my last day of training, right before I left The Academy and became a full-fledged member of The Organization. It seemed profound then.

It didn�t seem quite so wise almost five years later�two days before my twenty-second birthday�as I hunkered down on a rooftop watching a Halloween carnival through my scope, waiting for my mark to walk by.

Waiting for my chance to shoot a six-year-old little girl in broad daylight.

I used to tell myself I�m not a murderer. I�ve never killed a human being.

But I have killed some things that looked human.

They�re not human. That was my mantra for years.

Now, though, I think being human might not matter. And the thought that runs through my mind over and over has changed.

What if I�m the monster?

One Week Earlier

I followed the family the next week, learning their habits, their routes to and from work and school, figuring out their daily lives and dropping them into the formula that would allow me to swiftly and easily eliminate them without facing any repercussions from human law enforcement.

That formula was almost mathematical in its precision, designed to be flexible enough to fit into any situation and rigid enough to produce the same results every time. In my world, the little girl was only a piece of the formula. An integer. Part of the larger, more complex entirety of the mathematical problem I faced.

Until the day of her school carnival.

I followed them in a different nondescript sedan to the elementary school the girl attended.

With a blond wig, bright lipstick, and blue contacts, I could pass for any one of these suburban moms.

The adults smiled indulgently as she picked out a balloon. Her older, teenage brother crossed his arms and looked bored.

He bothered me less. But even The Director acknowledged that shifters didn�t turn until they hit puberty. The little one was still several years away from being a real threat. And right now, she looked like any other child playing, enjoying a day at the fair with her family.

When I�d seen where they were going, I had planned to pick them off here, then use the fleeing crowds as cover while I escaped.

But she wasn�t the only child here.

You gotta learn how to turn those emotions off. I could practically hear Quintana�s voice in my head as she taught me all the best ways to kill the monsters. They�re not really human�they just look that way sometimes.

Maybe it was because the little girl was just about the age I�d been when my parents died�years before The Organization plucked me out of the foster home I was living in and started training me to be a professional monster killer.

Or maybe Quintana was right and my emotions were becoming detrimental to my ability to do my job.

Maybe it was simply wrong to kill something that young.

Whatever the reason, I couldn�t do it.

In the five years I had been working for The Organization, I had never been assigned to take out a kid.

In fact, The Director assured me early on, we killed only the ones who attacked humans first.

Shapeshifters were like wild animals, at least as far as The Organization was concerned. That�s what all my training told me.

You didn�t kill a lion in the bush unless it had become a man-killer. And you don�t kill a werewolf unless it�s taken out a human first.

Vampires were an easier call. Even they seemed to recognize that turning children into their kind was horrific. And as far as I knew, vamps couldn�t survive without taking human blood. So they were kill-on-sight.

Right now, though, I was looking through my scope at a little girl who couldn�t have been more than seven or eight.

�Fuck that,� I muttered, dropping the scope from my eye and disassembling my AR-15, quickly stowing it out of sight. Standing, I slung my nondescript black bag over my shoulder and strolled away from the vantage point I had chosen earlier. When I got to the sedan I was driving �a new one, different from the one I�d used to surveil the family�s house�I slipped into the driver�s seat and pulled out my phone.

�Midnight, calling for The Director,� I said to the operator who answered.

I tapped my foot against the floorboard and scanned the crowd going in and out of the school as I waited for him to answer.

�I�m sorry, Midnight,� the operator said in her smooth, professional voice when she returned. �The Director is currently unavailable.�

I suppressed a growl. It wasn�t the operator�s fault The Director was ducking me. �Will you let him know I�m on my way in?�

�He�s not��

I hung up before she could finish that statement, the better to avoid acknowledging it.

Two hours later, I paced back and forth in The Director�s office, having bulled my way past his secretary.

�A kid?� I asked without preamble.

�She�s a monster.�

�But sir, there is no evidence that the child has ever hurt anyone.�

His dark eyes narrowed as he watched me, his bushy gray eyebrows furrowing as he frowned. �Calm down, Midnight. We have our reasons.�

As accustomed I was to obeying his orders, I dropped into the chair across from his desk and took a calming breath. �Okay, then. Tell me your reasons.�

His eyebrows, always the most expressive part of his face, jumped up in surprise. �You want me to explain myself to you?�

I hesitated, wondering if maybe I had finally overstepped myself.

No. I need to know.

�Please,� I added.

He leaned back in his enormous leather executive chair, resting his elbows on the arms and tenting his fingers in front of him. To an outside observer, he would have looked perfectly controlled�and of course, he was.

But I had worked with him long enough, been trained well enough, to feel the tension radiating from him.

He was definitely irritated with me.

But for the first time, I didn�t care. If I was going to start taking out children, I had to have a good reason.

After all, even the boy had not changed yet.

We sat in silence for a long moment. Very well,� The Director finally said. �These two children? They are the grandchildren of the New York pack�s alpha werewolf. He runs New York, both the city and the state. It�s the largest pack in the country, more a syndicate than a traditional wolf pack.�

I nodded for him to continue when he raised his eyebrows to ask if I was following.

�We haven�t been able to get anywhere near the pack alpha. The woman is his daughter, though, and she decided to step away from the family business.�

�The family business being running the pack?�

�Think of it more like the Mafia. They have ties to werewolf-run businesses all over the world. They�re tight-knit, ruthless, and willing to do whatever it takes to maintain their control. As far as we can tell, the New York pack stepped into the vacancy left by the human Mafia when state and federal law enforcement began dismantling mob control throughout New York.�

Untenting his fingertips, The Director reached over to his desk and picked up a Mont Blanc pen, twirling it around and around.

�Okay,� I said, �but none of that seems like a good enough reason to kill the children.�

The glance he flashed me was full of irritation, but I held my ground, refusing to shrink in the face of his anger.

With a sigh, he dropped the pen back into its place on the desk, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the expanse of wood in front of him. �Our plan is to use the death of his daughter and her family to draw him out. The wolf syndicate in New York will want to retaliate. They will send their soldiers out in search of the organization that planned the hit. They�ll find us waiting.�

�Wouldn�t the death of the parents alone have the same effect?�

This time, The Director pursed his lips and shook his head, as if I were a child refusing to understand a simple principle.

�It won�t have quite as big an emotional charge, no. More than that, though, killing the parents and leaving the children alive would mean that the alpha would bring his grandchildren into his organization. Killing their parents will create children who grow into adults with a vendetta. If, for any reason, we are unable to get to the alpha and dismantle the New York pack, those children will grow up to take over. After all, a werewolf pack, like the mob, is a family business.�

His gaze caught mine, holding me pinned in my seat with an intensity I rarely saw from him�he was always cool, controlled, calm. �Do you really want to have the entire force of the biggest, strongest, richest, most influential, most powerful werewolf pack in the entire world focused on hunting you down�bringing us down?�

I opened my mouth to answer, then spotted the flaw in that logic. �You don�t think killing his grandchildren will have pretty much the same effect?�

With a huff, The Director thumped back in his chair. �No. We�ll draw him out, take him down, and take his organization apart, all without leaving behind anyone to grow up into vengeance-obsessed killers.�

He wasn�t wrong. I knew that. And his depiction of a Mafia-esque werewolf pack with all its resources focused on tracking down the person who killed their alpha�s family members certainly didn�t appeal to me.

However, I still wasn�t convinced. I wasn�t going to let The Director know that yet, though. Because one thing had become absolutely clear to me during this conversation.

The Director was determined to make this happen.

I had never seen him this intense, this emotionally engaged in dealing with any issue

If I didn�t take the job, he would find someone else who would.

And there would be other repercussions down the line for not taking the job, I was certain.

I would have to see what else I could find out�because I was beginning to think The Director�s motives might not be as simple as he was making them out to be.

To do that, I would have to buy myself some time by pretending to agree with him.

Slowly, I nodded. �I understand, sir.�

The tension drained away from The Director�s body. �So you will do the job without any further hesitation?�

Again I nodded. �Yes, sir. I will go back out there tonight and take care of it.�

�Excellent. Stop on your way out and let Polly know you need a new car.� He stood, the action a clear dismissal.

I stood, as well, and headed toward the office door.

�And Midnight,� The Director called after me.

I paused and turned to look at him, my hand on the doorknob.

�Take your time on this. Get it right.�

�Yes, Sir.�

Good. That would give me a little extra time to figure out what the fuck was going on here.

I tracked Clark down in his machine shop, inside his clean room in the basement of our Manhattan office building, wearing magnification goggles and working on some kind of miniaturized computer chip.

I waited until he paused, leaning back and surveying his work, before I knocked on the glass. He glanced up over his shoulder and held up a finger. I nodded and waved, then took a seat in the larger machine shop, waiting for him to cycle out through the airlock.

�Hey, Midnight,� he greeted me. �What�s up?�

I glanced around, assuming everywhere in the headquarters was bugged. �You wanna go grab some coffee with me?�

�Sure, I guess.� His gaze flickered almost imperceptibly to one side, letting me know that we were, indeed, being listened to.

�Polly is getting a car ready for me, so I have a few minutes,� I explained for the benefit of anyone who might be listening.

�Sounds good.�

We took the elevator up without speaking, and as soon as we got outside the building, Clark muttered out of the corner of his mouth, �Eyes on us.�

I didn�t respond, just kept walking until we were a block away and Clark said, �There�s a new coffee shop up here that we haven�t gotten around to putting surveillance in yet. I assume that�s better?�

�Yes, please.� It was good to have someone in The Organization I trusted.

Mostly.

When we got inside the coffee shop, Clark pulled out one of his ubiquitous gadgets and did a quick sweep of us both. �We�re clean,� he said, dropping the handheld cube back into his pocket. �What�s up?�

�I have some questions about the New York werewolf pack.�

We got our coffees and took them to a corner table as far away from anyone else as we could get. Quietly, I outlined the situation.

�Well,� Clark said, �your instincts about The Director are right. He and that pack alpha have a long history.�

Clark knew almost everything about The Organization. He�d been there since before this Director had taken over, back when The Director had simply been another agent.

�Years ago, The Director was assigned to take them out, and could never do it. At one point or another, he�s put all his top agents on the job.� He paused. �Never been willing to take out children before, though.� He tilted his head and gave me a questioning look. �You going to do it?�

I trusted Clark implicitly. I could tell them anything�in part because he was organization, through and through.

That was exactly why I couldn�t tell him all of my concerns now.

As far as I was concerned, talking to Clark was talking to The Organization.

I shrugged and took a sip of coffee to hide any other reaction. �Those are my orders.� I set the paper cup down on the table and made direct eye contact. �I do what I�m told. I just want to know what I�m getting myself into before the shit hits the fan.�

Clark�s face twisted sympathetically. �If you need to decompress afterward, come talk to me.�

�I will,� I promise.

Then I changed the subject. �Any new gossip?� I asked. I rarely saw any other agents. It was good to get Clark�s take on their latest ridiculous antics. His stories were always harmless�the sorts of in-office tales that could be overheard by anyone nearby without endangering The Organization.

Usually, after a chat with Clark, I felt better. Lighter.

I would have this time, too, were it not for the knowledge weighing heavily in the back of my mind.

I was being sent out to murder children because The Director couldn�t think of any other way to get at his longtime rival.

Polly had my new car ready when we got back to the office.

Like all our vehicles, it was registered to a fictitious company and would trace back to a nonexistent driver.

I popped open the glove compartment and found a new ID. Pulling the old one out of the wallet in my suburban-mom purse, I ran it through the garage shredder, then dumped the pieces down the chute into an incinerator.

Then I was back on the road, headed to the suburbs.

I checked in on each family member before settling in to wait until they all got home.

For the first time in years, my heart raced as I waited, but the only outward indication was the steady thump of my fingers as I tapped them against the bottom of the steering wheel.

Once I was certain they were all inside, I gave it another five minutes, then tucked my Glock into the back of my pants.

My shirt covered it, but anyone paying attention would see a lump. So I grabbed a jacket, too warm for the season, but otherwise nondescript, to cover it.

I rang the doorbell and waited, praying to a God I didn�t believe in that The Director hadn�t seen through my ruse enough to send another agent to watch me.

The husband opened the door. �Can I help you?�

�Yes,� I said, slipping past him into the house. �I�m here to see you and your wife.�

�Hey,� he called, reaching out and grabbing me by the collar.

I had not forgotten how fast werewolf reflexes were, so I�d been counting on this. With one foot, I hooked the door and kicked it closed. �It�s important. Your life depends on it�and so do your children�s lives.�

The woman rushed into the entryway, frowning.

�There�s a hit out on you,� I told her. �Pack only what you need and come with me.�

�How do we know we can trust you?� the husband asked.

I ignored him, staring into the woman�s eyes. �I�m the assassin sent to kill you. I can get you out of here, but only if we leave now.�

The woman stared at me for another long moment, and then nodded, spinning around to open a coat closet next to her. �Max, get the kids.�

�You believe this crazy woman?�

�I said, get the kids.�

The husband let go of me and stomped into the main part of the house, shaking his head even as he called the children down from upstairs.

The woman came out of the closet with two go-bags, already packed. �Is your car safe?�

I nodded. �For a little longer, anyway. We�ll need to trade out at some point.�

�Good. Let me get my phone.�

I reached out and grabbed her hand. �No phones. They�re all tapped.�

She cursed quietly but nodded. As her children came down the stairs, she forced a smile onto her face. �Okay, kids. We�re going on an adventure.�

�Oh, God,� Joey, the teenage boy, whined. �Not again. I hate adventures.�

The mother turned to me. �This is�� She waited.

I couldn�t introduce myself with my codename. I should have chosen something else, but my real name�the one I had until I was fourteen�just slipped out.

�Ilsa Deverell. I�ll be your driver tonight.�

As we drove away from the house, from this one werewolf family�s life, I couldn�t help but second-guess myself.

I could still kill them.

But then I glanced into the back seat, where the mother sat with her children, and I knew I couldn�t do it.

Somewhere along the way, I had decided to walk away from The Organization.

Then again, it wasn�t really walking at all, was it?

The Director might have described the New York werewolf pack as being like the Mafia, but The Organization was, too�equally as violent and dangerous.

Maybe even worse.

The Organization didn�t let its best assassins walk away.

No, I would be running�maybe for the rest of my life.

I hope to hell it�s worth it.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled out onto the highway and started planning how to get away from the only life I had known as an adult.

And how to stay alive while I did it.

Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review for the set. And if you want to continue reading about Midnight�s adventures as she sets out to take down The Organization, preorder Midnight�s Assassins today!

A monster-hunting assassin teams up with a reluctant werewolf to take down the organization that employed her�assuming they don't kill her first.

Midnight is the poster child of The Organization.

Or she would be if anyone outside The Organization knew about it.

Ten years ago, The Organization plucked Ilsa Deverell out of the latest in a series of terrible foster homes, trained her up to become the perfect monster assassin, and gave her a code name. Ever since then, they've had Midnight's complete loyalty.

Until now.

Faced with an assignment she can't bring herself to complete, Midnight begins to question The Organization's goals and motives�and her own role in fulfilling them.

But no one leaves The Organization. Especially not their best monster-hunting assassin.

In order to go up against the very people who trained her, she must reach out to the monsters she's spent years hunting.

Eventually, she will have to face the monster she's become. Assuming she survives the assassins her former employer sends after her.

For now, she's in a race to uncover the one magical item that can take down The Organization�and she's running out of time.

Bourne meets Supernatural in this addictive new urban fantasy adventure, perfect for fans of Ilona Anderson, Faith Hunter, Jennifer Estep, K.F. Breene, Shannon Mayer, and Michael Anderle.

One-click now to begin the chase!

USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestselling author�Margo Bond Collins�is a former college English professor who, tired of explaining the difference between �hanged� and �hung,� turned to writing romance novels instead. Sometimes her heroines kill monsters, sometimes they kiss aliens. But they always aim for the heart!

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Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance

The wolves ran the streets of Sin City.

In the early days of Las Vegas, they controlled the vicious gangs that roamed unchecked in the City of Sin.

By night, they clashed with fangs and fur for total control of the city. One pack left to rule them all.

One hundred years later and nothing changed.�

Humans waltzed about the city, drinks in hand and wallets shelling out coins at every slot machine they passed. Humans didn�t understand the threat that lurked behind every smiling face in the casinos.

Cassie Lanksy knew her history - her pack�s history.�

Twelve packs consistently fought for control of the city, until the DIB opened and began to hunt the wolves down.

One by one, the Sin City lost crime family after the next.

Three remained.

Cassie held no disdain for blood or money under the necessary circumstances, but her grandfather�s demand was horrifying.�

�I will not do it.� She came just short of stamping her foot on the expensive Italian marble tile.

�I did not ask,� Charles Lanksy took a drag of his cigar, letting out a puff of smoke he knew his granddaughter hated. �We are an endangered breed, not long for this world if the DIB gets what it wants.�

�Have you ever tried talking to the DIB?� Anything besides what you�re asking.

Her grandfather scoffed, nearly spitting the cigar from between his cracked lips. �Wolves do not ask. We take.�

�No. We fight. We draw blood and we claim territory.�

�Little girl, it is not wise to upset a man as powerful as I am.� Dark brown bushy brows knit together as the displeasure curved his lips downward. �Did I not raise you to be respectful to your elders?�

Shoulders sagging, Cassie blew out a breath, not missing the way she countered a billow of cigar smoke in the process. �You raised me that a woman can do what she wants and to not let men control me.�

�Which is precisely why you are taking on this mission for the family.�

�This isn�t a mission! This is my life.� Her snarl echoed off the curtained windows and vaulted ceilings as intensely as the howl of her wolf might have.

�That is enough,� the exclamation rang of the walls and shook the crystal ashtray sitting on his desk. �You are not alpha. You will not be alpha until I die - which will not be anytime soon. Or you stop fighting me on this.�

�Not unless the DIB gets you.� she muttered.

�Excuse me, bambina?� Charles leaned his palm on the desk as if meaning to intimidate her.

�You are a great many things, Grandfather, but you would not harm me physically. Even if you seek to destroy me mentally.�

�Cheer up, Cassandra. This is how the families like ours does things. This will help to eliminate the threat the DIB brings every time they spot a flash of a wolf�s tale in the desert where we do not belong.� He smashed the cigar tip into the spotless ashtray, snuffing it out as a metaphorical threat he would not make good on. Not on his granddaughter at least. �Your father was reckless, and he paid the price. I raised you to be smarter than your father.�

It burned the tip of her tongue not to point out he�d raised her father, too.� Cassie found herself with two options.

Go with her grandfather�s plan or flee the city of sin once and for all.

�A wedding,� Lorenzo snarled, slamming his balled fist into the wall, ignoring the sensation of cracking plaster under his punch as the wall crumbled.

�Yes, a wedding,� his mother held no tone of approval or disapproval.�

�To a Lanksy.�

�To a Lanksy.�

�Are you going to keep repeating me?� His wolf growled at the surface, clawing its way out despite myths about werewolves only being able to turn during a full moon and against their control. But, he wasn�t a werewolf, he was a shifter. Part human and part wolf. Neither under the other�s control.

�You,� his mother stepped up to him, dark brown eyes narrowing as she got closer to him, �should be grateful your father didn�t throw you out with your behavior.�

�I screwed a witch. It�s not like I impregnated one.�

�Our blood is all that we have. She was a Skinwalker.�

�And two thirds of the city under your control has pack members messing with witches, but who�s counting.�

�Lorenzo,� her eyes flashed a golden honey brown. A tactic she�d used on him and his three brothers all their lives.

�Look, I thought it would be good a idea to have a DIB agent on our side. It�s been four years. Dad can chill.�

�The Demon Investigation Bureau in our home is nothing to chill over Lorezno Marcus Henry Turlino the third�.�

�Noel�s a Skinwalker. They likely hate her anyway.� Truth, she�d told him as much after the third time they wound up in bed together.

Fingers snatched around his right ear, and nails punctured the soft cartilage. �If you do not watch your mouth it will be far worse than a wedding tomorrow evening.� She released him, swiping away at the small trail of blood coming off his ear. �You are marrying up. Your father will never admit the small stature of our pack is a hindrance. I will. Together, the packs will overthrow the Donovan�s and control the city. The DIB cannot hunt us all, and with combined numbers, perhaps we can overthrow them instead of sulk around them.�

Lorenzo knew more about the DIB than his mother realized. The real reason his father sought to punish him with an arranged marriage was because Lorenzo had been inside the DIB. Noel knew what he was because the witch in her could sense it. There were no known rogue or lone wolves in Las Vegas, so she knew he was syndicate. She�d never minded. Lorenzo suspected she took him inside as a way to taunt her superiors that she controlled their safety more than they knew.

Still, he�d been inside. The basement was hell.

�He heard a rumor the headquarters were breached a little over a year ago. No sign of it showed on the exterior of the building camouflaged as it were to appear as a world trade center. Marrying Cassie Lanksy was an over the top punishment. He had no need for prissy blondes who didn�t control their own fate.

Kind of like how you aren�t controlling yours?

His wolf snarled at the man�s thought. So many times, Lorenzo wondered what would occur if he let the furry beast take control of his mind. Unlike the myths, shifters were never in control when their animal side was showing. Lorenzo�s father told him to think of it like taking a voluntary nap to let the darker part of his soul do the dirty work.

Dirty work. Who the hell decided the murder was dirty work? Must be all the damn blood.

�Just what are you smirking at?� His mother�s fingers tapped the backside of his head. �You do not daydream when your mother is speaking to you.� The slight growl belonged to his petite mother, not her wolf. Often times growing up, Lorenzo couldn�t tell who spoke - woman or wolf. As an adult he understood that her wolf was much calmer than her human soul.

�Sorry, Ma.� He shrugged. �I have to wear a tux?�

�Yes, and a boutonniere and a cumberbun. And a bowtie.� Hazel eyes narrowed, daring him to object.

�And if I do this, my sins are forgiven? I�ll earn my seat at the family table?�

�If you do this, your father stops wanting to kill you for nearly betraying the pack. You become Alpha instead Leon.�

Blowing out a breath Lorenzo ran his fingers through the short black hair dusting his chin. �And you swear she willingly agreed?�

�I swear to nothing of the sort. However, the Lanksy�s are old blood. Old money. If they�re looking to join packs to protect their own, the alpha�s granddaughter will swear she enters your marriage willingly even if she doesn�t.�

He leaned his head to the side, ignoring the crack of his neck. �Fine. Two days. Give me two days to myself.�

�You can have one,� his mother smirked. �The wedding is tomorrow. Enjoy your bachelor party, Son.�

One night left in the City of Sin, wonder where I�ll go?

�This is it, the final touch.� Elena sniffed, setting the veil�s clip against Cassie�s thick curls. �You look like a real bride.� Her best friend fluffed the bottom of her hair, either playing with the curls or just trying to distract herself from crying.

�I am not a real bride.� Cassie sighed as she eyed the blonde-haired woman in the mirror. You sure look like one.

No expense had been spared. It didn�t matter that the wedding sprung up less than forty-eight hours ago. The syndicates had money, and money talked. Especially in the city. Owning the hotel was merely a happy convenience.

Cassie�s usually stick-straight hair boasted curls voluptuous enough to rival the curves a wolf liked to hold on to.� Gray smokey eye makeup seemed to make her typically dull blue eyes sparkle, and the fake lashes curled perfectly upward to enlarge her eyes just enough.

It wasn�t just the makeup that would trick an outsider into thinking today was the happiest day of a woman�s life. The gown was stunning.

Even if she didn�t appreciate wearing it, Cassie knew the wedding dress was the only one she�d ever wanted to wear.

Her mother�s.

Classically beautifully, the simple white silk gown with beaded flowers on the trim was the only thing Cassie had of her mother�s, and the one thing swore she�d only wear standing opposite the man of her dreams.

Linda Lanksy died eleven minutes after giving birth to Cassie. She�d never known her daughter, and Cassie never had a mother. When her father was killed by the DIB, her grandfather quickly became her whole world. Cassie grew up hearing tales of her parent�s love. Of the way they fought side-by-side as wolves and humans. She wanted that for herself. Just not this way.

She didn�t love Lorenzo - she�d swear that on a syndicate of holy objects - but if she was to wed, she�d keep one part of her fairytale with her. The dress.

�You could grow to love him,� Elena dabbed at her eyes with a silk cloth trying not to smudge the mascara.

�I will never grow to love a man I�m forced to be with.� Her words were sharp, too sharp for her best friend. �I�m sorry,� she sighed and watched as the sweetheart top of the gown rose and fell with her breasts. No one knew the truth, not even her closest friend.

�I know you didn�t mean it. Besides, aren�t you supposed to be a Bridezilla by now or something?�

�Or something.� Cassie dropped into the chair just behind where she stood. �I can�t believe he�s forcing me to do this.�

�It�ll be good for us. We�re being hunted far too frequently. Ever since the DIB learned they could trade lives for money, the packs grew too small. Too few. Even now, you can�t tell me you aren�t the least bit frightened that one day the bullet will come for you?�

Her eyes fluttered closed as Cassie tried to ignore the picture forming in her mind. She was young, but not a child, when the door flung inward, and a hail of silver bullets took down every member of the Lanksy pack�s council except for herself and her grandfather. She might hate Charles for forcing marriage, but when the wolves� ears picked up on footsteps, he�d grabbed her and tossed them both down into the passage under the stairs without hesitation.

They�d been celebrating her tenth birthday.�

�Cassie�s throat quivered and her nose burned as the memory threatened to drown her. Squeezing her eyes shut brought no relief. Tears eked past her lashes, probably trailing a line of black as they went.

�Oh. Oh, Cass, I�m sorry,� Elena muttered before she started dabbing at Cassie�s cheeks. �I can be so insensitive!�

The Lansky Council was only made of family. Only her direct family died that day, so the pack continued on. The DIB had no intel to go on that the pack lived on, just the rumblings of the family�s crimes continuing. Paying to silence a stripper who saw too much. A bomb here and there as a warning. Never any names to go on. The packs hated each other, and in the beginning, they sold each other out to DIB. That�s how they destroyed her world at just ten years old.

�Cass, come back to me.�

Sucking in a deep breath, Cassie opened her eyes to see Elena�s frown.�

�You are about to get married,� Elena viciously wiped the cotton cloth under Cassie�s eyes. �You cannot marry the most eligible rival wolf looking like you spent the morning crying.�

�Lorenzo is not eligible.� Cassie snatched the cloth and blotted at her cheeks. �You know what, screw the makeup. This isn�t my dream wedding.� She pressed the silken fabric to her forehead and dragged it down past her lips. �He can take me as I am or not at all.� Silver mingled with black and red before she repeated the action on the other side of her face.

�He�s handsome.� was all Elena said.

�Lorenzo Turlino is drop dead perfect and if he weren�t a Turlino, I would have married him myself a decade ago.�

�Oh, you mean when you snuck around behind the pack�s back screwing him for two years?�

Cassie�s eyes widened as she looked at Elena through the mirror. �You knew?�

�Of course I knew. I�m not an idiot.�

Cassie smirked. �Well, then, Exactly. I�m not opposed to marriage, just marriage to Lorenzo. I didn�t have a thing for him. It was adrenaline.�

�Mhm,� Elena�s hands fell to her hip even as she sat.

�There�s something � seductive in sneaky behind Grandpa�s back. Dangerous.�

�Well, consider this one long game of hide and seek.�

Despite her efforts, Cassie smirked and gave a small laugh. �I know you didn�t mean it that way, but that was Lorenzo�s best attribute.�

�See, it won�t be all bad after all.�

�It will. I don�t want to be a peace treaty. I want to be a wife, and one day, a mother.�

�I love you, you know that?� Elena didn�t wait for her to answer. �You are a human, but you�re also pack. Pack out here means syndicate. You were never going to marry for love - but at least this way you get some variety.�

An organ�s desolate tones erupted, nearly sending Cassie jumping into the air.

She wasn�t ready.

Her heart thumped in her chest as the room began to spin. She had to get up. If she didn�t show, the Turlino pack would most certainly attack her family thinking she�d snubbed them.

�Come on,� Elena squeezed her shoulder. �Let�s go make them howl.�

Nodding, Cassie swallowed back the urge to run.

Happily ever after was dead and gone, all she had was a man who would see her as property and two clans to rule when the time came calling.

Grabbing the bottom of her dress, Cassie stood, following closely behind Elena, and watched as the door opened to let her maid of honor walk out. Too many eyes seemed turned in her direction. Too many judgements and hopes.

The Lanksy�s and the Turlino�s were putting the hopes of surviving on the backs of mere children. Two separate packs with enough bad blood to fill a history book now would become one and protect each other, not war with one another when the humans did look their way.�

The pitch in the organ changed, swinging up-tempo as the doors were pulled open once again by her protectors on the other side.

She�d wanted her grandfather to walk her down the aisle. Instead, she tried to smile as Marco, the man she assumed she would have married, stepped out and offered her his arm.

Vegas wasn�t known for opulent churches, but the outdoor ceremony space at the Mirage in the Secret Garden was breathtaking. Lush leaves hung from the canopy above. The exotic birds chirped from elsewhere, and if she listened hard enough, Cassie could hear the footsteps of the large cats kept on premise. So many wondered why the pack would own a cat sanctuary, but it was so none would come looking for them. The cats were shifters, enemies from a forgotten war trapped in their beast form.

Pure white roses hung with dark green ribbons on the ends of the aisles of white chairs. Matching rose petals dawned the walkway, covering the white carpet in a flurry of innocence. So many eyes stared at her as she took step after step down the aisle. Cassie kept her head up, her eyes straight ahead, and her gaze on the minister. She did not glance to see Lorenzo. There was no need to look for him, she could feel him. Fell the heavy, heated gaze as if he shot lasers her direction as she approached.�

Cassie lied to Elena. The pleasure of being with Lorenzo might have started as a way to disobey her grandfather, but she�d loved every second with him. He was carefree in a way wolves of their stature should not have been. He ran under the full moon out in the desert, he made love there, too. Her skin began to burn as she let her mind drift back to the darkened desert night when Lorenzo took her virginity. He�d been gentle and forgiving. Lorenzo Turlino made love to her the way a man did when he cherished a woman, and then they never saw one another again.

�You�re beautiful,� Lorenzo whispered, drawing her gaze away from the young minister and to him.�

Cassie hadn�t realized she�d reached him. Not until he spoke and she finally looked into his dark blue eyes. As always, the middle Turlino brother was handsome in a tux. The suit seemed to accentuate the muscles she knew lived beneath the sleeves. Lorenzo was a well-oiled machine - both in human and wolf form.

�You don�t look so bad yourself.� She whispered back, already knowing this was a terrible idea.�

Looking into the depths of his eyes, Cassie knew without a doubt that she would fall in love with Lorenzo all over again, and that he would never feel the same way.

He hadn�t seen Cassie face-to-face in seven years and she still took his breath away. Lorenzo hadn�t been able to look anywhere but straight at the woman that would be his wife in just a few short minutes.

She�d filled out a bit, her curves threatening to awaken more than Lorenzo�s wolf as the silk gown left very little to the imagination. Her unbridled confidence stoked a part of him he thought died nearly a decade ago.

The young wolf who loved another wolf too much.

It was very Romeo and Juliet, minus the death part.

He never knew why Cassie walked into his family�s hotel wearing little more than a red sequined scarf and gold heels, but Lorenzo knew she was his. For a month he tried to ignore the hum of desire that went through him every time she came to place a bet.

Lansky�s didn�t go on Turlino ground. Lorenzo could have - should have - killed her for the offense. Instead, he kissed her. Lorenzo claimed his mate the same way the wolf wanted to claim Cassie�s wolf.

Two years slipped away in the blink of an eye. Two years filled with more adventure and happiness than he�d ever known. One night gone for a run, let their wolves out of the cage so to speak. What started as frolic turned into a hunt as a hare appeared in the darkness.

After chasing it down, Lorenzo couldn�t stop the lust coursing through him after a successful hunt. He shifted and claimed her mouth with his the moment she did the same.

Nothing was the same after that night. His brother found out and ordered a hit on Cassie. He�d never looked back because the Lanksy wolf wasn�t his enemy and he wouldn�t have her blood on his hands.

And here she is, standing before you damn near in a nightgown getting ready to tie herself to you forever.

Lorenzo shifted, doing his best to quell the rush of blood surging south. When she stretched her hand to him, he reached for hers. She would never know it, but Lorenzo already loved her. He hated the match because it wasn�t hers or his choice, but knew she was his.�

A small smirk slipped out when he realized she�d clearly scrubbed her makeup off in an act of defiance.

�Do you promise to remain faithful, loyal, and true? To defend his pack as if it were your own and to dutifully rule both packs when the time comes?�

Lorenzo let him look into her eyes. Amber mixed with blue as emotion swirled within them. A single tear slipped down her cheek and Lorenzo knew the only thing that mattered - Cassie did not want this. She did not want him.

�I will,� she whispered, clearing her throat before repeating it for all to hear. �I will.�

The single statement, the slightest change, and Lorenzo understood what this was between them. A pack law. A pack vote.

�And do you, Lorenzo Turlino, promise to remain faithful, loyal, and true? To defend her pack as if it were your own and to dutifully rule both packs when the time comes?�

Still locking eyes with Cassie, Lorenzo chose his phrase as purposefully as she did. �I do.� His words rang out, loud from the start.

�Then I pronounce you, husband and wife.�

No cheers sprang from the crowd of supporters. None likely supported this match.

�It�s my duty to protect you. To care for you. To grow the pack with you. I will take this seriously, will you?� Lorenzo bristled as Cassie pulled her hand out of his gentle grasp with the ceremony over.�

�I will do the task meant to come from this. We parted ways almost a decade ago. This is nothing more than me following my grandfather�s wishes because the DIB is destroying us too quickly.� Cassie turned, effectively giving him her bare shoulder, and sauntered away.

Lorenzo sucked in a breath, ignoring the way her defiance sparked even more desire in him. He hadn�t wanted to wed her because it wasn�t his choice. Now she was his and he wasn�t sure what to do with it.

Lorenzo did his best to avoid Cassie throughout the entirety of the reception. There would be no happy smiling memories from this wedding for them. No stories to tell future generations. Nothing except for the cold and distant way Cassie continuously removed herself from his presence if Lorenzo dared to get too close.

She didn�t want this, of course she�s closed off. Lorenzo might have kept his distance, but he was only a man and the sound of the shower tempted him far more than it should. Closing his eyes, Lorenzo tried to steady his breathing only to inhale a breath of air that held only Cassie in it.

When they�d been younger, Lorenzo had been enamored by the way the woman always smelled of honeysuckle. Now he understood. She showered with it. An impossibly simple answer to a question that plagued him in his younger days. Anytime he inhaled the sweet scent he thought of her.

And now you�ll think of it all the time. It referring to the days before he put her life before his pleasure. Before her pleasure.�

The water shut off and Lorenzo attempted to hop onto the bed, but in his haste his left foot caught on the corner of the wall that led into the bathroom and he missed, landing straight on his ass.

�Do you want me to pretend I didn�t see that?�

Scrambling, Lorenzo pulled himself up, resting his hand on the nightstand. His gaze going directly to her. Cassie had never been shy, but her zealous flaunting right this moment was out of character.

She�d stepped out of the shower, toweled off, and walked out absolutely nude save for the way a few lingering water drops clung to the points of her nipples and glided down her body.

He choked, unable to speak as lust wrapped around him like he was new to a woman�s body. Lorenzo�s cock throbbed in the loose silk slacks. If she didn�t cover herself, Lorenzo would take it as an offer she wished to fulfill a packmates rightful duty as a spouse.

�Cassandra,� Lorenzo growled between clenched teeth as he tried his best to ignore the way the scent of honeysuckle seemed to wrap around him and caress him like a lover. Blood drained faster from his hands as Lorenzo balled them at his sides, doing everything he could not to touch her.

�What? We�re married now.� She reached into the black and white overnight bag leaning against the wall. �You�re going to have to do a lot more than just see me naked, so get used to it. Neither one of us wanted this marriage, but we�re here, it�s done, and I�m not tip-toeing around you because you�re a male alpha and can�t handle a female alpha.�

Lorenzo shook his head, slack jawed, trying to understand which part of her sentence to pick apart first. �So, your plan then,� Lorenzo did his best to keep his gaze only on her eyes as he pushed off the nightstand to walk closer. �Is to walk around in the buff because you feel it?�

Cassie�s anger radiated out of her eyes as they narrowed to little more than slits. �My plan is to act as if you are not here and this,� she thumbed at the ring on her left hand, �is not there.� Cassie turned her back to him, digging through her suitcase for lord only knew what.

Lorenzo�s wolf growled. Cassie presented him her back, gave him opportunity and surely motive.�

Without a further thought, Lorenzo realized it for the insult it was and snapped his hand out, grabbing her wrist and twirling her away from the damn luggage. Cassie crashed against him, and Lorenzo growled as the scent of honeysuckle filled his nose as surely as her heart thumped in her chest as her anger rose.

�You think I�m not a damn threat? That you can just walk around like that and turn� your back on me?� Lorenzo noted the rise in his heartbeat - in the way it began to subtly thump faster in his chest as Cassie didn�t do a damn thing to get out of his grasp. �I am a threat.�

Her lips parted to object, but she didn�t get to speak. Lorenzo�s right hand released her wrist and landed in her hair, bringing her lips to his and leaving her little say in the matter. A growl escaped as her soft lips opened, letting his tongue swirl over them to taste a hint of mint that lingered from the mint she ate on the way to the room.

Cassie groaned and her stance changed. She leaned into him, letting her breasts crush against his chest as she shook his left hand from her wrist.

Lorenzo pulled back, immediately aware of what he�d done.

�I didn�t mean to do that.� he released the tangle of her hair from his palm and stepped away, his knees bumping into the bed and dropping him on to it.�

�Of course, you didn�t,� Cassie whispered, her fingers playing over her lips. �But you did.� She walked closer, stopping only when she used her knee to spread his legs apart. She used her fingertips to touch his chest as featherlight as a butterfly. �You only cared about you and your wants. Again.� Cassie leaned over him as her hands snaked down his body, unbuttoning the buttons as if she�d done it her entire life. �You walked away from me. You made this situation a million times shittier than it already was.� She shoved the fully opened shirt off his chest and down his arms, straddling his lap. �This moment,� she took a deep breath and let her eyes flutter closed. �I would have killed for this moment a decade ago.� Cassie ran her hands up his bare chest, her nails gently grazing his skin. �Now all I can see is the man who took what he wanted and left.�

Her heartbeat raced so fast Lorenzo could hear it. Not the sound of prey that was cornered, but so very close. She was furious. She didn�t move, didn�t take away the temptation that was just within reach of her body. Lorenzo knew he shouldn�t have touched her, but arrogance and brash behavior were not his only flaws. This wolf was going to be the death of him.

Cassie Lanksy could saunter around naked for the rest of their lives and all it would do was punish him every damn day. He glanced into her eyes for any trace of emotion beyond the anger radiating off her in waves strong enough to drown a man. What he found was a hunger shimmering in her blueish-gold eyes.

�So, no, Lorenzo, you are not a threat because you�ve already broken me in the most profound way possible.� Cassie could have done anything she wanted to him in that moment and he would have allowed it for the way the pain ground out with her admission.

Lorenzo moved slightly, trying to do nothing more than set her on the bed away from his lap and the motion of her body dragging against his drew a groan from Lorenzo that he couldn�t hold back. Darting sideways, letting her sit on the bed with her hands splayed out in front of her until she rolled to sit up, was what he had to settle for.

�You�re never going to believe me, but I�m going to tell you anyway,� he swallowed, trying to force himself to focus on anything beyond the pulsating need to rip his pants off and take his wife right then and there. �You�re mine,� he ground out, closing his eyes to help himself focus on the words.

�Small technicality, wolf.� Cassie stood, trying to ignore the scream of her body to finish what she started. Her goal had been to torment the man, and instead she frustrated herself as well. The past was gone and she was stuck with him, she knew she�d enjoy it.

�Stop,� he panted, his eyes still closed. �You have always been mine. I�ve known from the moment you and that ridiculous scrap of a dress walked into the casino. My casino.� When his eyes opened, they damn near glowed with lust.�

She�d pushed him too far and herself even farther as she felt the gentle wetness between her legs as she tried to walk to her bag again now that the idiotic urge to kiss him again was too tangible to run from much longer.

�I love you, Cassie Turlino. I have since the day we met.�

The words gave her pause if only because he sounded like he meant them.

�Lanksy, and bullshit,� small drops of spittle flew off her lips as she hissed at him, the anger slowly pushing the desire down.

�Not. Bullshit.� He huffed and let go of her wrist. �My brother caught me coming home that night. It was your life or my feelings for you. I will always choose you.�

�Prove it,� she reached for her dress in the suitcase and caught hold of a small section of fabric before tugging it.

�Jesus woman, you are ridiculous. If I wanted to just fuck you I could have and I would have. I stopped because I don�t want that for us.� Lorenzo pressed his lips together and Cassie watched his nostrils flare as he breathed in and out. �My phone,� he grunted, shoving his hand into his back pocket.

Without warning, he tossed it at her.

�Read it.�

Curiosity killed the cat. And maybe the wolf. Cassie glanced down at the screen and she spoke without realizing it. �Seven years later and it looks like you�re marrying her after all. Guess you wasted time letting me threaten you. Drinks tomorrow. I�ll make amends and we�ll be mature?�

�Who the hell sent this?�

�Tomas. He was furious - as I assume you�d intended your grandfather to be when you let him know you slept with a Turlino.� Lorenzo scrubbed a hand over his jaw. �Jesus Christ, Cass, put some fucking clothes on.

�Is this real?�

�No I magically found a witch to spell my phone at the exact minute I needed to convince you that I�ve literally been in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you and you.�

�No,� she whispered and shook her head, rising off the bed and standing near the wall, still not putting the damn dress on. �I will not let this be some magical thing that�s okay because you love me.�

Lorenzo got off the bed, doing nothing to conceal the way his erection tented the slacks of his tux. His wedding tux. From your wedding.

�I do love you. I�ve loved you every minute of every day. Why do you think I�ve not married? I could have taken Alpha from my brother simply by taking a wife first.� He leaned against her, pressing her back against the cool wall.

She shivered, not from the cold, but from the man who�s body spoke of lust, while his mouth spread tales of love. Cassie closed her eyes, trying focus on anything but the way Lorenzo�s erection pressed against her body.

A breath came out and she panted. He fucked up, but she somehow trusted it was the truth.

Her core pulsed and she went weak in the knees for a split second as desire flooded through her, dampening between her thighs.

He was there. Lorenzo caught her, pressing her against his body and in doing so rubbed his cock against her where she needed him.

�This means nothing.�

Cassie stood on her tiptoes and he took the cue, lifting her and the other seeming to vanish.

She couldn�t think as she slid her hips back and then forward. He�d been ready, his vanished hand having gone to his dick, and in a single motion, he was where Cassie needed him.

Nothing mattered outside of the way her body needed his. When Lorenzo took her lips with his, she let him. Utterly unconcerned by anything except letting this man consume her.

Seven years dissipated in the blink of an eye. Lorenzo thrust his hips as he claimed her mouth with similar rhythms. Cassie wanted to run her hands down his chest, in his hair, anything, but he scooped her hands together with his one that didn�t hold her and pinned her to the wall.

�Lorenzo,� she whispered into their kiss as the motion set her in a different angle. He stretched her just to the point of pleasure and his chuckle made her think Lorenzo knew it.

The room spun as breath after breath became shallower with every thrust of his hips. Her back would be bruised in the morning, but the wall held, and she closed her eyes and gave into the coiling need building.

�Lor-en-zo,� she broke apart his name in time to the thrusts. It overwhelmed her in the best way possible.

Cassie felt Lorenzo everywhere. In her, outside of her, over every part of her skin and on the tips of her fingers.

His name became a fractured chant on his lips until her head fell back against the wall as she screamed. Ecstasy rolled through, pulling every last bit of pleasure from her body as she knew her body twitch from the release.

A moment later Lorenzo growled out, panting himself. A normal man would have been done. Would have slipped free and set her down. Lorenzo merely started to walk. Dizzy didn�t cover the way the steps continued to wring every last ounce of pleasure from her.

He set her down, only to begin again.

If she moved, Cassie wouldn�t be able to stay in the strange dreamland her mind created. She wouldn�t feel the hard planes of Lorenzo�s chest under head or continue to reel in the bliss of the best sex she�d ever had.

Instead, she�d be lying beside a man who wanted nothing to do with her�a man who she claimed she wanted nothing to do with.

Then why are you fantasizing about a wedding night that will never be true?

Cassie blew out a breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

The shrill scream of her phone forced her eyes open.�

The warmth and hardness were still there.

�Ignore it. It�s our damn wedding night,� Lorenzo whispered into her ear, nipping playfully at her earlobe.

�It�s real.� Saying the words didn�t make Cassie believe it. Casually, she reached out and pinched his pec.

�What the hell was that for?� Lorenzo snapped, gently swatting her hand away before she could do it again.

�What just happened�� she paused, utterly unsure of where or how to steer the conversation.�

The phone stopped blaring through the room as Lorenzo sat up and tugged her upright as well, resting his chin on her head.

�What happened was damn near a decade of wasted time. I love you, Cassandra Lansky. I might have been furious at being told who to marry, but I�ve always been in love with you.�

Before she could respond her phone started up again, followed by a loud buzzing from Lorenzo�s on the nightstand.

The hair on the back of her neck rose as a general sensation of dread washed over her, rinsing away any bit of sated bliss. Cassie lunged for her phone, snagging it off the bed where she�d dropped it before her shower.

�Grandpa.� She barked, terror starting to claw its way around her body like a snake strangling its prey. One, two, three. Cassie blew out a slow breath.

�Get out of there. Now!� A gnarled voice shouted so loud into the phone Cassie�s ears rung. �Go, Cassandra. Now.�

Head still ringing, she dropped the phone.

�DIB. They�re outside the hotel.� Lorenzo�s phone was so loud Cassie heard the shout.

�Fuck,� Cassie fumbled through the suitcase for a set of clothes.

�That�s not worth the time.� Lorenzo grunted.

�I�m not fighting them naked,� her heart slammed into her chest faster than the delicious way prey ran from her wolf. I�m the prey.

The door crashed inward, startling her for a second before she realized her Grandfather�s beta stood just in the doorway. �Cassandra, Lorenzo, time to go. Now. Stop shifting!�

Cassie turned, surprised to see Lorenzo was little more than a shaggy, black-haired wolf.

Knowing her clothing was too far buried, Cassie closed her eyes.

�Come out little wolf, it�s time to play.�

Tingles broke out over Cassie�s body. Her wolf came rushing to greet Cassie, the change so abrupt she yelped as pain followed the start of her shift.

It was over as quickly as it started. There were no Hollywood effects and slow changing body parts. They were simply human and then wolf. Wolf and then human.

�I said not to shift god damnit! Now they�ll know who you are.� Marco snarled.

A bullet rang out in the hall outside the door. Six doors down if she trusted her hearing. Which she did.

Shifters couldn�t communicate beyond the general measures a real wolf could. She�d run with Lorenzo often, tracked prey and took plenty down, but never fought beside each other. Cassie didn�t know when he would bob so she could weave.

Glancing at him, the wolf streaked past her, the fur on his back standing up. With a snarl, Cassie leaped over Marco to land beside Lorenzo. She was an alpha. She fought her own fights.

A bullet rushed at Cassie, slashing across the side of her fast causing more of a singe of fur than anything else.

�They�re this way!� A man shouted, firing off another round that Cassie jumped out of the way of with ease.�

Her growl was cut short by Lorenzo as her husband flung himself at the human,� fangs extended.

�Don�t you dare,� Marco rushed beside Cassie, firing off three rounds into the agents rushing toward them.

The screams were horrifying.

Loud, blood curling shrieks that pierced her ears from every corner of the hotel floor. No sounds of the casino could be heard in the small, floral carpeted halls of the Mirage where the richest of guests stayed. Just bullets and feet pounding into the ground.

Leaning down, Cassie watched, waiting for the moment another agent would come. They were human. Bullets wounded them, killed them, or just plain kept them down.

Cassie tucked her tail between her legs and kept her crouch low as she circled. Her face stung, but she forced herself to ignore the burn of pain.

Lorenzo trotted to her, blood coating his dark muzzle but nearly indistinguishable from water against his dark coat. No human emotion shone in his bright eyes, but her wolf understood what his wanted. She leaned against him, still certain more agents would come.

�Five is too few if they knew about you both.� Marco grabbed his phone from his pocket. �Shift. Now.�

Lorenzo let out a low growl, his teeth peering out from under his jowls as he faced Marco. Doors continued to open and close. Anyone could see them for what they truly were - as if it weren�t and enough that humans saw wolves in Vegas. Natural wolves didn�t live in the city.

Nudging Lorenzo with her muzzle, Cassie trotted past him. She wasn�t worried about Marco, but she wouldn�t put it past her often-times bodyguard to shoot Lorenzo since he believed her still furious about the match.

�Get in there and get dressed. We�re wheels up in three and I�m not rushing two naked people through the grounds of the hotel.� Marco bashed his elbow into the glass box and Cassie watched as he pulled the fire alarm.

The painful blare of the alarm drew a whimper from Cassie and sent her racing into the room. Lorenzo followed, the sound of his paws barely audible in the ruckus. Cassie understood� though. They needed the fray to disappear into.

Marco slammed the door shut and howled as a pop went off in the room. Smoke billowed from the wound as Cassie was suddenly mobile on two legs, racing toward a life-long friend who thankfully only took a bullet to the shoulder. She spun, staring at a beautiful woman with long red hair and a man less than a few inches from her with a gun pointed at Marco. Marco didn�t speak or try to move which sent her heart racing. A silver bullet to the shoulder wouldn�t kill a shifter.�

She�d shifted, given up her form, and fear paralyzed her as she�d realized her mistake. Before the DIB might have only known two wolves wed inside the hotel. Now they the identity of one of the two for certain. Lorenzo�s hand touched Cassie as he shoved her behind him. Her mouth went dry as he spoke, as concern for both packs swept over her.

�What are you doing here?� Lorenzo didn�t snarl, but he didn�t seem pleased with the woman in the room with them.

�Don�t do anything you�ll regret, wolf. You�re lucky I convinced them to let me come when the word got out.� The woman walked forward, set her gun down, and sat on the bed as if it were the most natural thing in the world. �He�ll heal by the way, princess. Just a little magic-infused bullet so we could talk.�

�Who the fuck are you?� Cassie snarled as her wolf clawed at the back of her mind, pushing her to shift and let the wolf take care of the human.

�Ask your husband. It�s his fault I�m here.� She glanced at her nails as if bored by the situation. �Jack, now would be a good time to radio in that the assets murdered at least of our men during the distraction. And tell the agents down front to figure out a way to stop the alarm. Chaos isn�t our friend and we don�t have enough time.� If she cared about the dead agent, she didn�t show it.

Cassie had forgotten the horrifying sound of the alarm as panic for herself and her pack took over. �I asked you.� She fought past the concern. One day, she would be alpha of the Lansky pack. A human would never bring her to fear again.

�Roger that. This better not be so you can re-juice your wolf form.� The stocky man sounded pissed, but a sparkle in his eyes made Cassie think he teased her.

�Someone start talking. Now. Or so help me,� she turned to Lorenzo who still stood naked as she was. �I�m going to kill you in your sleep.�

�I�m getting us towels. Whatever the fuck this, it clearly was an ambush and not an assassination mission. I�m not terribly pleased at my wife�s beautiful form being on display - even if she has no issues with nudity herself.�

�Spoken like a mated wolf,� the woman inclined her head. �Speak while you dress. This was an assassination mission, I�m just faster than they were.�

�And smarter.� The man smirked. �I know you don�t need me, but if shit goes sideways�� his voice trailed off.

�You�ll feel it through our link, so it won�t matter. Go. Be the one to calm the frantic masses outside.�

�Now,� Cassie growled, her eyes follow the male to the door. �If you so much as touch him -�

�Calm down. I�m a cop. I�m here only to make sure she isn�t injured. I know your family, you�re clearly wolves but not the kind I�m interested in bringing to a knee. At least not you. Your grandfather is another story, but that�s for another time.�

�Why is a cop with DIB?� Cassie�s head pounded between her fury at the lack of information and the still beeping fire alarm. The door closed and Cassie turned back to the others. She was losing control over her anger, which meant she�d lose control over her wolf. Her skin bristled as her blood ran hot. Lorenzo set her up. He worked with DIB to turn over her family and take control of the city for his.

�He�s not a cop. Not anymore. He just sometimes�forgets we behave differently at the agency.�

Cassie�s vision went red as she lunged at Lorenzo, a flurry of blonde-white fur and snapping teeth. His flesh was warm as her fangs sunk into his arm. She bit down harder, ignoring the part of her screaming�that she could kill him. Cassie almost let go, terrified at the idea of killing Lorenzo. Like a weight crushed against her body, Cassie found it hard to hold on to her desire to hurt him. Almost.�

�Enough,� the woman hissed, somewhere behind them. �He is not why I�m here, but if you�re intent on killing him I won�t try too hard to stop you.�

The strangeness of the words stopped Cassie in her tracks and allowed Cassie to realize Lorenzo wasn�t fighting her. He didn�t shift or try to shove her off. Cassie opened her mouth and stepped off Lorenzo�s chest, allowing him to stand up off the floor.

�Talk. Now, or I won�t let go next time no matter how badly it felt to hurt you.�

Lorenzo tapped her, passing her a fluffy white robe that seemed utterly ridiculous to put on given the current situation. Still, she slipped it on, feeling out of place standing naked before strangers with her bodyguard on the floor out cold.

�Noel, this is my wife, Cassie. Cassie, this is Noel - forgive me for not remembering your last name. She�s a Skinwalker.�

Her mouth dropped open. Skinwalkers were rare, often believed to be nothing more than myths. All Cassie knew was they weren�t limited to one form. The sound of a zipper brought her back to the situation as Lorenzo put his slacks back on.

�I�m also literally the only reason you both are alive.�

�How do you know each other?�

�He�s how she can turn wolf.� The man closed the door after re-entering. �Ten minutes before the agency gets here. I told them we lost them.� He turned and actually stuck out his hand. �Jack Duncan. Total human, and also totally not against all creatures who aren�t human.�

�Which is a plus since you�re married to one.� Noel quipped. �We don�t have any more time for this.�

�First, what did Jack mean? How does a Skinwalker learn forms? Isn�t it genetic?�

�Something like that,� Lorenzo walked beside her. �I meant what I said earlier, but I am a man.�

�Smooth move, dude.� Jack chuckled. �A Skinwalker gets her forms one of two ways. Ingesting blood of what they wish to shift into, or sex.�

�Why do I get the feeling I know how that turned out.� Cassie resisted the urge to slap him. He spoke of being her mate but also sleeping with other women. Women who clearly knew what he was.

�It was mutually beneficial. We dated on and off for a few months, but it was obvious he belonged to someone else. Someone I take it must be you.� Noel paused for a moment and her skin began to crawl. Like thousands of ants raced beneath the surface, and small changes began to occur until she stared at her husband in front of her and next to her.

�You won�t buy my disguise should you question me about Lorenzo or attempt to kiss me. I am not his soul. Only his � well ... skin. I can�t change back until the magic wears off, but I felt it best for you to see with your own eyes because we�re running out of time.�

�Eight minutes to be exact.� Jack looked anxiously at the window. �We�re leaving the way we came in if you run out of time. I don�t need anyone having an excuse to execute you.�

�She caught me shifting before we knew what the other was. She flashed her DIB badge so fast I thought I was dead and my family with me.� He didn�t try to touch her, but he stood so close Cassie could feel the warmth radiating from his bare chest.

�I wanted to be a shifter and be able to learn a crime family�s secret. He wanted to keep his family alive. Like my husband, I don�t kill when I don�t need to, and I didn�t need too. Which brings me to how I�m here saving your ass right now. Your families were outed and I had to see how far this went.�

�Word got out about your wedding - two rich families tying the knot - but someone outed you. We received an anonymous tip that the Mirage was owned by wolves. Tried to glean DNA off it as we assumed it would be another pack trying to seek control, but we came up empty.� Jack put lowered his gun for the first time, but didn�t put it down.

�The agency wanted a few agents to check it out. I convinced them that as a Skinwalker I could be of use. They went up the stairs, I climbed up the side of the building.� Noel smiled. �Well, Jack climbed. I crawled.�

�Could we not discuss you as a fucking tarantula?� The man looked visibly distressed.

�I have no reason to want you dead. The packs are known for violence against each other, but you don�t attack humans and that�s who I protect. So, I have a plan.� Noel pulled handcuffs from her waist. �Here�s the deal. You pretend I took you hostage. I bring you in and make up a grand story about how you�re more useful alive than dead and I take you to a very underground portion of DIB, and I mean that in more than just the physical location sense of the word. As the soon-to-be-alphas of two packs in the desert, you could be useful on the payroll.�

�Why would we work for DIB?� Cassie paced. DIB were murders and this woman and her husband claimed DIB would work with them.

�Because the alternative is your death. Lorenzo is bloody around the mouth. He killed someone. He killed a DIB agent. The police will demand security footage and even when we don�t confirm who the wolves are, the tape will tell us. Your guy was careful not to say your names, but we have the door number and the guest list. Plus, my guess is that since you shifted facing out the door, we have a visual.�

�Fuck.�

�Why are you protecting us?� Lorenzo did squeeze her hand then. �While I won�t lie and say Cassie and I were thrown together, you�re not wrong about my feelings for her. How do we know DIB won�t kill us where we stand?�

�Because I�ve brought them a few strays before who are on payroll. You�ll be forced to monitor your pack harsher, and change a lot of the violence against each other that makes it into the headlines as organized crime, but you�ll all live.�

�It�s Noel�s way or the highway and we�re down to two minutes. What�s it going to be?�

�Do it,� Cassie spoke as Lorenzo spoke louder.

�No deal.�

�If this happy wife, happy life shit doesn�t pan out to at least five more rounds of what we started I�m tapping out.� Lorenzo whispered to his wife.

Any other time he might have been chuffed at marrying his mate without disrupting his place within his pack. Now all he could focus on was the steely-eyed woman looking over the top of her computer screen at them.

His wolf paced, lurking and ready to strike should it even appear they�d harm Cassie.

�You�re here because you love me, and I want to know what they have to offer.� She announced loud as always.

�About that, anything you want to tell me?�

She rolled her eyes but was interrupted before she could speak.

�If you�re quite done with whatever that was, let�s get started.�

�Yes, Ma�am,� Noel and Jack spoke in unison like trained puppets.

�I am Agent Cordelia. I run the DIB special operations segment.� She let her eyes flicker red for a moment.�

Lorenzo let out a low whistle, surprised as hell that Noel hadn�t been lying to deliver them with a bow to the DIB.

��As you can see, I�m also a demon. Makes me uniquely qualified to understand when we have useful assets on our hands and we it�s time to do what the DIB does best - kill the supernatural.�

The wolf let out a low growl through Lorenzo�s lips. �Word of advice. I wasn�t keen on this setup. I agreed because my mate did.�

Cassie melted against him at his choice of the word mate. He couldn�t hold back his smile at that. They�d been interrupted seven years ago and tonight, but she knew what he knew and that was all that mattered.

�Then I suppose I need to speak to the smart one in the room,� Cordelia joked turning her attention to Cassie. �One minute to explain to me why you�re useful.� She pulled her cellphone out and opened a timer. �Go,� the singular word as she pressed the screen and started the clock.

�Because the wolves are far more powerful than DIB even with you hunting us down. You kill us, you�ll have two packs coming after you.� Cassie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the chair. �It�s not about what you can do for us, it�s about what we can do for you.�

She just stopped talking. Lorenzo glanced at the timer ticking rapidly up from the fifteen second mark. Still, Cassie said nothing. She just sat there, turning her golden gaze on the steely-blue eyes of a demon deciding if they walked out of there clean, or if they walked out bloody when Lorenzo attacked back.

He let his eyes watching the timer. When it ticked past a moment he snarled.

�Men. So temperamental,� Noel quipped and both Cassie and Cordelia laughed.�

�Are you not going to say anything else? And are you not going to stop the timer?� He glanced between wolf and demon.

�There�s nothing else I have to say. The rest is semantics. We don�t need DIB. They need us.�

Cordelia leaned back in the black leather chair, her white hair draping over the arm of the chair as she nodded.

�You seem rather certain of that fact.�

Cassie held firm in not giving a single glimpse of emotion. Whatever startled woman watched her bodyguard get shot was not the woman beside him. An alpha sat beside him and he�d be damned if he could ever rival her.

�You�re a demon.� Cassie pointed a finger at Noel. �She�s a Skinwalker. If they weren�t looking for wolves to run interference and break up the occasional murder and body dump in the desert, we wouldn�t have made it through the front door. Especially not after my loving mate ripped one of your agent�s throat out.�

Fucking hell. She�s brilliant.

�Your grandfather chose well. Pairing you up in a marriage to what I can only assume is a rival pack based on your coloring differences. You�re everything an alpha needs to be.� Cordelia looked to him. �And�you�re everything a mate needs to be. Rash, fierce, and typically unthinking of anything except for his mate.�

�Thank you?� Lorenzo cocked his head to the side unsure if she complimented him or insulted him. �I understand how you felt back in the hotel room. What the fuck is going on?� Anger pushed him to the edge of his seat.

�A woman�s intuition.� Noel twirled her right index finger and a puff of pale blue smoke came and formed two wolves before Noel slashed her hand through the figures, dispersing them into nothingness. �Noel came to me before heading out. Told me I had to let the two wolves live long enough to join DIB. I trusted her, as she trusted me in backing me for a leadership role when she hastily turned it down.�

�I�m not a leader and I still don�t totally like our coworkers,� Noel scooped an apple out of a bowl on a long wooden conference table, taking a bite before Jack plucked it from her hands. �Hey!�

�Where was your woman's intuition then?� the cop teased.

I could like him.�

�So, what you�re proposing is we live and all we have to do is turn the pack from their dirty dealings?� He held back his laugh of amusement, but just barely.

�You don�t think we can do it?� Cassie turned to face him, disappointment turning the outer edges of her eyes down.

That�s when it hit him. She wanted this. Cassie wanted to end the pack ways, and this was how she�d do it.

�You want this.� It wasn�t a question.

�I lost my mother at birth accidentally, but my father at my tenth birthday because of the way wolves operate. I lost you because two packs felt they had to war with one another rather than share land or be content with dividing it. Tonight, I lost my greatest secret when fear for a packmate consumed me. I have nothing left to lose but so much to gain. Our alphas agreed to peacefully step down to allow us to broker peace. This is that peace. For all of us. Even the last pack.�

�Last pack?� Jack tossed the apple into the trash. �Shit, who knew there was only one left? Any chance you�ll name them?�

Cassie jerked her head down. �While only a wolf could have sold us out - even one of packmates - I will not do the same. I have no intention of giving up the lifestyle our families have afforded to us, we don�t need to murder our way out of problems.�

Lorenzo knew neither pack would accept this. They�d challenge them, and while Lorenzo knew without a doubt he could take any member of his pack, he didn�t know Cassie�s pack beyond rumor. And I want to do it. Damn it. �I was a lot more rational before six hours ago.�

�Marriage will do that to you.� Jack clapped him on the shoulder. �Come on, I�ll get you a drink. I know wolves. You�re gonna need a lot to get through what you have to do next.�

�I didn�t say yes.�

�You did. You just didn�t use the words.� Cassie tried to hide her smile.

�You know, there�s someone else who clearly meant to say some words but didn�t.�

�Now? You want the first time I say them to you as your wife to be now? In a dungeon cell office surrounded by people I don�t know?�

He shrugged. �Gotta start somewhere.�

�Fine then. Lorenzo Turlino I love you. Aside from wanting to murder you for leaving me, I�ve loved you since the moment you spoke to me the first time and if you don�t want this for our packs, tell me and we�ll fight until we can�t anymore.�

The energy in the room shifted. Energy from Noel�s magic swelled like a tangible force in the room to knock them out if needed.

�Calm down, mixed breed. If my wife wants peace, at least between the DIB and our packs so we can stop living looking over our shoulder when we want to run, I�m in.� He stood, resisting every urge to stay seated and pull Cassie into his lap and kiss her. �I want that drink.�

�This is going to be hard.� Cassie blew out a breath the minute Jack and Lorenzo left. She loved her husband, but a part of her wanted him to object, to be the sane one on the room.

�What do you think you need to help?� Cordelia came out from behind the desk and instead leaned against it, getting closer to Cassie while Noel stayed by the table.

�I�m not going to kill you because you slept with him.� Cassie meant it. She�d been with other men. She couldn�t fault Lorenzo for doing the same just because they�d laid their feelings out in the open. How the hell did you go from despising the sound of his name to this? Love. Love was the answer. To all the questions.

�You can�t. But it�s nice to know you�re levelheaded.� Noel walked closer, also leaning on the small desk.

�We need to show them the benefit in not attacking first. They need to understand this is not a betrayal, but a partnership. Much like the one Lorenzo and I were forced in to earlier today.�

�Forced?� Noel cocked her head to the side.

�Believe it or not, Lorenzo fucked up and vanished without a trace. I spent just shy of a decade wishing his death in a handful of not lady-like ways.�

Both women laughed.

�I do love him. I have always loved him, but we were forced into this marriage and our packs bristled a bit, but they were all at the ceremony and they all ate and drank and even danced together at the reception. What you�re offering us is much the same. We stop fearing the extinction of our lines like DIB has done to other wolves. Many of the older males are going to fight the idea, but fall in line. They respect me as their new alpha. They pledged themselves to me right before the wedding.�

�Then you�re prepared to enforce punishment if they don�t?�

�Absolutely.� Cassie hated that she didn�t so much as pause to think. She didn�t though. No one should lose their parents the way she did. �I�ve lived my entire life knowing every single person I loved was always just a silver bullet away from death.� She ignored the chills that broke out over her arms. �I might have said you needed us, and we didn�t need you because the wolves don�t need DIB. I do. I need the violence to stop. I need fear and money driving our every action to stop.�

�It�s nice to see you�re all in.� Cordelia nodded to Noel. �Very good choice. We�ve worked for over three years to find any alpha to pitch this too.�

�Glad to know I was highly selected.� She laughed, the weight of the world slowly settling in on her shoulders. �Where�s the dotted line I�m supposed to sign on?�

Disgusting hot Vegas wind blew over his run. Still, Lorenzo ran.�

He could hear the smack of paws against into desert earth far closer than he liked.�

Come on, don�t let another wolf catch you.

Lorenzo�s taunt pushed his wolf to action, causing him to kick up even more dust as he ran through the sweltering heat.

The sound of paws stopped. Lorenzo paused, just for a second, and a second was all it took for the other wolf to slam into him, dropping him to the ground as if he weighed nothing. Pain spiked through his shoulder, forcing him out of his wolf form.

�Jesus, I don�t like that shit.�

Laughing, Cassie shifted before she dropped the veil of magic around her and began visible. �You�re just mad Noel hasn�t given you one of these.� Cassie fingered the moon necklace around her neck.

�Damn straight I am. You getting to go invisible whenever you damn well please after that thing gets charged with moon energy is downright unfair.�

�I�m the faster runner. It made more sense for me to go on raids.�

�Yeah, yeah, yeah,� Lorenzo pulled her closer, absolutely aware of how naked they both were from shifting. Tugging her just a little closer, he groaned as her hand went down his chest. A gentle touch grazed his hip bone, drawing blood completely south.

�Race you back!� She shouted as she pushed away, always shifting.

�You little cheat!� Lorenzo focused on the wolf and hit the ground with all fours paws, more than ready to chase after the woman he let get away one before.

Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! Want more in the DIB world? Check out Noel�s and Jack�s story!

USA Today�Bestselling Author Lexi Ostrow fell in love with the written word in second grade when her school librarian started a writing club. Born in sunny southern California she's spent time in various places across the country and is spending the next few years up north thanks to the Coast Guard. Mom to a far too adorable toddler, and a�menagerie�of pets, she spends her days missing beignets and live jazz when she isn�t writing.

Writing is in Lexi�s blood. Getting her degree in creative writing and her master's in journalism she couldn't wait to get a chance to put her fantasies down on paper. �From paranormal romance to thriller there isn't a genre she doesn't love to spend her time reading or writing. With her BA in creative writing from UCR and her MA in multi-media Journalism from Emerson College, she's ready to take on the literary world one novel at a time.

Reading and writing are her first loves, but her passion for shopping, love of yummy food and her love for all her many pets are not far behind. Lexi is an enthusiast Whovian and�DC Comic Show lover who isn't afraid to talk someone's ear off about them.�She hopes to one day help other readers fall in love with writing as she did.

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Alliance of Silver & Steam Series�� https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07F7LSW5Q?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

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Hexed in New Orleans Series�� https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B0843D816F?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

�You know,� my boyfriend Clover says, �it�s been almost a year since we�ve started dating.�

We�re hanging out in my bedroom. I live in a small house with a few other female paranormal hunters.

That�s what Clover and I are�paranormal hunters. We both attended and trained at Magical Hunters Academy. Now, we work for HEX Unite�Hunters, Slayers, and Executioners Unite. The organization has a two-fold goal�to keep the paranormal community safe and secret from the unsuspecting humans.

We do our part, all of the hunters, by hunting down evil paranormal creatures who are destined to go to Magical Prison. It�s not always the easiest of jobs, but honestly, I love it.

I'm resting on my stomach on my bed, my feet in the air as I paint my nails a blood-red color. Clover's sitting at my desk, turning to face me. We've been talking for hours now. Honestly, that's what most of our dates consist of�us talking here or at his place or going for long walks while talking. Sometimes, we'll change it up and go to a movie only to then eat at a restaurant and talk there.

We, ah, have some issues we�re still working through, but that�s to be expected, I think, given what we are.

I�m Callidora Cruorem, but don�t you dare call me that. I�ll flash my fangs at you, but don�t worry. I won�t bite unless you ask me to.

Call me Calli instead. I�m a vampire with blond hair, and yes, I put on a lot of makeup. I don�t want to be a pale monstrosity, and I'm not just any vampire. I'm a living one.

Clover, on the other hand, is a dryad, so he�s all about life. At least I�m not one of those dead, turned vampires, right? I never died, so there�s that. My boyfriend runs a hand through his deep green hair, which looks and feels like moss and might actually be moss but I�ve never asked. He fixes his brown eyes on me.

�A whole year, huh?� I ask, finishing painting my last nail.

I carefully twist the nail polish shut, sit up, and eye Clover as I blow on my nails to help dry them faster.

�Not yet,� he says. �In a week. Right when we are eligible to ask for a vacation.�

Time off. It doesn�t happen often. Evil never sleeps, after all.

�Any ideas what you want to do for our anniversary?�

�Yes,� he says eagerly.

I grin and bite my lower lip, careful not to fang myself. �What do you have in mind? A surprise?�

�No, nothing like that. You�ve met my parents, my family.�

I nod, my heart sinking. All of a sudden, I�m dreading this conversation.

�Your mom is such a sweet woman,� I exclaim. �And your sisters��

�They�re saplings yet.� Clover laughs at his joke, but they are a lot younger than he is. They�re a bit� overbearing. His mom told me they�ll calm down when they have more roots, once their roots grow. Given how calm and serene and stoic Clover is, I can�t imagine he had ever been like that, but his mom hinted heavily that had been the case.

And his dad had been even more stoic than Clover. He hardly said a word to me. I'm not sure if he likes me. Then again, I'm not sure that he likes anyone, so what does it matter? All that matters is what Clover thinks of me.

But if he meets my parents, will that change?

Probably. You should�ve seen the looks on the other students� faces when they learned I�m a living vampire.

I know humans tend to judge each other a lot, form opinions about each other for the stupidest of reasons. Unfortunately, the paranormal community has some issues too. I can't help who my father is. No one can.

But for once, Clover looks really eager, and I do not want to disappoint him. �So you want to��

�I�d like to meet your parents,� he says proudly. �Unless you don�t think it�s time yet��

I smile broadly. �Let�s just see what my mom�s up to, shall we?�

At least that shouldn�t be too painful.

I hope.

Mom and I get along really well. Most of the time. I mean, all girls have a love/hate relationship with their moms, right? Only it's not really hate between my mom and me. It's more like love/anger. Sometimes, she'll be a bit judgmental. I might not wear quite as much makeup around her. She's a vampire and very proud of that fact, so she has no idea why I try to avoid looking like one. I've explained it to her a bazillion times, but it just goes in one ear and out the other, if it even goes in the one ear at all.

After determining that my nails are dry enough, I grab my phone and call Mom. Right when I think she�s not going to answer, she goes.

�Calli, darling,� she coos.

Uh oh. She�s in a good mood.

�Mom, where are you?� I ask, trying not to sound suspicious.

�I�m on vacation.�

�Where?�

�Are you in trouble?� she asks.

�No. Why would you think that?�

�You aren�t asking for your father, are you?�

�You two are fighting again?� I groan. Typical.

Her non-answer is answer enough.

Fangtastic.

"I'm guessing you don't want to tell me, which means visiting you next week is out." I brighten. "Unless you think things will blow over before then?"

�Not likely. Not this time. Give me a month. How about that?�

�Ah, yeah. Sure. Fine.�

�Are you sure you aren�t in trouble?� she asks, her tone turning away from the breezy I�m fine, darlin� to a more motherly tone that she usually has with me. It's only been since I graduated from the academy that she's tried to be more a friend than a mom.

�I�m fine. I�ll call you later, okay?�

I hang up.

�Mom�s a no-go.� I blow out a breath and grin at Clover even though I know this is so not a good idea. �I�ll try Dad.�

Clover gives me a look that�s a cross between sympathy and eager puppy dog, and I crook my finger, urging him to lean forward so I can kiss the tip of his nose. He can be so sweet sometimes. I�d do anything for him.

Clearly.

I�m about to call my incubus dad after all.

And he answers on the first ring. Was he waiting for a call?

�Calli,� Dad says, his voice booming like always.

�Hi, Dad.� I clear my throat. �Ah, what are you up to?�

�Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that.�

Given what he is, this or that can be rather� ugh. I don�t even want to contemplate it.

�What about you?� he asks. �I�ve heard that you have a boyfriend.�

My eyes open wide, but I shouldn�t be surprised. Dad has a lot of friends, and his knowledge base is vast.

�A dryad, right?�

�Yes.� My throat burns as I clear my throat again. �Do you think that maybe you could meet him next week? We�re going to have a vacation or at least a few days off, and we thought��

�Your mother is busy, isn�t she?�

I say nothing.

�Good!� He booms a laugh. �I would love for you both to come!�

"Where are you now?" I ask. He's moved around a bit, and honestly, he's the opposite of a dryad. He has no roots tethering him to one place.

�Allentown.�

I furrow my brow. That sounds like a human city.

�It�s in Pennsylvania.�

�Great. I�ll text you when I know the dates we�ll be coming. Can you text me your address?�

�I�ll meet you once you enter the city,� he says, and he hangs up.

Okay�

I turn to Clover and grin, even though I am terrified about this. "You sure you want to meet my dad? You do realize he's an incubus, right?"

�I, ah, I knew he had to be a demon to, ah�� Clover�s skin is the same color as a tree trunk, but right now, his cheeks are a deep reddish-brown.

�Not just any demon can impregnate a vampire,� I teasingly scold him. �Still want to meet him? If not, I can get us out of it.�

Clover shakes his head. �We�re going,� he announces.

My smile, forced, remains frozen on my face. My stomach twists into knots because I just know this is either going to go horribly or just flat-out terrible. Experience has prepared me for this time and again. Is it too much to hope that my dad behaves for once?

Yeah, I know that�s the case.

My dad, for the most part, is actually not that terrible of a parent. He loves to give me gifts, but, ah, they aren�t always appropriate, and they are never ever wanted. Seriously. A potion to kill all of my enemies? Actually, it�s kind of disturbing that he thinks I even have enemies. I mean, it�s not as if I had to deal with much bullying at all at the academy. No, no real enemies. I wouldn't even consider the targets we have to hunt as enemies. Not personal ones, at least.

But, Dad, he probably has a lot of enemies. Not that I�m worried about him. He�s a demon, so he can take care of himself, I�m sure. It�s just the sudden thought that maybe his enemies will want to go after me that has my stomach tightening as we drive to enter Allentown.

Yes. Drive.

Clover�s a bit ridiculous. He has an aversion for fairy dust to teleport unless the target is an immediate threat to others. So we have used it on occasion.

But being a dryad, he can't fly. He can't go on an airplane. He just can't do it. That's too far away from trees. He physically can't.

Which means that we have to waste some of our vacation time driving. I mean, it�s a twenty-hour drive. We both live outside of the Wilds, where HEX Unite headquarters is, but that�s all the way in the Midwest, and Pennsylvania�s a long haul away. And it�s such a wide state too! That doesn�t help any.

And I should say �waste.� Clover and I talk the entire time. He�s so excited it�s ridiculous. And adorable. I wish I could share in his enthusiasm, but I just can�t.

We took turns driving. I don�t have to sleep as much as normal people, so I do most of the driving. I�m fine by the time we arrive. I think Clover is too. Either that, or adrenaline is helping him.

We cross into Allentown, and almost immediately, a sleek-looking black car shows up behind us. It drives around us, and I follow it to the western part of the city. Some of the houses here are exquisite, huge, more like mansions, and I�m not at all surprised when the black car idles in front of the nicest, largest, most impressive house yet.

�That�s where your dad lives?� Clover asks, his jaw dropped.

�Maybe?� I shrug. �I didn�t grow up here.�

�Those trees��

Out front, in the yard, the mansion�there�s no other word for it�is bracketed by two massive trees that have to be seriously old. They�re flowering, somehow, even though it�s December and cold out. Seriously cold. I shiver as I get out of the car. Dad gifted me a Dodge Demon when I turned fifteen. Yes, before I could even legally drive. I ignored the car for a long while because it was just too flashy, but once he finally let me know how furious he was that I was just letting it sit, I opted to drive it. The last thing I wanted was for him to insist I use that potion to kill my enemies or one of those kinds of gifts.

And I fell in love. This car is my baby. Octane red. A deeper red, more like when blood is dried. It�s perfect.

Probably the best present he ever gave me.

Clover�s shivering, and I cross around to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. I didn�t realize it would be so cold here either. Should�ve, given the time of year.

�You ready?� I ask.

Clover grins at me even though his teeth are chattering. �Yes, Calli. I�m ready.�

I suck in a breath. He�s not trying to suggest he�s ready for something else, is he? No way. Our relationship is way too young to be that serious. I mean, our first date had been a disaster. It had been during my third year at the academy, and� yeah�

But then we were assigned to a case as paranormal hunters together, and we found a spark in Japan right before Christmas.

Christmas really is a magical time of year.

Dad�s always hated Christmas, though. Obviously.

�Let�s go,� I say with a lot more bravado than I feel.

We take a step onto the sidewalk, and I almost trip, realizing no one is sitting in the black car. Did Dad drive it? Just who are his friends nowadays?

Something tells me I don�t want to know, and I really have a bad feeling about this�

As if the driverless car isn�t creepy enough, the front door opens before we even climb up the speckled stone stairs. The entire path to the house is cobbled stones, the house itself made of stones as well, only those stones have been marbleized or at least look like marbles. In addition to the trees, the porch is held up by four columns, the pillars reaching to the second floor. That�s how high up the awning is. There�s even a balcony up there.

I glance at Clover, but he's in awe, almost dragging me inside. It's exquisite. Gold crown molding, priceless art on every wall, a gold chandelier hanging a few feet from the entrance. The massive staircase leading up to the second floor is more marble, but the floor beneath our feet is solid cheery oak.

�You must feel right at home,� I whisper to Clover.

He grins at me, his brown eyes sparkling. His attire�brown slacks and a green golf shirt�might be a bit underdressed, considering Dad�s likely in a suit. As for me, I�m wearing a long-sleeved red velvet dress that reaches a few inches beneath my knees. We had the heat blasting in the car, so we both removed our coats, and in his rush and excitement, Clover had his leaving the car before either of us remembered to grab them.

Sure enough, Dad strolls down the staircase in, not just a suit, but a perfect pinstripe suit.

�Calli,� he says warmly. �And��

�Clover,� Clover and I say at the same time.

Dad halts on the third to the last step. Oddly enough, Clover and I are beneath the glittering, gorgeous chandelier, which makes me feel a bit nervous. My arms are covered in goose bumps, and my hair is down, flowing around my shoulders, but that doesn�t stop the hairs on the back of my neck from rising.

But then I catch a whiff of something familiar, something metallic, like rust almost.

Blood.

Did Dad just feed? I mean, he�s not a vampire�

�Clover, why don�t you go freshen up?� I ask Clover, squeezing his hand.

He slowly turns to look at me. �We just��

�Please.�

His bushy eyebrows lower, and he drops his voice. �Do I smell?�

�You want to make a good impression, right?� I murmur. �Your hair��

He grimaces. His hair never stays in place. It doesn�t help that I love to run my fingers through it.

Dad waves his hand. �Down the hall, the third door on your left.�

Clover ducks his head and hurries away.

I glower at my dad, who has turned and started up the stairs. With my vampire speed, I�m immediately by his side.

He says nothing and leads me into a study that could be taken out of a mobster movie. It only serves to increase my anxiety.

Dad strolls over to the desk, but he doesn�t sit behind it. He casually sits on the front edge of it, facing me as he removes his sportscoat to reveal a huge bloodstain.

�Dad, how are you bleeding?� I gape at the wound.

He scowls at me. �Demons can bleed. It just doesn�t happen often.�

�How did it happen?�

The flash of his teeth, the raw anger in his eyes� most everyone would be afraid to be in his presence.

I'm not, for the most part. My dad doesn't look like a demon, with a strong jawline and his face all angles, hard, and rigid. His hair is perfect, never a strand out of place, a classic fifties pompadour. His eye color varies. When he's being a proper incubus, his eyes burn with the flames of Hell. Otherwise, they can be whatever color he wants them to be.

Right now, they�re as black as oil, twin pits of despair.

Not despair. Barely contained rage.

He barks a bitter laugh as he starts to tend to the wound, cleaning it even as it slowly begins to heal, the blackness of his veins fading away to their normal hue.

�Dad?� I ask cautiously.

�I can�t get into Bethlehem.�

�Bethlehem?�

�It�s a city near here,� he grumbles, clearly bitter. �Can you go there? I will entertain Clover.�

�Ah�� I�m not so sure about this. Is this related to his wound? Will I be in danger?

And just what does he mean by entertain?

�Dad, I don�t want you to, ah, entertain��

His laughter is a bit more easy-going now. �You do not want me to reveal my incubus ways to him!�

�Hell no!� I shout.

His laughter is even louder and happier now, but when he speaks again, he�s all serious and back to being bitter. �If you do this for me, I promise you a gift.�

I scowl. I�m not sure I want a gift from my dad. Most are terrible, but he had been hurt�

�I�ll go,� I promise.

His grin is positively devilish. �Thank you, my dear.�

I gulp. What have I gotten myself into?

I leave Dad�s study. I guess I should be glad that he didn�t offer me a weapon or arm me in any way, but I have a few things on my person at all times and more weapons in the car.

Clover�s examining one of the paintings up close. He turns as I glide down the stairs, and his smile has me smiling.

�I have to go out to get something,� I murmur to him. I kiss his cheek. �You and my dad can become acquainted, just like you wanted, okay?�

His eyes widen.

�Don�t worry. Dad won�t do anything to you. Will you?� I raise my voice, knowing Dad can hear me.

He chuckles as he comes to stand near us. �I am an incubus, not a demon the likes of which you�ve heard nightmarish stories about. You have nothing to worry about, either of you.�

I stare at Dad curiously. He said he can�t get into Bethlehem. Why is that, and why does he think I�ll be able to?

I smile at them both, blow a kiss to Clover, which makes Dad growl, so I blow my boyfriend another kiss, and I�m off. My GPS tells me where to go. Bethlehem isn�t far away at all. Not even twenty minutes later, I�m in Bethlehem.

Almost immediately, just like in Allentown, there�s a car behind me. A police car.

Are you kidding me? Yes, at times, I have a lead foot. Who doesn't? But I'm not speeding.

Doesn�t matter. The lights go on.

Fangtastic.

I pull over, and a tall blonde strolls up to my car. I roll down the window.

�Is there a problem, Officer?� I ask.

�I�m a detective, actually,� she says, �and I don�t like to have your kind here.�

My nostrils flare. I�m seriously indignant over this until I recall that Bethlehem is a human city.

Which means there�s no reason why Dad shouldn�t have been able to come here.

But wait. How does she know what I am?

I blink my eyes a few times. "I don't know what you're referring to, but I'm pretty sure that profiling, like you seem to be doing by suggesting that I'm some 'kind' of something or other, isn't allowed. It's not legal."

�Cut the crap, Fangs,� she snaps.

�Who are you?� I stare at her. She looks human enough at first glance, but then I see a bit of darkness.

And light.

�Are you�� I gape, my mouth hanging wide open. I�m glad Clover isn�t here because it can�t possibly be a flattering look.

�What do you think I am?� she asks, her tone a bit curious now.

�Demon and angel, but��

She grins a bit before scowling. �Vampires aren�t welcome��

�Not all vampires are evil. I went to Magical Hunters Academy. I�m a paranormal hunter, if you must know.�

�That so?� She appraises me.

�Yeah, and I�m not a dead vampire either, if that makes any difference in your opinion.�

She doesn�t blink.

�Incubus dad, vampire mom��

The police detective is silent.

�I�m actually here because of my dad,� I say.

�Why?� she snaps, all attitude again.

�He got injured. You know anything about that?�

�No,� she says.

�How can I believe you? The moment I drive into your town, you harass me. How do I� You don�t leave Bethlehem much, do you?�

�On rare occasions, I do.�

�Have you lately?�

�I didn�t hurt your dad, Fangs.�

�It�s Calli,� I grumble. �Do you want me to call you Pig?�

To my surprise, she bursts out laughing. "I might like you. The jury's still out on that count, though."

�The jury�s going to come back with an innocent verdict. I�m not guilty of liking you,� I grumble.

�I swear I didn�t hurt him,� she says, all serious now. �Did he tell you what happened?�

�Like you want to get involved in demon� Do you? I mean, you are part demon.�

�Half demon,� she corrects. �Half and half.�

�A demon and an angel? I never would�ve thought��

"Yeah, well, imagine growing up thinking you're just a regular human adopted by loving parents. Witnessing a guy gnaw on a woman's jugular. Learning vamps, werewolves, and so many more are actually real. Talk about a mind trip."

�And you�re a cop, sorry, a detective to boot. I bet Bethlehem has to be one of the safest cities in the entire United States.�

"It didn't use to be. In fact, angels hated me for a while. They wanted avenge� I don't want to talk your ear off, but if you and your dad need help� I don't normally involve myself in outsider stuff, in angel or demon stuff, but�"

�Dad didn�t tell me much of anything,� I say. �Just that he can�t go into Bethlehem, and he wanted me to see if I could find out why.�

A slow grin spreads across her face. It irks me that I told her my name, but she still hasn�t told me hers.

�What�s the freaky smile for?� I grumble, put out.

�I�m just happy to learn demons can�t enter,� she says, smug as a bug in a rug.

�I guess that�s a good thing�� I shrug. �Why�s that?�

�A deal put in a few years ago.� She looks so very smug that I know she�s the reason behind the deal.

But who could have guaranteed her that no demons would ever be able to enter into the city?

A thought crosses my mind, and I�m seriously blown away.

She just smiles, smug as ever.

Lucifer? No way!

I stare at her with a vast amount of respect, but I'm also a bit unnerved. She's actually talked to Lucifer himself, and she survived.

And she made a deal with him.

She's either insane or ingenious, and I have a feeling it's the latter.

"I noticed no demons came here ever, but to know they can't�" Her smile is even wider now, but then she shakes her head and admits, "But lately, a few months ago, I noticed that there has been a serious uptick in crime."

"When exactly?" I ask, grabbing my phone out of my purse on the passenger seat.

�October fourteenth.�

�That�s a specific date,� I mutter as I do some digging, having a hunch. There�s no record on supes.com about when Dad bought that place. Maybe it�ll be on a human site? I�m just wondering about the timeline of it all.

�I pay strict attention to detail,� she says with a shrug. �I always felt guilty that I couldn�t encompass more than the protection, ah, bubble around just Bethlehem, but��

I can�t find anything, so I toss my phone on top of my purse. �I�ll see if it�s my dad,� I offer.

�Great!�

�On one condition,� I warn.

She doesn�t blink, doesn�t move, doesn�t react.

�Tell me your name.�

�Clarissa Garcia.�

�Was that so hard?� I ask sweetly.

�Suppose not,� she mutters. �I don�t like the idea of a demon overlord lurking in Allentown.�

�He can�t get into Bethlehem.�

�I know, but if he realizes that, if others try��

�I don�t think you have to worry,� I say dryly. �Not if he�s on your side.�

�I wouldn�t go that far,� she mutters before shaking her head. �I�m worried about the people in Allentown.�

�Me too. Dad�s always been in paranormal cities before, not a human one. I�ll see what I can do. I�m not sure he is behind the uptick in crimes, but�� I shrug.

�Thank you, Calli.�

I wink at her. �Maybe try not to stake all vampires as soon as one crossing into your city?�

�Who said anything about a stake?� she asks dryly, brushing aside her arm to reveal her gun in its holster.

I smirk and then nod slowly. �Not regular bullets, huh?�

�Nope. I know how to take down vamps,� she says grimly. �You know how it goes, being a paranormal hunter.�

�You never attended the academy, did you?�

�No.�

�Might want to find an angel� and a demon�a decent one�which means not my dad�to mentor you so you can use your powers.�

�Who says I don�t have an angel mentor?� she asks coolly.

�You don�t have a demonic one, do you? Since a demon can�t enter your city.�

�Touch�. Your dad�s not a good one, huh?�

�Well, maybe better than most? Maybe not, if he�s� I�ll find out what he�s doing.�

She hands me a card. "Keep me informed, please. Allentown might not be my judication, but that doesn�t mean I want the people there to suffer.�

I shove her card into my purse and back out of there. I'm not sure how Dad will handle the news that Bethlehem is off-limits, but I can tell why he might've wanted to be as close to the city as he can handle. Bethlehem might be a human town, the detective aside, but there�s magic there. Even I can sense it.

When I return to Dad�s house, I hesitate in the car, trying to think about how to handle all of this. I�m still not sure when I force myself out of the car and up and into the house, the door again creepily opening for me and shutting behind me this time.

The scent of something sweet and possibly Italian, given the spices I'm smelling, draws me to the kitchen. A woman is cooking, and she takes one look at me and points through the door. I enter the dining room to see my dad and boyfriend sitting there, talking, playing a card game.

Seriously? That's how he entertained Clover? I guess I should be happy about that. Could've been much worse.

�Clover, why don�t you head into the cellar there and pick out a bottle of wine for us to imbibe with our meal?�

�Of course. Calli.� Clover grins at me and squeezes my shoulder as he walks past me.

The moment he�s out of sight, Dad rushes over to me. He can move as fast as a vampire can, maybe even faster. �Well?� he demands.

Sometimes, honesty is the best policy.

�Demons can�t enter the city,� I murmur.

�But you can,� he presses.

�Yes. It seems like a nice city. A bit boring. Why would a demon even want to go there?�

His nostrils flare. �You��

�Especially when the demon can do as he pleases here when there�s no one but humans all around. Dad, why are you even here? What do you want? This isn�t like you.�

�Do you even know what I�m like anymore?� he grumbles. �I give you gifts all the time, and you spurn them all.�

�Not all of them,� I protest.

�Ah, yes, the car. The one normal, traditional, boring gift. That�s the only one you appreciate when I have given you some potions that take years to make.�

�Years?�

�That one I gave you that will kill all of your enemies? That�s all of them. Even future ones.�

�You mean��

He nods. �They won�t even be born.�

Oh, man. I�m going to be sick.

Somehow, despite my churning stomach, I�m able to enjoy the meal, various Italian dishes. Given that I�m a living vampire, I can eat, but I don�t require a lot, and Dad has himself and Clover drink the wine my boyfriend picked out, but for my drink, he makes a blood mimosa. It�s delicious, the drink and the food.

Afterward, we retire to a parlor, and Dad begins to tell all kinds of stories, most of which I don�t prefer to hear. He then excuses himself for the night, and I grab Clover�s hand.

�I don�t think we�� he starts.

�I need you to distract my dad.�

�Why?�

�Please? I�ll make it worth your while.�

�You�ll babysit my sisters with me? My parents have been asking, and��

�Of course.�

I almost laugh. He�s so easy to please sometimes. He could�ve asked for anything, and I would�ve agreed. I�m not desperate. And that�s all he wants.

Clover goes to kiss me and then only presses his lips to my forehead.

He�s utterly ridiculous. I do laugh as he leaves, and I wait until I can hear my dad and boyfriend talking to start to make my move. Clover, the genius that he is, is asking Dad for a tour of the outside of the house. It�s dark out, as it�s winter, but Clover�s a dryad. He can see by pulling the light from within trees and nature, and demons can see in the dark. Who knows? Maybe they can see better in the dark than during the day.

Once I hear the back door latch shut, I race to Dad�s study. Considering he brought me in here before, I�m not sure if there�s anything of note to find. Or maybe hubris would�ve had him delighted to have me in there when there was damaging information about him lurking about? Who knows?

But I find nothing at all, and I�m about ready to see if he has an office or another study considering how many rooms this place must have when the door bangs open, thudding against the wall.

�What are you doing?� my dad booms, his voice rolling like thunder.

�I��

�Out!� he roars.

Clover looks at me apologetically from just to the right of Dad�s shoulder, and then, I�m whisked away.

Dad banished me.

I�m standing in front of HEX Unite.

Not Hell, at least.

Clover�s beside me, and I glance over to the parking lot. Dad even sent my car back.

Well, there�s that, but if Dad thinks I�m going to be so easily corralled, he doesn�t know his precious little girl at all.

I turn to Clover with a wide smile. �Clover, dear, I need to go back. Now.�

�Calli, I have no idea what�s going on, but� ah� Your dad doesn�t want us around.�

�Oh, we aren�t going to see him,� I assure Clover.

At least, the plan is to not see my dad.

�Then why go back?� Clover asks, clearly baffled. �You need to start explaining things.�

�My dad�s an incubus,� I remind him. �He�s a specific kind of demon, but he�s a demon, and he�s up to no good in Allentown. It�s a human city. You know it is.�

�Yes, but��

�The people there are innocent, and if Dad�s doing anything to hurt them��

�Don�t you trust HEX Unite to handle things like this? Do you really want to take down your dad?�

�I would rather do it myself than let someone else do it. If you won�t go with me��

�I don�t think this is the smartest idea,� Clover says firmly, �but I won�t let you go alone.�

�Well, I wasn�t sure that seeing my dad in the first place was the smartest of ideas.�

Clover draws back, obviously hurt. �I wanted to meet your father. You didn�t want to take me to ever meet your parents, did you?�

�Clover, honey.� I take his hands into mine, but he yanks his hands free.

�You can�t take anything seriously, can you?�

I laugh, amused, not injured at all by what some might perceive as a slight. "Clover, we've been on how many assignments together? You know that's not true. Just because I'm choosing to make the innocent people of Allentown, Pennsylvania a priority doesn't mean that I don't also choose you. It's my parents I didn't get to choose. Sometimes, family isn't all lovey-dovey, gooey, and all that jazz. It�s complicated and messy and even bloody at times. Your parents are married. They had many kids. My parents? Yeah� Most of the time, they don�t even like each other. It�s a good thing they never married.�

He�s silent.

�I wanted to protect you from them. My parents aren�t normal. Not even in the paranormal sense of things.�

Clover nods curtly.

�We, ah, need to use fairy dust to get back,� I murmur.

�Great.�

"And we'll need�" I fish in my purse. I have some witchy friends, including one of the most powerful witches on the earth�Mirella Sharpe�and she's given me plenty of stuff over the years that I actually use, including this.

I brandish a potion and sprinkle it over us. Now, no one, not even my dad or any demon, will be able to tell that we aren�t human, not even if they�re standing right in front of us.

�Just what are we going to be doing?� Clover asks. �Do I even want to know?�

�Trust me, darlin�,� I drawl. �You really don�t want to know.�

Two days. That�s all the time it takes me to put the pieces together.

My dad's a demon, all right. I've known that, but when you think of incubus, you think of a particular urging, right? You don't think they would be into other demonic-type things like lust for power and craving influence and all of that fangtastic stuff.

But Dad�s no different from the rest of them. There�s a huge paranormal contingent in Allentown despite it being a human city, and I manage to ensnare a very young, nearly turned vampire away from his nest to twist some secrets out of him. No, not by using any tricks an incubus would teach his daughter. Just by making him fall for me. Maybe using a bit of influence too. Vampires can compel humans to do things for them, control them a bit. Well, to some extent, the more powerful living vampires can do the same thing over bitten vampires, and that�s what I leverage.

And that�s when I realize that my greatest fear has come true. Combining that now-dead vampire�s stories with the little bit that I gleaned from what I saw in my dad's study leave me with one conclusion.

My dad is basically the head of a paranormal mafia.

The realization has me turning to Clover. �It all fits, doesn�t it?� I demand.

�Well��

"Come on. You're logical. That's all you are. I mean, you're part tree. You have to be logical. You see roots. You can follow them along to the tree. Doesn't matter how long the roots have grown away from the trunk.�

�Your father distinctly doesn�t have any roots,� he points out.

I huff a sigh. We�re in an alley in the poorer section of the city. That�s where the paranormal activity of Allentown has been. It�s not a shock. Dad is going to want the stuff to occur farther away from him, but I don�t know what exactly he�s after or what he�s aiming to have.

�What do you think we should do?� I murmur to Clover.

�We should return to HEX Unite. Maybe your father wants to be stopped. Maybe that�s why he sent��

�No. I bet he doesn�t know where I live currently, so he couldn�t send me home.� I shake my head.

�Why doesn�t he know where you live?�

I just give him a look.

�Right,� he mumbles.

�Look, it�s getting late. Why don�t you head on over to that restaurant you were eyeing earlier today?�

�You noticed that?� he asks.

�I don�t miss much.�

�I�ve noticed.�

I narrow my eyes at him. �Why do are you making it sound like that�s a bad thing?�

�Maybe because it�s indeterminate whether or not that is favorable.�

I huff a sigh. �Sometimes, you frustrate me.�

�As if you�re wanting to be here and sneak around like this when we�re supposed to be on vacation��

�We were supposed to be meeting my dad,� I say, trying to temper my rising anger.

�We did meet him.�

�And we uncovered that he�s a mafia leader!� I hiss in the loudest whisper ever. �Do you really want us to just abandon��

�I never once said we should abandon them. I said we should go to HEX Unite��

�Clearly, the oracles haven�t noticed what my dad is up to, or else maybe they�re waiting for him to kill someone. I don�t know, but do you really want to wait until something that drastic happens? Seriously, Clover, if you�re willing to just walk away��

�I never said I wanted to walk away!� he fumes.

It takes a lot to anger a dryad. Normally, it involves trees or the forest or something with nature.

I take a deep breath. �Clover, I just��

"I do care about the people. For this, it's far too personal for you, Calli. You can't see reason. Your father has moved how many vampires to Allentown? We don�t know why, and��

�That�s just it. If we can find out why��

�You shouldn�t have called that vampire.� Clover glares at me.

�I could tell that Dad was influencing the vampire, just like I was, and if Dad found out� We can�t make a move against him if he suspects that something is amiss. I didn�t want to kill him, but by his own admission, he committed enough crimes even before my dad recruited him that the higher-ups at HEX Unite wouldn�t bat an eye that he was dead.�

"They would've sent a paranormal slayer at the most. Most likely hunters," he argues.

�A slayer would�ve had to kill him. He would�ve resisted.�

�Like he resisted your influence?� Clover�s tone is cool.

I lick my lips and nod a few times. �You should maybe take a walk, yeah?�

�Fine.�

He storms off, and I close my eyes and lean against the concrete building. I can�t believe we�re fighting, that we aren�t on the same page. I mean, yes, I realize this is dangerous, but our work, our field, everything we do is dangerous. There have been paranormal hunters who have died in the field. This situation is terrible.

Oh, I just thought of a point to make to Clover. This is a human city. Maybe the oracles aren�t looking at human cities as closely as paranormal ones. That might explain why all of this has been overlooked.

I rub a hand down my face. I should go and see Clover, apologize, make amends. We aren�t going to get through this if we don�t stay together.

But this is Allentown. Right when I�m about to use my vampire speed to take off after him, I recall this fact and sigh and take one step when all around me, a fog descends.

They creep out of the shadows, the vampires. Bright red, inhumane eyes stare at me, and they don�t hesitate to launch themselves at me, snarling, fangs ready.

But I�m a vampire, one with serious training. I grab the nearest vampire by the throat and slam his body to the side to knock over the next one. With my other hand, I yank out a short silver-bladed poignard, reverse grip, blade out that I slice against the next one's throat. Blood oozes out. He hasn't fed recently, or else he would have more blood. Clearly a turned vampire rather than a living one.

I flip up the poignard, changing the grip to hammer, and I stab before flipping it again to saber in time to ward off a dagger thrust. The lightweight thrusting knife slices through their skin easily, but for the most part, I�m only making superficial wounds that they�re healing from.

Should�ve coated it in juniper. The poison would�ve helped to slow them down and made it easier to kill them.

Two go down and stay down, but four more join the fight. There's almost ten, no a dozen. A full dozen is fighting me, and I'm furious. My dad, did he send them?

But I don�t ask. I don�t want to know. I just slice and attack and even use my fangs when I have to. By the time I�m done, they�re all dead, and I�m the only one left standing.

From my purse, I remove a small vial Mirella made for me. I kick and shove the dead vampire bodies together and then slam the vial onto the back of the topmost vampire.

Blue and purple flames engulf the bodies. Within a few minutes, the bodies will be entirely gone. Human forensics will find nothing at all.

Seriously. When will people learn you don�t mess with Calli Cruorem?

After cleaning my blade and tucking it away and brushing my hands through my hair, I check my appearance, using my cell�s camera as a mirror. Humans shouldn�t react to the sight of me, and although I can still smell blood, none is visible on my person.

With a sigh, I leave the alley and head toward that restaurant I mentioned to Clover. If he�s not there, I�ll call him, but as I approach, he leaves, holding a large bag.

�Hungry?� he asks, lifting the bag.

�Thirsty actually,� I murmur, licking my lips.

He grimaces.

�I�m sorry, but a� Yeah.�

�I know,� he mumbles.

Wordlessly, we head to the rundown motel we're staying in. It's cheap, which is what I need. My dad's a demon, yes, and he's flush with cash, but I'm not. I wouldn't say I'm poor. Paranormal hunters make decent money, but slayers make a lot more, and executioners, by far, make the most.

From the motel room fridge, I remove a bag of blood. It�s not from a blood bank. We can�t drink that blood. I think it�s because of the preservatives they add. This blood is from a person who I found bleeding in an alley a few days ago. I helped myself and took some for later before healing the person, wiping their memory before letting them go. I don�t prefer to do things that way. The drinking blood thing is something I wish I didn�t have to deal with, but I can�t fight what I am, and if that disgusts Clover, then we won�t work out for the long haul.

After I drink, I end up having some of the food. Whenever I open my mouth to apologize to Clover, I instead shove another bite into my mouth. Cowardly? Maybe, but I wasn�t entirely in the wrong.

Maybe he wasn�t either.

The food�a wonderful variety of Chinese confections that are all delicious and tantalizing�is more than enough food to last us a week. As I start to pack up the leftovers, Clover sniffs.

�Calli��

�Yes?�

�What happened?�

�We have to deal with Dad.�

�So you say but��

I wait until I put everything in the fridge and turn to face him. �Vampires attacked me.�

His look can only be summed up as wait wut.

�I�m fine, and they�re dead.� I shrug one shoulder. �I did what I had to do.�

�I� don�t object to that, but, Calli, that�s serious.�

�I know.� I grin. �Don�t worry. I have a plan.�

He waits.

I�ve seen enough mafia movies to know what we have to do.

�The best way to get back at a mafia boss is to strike a deal, but to do that, I need leverage.� I wave my phone at him and promptly call my mom.

�What are you doing?� Clover asks.

�Calli?� Mom answers.

�Mom, hi!� I hold up a finger to Clover. �I need your help.�

�Money?�

�No.�

�Advice? Boy troubles?�

I just drank blood, plus I'm a living vampire, so I have some of my own blood means that my cheeks are probably bright red right now. Fangtastic.

�No, not� Kind of. Mom, why are you fighting with Dad?�

�Because he�s gone over the line. Wait. Why did you want to know where I was before?�

�I wanted you to meet my boyfriend.�

�Oh, sweetie, you should�ve said! I�Wait. Does that mean you went to see your father? With your boyfriend? Oh, dear. I thought I raised you to be smart.�

�I didn�t think it would be a good idea, and it�s not. Do you know what exactly he�s up to?�

�No. Not all of it, and I don�t want to. You shouldn�t want to.�

�Too late. I�m involved. So� I need leverage on Dad. Will you help?�

She huffs a sigh. �I shouldn�t.�

�Mom, please.�

She�s silent.

I know that if I mention the attack, she won�t help me. She�ll try to take Dad down herself, and I don�t want that.

�I don�t necessarily want to stop Dad forever. Just get him out of Allentown.�

�Then keep him busy.�

�How?�

�Give him something that he wants.�

�Such as��

�What do all demons want?�

�Well, incubi want��

�I said demons, not incubi.�

�Right. Ah, a soul.�

�Yes. And what kind of soul would your father think is a prime, ripe one? One he could show off to his demonic friends?�

�Ah� do they do that?� I ask doubtfully.

�For being half-demon, you don�t know enough about that side of yourself. Not that I�m complaining, but��

�Mom, stop rambling.�

�Don�t lecture me, Mom,� she returns with a laugh.

I don't laugh because she's not funny. Not in the slightest. This is serious.

�What kind of soul?� she pries.

�I can�t believe you�re turning this into a teaching moment,� I grumble.

�Any guesses?�

�An angel.�

Right? Come on. A demon has to want to corrupt an angel. They�re each other�s worst enemies.

�Nope,� Mom says cheerfully.

�Um� a valkyrie?�

�Think darker.�

�Really?�

I can see Mom nodding. �Demons prefer darkness, prefer to surround themselves with like, but they also turn against each other very quickly.�

�So another demon.�

�Not quite. Try for a drekavac.�

�A drekavac?�

�When you die, your soul goes to Heaven or Hell, or you can become a ghost� but particularly sinful men� their souls can twist into a drekavac."

�Great.�

"When you find one, do not allow its shadow to fall on you, or else you might fall sick and die."

I blink a few times.

�They avoid dogs and bright lights and are only active at night.�

�What do they look like?� I croak.

�Well, some say that they rise out of the grave at night and look like a cross between a vampire and a zombie.�

�Seriously?�

�Some say that they have a cat-like head with a long neck and long legs.�

I blink some more.

�Some say they only have one leg and eyes that glow.�

�Thanks. Ah, any idea where I can find one?�

�Nope,� Mom says cheerfully. �I have to get going. Good luck! Bye!�

Fangtastic.

One day later, Clover gripes my head, staring into my eyes. �Are you sure about this? It�s not too late to back out of this.�

�I�m sure.�

�But this is crazy.�

�I know.�

�We could get in a lot of trouble for this.�

�I know that, too, but we might save a lot of lives, and to me, that�s worth it.�

He shakes his head as he drops his hands. �You�re crazy, you know that? You want to fight with words.�

�And barter a soul.�

�Making a deal with the devil,� he grumbles.

�Not the devil. A demon and not just any demon. My dad. Maybe he doesn�t know what the vampires did.�

�Maybe he sent those vampires after you!�

�All the more reason for me to face him.�

�You�re crazy.�

My nostrils flare. I've been called that many times. A blond, preppy vampire? I'm not a normal vampire. "Normal" vampires tend to be more goth. They don't tend to wear bright colors and fashionable clothes like I do. I�ve been called names before, but I�ve never let that bother me. I�m sure some people will think I�m not comfortable in my skin because of the makeup I wear, but that�s not true at all. I know who I am, and I�m more than just a living vampire. I�m Calli.

�I�m sorry,� Clover says.

�I am too,� I return, but neither of us says what we�re sorry for.

I called in a favor from an oracle named Ginevra. She wanted the name and number of a barbarian. I never did ask why she didn�t just use her magic to find out, but I had no qualms going up to the guy and asking for his information.

Ginevra looked up a drekavac for me. While she handled that, I did a bunch of research on the creatures. Surprisingly, they are vulnerable to fire. Some demons can�t handle the heat, I guess. Not that they�re exactly demons. Maybe a type of demon? A dark soul regardless.

It just so happens that I have a potion in my possession�again, from Mirella�that will make me temporarily immune to fire, fire being a major weakness of vampires and all.

As soon as she gave me the details on the drekavac, his name, I was able to look up where he�s from, where he haunts, and I left a message for him in blood to call me.

I just got off the phone with him, telling him about the potion and how I�ll give it to him after we have a little chat.

�You sure he�ll come?� Clover asks.

�Yes. Just be ready with the fairy dust, okay? If this goes sideways��

�It�s going to.�

�It won�t. The power of positive thinking can�t be understated.�

�What kind of a vampire are you?� he wonders aloud.

I wink. �One of a kind.�

�When did you set up the meeting?�

I glance at my left, watchless wrist. �Ten minutes. Let�s go.�

He falls into step beside me, and five minutes later, we head to my dad�s place. This time, the door doesn�t open for us. I turn to smirk at Clover. It�s as if we�re not invited, but I just use my vampire strength to break the knob, and we�re inside.

We stroll inside, and Dad�s in front of me, his chest heaving. �Callidora Cruorem, you will��

�I have a present for you.�

He tilts his head to the side.

�Besides, you promised you a gift.�

�Your gift is that I do not kill you right here and now.�

�And not see your surprise?� I lift my hand.

As if on cue, the drekavac appears. He�s standing next to me, a twisted-looking monster, a cross between a vampire and a zombie all right, with a long neck, long legs, and glowing eyes. It glances all around, its piercing gaze falling on me, and before it can do anything, I snap magic-dampening cuffs onto its wrist.

While I spoke with Ginevra and hunted down the drekavac, Clover secured the cuffs.

I beam at my father. �This here is for you. You want, don�t you?�

Dad walks around the creature. The drekavac is snarling, grunting, hissing, making all kinds of animalistic noises. He tries to jerk away from me, but I'm too strong to allow that.

Slowly, Dad circles around us twice before coming to stand across from the drekavac. Without turning his head, Dad stares at me.

�What do you want in exchange?� he utters.

I swallow hard and glance at Clover. He nods.

I have no idea what Dad will want from the drekavac, but it�s already soul. Not only that, but the creature would�ve been locked away in Magical Prison or possibly killed for the crimes it committed. If Dad kills him, at least he wouldn�t be killing an innocent.

That�s who I have to keep in mind�the innocents in Allentown.

�I know I won�t get what I really want,� I state firmly.

�And that is?�

�For you to step down as a mafia leader here and elsewhere.�

Dad bursts out laughing. It takes a good five minutes for him to stop laughing. During the middle of it, the drekavac tries to jerk away, but I flash my fangs, and it settles sullenly.

�Try again.� Dad flashes his own teeth.

�Leave Allentown and never return.�

His nostrils flare.

�You can have this�� I tilt my head to the drekavac.

�You promised me�� the creature whines.

I reach inside the pocket of my trench coat and shove the vial into its clawed-fingered hands.

�Well, Dad?� I ask, my heart pounding.

�Why do you wish to give this creature to me?� Dad asks. He licks his lip. �His soul will be� delicious� but��

�I want to save Allentown,� I snap. �The people shouldn�t have to live in fear of the monsters they don�t even know exist. If one of them had been attacked like I had been��

�You� Who attacked you?� Dad glowers.

Dad�s a demon, but he has never lied to me. He might be cagey and say nothing, but he�ll only ever lie through omission.

�That wasn�t you?�

�No,� he growls. �Of course not. I should� How can you even think that of me? Who hurt you? I will tear them from limb to limb!�

I giggle. �Oh, they didn�t hurt me, and they�re all dead.�

Dad straightens and beams. �That�s my girl. But who?�

�Vampires.�

�I only used a few� The rest moved in on their own, but the city will be entirely cleared out of vampires. You have my word.�

�By when?� I ask.

�The end of the week.�

I make a scoffing sound more to kid than anything, and Dad winks.

�Fine. Before sunrise.� He softens a bit for once and nods a few times. �You understand me better than I thought you would.�

�Maybe I had some help.�

His face darkens a bit. �Your mother.�

�What happened between you two?� I ask. �Sometimes, you�re friendly, but you always end up fighting and at odds��

Dad ignores me and turns to Clover. �Love and hate go hand in hand. If you truly love a person, you will see through their flaws to who they are inside, but who they are inside can change. Women can be difficult, trying, vexing creatures, but we put up with them because they can also be stunning, thrilling, intelligent almost beyond their own good.� He grunts. �You are my daughter, Calli, blond hair, makeup, and all.� He kisses my forehead, takes the drekavac from me, and they disappear.

�You wanted to meet my dad. You did. What do you say about us getting out of here?� I announce.

I don�t know about Clover, but I need a vacation from that vacation. My heart still pounds when I think of it, but we�ve left my dad�s house.

�Do you want to use fairy dust?� Clover asks.

�Nah.� I shake my head as I loop our arms together. �Er, not yet. Let me get us an Uber.�

�For where?�

�This one place I heard about. It�s in Hellertown.�

Not thirty minutes later, we�re sitting at a booth inside Hellertown Crossroads Hotel. The wood everywhere is glorious, but the enormous blue fish hanging on the back wall is distracting. I�m not sure what kind of fish it is, but it has a huge, long mouth.

�What will you have?� a pleasant waitress asks with a smile. She doesn�t hold a pad and pen. I like waitresses who are confident enough to remember orders. It�s not like ours is going to be a hard one.

�Two cheesesteaks with two French fries,� I order for us.

�To drink?�

�Two Cokes,� Clover says.

�I�ll bring out a pitcher,� she says. �Pickles okay on your cheesesteaks?�

�Yes,� Clover says.

�No,� I say at the same time.

She laughs and walks away as Clover and I smile at each other.

�I�m sorry,� we say at the same time.

�You handle yourself well,� Clover says. �I should�ve trusted me.�

�I don�t want you to doubt me, and it was a family matter, so, yes, I�ll admit that maybe I wasn�t making the safest decisions.�

�Or the smartest,� he cuts in.

I grimace.

�Sorry.� He grins and holds out his hands. �Do you think we�ll be reprimanded about the drekavac?�

�I don�t think so.� I swallow hard. �What if Dad does something to the drekavac that causes the oracles to take notice of him?�

�That�s out of our hands, but Allentown is safe at least. That�s what you wanted.�

�Yes.�

�And your dad didn�t seem displeased at all.�

�No.� I hesitate.

The waitress brings out a pitcher of water and fills our glasses. The water is cold and refreshing.

I clear my throat. �You don�t think that was too easy, do you?�

�You�re being paranoid. I think your dad really does love you as much as he can. Maybe he even loves your mom.�

�Oh, I don�t know if an incubus can be happy with any one woman.�

�Do you� Do you have a lot of half-siblings?� he asks.

I wince. �None that I know of. I asked Dad once, and he says that he has ways of making it so a woman doesn�t get pregnant.�

�Ah. Well, then, does that mean you were planned?�

�This conversation is so awkward!� I burst out laughing.

�So you don�t know.�

�Ah� I asked my mom.�

�And?�

�Yes. They thought about getting married. Incubi don�t typically. Dad got cold feet and cheated on her, so they didn�t, but they did raise me together for five years. They would be loving one day and at each other�s throats the next, and they had a terrible fight, and Dad left. He came back around every three, four months or so.�

We�re quiet, and then our food comes, and we eat. The fries are hot and crispy, and the cheesesteak is delicious. The blended cheese on top is my favorite part, and juice falls out from the bottom of the roll onto the paper wrapper the cheesesteak had been served in.

Even though I normally would only eat about half a meal, I eat all of it and most of the fries too.

We pay for the meal in cash and walk out of there. I found some in my pocket and have to think Dad somehow put it there sometimes. When I was little, I used to think he was a magician.

Crossroads is on Main Street, and we turn the corner onto East High Street and then another corner to Oliver Street. I lean against Clover, my head on his shoulder.

�You mentioned to your dad that he owed you a favor,� Clover says.

�Mmm hmm.�

�I honestly think that favor would�ve been enough for him to leave.�

�Maybe if I had done it before he found out about my sneaking into his study and snooping, but�" I shake my head, nuzzling against him, stopping in the street that�s turning more into an alley. �You have too much faith in him.�

�No. That�s how much he loves you.�

�You really think so.�

�I might know a thing or two about falling in love with you.�

I suck in a breath. Yes, we�ve been dating for a year now, but we haven�t said the �L� word yet.

�Do you mean to say��

�Yes. I love you, Calli.�

�I love you too, Clover.�

He ducks to kiss me, but I sprinkle us with fairy dust, so we're standing outside of my house. Clover doesn't seem to realize and gently presses his lips to mind. When he draws back, he glances around and does a double take.

�Maybe we just have to kiss each time we use fairy dust,� I say mischievously.

�I can get behind that.�

Giggling, I pull him close, tugging his head down for another kiss. I�m not sure what Dad planned or has in store for the drekavac, but his actions are on him, and at least the people in Allentown are safe. Maybe Dad will start to think twice, and if not, maybe he does love me enough that if I ask, he�ll try to change and do better. Who knows? Maybe if that happens, he and Mom can reconcile, and maybe there will be wedding bells for them after all.

The future is limitless, filled with possibilities and hope and dreams and, yes, love too. I can�t wait to see what tomorrow holds in store for us all.

�Come on, Clover,� I say, reaching for his hand. �Let�s go for a walk.�

�And talk?�

�Of course.�

�One of these days, we�re going to run out of things to talk about,� he warns.

�I doubt that very much.�

We laugh and go on our way, and I couldn�t be happier.

Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! This story is a mini continuation of the Magical Hunters Academy Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07TMJHHPD?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1, a part of my Mayhem of Magic World. Want to read the interconnected stories from the start? Then read the completed Bedlam in Bethlehem Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CK7SB1V?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1.

Nicole Zoltack is a USA Today bestselling author who loves to write romances. Of course. She did marry her first kiss, after all!

When she�s not writing about knights, superheroes, or witches, she enjoys spending time with her loving husband, three energetic young boys, and precious baby girl. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they�re unicorns, of course!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire dressed in garb. She�ll also read anything she can get her hands on. Her current favorite TV shows are Game of Thrones and Stranger Things.

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Bedlam in Bethlehem Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CK7SB1V?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Magical Hunters Academy Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07TMJHHPD?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Blood Haven Academy Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B08GL1FWLY?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Moonstone Academy Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B08KTKK8RW?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Magical Prison Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B08C31633H?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Rebel, Supernatural Bounty Hunters Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B088TQ8N6F?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

HEX Unite Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B08VQSNKYQ?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Age of Dragons Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B081D63WF1?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Once Upon a Darkened Night Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B075R9MY13?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

The Queenmaker Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MPBP2SG?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

The Winged Beast Chronicles�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07P5VXVNF?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Magic Incarnate Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07F7MYLJX?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

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Nicole Zoltack writing as N. M. Zoltack

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In the Eye of the Dragon Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07SRDHMTM?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Nicole Zoltack writing as Nicole Beyer

Magical Awakening Series�https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07D33LX3B?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

�What the hell? I swear I�m gonna die.� It would be any moment now�I could feel it. This damn curse was a bucket of suck ass. You�d think being a witch I�d be able to do something about it. A potion? Anything? But no.

I clutched my stomach and curled into the fetal position. Counting backward, thinking of something else�nothing was fucking working. And I had no idea why this was so freaking bad right now. I was only twenty-three for shit�s sake. It�d never felt like I was being ripped to shreds from the inside. Something was terribly wrong.

The wind howled, sounding like an oncoming train barreling through town, and thunder clapped loudly as lightning whipped across the night sky. Huge tree branches from the neighbor�s oak smacked against my window, and I thought for sure they�d crash right through at any moment. Just awesome. A storm raged all around me, and I couldn�t get up off my godforsaken floor.

What kind of witch had almost no powers to speak of? Yeah, that�d be me: Harlow Bishop. Last name sound familiar? It should. Because I came from a long line of witches, and I belonged to the Salem Coven�the one that�d been around since before the Salem Witch Trials. Those Puritan bastards hadn�t even killed witches, they�d killed humans, while my ancestors had gone into hiding, cursing the families of those responsible for murdering innocents.

So, how was a Bishop witch borne into this sacred coven with only a spark of elemental power? Your guess would be as good as mine. And by a spark, I mean maybe lighting a match. Maybe, on a good day. My parents, Gilda and Reginald had basically shunned me as their daughter, while my younger sister Annabelle was the perfect child in every way. They never let me forget it, either. Needless to say, my familial relationship was somewhat strained on the best of days.

Lying on the stained black-and-white linoleum floor of my shitty studio apartment, I rolled to the side again, and an idea sparked. Pun totally intended, since my magic was craptastic. If I could get my hands on the coven�s Book of Shadows, then maybe, just maybe I could get rid of this curse. At least the curse of Aunt Flow. She was a real bitch. Yeah, it seemed like a stupid idea, but if anybody knew of the pain flowing through my body, they�d do anything to make it stop. I could barely lift myself up to grab my cell from my bedside table. If not the book, then I�d have to wing it. And seriously, nobody wanted that.

�Jemma.� I struggled to say, and it autodialed. Thank the gods and goddesses for Smartphones.

�Hey, Harlow. What�s��

�Jemma, I� need your help.� I cut her off in a breathless stammer, getting straight to the point.

�Um, Har, you sound like shit. What�s going on?�

�Get Frankie, and�son of a bitch.� I slammed my hands against the floor, embracing the excruciating agony exploding throughout my lower abdomen�and suddenly, the lights in my makeshift bedroom flickered, while the candles on my dresser ignited of their own accord. Um� that was new. And just what the fuck?

The flames grew to at least two feet.

Holy. Shit.

What was happening to me? Was this some sort of wacked-out poltergeist fuckery? I so did not need this right now.

�Harlow! Are you all right? I�m on my way over.�

�No. I mean, no.� I breathed heavily like I was in a Lamaze class. This was freaking insane. Somebody had to be playing a magical prank on me. Oh, paybacks were a bitch. �Please�just listen.� I inhaled a sharp breath as another wave of pain blanketed over me. This was not normal. �I need you and Frankie to go through the Book of Shadows from the altar room. Look up the spell for the Blood Curse�it�s near the back�snap a picture.� I paused, taking another shuddering breath. �In and out so you�re not caught.�

I�d seen it a few times in the past when the coven leader, Nannette, had attempted to teach me the basics of using the elements: earth, wind, air, fire, and water. It was supposed to be a simple spell. So simple that she�d cast me aside as unteachable after only a few weeks.

Yep, that was my life. Only a spark of fire after I�d damn near cut my finger off in Potions and Herbs class. Don�t ask� And that�d been when my parents had essentially disowned me from their �prominent� magical line.

�Why the Blood Curse spell?�

Why did she have to ask so many damn questions? �Jemma, I don�t have time to�holy mother of�!� My shriek was interrupted when the electricity blinked off, and I cried out again�if this was what labor felt like, I doubted I�d ever have kids�and the angry storm picked up outside. �Please, just�get the damn spell,� I panted. �It�s the only thing� I know� I think�that can make this go away.� Words were getting harder.

�Whatever you say, Har. Be there soon.�

I ended the call without saying goodbye and threw my head back against the floor, dark-brown hair clinging to my sweaty face. This sucked balls.

Then, in the span of less than a minute, orange and blue flames danced across my fingertips and rested within my palms. My eyes felt like they�d bulged from their sockets. I blinked several times to make sure I wasn�t hallucinating.

Nope. Not hallucinating.

Not even a little.

I. Freaking. Produced. Fire. From. My. Hands.

What in the actual hell?

And it didn�t seem like a fluke.

My mouth fell open, and I just stared, bringing my blazing hands to my face. I�d created fire magic.

In my entire life, nothing like this had ever happened before.

Closing my eyes, I willed the fire and misery away. I didn�t know if I had enough time to wait for Jemma and Frankie. Everything around me grew fiercer and more demanding: the storm, the surging of electricity, and though I�d been a bit dramatic before, I was sure something was going to happen now. Something that would definitely harm me. A growing sense of foreboding washed over my entire body, and I could feel it in my bones, streaming from my marrow as if it were a tangible tether.

I knew in my gut I would die or wish I were dead if I didn�t cast a spell�any spell.

Thinking back to the meager training I�d received by the coven, I recalled an incantation for getting rid of blood, pain, and healing cuts. I wondered if I tweaked it a little if it would at least alleviate this torture and whatever the hell I was bringing down around me.

Harsh winds and heavy rain battered against the windowpanes, and when I glanced up, the oak tree seemed to be bending to the elements will. The weather was out of control!

Screw it. No time for tweaking. I only hoped I got the damn thing right.

Picturing the Book of Shadows in my mind�s eye and trying my damndest to suck up the almost unbearable throbbing in my abdomen, I recited the spell as best I could from memory:

�Blood to blood,

Life for life.

Remove the curse of nature�s blight.

By the elements of earth, air, water, and fire,

Make it right.�

All the lightbulbs shattered in my bedroom and the windows flew open, the storm outside erupting into a crescendo. My body began to levitate from the floor as bright-white light burst from my pores like that of the sun�s rays. Open-mouthed and in shock, I stared, watching as the spell did its business. I mean, I thought I was casting a blood spell, not a light show, but whatever.

No sooner than the thought crossed my mind did my body slam onto the floor, hard, knocking me into oblivion. The last thing I heard was the sound of my windows banging closed.

Then it was lights out for me.

�Boss, what the hell�s goin�?� I heard my consigliere as his speech was cut off, and I turned in my seat to see his face draining of all color.

�Nicky, you all right?� I snatched the disoriented human woman from his lap and gently set her on the opposite side of the booth. His eyes were rolling back in his head, and he started foaming at the mouth.

What the fuck? Had he been poisoned by bad blood? We screened all willing donors who came to our club, Crimson Inferno�it was mandatory!

�Nicky!� I slapped his face a few times, but he just groaned, and his huge body slumped in his seat. Upon closer inspection, I could see his face had become ashen, like he hadn�t fed in weeks. Like there wasn�t a bit of blood coursing through his body.

Standing from my crouched position and glancing around the club, I noticed Nicky wasn�t the only one. My whole fucking family seemed to be drained of blood. How was that possible? I fisted my hands at my sides, rage filling me. Nobody dared fuck with my clan. We were daywalkers, unlike the other vampires in the area. All because of my blood, more specifically, my family�s blood. I�d come from a magical bloodline mixed with vampirism, but only Nicky knew that secret�the real secret�nobody else. This had always been our advantage and why we�d remained the most powerful vampire mafia family on the East Coast.

But there was one secret I held close to my chest. Nobody knew, and I planned to keep it that way. This was my advantage and what made me a good boss. Until tonight. I hadn�t seen this coming, and I was pissed.

Strolling across the dimly lit club, everything had come to a halt. Humans had quickly made themselves scarce, and all that was left were my men. They were barely alive. This had been a hit�I could feel it in my bones.

The first name that came to mind was my nemesis, and the man who�d wanted my territory for decades: Victor Barone. He�d raided several of my businesses in the past in an attempt to (unsuccessfully) take over smaller districts, but this�whatever he�d done�was a call to fucking war.

Victor Barone and his whole damn family would die as soon as my men recovered. The son of a bitch would never see it coming. We�d live up to our name as monsters of both day and night, and I, Emilio Conte, Boss of the Boston Vampire Clan, would be the last fucking face that fat prick would ever see.

Storming toward the bar, I pulled out my cell, called my clean-up crew, and had our private doc sent over immediately to tend to my men. They needed blood as soon as possible, or they�d go into stasis sooner rather than later. Not on my watch.

Wondering why the hell I hadn�t been attacked, I rummaged behind the bar for a bottle of Scotch and poured three fingers into a glass. Tossing it back, I drank it down in one go. The burn of the whiskey didn�t do much for the blind fury coursing through my veins. So, I poured another, but before I could pick up my tumbler, a vision slammed into me, almost knocking me to my knees.

A storm raged outside a small apartment. It looked like Salem, and I could hear magic whispered on the wind. My vision grew sharper, and a young dark-haired woman�s face came into view�she was chanting a spell. Yet, she seemed to be struggling and in pain. Panning out farther, I observed she was alone and lying on the floor, her hands alighting in flames. I couldn�t hear all of what I assumed was a spell, only one part: �Blood for blood. Life for life.�

My eyes snapped open, and a low growl rumbled in my chest. I knew exactly where the woman was. It hadn�t been Victor who�d drained my men, but a mere witch. He�d get his for stealing from me when the time was right, but now was not that time.

I slammed back my whiskey and grinned, fangs bared. �I�m coming for you, little witch.�

I awoke to a loud knock at my door. What time was it, anyway? Why had I slept on the floor? Good grief, I got on my own damn nerves sometimes. Had I gotten drunk again? Nah, I didn�t have a hangover. I felt fine. Better than fine, actually.

�Coming.� I picked myself up off the floor, stretched my arms over my head, and went to the door.

�Hurry up, Har. It�s Jemma.� She banged again, louder this time. �You okay?�

�What�s got your undies in a bunch?� I asked, unlocking the four deadbolts to let her in.

�Harlow, what the hell happened to you?� Jemma�s brown eyes widened as she scanned me up and down, and her short pink hair looked like she�d stuck her finger in a light socket.

�Um, I dunno. I just woke up on the floor.� I shrugged, closing and locking the door behind her. �Why?� Suddenly, everything that happened last night�or was it still the same night?�came flooding back to me. �Oh, shit. Uh, Jem, I sort of cast a spell�� I plopped on my hand-me-down red-and-black striped sofa, then speared my fingers through my long, tangled hair.

�You did what?� Jemma nearly shouted in my face as she sat next to me. �That�s why I�m here�to bring you the spell you asked for. Frankie had to be the lookout; he�ll be here soon. Do you have any idea what we went through to get it for you? It�s almost dawn.�

Uh-oh. She looked pissed.

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I peered up at her. �Sorry. I can only imagine. I would�ve called, but I passed out, lost time, or whatever.� I shook my head and took her hands in mine. �But, do you wanna hear some good news? Crazy news?� I met her gaze, nearly bouncing in my seat as I remembered the flames that�d flared from my hands. I still couldn�t believe it. And wait. I wasn�t hurting anymore, either. The pain, it was gone.

Holy. Shit.

�What? What is it?� She squeezed my hands, excitement lacing her tone. �Did your powers finally manifest?�

�Jem, the spell I cast? It freaking worked! And, yeah, I guess so, in a weird sort of way, just not what I expected. I created fire magic for the first time ever.�

�Are you serious? What did you do? And how? What happened exactly? You weren�t clear on that part.�

Realizing I�d been slim with the details, I filled her in and gave her the cliff notes version.

�You what?� Jemma�s brows rose to meet her hairline. �Are you effing kidding me? That�s, that�s� it�s unheard of!�

�I know, right? But I remembered something I�d seen in the Book of Shadows. I think it�s a version of the spell I asked you to get. Anyway, I knew I had to do something, and so, I did.� I waved my arm, gesturing to the mess that was now my apartment. �Jem, I�d never felt so horrible in my life, not to mention the overwhelming sense of dread that accompanied it. Like serious harm or danger was heading straight for me. Not exaggerating�it was nothing like I�d ever been through before.� I shuddered at the memory. �Anyway, I thought for sure I screwed up the spell, but it�s all gone. I�m okay now. The only side effect was me passing out.� I lifted one shoulder. �No harm done, no consequences, or price for using magic. Win-win.�

Jemma stared at me and shook her head. �Well, now I know what caused that freaky storm. It had the whole coven thinking we were under attack. Your mom said it was supernatural. Guess she wasn�t wrong.�

�What do you mean �supernatural�? You�re saying I caused that storm?� She�d lost her damn mind if she thought I did that. Please. �Come on, Jemma. That�s impossible. We�re talking about me. My practically �nonexistent� magic.�

�I wouldn�t say nonexistent now. And it also explains the eerie silence that spread throughout the entire coven after the storm ended. Nannette was sure another coven had tried to break our wards.� She eyed me with a serious expression and flopped her hands on her lap. �Well, now we know.�

Huh-uh. No freaking way. My mouth dropped open at what she was implying. �Lemme see that spell.�

Jemma leaned forward and dug her cell out of her back pocket. �Here ya go. I�m telling you, you�re the only one who coulda done it. After what you told me it�s the only logical explanation.�

I snatched the phone and read through the blood spell. Crap. She was right; it was the same incantation, but how in the hell did I do the weather thing? I hadn�t called upon any of the elements, not that they�d listen to me, but the spell did say�

�Hey, it�s Frankie!� He banged against the door, interrupting my soon-to-be mental tirade and possible breakdown. �Let me in.�

Jemma nudged me, but all I could do was gawk, open-mouthed, at her phone. I was processing. Or not processing? I hadn�t called upon the elements, though, unless� No, it was only for the blood curse and nothing more. None of this made a bit of sense. Something or someone else was at work here.

Jemma patted my arm and rose to her feet. �I�ll let him in.�

I just nodded.

Frankie burst through the door like a hurricane. �What the hell, Jem? You were supposed to wait for me just outside the gate. I almost got caught leaving. The freaking coven�s on lockdown until they figure out if the wards were breached.�

�If you�d checked your text messages, Frankie, you�d see I told you I was heading straight here.� Jemma huffed out a breath, her tone seeming exasperated. �I was worried.�

Glancing up, I snapped out of my �what the fuck� mindset�for now. �Why are they on lockdown if it�s all over?� I interrupted their soon-to-be spat. �Who do they think might�ve tried to break into the coven?� I rolled my eyes as a thought occurred to me. �Huh, funny, I didn�t get a call from Mom, Dad, or Annabelle. No big surprise there.�

When I got a good look at Frankie, I realized he was a wreck. He seemed to be shaking in his tall, lanky frame. His black-rimmed glasses were sitting askew on his face, red mop of curls a wild mess on his head, and his clothes looked like he�d slept in them.

�Nannette kept saying something about Boston�s magic, but she didn�t elaborate. Not to us minions, ya know.� Frankie sat down on my black beanbag chair, wringing his hands. �You guys heard of a Boston coven of witches?�

I shook my head. �Nope. But nothing surprises me when she and my parents get together.�

�Same,� Jemma muttered.

�Well, I love ya to pieces, but whatever this is��Frankie waved his hand around dramatically, snapping his fingers��it better be good, sister.�

I smiled at Frankie�s theatrics. �I�ll just let Jem fill you in. I think I�ve done enough.�

She nodded and started from the top. Frankie kept opening and closing his mouth like he wanted to say something and decided against it, pushing his glasses up his nose every few minutes.

As soon as Jemma was done, he just stared at me, dumbfounded, his green eyes widening. �Lemme get this straight. All this��He stood and crossed one arm over his stomach, the other with his hand in the air for emphasis��was to stop your freaking cycle? That�s it? Just Aunt Flow. I almost died for your monthly?�

Well, shit. When he put it like that, it sounded pretty bad, and dumb. But he had no idea. It hadn�t been �normal� by any stretch of the imagination, and how could I explain it to him without sounding even more like an idiot? But he almost died? Come on. Drama� And I knew drama.

Blinking a few times, I got up my nerve�because you know what?�Fuck that. Hell yes, I did. I was gonna own it. �It wasn�t �normal,�� I muttered under my breath instead to keep from screaming at my BFF. I�d had my �cycle� since I was ten. It�d felt like somebody had cast a pain or death spell on me. Frankie hadn�t been here. How could he even know?

Oh, there was my temper�

It was coming.

I felt it boiling�and boom.

She�d decided to rear her ugly head.

Stand back, Frankie.

Jumping from the couch, I pointed a finger at his chest. �Don�t get all high and mighty on me, buddy. You didn�t have to help. And yes, I did.� I had to force myself not to strangle my best friend. �If you had any idea the pain�no, pain�s not even the right word. The fucking blinding agony I was in, then you wouldn�t say that to me. Sorry I put you out. And ya know what? I�d do it for you. I have done it for you.� I paused at his raised brow. �Not your stupid �monthly,� but when you needed a spell for your freaking hair after Billy Hancock held you on the ground and shaved it right down the middle. You wouldn�t even come out from behind the bushes. Who got that spell for you, huh? The one to shrink his�uh, �smaller� head.� I jabbed my thumb at my chest. �I did. Yeah, that was me. And the coven hates me, not you.� I�d gotten all that out way too fast and needed to take a breath. �And, if you remember, I beat his bully, jock ass for you after school. He never messed with you again. Nobody did. So, there�s that.� I smacked my hands together and proceeded to plop my ass back down on the couch, then crossed my legs. How�d he like them apples? Ass.

Phew, that was some kind of tirade, but I sure felt better. Nothing worse than being �mansplained� to.

Jemma glanced from me to Frankie and back again, then burst out laughing. �She got you there, Frankie. You need to chill, for real. We�ve got some serious shit going down right now, and we really don�t know what�s happening with the coven, only the bullshit they feed us. So��She nodded to my beanbag chair��Why don�t ya have a seat and cool your tits, and maybe not talk about women�s cycles and shit. �Cause it wasn�t even like that. But we still love you, honey.�

I watched my beloved friend�s face change from purple to scarlet to blush pink. He put his hands on his hips, displaying his �serious� dramatic pose. Gods, I loved him. �My bad, chica. Listen, I don�t know the struggle, but I always support you. You know that. We�ve had each other�s backs since we could walk and talk. Maybe one of the bitches in the coven did cast a spell on you. I wouldn�t put it past any of them. Hell��He sat down and crossed his arms��Even Annabelle, though I hate to say it. That girl� How you come from the same family is beyond me, sister.� He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Standing from the sofa, I went to my bestie and yanked him up to me for a hug. �I love you, Frankie Bell. We cool?�

He stepped back and tipped up my chin. �Always, Miss Harlot.� He cracked a grin and smacked a kiss on my cheek. �I love you, baby!�

Harlot. I had to laugh at the nickname he�d given me when we were eighteen. Frankie had caught me in a �compromising� position in the bed of Jimmy Malone�s Ford pickup in nothing but my birthday suit after a football game senior year. Jimmy had only been wearing his socks. Frankie had squealed like a frightened kid, leapt back about three feet, covering his eyes at the same time. He�d called me �Harlot� ever since. I believed my boobs were likely the first and last pair he�d ever seen. I�d scarred him for life, but it�d been funny as shit.

What could I say? I loved sex. I still did. A lot. I�d just hit a dry spell, but that was a whole other story. Sigh.

�Hey!� Jemma jumped between us. �Where�s the love? What about me?�

We pulled her in for a group �love� hug, just as we always had since we were five. These were my people, my rocks, and my true family.

Blood wasn�t thicker than water, as most said. Blood didn�t make a family if yours sucked ass and couldn�t care less about your well-being.

Sometimes choosing your own family was even better.

I got to choose mine, and I couldn�t have asked for anything more. I loved them with everything I had, and they loved me back just as fiercely.

That�s what family was all about in my book. I liked my book. All the others were meh.

�So, when are you guys heading back?� I wiggled out of their Harlow sandwich, breaking up our group hug. �Or are you staying at Jemma�s?�

�Staying at Jemma�s.� Frankie practically shouted in my ear. �I�m not going back there, at least for a couple days�unless I have to.�

�Cool. I�ve gotta work later, but see ya after?� I lifted a questioning brow, swiveling my gaze between the two of them.

�Of course.� Jemma nodded with a smile. �Let�s meet for coffee after you close up. Our regular spot: Grannie�s Coffee & Cake Caf�.�

�All right, sounds good to me.� I walked them to the door. �I�m gonna try and get a few hours� sleep before I�ve got to get ready. See ya later.�

�Love ya lots,� they said in unison, blowing me kisses as they shut the door behind them.

After locking up, I turned and shuffled the few feet back to my couch, flopping down face-first, and passing the hell out. I needed my beauty rest.

�Shit, I�m gonna be late.� I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the couch. Damn. I hadn�t moved the entire time, but thankfully, my body wasn�t sore in the least. I felt amazing and refreshed. Odd, but whatever. I�d never been one to complain of such things.

I�d overslept, though, and only had about thirty-five minutes to get ready and walk the three blocks to work. I took the quickest shower in the history of ever, threw my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, applied a small amount of kohl, ran petal-pink gloss across my lips, and called it good.

Tossing what few clean work clothes I had from my closet onto my bed, I chose a mid-length black skirt, pink blouse, and a cute quarter-length-sleeved black sweater for later if I needed it. And of course, my three-inch peep-toe pink heels. I got ready just in the nick of time.

Walking the few blocks to Dahlia�s in the crisp morning air, I was relieved to see nobody standing outside the door. I still had a few minutes until eight, and just enough time to brew a pot of caffeinated goodness. I needed my fix like nobody�s business, especially after the craziness from last night and this morning. It still felt like it�d been a dream.

I mean, me, Harlow Bishop, producing fire magic?

No. Freaking. Way.

If my mother and father got word of it, I wondered what they�d think. Then again, I honestly didn�t give a shit. They hadn�t cared about what had happened in my life for years, so telling them anything about the goings on in my life would be a moot point. I�d likely be snubbed, anyway. Who wanted to deal with that shit? Not me.

After I�d opened the door to the shop along the storefront, the smell of freshly cut flowers, potted plants, and dried herbs smacked me in the face. I loved the scent. It was one I would never tire of, as it reminded me of magic and hope, and all the possibilities life had to offer. Sure, it may sound cheesy, especially coming from somebody with little power to speak of, but I�d never given up hope that someday I�d be as powerful as the other witches in my coven.

Dahlia�s felt more like a safe haven, a place of freedom where I could be myself without the burden of upper-crust witch society breathing down my neck and not-so-subtly whispering behind my back. Not that I cared. I�d lived with it for years and become thick-skinned. It was more of a personal achievement I wanted for myself, and deep down, I knew I could accomplish it, even though I disparaged my abilities to others. Maybe it was a coping mechanism of sorts, after living beneath the shadow of the Bishop name for so long.

I�d been pondering all this while making coffee, and it was finally done. I couldn�t wait for that very first sip. Ah, my first love� Pouring myself a huge mug, I strolled back to the front and turned the sign to �OPEN,� then went behind the register to begin my day. I had a feeling today would be one for the books, one I�d never forget.

Five or six cups of coffee (who�s counting?) and thirty-three customers later, I hadn�t realized how quickly the time had passed. We hadn�t had so many sales in as many hours since I�d started working there over four years ago. It appeared my luck was definitely changing for the better.

It was almost three in the afternoon. My stomach began growling�it was way past time for lunch. Once I finished up with Mrs. Giovani, I rushed to the door and hung up the �Out to Lunch� sign. My stomach was about to snack on my intestines�I was freaking beyond starving.

Calling up Marco�s sandwich shop next door, I ordered a Philly Steak and cheese with chips, and Marco offered to deliver it at the back entrance so I wouldn�t have to leave. He knew me all too well. I bought my lunch from his shop nearly every day. He�d even brought a free diet Coke. Problem was, he never let me tip him. I had to slip a ten inside his apron when he wasn�t looking. Snickering to myself as I made it to the breakroom, I sat down with my goodies, digging in like a woman starved. Well, I mean, I was.

My gut threatened to spill over the waistband of my skirt by the time I�d finished, and I hadn�t even eaten all my sandwich. I guessed my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Wrapping up what was left, I placed it inside the fridge for later. Geez, I was so full I felt like I needed to be rolled out of the breakroom. I�d eaten too fast and guzzled my soda like a pig. I hoped I didn�t burp in front of a customer. That�d likely make me want to die of embarrassment.

Changing the sign to �OPEN,� I waddled back to the counter, straightening a few items that�d been knocked around by previous clients, just as the bell dinged, signaling that someone was walking through the door.

Shadows from larger plants near the front cast three silhouettes along the wall, and I couldn�t make out who�d entered.

�Hello,� I called out. �Can I help you?�

�Yes,� a deep and husky male voice answered. His sexy Italian accent caused gooseflesh to pebble on my skin as he moved into my line of sight. �I believe you and I have business to discuss, little witch.�

My breath caught in my throat, and I was suddenly at a loss for words. He�d called me �little witch.� He knew what I was, yet something was different about him as well. This tall, muscular, dark, and sexy-as-sin man was not at all human. He wore a tailored charcoal suit with a crisp white shirt underneath, no tie, and the first two buttons were left open.

Holy. Hotness.

His aura reeked of danger as his brown eyes bore into me. But I couldn�t turn away. A feeling I couldn�t describe flowed over me, and I felt my knees weaken. He was beautiful and magical, electric and magnetic�my mouth went dry, and heat flooded my core instantly.

What was this man doing to me?

Bracing my hands on the counter so I wouldn�t fall like an idiot, I met his molten stare. �What would that be?�

The enigmatic man grinned, but darkness surrounded him, as if his presence alone filled the entire space, snuffing out all light inside.

Then I heard the sound of the lock click, and two men stepped from within the shadows. They stood behind the dark stranger, hands clasped in front of them, appearing menacing and threatening.

I gulped.

Magic don�t fail me now!

I could hear the witch�s heart beating, her pulse racing, and smell something, but it wasn�t fear as I�d expected. No. It was quite the opposite. Intrigued, I maintained my smile, gesturing for Nicky and Tony to stand down�not to speak unless spoken to. They knew their orders without my saying as much. I wanted to see what this little witch was made of.

Sure, she had magic. That much was certain by the way in which she�d nearly killed my fucking family. The thought caused my nostrils to flare, fury begging to be unleashed, until I caught the scent of what I�d been missing: arousal. Her heady aroma caused my dick to jerk and harden uncomfortably within its confines. Fuck.

Stroking my chin, I silently studied her appearance. Dark-brown hair, hazel eyes, legs for days, perky tits, and from what I could see in that skirt, a tight round ass. Yes, she was stunning, even if she were a witch. I could make this work to my advantage.

�Why are you here?� she stammered, her cheeks tinting a beautiful shade of pink, her full breasts rising and falling with the rhythm of her breathing.

�It seems we have a problem, little witch.� That was all I would give her for now. I wanted to drag this out for a bit.

�Stop calling me that! I have a name�it�s Harlow. Your name would be nice.� She crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her gorgeous breasts into voluptuous mounds. I dropped my gaze to admire them before meeting her stare. It seemed she had a little fire in her after all.

�My name,� I took two steps closer, �is Emilio, and you, Harlow, performed a spell last night.� I ran my thumb along my bottom lip, and she watched, her breathing becoming shallow once again.

She nodded. �I did�but how�who are you? How do you know I cast a spell, and what�s it to you?� This time, Harlow�s face went from pink to a light shade of red. It appeared she was getting pissed. Good.

�Well, Harlow.� I closed the distance between us and brushed my hands down her arms, leaning in close to her left ear. �Your spell almost killed my family.�

She jerked back and stared at me with a horrified expression. �No. That can�t be right. The spell was for� it was to help�� Harlow trailed off and dropped her head in her hands. �Oh, gods. No consequences my ass,� she muttered, peering up at me, fear in her gaze. �What did I do? How? I don�t understand.�

�Do you know who I am?� I tilted my head with a slight smirk. This woman, or witch rather, truly had no idea what she�d done. Either that, or she was an excellent liar, however, I couldn�t smell a lie on her. Only embarrassment and shame. Strange.

Harlow shook her head and touched my arm. �No, I don�t. I�m so sorry. Are they all right? What can I do?�

Staring at her hand, an idea formed. �You can fix your mistake with a spell of protection so something such as this never happens again.� I lifted my head and pinned her with a piercing glare. �I am Emilio Conte, Head of the Boston Vampire Clan.� I let my words hang in the air, awaiting the shock I knew would come.

But it didn�t.

�I knew it.� She tossed her hands in the air, letting them flop down at her sides. �Okay, I knew you weren�t human, that was easy, but you used your vamp mojo on me to make me feel�um, things.� Harlow lowered her eyes to my crotch�there was nothing covert about it in the least.

I barked out a laugh. �I did no such thing. If I used any sort of compulsion on you, dearest Harlow,� I dropped my voice to a whisper and leaned in close, trailing my thumb across her bottom lip, �believe me, you would know it. You�d beg for me. On your knees and take anything I was willing to give you. Sexually or otherwise.�

Harlow let out a short gasp and sucked in a breath. �So, you didn�t�?�

Brushing my cheek alongside hers, I whispered against the shell of her ear, lightly caressing her collarbone with the back of my hand. �No, I did not. However, there is something I require of you.�

She shuddered as I ran one finger down the length of her arm. �What is it?� Her words came out on a breathy sigh.

Fuck. What was I doing? This witch had almost drained my fucking men dry! And here I was seducing her? But I couldn�t help myself. There was something about the woman that called to me. Perhaps if I fucked her and got it out of my system, I�d be able to think clearly and get my shit together.

�You�re coming with me. You�ve got a job to do.� I pressed a kiss to her neck, darting out my tongue to taste her silky skin, her blood calling to me like a siren�s song. �You�re to right the wrong you�ve made�or�� I paused for a moment, inhaling the scent of her and committing it to memory: jasmine, mint, and magic. �Or a war will begin between the Salem Witches and the Boston Vampire Clan.�

�A war? I don�t� I�what? Why?� Unable to string a coherent sentence together, I knew I sounded like a bumbling idiot�all bravado had flown right out the window. But just what in the ever-loving hell was he talking about? And how in the blue fuck had I drained vampires from the spell I�d cast to stop�? Ah, shit. This was so freaking bad.

And just how was I supposed to think properly with this vampire touching and licking my skin like he had a right to? But, I hadn�t stopped him. I couldn�t. I was caught in his snare, his scent, his domineering presence, and dammit, he had my libido running on overdrive.

�Yes, Harlow.� Gods, even the way he said my name dripped with sexual desire. �Just as I said. A war. It is not ideal, but if you refuse to comply with my demands, that�s exactly what will happen.� Emilio stared into my eyes, and I tried to blink but couldn�t�I was lost in his gaze.

Not using his vamp mojo my ass.

�Fine. I have no idea what I�m doing, but I�ll try my best. What happened was a freaking fluke, all right? I� I�dammit.� Giving myself some breathing room and shaking off the insanity this man was doing to my body, I moved back and tugged my hair from its messy bun, knowing it probably looked like a rat�s nest, but I had no shits to give. �When I tell you why I performed that spell, you�re gonna�� I just stopped. No way in hell would I tell him. Hard. Nope.

The sexy asshole smirked. �Why? What would I do, Harlow?� Damn, my name�again�sounded like a purr coming from his full lips. I had to turn away, or I�d get lost in him once again. I wondered if all vampires were like this.

�Forget it. Will you at least allow me to grab a few things from my apartment before I go wherever it is you�re taking me? I mean, it�s not like I have a choice. I�d at least like to have some of my own stuff.� I crossed my arms for effect and narrowed my eyes. Yeah, it didn�t even faze him in the least. �Look, my apartment�s only a few blocks away, okay? You and your,� I gestured to his goons, �can come with me.� Knowing I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, I honestly didn�t have any other choice but to go with him or risk causing a war because of my fucked-up magic. Even if it had been an accident, I had to fix my shit.

This is on me, I sighed internally.

Emilio studied me, appearing as if he were staring straight into my soul with his piercing dark gaze. I shuddered. After a moment, he nodded. �You�ll have five minutes to gather a few necessities. I will accompany you.�

I rolled my eyes. �Thank you, Emilio. You�re a real� never mind.� I cut myself off because my smart-ass mouth always seemed to get me in trouble. �I need to close out the days� sales and lock up here, then we can go.�

He glanced at his watch. �Tick tock.�

It was childish and I knew it as soon as I made the gesture�but screw it. I flipped him off for rushing me. If he was basically going to kidnap me for something I hadn�t even known I�d done, then I didn�t care. Nor did I care how freaking otherworldly sexy he was.

Yeah, and my magic could kiss my ass, too. Not even a freaking spark had come alive.

Emilio chuckled at my middle-finger salute�the vampire jerk. Now I wished I had run off at the mouth, but then again, I didn�t want to be his or his buddies� dinner.

Grumbling beneath my breath, I finished with the sales count and got everything ready for Dahlia in the morning, leaving her a note to call me if she needed anything. I let her know that an emergency had come up, and I may not be in for a week. I hoped it was only a week, but what did I know? Just freaking awesome. I�d likely lose my shitty apartment, too, because no work meant I couldn�t afford rent.

This guy�vampire or whatever. Ugh. Where were my flames now, huh? Damn.

�I�m done,� I muttered, grabbing my purse from beneath the counter. �After you. I�ve got to lock up behind us.� The vamps filed out, and I shut down the shop, giving it one final glance and hoping it wouldn�t be the last time I saw it, before taking off toward my apartment. Yeah, my posse surrounded me like a pack of bodyguards. Just peachy.

And I�d been in such a great mood all day.

Now I was being forced into a vampire mafia home, bat cave? Where the hell did vamps even live? I�d admit, I was mostly ignorant of many other supernaturals. I only hoped it wasn�t some sort of freaking cave. But, Emilio and his crew dressed nice, like CEO types (with a mafioso vibe), so hopefully they lived like normal people.

What in the hell had I gotten myself into? And why in the blue fuck did I have to cast that spell?

Right. Because I thought I was going to die.

Next time, Harlow? Just die.

This shit sucked dirty gym socks.

I needed to call Jemma ASAP!

No sooner than that thought left me did I feel a freaking foreign power-grab touch my flesh.

Hell. No.

Not today, Devil. Not today!

�Move it along, kid.� One of the goons had gripped my arm and I stopped dead in my tracks, glaring at his meaty, tattooed paw and then into his beady brown eyes. No. He did not just put his fucking hand on me. No.

�I said, move. Why you stoppin�, blood-bag?� He stared me down, and Mr. Sexy Pants cleared his throat, seeming to hold back a chuckle. I didn�t find any part of this funny in the least.

Suddenly, what felt like electricity with a mixture of fire raced up and down the length of me, exiting my limbs and out my pores. If this was my magic making its �grand� appearance, it was a bit late. Even my magic was an asshole. Must be male, I thought to myself. No offense to dudes, but I digress�

If I could�ve shot flames from my eyeballs, though, I so would have. �Get your hand off me, Fang Boy.� I sneered and turned my gaze to Emilio. �I may be new with my magic, but if you don�t tell your meathead to let me go, I can�t be held responsible for what I do to him. Taking his fucking blood will be like a walk in the park.� I yanked my arm, and the slimy bastard let go.

Yeah, I was bluffing, but they didn�t need to know that. Nobody freaking put their damn hands on me unless invited.

Meathead One growled and got in my face, while the other, with his slicked-back, almost-black hair, stood still as a statue. �You�d do good to remember your place, witch. You talkin� to the boss. I�m his second, Nicky. Remember dat.�

Staring at him like the idiot he was, Nicky started to choke, and I swear, I had nothing to do with it this time. �What�s happening to him?� I stumbled back toward the alley, covering my mouth at the same time.

�What did you do, little witch?� Emilio raged. �Fix this shit now�or die.�

And that�s when I saw them�his fangs�they were long and scary as shit. He was going to eat me, and not in a good way.

The other guard dropped at our feet, and Emilio shoved me into the alleyway before I could get my bearings. Without hesitation, his eyes turned an ominous black as he yanked my head to the side and sank his teeth into the soft flesh of my neck.

I didn�t even have time to scream.

Blood gushed down my throat before I knew what was happening. Rage, that was all I felt. Until magic filtered into my bloodstream and I heard Harlow moan, clutching tightly to my arms, bringing our bodies flush together. My cock hardened as the scent of her arousal rushed through me, the heat of her wrapping us in an enchanted cocoon. I could see it in the motes cascading around us�her magic, her power.

Getting my shit together (just barely), I retracted my fangs and licked the wounds, watching as they healed and closed. Harlow writhed against me, her eagerness still present, and when my face was only inches from hers, she grabbed my cheeks, meeting my lips in a demanding kiss.

Taken aback, but unwilling to stop myself, I gave her what she wanted. Our tongues tangled for dominance, and reaching between us, the little minx ran her hand firmly along my raging hard-on. I wanted to raise that skirt, wrap her long legs around my waist, fuck her against the bricks, and fill her to the hilt. Her blood was intoxicating, unlike any I�d tasted before.

Harlow licked the corner of my mouth, lapping at her own blood, and I groaned, needing release. But fuck. My men. The witch was lost in a blood haze. I had to stop this, even if I wanted nothing more than to bury my shaft inside her.

Clearing my mind, I grabbed her wrists with one hand, raising them above her head, and pulled away. She was a lovely sight with blood dripping down her chin, her eyes alight with power. Shit. Magic. Her fingertips had begun to flame. Stepping away, I dropped her arms and held them firmly to her sides.

�Harlow, look at me,� I said calmly. Fuck, what had I done? �You must calm down. You�ve lost control.� She hadn�t been lying about her magic. �I need you to breathe. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Got it?�

Her eyes were wild, like clouds racing in the night sky just before a storm. �I�m�trying,� she ground out through clenched teeth. �You, you�bit me. Blood.�

I nodded. �Yes, I did�as punishment. I thought you�d purposely harmed my family, but it�s becoming clearer that�s not the case. Breathe.� At my words, her hazel eyes started to return to their normal shade, and her limbs began to tremble. But at the same time, I heard Nicky stir, cursing and seeming to be out for blood while rousing Tony up off the sidewalk.

Fuck. We were in broad daylight; I had to control this shitshow.

�If I let you go, will you be okay? No more magical outbursts?� I stared into her eyes for confirmation.

She gave me a stiff nod but didn�t move from the wall. �I�m trying. I can�t�control it. I�m sorry.�

Letting go of her arms, I traced my finger along her jawline. �Stay where you are until I come for you. Do you understand?�

�Yes,� she said breathlessly with what appeared like tears welling. �Understood.�

�Good girl. Just keep breathing as I instructed.�

�I�ll kill that fuckin� witch.� I heard Nicky growl as he rounded the corner with Tony at his side.

Lifting my right hand and stopping them dead in their tracks, I glared. �You�ll do no such thing. That is an order. Stand the fuck down. She is under my protection until I say otherwise. We clear?� Protection? Where the hell did that come from? I felt my chest tighten at the thought.

Nicky�s eyes blazed. �Whatever you say, Boss. She�s dangerous, though, that�s all I gotta say. Sleep with a fuckin� knife.� He and the ever-silent Tony turned from the alley and stood sentry on the sidewalk.

I didn�t have to explain myself to them, but I�d at least inform my crew she couldn�t control her powers. This was something that needed to be remedied and fast. Perhaps it was a task I could help her with? In private�

However, that would mean divulging my secret. Two secrets, one of which could damn me even further.

Turning back to Harlow, she appeared to have calmed down. I reached out to take her hand. �Feeling better?�

Warily, she stared at my hand for a beat before intertwining her fingers with mine. �Yes. I have a theory, but we can�t discuss it here. It�s something... Well, it involves blood.�

Blood, of course it does.

Sucking in air through my teeth, I motioned for her to go on.

�My magic and blood. We can talk later, all right? Please, just not now. Not here.� Harlow hung her head for a moment and then brought her gaze to mine. �I never meant to hurt anybody.�

There was no lie in her words, so I nodded.

�Thank you. What I tell you, though, it might be shocking. Because it pretty much just shocked the shit out of me. I think my life as I know it is about to change, and I can�t say it�s for the better.�

I wondered what she meant, but I respected her wish to speak in a more private setting. Harlow seemed stricken, and not at all the same lust-crazed witch from several minutes ago. Whatever it was, I knew it had struck her to the core. I could now feel it through our blood connection.

And that, a blood connection, had never happened to me before.

What was it people said about best-laid plans? I�d come for revenge. Instead, I got an inexperienced witch I couldn�t seem to keep my hands off of�and a taste for her blood like none other.

I was fucked.

Everything seemed hazy as we walked the short distance to my apartment. I had no idea what�d come over me after Emilio had bitten me. Power had surged from deep within my soul, eliciting a form of ecstasy unlike anything I�d ever felt in my life. I wanted him. I needed him, and it hadn�t just been lust. No, it had been something else altogether, even more powerful than desire. I couldn�t even explain it to myself.

Then when I�d tasted blood, felt it on my skin, my magic emerged like a firestorm. That�s when, after I�d come down from my sexually driven high, realization dawned I was not a normal witch. Not in the least. Had I been adopted? Was that why my parents couldn�t ever care for me the way they should? Looked down on me with pity and disgust? Because I wasn�t like them?

Shaking those thoughts from my head, I knew I needed my besties; they�d know what to do. If not, they�d at least be able to help me find or learn a spell to magically ward the vampires from attack. Then again, if I were what I thought I was, it was possible�with Emilio�s help, his blood in particular�I may be able to do it myself. I�d still need some sort of spell, maybe� Hell, what did I know?

Worst Witch Award goes to? Yeah, that�d still be me.

As we neared my studio walk-up, I rummaged through my purse for my keys. Hearing Nicky cursing me behind my back was getting on my last damn nerve. It wasn�t like I�d done anything to the jack-hole on purpose, but if he didn�t leave me the hell alone, or if he attacked me, I�d find a way to hurt him, and real good next time. Clearly, we�d never be besties. I was cool with that.

Unlocking my door, I opened it wide enough to allow the vamp posse to enter behind me. �Welcome to my humble abode.� Yeah, I sounded corny as shit, but I didn�t care. I�d just been bitten, tried to screw a vampire against a brick wall, used strange-ass magic, and the list went on.

Emilio glanced around my tiny apartment with an odd, yet, assessing expression. It was a bit unnerving. But then again, everything that�d happened since meeting that vampire had been unsettling�mostly.

I almost asked if they wanted something to drink, but remembered it�d be me and my blood. Instead, I clamped my mouth shut and went to grab a suitcase in my makeshift bedroom.

�Nicky, Tony,� Emilio called to his men. �Stand sentry outside the door. Let nobody enter. Capiche?�

With a nod of recognition, his vamps strolled into the hallway, leaving Emilio and I alone.

Breathing heavily, I sat on my bed, packing forgotten. The two of us needed to talk, and I couldn�t be sure he�d like what I had to say. Or maybe, he�d read my mind? I had no idea.

He leaned against the wall and gestured to my suitcase. �You gonna pack?�

Sighing, I lifted my eyes to meet his dark gaze. �I want to perform the protection spell. Hell, it�s the least I can do, but as you just witnessed, I have no control of my magic.� I paused and inhaled another much-needed breath. �I�ve got friends who are much more advanced in magic, but as it stands, they�re low on the totem pole, and well, I�m at the bottom. Despised, really, even by my family�an embarrassment, an outcast.� That hurt to say aloud, but I needed to be truthful.

Emilio raised his hand to interrupt. �Why are you so despised as you say?�

�Because I suck as a witch.� I let out a mirthless laugh. �Or couldn�t you tell? But as I told you earlier, I do have a theory, though it�s probably a longshot.� My heart started pounding like a drum thinking about it and what the consequences could mean if it were true.

Motioning for me to continue, he kept his expression neutral, which I couldn�t decide if it was a good or bad sign. But, I had to spit it out.

�Okay, so the blood.� As soon as the word �blood� fell from my lips, Emilio�s demeanor changed. Shit. Steeling my nerve, I pushed my shoulders back. �I believe it may be tied to my magic, what makes it tick so to speak? It�s the only logical explanation I can come up with. Like what happened with your vampires: I was only casting a spell on myself, not trying to drain anybody, just take the�� I paused because this was so freaking embarrassing. ��blood curse from myself. I thought somebody was trying to kill me, and before you make fun or laugh at me, it was real. A storm raged, and it was unlike��

�Say no more.� He interrupted with a wave of his hand. �But this does not relieve you of your bargain, or shall we say, debt, Harlow. Magic always comes with a price. This is something you should know quite well, and I have relayed the consequences if it is not rectified. Regardless of our earlier encounter.�

I narrowed my eyes. �If you�d allow me to finish, Boss, I�ll explain my plan.� He was pissing me off, but he did have the upper hand and his sexy ass knew it.

Emilio smirked with a devilish gleam in his eyes. Of course he did. �This isn�t easy for me, okay? I�ve always known I was different, but now it�s been confirmed. I�m pretty fucking sure I�m a blood witch.� Spearing my fingers through my hair, my heart started racing after saying that aloud. �I have no idea how this happened. I�m a Bishop from the Salem Coven, and as far as I know, there�s never been a blood witch in any of the magical bloodlines. I come from one of the oldest families in the coven. I even wondered if I was adopted on the walk here, but thinking on it now, I remember seeing a picture of my mom pregnant with me, so�� I trailed off, unsure what to think anymore.

He raked his hand down his face and stared at me, clenching his jaw. �What are you trying to tell me, Harlow? Your five minutes have been up for quite some time.�

Damn, he was freaking infuriating. �I�m saying that I don�t think it�s a good idea for me to go with you, and before you go off losing your temper and biting me again, let me explain. If I take my screw-up before the council, they might help and give me the protection spell to stop a freaking feud between the witches and the vamp mafia, all right? It�d go a lot quicker if I got it from them instead of trying to do it on my own without asking my friends to help. If the council says no, then we�ll do it your way.�

I�d rethought my plan on the fly after divulging what I believed to be my �witchy ability.� If everything went as planned, I could stop the war before it began. I mean, the coven already hated me, so what was the worst thing that could happen? Maybe I�d even tell them about my magic finally manifesting, only leave out the teensy fact of being a blood witch. Best to keep that under wraps.

Emilio seemed to study me for a beat, stroking his chin in what I assumed to be contemplation.

How could he turn me on just standing there? Suddenly, it felt as if an erotic inferno were building inside me and traveling to my core. Squeezing my thighs together to relieve the pressure, I breathed deeply. He noticed. Shit. We could not have a repeat of what happened in the alley. No sooner than the thought entered my head, did the image of his fangs dropping flash into the forefront of my mind. Pulsing vibrations began to thrum against my sensitive bundle of nerves, and I could no longer control the gasps that escaped me. His full, delectable lips were on me in a hot second.

Blazing heat skated along my skin; his touch burned hot and then cold and then hot again. Emilio deepened the kiss, gently pressing his palm against my throat. I became lost in him, wanting this vampire to take me, dominate me (what the hell?), bring me to orgasm like no man ever had. Bite me. Give me his blood.

Okay, these thoughts could not possibly be my own. They had to be my freaky-ass magic. Breathlessly, I drew away, panting. �All right, lover boy.� I touched my lips, relishing the taste of him there. �We�ve got to stop.� I scooted over a smidge when I noticed his demeanor had become predatory. �Emilio, you with me?�

Nodding, his dark gaze roamed my body. �Yes. We will continue this later. I promise you that, little witch.�

I shuddered with unbridled desire at his words. �Deal.� My chest was heaving, and my nipples had hardened, pressing against the fabric of my bra. The friction alone drove me insane. Breathe, Harlow. �And going before the council�do you agree?�

Emilio�s nostrils flared. �You have three days and no more. I do not trust them.� His voice had become husky, laden with a sexual craving that mirrored my own. �You will meet me at my club, Crimson Inferno, by seven p.m. Friday.� He rose to his feet, and I could see the outline of his significant hard length pressing against the fly of his tailored pants. �If you�re late. Well, you�d best not be late. You don�t want me to hunt you down, Harlow.�

He�d only said my name and I almost climaxed. How was that even remotely possible? I had to get him out of here and fast. I�d never been so turned on before, felt such a connection so quickly. He was definitely using some sort of vampire influence, or was it the blood?

Oh, boy. I was in over my head.

Standing as well, I tried to keep my distance. �Friday at seven. Got it. If I get something before then, I�ll call you.� I gave him a playful grin to lighten the mood a bit. �Do vampires use cell phones?�

Emilio returned with a blank stare. �Yes, we do. We may be older, but we have kept up with the latest technology.� He pulled his cell from his suit jacket pocket. �Your number? I�ll call it, and then you�ll have mine. Easy enough. I�ll text you the address to my club.�

I rattled it off, and after he�d programmed the number, my phone rang inside my purse. �Got it. Thanks. I�ll be in touch, Emilio.� Not a moment later, my cell dinged with a text.

His eyes darkened. �Until we meet again, little witch.� He grasped my hand and kissed my knuckles, lingering longer than was necessary. With only the press of his lips, my body ignited once more, and I couldn�t be sure how long I could take this torture before I spontaneously combusted.

Closing my eyes, I sucked in a long and controlled breath. When I opened them, I immediately missed the warmth of his touch, then I heard the door snick closed.

Holy shit snacks, I was a goner.

Back at the club, I ordered the main members of my family to meet in the basement where we conducted all our business. All essential information would then be passed down from my main guys to each district once we�d concluded. Crimson Inferno didn�t open until later in the evening, so we had plenty of time to discuss what�d happened to them, with Harlow, the deal, and everything else on the agenda.

Nicky was still pissed, but he�d get over it. We�d talk later if it came to that. Tony was as he�d always been�loyal and laid back, never questioning. My top-two guys had their own strengths. Nicky was a hothead, sure, but he was also the brawn. Tony, though quiet, strategized at all times, assessing each situation as it came�he was the brains of the operation when needed.

�Boss.� Nicky poked his bald head around the door of the conference room. �It�ll be �bout ten to fifteen minutes. Some of the guys ain�t here yet.�

�Very well.� I nodded, signaling his dismissal, and he shut the door behind him, leaving me to go over everything I wanted to say.

Waiting for everybody to arrive, I sat back in my chair and thought about the events of the day. What a fucking shitshow. Well, not all of it�but I couldn�t stop the images of Harlow�s face dripping with blood from entering my mind, playing on repeat�like fucking porn, only better. Adjusting in my seat, her scent rolled over me in a wave. Her blood. The connection. I could�ve taken her in the alley, and, she�d have let me. She�d felt that all-consuming hunger, too, that much was certain.

How could this have happened? That fierce sense of protection that�d come over me the second Nicky mentioned harming her, I�d seen red. Felt unchecked rage like none other, and he was my family, my consigliere, my right hand. Yet, I�d been murderous, and if he�d taken one step farther, I�d have attacked without a passing thought. If I were being honest, if anybody dared harm her, I�d fucking rip their throat out.

What the hell had come over me? Harlow�s magic? The blood connection, a bond? It was true, members of my line had found mates in past generations, but it�d been decades and only a handful that I was aware of. Nothing to suggest it happened to every vampire, magical or otherwise, in my bloodline.

Perhaps it was the mixed magical and vampiric line? Could Harlow be my mate? Fuck. I raked my hand down my face as the word �mate� entered my internal musings. No. Hell, no� But, all the signs were there, yet I hadn�t ever considered the possibility in my three-hundred-plus years.

Instant attraction, her magic, her deliciously delectable and addictive blood�it�d called to me before I�d even tasted her. Harlow�s fucking scent that�d lured me in, made me want to seduce her rather than kill her. Honestly, I couldn�t be sure, only time would tell. It wasn�t as though I�d had experience with this shit, but the magnetically charged pull toward her, that was something to think about. Just not at present.

Out of nowhere, I recalled an old memory of centuries past, and my mind whirled. I could hear a few stragglers coming in, but my head was elsewhere: the murder of my parents, and something Harlow had said. Bishop. Not only had the Bishops murdered my family, but they�d also stolen a long-held prophecy of a blood witch regarding their line. At one time, the Bishops and Conte�s had formed an alliance outside of the Salem witches, because a mixed magical line had been frowned upon. They�d turned on my family, or perhaps had been using them all along�nobody truly knew, but after they�d murdered my parents, the prophecy we�d long protected for their family had gone missing.

Unable to recall all the details, I did remember something about a blood witch who�d one day be borne into the Bishop line, one who�d reign supreme over all others in the Salem Coven. Her power would become so great, she�d have the ability to wield each of the elements through blood magic alone. She�d be unstoppable, a force to be reckoned with.

Fuck. The prophecy, from what I could remember, described Harlow, only she had no idea. Perhaps her family knew of her powers and it�d been the reason they�d shunned her, basically made her an outcast within her own coven. Why she believed herself to be a witch with no talent. None of which was true, she just hadn�t been taught properly. Harlow, if she were indeed the witch of prophecy as I suspected, she hadn�t needed the elements for her magic to manifest. No, it was blood. And the blood spell she�d cast, unknowingly harming my family, had quickly brought her powers forth. This was why she had no control.

I knew I had to at least mention the prophecy and what I knew of it, that she, or a blood witch of the Bishop line, would reign over the Salem Coven. But how? And when would be the right time? Certainly not now while she was on a mission to gain a spell of protection for my clan.

My family began filtering into the room, abruptly breaking me from my thoughts, each taking their prospective seats. Figuring out the mystery that was Harlow would have to wait for now. Nicky sat to my right and Tony to my left.

Once everybody had settled, I pushed up from my chair, commanded their attention, and addressed the room.

�As many of you are aware, a spell was cast, a blood spell of sorts, and I�ve been in contact with the witch.� All eyes were on me now, and I swiveled my gaze to meet each of their hardened stares. �Yes, it was an inexperienced witch, not Victor Barone as I�d initially suspected.� Shouts of protest rang out, and I lifted my hand to silence them.

�Now is not the time. Victor, while he�s still on our radar, will be dealt with and swiftly, but we have more pressing matters to discuss. The witch, Harlow, is seeking a spell to ward our family, a protection spell from outside attacks�of the magical variety. This was our deal. If it�s not done in three days� time, then we go to war with the Salem Coven.�

�Fuck them witches,� Vinny, my lead soldier shouted from across the room. �The bitch almost killed us. Why wait? We don�t need their fuckin� protection. We can protect ourselves.� Heads nodded, grumbles of agreement sounded, and I lost my shit.

�Are you questioning my fucking orders?� I pounded my fist against the table, my fangs descending. �If I recall, I don�t answer to any of you, but as your leader, I�ll inform you the �single� witch who cast the spell had no idea what she was doing, or that it�d affected a family of vampires.� My tone grew louder. �Who�s to say a more formidable witch wouldn�t do it knowingly? Hence the protection spell.� I straightened my posture and narrowed my eyes. �She will fix this, and no harm will come to her. Do I make myself clear?� I paused, a low growl rumbling from my chest. �I can�t fucking hear you! It�s my job to protect this family, and that�s what I�m gonna do. Don�t like it? There�s the fuckin� door.�

Murmurs of acknowledgement met my ears�nobody moved.

�Good.� My nostrils flared as I sat down and retracted my fangs. I was fucking pissed. They�d never questioned me before, and I wouldn�t allow it now. To be shunned from the family meant imminent death, and they knew it�they�d have zero protection.

�She�ll probably be here in a matter of days,� I continued, �so I suggest you be on your best behavior. Next order of business.� Placing my elbows on the table, I steepled my hands and rested my chin on my fingertips. �As to the matter of Victor Barone: Tony�s got eyes and ears on his whereabouts at all times. Once the dust settles with the witches, we attack. We�ll take every last one of them fuckers down.�

�Got it, Boss,� Vinny said, no longer shouting his dissent. I�d not have that shit in my ranks, and he knew better. We�d be having a sit-down later, one he wouldn�t fuckin� like. �What about the raid on our hotel? The money they stole? We gonna get it back?�

�Nicky and Tony are already working on it,� I said. �We�ve got a plan, and as soon as the time�s right, I�ll let everybody know. They won�t know what hit them. We�re taking back what was stolen, and our damn territory, too. They�ve been out of control too long. It�s time we settled this shit once and for all.� I could feel my anger surging as it filtered through my speech. The bastard had been a thorn in our side, testing us, but it�d be coming to an end soon. It�d be a bloodbath�those vampires didn�t stand a chance against us.

�All right, that�s all I�ve got for now. I�ll let you know as things turn up. Be on guard at all times.� I scanned the room for my soldiers. �I need each of you running patrols around the bar and switching up between our hotels at sunset. Watch for anything out of the ordinary and report back to Nicky or Tony.�

A chorus of �Got it, Boss� sounded throughout the room.

�You�re dismissed to go on about your day. Oh, and one more thing: Anybody who doesn�t belong in the club, make sure they don�t come back.� And that was my final order, ending the meeting.

Leaning back in my chair, my mind reeled. So much shit to do, too many enemies, but I knew we could handle it. We always had. Harlow, though, she was another matter altogether. I�d have to wait for the council�s decision. I wouldn�t be banking on their assistance, but I�d given Harlow my word. And that counted for something in my book. A man�s word was everything. But if the council refused? Fuck the whole coven.

The more I thought about it, the more my gut told me Harlow was the witch of prophecy�she had to be. They�d been lying to her�her own fucking family and the coven�holding back the secret of her true identity her entire life, only to maintain their meager powers.

Well, that would change if I had anything to do with it.

And I would.

If they fucked with Harlow?

Let the games of war begin.

�Where the hell are you?� Jemma shrieked, and I had to pull my cell away from my ear. �We�ve been waiting at the caf� for over an hour. You didn�t even call. Nothing. We thought something happened to you.�

If she only knew.

After changing into jeans and a green V-neck T-shirt, I grabbed my purse and headed out the door, locking it behind me. �Are you done yelling at me now? I�m on my way. I had a little�um, hiccup. I�ll explain when I get there, okay?�

�Fine,� Jemma huffed. �But it better be good. Me and Frankie have been worried sick. You know how to text, Har. Damn.�

�Sorry. I had company. I��

�Company?� she asked, cutting me off in a singsong voice, her tone changing instantly. �Of the male variety?�

I couldn�t help but laugh. �I�ll tell you when I get there. Like five minutes, all right?�

�Is Little Miss Harlot up to her antics again?� I heard Frankie shout into Jemma�s cell.

�I�m hanging up now.� I snorted and shook my head. �Bye.�

Yeah, �Harlot� had definitely come out to play today. Damn, did she ever.

Frankie was still going on when I disconnected. If I told him about Emilio, he�d be on me for explicit details for days� But, I did have to tell him, and Jemma. Sighing, I continued walking the few short blocks until I arrived at our favorite caf�.

My goofball besties had grabbed our regular table in the back. As soon as I got through the door, Frankie�s red mop of curls bounded up as he stood from his seat, waving like a lunatic.

Smiling, I sauntered my ass over to our table, inhaling the delicious scent of fresh-baked desserts, and sat facing the entrance, like I always did. They made fun of me, but it was one of my quirks. I had to be able to see all entrances and exits, and everybody who was coming and going.

�So, who was the visitor, chica?� Frankie beamed, folding his hands under his chin. �You gotta spill the tea. I know there�s tea. I can feel it.�

Jemma swatted his arm. �Geez, Frankie. Her butt barely hit the seat. Let her breathe a minute.� Then she turned to me. �So, you do got some tea to spill, though, right?�

�Good grief, you guys.� I shook my head and set my purse on the far end of the table. �I guess you can call it �tea.� But, it�s kinda good and bad.� I winced, knowing once I told them everything, Frankie would likely mock-faint, need to be fanned, and Jemma might punch me. It was honestly a toss-up.

�Good and bad?� Frankie asked, raising a perfectly arched brow. �How�s that?�

Thankfully, our server approached to take our order before I had to answer. �Hey, Harlow.� Vera�s blue eyes always sparkled when she spoke. It made me wonder if she was magical, but I�d never gotten the vibe from her. �Good to see you. You having a white chocolate mocha as usual? Warm double-chocolate brownie on the side?�

I liked my chocolate�a lot. �Yeah, thanks, Vera.� I gave her a wide grin, thinking about all that gooey yumminess.

�What about you two?� Vera directed her gaze to Frankie and Jemma, brushing her long blonde ponytail off her shoulder. �The same? Double-shot expresso with warm chocolate chip cookies?�

They grinned. �Yep, that�d be great,� Jemma told her. �Thanks.�

Vera removed their empty cups and proceeded to get our orders, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Frankie went back in for the kill.

�Spill it, sister.� This time, he kept his voice low.

I sighed. �Okay, so you know that spell I cast? Well, it sort of backfired a bit. Not on me, but on�others. Dangerous �others.�� I was finding it hard to explain what�d happened. How could I tell them what I�d done and then about the whole blood thing, and gods, Emilio? A possible war with the coven? This sucked donkey balls.

Jemma blew out a breath. �You�re stalling, Har. Just spit it out already. Are you in trouble? Do we need to bury bodies? I got a shovel; Frankie�s got the duct tape and garbage bags. What is it?�

And this was why they were my besties, my family. They always had my back no matter what.

Choking out a laugh, I shook my head. �No bodies. I hope�� I paused, inhaling a deep breath, and then went on to spill the whole sordid story, even the part about me being a blood witch, or the possibility of it. But, in my heart, I knew it to be true.

Just as I�d finished, Vera came around with our orders, and both Frankie and Jemma�s faces had paled. They hadn�t said a word, not even when our server set their goodies in front of them. It seemed I�d rendered my friends completely mute. Vera stared at them for a beat and then over to me. I just shrugged with an awkward smile, and she took off to take somebody else�s order.

Jem was the first to break the silence. �You fuckin� kidding me? Is this some kind of joke? That�s not funny, Har.�

Blowing over the rim of my cup, I took a sip of my coffee before I answered. �Afraid not. So, I need to go before the council and plead for their help. I mean, I screwed up and I�ve got to fix it. Those were the terms. How was I supposed to know I�d drain blood from a bunch of vamps? That was not in the spell.�

�And that,� Frankie piped in, twirling his index finger near his head, �is why you don�t just wing a damn spell all willy-nilly. But a blood witch?� He whispered that last part. �It makes so much sense now. The storm, the Blood Curse spell, and your reaction to that sexy vamp bite. Oh, how was it, by the way? Hot?� He beamed with excitement. �Did it give you the big �O,� or�"

�Not now, Frankie,� Jemma chided, and then her eyes went wide. �But wait, Frankie�s got a point. You said you wanted to ride him like a cowgirl? Ah, hell.�

�See? I told you Harlot was back in action.� Frankie burst out laughing.

�Guys, that is so not the point. I need to get a meeting before the council. Help, please. Focus.�

�Right.� Jemma sipped her coffee and cleared her throat. �Well, we can all go together and talk to Nannette. Gods, she�s such a bitch, but whatever. Tell her it�s urgent and invoke the council law to hear a witch�s plea when a death threat�s been made. Or, in this case, a threat of war to the whole coven.�

Frankie pinched the bridge of his nose. �This tea just went sour.� He picked up his expresso and gulped it down, making a face. �I rather like the juicy bits with the hot vamp, but whatever. I�d also like to not die.�

�So,� I said, getting everybody back on track, �let�s finish up here and head to the coven.

Everybody groaned, including me.

This was gonna be worse than getting a root canal with no magic or numbing agent. Nannette was worse than the Wicked Witch of the West.

I didn�t even get to properly enjoy my chocolate.

Driving to the coven was �mostly� silent, with Frankie chiming in now and then wanting details about Emilio. He said it was for �blood magic research,� and how the bite, tasting blood, and wanting to get my freak on was all part of it.

Frankie was so full of shit. He just wanted to know if I�d felt Emilio up and the size of his package. Frankie never ceased to amuse me. He needed a boyfriend so he�d stop trying to live vicariously through my sexcapades. Well, there hadn�t been many to speak of in a while. I told him everything anyway. Usually. This time, though, I kept the spicier details to a minimum. For some reason it just felt private and different. I couldn�t explain it and I wouldn�t even try.

After what felt like an age, we finally went through the huge wrought-iron gate and parked in the covens� circular driveway. My stomach had tied itself in knots, and I hoped my brownie didn�t make a spectacular reappearance. I was so not looking forward to this. Not only would I have to face Nannette, but my parents as well.

Yeah, they were on the council. Surprise!

Shaking off the dread I felt, I climbed out of Jemma�s yellow Volkswagen Beetle, pushed my shoulders back, and held my head high. The fa�ade of a blue Victorian home (the inside was four times larger and built like a fortress) still looked the same: as unassuming as ever where it sat on more than fifteen acres of woodland, with its immaculate landscape, and everything seemingly in order. As we ascended the front stairs of the wraparound porch, I felt a bit of pushback, as though someone was warding me away. What the hell?

Turning to Jemma, I stared at her with a semi-shocked expression. �Did you feel that? Like a warding or warning spell to try and keep us out?�

She eyed me for a second and then shook her head. �No, not really. It must be the stronger wards Nannette and the others put in place after the�ya know.� Her brows furrowed, and I knew she was referring to my magical faux pa.

�Umkay, chicas.� Frankie linked his arms around our elbows. �Time to head into the lionesses� den.� He winked at me. �You ready?�

Inhaling a deep breath, I nodded. �Yep. Ready as I�ll ever be. Let�s do this.�

Nearing the door, it swung open with Nanette standing there, her perma-scowl drawing down the corners of her mouth. She swiveled her gaze between the three of us�after my loud gasp (I almost jumped out of my damn skin!)�her steely gray eyes landing on me.

Frankie Bell reached down and squeezed my hand.

�To what do we owe the displeasure of your visit, Harlow?� Nannette�s voice was shrewd as usual, her pale hands clasped in front of her, her body still blocking the entryway.

This woman, as if I hadn�t been a member of this coven since birth, treated me like a pariah, as if my birthright alone didn�t allow me through those damn doors. I was seething, and I knew it must�ve been written all over my face when the corner of her mouth lifted into a satisfied smirk. The bitch.

I�d let her get to me. Dammit.

Letting her barb roll off my back, I took a calming breath and smiled ever-so sweetly. �Why hello, Nanette. Always a pleasure to see you. We�re here to petition the council��

�No,� was her quick and harsh reply.

Unwilling to let her faze me again or allow Jemma or Frankie to speak for me (they tried), I persisted. �Unfortunately, this petition is about witch law and a threat of war upon the entire coven. According to our bylaws, a witch�s plea must be heard when her life or the covens� safety has been threatened.� I bowed my head respectfully, hiding my grin, but I could feel the metaphorical flames from Nannette�s temper ratcheting up the temperature a notch or twenty even from the porch.

When I lifted my head, she was scowling even further (if that was possible), then she opened the door wider, her black robe billowing out around her bony frame like a dark, ominous cloud. Oh, Nannette did not seem pleased. Welp, she could suck it.

I gave her my best smile. �Thank you, High Priestess.� I�d called her �High Priestess,� even though she hadn�t officially been bestowed the title�my own little barb, but I doubted she�d see it that way.

Nannette was more like a department manager at Walmart (no offense to department managers), but she liked to think she oversaw everything and had the final say as the de facto coven leader�having an ear and a seat on the council made her �super-duper� special. To placate her, everybody just went with it�something I didn�t understand, but whatever. I wasn�t one �in the know.� Didn�t really give a shit, either. This day in age, though, the High Council had the final word over the coven, not a High Priestess. The witch was delusional.

Frankie and Jemma bustled in right behind me, and I could hear Frankie trying not to laugh. Gods, he would get us in trouble before we even made it to the High Council.

Then I heard a muffled �oof,� and knew Jemma had kicked or elbowed him. And well, it was my turn not to laugh. Damn, this was serious, and we needed to act like the grown adults we were, not like kids who�d just one-upped a crotchety old witch.

�Follow me.� Nannette beckoned with a curt nod, and her shrill voice echoed off the marble flooring, her long chestnut hair flowing like a waterfall over one shoulder. She had to use a spell for that�nobody�s hair looked that good, especially at her age. She was older than my parents by a good twenty years at least. Hell, I wanted her hair. If Nannette weren�t such a witch�pun intended�I�d ask her what she did to make it so beautiful.

Shifting to the side, I eyeballed my friends and mouthed, �behave.� I wished we�d performed a spell where we could speak telepathically�it was one of Jemma�s specialties. It would�ve helped things go so much smoother. Now that we were headed to the council, my hands had begun to sweat, and it felt like cement had settled in the pit of my stomach.

But, I knew I had to do this. It was important. Regardless of the looks, the whispers, whatever came my way, I had to make sure I got that damn spell.

I couldn�t fail.

I wouldn�t.

Even if I had to beg.

We couldn�t go to war with the vampire mafia, or we�d all die.

My stomach clenched uncomfortably as I stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of my penthouse, staring out at the view of the harbor. Bracing my hands against the glass, another pain rippled through my gut, not of the physical sort, but an emotion.

Harlow.

Our connection.

She was in pain, but what the hell was happening to her?

My fangs descended as a loud growl thundered from my throat.

Sliding to the floor, visions swam to the forefront of my mind until they settled upon her face.

Fire raged from her palms as she stood before a decorative wooden platform of twelve people that I could only assume were witches. Several were laughing, while others cowered behind their high seats. The council.

Two witches stood at Harlow�s side, a man and a woman, both pleading for her to stop as her feet lifted from the floor, her entire body rising midair. She lowered her flaming hands and fire sprang from her fingertips, lighting the dais aflame. Blood trickled from her lips, and she threw her head back in maniacal laughter.

The scene was utter chaos and confusion: beauty and darkness, blood, fire, and magic.

Was this a vision of what Harlow would become?

Or was it happening now?

Rising to my feet, I grabbed my phone off the side table and dialed her number, but it went straight to voicemail.

Fuck.

Was she in trouble?

What had she done?

Dropping the phone on the rug, I lowered myself onto my black leather couch as another vision slammed into me hard and fast. But this time, it was of a much calmer scene.

Harlow and her two friends stood before the same raised dais pleading for help.

Again, several laughed, some scowled, and a few even shouted, but Harlow stood stoic, appearing like she wasn�t afraid in the least.

This must be another vision from the witches� council room. The fuckers.

One woman, who looked like an older version of Harlow, stood from her raised seat and pointed, clearly giving Harlow a dressing down. I watched as my little witch flinched and seemed to curl in on herself for a moment, but as the woman�s voice grew louder, Harlow�s posture grew straighter and her face hard as stone. Tiny sparks of fire began to flicker from her fingertips, but I couldn�t be certain if she or anybody else noticed.

Perhaps her magic was not only tied to blood but her emotions as well.

Another witch stood and leaned over what appeared to be a judge�s bench that spanned the entire council, pinning her narrowed gray gaze on Harlow. I couldn�t hear what she was saying, but whatever it was, it affected Harlow in such a way that she screamed, and all the lights flickered in the room. Harlow scanned everybody seated behind the wooden bench, and the only words I heard were: �Watch me.�

Smiling to myself, not because it seemed Harlow wouldn�t get what she wanted, but because of her strength in the face of adversity�her spitfire nature. I couldn�t say why (perhaps the rare blood connection), but I knew our paths had crossed for a reason. Although, I had initially wanted to murder her. Now, I was seeing something else altogether: a possible opportunity for an alliance of sorts.

Sure, the blood connection was something to explore further, but I believed it may be more than that.

We could help each other.

Her coven had no love for her, and clearly, Harlow had no love for them, either.

Perhaps there would be no need for an all-out war, not in the sense I�d intended, anyway. I scratched the stubble along my chin as an idea formed.

Yes, that might do nicely, I thought to myself and grinned.

Grabbing my phone, I headed for the club to get things in order.

We stood just outside the huge, ornately carved wooden doors leading to the High Council room. We�d been standing there for fifteen minutes, and Frankie had already started twiddling his thumbs, twisting his curls between his fingers, sighing every few seconds�basically fidgeting out of sheer boredom. I couldn�t freaking blame him.

But for me, all this time left waiting only caused my anxiety to grow. Inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I just breathed. A lot. Until it felt like I might hyperventilate. Nannette was doing this on purpose.

Jemma elbowed me. �Good grief, Har, you�re driving me nuts. Stop breathing so loud. Frankie�s sighing is bad enough.� She glanced between the two of us. �Seriously, calm the hell down. We know what we�ve got to do, and, most importantly, we�re doing the right thing. Chin up, guys. We�ve got this, all right?� Jem eyeballed us with �the look,� the one that dared you to argue.

�Got it. I�ll just hold my breath.� I snickered and slung my arm over her shoulder. �Love you, Jem.�

She pecked me on the cheek and pushed me off of her. �Love you, too, shithead. Be brave. Just be yourself�well, mostly yourself.�

Frankie flicked her on the arm. �Harlot�s just fine the way she is, and, by the way, I was not sighing. I�m just tired of standing��

Shit. Frankie was cut off by the doors opening and his words echoing off the walls of the huge space. And they�d just heard him call me Harlot�it�d been particularly the loudest.

Wicked awesome start.

The first person to stare a hole in my head was my mother. Throttling Frankie when this was over was definitely an option.

�You may enter,� Nannette called, her voice sounding disembodied.

Somebody was certainly full of herself today. I had to work hard to control my eyeroll.

Keeping my head held high and facing forward, I moved into the ginormous dimly lit room and toward the panel of the twelve High Council members. They sat behind a large wooden table on a raised dais, high above anybody who entered. Golden candelabras adorned the red-painted cinderblock walls, and a crystal chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling. This place felt like a dungeon, most likely on purpose. Needless to say, it was a teensy bit intimidating.

We came to a stop in front of the platform and bowed before the council. Moving forward, I began to plead my case but was immediately cut off by my mother, Gilda. Of course.

�Harlow. Before you utter another word, choose what you say carefully. The grounds upon which you�ve called this council are quite serious, and if we find your case has no merit, you will be met with severe punishment. Have I made myself clear?� She glared at me as if we weren�t related, as if she hadn�t even given birth to me. Like I was a stranger.

Why was I surprised? I had to admit, though, it did sting a little. She was still my mom.

�Noted, Mother. I wouldn�t be here otherwise.�

At my use of her title, �Mother,� she narrowed her hazel eyes (the very same ones she�d passed down to me). �In this sacred High Council chamber, you will address me as Councilwoman Bishop or Mistress Bishop, is that understood?�

Bowing my head with utter contempt for this farce of a council and ill treatment by my own mother, I stuffed that pain away in the same place I�d crammed the rest of it. �Yes, Mistress Bishop.�

Jemma blew out a breath behind me, and I knew she was pissed. I could feel her anger pulsating around the room, along with Frankie�s. He was humming low under his breath�something he did when he wanted to speak but couldn�t.

Impatiently, my �mom� gestured for me to continue with a wave of her hand, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nannette smiling. What in the actual hell had I ever done to these people except live and breathe? For fuck�s sake. Whatever.

Making eye contact with each of them, especially my dad (who hadn�t always been a jerk), I took a deep breath. �Last night I felt like I was attacked by a pain spell of some kind; I can�t be sure, but I knew I had to act�something or someone was coming. I just� whatever it was, it felt dark, dangerous, and foreboding.� I paused when the whole council gasped. This didn�t sound good. �Anyway, from memory,� I cast my gaze to Nannette, �I performed what I now know to be the Blood Curse spell to stop the abnormal pain and flow of Mother Nature, but a strange storm raged outside, things went crazy, and I�m not sure what happened. I was knocked unconscious after a light show in my apartment.� Trying not to fidget, I continued. �Then today at work, I was visited by the boss of the vampire mafia, the Boston Clan leader. Apparently when I cast the spell, I almost drained his vampires of all their blood�almost killed them.� I paused again to let what I�d said sink in, but I was only met with glares. Shit. �He�s given me two choices: either cast another spell to protect them from outside magical attacks, or he�s promised war against the Salem Coven.�

After a beat, and while I�d left the council speechless, I went on. �So, I need your help. I know I screwed up, but I have to do whatever it takes to stop a war between us and the vampire mafia. I humbly request a spell of protection from the Book of Shadows to satisfy the Boston Clan leader�s terms. Thank you.� I stepped back to huddle between Jemma and Frankie as the council stared at me, some appearing dumbfounded, some pissed as hell, and others seeming to be in shock. It looked like the odds were not in my favor.

Fuck.

Next thing I knew, the whole council erupted into complete chaos centered on me. Frankie and Jemma each grabbed a hand and squeezed showing their support. I just kept on breathing, watching the shitshow going down: arms flailing, fingers pointing at me, cursing (also directed at me), papers flying. Yeah, it was something.

Welp, it was �go big or go home,� as the saying went, I guessed. I�d gone huge apparently. Awesome.

�Harlow Bishop,� Nannette bellowed. �Come forward this instant.� As she spoke, the rest of the council took their seats, all red-faced, and I did as I was told.

�You are a blight upon this coven,� my mother shouted before Nannette could continue, and I snapped my gaze to hers. �You are useless, have always been useless, and should be banished for what you have done.� Spittle flew from Gilda�s lips as she hurled insult after insult toward her eldest child. Wow. Nice to know how she really felt.

�Enough,� my father, Reginald, roared and stood from his seat. �Harlow, you are a disappointment. But you are my daughter��He shot a glare at Gilda��and you�ll not be banished from this coven. Not with my vote.� My dad had actually acknowledged me and sort of stood up for me in his own way. There was hope yet.

�If the two of you are quite done?� Nannette interjected as I picked my jaw up from the floor.

�After conferring with other members of this council, the majority has ruled you will not receive our assistance.� My heart stopped in my chest. �We do not fear two-bit vampires who claim to run the city of Boston.� Nannette flicked her wrist in a dramatic flourish, the smile on her face almost gleeful. �You are on your own, Harlow.�

I�d had enough of her, of all of them. Thomas, the older witch in the middle had been sending me �fuck you� glares the entire time, while Janet, another self-important witch to his left had done nothing but smirk and whisper. I was done. Over it.

�Fine. I appreciate your �sacred� time I seem to have wasted.� Jemma poked me, but I ignored her. �I�ll handle it on my own. Oh, by the way.� I gave them all a sickly-sweet smile. �I now have fire magic. Thought you�d like to know.� My mother�s face paled as did Nannette�s, but they could eat shit. �Peace out, Mother.� Yeah, I probably shouldn�t have said that last part, but �Gilda� was no longer my mom. She�d never wanted to be, anyway�she�d just proven as much with her words alone.

Jemma and Frankie spun on their heels to leave with me, Frankie holding his stomach to keep from laughing, but we were halted by Nannette�s shrill voice. Again. I didn�t even turn around.

�If you kill the leader of the Boston vampire clan, then you�ll be welcomed back into the fold without censure from anyone, and provided training, that of which is deserving of your bloodline. Do you agree?�

My blood had begun to boil, the feel of it�mixed with white-hot fire, and was that magic?�racing throughout my whole body. Unable to think clearly for a beat, I allowed the power to overtake me, knowing I couldn�t control it. I no longer cared. I�d deserved all of that from birth, but it was neither here nor there, and I wouldn�t be a bitter Betsy. But, I was about to display a teensy bit of my wrath, because fuck her�fuck all of them. Except my dad�at least he was trying in his own way.

Jemma grabbed my hand when I turned. �Harlow, don�t do it,� she whispered. Jem must�ve felt my power surge, but I couldn�t be sure. It was too late now, anyway. I was beyond livid.

Ignoring my best friend, I faced Nannette and her arrogant smirk. �Kill the vampires, huh? It�s that simple?� The thought caused a pain in my chest I couldn�t explain. �Why the sudden change of heart? Because of this?� Feeling my magic flow from my abdomen and into my palm (thank you for finally answering me!), I lifted my right arm. Blue and orange flames engulfed my hand as I shifted it around, watching the councilmembers� faces. I�d stumped them. Good. �Oh, look. Harlow�s got magic now.� I blew across the fire on my palm, and it streamed toward the dais. Screams rang out, the lights flickered, and it was glorious, but I closed my hand into a fist, snuffing the flames before they gained traction.

�Was that a threat?� Nannette shrieked, her eyes growing as wide as saucers. That right there made it worth it.

�Oh, no.� I grinned almost evilly. �I would never threaten this sacred council. I only wished to prove that my powers had finally manifested, and I no longer need your training. But thank you, Mistress Nannette.� I�d just pulled that out of my ass, having no idea why my magic decided to come out and play. �And as far as killing the leader of the vampires? I will fix my mistake. Watch me.� I hadn�t given her a straightforward answer, but she�d see what I could do, or learn to do.

Flipping my long dark hair over my shoulder, I turned and stormed out of the council room without a backward glance. They could kiss my ass.

Frankie clapped me on the back as soon as the doors slammed closed behind us. �I can�t believe you did that, chica. Holy freaking flame thrower. That was amazeballs! Did you see their faces?�

�Yeah,� Jemma piped in. �They looked scared shitless. I can�t believe you produced fire magic, Har. And the �Oh, look. Harlow�s got magic� part. I almost died laughing but had to keep a straight face. Do you know how hard that was?�

Giving them the side-eye, I continued walking at a brisk pace. �Guys, the walls have ears in this place. Shut it down until we get in the car.� I lowered my voice to a whisper. �I can�t control it, all right? I�ll explain later. Just shush.�

As we turned the corner, I wasn�t watching where I was going and ran smack into my little sister, Annabelle, her silky black hair slapping me in the face. Just the cherry on top of my shit sundae. Awesome. It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the corridor.

Standing at about five foot three, I towered over her at five seven. But Annabelle always seemed to be larger than life, and she let you know it.

�So, heard you have magic now,� she sang with a nasty smile, much like our mother�s. �About time. Too little too late if you ask me.� She shrugged, and I could hear Jemma muttering something under her breath. �Just like you to do something stupid when your powers manifest. Vampires, Harlow? Really?� Annabelle peered down at her nails and then up to me. �Good luck with that. Maybe you won�t die.� She then pushed past me and strolled down the hallway.

I didn�t even say a word to her. What was the point?

But how did she know what�d happened in the council room? Had she been there?

Probably. The little spy.

Jemma fisted her hands at her sides. �I should cast a spell on her, one where she�s gotta be nice to everybody. Or no, a truth spell. She�d get herself in a shit-ton of trouble if she had to tell the truth all the time. A bad seed, that�s what she is.�

�Don�t worry about her. I�m used to it.� I tugged on Jemma�s sleeve. �Let�s get out of here. You too, Frankie. She�s not worth it. I�ve got shit to do and she�s not part of it.� Inside, though, as much as I tried to act like her words didn�t bother me, today they did. The �maybe you won�t die� tidbit sort of did it for me this time.

Shrugging it off like I always had, I made my way toward the exit, hightailing it to Jemma�s car. I couldn�t get out of that place fast enough; I practically ran. Wiping away a few bastard tears before Jemma and Frankie caught up with me, I leaned against the car and waited. I needed to call Emilio as soon as possible. I had to get my hands on that damn spell; I couldn�t kill him, unless he had a way to make it look real.

No, that was just stupid. Dammit.

Jemma pulled my arm and leaned in close. �Okay, we�re out of earshot. Get in the car. I�ve got something to tell you.�

Strange, but all right. She�d seemed fine when we�d left the High Council chambers. Opening the passenger-side, I climbed in and shut the door. Once we were all settled, Jemma peeled out of the driveway, and as soon as we were outside the gate, she let it rip.

�Harlow, that was a freaking setup. The whole thing about killing Emilio and the vamps? A setup. I overheard Nannette not-so-covertly talking to Thomas and Janet. I didn�t get it all, but it sounds like they�re working on a way to kill them. They just wanted you to do their damn dirty work so they could claim innocence. I don�t know, but you need to tell Emilio. Don�t even think about killing him.� She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. �That would be dumb anyway. We�ll help you get that spell.�

�What Jemma said,� Frankie called from the backseat. �We�ve got you, chica.�

�A setup? I don�t understand,� I said. �How did I not hear them? But wait, that does explain the glowers they were shooting at me the whole time. I barely even know Thomas and Janet. Hell, for the longest time I thought Janet�s name was Janice.� Good grief, the lengths these witches would go to, but the question was: why?

Yeah, I�d been a late bloomer, and what Nannette called �unteachable,� but being set up was something else altogether. It honestly blew my mind a little if I were being honest.

Jemma came to a stoplight and turned to me. �It was during your magic show while you were focused on your mom. You shoulda seen Nannette�s face. Something�s up with her; I can feel it. Whatever she�s got planned only proves it. We can�t trust any of them anymore, not that we did much in the first place.�

�Those bitches.� Frankie shouted exactly what I was thinking.

�Jem, if you don�t mind, just drop me at home. I�ll call you guys later.� I rubbed my forehead and sighed. �I need to make a plan and get a call out to Emilio.�

�Whatever you need, Har,� Jemma said. �We love you.�

�Love you, too.� Leaning back against the headrest, I began to question everything.

Huh. I wondered why in the hell they�d want to set me up, but then again, why did that even surprise me? Going before the council had been a good idea in theory, but what had I really expected? They hadn�t ever done a single nice thing for me my entire life. And helping me fix my mistake to stop a war? Yeah, they�d thrown me to the wolves. Well, they�d actually thrown me to the vamps. Whatever�I�m splitting hairs.

Little did they know I�d beat them at their own game, come hell or high water.

I didn�t have to prove myself to them.

I�d prove I could do this for myself.

I�d fix it my way.

Throwing back a shot of whiskey, I heard my cell ring. When I pulled it from my pocket, Harlow�s name appeared on the screen. I had a feeling she�d be calling after the visions I�d had.

�Harlow, how are you?� I knew she wasn�t well by the sound of her breathing, but I asked anyway.

�Not awesome, Emilio. We need to talk, and I�d rather not do it over the phone.� Her voice seemed to tremble the longer she spoke. �Will you meet me at my apartment?�

�No.� She didn�t know it yet, but she�d be coming with me. I�d seen enough and knew she was in some kind of trouble.

�What? Why? It�s important. You have no idea what the council wants me to do. I can�t�I won�t go through with it. I�m on my own, but�� Harlow trailed off.

�But what, Harlow?� I questioned in a much calmer tone this time. I could now feel her distress through our connection, and it�d begun to affect me. This, I was not accustomed to.

�Your help. I-I may need your help. I know it�s not part of the deal, but it seems something bigger�s going down with the coven, something I�m still not sure about. But it could be dangerous.�

That�s what it was: danger. Harlow was scared, and I felt it.

�Under no circumstances are you to be alone. I�ll send a car to pick you up. Just finish packing and I�ll meet you at your door. Open it for nobody but me, understood?�

�What? That�s not��

�This is not up for discussion, little witch. If you�re in danger, I must protect yo�my investment.�

�Your fucking investment? Have you lost your mind?�

Sighing, I knew I had to tell her the truth�she needed to trust me. �You, Harlow. I must protect you. Now get your shit together and stop arguing with me.�

Her breath caught, and I could hear her heartbeat accelerate even over the phone. �Um, okay. I�ll be ready soon. But we have a lot��

�Please do as you�re told and stop talking. I�ll be there in thirty minutes with my driver.�

�All right, but I don�t like it. Damn, you�re too freaking bossy.� The sound of her blood pumping through her veins caused my dick to come alive, the phantom scent of it filling my nostrils. I fucking wanted her near me. Now.

�See you soon, little witch.�

�For fuck�s sake, my name��

I disconnected the call before she could correct me. She�d soon learn �little witch� meant much more now than it had when we�d first met.

Walking downstairs from the loft I kept at the club, I exited the main floor and called Carlos, my driver.

�Hey, Boss.�

With no time for pleasantries, I got straight to the point. �I need you to pick me up at the club. We�re taking a drive to Salem to retrieve somebody.�

�Got it, Boss. Be there in five.�

Disconnecting the call, I put my cell back in my pocket, leaned against the wall, and waited. I wondered what�d happened to Harlow, if it was anything like what I�d seen in my visions. If so, she could be in more danger than I suspected. But that was neither here nor there. I�d be giving her a power boost like none other, one she wouldn�t be expecting. However, it was necessary to fulfil the plans I had for her.

Harlow needed to learn of her family�s betrayal, the gifts she�d been born with, and that she�d been held back her whole life. No more. Yeah, I wanted that spell, but I didn�t really need it, not if I had Harlow at my side, and the ace I�d always held up my sleeve. Together, we could take down any enemy who dared cross my family, or her. This was why she needed my protection.

She had to learn.

And I�d be the one to teach her.

Carlos pulled alongside the curb in one of my black SUVs and stepped out, coming around to greet me. �Boss.� He nodded and opened the back door. �Salem, is it?�

Sliding into my seat, I glanced at him. �Yeah, got a girl we�re bringing back here.�

�All right, Boss.� He shut my door and returned to the driver�s seat. �She human?�

His questions were irritating the fuck out of me. �A witch,� I told him and gave him directions. �Make it quick.� The drive was only about thirty minutes without traffic, but I wanted to get there as soon as possible. Something in my gut was gnawing at me.

Looking to his left, Carlos pulled into traffic and headed toward Salem. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, wondering how Harlow would react to her heritage, the prophecy, everything. She had no idea of the power she held within her.

I must�ve dozed because another fuckin� dream of my past had come on quick. They, along with my visions, had grown more frequent since meeting the little witch. Just as the blood spell had awakened her magic, the taste of her had opened my senses and brought on more power of my own. Power that�d long been dormant. I could now feel the fire raging through my veins. I�d always been a fire witch but hadn�t used my magic in the better part of two centuries�except for a handful of times over the years. I�d never really had to, unless it was necessary, and never in front of my guys.

Just before my father had succumbed to his wounds, he�d told me to create a family of vampires to someday defeat the witches if necessary. Not to seek revenge immediately, but when the time was right or if they threatened me or mine. I hadn�t understood then, but I�d done as he told me. I�d just dreamt of this: my father and his final words. They had to hold significance to the situation with Harlow and what was going on with the witches, whatever that may be.

�We�re here, Boss,� Carlos said, interrupting my thoughts. �Want me to go get her?�

�No,� I told him, rubbing my eyes. �Just have the back door ready when I return. I won�t be long.�

�Got it, Boss.�

Not waiting for him to open my door, I climbed out of the SUV and went inside Harlow�s building. I was immediately stopped by the smell of blood, and my fangs descended.

It was Harlow�s blood.

Racing up the stairs, I barged through the door, and I couldn�t believe what I saw.

What the fuck?

�Dammit!� I was so nervous that I hadn�t been able to do anything right, like freaking pack. Really? I�d just gathered as many outfits as I could and stuffed them into my suitcase, along with the �essentials,� but the damn thing wouldn�t zip. Just another day in the life of Harlow Bishop.

Why couldn�t I use magic for that, huh?

Right, because I wasn�t �normal.�

Carrying my overstuffed suitcase to the living room, I plunked it on the couch, then sat on top of it. The sucker was gonna zip. Just as I made it around the last little turn, my fingers slipped, and blood started bubbling up from a rather large gash in the middle of my palm. I could only cradle my hand and stare at it.

Only I would do some stupid shit like that. I mean, how? From the metal zipper?

No sooner than that thought left my head did my front door burst open, deadbolts flying like shrapnel, with Emilio raging and baring his fangs. Oh, shit! His aura was that of a wild animal ready to pounce on its prey. And damn, it seemed I was that prey. I shrank back against the sofa and stared at him, open-mouthed, seriously reconsidering going anywhere with him. But, I had to admit�the naughty part of me, anyway�that he was kind of fucking hot all raged out. It turned me on. I realized I needed mental help in the worst way.

Emilio strode toward me, assessing the blood on my hand, his dark eyes then meeting mine in a hungry stare. Uh-oh. Pressure. All I felt was mounting pressure building inside my body, as though it would combust at any second.

�What happened?� Emilio finally spoke, his speech somewhat slurred.

�The suitcase wouldn�t zip. I, um�� I held up my still-bleeding hand, and an electrical torrent of power hit me like a shockwave. My back arched, and I groaned. The blood. It called to me, and it appeared to have the same effect on Emilio. I opened my mouth to speak, but in less than a second, he hovered over me, his chest heaving. Whatever was happening between us was intense and dirty, and just what I wanted.

�I could smell your blood downstairs. I thought�� He stopped talking abruptly. Staring at my palm, he brought it to his mouth, licking the wound.

�Ah.� I moaned at the feel of his tongue lapping at my skin. Leaning into him, I grabbed his other hand and placed it on my breast. I needed his touch. Something was happening to me, something I didn�t understand, but I couldn�t find it within myself to care. This vampire exuded sex, and I wanted him. All of him.

�Harlow, your blood��

�Shut up and kiss me, vampire.� I yanked him to me, and we tumbled to the floor, his lips meeting mine with fervor.

Gods, I tasted blood and wanted more.

His blood.

Emilio pinned my wrists above my head, my body deliciously beneath his, and drew away. �You�re not making this easy. We have to get out of here.�

Squirming underneath him, I lined my sex with his hard erection, grinding against him. Yes, I wanted that release. �Fuck me, Emilio.� Holy hell. My voice had come out as a growl.

�Oh, little witch, I will.� He dropped his head to my collarbone, licking and sucking his way to my throbbing pulse. �But not here, not now.�

All of a sudden, my magic surged�it was definitely the blood�and flames danced across my fingertips. Emilio didn�t even blink, he only stared at me. But, with that surge came a strength I didn�t know I had. The fire in my hands extinguished with only a thought. Jerking my bound wrists forward, causing Emilio to move back, I lunged for him. His eyes became darkened pools of what I knew to be lust and the desire to have my blood again.

Forcing him to the floor�he likely let me�I straddled him and ground my hips against his dick. I then leaned forward and nibbled his neck. �You�re too bossy. My turn.�

Growling and piercing me with a come-fuck-me stare, Emilio clutched my hips and moved me along the length of his cock. As we rocked together, even fully clothed, a blinding orgasm was building hard and fast.

�Fuck, you�re gonna make me come,� I breathed against his neck, licking the skin there. When the friction hit my clit just right, I felt myself spiraling and bit him, hard, drowning out the moans of my pleasure. Blood trickled into my mouth and fire lit my insides. Magic washed over me, around me, inside me, and Emilio kept thrusting as I rode out the most explosive orgasm I�d ever had.

I was done.

Over.

The Harlow I used to be?

She was gone.

�Harlow.� My name was all he said before he ripped my shirt down the middle and aggressively did the same with my bra, cupping my breasts. He pinched and tugged my nipples, and I thought I might die from the sensations. That was until he bit the underside of my left breast and then kissed me, intermingling our blood.

The taste of our shared power, his vampiric and my magic, made my whole body come alive.

I craved it, needed more.

�You want my blood, little witch?� he rasped against my lips. �I�ll give you my blood.�

In one swift motion, I cradled Harlow in my arms, carrying her to the bed. A vampire only had so much resolve, and she had pulverized it when she�d bitten me. I�d give her what she wanted�the rest could wait. Every fiber of my being blazed with a need for this woman: her blood, her skin, her body, all of her.

Harlow would be mine.

Laying her on the mattress, I unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them down her legs, along with her black lace panties. Tossing them to the floor, I drank in the sight of her. She was bare and beautiful before me, glistening with need. Using one finger, I ran it up the length of her slit, feeling her slick heat, and she gasped, arching her hips from the bed.

�Is that what you want, little witch? My touch?� I brought my hand to my mouth and tasted her wetness. �Mmm. Good enough to eat.�

�Yes, please,� she whimpered, slipping her hand between her legs and touching herself.

�Naughty little witch, aren�t you?� I licked my lips, leaning down to lap at her opening, and pressed my tongue flat against her clit.

�Don�t stop. Fuck.� Harlow grabbed a fistful of my hair, shoving my face into her sweet pussy.

Inserting my tongue inside her entrance, I added two fingers and fucked her. Harlow lifted her hips, meeting each hard thrust with eager intensity. Her arousal coated my face, and her core tightened. She was close, just on the edge, but I wouldn�t let her come. Not yet.

Withdrawing from her sheath, I licked Harlow one last time before rising to my feet. �You want more?�

Making quick work of my slacks and letting them pool at my feet, I kicked off my shoes and shoved it all to the side. Then I unbuttoned my shirt and flung it on the floor. Palming my dick, I stroked it a few times, and her hazel eyes widened.

�Yes,� she breathed. �But I want that�what you�re holding�inside me.�

�This?� I knelt on the bed and rubbed the head of my cock through her slick folds, tapping her sensitive nub. �That what you want?�

�Gods, yes, Emilio. Stop teasing me.� Harlow wrapped her fingers around my biceps to pull me to her, but I didn�t budge.

�What else?� Fuck, she was stunning with our blood staining her mouth and face. I pushed in the head of my shaft, and she writhed, but I stopped her, placing my hand on her stomach. �What else, Harlow? You didn�t answer me.� My fangs were engorged with the need to drink from her, taste her, and then fuck her.

She bucked her hips, causing my dick to slide in a bit further. �Your blood. I want it.�

�That�s my girl. You gotta tell me what you want.� I smirked, driving all the way to the hilt, causing her to cry out. �I�ll give it to you, and so much more.�

Harlow�s mouth opened in a gasp and her eyes blazed red. Hell yeah. She�d be getting my blood as soon as I got hers again. Pounding into her hard and fast, Harlow wrapped her legs around my waist, tugging me closer, deeper. She rose to meet each thrust aggressively, while squeezing her gorgeous tits and pinching her nipples.

The scent of us together was intoxicating�magic, sex, blood, and sweat. The need to bite her was too great�I couldn�t hold back any longer and pulled out. Moving to the edge of the bed, I picked Harlow up and lifted her into position, quickly sliding her down the length of my shaft. Now we were face-to-face�exactly where I wanted her.

�Fuck yeah. Harder.� She rode me, looping her arms around my shoulders.

I dropped my head to her throat, leaving fervent open-mouthed kisses until I found my sweet spot.

She was so tight and wet. I could tell by the way the walls of her pussy tightened around me, and the sound of her breathing, Harlow would come again soon. Sucking in a breath, I sank my fangs into the delicate flesh of her neck, delicious crimson liquid coating my tongue and sliding down my throat.

Grabbing her ass as she panted, writhed, and moaned, I reluctantly retracted my fangs just as Harlow cried out in another orgasm. She thrashed against me, tugging on my hair and crashing her lips to mine.

That was all it took�I exploded, my seed filling her.

Harlow sucked her blood from my tongue, and her pussy pulsated around my dick, squeezing it like a vise. Opening my eyes, I noticed she was watching me watch her, those glowing red orbs a sight to behold.

With a primal cry of passion, and without warning, she sank her blunt teeth into my neck, drawing blood again. This witch would be the death of me. I raged, my cock ready for more. Once she�d gotten her fill, I took her mouth and shared our blood. So fucking intoxicating. The kiss was hungry, demanding, ferocious, and rough. I loved it.

Harlow smeared her hand across the bite and then sucked the blood from her fingertips. �So good. I don�t get any of this, but��

Cutting her off, I lifted her up, laid her back on the bed, and slid down her body until I found what I wanted. Slipping my tongue between her slick folds again, I pressed my thumb against her clit, moving it in a circular motion. I couldn�t get enough.

�What are you doing to me?� she said on a breathless sigh, raking her nails across my shoulders. �Ahh.�

She fisted my hair, and that was all I needed. Keeping my thumb on her clit, I lowered my head and bit her thigh. Relishing the taste of her as she bucked wildly against me, Harlow climaxed again, harder this time, just from my bite.

Oh, how sweet she was.

�Share,� she growled.

For a beat, she sounded like a vampire drunk with bloodlust, but no. Harlow was a fucking goddess�a blood witch I wanted to worship.

In a blur of motion, I moved to her mouth and gave her what we both craved. I could feel her magic on the air, on my skin�it filled the room.

The sound of my cell ringing immediately brought me down from the high that was Harlow. Shit. Carlos was downstairs waiting.

How long had I been gone?

Cell phones could die a horrible death right now. Why, in the heat of the moment, did Emilio�s have to ring?

�I�ve gotta take that. My driver�s been waiting outside.� He kissed me quickly and practically vaulted from the bed.

�What? Your driver?� This meant his guy knew what we�d done up here. Well, there was nothing I could do about it now, but it was still embarrassing.

�Yeah, Carlos. Everything�s fine. Be down in twenty.� Emilio stared at me while he spoke to the guy, and damn, he was hot, standing there in all his lean-muscled naked glory.

Mmm. I stretched languidly, feeling magic thrumming through my body unlike ever before. Drinking blood, though, that�d been�different, but so freaking exhilarating. Something I planned on doing again�from Emilio of course. I guessed it was true: blood had awakened my powers, more specifically, his blood. Well, vampire blood. And my blood, which was weird.

My emotions seemed to play a part, too. Hell, I had no idea. All I knew was I�d just had the best sex of my life, and I wanted more. Emilio was addictive, like a drug. Only time would tell if that were a good or bad thing.

Right now, he wanted to �protect� me, so we�d do it his way until I got the spell. More time with him sounded just fine to me. Because fuck the coven�it was no longer about them�I just didn�t want anybody to get hurt, or die.

�Harlow, let�s get cleaned up.� He leaned over me and kissed my forehead, his still-hard cock pressing against my stomach. �We�ve got to go.�

�I�ll just shower real quick.� I touched my face and breasts. �I�m a little bloody.�

Emilio licked his lips, and his gaze shifted to a darkened depth of midnight. �Yes, you are, little witch,� he growled, hauling me up and off the bed. �You�re beautiful.�

�And you�re�� He�d fucked me dumb. I couldn�t find the right description. Amazing, awesome, fantastic: all those words sounded ridiculous and couldn�t even begin to define Emilio, or more specifically, what he�d done. So, I settled on being a smartass. �Good.� I winked and wriggled out of his arms, heading to the bathroom.

�Oh, just �good�?� His breath ghosted across my neck, and I shuddered. �Want to try again?�

�I thought we had to go?� I turned to face him with a shit-eating grin, trailing my index finger down the defined planes of his muscular chest.

�Infuriating woman.� He snapped his teeth at me, and I giggled, rushing to the shower.

�Okay then, it was great,� I shouted once the hot spray hit my skin. Damn, we needed to hurry, so I grabbed my body wash and scrubbed as quickly as I could. With soap in my eyes, a strong muscular arm I couldn�t freaking see, wrapped around me.

�Great?� Emilio purred in my ear, nipping the lobe.

Instantly, a tremor of lust shot straight to my core, and I pressed my backside against his front, feeling him�all of him. Shit. This had to stop, or we�d never leave.

�Not great,� I murmured. �The best, okay? Now, get clean. I have to call my friends as soon as we get to your place.�

The air turned frosty. What did I say?

�Why do you need to call them?� He grabbed the shampoo and started washing my hair. I was cool with that.

�I need to tell them where I�m going. They�re gonna help me get that spell, like I promised, remember?�

�Rinse,� he said, almost like an order. Pfft. But I did it anyway. �You need to be careful who you talk to. I can�t have people knowing��

�Okay, Mr. Best Sex of My Life, gonna stop ya there.� I turned off the water and got out, not caring if he was done yet�he could shower at his own place. �They�re my best friends, my family, the only people in this world I trust, understand? I�ll be telling them what�s going on with me, unless you want a pair of pissed-off witches looking for me.�

�Best sex of your life, huh?� Emilio smirked, closing the shower door and stepping onto the bathmat.

�That�s all you got from everything I just said?� I laughed and toweled off. �You�re such a man. But just so we�re clear.�

�All right, but if they�re to come around, I�ll need fair warning�for my guys, okay?�

I could get behind that�it was completely understandable. �Sounds good.� Tossing my towel in the hamper, I did the best I could with my hair and decided a wet messy bun would do in a pinch. I�d already packed most of my wardrobe, but I found a black T-shirt and slipped it over my head, after putting on a clean pair of panties and a bra, then shoved my legs into the same jeans I had on earlier. They were still clean�and well, the others were in a deathtrap suitcase.

Emilio was already dressed and ready to go once I�d emerged from the bathroom. I went to grab the handle of my bag, but he intercepted. �No. There will not be any more bloodshed in this apartment or in my SUV. You ready?�

Shaking my head, I grinned. �Yup. Let�s hit the road to your vampire love nest.�

Emilio chuckled. �Whatever you say, little witch.�

Enjoyed this story? It will be available in its entirety (Parts I and II) after the anthology comes down. Be sure to leave a review! If you�d like to read more about Angela�s witches and vampires while you wait, and generally where it all began, check out her Delphine Rising series! The prequel, Winds of Change, is FREE on all major e-retailers! It�s even available on audiobook at a super-low price, or free if you sign up for a free Audible trial.

Angela Sanders is an international bestselling author of Epic Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Urban Fantasy. She's a multi-genre author who also writes supernatural thrillers, psychological thrillers, murder mysteries, and soon, contemporary romance (the sky�s the limit!). As a retired Navy Chief, wife, and mother, Angela lives in Kentucky where she enjoys writing, editing, reading, or all three.

Her son is the key to her heart�he has the writing bug and wants to be like his mommy when he grows up. (Well, �Mom� now, because �Mommy� isn�t cool anymore. *sad face*.)

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Sett walked down the street, soaking up the power that seeped up from the very cobblestones under her feet. New Orleans, Louisiana was older than her hometown of Belle Cove in both age and power � and she could feel the essence of it rising up through her shoes.

Maybe she was more sensitive to it, being a witch with fae blood, or maybe because she was someone who had never traveled more than three hours outside of the place she�d been born. Perhaps differences were more apparent to Sett due to her lack of experiences with unfamiliar places. Either way, the power and old beauty of New Orleans had charmed Cosette Fortin from the minute she stepped off the boat onto the dock.

Bags collected, she pulled out her phone to look up where she was staying. Commander Walsh had arranged her trip and accommodations, since this was mostly a work excursion � so Sett was surprised to find she was staying in a gorgeous townhouse right on Lake Pontchartrain. She hailed a taxi at the end of the docks and even the driver whistled when she got out at the property. Once her bags were unloaded, the taxi pulled away and Sett pulled out her phone.

�Sett, did you arrive safely?� Commander Walsh said into the phone.

�I did, sir. But I think there might be a mistake. I�m standing outside a building that looks way out of my league.�

�It�s on Breakwater, right? A townhouse?�

�That�s what it looks like, I guess.�

�Then that�s the right place. It belongs to a friend of mine and I rented it out for the month. It should be fully stocked for you, and there is housekeeping that comes in once a week. Go, enjoy.�

�Um, well, thank you, Commander. I was thinking of a hotel room � not a house.�

�And you need privacy for meetings with people, and you need to be comfortable � and yet in easy distance to the bayou where the pack lives, and not too far from some of the tourist aspects of the city so you can enjoy a bit of your trip. This is cheaper than a hotel and much more accommodating. Send me a report after you�ve met with the alpha.�

�I will, sir. Thank you, Commander.� The call disconnected and Sett gathered up her bags and headed up the flight of stairs to the door. About the time Sett realized she�d not asked where to get the key, the door opened, and a smiling face peered out at her.

�You must be Cosette Fortin, yes?� the woman asked.

�I am, and you are?� Sett replied.

�Marie-Louise, Josiah�s wife,� she said as she reached for one of the bags to help Sett get everything inside.

They stacked the bags by the door and Sett shook the woman�s hand. Copper skin and shining blue-black hair offset her bright hazel eyes, but when Sett touched her hand, she could feel the power of the witch who greeted her.

�Call me Lulu,� Marie-Louise said. �And you go by Sett, yes?�

�I do, and thanks for meeting me. I was just wondering how I was supposed to get the key. I had expected to be checking into a hotel, not renting a house.�

�When your Commander called my Josiah to say you were coming down for him, we said we�d get the keys and have someone meet you. The owner had the place stocked up and cleaned, but I brought a few things to help welcome a fellow witch. Some teas and a couple of candles from my shop.� Lulu handed the keys to Sett and gave her a smile. �I�ll leave you to get settled. I left my shop card with my cell number on it under a magnet on the fridge. Call me if you need anything. Oh, and the key fob is for the SUV out front � also yours for the duration of your stay. See you soon.�

��See you,� Sett managed to get out as Lulu headed out and shut the door behind her. Sett locked it and slid the deadbolt into place before she kicked off her shoes and took the time to look around. An open-plan kitchen-living room-eating area ran front to back, with walls of windows and sliding doors on either end that led out onto two decks. One had a view of the water, one had a view of a park and the city beyond. Two bedrooms, a laundry room, and a bath were off to one side of the living space and on the other, stairs led down to, what Sett discovered, was a tiled area that held some lawn equipment and a chest freezer up on a stand to keep it off the floor. A reminder to Sett that flooding happened regularly in this area.

Back on the main floor, she found a letter of welcome from the owner, with a list of numbers in the event of an emergency, or need for cleaning, or anything else that might possibly require someone else to handle. Sett took a picture of the letter with her phone and put it up on the fridge next to Lulu�s card. That number, she put into her contact list before she opened the fridge and cabinets to get an idea of what she had for food. Stacked in the freezer were single-serving containers labeled �lasagna�, �mac�n�cheese�, and so on. She pulled out the lasagna one and put it in the oven as instructed, then found ingredients for a salad and a bottle of water. It was almost too early for dinner, and too late for lunch, but she�d not eaten since breakfast and a good meal would help her feel grounded and a little more settled. Sett decided she�d eat, then go for a walk to get a better feel for where she would be living for the next few weeks.

Bags sorted and unpacked, toiletries in the bathroom and robe on the door made her feel a little less of a stranger in a strange place and a little more �at home�. The oven timer went off, so Sett pulled out the pan, the scent of tomato and spices filling the air. �Now, this is more like it,� she muttered as she sat at the table, the pan of lasagna and a bowl of salad in front of her.

At home, she lived alone and enjoyed it, but here, the silence of the new place unsettled her, so she turned on the TV to a local news station and let the noise fill the long room while she enjoyed her meal.

Once she�d finished and cleaned up, Sett made sure her gun was holstered, her badge in her pocket, a jacket pulled on to hide the shoulder holster, and her favorite ankle boots for walking in a strange city. Eh, they were her favorite ankle boots for walking anywhere � a good tread, comfortable leather, and hidden holsters for her silver daggers.

Gun, phone, keys, badge, boots, and Sett was ready to wander. Two steps out the door and she turned around and went back inside. Air conditioning had fooled her into thinking a jacket would work. She swapped out for a belt holster in back and a longer, loose t-shirt. �Let�s try this one more time,� Sett muttered to herself as she locked the door behind her.

The street was a short one that ended at the water on one end, curved around the park at the other � so Sett headed into the park itself. At the end of summer into early fall, the weather was still summery compared to what Sett was used to � too warm for a jacket for her, but she saw enough people around with jackets to make her wonder just how hot it got here for them to think this was chilly weather.

A vending cart had a short wait, so Sett got in line and bought a frozen lemonade to enjoy as she wandered. She stopped to watch some kids on skateboards, an artist doing portraits, several street musicians that ran from not bad to brilliant, until she ended up outside a bookstore that looked interesting. Tossing her trash in a waste can, Sett headed inside. The scent of old leather and paper filled her senses, so she took her time wandering up and down the aisles.

�Is there anything I can help you find?� the voice came from the other side of the shelf, so Sett made her way around the end cap and smiled at the older man she found there.

�I�m just browsing but thank you. Is this your shop?�

�It is,� he said and offered a polite bow. �Ebenezer de Rohan, at your service.�

�De Rohan, now that�s a familiar name,� Sett said. �I am Sett Fortin, and it is a pleasure.�

�My name is familiar?� Ebenezer asked, a glint of interest in his eye. �Now where would you have heard of such a name?�

�I come from a place up north called Belle Cove.�

�Ahh, now I understand. Aimee went one way and Augustine went the other.�

�Who was Augustine?� Sett asked as she followed the man towards a space in the back where a kettle had just started to whistle.

�They were sister and brother. Their mother was killed during the witch trials and their father was a seafaring man, and when the town prepared to take over their property, they packed up what they could and left with just the two wagons, two horses, a goat, and a cow for each. Aimee had been promised to Jacques Fortin before her mother�s arrest, so the two traveled together until she was a half-day�s ride from the trapping village of Belle Cove. They said their farewells and Augustine left that morning while Aimee headed to Belle Cove. They never saw each other again, but they did eventually share letters.�

�We have Aimee�s grimoire in the family, but she doesn�t speak of her brother at all in it,� Sett said, then nodded yes when Ebenezer picked up a mug and the teapot. �I�d love some tea, thank you.�

They both settled in the comfortable chairs on either side of a delicate table that held a tea tray and a plate of cookies.

�They needed to protect each other,� Ebenezer explained. �They escaped ahead of the witch finders, but that didn�t mean they were out of the woods yet.�

�I�m guessing Aimee�s marriage to Jacques Fortin, a powerful witch in his own right, helped protect her?�

�Fortin was thought to be a shifter, and no one wanted to cross him. He could cast illusions that had people believing he was a shaman and a wolf-master. Augustine ended up here, in New Orleans, and learned some of the native magics that made his own skills grow. He is considered the father of all witches in my city.�

�And we�re cousins, however many generations removed,� Sett said as she lifted her mug to touch Ebenezer�s. �Well met, Cousin.�

�Well met, indeed,� Ebenezer said and tapped his mug to hers before they both sipped. �You are not all witch, though,� he added after a moment, eyes examining the outer edges of Sett�s aura. �You have fae in your line.�

�I do,� Sett said and lifted her chin. She wasn�t ashamed of it � not any longer. �My mother�s mother is Margaret Fraser Fortin MacCumhaill, Queen of the Fae.�

�A daughter of the King of Witches and the Queen of the Fae � perhaps I am the one who should be most honored at the presence?� Ebenezer chuckled warmly.

�My father was a weak man who ran when his family needed him. I am my mother�s daughter, and she was born a Fortin as well as married a distant Fortin cousin. It is her lineage that leads to Aimee de Rohan.�

�What made you open my door, Sett?� Ebenezer said as he offered her the cookies.

Sett took one and set it on the napkin beside her mug. �I love books. I will be staying in the city for a few weeks for a mix of work and pleasure, and I wanted to see if there was something that appealed to me instead of the noise of a television in the evening.�

�What kinds of things do you like to read?� Ebenezer asked, and the two lost themselves in a discussion of favorite books and authors they treasured.�

They finished their tea and Ebenezer made his way through the stacks, pulling out a book here, using his cane to tap a book Sett could reach over there, until she had several in her arms.

�Take those for now and come back in a day or so and I�ll have a few more for you,� Ebenezer said.

�I�ll do that. I won�t read all of these while I�m here, but I�ll buy a new suitcase just to take them home with me,� Sett said as she paid for the books.

Ebenezer wasn�t going to let her pay at first, but Sett reminded him, �I�m a police officer, Cousin. It is inappropriate to accept large gifts.�

�Even from family?� Ebenezer teased.

�Well, no, we�re allowed to exchange gifts with family, but this is your livelihood, and it feels wrong to not pay.�

�I understand. We�re still new to each other. Maybe by the time you head back to Belle Cove, you�ll feel comfortable enough to exchange gifts with wild abandon.�

�Maybe,� Sett said, then she saw that night had fallen while they had been enjoying each other�s company. �Do you have a cloth bag I can carry these in? I�ve a bit of a walk ahead of me, and I�ll bring it back to you in a day or so.�

�Of course,� Ebenezer said and slid the paper-wrapped books into a bag and handed it to her. �Where are you staying?�

�A rented house on the waterfront. It�s down the street and across the park from here.�

�I�d suggest you walk around the park at night. It�s not safe after nightfall,� Ebenezer said, the warning in his tone saying more than the words.

�What walks in the park at night?� Sett asked.

�Things that you don�t find in Belle Cove,� Ebenezer replied. �This is a town of floating caskets and old blood magic. Best to just walk the street around it. I�ll tell you more next time.�

�Thank you for the warning,� Sett said and gave Ebenezer a smile. �I�m glad we�ve met, Cousin. Stay safe.�

�I�m glad we�ve met too, Cousin Sett. You stay safe as well,� Ebenezer replied and watched as she stepped out and turned down the sidewalk before he shut and locked the door, then flipped the sign to �closed�.

Sett realized it was dinner time when her stomach rumbled loudly, so she kept to the sidewalk and stopped at the corner to read a menu posted on the window of a restaurant.�

��Crawfish Etouffee, Muffaletta, Jambalaya...it all sounds good,� Sett decided and headed inside.

It was a small establishment with about ten tables that could fit four people if they were really friendly. Sett found a spot where she could put her back against the wall and watch the people inside, and outside through the long window across the front. She tucked her bag of books onto an empty chair and smiled up at the server who came over to hand her a menu.

�Do you need a minute or are you ready to order?� the young woman asked.

�I�m visiting the area and want to try some of the local cuisine. It all sounds good, what do you recommend?� Sett said.

�Well, you�ve already found one of the best bookshops. Master Ebenezer has a wonderful collection, doesn�t he?�

�He really does,� Sett replied. �I truly enjoyed my time there.�

�Well, in regard to the food, I�d recommend the Jambalaya, sweet tea for your drink, and Bananas Foster for your dessert. And I�m Molly, by the way. I always forget to introduce myself.�

�Hi Molly, I�m Sett � and that sounds perfect, thank you.�

�Well, if you don�t finish it, we can box it up and you can have leftovers. It�s really good, I promise,� Molly said as she headed away with Sett�s order.

Sett pulled out one of the books, a history of old New Orleans that Ebenezer had recommended. She got lost in reading and only put it aside when Molly brought her plate. The sweet tea and a steaming basket of crusty French bread soon had her savoring the different flavors and spices. A piece of bread torn from the small loaf mopped up the juices, and Sett sat back with a contented sigh.

Molly came by to pick up her plate and refill her tea, then asked her, �Are you ready for dessert or too full?�

�Oh, I�m ready for dessert,� Sett said. �I�ve been traveling all day and didn�t realize how hungry I was.�

�Bananas Foster, coming up,� Molly said with a laugh. A moment later, she returned with a cart she pushed up to the edge of the table. On the cart, a pan with halved bananas simmered in a sauce that smelled of bananas, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Molly added rum to the pan, tipped it to coat the bananas, then lit the alcohol into a quick burning flame. The alcohol burned off and the flame went out, leaving the bananas and sauce behind. Lightly browned bananas were spooned onto a bowl of vanilla ice cream along with the sauce, then garnished with walnuts, fresh banana slices, and a dollop of whipped cream. �Here you go.�

�Wow, that was amazing, thank you,� Sett said as she picked up a spoon to take a bite. �And it tastes amazing. How fun!�

�I love doing the Bananas Foster desserts. Enjoy,� Molly said as she pushed the cart away.

Sett enjoyed the treat and left a generous tip on the table for Molly, gathered up her things and paid her bill on the way out. She glanced back to see Molly mouthing a �thank you� for the tip as she cleared the table, gave the girl a thumbs up and a smile, then headed out into the night. She took her time strolling among the night�s revelers, enjoying the new sights, sounds, and scents. Finally, she turned down the street that ran alongside the park, and the noise and traffic fell away. Well, not all the noise, but it became quieter. She made her way up the steps to her door and was fumbling with the unfamiliar keys when Sett heard a woman scream. The bag of books was left by the door, keys shoved back into her pocket, and Sett raced towards the sound of the second scream that spilled into the night.

Straight across the street and into the park, Sett called on a whisper of magic to sharpen her night vision and help her find the woman whose screams were full of fear and pain. Curtains of moss hung from tree branches and undergrowth crowded the narrow path as Sett stopped and held her breath so she could listen. A faint, wet sound followed by a low moan led Sett to the right, deeper into the tangled brush. Her gun in hand, she whispered another spell to help her move in silence as she came upon the scene. A figure in a hoodie and jeans leaned over a woman sprawled in the leaves and moss.

The scent of blood was strong in the air as Sett pointed her gun at the hooded figure. �Don�t move. I�m with the police.�

Later, Sett would swear the figure seemed to just blink out of existence. She couldn�t even tell if it had been male or female � just that it wore a faded gray hoodie, dark jeans, and black gloves. Skin color, gender, anything more � she never saw enough to determine any of that.

When the figure disappeared, Sett kept her gun in one hand and crouched to touch two fingers to the woman�s throat to see if there was a pulse. There was none. That�s when Sett realized she knew the woman. It was Molly, her waitress from maybe an hour earlier.

�Damn,� Sett sighed and stood, then pulled out her cell phone to dial 911. Then she dialed the Commander.

�What�s wrong, Sett? It�s late.�

�Sorry, Commander. I just found a body across from where I�m staying � in the park. I chased her killer away when I showed up, and I�ve called 911.�

�Damn,� Commander Walsh said with a sigh. �Do what you can to help. I�ll make a few phone calls, so you don�t get arrested for it. So much for not making a splashy scene, eh?�

�I couldn�t ignore someone screaming, sir.�

�No, I don�t suppose you could. I wouldn�t have been able to either. Call me when you finally get home, and we�ll update each other.�

The call disconnected and Sett turned on her phone�s flashlight to look at the body and surrounding area more carefully. A metallic glint caught the light a couple of feet from the body, so she crouched closer and used the muzzle of her gun to push a branch aside. A gold signet-style ring lay in the leaves. Something compelled Sett to pick it up and stuff it in her pocket just as she heard the sirens stop nearby. Gun holstered, Sett held her phone flashlight high and waved it to signal to the officers.

�Over here. The body is over here,� she called out.

Flashlights shone in her face and she squinted her eyes nearly shut. �Could you get that out of my eyes, please? I�m Cosette Fortin. I called it in.�

�Agent Fortin, I�m Detective Thibodeau. You can shut your phone light off now,� a man�s voice said. Sett shut off her phone light and tucked it in her pocket, then faced the detective, her hands still held out from her body, so no one got jumpy and shot her.

�You can relax,� Thibodeau said. �We got a call that a visiting SPD agent had called in to 911, and we were to kindly not shoot that agent.�

Sett let out a breath and smirked. �That�d be Commander Walsh. He�s my boss.�

�How about you come back to the path while my guys tape off the area and I take a look before we chat?�

�Of course. I didn�t want to muck up the scene any more than I had. I ran in here when I heard the screams and wasn�t sure which way would go back to the path.�

�It�s straight through there,� Thibodeau pointed and Sett gave him a nod before she walked out of the brush and back to the path.

While she waited, she sent a text to the Commander that she�d met Detective Thibodeau and would call him later. He texted back with �I�ll be waiting� so Sett knew he was still on alert on his end.

Thibodeau looked around at the scene, then came out to the path where Sett waited. �I�m the liaison between the New Orleans PD and SPD departments. If there�s something that happens in an area known for supe issues, they send my team. We�ve had several incidents in this park over the past couple of years � and they�ve increased in frequency in the past three months.�

�What kinds of incidents, and what type of supe?� Sett asked.

�Attempted assaults and murders, mostly. Vampires are getting out of control,� Thibodeau said.

�Wait�what? Vampires?�

�Yes, vampires,� a new voice answered.

Sett turned to see a woman about her height with bright green eyes, tanned skin, and curly dark hair tucked under a ball cap with the NOSPD logo on the front.

�Special Agent Fortin, this is Senior Agent Lucia Landry of the New Orleans SPD division. Agent Fortin is from�� Detective Thibodeau said, but Agent Landry interrupted him.

�...Belle Cove SPD. Yes, I�ve heard. And since this is not Belle Cove, perhaps you would leave the police work to us locals?� Agent Landry said.

��I wasn�t doing �police work�,� Sett said. �I heard a scream and ran to help. If you call being a concerned citizen doing �police work� then perhaps I need to have a talk with your training academy?�

�Now, ladies, let�s take a breath, shall we?� Thibodeau said. �Agent Landry, the victim had puncture wounds on both wrists and her throat, which would lead me to believe there were multiple assailants. I need to give my report and speak to the medical examiner to make sure your data is sent over, so may I count on you to get Agent Fortin�s report?�

�I can come down to the station and give my full report tomorrow. My prints are on file in the global SPD database. If you will excuse me, I can see myself home as I�m staying over there in number 315,� Sett said as she pointed to the townhouse that had her bag by the door, visible under the porch light.

�Don�t leave town,� Landry half-snarled as she stomped away.

Sett handed Detective Thibodeau her business card. �My cell number is on the back. See you tomorrow.�

�Lock the doors and don�t invite any strangers inside,� Thibodeau said. �See you in the morning.�

Sett jogged back to the porch, picked up her bag, then turned to look at the lights and activity across the street. A shiver ran through her as she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Doors locked, herbal tea steeping in the pot, Sett sat down with her laptop and started some case notes while it was fresh in her mind. A finger hit the button to call the Commander, and she lay her phone next to the computer.

�Home safe?�

�Yes, Commander. I�ll be giving my statement in the morning,� Sett replied. �Making my case notes now while it�s fresh in my mind.�

�Good practice to have. So, any information?�

�The victim was Molly, the waitress who served my dinner earlier tonight. Detective Thibodeau and Agent Landry said it was vampires that attacked her.�

�Vampires? Huh. I thought they were all gone.�

�You mean, you knew about them? Why have we never been taught of their existence?�

�Because they were supposedly eradicated around the 1850�s. You�re okay, though?�

�Yeah, I�m fine. I suggest adding vampire lore to the history of supernatural species course at the academy.�

�I�ll consider it. I�m going to do some digging and make some calls. If vampires are back, we all need to be informed. Stay safe tonight, don�t invite any strangers inside, and ward your doors. Goodnight, Sett.�

�Goodnight, Commander,� Sett replied before he disconnected the call.

Sett gathered up some lavender and sage, then went around to the doors and windows to whisper the spell to ward them. The herbs went into a bowl she set on a table in the middle of the space. By then, she really needed to sleep, so she took her tea and her phone into the bedroom. A cup of soothing tea and the events of the day washed away � and Sett slept.

Sett enjoyed her breakfast on the back porch with a view of the boats on the water, then cleaned up and headed to the New Orleans Supernatural Police Department offices. The building had once been an old manufacturing business with brick walls and wrought iron fences, but the large sign out front stated its current usage. The reception area held benches for people to wait with a large desk behind a protective shield.

Sett stepped up to the shield and held up her identification. �Agent Fortin here to speak to Detective Thibodeau or Agent Landry.�

�Yes, Agent Fortin, they�ve been expecting you. Come through the door when you hear the buzzing,� the uniformed attendant said.

A faint click, followed by a buzz, and Sett pulled the door open. A long corridor stretched to the back of the building, with doors off of both sides all the way down. Detective Thibodeau stepped out of one of those doors and waved to her.

�Want a coffee or something?� Thibodeau asked.

�Coffee would be great,� Sett said.

�Good, then we�re ready, come on in. There�s coffee and cookies on the table,� Thibodeau said as he stepped back so Sett could enter.

The room was square with one wall of brick, walls lined with white boards and file cabinets, and a table in the center with chairs and a tray of refreshments. Agent Landry, Detective Thibodeau, and three more people were seated around the table. The detective pulled out a seat for her, then filled a mug with coffee and handed it to her.

�Thanks,� she told him as she took the mug and sat down.

�Special Agent Cosette Fortin, this is Technical Agent Maria Baines, Agent-in-Training Joseph Deville, and one of our agency clerks, Timon Safferty. Would you please state your name for the record, and that you are here of your own volition?� Agent Landry said.

Sett swallowed the mouthful of coffee and ran a hand through her short hair. �I am Special Agent Cosette Adeline Fortin of the Belle Cove SPD, and an instructor at the Paranormal Police Academy. I am here to give my statement of the events of last evening, of my own volition.�

The clerk typed into a laptop while a camera on a tripod recorded the statement. Sett took another sip of her coffee and was grateful she�d worn one of her nicer outfits of a silk sleeveless top and black jeans with black leather ankle boots. She felt the peach silk brightened her olive skin tones and made her hazel eyes sparkle.

Landry leaned her elbows on the table and stared at Sett as she asked, �What brought you to the park at that hour of the night?�

Sett arched a brow as she answered. �A woman�s screams.�

��Could you be more specific?� Landry asked.

�I had gone to dinner at the Cajun Corner restaurant around eight at night. Molly was my server. I left a little after nine and spent the next two hours walking around the area. I listened to music, I got a drink from a vendor�s cart, things like that. I finally turned the corner, about four houses away from where I�m staying, and it became a lot quieter. I went up the steps, put my bag down by the door, and pulled out the keys � and that�s when I heard a woman screaming. I shoved the keys back in my pocket, ran down the stairs and into the park across the road.�

�How did you know it was a woman screaming?� Deville asked.

Even Landry gave him a �wtf� look for that one.

�Because of the sound,� Sett said.

�Please continue,� Landry asked.

�I ran off the path, through the brush, and came upon a woman on the ground, a figure in dark jeans, a hoodie, and dark gloves running away. I crouched by the woman to check for a pulse, and there was none. The figure moved supernaturally fast and I knew I wouldn�t be able to catch them, so I called for help and stayed with the body until Detective Thibodeau arrived. You both know what happened from there. I went home, made tea, called my Commander, and went to sleep.�

��Did you see the skin color, gender, anything that might help us?� Landry asked.

�No. The hood covered the face and hair and was baggy enough to hide the form underneath. My first instinct is to say male, but that cannot be confirmed. It was just something in the way the figure moved before it sped off.�

��Thank you for your time. You have our contact information if you remember anything else,� Landry said as she rose. Her curly hair was twisted up in back while tendrils framed her face.

Sett gave her a smile. �I do, and I will. I would appreciate something in return, though.�

Landry sighed and sat back down. �What might that be?�

�You all had no hesitation in calling it a vampire attack. I had been led to believe all vampires were gone. How is it that New Orleans has this kind of a problem?�

�And no one else does?� Thibodeau said. �It�s magic.�

�A boundary spell wraps New Orleans and keeps the vampires from leaving. It�s hundreds of years old and reinforced every solstice � winter and summer,� Landry said. �Now, I have another meeting. If you have any further information, call. I�d also recommend you stick to being a tourist and leave the police work to us. Good day.� She walked out of the meeting with Deville on her heels.

The clerk packed up his equipment and Thibodeau waited until they had all left before he spoke. �I�m going to ask you to give Landry a little grace on this. I get that she seems rude and blunt, but there are mitigating circumstances.�

�Like what?� Sett asked as she finished her coffee.

�Like, it�s not my story to tell � but there are reasons. She�s not usually an asshole. Maybe she�ll tell you sometime. Anyway � do you need a ride anywhere?�

�No, thanks. I have a vehicle to use while I�m here, and I have my own business to attend to out in the bayou.�

�You have business with the Lamontaine�s?�

�I do. Family business. Thank you for being so welcoming, Detective Thibodeau,� Sett said as she rose and held out her hand. �It is truly appreciated.�

�You�re most welcome, Agent Fortin. Give Commander Walsh my best, will you? He and my father were friends once upon a time.�

�I will do that. Have a good day,� Sett said as she left. It wasn�t long before she was on the road out of the district and into the bayou. Her directions led her to a ranger station at the end of a dirt road where only three other cars were parked. She pulled in and parked, but left the car running with the air conditioning going while she made her call.

�Alpha, it�s Sett Fortin, here as a representative from Commander Walsh. I�m in the parking area at the ranger station.�

�Come on inside, the council is here,� Josiah Lamontaine said as he waved from the cabin door.

Sett disconnected the call and shut off her vehicle, then sent a text to the commander that she was about to go meet the council. She might not have physical backup, but at least she had someone that would look for her if she disappeared.

Phone in her pocket, gun locked in the console safe, Sett got out and locked the SUV, pocketed the keys, and headed up the steps and inside. A cool blast of air washed over her as she entered, chasing the humidity of the bayou away.

Five people were in the room, with Josiah standing near the door. He inhaled slowly, then gave Sett a nod. �Thank you for not coming in armed. It is appreciated.�

�It would be rude to walk into a diplomatic meeting with a weapon,� Sett replied with a polite nod of her head. �A pleasure to meet you in person, Alpha Josiah. Your wife was most welcoming when I first arrived.�

Lulu stepped out of one of the other rooms and waved at Sett. �I�ve got cold drinks, sandwiches, and sides ready to bring out now that you�re here. Y�all ready to eat?�

�I could eat, thanks,� Sett said as she gave Lulu a smile in return.

Josiah led her around the reception counter for the station into the space behind. Couches and padded chairs were set around a low table that held a couple of mugs, some notebooks, and a laptop � that were quickly swept out of the way for Lulu to set the trays down on the table.

Sett took a seat with her back to the back wall and stayed silent while things were set up for the lunch meeting. Josiah sat to her left and another woman sat to her right, her hair a wild tangle of brown and blonde curls, her skin a dark bronze.

�I�m Shayla,� the woman said as she nodded to Sett. �Next to me is Marcus, then Jeremiah, Orris, and Evan. We�re all pack council members and advisors to Alpha Josiah.�

�I�m pleased to meet you all. I�m Agent Sett Fortin, here at the request of Liam Walsh, Commander of the Belle Cove SPD and head of the Academy,� Sett said.

��We�re grateful for what Alpha Walsh has done for our pack and community,� Shayla said.

�It�s been a rough go of it for a while,� Evan said as he settled in the seat next to Josiah.

Lulu put a stack of plates down on the table and turned to Josiah. �Lily and I have our plates in the kitchen. If you need anything, let me know.�

Josiah gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled. �Thank you, love. Appreciate you taking care of this for us.� Lulu left the room, and Josiah picked up a plate and handed it to Sett. �Let�s fill our plates and then we can talk, agreed?�

�Sounds good to me. This looks fantastic,� Sett replied as she saw the stacks of sandwiches on crusty rolls, bowls of potato salad, antipasto salad, chips, condiments, and more. Everyone loaded their plates, found a cold drink from the collection on the table, and took a moment to eat a few bites before the conversation got started.

�Josiah started. �As you know, I�m a grandson of Piers Lamontaine, and therefore a cousin to the late Damas Lamontaine. I was lucky to have a mother who wouldn�t put up with the misogynistic attitudes and made sure my father, Jean-Pierre, knew which side of his bread was buttered, as they say. My father died when I was a teenager, and my Maman�s new husband was a witch. That�s how I met Marie-Louise and gained permission to wed. When the power was removed from my grand-uncle Philippe and cousin Damas, I was one of the few left who had the power to step into the alpha role. The Commander�s ruling made it so � and my pack is grateful for it. The previous alphas were cruel and unforgiving � and while it is important to have a strong rule, that doesn�t mean one has to be vindictive and mean.�

�He then asked for a council to be selected from the various tribes of shifters in his domain � and here we are,� Jeremiah said.

�Commander Walsh wanted me to come in person to let you all know that he is available if you need him, and to make sure that things were going well now that Damas was gone. We heard he drowned a couple of weeks ago and didn�t know if that would cause any backlash against Josiah�s new regime,� Sett said.

�Honestly, the only people that miss Damas are those whose own cruel tendencies were encouraged under his rule � and they�re being handled per pack law as the situations arise,� Josiah said.

�Is it considered rude of me to ask just how Damas died?� Sett asked Josiah.

�No, not in your position as the Commander�s delegate. He got into a fight with Orris there, and lost control � and shifted,� Josiah said.

�I�m an alligator shifter,� Orris said. �I snapped my jaws shut around him in his field mouse form and dove to the bottom of the river, and he drowned.�

�Alligator? Fascinating. If you were up in Belle Cove, I would�ve guessed bear shifter from your size,� Sett said.

�He�s a huge alligator,� Shayla said with a smile.

�The fact that Damas and the others the Queen cursed could only shift into field mice form, meant the moment he lost control of his temper and shifted, he was � as you might say � bait,� Orris said. �No one really mourns the loss. And no, I wouldn�t swallow him because evil gives meat a bad taste.�

Sett barely hid the shiver at that and took a bite of her sandwich. Sometimes, having your mouth full was better than speaking.

��Were there any specific questions you had for us?� Josiah asked.

�Not beyond the need to discover the current status of things and if you had any requests for the Commander. It�s just better, sometimes, to come in person and make sure you�re getting the true story and not someone being forced to say things they otherwise wouldn�t,� Sett said. �I have cards for all of you, with mine and the Commander�s contact information, so if you need us, you can reach us. Other than that? I�m supposed to relax and have fun while I�m here.�

�And yet, you interrupted a vampire assault,� Jeremiah said. �That�s not exactly relaxing.�

�I honestly had no clue that vampires were still a thing,� Sett said.�

��Uniquely New Orleans,� Shayla replied. �Lucky us. I�m sorry, I shouldn�t be so snarky when it�s someone you knew that died.�

�Well, I didn�t really know her. She was my server at dinner a couple of hours earlier. I had stopped at the Cajun Corner restaurant after spending time in the bookstore up the street. She was an excellent server and we enjoyed meeting over the dessert she made me. I�m sorry someone so friendly was killed, but I�d be sorry that anyone was killed like that,� Sett said.

�Bookstore? Ebenezer de Rohan�s place? I love Bookish Things. It�s a must-stop when I�m in town,� Marcus said.

�Yeah, turns out he�s a distant cousin. My ancestor, Aimee de Rohan, was sister to his ancestor, Augustine,� Sett said.

Everyone stopped talking and eating when she said that all eyes turned to her in amazement. Josiah was the first to speak. �You mean � you�re a de Rohan witch?�

�And a Fortin witch,� Sett said. �What? Why are you all looking at me like that?�

��A de Rohan witch � you�re witch royalty, Sett,� Josiah said, awe still in his voice. �Lulu, come here, please?�

A moment later, Lulu came out, drying her hands on a towel. �What�s wrong, Josiah?�

�Nothing�s wrong. Did you know Sett was a de Rohan witch?�

Lulu gasped, a hand going to her chest. �Seriously? I thought there were only a handful left.�

�Okay, guys. This is feeling a little silly. Aimee de Rohan married Jacques Fortin back in the late 1600�s and I�m descended from them. I�m also the granddaughter of the Queen of the Fae. I�m part witch and part fae, which explains why my elemental earth magic is so powerful. Otherwise? I�m just me,� Sett said.

�Just you, the great-whatever-granddaughter of the heroic de Rohan witches. Have you met Ebenezer yet?� Lulu asked.

�That�s what brought up the subject,� Josiah said. �Sett visited his bookstore before she interrupted the vampire assault.�

�Oh, speaking of vampires, I have a charm for you to wear that repels vampires. They won�t try and bite you if you have this on,� Lulu said. �Granted, the tea I left you also helps, but this is more �in your face� than that. I would�ve left it for you before, if I thought you would be dancing with them in the park.�

��Ha ha,� Sett replied and shook her head. �I heard a scream, I ran into the park towards it, and saw a figure run away, then found the body on the ground. I wasn�t exactly dancing with them.�

�And yet, every supernatural in the area knows you chased vampires away from a meal. That means the vampires will be watching you,� Josiah said.

�I�ll be mainlining the tea and wearing whatever you�ve got then,� Sett said. �And not inviting any strangers into my residence.�

Lulu disappeared only to return a few moments later with a braided leather bracelet, decorated with gemstone beads.

A sturdy clip bound it to her wrist and Sett admired it before she thanked Lulu. �I can feel the power in it. Impressive.�

�Thank you. So, now that your duty is done, how long will you be staying?� Lulu asked.

�I�ve got two weeks in the rental, and I�ve only been here about a day and a half, so plenty of time. Why?�

�Josiah and I would like to have you to our place for dinner, and I�d love to spend some time showing you around the area, if you�re interested?� Lulu said.

�That sounds wonderful, thank you. I have plans for tomorrow, but the day after?� Sett said.

�Then that�s what we�ll do. I�ll message you directions to our place and we�ll make touristy plans during dinner,� Lulu said.

They all sat around and socialized for about an hour more before Sett rose to her feet. �I want to thank you all for your hospitality and friendliness. I should get going before it gets too dark � it was hard enough finding my way in here, I don�t want to get lost getting out.�

Jeremiah got to his feet and said, �I�ve got to head back to the city too, so you can follow me out if you like?�

Sett looked to Josiah and he gave her a nod, so she smiled at Jeremiah. �I�d appreciate that, thank you.�

It didn�t take long before Sett had parked at the townhouse and headed inside. She had called the Commander on the road and gave him her report on the meeting. His parting words were for her to try and enjoy the rest of her trip as a tourist should. So, she picked out a book from the pile she bought at Ebenezer�s place, got herself a pitcher of lemonade and some snacks, and sat out on the back porch for the rest of the afternoon. That evening, she heated up one of the meals in the freezer and settled down to watch a movie. The feeling of being watched interrupted her more than once, until she got up and closed the drapes over all of the windows, and double-warded the doors. Two cups of Lulu�s tea and she was ready for bed.

Across the street, the shadows of the trees in the park hid the figure of a man whose nostrils flared with each breeze and whose eyes narrowed every time a curtain twitched.

Sett slept in, and not just because she was on vacation. All night her dreams had kept her from getting a restful sleep and it wasn�t until the sun rose that she finally sank into a deep slumber. She woke around eleven to her phone ringing and a mumbled ��lo?� had a warm chuckle meeting her ear.

�I�m sorry to have awakened you, Cousin. You had said you�d be by in the morning and it�s nearly noon, so I grew concerned and decided to call.�

�Ebenezer? What time is...oh, damn, I�m sorry. I slept right through my alarm,� Sett said as she sat up in bed.

�You shower and dress, and I�ll have coffee and beignets here for you when you arrive. Sound good?�

�That sounds perfect. I�ll be there in about twenty minutes,� Sett replied and disconnected the call.

A quick shower and Sett pulled on a pretty cotton tank top and a pair of shorts that reached to mid-thigh, with a pair of cotton flats and a straw hat with a wide brim. She decided to take the SUV this time and locked her gun in the console before she parked in front of Bookish Things. Keys and phone tucked in her pockets, Sett carried the cloth bag she�d borrowed the other day and headed inside. Ebenezer stood by the window while a young man rang up the purchases of a few patrons at the counter.

�There you are, come with me,� Ebenezer said, a sparkle in his eye as he led her deeper into the store. This time, they went around the counter and down a narrow corridor, then up a flight of stairs. �This is my home,� he said as he opened the door and stepped inside.

The tingle of a ward washed over Sett as she entered behind him. �Nice wards,� Sett said as she stopped to look around. Comfortable furniture, unique art and collectibles, and one wall filled with books, caught Sett�s eye. But it was the table and chairs placed in a curve of the wall that was lined with windows that curled her lips into a contented smile. Lace curtains hung over stained glass uppers and clear lowers that faced out to a garden full of herbs and flowers. A narrow, oval table held a pot of steaming coffee and a plate of beignets dusted with powdered sugar, centered in front of the middle windows, with wing-back chairs upholstered in faded leather set to either side.

�Come, sit,� Ebenezer said as he led Sett over to the table and chairs.

�This looks so appealing,� Sett said. �Cozy and delicious, all in one.�

Ebenezer poured them both coffee and held the plate out to Sett to pick her treats before he took one and put it on his own plate. �Please, have some coffee, enjoy the sweets while they�re still warm, and then we can catch up, hmm?�

Sett sipped the coffee and ate one of the puffy sugared donut-like pastries, and then half of a second before she wiped sugar from her lips and smiled at Ebenezer. �Okay, I can see you trying to be polite, but you�re practically bursting with questions. Go ahead.�

�What on earth possessed you to run into the park after dark?� He didn�t sound angry, just astonished.

�I heard a woman�s screams. I�m a cop. I can�t just ignore that. In my defense, I didn�t know that vampires were a thing,� Sett said.

��I see Marie-Louise Valjean gave you a bracelet?�

�Lulu Lamontaine? Yeah, she did. She�s married to��

�The pack Alpha,� Ebenezer sighed. �I�m aware. My heart aches for her. She�s lost four children, but she and Josiah keep trying. But then, you know that pain, do you not?�

Sett choked on the bite she�d just taken, and she used the moment to hide her shock at his words. A sip of coffee and she wiped her mouth before she asked, �What do you mean?�

�Did you not lose a child from Girard Guidry?�

��That�s...but...how? How do you know this?� Sett felt like she was about to throw up everything she�d just eaten. How could he know? Only her own mother knew, other than herself and Girard, and he was in Europe last she�d heard. They�d had a short, intense relationship that had ended when she�d lost their child. He�d blamed her. She�d blamed herself. It had been nearly forty years ago.

�I know Girard,� Ebenezer said. �Not as a friend, no � but I know him.�

�I should leave,� Sett said as she started to rise.

��Wait,� Ebenezer begged. �Please. Let me explain. Girard was one of the enforcers of the old pack hierarchy. He is a cruel being with a desire for power that only equals his desire for riches. He�s gathered several of the disenfranchised pack members that don�t want the kinder, gentler pack Josiah is running � and made them into a cadre of mafioso-type actors. He is the Don of the group, giving out orders and collecting the wealth they gather.�

Sett dropped back into the chair, but she felt ill. Hot and cold shivers ran through her as she listened to Ebenezer�s words. �He�s here? In New Orleans?�

��Yes. Has been for almost thirty years,� Ebenezer said. �I had not put it all together until he came into my shop early this morning, asking if you were, in truth, a de Rohan witch. Seems the gossip spreads quickly even among the disenfranchised pack members. I told him that yes, you were my cousin and of the de Rohan lineage. He said that just proved to him even more that witches were weak, since if you had all that power, you would not have lost his child.�

�And your response?�

�I told him that was not a truth, but if it was a truth he felt he needed to feel better about himself��

�Ebenezer, that�s poking the bear, isn�t it?�

�A bit, but he knows that any retaliation against me or my shop would bring every witch in the seventeen wards to his door. I hope that you knowing he�s in town doesn�t cause you to leave sooner. I am truly looking forward to getting to know you, Cousin Sett.�

��We did not part on good terms, but it was forty years ago. Last I�d heard, he was in Europe, but obviously that didn�t last long.� Sett could feel the adrenaline rush easing, but that need to be armed and ready didn�t fade as fast.

�Seems he ran into some trouble in France and was exiled, so he came to New Orleans with the man he�d met in Paris and both joined up with the Lamontaine pack as enforcers. Sebastian Laroux was one of those turned into a field mouse, so he�s disappeared, but the two of them were a nightmare for anyone that didn�t bow to the will of the pack.�

��So now that Josiah is in charge, what does Girard think he can do?�

�Create his own pack and keep causing trouble,� Ebenezer said. �For Girard, it�s all about money and power. He�s bought himself a mansion in the French Quarter where his little pack all reside. They�re into prostitution, gambling, drugs, you name it.�

�And the SPD division here hasn�t stopped them?�

�They tried, once. Just after the pack hierarchy was upended and Damas was still alive. Cost them four good cops, two died and two had to retire as their injuries would keep them from being able to do their job.�

�Holy hell,� Sett muttered. �Makes me even more glad I never went there again.�

�Went where?� Ebenezer asked as he handed her the plate of beignets. �Here, eat. The sugar will help with the shock.�

�I never dated or got romantically involved with anyone again, after that mess with Girard. It�s not worth the pain and loss, and I�m a better cop when I can stay focused and not be distracted by such things. I�ve seen my family deal with both and something always suffers.�

��But don�t you miss�?� Ebenezer started and Sett shook her head.

�No, I don�t miss romance. Do I get lonely sometimes? Yes, of course, but being a woman in a male-dominated career, I have to work twice as hard to get half as far. I honestly feel like I was born to serve, and I find joy and fulfillment in my work. I don�t need children or a mate to get that, and if I ever need to be around children, there are always some in my family. What about you?�

�I�ve had two wives and eighteen children between them. I have fifty-three grandchildren and twenty-eight great-grandchildren. In fact, the young man running the store today is one of my great-grandchildren, Zachariah de Rohan. Zach is the grandson of my son Benjamin. Of the eighteen children, twelve survived to adulthood and of those twelve, only three were girls. There are a lot of your cousins running around out there, Sett.�

�Wow. My mother had four girls, and the two eldest died in the Species War. They each had one child before they died, and we were all raised together. My sister Amelia just had her third child, but she had twins prior to this last son. Her husband is shifter and mythic, and she is, like me, witch and fae. They think that is why their children survived � because of the four species blend.�

�How fascinating! I�ll have to do some research on that, for my own edification,� Ebenezer said.

�Speaking of research, I need to educate myself about vampires. Could you point me at some good books?�

��Well, the best resource is a book by Marie Laveau, and I have a personal copy. It is very fragile and decidedly rare. However, a few months back, Zach scanned it so I can give you an electronic copy.�

�Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen?�

�The very same. She was highly intelligent and understood that information was the best defense against evil.�

�Wasn�t she a witch?� Sett asked.

�Not by species, no. But she was a powerful woman because of her intelligence and beliefs.�

��I�d appreciate any books or information you can share. I didn�t realize I�d be walking into a place where vampires still roamed. The worst thing a cop can be is ignorant.�

�Ignorance is a disease that can be cured. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about stupidity,� Ebenezer said with a sigh.

Sett snorted a laugh as he got up to get her the materials. She finished her coffee and stacked the used dishes on the tray, then took a few minutes to look at the books and curios on the shelves in the room.

�Here you go. I got you two you can keep, one you can borrow, and the electronic copy of Laveau�s compendium is on this thumb drive,� Ebenezer said as he came back in with three books and the USB stick.

�You�re too kind, Ebenezer. Thank you,� Sett said as she took the things from him. �I would love to take you out to dinner while I�m here. You pick the place and I�ll come pick you up and drive us there. Is that something you�d like to do?�

�I would love to do that, thank you. Let me see what Zach�s schedule says and I�ll let you know when and where. I have your cell number, so I�ll text you the information and we can plan?�

�Perfect. I�m supposed to spend the day tomorrow with Lulu, but other than that, I have no plans.�

�Give Marie-Louise my regards, would you? She�s a sweet girl and I don�t get to see her as much as I used to.�

�I�ll do that,� Sett said as she headed to the door, only to be surprised by a hesitant hug from Ebenezer.

�I wasn�t sure if you were the hugging type, but I am so pleased we connected. Stay safe, little cousin.�

Sett gave him a one-armed hug in return and smiled. �I�ll do my best. These will help.��

Sett gave a wave to Zach as she headed out through the shop and outside, where Sett put the books into a bag on the floor of the front seat, the thumb drive in her pocket. As she walked around to get into the SUV, something made her turn and look. There, across the street, was parked a Range Rover with tinted windows. She knew they were watching her, but it was too shadowed for her to see inside. Feeling particularly daring, Sett gave the Rover a wave, then climbed into the driver�s seat and locked up. She had planned on just driving home, but when she pulled out into traffic, the Range Rover did a U-turn in the middle of the street, earning several blasts from motorists� horns as it moved into place two cars behind her.

Traffic kept her from going too fast, so she hit the button and said, �Call Agent Landry.�

�Calling Agent Landry.� the system replied, and the phone rang twice before Sett heard, �Landry here.�

�Agent Landry, this is Agent Fortin. I seem to have a black Range Rover with heavily tinted windows following me. I don�t suppose I could come to the station and have someone meet me outside?�

�Where are you?�

�I just pulled away from Bookish Things bookstore. If I remember correctly, you�re four streets up, take a left and you�re one street down on the left?�

�That�s right. Stay on the phone. I�ll go wait in the lobby until you tell me you�re pulling in, then I�ll come out.�

�Appreciate it, thanks,� Sett replied. Leave it to another woman to understand just how annoying � and unnerving � having a strange car following you could be.

The Rover crept up closer until it was almost tapping Sett�s bumper. She slowed down more and more, causing the traffic behind the Rover to start honking their horns.

�I�m in sight of the lot entrance. I�m going really slow because he�s right on my bumper. I�ll speed up and pull up to the front,� Sett said.

�Got it,� Landry replied.

Soon as she was near the entrance, Sett hit the gas, spun the wheel, and tore through the lot to stop right in front of the doors where Lucia Landry waited. The Range Rover slowed, then sped up and out of sight.

Sett shut off the SUV and got out. �Thank you. I don�t know what that was, but I�d heard from some others that the vampires were upset with me.�

Agent Landry shook her head. �That wasn�t a vampire rig, that Rover belongs to Girard Guidry�s pack.�

Sett must�ve gone pale because Lucia hurried closer. �Hey, you okay?�

�Yeah, sorry. Just not used to this heat.�

�Want to come inside and get some water?� Landry asked.

�I should probably get back to where I�m staying.�

�I�ll follow you back and get a radio car to sit nearby in case they cause any trouble.�

�Okay, thanks. I�m going to get in and turn on the AC.�

�I�ll grab my things and be out in a moment. I drive a green truck,� Landry said.

�Got it, thanks.� Sett got back into the SUV and started it up to blast the cold air. Belt buckled, doors locked, she opened the console, so her gun was in easy reach. As soon as Landry�s truck pulled up, Sett backed out and headed out of the lot, the truck right behind her. She didn�t see the Range Rover lurking, so Sett let out a breath and drove the short distance to her rental. She hit the button to open the gate, pulled in, and shut everything down. Landry pulled in behind her and shut the gate while Sett gathered her gun and books.

�Want to come in?� Sett asked.

�Sure, if you�re okay with that? I can take a look around with you,� Lucia replied.

�I�ve got some lemonade and some pastries, or coffee if you�d rather,� Sett offered as she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

�Coffee would be great. Hey, this is a nice place,� Lucia said as she looked around.

Sett stacked the books on the table and drew her weapon to finish clearing the house. Lucia took the downstairs and Sett took the bedrooms and bath.

�All clear,� Sett called out.

�All clear down here, too,� Lucia called out as she came back up the stairs. �Keep the gates locked on the driveway and the boat launch � that�ll keep them from being able to pull in and hide from passersby.�

�Yeah, I hadn�t opened the launch gate at all and the driveway gate just to pull in and out, otherwise it stays locked. I�ve warded everything, too, so if they try and pull anything, they�ll get a rude surprise.�

��What do you know about Girard Guidry?� Lucia asked as they sat at the table with coffee and pastries.

�Not much, apparently. We knew each other in Belle Cove about forty years ago, then he went to Europe. Ebenezer de Rohan told me that Guidry left France by their command and ended up here with Sebastian Laroux � then worked for Damas Lamontaine. With Laroux gone and Damas dead, and the pack under new management, as it were, Guidry took the disenfranchised with him and bought a house in the French Quarter to work out of.�

�Sounds like you know a good bit,� Lucia said, a tone of admiration in her words.

�I didn�t know most of that until after speaking with Ebenezer this morning. Turns out he�s a distant cousin, and he�s been most kind and generous to me since we learned that,� Sett said.

�You�re a de Rohan witch?�

Sett sighed. �Yeah. And a Fortin witch, and granddaughter of Queen Margaret of the Fae. And I don�t like spicy pickles or fried okra.�

Lucia laughed. �Okay, I can see you�re not as awed by that as others might be. It�s pretty impressive for these parts, though. My third great-grandma was married to a de Rohan witch, so I�m part of your bloodline, but all it means is I am really good when I focus. Which, I�m betting, most witches could say they were more adept when they weren�t distracted.�

�So, we�re cousins?� Sett asked.

��I suppose? Third cousins twice removed or something like that. It gets a little crazy when you get that far back. I�ve called Ebenezer �Uncle Ebbie� since I was a small child. Maybe I�ll ask him how we�re connected the next time I go visit. Did he serve you beignets?�

�Oh, he did. They�re amazing when warm. Where did he get them, do you know?�

�He makes them. It�s one of his little pleasures � and they�re better than Cafe DuMonde�s.�

�Well, I haven�t tried theirs yet, so I can�t compare. Tomorrow, I�m supposed to spend the day with Lulu Lamontaine. Do you think I�ll need to worry?�

�Oh, hell no. If Girard dared touch a hair on Lulu�s head, Josiah would snap him like a twig.�

�Then why doesn�t Josiah chase Girard out of New Orleans?�

�Everything with the pack is so tangled right now. Josiah is making some great headway, but there are only so many ways you can eat a shit sandwich, and that�s one bite at a time. He�s got to stabilize his foundation before he goes after Guidry and his group.�

�The more I learn about all of this, the more it feels like I stepped into The Godfather.�

�You�re not wrong in a lot of ways,� Lucia said with a sigh. �Guidry is the boss, and his second, they call him Patron, is Jean Jehan. Patron and capo are the same thing � the lieutenant or second in a mafia organization. Jehan is a Corsican who showed up about thirty years ago. To be honest, I think he�s the one really running things � puppeteering Guidry so he�s the face of it all.�

�And the one who will take the brunt of any retaliation they might get, right?�

�Exactly. Now, usually there�s a boss, underboss, several capos, or patrons, then the soldiers. Because the group is still relatively small, there�s the boss, Guidry, then one patron, Jehan, and about twenty soldiers. If they continue to grow, then Jehan will become the underboss and they�ll select a couple of the more promising soldiers to be patrons.�

��It sounds like this group needs to be taken care of sooner rather than later,� Sett said.

�They do, but we�ve got limited resources and so far, they�ve pretty much kept to themselves. They tried to force some of the shopkeepers to pay protection fees, but Ebenezer shut that down fast. Right now, they�re busy running their prostitution ring and selling drugs,� Lucia said.

�I really don�t want to overstep, but I could talk to the Commander and see if he can send a team down to deal with this � if you think your boss would be okay with that?�

�I�ll bring it up to Sabine tomorrow at our morning meeting. Captain Royale is not one who worries about appearances when it comes to shutting down crime.�

�You mean, she won�t worry that it makes her look incapable if the Commander sends a team down at her request. That�s a good boss, right there.�

�She�s been good to work with and she�s encouraged me to improve my skills and yet keep a balanced lifestyle.�

Sett gave a short laugh. �Balanced lifestyle. I wouldn�t know one of those if it jumped up and bit me on the ass. I learned a long time ago that relationships and romance don�t work for me. I�m married to my job.�

Lucia reached out a hand and lay it on Sett�s arm. �I�ve been there. We�re both looking at a lifespan that stretches a few centuries. Do you really want to spend it all alone?�

Sett shivered at the touch, then let out a slow breath. �No, I don�t. But the one relationship I thought would be the relationship, nearly killed me. I don�t trust my judgment when it comes to romance.�

��I have an idea,� Lucia said. �Let me make a phone call and order dinner. Do you have wine? We can spend some time and get to know each other better. I mean, we are cousins after all, yes?�

�I�d like that,� Sett replied. �And I have wine. The Commander had several of my favorites put in the wine cooler as a treat. He�s really pushing for me to have an actual vacation.�

Lucia laughed and picked up her phone. �Do you have any preferences?�

�No fried okra?� Sett said and they both laughed. �No, seriously, I�ll eat most anything, and I�m willing to try new things at least once.�

�Fantastic, I�ll order dinner and have the radio car pick it up.�

�That�s cruel � they�ll smell our dinner and be stuck in the car.�

�I�ll make sure to order them something as well, don�t worry. I remember my days of guard duty,� Lucia said as she took her phone and went downstairs for privacy.�

Sett cleaned up the empty plate and cups, then took out wine glasses, plates, and utensils for their meal. She found herself getting excited about spending time with Lucia. She was beautiful, intelligent, and she understood the life of an agent. It was nice to see that they�d moved past the rough first meeting.

��Food is on the way and if you�ve got a nice red, we can get started,� Lucia said as she came up the stairs. �Want to put on a movie while we wait?�

�Sure, you pick the movie, I�ll open the wine,� Sett replied. It was going to be a good night.

A fantastic meal of Italian delicacies from Il Migliore and two bottles of wine had ended up with Lucia in Sett�s bed. They showered and Lucia found herself grateful she kept a go-bag in her car, so she had clean clothes for work.

�I�ve got to hurry to meet Lulu,� Sett said, �but I�d like to see you again.�

�How about tonight you come to my place? I�ll even cook for you,� Lucia said as she leaned in for a kiss. �I really don�t want to go anywhere but back to bed with you, but duty calls.�

�Text me your address and when you want me there. Want me to bring anything?�

�More wine?� Lucia said with a chuckle, then kissed Sett again. �I�m really glad you invited me in and didn�t hold my cranky first impression against me.�

��I know what I want to hold against you, but we�d both be late. Go, and we�ll see each other tonight.�

Sett called Lulu and rearranged things so they could do lunch with Josiah and then a little sight-seeing. They lived in a lovely house on the edge of the bayou, not far from where Sett was staying. The wide front porch wrapped to both sides and a patio with pool and fire pit were out back. Inside, the d�cor and furniture gave the place a soothing, comforting feel. Sett handed Lulu the vase of flowers she�d brought as a gift and took her seat at the round dining room table.

�You seem in exceptionally good spirits today,� Lulu said to Sett.

Josiah chuckled and winked at Sett. �I think that mood has something to do with our friend, Lucia.� He tapped the side of his nose to let Sett know how he�d figured it out.

Sett blushed and shrugged. �We�ve decided we enjoy each other�s company. That�s why I needed to move the meal from dinner to lunch. I�m going to her place tonight.�

�Lucia is lovely. A great agent and a better friend. She�s also one of the strongest witches I�ve worked with, outside of Ebenezer,� Lulu said.

�We decided over the second bottle of wine last night that no one would understand us like we did,� Sett said as Lulu put the last plate on the table and joined them. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, corn bread, whipped butter, and green beans with bacon made Sett�s mouth water. �This looks delicious. Thank you for inviting me.�

They discussed where they would go sightseeing, the weather, and the differences between Belle Cove and New Orleans, until the meal was nearly done.

Sett leaned back, wiped her mouth, and looked at Josiah. �I spoke with Lucia about Guidry and his little pack of criminals yesterday. I knew Girard forty years back, before he left Belle Cove for Europe. I had lost track of him then, and had no interest in ever seeing his face, or hearing his name. Then yesterday, a Range Rover that belongs to his group, followed me until I pulled into the SPD parking lot.�

�Are you sure it was his?� Josiah asked.

�Very sure. Lucia identified it. I had thought it was vampires after me because of the park incident. The windows were tinted so dark, I couldn�t see who was inside.�

��Then, I�m sorry, but I can�t let Lulu go with you today,� Josiah said. �The risk is too great. I�m not in a position yet to be able to get rid of Guidry and his gang, and Lulu cannot be in a position of risk like that. Not now.�

Sett looked over at Lulu and saw the woman�s arms wound around her waist. �Ohh, I get it. You�re expecting?�

�Barely. It�s only two months, and we�ve lost them all by the third,� Lulu said, voice soft.

�You�ve heard of my mother, Alicia Fortin, right?� Sett asked.

�We have,� Josiah replied. �One of the most gifted herbalist witches in the world.�

�She has a potion that has helped two other mixed couples have living children. It uses her herbal skill, and her magic as well as Queen Maggie�s. My mother is half Fae, her mother is full Fae, and between the two of them, it seems to have worked. It�s in capsule form, and I can get you as much as you need to have your family.�

Lulu reached out and grabbed Josiah�s hand as the two of them stared at Sett. �You�re...you�re not leading us on, are you?� Lulu asked.

�No, I�m not. I thought of it after Ebenezer told me you�d lost so many babies, and I was going to say something when you and I were out today, but now? I�ll call my mother and get a shipment to you by tomorrow,� Sett said.

�Why have we not heard of this before?� Josiah asked.

�Can you imagine the war that would start if people thought mixed species could have viable children? We�ve only just recently quashed a Purist uprising,� Sett said.

�Good point,� Josiah replied. �While you�re calling your mother and giving us the hope of the family we�ve craved...I�m going to get a couple of my most trusted to keep an eye on you while you�re out. They can be discreet, but I�d feel better knowing I had some of mine protecting you.�

�I appreciate that, but I�ve got agents following me around. They�re parked down the road a bit while I�m here.�

�More doesn�t hurt, right?� Josiah said as he got to his feet, kissed Lulu�s head, then went into his office to make the call.

�Let me call Mama and get this stuff sent to you right away,� Sett said. �You take one a day while you�re carrying, and while you�re nursing. Once you wean the babe, they should be stable enough to survive without it. The first couple has three children, but it was touch and go for a while until Queen Maggie helped with the magic. The third is still nursing and has grown stronger with the improvements that the Queen added. The second couple just had their first and there have been no issues. It�s not a guarantee, but it seems to be working and working well.�

�I�m grateful for any chance, any hope you can give us,� Lulu said.�

Sett felt rather good after she left Lulu and Josiah�s place, with the first shipment scheduled to be delivered the next day. A wave to the agents that pulled up behind her as she left the Lamontaine�s property, and she hit the button on the dash to make a call.

�Agent Landry speaking.�

�Hello, Agent Landry, this is Agent Fortin. Plans changed, so I�m going to go hit up a couple of the tourist sights on my own and do some shopping before I come to your place. If you want to give me a number for my escort, I�ll let them know what my plans are?�

Lucia�s voice nearly purred through the phone, �I�ve got plans, too, ch�rie. Here�s the number, and don�t forget the wine. I�m really looking forward to tonight.�

�I�m looking forward to it, too. Stay safe, Lucia.� Sett disconnected the call, the smile on her face likely visible from space. She called the agents, gave them an outline of her plan, and spent the next three hours just enjoying the sights, smells, and tastes of New Orleans.�

After loading the shopping bags into the SUV, Sett decided to get a drink and a snack at the little cafe across the street. She placed her order for an iced coffee and piece of cinnamon cake, then adjusted her sunglasses so she could people watch without being caught staring. The waiter brought over her order and left the check under the edge of the plate. Sett enjoyed a few bites and sips before the two agents getting out of their car caught her attention. They were headed her way, so she pulled out her phone just as a hand landed on her shoulder.

�Hello, Cosette. It�s been a while.�

Sett froze, then reached up and dug her thumbnail into the underside of the man�s wrist as she gripped it tight and lifted it off her shoulder. �Don�t ever touch me again, Girard.�

He let her lift his hand, then rolled his wrist and caught her hand in his as he sat. �That�s not your decision, petite.�

Sett lifted her sunglasses, caught the eye of one of the agents, and gave her head a faint shake to hold them off a bit. �Oh, I think it is,� she said to Girard as she pulled her hand free, leaned in towards him, and in a lightning-fast move, grabbed his family jewels. A whispered spell and soon he was feeling rather...icy...down there.

Girard squirmed as he tried to back away and Sett gripped tighter. �You do not touch me, bother me, follow me, or even speak to me unless I say so. Understood? Or the next time, I�ll freeze your balls until they snap off.�

A hand gripped the back of her neck and squeezed slightly. �Let go of him, or I�ll snap your neck.�

�No, Jehan, you won�t.� Sett replied with a faint smile. �Because I�m faster with my magic than you are with your fingers, and your boss will be neutered before you can get your muscles to grip.�

She felt the fingers twitch against her skin, then release as the man shifted to stand in her line of sight.

�Do you want me to start killing innocents?� Jehan said.

�Don�t antagonize her,� Girard hissed through clenched teeth. Sett let the spell ease slightly but didn�t let go of his junk.

�You�re both going to go back to your little hidey hole, pack up your things, and get the hell out of New Orleans. You don�t want to know what will happen if you do not,� Sett said, her tone sharp. �I�d suggest heading south � like Mexico or Columbia. Because, if I hear that the two of you and your merry band of assholes are causing trouble, I�ll be bringing me and mine to remove you from the planet. Understood?�

�But�� Girard started to say as Jehan growled low in his throat.

�Leash your pet,� Sett hissed to Girard, �Before I let my friends take him down.�

Jehan turned and saw the two pack members, ready to rip him apart on one side � and the two agents with guns drawn on the other. He turned and went back to the Range Rover and climbed into the driver�s seat and started up the vehicle.

�You�d best run along, or your ride will leave without you, Gerry. Good riddance,� Sett said as she leaned back and released him.

Girard bolted to his feet and jogged to the Rover to get in as it started to pull away.

�Holy crap, Fortin. You don�t need us, you were about to de-nut the head of the Guidry crime family,� one of the agents said.

�Too bad she didn�t,� one of the pack members said as he watched the Range Rover fade into the distance.

�Thanks for the backup, gentlemen. It�s appreciated. I think I�m going to just sit here and drink my coffee and enjoy this cake before I head home to shower and change. I�ll head out in about fifteen minutes,� Sett said.

She held her hands under the table because she didn�t want them to see her trembling. To see Girard�s dark eyes and smell his cologne, to be so close to the head full of dark curls she had once run her fingers through � so many memories had come crashing back � some good, some horrible. Sett needed a moment to pull herself together. For her, forty years had disappeared in a heartbeat.

Showered and changed, Sett touched up her makeup, made sure her overnight bag was ready, and picked up the carrier with two bottles of wine for tonight, and headed over to Lucia�s. She�d bought a cute sundress and some new sandals for tonight, along with some rather racy, lacy bits for much later. She knocked on Lucia�s door and was welcomed inside with a kiss and a hurried greeting.

�It�s going to burn if I leave it too long. Lock the door and come on back,� Lucia said as she hurried back down the long hall to the kitchen.

The traditional shotgun house had a hallway that ran front to back, with rooms either open along it or set on both sides. The living room was as wide as the house, with one section done up for seating and another set up as a home office and study area. Then there were two doors that were probably bedrooms, then one that led to a bathroom, before the hall ended in the kitchen that took up the whole back of the house, with a table and chairs on one side, the appliances all on the other.�

��Your place is beautiful,� Sett said as she brought the wine into the kitchen and set it on the counter. �Need me to help with anything?�

�Nope, I�ve got it,� Lucia said as she turned to look at Sett. �But you�re making it difficult to stay focused on cooking. You look delicious.�

Sett blushed and shook her head. �I just felt like dressing up a little. Want me to open the wine?�

Soft jazz music played over the house sound system while Sett opened the wine and poured it into the glasses on the table. Garlic shrimp in a cream sauce over pasta was on the menu, with a salad and rolls on the side. They settled at the table and Sett lifted her glass to toast. �In love and friendship.�

�In friendship and love,� Lucia replied and they both sipped. �Oh, that�s good,� Lucia said. �So, how did today go?�

��I�m thinking you already know,� Sett said as she buttered a roll.

�Well, Kade came back at shift change and raved about how kick-ass you were,� Lucia said with a smile.

�I was fine while it was happening. Afterwards, I needed a minute,� Sett said. �It was hard to see Girard again.�

�You never really told me how you knew him,� Lucia said. �Just that you knew him a while back, when he was in Belle Cove.�

�We had been a couple. Our child died shortly after birth. He blamed me. I blamed myself. He left. I got back to work,� Sett said.

Lucia stared at her, then reached out a hand to hold one of Sett�s. �I�m so sorry. How horrible for you. And he wasn�t a criminal then, right?�

�No, of course not. I was already an agent and instructor at the Academy. I wouldn�t have been with someone who was a criminal. From what Ebenezer told me, Girard got into crime in France and then came back and kept going.�

��That�s what I�d heard as well. Okay, enough of that. How about we enjoy this meal and the wine, then take dessert into the bedroom?� Lucia said.

�What�s for dessert?�

�You. Also strawberries, melted chocolate, and whipped cream.�

Sett took a large forkful of food and shoved it in her mouth, making Lucia laugh out loud.

It was a weekend morning, so they stayed in bed late, showered, then ate fruit, pastries, and coffee on Lucia�s back patio. Her yard was filled with flowering vines, fruit trees, herbs, and vegetables in the long, narrow plot where another row house had once stood beside her own. The space where the two yards joined in back had a patio, an above-ground lap pool surrounded by a wood frame and privacy fencing, and a fire pit that sat in a brick circle. The whole yard from front to back was surrounded by a wrought iron fence with vines allowing privacy as they grew up and around the posts.

�It�s so beautiful out here. How long have you lived here?�

�My family has owned this property for over two hundred years. I lived here first when a brick house stood here, that had been built before the Civil War. A fire took that in 1910, then two shotgun style houses were built, this one with the brick from the original house, and the one next door of wood. When Katrina rolled through, the wood one had to be demolished, and this one fixed from the ground up. The brick held and the rest was redone as it had been, with the architectural details I loved. I had both lots fenced in and turned it into my own personal paradise.�

��I�ve always lived on the Fortin Farm. I was born there, raised there, then moved into one of the Victorian cottages on the land, and made it my own.� Sett took a breath, then blurted out, �I�d love to have you come spend some time in Belle Cove with me.�

Lucia leaned over and kissed Sett, smiled, and used her thumb to wipe a bit of sugar off Sett�s cheek. �I�d love to do that, but are you sure you want someone in your space?�

�You figured that out, huh? I�ve never had a roommate other than a cat that spends more time in the barns than in my house. I haven�t lived with someone in probably sixty years, since I moved out of my mother�s house. But yes, I�d like to show you my home, my world.�

�I�ve got a lot of vacation time stacked up, I�ll see what I can do,� Lucia said. �And yes, I�m falling in love with you, too. I want to know more about you and your world.�

They kissed again, and breakfast was soon forgotten.

Monday morning, Sett was playing tourist once more, enjoying the sounds of a street musician as she sipped a bottle of water. She had woken that morning with the realization that she�d never felt this happy before. Contentment, an emotion she�d found long ago, had been replaced by excitement and an enthusiasm for life she hadn�t felt for a long time, if ever.

The musician changed songs, so Sett walked on, headed around the block to get back to where she�d parked the SUV. Around the corner, a cafe had tables out on the sidewalk, so Sett slowed her pace � and saw Lucia at a table with Girard, hands entwined, leaning in towards each other with a look that spoke of romance, not revenge.

Her bottle hit the sidewalk and sprayed water on her legs and feet as her heart tore in two. The bitter taste of betrayal rose like bile in the back of her throat and she quickened her steps to try and get past before they saw her.

She had almost made it to the SUV when a voice behind her stopped her for a moment.

�Cosette�� Girard said.

A short, brief shake of her head and Sett took the last few steps to the SUV and unlocked the driver�s door.

�You really didn�t think she loved you, did you?� Girard said, his voice full of sympathy. �You know that�s not possible. No one can really love you like that. You�re too broken.�

As she opened the door to get in, Girard added, �I think she wanted you to see us together, so you�d leave, and we could continue our lives without you.�

Sett didn�t acknowledge that he�d even spoken, she just got into the SUV, locked the doors, and drove away. She felt numb and hollow as she pulled into the driveway of the rental house. She brought her gun and wallet into the house but left the bags in the car. She just didn�t care.

It was too early to sleep, so Sett packed up most of her things, then took a whole bottle of her favorite wine, filled the tub, and added some of the bath crystals Lulu had left for her. Thoughts chased themselves in circles until she�d decided to just cut this lovely vacation short and go back home. Maybe it was time to work on a promotion. Anything that would keep her from thinking about what had almost been between her and Lucia.

A couple of hours later, she was wrapped in a robe with a second bottle of wine on the counter she�d just opened, when there was a pounding on the door.

�I know you�re in there, Sett Fortin. Open the door and let me in,� Lucia yelled.

�No,� Sett shouted back, and carried the bottle and her glass into the living room.

�We need to talk. I don�t know what Guidry said to you, but it is most definitely not what you think it is. Open the door.�

Sett sighed, put the bottle and glass down on the table, and went to open the door. �I don�t want to talk,� she said to Lucia. �Just go away.�

Lucia pushed inside and shut the door behind her. �You don�t get to decide that for both of us. I�ve been running an investigation with my team for two months on Guidry and part of it is me acting like he�s my boyfriend.�

�So, that was an act?� Sett asked, derision in her tone.

��Yes, it was.�

�Then why didn�t you tell me about the investigation? Do you know how hurt I am right now?�

�I couldn�t tell you. I can, now, because you stumbled into it � but you know how classified some operations can be. This was one. Please, ch�rie, listen to me. I love you, and I�m falling harder for you. I am not the kind of person who would be so cruel. Listen to your heart, you know this.�

Sett closed her eyes and let out a soft breath. She could see the truth in Lucia�s face and heard it in her words. �I believe you,� she finally said.

�Girard was proud of how shattered you looked. Your pain, as much as I regret it, may have helped our case. He really believes me now.�

��Why do you think that?�

�Because he plans on taking me as his date to the Para Ball on Friday, and I told him you already had a date to go. Yes, I lied, but I can get one of the agents to be your escort so you can be there. Will you go? Will you help me take him down?�

�The Para Ball? I don�t have clothes for a ball, and I�m really not a fan of events like that.�

Lucia slid an arm around Sett�s waist and nuzzled her cheek. �Please? For me?�

Sett groaned. �You�re not playing fair. Okay, fine. But you help me find a gown for this thing. I hate formals.�

��Deal. Now, I�m staying tonight, no arguments. Tomorrow, you spend the day at Ebenezer�s and learn all you can about vampires, because there will be a few at the ball. I want you up to speed so you�ll be safe. Agreed?�

�Yes, bossy woman. Agreed. I�ve already been reading a lot about them, but I�ll up my game and then tomorrow night, you and I shop for ball attire,� Sett said.

�Let me go get my bag.�

The week flew by fast and soon Friday night was upon them. Sett�s escort, Agent Ashford Martin, picked her up and got them to the event early so they could get their speak-spell charms that allowed them all to hear and reply to each other, as if wearing a mic and earbud. Both Sett and Lucia had chosen gowns that were more fitted than flowing, with slits to allow ease of moment if they had to fight or run. Sett had chosen slip-on heels so she could kick them off if needed, while Lucia had stiletto pumps, she had worn before.

�One of these days, you�ll have to give me pointers on how to wear those things and not break a leg. I�ve never been a fan,� Sett said as she admired Lucia�s outfit. �You look beautiful,� she whispered.

�And you look like someone I want to take home. Now, please, do not take it to heart if I say cruel things when I�m on Girard�s arm tonight,� Lucia said.

�I was wondering how you got him to let you come ahead � and no, I won�t take anything personally. Not now that I know it�s an investigation.�

�I told him that if he wanted my attention all night, he needed to let me come early and get the work part of the evening out of the way,� Lucia said.

Agent Martin came up to them and held out his arm to Sett. �Guidry and his crew just pulled up out front. It�s show time, ladies.�

Agent Martin was a wonderful escort. Attentive, handsome, and a good dancer. Sett found herself having fun in between keeping their eyes on Guidry�s crew.

�Who are those two men that are most definitely not shifters or witches?� Sett asked Martin as they stood by one of the high tables with their drinks.

�Vampires,� Martin said, voice low. �This confirms what we�d already suspected that Guidry was bringing vamps in on his businesses. Hey, want another soda with lime?�

�Please, yes,� Sett said as he picked up their glasses and headed to the bar.

The music switched to a waltz, and a voice asked, �May I have this dance?�

Sett turned to find Girard behind her, and behind him, Lucia gave Sett a faint nod and a mouthed �do it�. �If you promise to behave,� Sett said as she rested a hand on his offered arm.

They walked the few feet to the dance floor, and he turned to put a hand on her waist, her hand on his shoulder, their other hands held lightly as he started to move.

�You�re a better dancer than you used to be,� Sett said after a few turns.

�You�re just as exceptional a dancer as you were before,� Girard said in reply. �I hear you�re leaving New Orleans tomorrow. Do yourself a favor and don�t come back.�

�That�s not up to you,� Sett said.

�It will be, within the next few days,� Girard said as he moved her to the edge of the dance floor. �Here, you need to dance with my friend, Robert. He�s been eager to meet you again.� He moved so Sett was off balance and then shoved her into the tight embrace of one of the men Martin had told her was a vampire.

�Ah, hello, Cosette. No, no, don�t struggle. You might get hurt,� Robert said as his arms wound around her waist.

Sett gave him a smile, then slapped both of her hands against the sides of his head and whispered a spell.

As soon as the words left her lips, Robert released her with a scream and stumbled back as his head burst into flames.

Girard grabbed for Sett, his hands shifted into claws, as the room erupted into panic. Sett threw a fist at Girard�s face and it connected with his nose, but he didn�t let go of her arm, the claws digging into her flesh.

�I�m going to gut you,� he snarled and pulled her back out of the rush of people.

Sett felt a gun pressed into her hand, pressed it into Girard�s stomach, and pulled the trigger three times.

He stopped pulling on her, his hands shifted back to human, and he stared at her in surprise as he fell against the wall, then slid to the floor.

Lucia took the gun back, stuck it in a thigh holster, and yelled at Sett as she crouched to grab one of Girard�s arms. �Grab his other arm. We need to get out of here before the whole place goes up.�

The fire had spread from the vampire to the tablecloths and then the drapes. Smoke filled the room as Sett grabbed his arm and the two women pulled him towards the door nearest them. It took them a few minutes, but they finally got him outside. Sett crouched down beside him while Lucia went to find help.

�You did it,� Girard wheezed, blood on his lips. �You finally killed me. I guess it�s fitting.�

�You�re not dead yet. Lucia went to get help.�

�I can feel the silver already spreading. I won�t heal enough to stay alive. But I won anyway,� Girard said.

�How do you figure that?� Sett asked.

�I raised our daughter and I�ve got our granddaughter at my house.�

Sett shook her head and leaned closer. �I don�t think I heard you right. What did you say?�

�The babe didn�t die. I paid the midwife to lie and took her with me. Arabella grew to be a beautiful woman, but she died two months ago in childbirth. Her daughter, Bella Rose, is at my house.�

Sett stared at him as he laughed at her expression. She searched his pockets, found his keys and wallet, and pulled out the photos she found inside. Photos of her daughter � and granddaughter � were there. Her daughter she recognized because she looked just like Sett had as a child.

She got to her feet with the keys, and photos in her hand, and turned to walk away.

�You can�t leave me like this,� Girard said.

Sett turned to him and paused. �No, you�re right, I can�t.� She tucked the items into her cleavage, then crouched down beside Girard, took his head in both hands � and snapped his neck. Then she got to her feet and went to find Lucia. It was time to bring her granddaughter home.

Lucia caught up with Sett, arm still dripping blood, as she made her way out of the gardens towards the road. �Where�s Guidry?�

�His body is back where you left us. He�s dead.�

�Well, that didn�t go as planned. Oh well, let�s get your arm tended. You�ve lost a lot of blood,� Lucia said as she turned Sett towards one of the many ambulances tending the injured.

Firefighters worked to put out the blaze, SPD cars and vans were pulled up on the lawn and people wandered about in tuxes and glittering gowns with ash and soot smeared across their faces.�

��Did he just bleed out because of the silver?� Lucia asked.

�No, I snapped his neck.�

�Oh, well, alrighty then,� Lucia said as she waved her badge and got a medic to see to Sett�s arm. �I�ll take you to my place after this. We can give our report in the morning.�

�No, I need you to take me to Guidry�s house.�

�Why on earth would I do that?�

�Because my baby granddaughter is there, and I need to bring her home.�

It was Lucia�s turn to stare in shock. �Um, okay. How about this? I�ll send agents to get the baby and her things and bring her to my place. Official agents are less likely to get an argument. Particularly now that Guidry is dead.�

�That works too. I don�t feel so well,� Sett said, then promptly passed out.

The medic caught her and lifted her up onto the stretcher. �It�s the blood loss. We�ll take her to the hospital and check her out, then you can take her home.�

Lucia climbed in the back of the ambulance and put the call out over the spell-speak. �I need a team to go to Guidry�s house and collect the infant and her belongings that are there. Bring her and her things to my home immediately. There is a threat to her life, do it now.�

Three days later, morning found Sett with her bandaged arm cradling the head of a baby with dark curls and wide eyes while she fed her a bottle. All of Sett�s things from the rental had been packed up and brought to Lucia�s place, and the baby�s travel crib was set up in the second bedroom. Boxes and totes were stacked everywhere, but Sett only had eyes for Rose. They�d decided to change her name to Rosalyn Arabella Rohan, and the paperwork had been rushed through, thanks to the Commander�s connections. Rohan, since both Lucia and Sett were of the de Rohan bloodline. Also, thanks to the Commander, Lucia was coming to Belle Cove to take up a new job as a teacher at the Academy alongside Sett. No more high-risk policing for them for a while. Rosie needed them.

�How�s our Rosie doing this morning?� Lucia asked as she set a cup of coffee down for Sett.

�She�s taking the whole bottle. I�m in awe of the fact that she�s here,� Sett said as Lucia sat down beside them and fixed one of the baby�s socks.

�The agents got there just in time. The gang�s members were looting and ransacking the place, and the nanny had hidden with the baby in the closet. The agents showed up, cleared them all out, and the nanny helped pack up everything before she disappeared into the night.�

�I�m glad you thought to ask them to pack up all of her things, or they would�ve been lost in the fire that gutted the place the next day,� Sett said.

�Are you sure you want to sell the land the house was on?�

�He left it all to Rosie, so it makes sense to sell it and put the money in a trust for her, for later. Have the test results come back yet?�

�Yeah, I just haven�t opened them. They were delivered this morning,� Lucia said and pulled an envelope out of the stuff on the table and handed it to Sett.

�You open it,� Sett said as she shifted the baby to her shoulder.

Lucia opened the envelope and read the report, brow furrowed. She flipped the pages back and read it again.

�What?�

�She�s a quarter Mythic, an eighth Fae, and the rest Witch.�

�Wait, so Girard wasn�t a shifter? He was a mythic?� Sett asked.

�That�s what this says. At least we know her father was a witch. I wonder who. From what I�ve been able to learn, Arabella went to school in Paris, and built her life there. She came back to New Orleans six months pregnant and with no husband.�

�As long as Rosie is legally ours, so we can bring her back to Belle Cove, then I�m good. I wish I�d had the chance to know Arabella, but I�ve got Rosie now and that�s more than I ever thought I�d have. She�ll have a ton of cousins to play with, too.�

Lucia leaned in to kiss Sett. �And we�ll have our family.�

A horn honked outside, and Lucia got to her feet. �Moving day, ch�rie. Ready for our new life?�

�With you? Definitely.�

Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! You can also get Induction (Sid & Sin #1)� (https://books2read.com/SS1-Induction)�for free, and don�t forget to pick up the other four books in this series!

T.K. Eldridge retired from a career in Intelligence for the US Gov't to write. The experiences from then are now being used to feed the muse for paranormal romance, thrillers, supernatural, and urban fantasy stories. When they�re not writing, they are enjoying life in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. Two dogs, two cats, a garden, a craft hobby, and a love of Celtic Traditional music keep them from spending too much time at the computer.

You can also sign up for T.K.�s newsletter here (https://tkeldridge.com/newsletter/).

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The Sid & Sin Series

Induction�https://books2read.com/SS1-Induction

Fae MisFortunes�https://books2read.com/SS2-FaeMisFortunes

Shifter Secrets�https://books2read.com/SS3-ShifterSecrets

Witching Ways�https://books2read.com/SS4-WitchingWays

Mythic Mysteries�https://books2read.com/SS5-MythicMysteries

The Descendants

Remembrance�https://books2read.com/Desc1-Remembrance

Revelation�https://books2read.com/Desc2-Revelation

Revenge�https://books2read.com/Desc3-Revenge

The Hybrid Chronicles

Jericho� https://books2read.com/Hybrids1-Jericho

The Originals�https://books2read.com/Hybrids2-TheOriginals

The Next Gen�https://books2read.com/Hybrids3-TheNextGen

Hughes Investigations

Daredevils�https://books2read.com/Daredevils

The Devil Inside�https://books2read.com/devilinside

The Devil You Know�https://books2read.com/DevilUKnow

The Devil in the Details�https://books2read.com/DevilDetails

Forge County Mystery Thrillers

Probable Cause�https://books2read.com/FCMT1-ProbCause

Gone on Arrival�https://books2read.com/FCMT2-GoneArrival

Failure to Appear�https://books2read.com/FCMT3-FailAppear

Partners in Crime Supernatural Mysteries

Dead & Buried�https://books2read.com/DeadBuried

Dead Wrong�https://books2read.com/DeadWrong2

Dead to Rights�https://books2read.com/Dead2Rights

Dead Reckoning�https://books2read.com/DeadReckoning1

Blood drips down my cheeks and into the corners of my mouth. I swallow carefully, adjusting the ice pack on my chin while my handler tosses a towel my way. If he wanted to be nice, he could walk the two steps to actually hand it to me, but Herrera always goes out of his way to be a bastard. It�s in his wererat blood.

�Good job tonight, kid.� He pauses to look back at me. �I�m surprised you didn�t get yourself killed.�

Every sore inch of my body complains at the memory of the cage fight. I curl my hands around the towel like I don�t feel the way my knuckles are throbbing. �I wasn�t about to give you the satisfaction.� Not after the way he sold me into the ring a second time, knowing the state I was in and how quickly my opponent could have taken me down.

I don�t believe in miracles, but tonight � well, it almost was one.

His long nostrils curl upward. �I get paid as long as your head stays on your shoulders,� Herrera says. �I don�t much care otherwise.� Long nostrils curled in a smirk, he shoves open the exit, revealing the flash and chaos of the club waiting on the other side. If I know him, my paycheck is tucked in his back pocket where he�ll conveniently forget to ever give it to me. Hell forbid I ever raise my voice to complain.

Teeth gritted, I wipe away the last of the blood and toss the towel into a corner between the lockers before pulling myself painfully up to my feet. My family amulet swings beneath my shirt, a cold reminder of everything I have to hide. Damn this place. Damn my entire life. I don�t want to go home, but I know better than to stay here.�Not when it�s getting this late. Doesn�t give you much choice, huh, Sofi?�I gather my bag and head to the door, my stomach twisting.

Don�t think.

Don�t feel.

Never show any emotion that will make you a target.

I nudge the door open with my less-sore shoulder and step out into the chaos that is Club Shift. At well past midnight, the antics are just getting started, shifters and vampires and fae all mingling in a drunken horde, their faces blurring in and out of form in the magic-tainted lighting. High on platforms to each side of the rooms, female fighters wrestle in elaborate cages while vampires stand beneath the cages to lick away any falling drops of blood. I close my ears against the constant thud of bone and fist from above me. Refuse to let myself look up. If I�m lucky, Herrera will at least give me a day off to heal.

A day to forget how much I fear this place.

At the center of the room, surrounded by the grotesque display of cages, five elaborately made-up females mount a low stage, their eyes too wide and their smiles too bright as they parade before the appreciate male gazes toward the ballot box. It�s been the routine for the last month � paranormal females of every species entering their names for the official mate casting. Every 50 years, new mates are chosen for the four alphas of Chicago and the desperate supernatural housewives of the Windy City apparently think that�s a good thing. Marrying into the royal shifter pack means death and betrayal and a marriage without love, but hey, add some glitter and the bitches will come running.�

I would know. It�s the glamorized nightmare my mom married into.�

In a way, the applicants are no different than us cage fighters.

We walk into Club Shift knowing we may not come out alive.

I tear my gaze away from the stage and fight my way toward the edge of the room, ignoring catcalls from a grinning vampire. The crowd is too immense and the males seethe frustrated hunger. Hands reach for me from all sides, seductive voices calling me toward them, whispering promises of a night of pleasure. I hug my bag tighter and walk faster, but I�m not fast enough to escape their grasp. A hand grips my ass, while another curls around my hair, faces swarming on every side. I kick out at the nearest offender and he releases me with a curse, enough of a delay to allow me to make a break for it. I shove my way through the chaos, searching desperately for the exit. I�m still yards away from the door, and there�s no way I�ll get there in time to escape these guys. I need somewhere I can get out of sight before�

There.

My gaze settles on a door half hidden behind the bar. Owner Only. Rumor has it the owner is one of Chicago�s biggest dons and there�s little chance he would bother to show up tonight. This might just be the escape I need.

I duck around a grinning shifter, tripping him up with the heel of my boot, and duck behind the bar. The server�s back is to me, no one to notice me as I wedge the door open and slip inside. My fingers find the lock, twist it in place. Locking them out. I fall back against the door, breathing hard.

I�m still fighting for breath when I become aware of a presence at the back of the room.

Slowly, oh so slowly, I raise my gaze to the far end of the room.

Where three sets of inhuman eyes stare back.

Two shifters � massive wolves� pace at the far edge of the room, guarded by an even more gigantic wolf shifter. The wolf circles his pack, snarling as we make eye contact, then, before I can catch my breath, he shifts in a chaos of fur and skin and muscle until a gorgeous specimen of a man emerges, totally in the nude as he towers over me. My mouth dropping open, I stare at his broad shoulders, perfect abs, and good god� my gaze follows his V down to his hard length and my core grows hot.

Oh fuck.

What in hell have I gotten myself into?

The massive shifter clenches his hands around my shoulders, drawing me up against him, and I shudder in his grip. His hard cock pokes into my belly. Too close. Too warm. I wet my lips, fighting the urge to look down.

Don�t panic, don�t panic�

�What the fuck are you doing in here?� He growls the words into my face. His breath is hot against my cheek and the warmth in my middle spreads through my body.�Control, Sofi!

�I� uh� I thought��

�The door clearly states owner only. So who the hell�are�you?�

I can�t think with him this close. I can�t even move. If there�s any chance he can find out who I really am, I�m screwed. My hands tremble, betraying my terror, and I clench them into fists at my side. I may be a decent fighter, but there�s no way I can take on three shifters of this size. Not even if I wanted to.

His grip tightens and he pulls me up abruptly, my hips pressed to his, and my lips only inches from his. I stare up into heated gold-brown eyes.�What are you doing? Fight him!�His grip drops to my middle, shoving me yet closer, and my body betrays me in a flood of warmth.

�I asked you a question.� His voice is a snarl. �And I don�t wait for answers.�

Behind him, his pack shifts into human form, a distracting blur of perfectly muscled male forms. I tear my gaze away.

�I�m Kayla.� I blurt out the first random name that comes to mind. �I�m a fighter here.�

�A fighter.� He turns to look at his pack, his laugh bitter, amused. Their amusement burns through me. �Great job you�re doing, Kayla.�

Snarling, I shove at his shoulders and his full lips twist into a smirk. My attempt doesn�t even make him stagger.

�I could do this all day, little vamp,� he says. �But I don�t think you could handle it.�

Oh gods. Is he insinuating �

�It was a mistake,� I blurt out. �They were chasing me and I couldn�t find the exit. I thought ��

He sets me down roughly on the edge of a desk, jarring away my mumbled explanation, and I shiver as his warm hands abandon me. I�m suddenly cold, colder than I ever thought possible.

�I don�t take kindly to excuses, little vamp.� He reaches into the desk, drawing out a pair of clothes, and I train my gaze away, even though my entire body throbs to watch him, to follow the shape of his body as he moves.�What in hell is wrong with you?�There�s no reason for my body to respond like this. No reason to want him to pull me closer.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him pull on his pants. He stretches as he straightens, the corded muscles in his back knotting, and shoulders strained. He�s too immense, too perfect, and I find my entire mouth has gone dry. Good god. Why can�t I remember how to swallow?

He shakes out a shirt from the drawer and buttons it on while he turns to look back at his pack. �Leave us.� It�s not a request. He commands them with the confident arrogance of an alpha not used to hear no. They disappear through a side door into an unmarked room and I hear their low voices conversing for a moment before things go quiet.

And I�m left alone with an alpha who looks at me like he wants to kill me.

I�ve never wanted to taste someone so much.

The vampire stares up at me and something about that wide, innocent gaze stirs the darkness inside me, feeding a hunger that growls to be released. I reach her in a stride, and she scrambles to get off of the desk, panic twisting her expression.

�Please, I just ��

I pin her on my desk, clenching her legs between mine. I feel her tremble against me. �You have no idea who I am, do you?� I button my shirt slowly. Never release her gaze.

She bites her bottom lip and the growl of hunger inside me turns to a snarl. I want nothing more than to shove her down onto the desk and tear away the clothes that hide her from me. Bury my cock inside her while she grinds against me, her slim frame writhing. My cock twitches, more than ready, and it takes me a minute to get myself back in control. Damn.

There�s no reason for an unknown little vamp to affect me like this. No reason for her gaze to send me over the edge and challenge my control. Hell�s beasts. I need just get rid of her.

She squirms and I tighten my legs, just enough to hear her pull in her breath.

So.

The little vamp likes it just as much as I do.

�You can�t hold me here.� She shoves at me, but I catch her wrists. �I belong here just as much as you do. You think I don�t know you�re trespassing?�

A dark laugh escapes me. �You think I don�t belong here?�

She tilts her chin up, defiance tightening her adorable little mouth. �The don owns this club. Whoever you are, you have no business in here, no matter what kind of super alpha you think you are.�

Ah. Super alpha. The little vamp has given me a compliment.

�Is that true.� I stroke my thumb over her chin, working my way up to her mouth, and have the satisfaction of feeling her shudder. �And have you ever seen the don?�

Uncertainty stirs in her gaze. She shakes her head.

�Liar.� I breathe the word against her neck. �You�re looking right at me.� Still clamping her mouth, I use my free fingers to tilt her chin upward, forcing her to look up at me. �And Colton DeMilio doesn�t fuck with liars.�

The innocence in her eyes is tainted with disbelief. Fear. A desperation that calls to me in a way I shouldn�t allow. The hungry wolf inside me growls for release, but I hold myself still. Won�t be the one to lose control.

Not when I have her in my power.

�I�m sorry,� she whispers. Her lips tremble against my fingers. �I had to get away from the men and I didn�t know where to go.�

I pull my thumb away slowly. �Men?� My tone is sharper than I intend.

She lowers her head, strands of ashen white and pink-tipped hair falling into her eyes. Hiding away her expression, but I can feel her fear. Fear of me? Or someone else?

Her hands twitch in her lap. �Sometimes the patrons take advantage of the girls who work here.�

She doesn�t elaborate, which sends my suspicions sky-high. Has she been taken advantage of under my employ? My wolf snarls in an unexpected burst of anger and I clench my teeth to keep back a betraying curse.

�Do you have names? Occupations? Species?�

She laughs, an unexpected sound in the tenseness of the room. �Rapists don�t fill out ID forms when they grab you.�

I tug her closer to me, fingers tightening even though I know it must hurt her. But my hands refuse to relax, insist on keeping her close to me, secure in my grip. She needs to stay safe, whether she�s aware of it or not. �I�ll up the security in the club. There will be no more � incidents.�

She glances down at my legs, still hemming her in. �And I�m supposed to believe you?�

�No,� I say. �Not supposed to. You will.�

I step back, still holding her arms, and she slides down from the desk, chin tilted to glare up at me. She�s tiny against my height, although well defined, and I bite back an amused smile at her attempt at bravado. I could crush her between my palms and there would be nothing she could do about it. No one who would bother to stop me. She�s a tiny flower, beautiful and fragile and all too easy to pluck.

So what�s keeping me from forcing her against me and taking her, right here and right now?

Good hell, what is it about this tiny goddamn vamp?

I stare down at her, eyes narrowed, and little by little her bravado fades into confusion, then fear. I wind my fingers slowly around her chin until it�s impossible for her to look away. Feel her shudder as I whisper against her lips.

�If I let you leave, what will you give me in return?�

Uncertainty crosses her features. To her credit, she doesn�t try to look away, holding my gaze like there�s a chance she can actually challenge me. Her lips part slightly as I pull back from her. Her breathing quickens.

My hands slide down the length of her body to her waist, pinning her against me, savoring every perfect inch. I tighten my grip until she answers.

�I have nothing.�

I raise an eyebrow. �You will call me sir. Am I understood?�

She folds her lips shut. The spark of rebellion in her eyes sets my cock twitching mercilessly, as relentless as the howls of my wolf. I pull her in hard against me, my chest pressed against her open legs. It�s all I can do to keep my hands waist-high, to somehow prevent myself from sliding a finger down her leg and exploring the soft curves pressed against me. The heat from her core teases me beyond my control.

She raises her gaze to mine, lips trembling slightly. �Sir.�

I stare down at her, eyes narrowed, and little by little her bravado fades into confusion, then fear. I wind my fingers slowly around her chin until it�s impossible for her to look away. Feel her shudder as I whisper against her lips.

�I�ll let you leave, little vamp. But don�t be surprised when I show up in your dreams tonight.�

He looked at me like he wanted to eat me.

I glance constantly behind me on the way through the alley, every sound, every shadow sending me into a panic. Why in fate�s name did he watch me like that � like he knew who I am? Who I�really�am? There�s nothing that should have given me away. Hell, I didn�t even tell him my real name.

He�s the fucking don,�Sofi. You really think he doesn�t have ways to track you?

I tighten my coat around me, bloodied knuckles throbbing. OK, OK, that�s not the only thing throbbing. Don or not, how�dare�Colton hold me like I�m his? My body tingles at the memory of his touch against my face, my body pressed against his, his cock hard�between�my legs, so close to my throbbing core. I bite my lip, fighting away the memories.�Are you out of your mind?�Thinking about him like that will only make this a thousand times worse.

Except I can�t block away the memory of the darkness in his eyes.

The�hunger�in his eyes as he watched me.

You�re imagining things.

Why would someone like Colton�DeMilio�ever have any interest in me � unless he knows who I actually am?�

No.

My cover has been carefully constructed. Not even Herrera knows my real name, my real identity. Colton was simply playing with me. Another alpha who thinks vampires are a plaything, another savage little doll he can fuck. Given his status and his killer god looks, girls everywhere surely throw themselves at him. Unexpected jealousy whips through me and I walk faster, desperate to outrun these ridiculous thoughts and still more ridiculous emotions. The sensations I felt with Colton were nothing more than a schoolgirl crush, a natural reaction to being so close to an alpha. It could never be anything more. Not with him.

Not when the don is the reason my father went mad.

The reason I�m forced to go in night after night to the club.

The only thing I could feel for Colton is resentment.

Oh? Is that what made you so wet when he looked at you?

My fingers tighten around my coat. Quickening my pace, I turn down a side alley and pull my phone from my pocket. I have Julio on speed dial, but it seems to take forever before the phone finally rings and even longer before Julio picks up.

�Yo. Is this call an honor or a plea for help?�

Typical Julio. I huff under my breath. �Just come pick me up.� Before I lose control and go back to find Colton.

The thought is startling, but not unwelcome.

I hear the growl of an engine before Julio�s voice cuts through. �Someone out to get your ass?�

�He will be, once he figures out who I am.�

Silence.�

The engine purrs.

�I�m almost there,� Julio says. This time his voice is concerned.

I curl my arms around myself, fighting back the shudder that chases through me at the memory of Colton�s eyes, his voice, his body. �Hurry.�

Minutes later, the black gloom of the limo blocks off the end of the alley. I slide into the back seat, my bruised body aching. Julio watches me from the driver�s seat, his eyes narrowed, concerned, suspicious. He�s the only one of my father�s staff who knows about my secret life, but I can�t help feeling he doesn�t approve, resents me for the risks I take.

Except he doesn�t know the hell I live through in my everyday life.

Or the lengths I�m willing to go to so I�ll be free of the mob.

And dons like Colton.

�Please tell me you aren�t going inside like that.� Julio slides my door shut and the limo eases away from the alley and into the night. The moonlight creates a shadow between us.�

�You think I�m crazy?� I reach under the seat and tug free the bag I stored in there earlier. Like I�d do anything to rouse my father�s suspicions.

Been there, done that.

Have the mental scars to prove it.�

�Of course I think you�re crazy.� There�s a flash of white as he grins.

�Such a jerk.� I tap the overhead light and pull free my makeup kit from the bag. My face is hollow and exhausted in the compact mirror. No longer any sign of the mafia princess that I present to the world day in and day out.

It�s at moments like this that I finally look like the real me.

No masks, no magic, no mob.

The way my future will be once I escape my father�s clutches.

The problem is...no one escapes him alive.

I pace the confines of the office, my inner wolf howling mercilessly no matter how I beat him back, a fierce declaration that I�ve found my fated mate. My entire life, my father�s warned me about emotions like this � �no true alpha will let himself be controlled by a mate� � but now I wonder if he simply never met his.�

Because there is no way to silence that voice once you know.

�is she gone?� The outer door opens, Kash peering in. He�s back in human form, his demeanor laidback and easy, a total change from the massive, intimidating shifter. He twists a cowboy hat from hand to hand, a sure sign of unease.�

�Yeah.� I force my fingers to release their death grip on the table and turn to face him, only to find Stryker standing behind him, his grin infuriating. I narrow my eyes. �Is something funny?�

�The way you were drooling? Yeah.� Stryker nudges Kash, amusement lighting his face. That mofo. As if he wasn�t staring as hard as I was when he saw Kayla. There�s a reason I had to send them out of the room.�

I fold my arms. �She was trespassing and needed reprimanding.��

Stryker raises an eyebrow. �And alpha dons stoop to reprimanding?�

Great hell, what are they on my case for? Even worse, why am I being defensive? Since when do I have to explain my actions to lesser alphas? I�m Colton fucking DeMilio, Shifter King of Chicago�s biggest pack. I could have taken the girl and no one could say a peep. I shake my head, trying to clear away the thought, but it persists, a brand burning in the back of my mind.�

You could have taken her.

Would that have been so terrible? The hunger in the girl�s eyes told me she wouldn�t have protested � at least, not much. Probably not at all once she found out who I am.�

The girls start to fawn once they�re faced with fame and power.

�Have you seen her in here before?� I turn to the guys, still hovering in the doorway. Are they afraid I�ll strike?

Stryker shake his head, but Kash hesitates.�

�She looked like one of the cage girls.� He rubs his head. �OK, I�ll be honest � I watch her every time she fights. But any time I try to talk to her, she runs off.�

�Aww, Kash has a fucking Cinderella,� Stryker croons. �Have you tried talking to her before midnight?�

I growl at him to shut up.

Kasha has been watching her? Before I even noticed her? My wolf snarls, loud and dark, with jealousy I can�t control. She�s my mate, not a fuck-toy for horny immature shifters. I brush a hand over my face, senses kicking into overdrive when my nose picks up her scent on my fingers. So close I could close my eyes and pretend she�s here, back in my arms again, being adorable and indignant and ridiculously kissable.

Beast lords of heaven and earth. Have I lost my ever frickin� mind?

�How often do you see her here?� I pin Kash with a glare and he looks uneasy. Good.

�I� well, I don�t always see her. But she�s always here on late nights. Never during the day. I ��

�Stay away from her. That�s an order.�

He blinks and for a moment it looks like he�s going to argue with me. I hold his gaze until he turns aside, his mouth a thin, hard line. The beast inside me calms, but only slightly, my blood pounding with a hunger I still can�t contain.

Go after her.�

Claim her as your mate.�

I don�t have time to woo her. I just need to find her and convince her and end this restless attack on my senses. I don�t care if this is impulsive or not. I�m just going to do it. I shove back from the table and the pack circles behind me. I can see them exchanging uncertain glances behind me, but Kash is the only one stupid enough to question me.�

�Colton. You seriously going to do this?�

My hands still smell like her. Heaven and hell, the scent of her�is a drug and I need more, more, more. I glare at Kash without answering him and turn to the door.�

When I see it.�

Glittering under the edge of the desk, not far from where I pushed her up.

A necklace caught on the wood.

Slowly I bend down, pick it up, hands twitching slightly when I catch her scent on it. It�s fresh, probably slipped off of her when I let her go. I turn the necklace in my hand, testing its weight in my palm, and my frown reflects back to me in the gold.�

A symbol glints on the dangling edge of the attached pendant, drawing me in for a second glance. Then a third.�

I stare at the lion stamped in gold, recognition settling in with deadly force, and a curse escapes me.

It�s the DiArgento seal, the mark of the city�s deadliest don.�

A seal worn only by his family. An honor not even awarded to that devil�s most trusted confidants.�

Either she stole it through some bloodbath of a ruse, or �

The little vamp lied to me.�

I�m presentable by the time Julio drops me off at the back row of garages. I slide out of the limo, my tiny red dress snug around my legs, drawing attention away from my makeup-brushed bruises. I could use a mage right now to glamourize the shit out of me, but for now, makeup will have to do.

I toss my bag with my bloodied fight clothes to Julio. �Take care of this for me?�

�You better have a good tip in here.� His raised eyebrow turns it into a question.

�Like I�d forget.� He�s covered my ass too many times to ever turn on him. It would likely be a death sentence.

When you�re dealing in mob business, you always pay your accomplices.

I take a deep breath, pull myself back into the pretense of my life. You are Sofi DiArgento. No one suspects. No one can touch you.

I stride toward my father�s mansion.

The entryway smells like wolves.

I stop in the foyer, senses screaming at full alert. The usual overbearing blood scent of my father�s presence is drowned in the musky earth scent of a beta wolf, subservient, yes, but still out of place.

My father would never willingly let a wolf in his domain.�

And no matter how much I disagree with his mob decisions, I�ll never let a wolf take him down.�

Hands curled into fists, I stride down the hall for my father�s study, listening to every scrape of movement from beyond. The wolf scent grows stronger with every step.�

It can�t be Colton. He has no way of tracking me, no way he could have found me this fast.�

So why can�t I control my heart�s wild beating?

Can it be you want him to be here?

My father�s bodyguards stand with folded arms before his study door, impassive as stone. They don�t move aside as I approach, but they do nothing to stop me either. I shove the doors open, my body trembling, and Colton�s name a brand on my tongue.

Expect to see me in your dreams.

Except the man standing before my father�s desk isn�t Colton at all or even one of his lackeys.

But the superintendent of royal bloodlines.

The wolf who oversees the breeding bids.

My heart rises up my throat.

�Sofi.� My father pushes up from his desk, fangs extended in a smile that�s far from pleasant. It�s more of a threat. I feel his sensors claw into my mental space and I hold back my thoughts so there is nothing for him to find. He pushes back, eyes black and hard, and I hold his gaze until finally he pulls back. Tension hisses like a live wire between us.

�Father.� I give the superintendent my most innocent stare and smile. �I wasn�t aware you had a visitor.�

And judging by both their faces, they weren�t aware I�d be returning now.

Almost like this visit concerns me.

God damn it. I�m going to throw up right here and now on my father�s marble floor and pristine rugs. This can�t be what I think it is. Can�t.

I clench my arms around my middle.

Feel my father�s thought sensors begin to tangle into my thoughts once more, invading when he knows I�m vulnerable. This time I let my thoughts explode.

How could you do this? How could you fucking sell your own daughter?

His thoughts crawl over mine, strangling them until his voice is the only one in my head.

Property is meant to be sold.

Bile stings up my throat. I grip the side of the desk, my body shaking, and the superintendent�s worried gaze splits between me and my father. He extends one too-warm hand and places it on my shoulder. It�s a paw, a paw without fur, and I shudder against the touch.

�Sofi DiArgento.� He smiles at my father from over my head. �It is my pleasure to welcome you as a contestant for the alpha auction.�

A quick Google search is all I need to find the start of what I need to know. The girl who called herself Kayla is none other than Sofi DiArgento, daughter of Chicago�s vampire don and a trained fighter in her own right. Information on the vampire mob is hard to come by, but we have our sources. Given don DiArgento�s brutal policies � staking any vampires who left his domain and betraying the supernatural alliance �� he has nearly as many enemies as followers, and former mobsters and shifters alike are eager to find a way to strike back, no matter how small a way.�

But why would the don�s daughter choose to work in the club? Cage fighting is a dangerous sport and the risks far outweigh any orgasmic thrill that might accompany it. A fucking hot girl like Kayla � Sofi � certainly can�t be so desperate for a good time that she�d turn to fighting for sport. Add in the secrecy, her nervous gaze, and the way she kept the medallion carefully hidden, and the puzzle pieces start to click in place.�

Her father doesn�t know she comes here.�

Frowning, I put away my phone, ignoring the row of unread texts from the city council. They update me constantly on the status of the upcoming auction, clearly expecting me to be as excited as they are that I�ll be forced to mate with a girl I�ve never met, probably won�t even like. And since I met Sofi � I don�t want another woman. Why the hell did I ever agree to an auction that�s nothing more than bloodline mating crap? Just because it�s been a century of tradition and the shifter lords are expected to be appeased by mates that are basically well-bred sacrifices? Fuck it. Who cares if marrying a non-elite would corrupt my bloodline? This isn�t Nazi Germany. We�re shifters, for god�s sake. We�re already considered mutants by the rest of society. Just because we�re kings in our own domain doesn�t change that reality.

It doesn�t change anything.

I glance back down at the screen and the words �the perfect candidate� stare up at me. Damn it. I can almost hear the self-satisfaction oozing through Algernon�s text and an urge to punch him rages through me.

There are no perfect candidates.

There�s only Sofi.

My dream mate.

And the daughter of my enemy.

Whatever simpering tool Algernon has picked out will be nothing more than eye candy, someone to make me look good at the various mob functions and a stranger who expects to be welcomed into my bed.

She won�t be Sofi.

I shove my phone into my pocket, scowling. Furious at myself for allowing myself to be vulnerable with her, to fall for someone who had the audacity to lie to me at our first meeting.

And a vampire at that.

Damn fate and damn my life. I need to get out of here, find somewhere to think. I enter my fingerprint at the garage behind the club and the hidden door slides upward, moonlight glints off of the row of ridiculously expensive cars and club-marked motorcycles. I slide on the back of my favorite Harley, and kickstart it to life. The engine growls beneath me, like the rumble of my beast, and the feeling is ridiculously comforting. Why in hell am I letting a stranger control my emotions � my destiny � like this? Maybe the mate attraction is nothing more than testosterone, reminding me how I�ve been too busy for a good fuck entirely too long. I need a diversion. Something to distract me from the auction and the way my life is about to change.

She may think she can hide from me.

But I know exactly where to find her.

The story continues in Sold to Shifters�(https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B0927Z1NY9?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1, the first book in hot new RH series Sinful Mates.)

A former runaway and ever-hapless adventurer, Dany Stone learned early that words have the ability to cure any pain. Now she loses herself in creating happy endings for characters who�ve been through hell.

She emerges from her book cave to chat with readers on social media, conquer new realms with her partner, their son, and sassy Yorkie, and, of course, find her next new read.

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Myth Hunter, Inc.

Book 1: Darkest Rites� https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B08BKY44T6?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Book 2: Cursed Relics

Neverland Fae

Book 1: A Touch of Stardust� https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B091HP8CN2?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Sinful Mates

Book 1: Sold to Shifters� https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B0927Z1NY9?fc%3dus%26ds%3d1

Divinity: a gods and goddesses anthology� https://books2read.com/u/4EPGV0%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank

Blood Tide� https://geni.us/bloodtide

�You can�t hide on the floor of your closet all night. Come on, it�s time you got up.�

I was the biggest hypocrite that had ever walked the face of the earth but that was irrelevant now as I waited for my baby sister, Madeleine, to pick herself up off the floor. I had allowed her to waddle in her despair for four hours, but time waits for no one.

Madeleine stood up. �Go to the funeral without me. I can�t do this, and I don�t want to.�

Goddess Sori lend me your strength.

�News flash, Madi, no child wants to bury their parents. Put on your damn clothes and meet me in the basement. Mom and dad made me promise not to tell you, but its time you knew.�

�Time for what? They always told you things and left me out. Now, you come in here saying you�re going to tell me something; whatever.�

I shrugged. �Fine, then I won�t tell you. The limo arrives at the house in three hours, so don�t be late. If I have to come back and drag you to the funeral, I will.� Walking to the door, I ducked, as her pink, sparkly, unicorn musical snow globe went flying past me.

Closing the door behind me, I walked down the hall to my bedroom. Two steps before the bed, I collapsed to the floor. Curling into a fetal position, I buried my face in the mauve chinchilla rug. A silent scream burst from my throat as I lost myself in misery.

�My lady, I have scented your bath with roses and lilies, let me help you,� said Quin. He grabbed my waist and carried me over his shoulder.

�I don�t want any help. Get out of my room and stop calling me that.� I wiggled, attempting to get out of his embrace, but his grip was tight.

I blinked, then I was submerged in the scented water. Sputtering, I moved my hair from my eyes. �Have you lost your mind?�

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared at him. Quin had been serving the family ever since I was three years old. However, he had never been as difficult as he was now.

�I promised your mother and father that I wouldn�t allow you to fall apart, and I won�t be breaking my promise.�

Breathing deeply, I looked at him. �I�ve already shattered into a million pieces.�

He reached behind the door, grabbed a towel, and handed me my cashmere robe off the door hook.

�You�re stronger than you think. Get dressed and meet me in the basement.� He closed the bathroom door.

The bath water was red. Each of the white lily leaves were coated in red. Quin wasn�t the subtle type. He was showing me that my parents were now in their final resting place, and that today was the death of my innocence. It was a night of death, because I died a thousand times as the limousine took me to the morgue to identify my parents.

An hour later, my floor-length black Givenchy dress covered my body and my see-through lace gloves covered my fingers. My flaming strawberry-blonde hair was swept up in a bun at the back of my head. My black cashmere hat had a lacy veil which covered half of my face. The veil didn�t cover my red swollen eyes, but that was what my Prada shades were for.

The stairs creaked as I descended, but I didn�t care. The boogie man could jump out of the drywall today and I wouldn�t care. I was fresh out of giving two fucks about what happened. I paused at the base of the steps when I saw Madi.

She rolled her eyes. �I bet you thought you were the only one that Quin had something to tell?� Uncrossing her arms, she tossed her hair back.

Madeleine yanked a chair and flopped down in it. Quin was located at the opposite end of the table. Seeing the table without our parents was like a stab through the aorta. Mom and dad always came down here to do their business dealings. Anytime people in the mafia came to the house, they came in through the back door and met down here.

Closing my eyes, I struggled deep inside and fought the tears that surged into my eyes.

�I don�t care what you think and I�m tired of your attitude, so check it at the door.�

When we were ten, I agreed to stop kicking the shit out of her, but he was about to make me go back on my promise. I was tired of being the punching bag.

I lost them just like she did, damn it. Unlike her, she got to hide in her room and cry, I had to be sworn into the familia.

As head of the household, and now the Don of the Lambert family, I had to identify our parents� bodies and convince the other families that we could stand on our own without being married off like cattle. I couldn�t escape this life, but I was able to save Madi.

�Madeleine,� said Quin, �there�s no prize for being a frigid bitch. Your sister sacrificed much, including her own happiness, so that you wouldn�t have to.�

Her cheeks burned as she glanced away from me. �What are you talking about?�

I held up my hand. �It�s not necessary, leave well enough alone. Just tell us what we need to know so that we can digest this situation and get prepared for the funeral.�

She rubbed her hands through her hair. �No, all of the family secrets end now. If we�re going to survive this, all of us must know what�s going on. Keeping me in the dark is handicapping me.�

Quin�s lips pressed tight. He lowered his head and after a few moments looked at us. �She�s right, Mic; maybe if she knew she wouldn�t be treating you like crap all the time.�

�Tonight, after identifying your parents, Mic had to meet with the family.�

Madi frowned. �We don�t have any living relatives. What family are you talking about?�

�The mafia. You�re a Lambert, your mother married into the mafia, which makes you two part of the family.�

Shaking her head, she laughed. �You must have fell and bumped your head. Daddy�s name was Piero. He wasn�t in the mafia; he never even raised his voice to anyone. Mafia men kill people, and they�re monsters.�

I knew this would be a mistake. Madi was gentle and loving. I knew it was a disaster to shatter the dream she had of our parents. She didn�t know all the things they had done, or why our names were changed to Lambert. She never knew because we shielded her. She was the bright light in their darkness. A darkness I would have to maintain, unless I was ready to join them in the family plot up the road.

�Mic tell Quin he�s mistaken. You can�t believe this about daddy.�

A tear slid down my cheek. I couldn�t see my sister break into pieces. I told Quin she didn�t need to know, and I was right. This was too much too soon. I stood abruptly and the chair fell to the floor.

Quin cleared his throat. �She�s to marry Torin Cullen in two weeks. That will give you enough time to get settled in Las Angeles.�

�You are marrying that devil, and now we have to leave our home. Great! I lose my parents and now my home. Just kill me.�

�I�m sorry, Madi. This was the only way.� I turned away from her. Each tear that rolled down her face was like a sip of poison, and I couldn�t breathe.

�Mic can�t go with you. It will be you and I.�

�Mic, you�re abandoning me. How could you leave me when I need you?� She ran over to me and shook me. I closed my eyes against the pain that I saw on her tear-stained face.

�Nothing could tear us apart. We are one mind, one body and one blood. Even in death, I will be with you.� Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I hugged her tight.

�She�s not abandoning you. We�ve uncovered a plot to kill you. The Cullens won�t protect you unless you marry into their family,� said Quin.

Pulling back from me, she wiped her face. �I have to speak with Leonardo, so he can go with me.�

I�m not telling my sister that Leonardo was the scumbag who had been wasting three years of her life. And, that he had been screwing her best friend Beth.

He won�t be sliding between Beth�s creamy thighs again because she was dead, and if he weren�t careful, he would join her.

�After the funeral, let�s stay inside. It�s not a good time to go and run the streets. Other mafia families are looking to make a move on us. We�re not out of the woods yet.�

Searching her face, I saw her hesitation. �I might go to see Leonardo after the funeral.�

�We need to stay inside. This is a perfect time for both of us to be shot in the head or found mugged and dead. I�m not saying you can�t see Leonardo, just have him come here.�

The funeral was hard and long. Mom and dad would�ve been proud at the lavish sendoff. Everyone had dispersed about two hours ago, and I couldn�t manage to get my legs moving. It was at this moment it dawned on me, that I would never see our parents again. Tracing the tombstone with my fingers, I blinked back the tears. It�s reckless for me to still be here, but I�m too hurt to care about my safety.

�We need to leave. I can�t find your sister anywhere. I�ve checked in with the guards, and she gave them the slip,� said Quin.

Madeleine only listened to daddy. Heck, she didn�t even listen to mom. If this was what the rest of my life looked like, I might as well jump in the dirt now. I don�t have the patience to coddle her, not when I�m busy trying to save her life.

How can I keep her safe when she won�t listen?

Pulling out my phone, I entered the tracking program. Madi has always been reckless and an amazing liar, embedding spyware on her phone was a last resort and a safety measure. Once the program loaded, I stared at it in shock. It was an address in Central City.

�Send all of the teams to 8926 Golden Cloud Drive.� I tossed my phone in my purse and ran down the hill toward the black Hummer waiting for me.

Quin grabbed my arm. �This could be a trap.�

I jerked away from him. �You know what the werewolves will do to her if they catch her.�

�I�m coming too. I�ll drive.� He opened my door and ran around to the driver�s side. Turning around, I took one last look at my parents� grave.

Something deep inside told me it might be the last time I see it.

Reaching underneath the seat, I grabbed two Glocks, one I placed in my holster underneath my dress and the other in my palm.

�Leonardo is behind this. He has led her out here.� Tapping my foot on the floor, I pulled my phone out and called her again. Her phone went straight to voicemail.

Quin glanced at me as he stopped at the stop sign. �If the werewolves didn�t get to him, then it�s the vamps or the fae.�

There was a reason that the Cullens were trying hard to bully us into marrying them. I don�t like being the sacrificial lamb, but I had the responsibility to keep my baby sister alive. I promised mom and dad, and they�re dead. Now, it was up to me.

I would do what I have to or be anything I needed to be, in order to keep her alive. My hands would have to get dirty so that hers could stay clean.

He parked on the side of Mo�s Bowling Alley. Something was wrong, my guards weren�t here, although they left before we did.

�The guards aren�t here. Nobody is here.� I stared down at my phone one last time, no text, no call, and no response. Looking up at the sky, I clenched my jaw. Darkness would be upon us in less than thirty minutes, and the werewolves would be prowling around.

Closing the car door, I ran across the street. �We have thirty minutes tops; you go north, and I�ll head south.�

�We don�t have enough time. It�s too dangerous to split up. There�s still more I need to tell you,� said Quin.

�No time. Get moving. You can track my location from your phone. My phone is on silent so you can track me.� Turning, I hopped over the bushes and opened the side door. Padding inside, I crept around the cashier stand. The lights were dim, and the place appeared vacant. There was a faint smell of cinnamon rolls and French vanilla bean coffee in the air. Passing by the red and white leather booths, I walked toward the back.

Lifting my gun, I crept down the dark hallway.

�Leonardo, I said stop. My parents just died. What makes you think I came here for sex? I don�t want to lose my virginity on the day I buried my parents.�

Walking to the first door, I stepped inside. It was a linen closet. Stepping back out, I swiftly searched the next two rooms.

�I�m tired of you being a tease. I�ve spent three years being your boyfriend, so you owe me.�

Walking into the third room, I searched it. They weren�t in it but there was a gun lying on the dresser. This was definitely a setup, maybe Leonardo himself was meant to do the hit. Holding both guns, I rushed down the hallway, but stopped when his voice sounded closer, but slightly muffled. It almost seemed like they were in the walls.

�I don�t owe you anything. I came here to see if you wanted to move with me.�

No, Madeleine, don�t tell him anything else.

Running down the hall, I turned the corner and took the steps to the bottom level. Following the sound of their voices, I made my way into a large empty room. The ceiling was cracked and there were several bullet holes near a diagonal crack along the wall. The wall had claw marks along it. I stepped inside.

�I�m not moving anywhere with you because you don�t even put out. Why would I move with you when Beth sucks my cock whenever I want her to?�

�What? Beth who? You can�t mean you cheated on me with my best friend, Beth Jennings.�

�Yep, but don�t worry about it. You won�t have time to be upset for long. The werewolves, vampires, and witches all want you dead. They�re coming for you now.�

�The supernatural doesn�t exist. You�re an asshole.�

�Oh, you kneed me in the balls. I hope they rip your head off.�

I came around the corner and saw her knee him in the balls and when he went to his knees, she punched him in the face.

�You bitch.� He lunged for her.

I aimed, and fired three shots, two to the head and one in the heart.

Madeleine clutched her chest. �That bastard was sleeping with Beth. He set me up. We have to get out of here.�

Handing her one of the guns, we ran out the room. Heading back the way I came, she and I stopped as loud howling noises shook the building. Our time had run out.

Grabbing her arm, we ran back the way we came. I texted Quin the emergency code but didn�t stop running.

Madeleine grabbed a handful of her hair. �Werewolves, they�re going to eat us alive.�

�Come, maybe we can sneak out the back.� Upon reaching the back, it was completely dark.

My ears twitched. Closing my eyes, I homed in on my senses. There was a strong whiff of werewolf dander, but a hint of something else. The vampires or the faes were here as well.

Shit. Things had just gone from bad to worse.

�When I fire off two shots, they�ll rush in here. You get the car and head home. Don�t stop for anything, go straight to the house. They won�t cross into our territory.�

�What about you? If you do this, they will kill you.�

If I don�t, we will both die. You must live.

�I�m going to be the distraction. Get ready to run.� Ignoring her frantic mumblings, I fired off two shots. Turning, she was still standing next to me.

I pushed her toward the back door and pointed the gun in her face. �I�m not burying you too.�

I sighed when she raced out the door. Pulling my Glock from my ankle holster, I waited. The window burst and a werewolf landed a foot away from me. I fired several head shots until it stopped moving.

I heard the car engine, and tires screeching. I ran to the back door and snatched it open. Powerful claws slashed me across the chest, as another werewolf came inside with a fae.

�Time to die, princess,� he said, as he smirked at the werewolf beside him. I picked up the Glock and fired two shots at the werewolf�s head. It slumped over, and the fae vanished before my eyes. Reappearing, he snatched my gun, tossing it behind him.

�Thanks for killing him. He had served his purpose. You see, Micheline, you must die because he loves you too much.� He prowled toward me, his long silver hair swaying behind him.

Spitting blood, I grabbed my knife, and staggered to my feet. I thrust it at his neck, but he dodged and punched me in the gut. Dropping to my knees, he snatched the knife from my hands.

�I hate to break beautiful things, but Torin is destined for greatness and you are the catalyst.� He thrust the knife into my gut repeatedly, until the sharp pains became numb. I slithered to the floor, hearing my faint heartbeat throb in my eardrums.

My eyes closed as I heard the fading sounds of the werewolves. The door shut, and darkness crept in.

�You shouldn�t have been here,� a voice said as he touched my face.

My eyes fluttered open. �Leave, it�s not safe.�

I drew in a breath. His eyes were like round aquamarine stones. His fine dark goatee emphasized his strong jaw. He was beautiful.

�You�re dying.�

�I know.� My head dropped to the side and I closed my eyes. Images of mom and dad flooded my mind. Soon we would be together again.

�I can save you. You don�t have to die,� he said.

�No. I don�t want to be a mangy dog like them. Leave me to my fate.�

�Nobody wants to be a werewolf, but there are other options.� He lifted me into his arms, and I felt a gush of blood pour out.

�I don�t want that either. It�s my time. Go help someone who needs it.�

�You and I will get along just fine.�

I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I tried to push him off, but I couldn�t move. Everything faded into nothingness.

I didn�t feel like killing werewolves tonight, but Nicenzio had other plans. Why he allowed his cock to lead him across town to Central City was beyond me. Nicenzio Carmosino was my best friend, who also happened to be a reckless cock slanging, foul mouth, and bad-tempered vampire. If there was a rule not to do something, it was a given it was on his list to do just that.

I sat down at the circular table and awaited the Immortal Mafia Council. The council was made up of the most powerful immortals that set the rules for our lives. Gone were the days when being an immortal meant that you had complete control over your future.

These immortals felt because they had lived four thousand decades ago that they knew everything. If I�m honest with myself, they knew a heck of a lot.

The restaurant Pereira was the only amazing thing about these meetings. It looked like a steak and shake that should be condemned on the outside but was pure heaven on the inside. Johnny, the owner, was an immigrant, and his dishes were served with organic spices and mouthwatering flavors that made your soul travel with each bite taken.

I was distracted by the enticing aroma of the Pereira Charbroiled Oysters when the front door opened, and Michael Yes Lafleur waltzed inside. I could smell the werewolf�s dander from where I sat. Four other werewolves came in behind him. They sat across the table from us. To my right Genziano, Bartolome, Piero, Giovanni, and I represented the vampires. Nicenzio was outspoken and known to question everything, which made his absence impossible to cover up.

Axel stroked his goatee. �Where is Nicenzio? If he violates the council�s wishes, his ass is mine.�

Smiling, I sighed. �When are you going to get over it? Teresa cheated on you, and not just with Nicenzio. She�s given more rides than a trolley.�

�You mean more than a Greyhound bus. Her phone number is inked on the men�s bathrooms throughout the city. She�s promiscuous and she�s probably made that clear,� said Genziano.

Axel�s face turned red, and he slammed his fist down on the table. �I will make him pay. You won�t be able to protect him always.�

The door opened again, and Torin Cullen, Simeone Amatucci and three other successors entered the restaurant. Like always, Simeone had stopped time, everyone and everything stopped except him. He and his men floated to the table. It was difficult being around a bunch of men that you wanted to kill but were forced to stay your hand. The council had measures in place, so we toed the line, yet it was difficult not to resent them. Time went back to normal, and Simeone smirked at everyone. He knew how unsettled we were that he could stop time, which was why he continued to do it.

The back door opened, and six council members walked toward us. We never knew which six members would be at the meeting since they rotated members. All we knew was that there would be two representing council members from each immortal class and usually they were of the opposite sex. Pierre Bouchard and Amelinda Fuchs strolled inside, representing the vampires which meant we were screwed. Pierre was a pompous jerk who only saw things his way, and from what I�d heard about Amelinda, she wasn�t much better. Four other council members walked behind, and each took their seats at the head of the table.

Pierre lifted his hand. �I�m Pierre Bouchard, and she is Amelinda Fuchs; we represent the interest for the vampires. The man to my right is Akida Okafor and she is Imaan Bari; they represent the interest for the witches. And the man sitting behind him is Hashaan Iwu and Monica Caballero��

�We know Hashaan and Monica represent us, get on with it. Why don�t you tell us something we don�t know?� said Axel.

�Mr. Lavache please show some respect. Our kind aren�t the only ones at this meeting. It�s important that everyone understand that their kind is being represented here today,� said Monica.

This meeting was already going to shit, and it hadn�t even started. Shifting in my seat, I curled my toes to keep from tapping my foot on the floor. I had a feeling I wasn�t going to like the new changes that would precede this meeting.

�The treaty between our kinds has benefited us until now, and we�ve turned a blind eye to your childish squabbles, but no more. Look to your left and to your right, we are not enemies,� said Imaan.

�You have allowed the enemy to possibly get the jump on us, and in doing so, we might all be destroyed,� said Hashaan.

�What are you talking about?� asked Simeone. He looked at his men then back at the council.

Narrowing my eyes, I watched his body language. The bastard knew of this threat. The witches seemed to always get wind of stuff before any of us.

�We�re talking about the Shadow Spirits, the immortals that are summoning spirits from Hades. If they obtain the key, they will be unstoppable,� said Akida.

Simeone looked at his men. �Do they have the key?�

�They didn�t as of last night, but if we don�t work together to prevent them from getting it, we�re all dead.�

Axel stood. �This is bullshit. We�re immortals; there�s little that can kill us, and now you�re saying these Shadow Spirits can kill us.�

�Wow! Simeone, I thought everyone knew about the Shadow Spirits, the vamps do.�

�Why didn�t you kill them and take the key, you�re supposed to be the most powerful among us or was that lies too?� said Axel.

It was bad enough that something had the power to kill us, but I wasn�t about to admit ignorance in front of them. I never imagined a day would come where the council feared anything or anyone. This wasn�t good.

�Sit down, Axel. I understand you�re scared, and you should be, but panicking will only get you killed.� said Monica.

Pierre cleared his throat. �When they get the key, they will be able to gain back their true forms with all of their power. They will be able to assume control of the city, and even Earth.�

�How are they powerful without the key?� asked Genziano.

�The goddess Sorti has limited their power and their shapeshifting abilities. If they possess the key, it will reverse the spell that the goddess placed on them, and they will once again rule the Earth,� said Pierre.

Other than praying incessantly to the goddess, how the heck are we going to fight shapeshifting spirits? How do you fight what you can�t see?

�How do we find them?� I looked at all of them, but I saw Pierre shaking his head.

Pierre opened his mind to his first memory of the Shadow Spirits.

Amelinda sighed. �Their eyes are two different colors, but, if you�re that close to see, then you�re already dead. The other thing is they smell of cedarwood. Find the key and bring it to us.�

�Where was the key?� asked Axel.

�Key is just a term. You�re looking for a woman whose blood is the key. You will bring her to us alive,� said Akida.

�We should kill her to prevent the Shadow Spirits from becoming too powerful,� said Simeone.

�Anyone that kills her will die by the council�s hand,� said Pierre.

�What does this mysterious and powerful female look like?� asked Axel.

�We don�t know. You will know when you taste her blood, which will taste like wine,� said Pierre.

�Doesn�t all blood taste like wine to you blood suckers?� asked Michael.

�No, but her blood will allow us to walk in the daylight,� said Amelinda.

All hell had broken loose after the revelation of the Shadow Spirits and this mysterious female, whose blood had the power to open portals to other dimension, including Hades. After the meeting, we rushed home to see if Nicenzio had made it back. He hadn�t.

Pulling out my phone, I checked it one last time. �I�ve called him twenty times.� With everything that was going on, the last thing we needed was a turf war with the werewolves. It seemed we had bigger fish to fry.

�If he isn�t dead, he�s preoccupied and won�t be answering his phone,� said Genziano.

Cracking my neck, I grabbed the car keys off the desk. �Let�s ride. You know, I�ll never understand the risks he takes for absolutely nothing. He isn�t even serious about these women.�

�We all get crazy over a woman. Just wait your turn, and you�ll be crazy too,� said Genziano.

�A woman is a woman. They�re all the same.� Jumping into the car, I revved the engine. �It doesn�t make sense to lose your head over a woman.�

Genziano chuckled. �I�ll remind you of that when you meet her.�

There wasn�t much traffic, so I floored it. Glancing at him, I frowned. �Her who?�

We arrived at the Bowling Alley and the werewolf�s howls shook the car windows. They were out in full force, which was normal, but something seemed different. Parking in the garage across the street, I cut the engine off. I was about to let up my window when I caught a whiff, on the breeze, which made my ears twitch.

Narrowing my eyes, I looked at Genziano. �Do you smell that? Simeone wouldn�t be down here doing side deals with the mutts would he?�

He sniffed and pulled out his phone. �Simeone wasn�t clueless about the Shadow Spirits either, so this was someone else. We need to see who it is, then we can tell Simeone to get his people in order.�

A few minutes later, a gray and white wolf walked side by side next to a warlock. The wolf was definitely a rare color, symbolizing he was from the ancient werewolves� bloodline. What was he doing with a warlock?

The warlock was tall, and muscular. His sandy wavy hair was short, close to his scalp. He had a faint goatee neatly lined around his strong jaw. He had tattoos from bicep to wrist on both arms, but that wasn�t what captured my attention. It was the intoxicating sweetness of blood that was on him.

Human blood.

I was glad he was recording this interaction. My gut told me that whatever they had done was catastrophic. He laughed, then waved his hand and disappeared. The wolf ran off into the woods, where I saw shadows of more wolves greet him as their shadows faded into the tree lines.

�Damn sorcerers. I smelled human blood. I�m going to investigate, stay here and see if Nicenzio shows up.� Without waiting, I hopped out of the car. Slipping into the side door, I followed the scent of blood and death. It wasn�t hard to find a man�s dead body, since rigor mortis had already set in. He was shot and killed probably by a human. We immortals had more imaginative and painful ways to dispatch of our enemies.

Lifting my nose, I followed the scent of the human�s blood, which became stronger as I headed to the lower level. My stomach turned as I saw the bloody scene lying before me. There was a shattered window and a dead werewolf, who hadn�t turned back into human form. He must�ve just died.

Crumped in a ball, was a human female lying in her own blood. She was beautiful, with tears staining her cheeks and her creamy skin bathed in blood.

�You�re dying.� I couldn�t help touching her skin, which was softer than silk. Her fragrance smelled of mint leaves, the dead sea, and ocean water.

�I know.�

Something was different about this girl. Her blood was addictive, and I hadn�t had a sample yet. She was too beautiful to die so young.

�I can save you. You don�t have to die,� he said.

�No, I don�t want to be a mangy dog like them. Leave me to my fate.�

�Nobody wants to be a werewolf, but there are other options.� I lifted her into my arms, and I felt a gush of blood pour out.

�I don�t want that either. It�s my time. Go help someone who needs it.�

�You and I will get along just fine.� Her heart was fading fast and I wasn�t ready for her to die. I needed answers as to why the sorcerers and werewolves teamed up to kill her. If they wanted her dead, then I needed her alive.

Rubbing my lips against her neck, my fang descended, and I sank them into her tender flesh. She dug her nails into my wrist, but it only added to my excitement. She would live whether she wanted to or not. Her blood tasted like raspberries and pineapples dipped in molten chocolate. It was sweet and thick, sending a surge of heat through my body straight to my cock.

Pulling away, I watched as she slumped over unconscious. My skin tingled and something felt off. My body quivered on the inside and my brain became foggy. I carried her to car.

�Genziano, I need you to drive.� I put her in the backseat and darkness ensued.

�What do you mean she�s dead?� I took a step back and fell against the wall. My muscles went weak and I gasped as acid slid up and scorched my esophagus.

�We don�t know, but I identified the body myself. Micheline Lambert is dead. She was torn apart by a werewolf, and they didn�t want us to think they had anything to do with it,� said Matias.

Narrowing my eyes, I grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the floor. �She was my fianc�e, just two weeks away from being my wife. Nobody would dare touch her.�

Matias Machesky had once challenged me to rule but I defeated him. He had wanted the Machesky bloodline to rule but he wasn�t successful. His bloodline didn�t have the power or the prestige like the Cullens. We were an ancient line of power and had the prestige that few could rival.

Throwing him away from me, I scrubbed my hand through my hair. �You should�ve brought her body to me. Go get it.�

Matias swallowed hard. �I can�t. The werewolves set her body on fire. The body would�ve drawn attention to the pack.�

�You challenged me for alpha and lost. If you want to fight to death this time, let�s do that.� I took another step toward him but stilled when I saw my twin brother Tobias step in front of me.

�Brother, we�ll get to the bottom of this together.� He shot a skeptical look at Matias.

�The vamps and werewolves are jealous of our power. They can�t kill you, so they murdered your future wife. Unfortunately for her, she wasn�t under your protection until you exchanged vows. You can�t retaliate against the werewolves without consequence from the council,� said Matias.

Tobias frowned. �It doesn�t make sense for the werewolves to attack her, they haven�t given us any issues for fifteen decades. It sounds like someone wanted this to look like a werewolf attack.�

�You�re na�ve, Tobias, and you don�t understand the fragile alliance we have with the werewolves and vamps.�

He nodded. �Let me guess, you want to retaliate and kill the werewolves.�

Matias smiled and his pointy ears twitched. �We need to send a message. Anyone that fucks with us will be killed.�

Tobias snorted. �Your plan is to go to war with the werewolves and then what? What will happen when the council comes after us? We can�t fight legions of enemies.�

�We are powerful sorcerers and shouldn�t have to answer to the Immortal Mafia Council anyway. It�s time we take our rightful place at the top.�

�How do you plan to do that, Matias? You can�t kill an enemy you don�t know.�

�We could be stronger than the snobby council members if we consumed the Halawekuni.�

Tobias laughed. �You�re crazy. Your grand plan is to kill the Immortal Mafia Council, wipe out the werewolf pacts, travel to the Realm of Shadows and steal and consume the Halawekuni.�

�Matias, traveling to the Shadow Realm is a death sentence and if you managed to escape before the Shadow Spirits tore you apart, are you aware that the Halawekuni chooses its host? I knew you lusted for power, but I didn�t know the vision of death had seduced you too.�

I watched him as he walked to the door. �We shouldn�t have to take orders from the council or anyone else. We should live like gods.�

Listening to Matias� fading footsteps, I shook my head. Glancing at my brother we both nodded, and at the same time we closed our eyes, and teleported inside the New Orleans Police Station. We were invisible and could remain so indefinitely. That was one of the perks of being an identical twin, we had the ability to combine our power and do unheard of things.

�Chief Warner, there was so much blood, it looked like a massacre, but I only found this body. There had to be more bodies down on the lower level of the bowling alley,� he said.

�Nick, I can�t go off on a tangent with you. I need evidence, surveillance, and bodies. Nobody reported a crime, yet you received an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen. This city doesn�t have any concerned citizens, they abandoned this city long ago.�

The chief kicked his chair over. He snatched his coffee mug and took a swig. �Stop chasing ghosts, and head back down there to Mo�s Bowling Alley, and find out who killed Leonardo Ferarri. His family has dinner with Senator Connor, for fuck sake. I need answers like a year ago and I need them before I have to call Leonardo Sr and inform him that his heir is dead.�

�Chief, what about the dead naked guy that we found on the lower level? He didn�t have any identification or clothes on. I ran his fingerprints in the database but didn�t get a match.�

Warner slammed his cup on the desk. �Your priority is Leonardo�s death. The cameras were stolen, but someone must have seen something. Locate some witnesses, someone knows something.�

�Leonardo had a girlfriend named Micheline Lambert. She is a real nice girl, attending Vanderbuilt University School of Law. Rumor has it that they were engaged. Oh, wait her sister, Madeleine Lambert dated Leonardo, the other one was engaged to Edward Cullen.�

Warner grabbed a fist of his hair. �You can�t even keep the sisters straight. Just go. I can�t afford to have this investigation screwed up.�

�Sir, I won�t let you down. It�s just that Micheline and Madeleine look alike since they�re identical twins. Anyway, I interviewed Madeleine, who dated Leonardo. She stated that they broke up because he was sleeping with her best friend Beth.�

�Nick get me some answers and stop flapping your gums. His father won�t care that his son cheated on his girlfriend.�

Nick turned and walked to the door.

�Interview Micheline. She might be engaged but they are twins; maybe she killed him for her sister.�

He shook his head. �She told me that her sister was out of town making wedding preparations to marry Torin Cullen. I checked her credit card history, and she had purchased two tickets to California. Her credit card was used an hour ago in Las Vegas.�

�You triple checked Madeleine�s alibi?�

�Yes, it�s airtight. She was having dinner with friends tonight. Beth Cunningham doesn�t have an alibi, so I�m checking into her background now. She was the side chick, maybe she shot him because he wouldn�t leave Madeleine.�

Closing my eyes, I concentrated. Thoughts of her filled my mind, as Tobias and I stood in the lower level of Mo�s Bowling Alley. The smell of blood, her blood permeated the air. The chalk outline of her body was too small to be that of an immortal. I was staring at the crime scene where Micheline had been murdered.

Why were you here? I told you that it was dangerous now that your parents had died, which I�m sure wasn�t a coincidence.

Walking over to the bloody spot a few feet away from the shattered window, I frowned. �A werewolf attacked her, but I�m not certain that he killed her. Whoever set her up wasn�t acting alone.�

Tobias rubbed his chin. �She was out here because she came to get Madeleine. The werewolves came and she fought them so that her sister could get away. Look at that glass window. That�s another bullet hole.�

�I don�t believe the werewolves killed her; they helped, but they didn�t have any quarrel with her or me. Nobody messes with the Cullens; our bloodline is as strong as the descendants of the Dark Ones.�

My brother sighed then turned away.

�What, speak your mind. I can feel your turmoil.�

He rubbed his head. �Matias is jealous of you and he wants your position of power. I wouldn�t put it past him if he orchestrated her death, so you�ll go against the council. He has an excellent chance of seizing power when you�re dead, which is what you would be if you go against the council.�

Walking closer to the window, I looked up, and saw glowing amber eyes staring back at me. My heart leapt in my throat.

�Shadow Spirit.� I glanced behind me at Tobias, but the spirit held him by the throat.

My body floated into the air while an invisible force held me immobilized. Gasping, I trembled as my air was suddenly cut off. Detaching from my emotions, I channel my energy before it was too late, and sent Tobias home.

�No, we die together,� said Tobias. His face started to turn from ruby red to ashen.

�I�ve been waiting a long time to get my hands on you, Torin Cullen. We�ve been interested in you for a long time, and your infinite abilities.�

�Never, will I side with a life thief.�

�My name is Valen Kampf, ruler of the Givensku, the Dark Realm, but you may call me Shadow King.�

�Kill me and be done.� Closing my eyes, a sharp pain of sadness sliced through me as I heard Tobias take three swift breaths then went silent.

It won�t be long Tobias. I�m coming.

Retreating inside my mind, I focused on Micheline. She and I would be reunited again.

�Most people don�t look happy to stare death in the face, but you love her so much, the mere thought brings you bliss. I can see why he killed her; you loved her. It was a pity that your pride never let you tell her.�

My eyes flew open and Micheline�s face faded from the recesses of my mind like mist. �Who killed her?�

Valen�s face became visible, but his body was still invisible. �It doesn�t matter. You are my property now. You see, through you this world will fall, and the Shadow Spirits will once again rule over Earth.� His hand appeared and he reached inside his chest and removed a fiery seafoam-green eight-tentacle creature that jumped on my face.

Shaking my entire body, I couldn�t shake it off, as its claws pried opened my mouth and crawled inside. My eyes rolled back, and I fell to the floor.

�Don�t fight; the Halawekuni chooses its host. We can�t control these symbiotes, we just plead with them. When they bond, you will be our flunky to summon to the Dark Realm whenever I see fit. You will bring about this world�s destruction.�

I opened my mouth on a silent scream as the symbiote embedded itself inside my brain. Searing heat flooded my body like lava. My eyes fluttered opened as I watched Valen wave and disappear. I surrendered into the warm arms of the darkness.

I was cold. This was the coldest I had ever been in my life. My teeth ached, and I could see my breath coming out into puffy clouds around me. Sitting up, I ignored the splitting headache that pounded at my temples. Where the heck was I?

Sliding off the bed, I walked across the room to the door. Passing the mirror, I stopped as the sight made my heart flutter. I couldn�t see my image. Moving closer, I didn�t stop until my clammy fingers stroked the reflective surface. In a flash, my memories came back.

His tall muscular body kneeled over me. His thick, dark, wavy brown hair sculpted off his face. Beautiful jade green eyes that had turned to a sea foam green when he saw the puddle of blood, I was laying in.

Shaking my head, I stepped away from the mirror. He had offered to help me, and I declined. Closing my eyes, I ran my fingers along my sensitive neck. The place where he had sunk his teeth had healed.

I don�t care how handsome he is. He didn�t have the right to decide anything for me. How dare him.

Opening the dresser, I pulled out a jogging suit. Tossing my bloody tattered clothes in the trash, I threw the hood over my face. After folding the pants three times, I managed to keep the large clothing on me.

Opening the window, I climbed out. Gripping the bars tight, I looked down. Big mistake. The high-rise was twenty floors off the ground.

Pressing my face to the bar, I inhaled and thought of Madeleine. I had died for her once, heinously; I could do this. Moving quickly, it didn�t take long to get to the bottom. When I wasn�t far from the bottom, I jumped down.

I walked down the street and placed my hands inside the hoodie. Turning the corner, I bumped into something hard.

�Watch where you�re going,� he said as he stepped around me and kept walking. Releasing a breath, I didn�t know I held, I rounded the corner and ran.

Wherever I was, it wasn�t near civilization. There was a black coupe with tinted windows parked at the end of the street. I moved my fingers along the front of it. Yes, it was still warm.

I had never driven a Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, which was my favorite car. Stealing one had never been in my plan. I tried the door, and it opened.

What kind of idiot would leave this kind of car unlocked with the keys inside?

Sliding in, I buckled the seatbelt and started the car. When the fancy high-rise was no longer in the rearview mirror, I sighed. I didn�t stop until I pulled into the garage at the house. Punching in the combination, and placing my finger on the keypad, the door opened.

Leaning against the door, I closed my eyes. What was I going to say? Hey guys, I�ve turned into a damn monster. I couldn�t let Madeleine see me like this.

�I thought I�d never see you again. Your funeral is scheduled for tomorrow at noon,� said Quin, �and Madeleine has been more of a train wreck than usual.�

Rubbing my temples, I sighed. �What do you want me to say? I did what I had to do, but instead of dying I was turned. You can handle her; you don�t have a choice.�

He shook his head. �No, I can�t.�

My shoulders slumped, and I fought tears. �I have faith in you.�

�She has tried to commit suicide three times, and this last time I came close to losing her. She�s in the hospital, but you know as well as I do, it�s the best place to kill someone.�

I choked. The pain in the back of my throat had tears sliding down my cheeks.

I walked down the hall and headed to my bedroom. It was bad enough that I died saving her, and now she had tried to kill herself.

Once I crossed the threshold of my room, I fell face first on the bed. Ignoring the fact that everything I owned was in a box, I allowed myself to feel grief. Sorry I wasn�t a good sister, sorry I failed mon and dad, and sorry I put all of this on Quin.

Quin leaned against the door frame. �She gets discharged in two hours, so you have two hours to get yourself together before you see her.�

�It�s better if she thinks I�m dead. After I leave her, I plan to finish myself off. I can�t soil our parent�s legacy with mess. We are special and I can�t allow myself to be aligned with them.�

�You can�t be that stupid. If you�re worried about the sorcerers, don�t be. We�ll handle them together.�

Rolling my eyes, I sat up. �Torin is a beautiful wizard. He�s powerful, so he can have any female he wants. He probably didn�t blink twice when he heard of my demise.�

�You know so little about men. Torin can have any female he wants but he wants you, which makes this a problem for all of us. He�s not a wizard you piss off, but with the vampires protecting you and this family, it will be alright.�

�Who saved you?�

Turning away from him, I debated on how to answer this. Either way I answered, he wasn�t likely to want to hear this.

�I don�t know his name. I didn�t ask him to save me, and I woke up and immediately came here to check on you guys.�

He covered his forehead. �Is that code for you ran from the man? Please tell me that isn�t his luxury car parked in the garage.�

I pinched the bridge of my nose. �I don�t know who the car belongs to. I wasn�t asking when I stole it.�

�Let�s hope he doesn�t show up while Torin is here. He and his brother are coming in an hour.�

�Why is he coming here? My funeral is near, so why is he coming here today?�

�He wants revenge on the person that killed you. Torin just wants answers. My sources said that he went ballistic when he heard the news, and nobody has seen him in three days.�

My problems hadn�t gone away but a hot bubble bath did make things seem better. The only way out of this was to relocate to Canada or someplace that had cold weather. I couldn�t risk the sorcerers going to war with the vampires over me. I never wanted to be a part of that world, but my wishes didn�t matter now.

Quin ran inside my room, panting like he had run a marathon. �Hide, the security system picked up a shadow, and more than likely it�s your vampire.�

Holding my towel, I glared at him. �He�s not MY anything. Besides, it might just be a shadow.� Despite my carefree tone, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Rushing to the bed, I lifted the mattress, and grabbed one of the guns.

How had he found me? Was his car bugged or something?

I handed him the gun. �Here, take this just in case.�

�Don�t bother with that primitive weapon. It can�t harm me,� he said. He waltzed into the room and grabbed Quin by the throat. Knocking the gun out of his hand, it hit the floor and slid across the room.

He slammed Quin against the wall. His green eyes turning a darker shade of green. �I have no complaints with your attire, but I think you might want to be clothed when the others come.�

Snagging the other gun from under the mattress, I pointed it at him. �Let him go.�

He smiled. �You can�t kill me. I would�ve explained that to you if you hadn�t scaled down the thirty-seven floors and stole my car,�.

�Why are you choking him and not me? He didn�t steal your car.�

�She has a point,� mumbled Quin.

He tossed Quin across the room. �You should come with me.�

I shook my head. �I�m not going anywhere with you. I don�t know you and I don�t want to get to know you.�

�I don�t want to force you, but I will.� His eyes dropped from my face to roam over my body.

Flinching, I clutched the towel tighter as I walked over to the dresser and pulled it open. After checking the rest of the drawers, I growled. �Wow, you guys packed my stuff quickly. I�m not certain how I feel about that.�

I snorted and tossed my hair over my shoulder. �I know you do whatever you want to do, despite what anybody else wants.�

Quin looked at the security pad in his pocket. �Oh no. He�s early. Yes. Go with him now and call me later.�

Just then, three more vampires appeared. One was the man I had bumped into earlier.

He licked his lips. �Domenico, you didn�t tell me how beautiful she was.�

�Don�t even think about it, Nicenzio.�

�Who is here?� I looked from her to the older man still on the floor where I�d thrown him. He was checking the security cameras and moving faster than he had when I had my hand wrapped around his throat.

�Torin Cullen is here with his brother. We need to leave now,� said Genziano.

Nicenzio cracked his knuckles. �If he has a problem, we can solve it right here and now.�

�If you had your ass at the meeting, you wouldn�t be saying that. We haven�t filled you in on the latest news, but this isn�t the time for war,� said Bartolome`.

Walking over to one of the boxes marked clothes, I ripped it open. If Nicenzio�s gaze dropped one more time to her naked thighs, I was going to gut him. Tossing her a shirt and a black pair of skinny jeans, I turned to the older man. �Why is Torin here?�

�Why are you here, jerk,� she mumbled. I watched as her hips swayed as she sauntered to the bathroom. She closed the door and a second later, I heard the lock slide into place.

�If you want answers then answer my questions first,� said Quin.

I raised my eyebrows. I was tempted to finish him off. I didn�t allow that tone from immortals and I wasn�t about to take it from a human.

�Who are you guys?�

I pointed to the men surrounding me. �Genziano, Bartolome` and Nicenzio. I�m Domenico Beneventi.�

The bathroom door opened, and she walked out. Her hair was up in a bun. She was more beautiful than she had been the night before.

Suddenly the front door slammed shut. �Quin, are you home? Why didn�t you pick me up?� she hollered.

�Quin, she can�t see me. Go down there to her.� She rushed over to the man and tried to push him out of the room.

�No, she needs to know. Besides, she needs their protection, and she won�t be too much for them to handle.�

�Torin will be here any moment. She needs her wits about her when he comes.�

�Why is he here?� I was in front of the man, to prevent him from leaving the bedroom. Patience wasn�t one of my virtues and I don�t wait for anything or anyone.

Quin tilted his head and studied my face. �Torin was her fianc�. Why did you save her if you didn�t want a war with the wizards?�

�Micheline. I thought�.� Madeleine�s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the floor.

Turning, I didn�t take my eyes off her. �Micheline, you have a choice. Stay here and the vampires and wizards go to war over you or you can come with us now.�

Frowning, she narrowed her eyes at me. �Why do I care if you guys go to war?�

�When we kill Torin, his kind won�t stop until you�re dead. I will protect you, but your sister isn�t under our protection. If you come with me, I will make sure she�s protected.� I pointed to her sister crumpled up on the floor.

Nicenzio walked over and picked her up. He smoothed her hair away from her face. �I never would�ve guessed that she�d be a twin.�

Glaring at Nicenzio, I turned to her. �You can smell him from here. You have two minutes tops.�

�How do I know I can trust you? I�ll go back with you tonight, but I will not be a prisoner.�

The doorbell rang. Quin looked at us. �You�re out of time, hide and I will get rid of him as soon as I can.� He turned and rushed out the room.

�Come on,� said Micheline. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward her walk-in closet.

This was the worse place to hide, and the first place a man would look.

�We�ll leave,� said Genziano. Bartolome` followed him, but they turned and saw that Nicenzio wasn�t coming.

He shook his head. �I�m not leaving her defenseless. She�s unconscious.�

Genziano rolled his eyes. �If she was awake, she�d still be defenseless. We cannot start a war now. Trust me on this.�

�I�m not leaving her.� Nicenzio looked up at the ceiling, with the rustic beams, and jumped up there. He perched himself closest to the door.

�He�s so damn stubborn,� said Bartolome`.

I covered her mouth as I closed the closet door. Things had just become more complicated than I could�ve imagined. Torin wasn�t someone to go to war with, but I was in too deep.

She pulled my hand away and glared at me.

�Torin, you can�t go into her bedroom. Madeleine fainted. She hasn�t been doing well,� said Quin. He followed behind Torin who strolled into the room. He glanced at Madeleine then turned to him.

Tobias lifted his nose, then glanced at his brother. �It smells like vamps in here.�

�What do you expect? Did you think you wizards were the only ones interested in Micheline? The vampires were interested as well, especially now that Madeleine is dating one.�

Torin took off his shades. �Why are you having a closed casket? I want to look upon my fianc�e one more time. I will be taking her body after the service.�

Glancing down at her, I saw that she had her entire fist in her mouth. Her eyes were as large as spaceships. She didn�t know the effect she had on Torin. Does she know the effect she has on me?

�Impossible. Her body wasn�t in a proper condition, or what was left of it, and I had her cremated.�

Torin narrowed his eyes at Quin. �You said the vampires didn�t have an issue with my fianc�e, yet she was murdered before our wedding.�

�Have you considered why that is? You come here demanding answers from me, but your people weren�t happy with your decision to marry her,� said Quin.

�My people would never cross me. Give me her remains,� said Torin.

�I don�t have them. I haven�t picked them up. I don�t work for you. I work for them, and now Madeleine. I�ve been a bit busy with her multiple attempts of suicide.�

Tobias shook his head. �I heard but having her hospitalized was risky and it could�ve resulted in someone trying to take her out too.� He crossed over to the bed. Some dust fell from above where Nicenzio was waiting to pounce.

�Don�t wake her up,� said Quin.

�Why not, she needs to get to know me. We are her best option right now, and nobody can protect her better than we can,� said Tobias.

�She will never marry you. Her parents told her who they wanted her to be with if something happened to them and her sister. She will do her duty,� said Quin.

Tobias took a step toward him but stopped when the bed creaked.

Madeleine sat up, opened her eyes and scrambled to a sitting position. �Quin, what�s going on?�

�I�m Torin and this in my brother Tobias. I came to pay my respects.� He moved over to her side and took her hand in his.

�Your sister and I were to be married, which makes you family to me,� said Torin.

She yanked her hand back and stood up. �I appreciate that but please leave. It�s been a long day.�

Torin inclined his head and walked to the door. �I know that she was out there because of you. The least you could do is tell me what happened that night.�

I grabbed Micheline as she lunged toward the closet door. My hand clamped down on her mouth as she struggled to jump out of the closet.

�I don�t know what you�re talking about,� said Madeleine. She balled her fists at her side.

�It would go better for everyone involved, including you, if you told me now. I�m going to find out what happened, with or without your help.�

�I just lost my sister. I don�t give a damn about your threats.�

�I�m sorry for your loss. I can�t imagine what you must be going through. We�re all dealing with this as best we can,� said Tobias.

She licked her lips. �Don�t take offense, but my sister wasn�t thrilled about marrying your brother, but she was going to do it for me.�

�Torin and I aren�t the bad guys here, but we can be what we need to be when the time comes. Know that I will be there for you.�

I watched Tobias and his crazy brother leave. I�m not sure how I felt about Tobias� blatant interest in me. It was shocking and frightening at the same time. When the front door closed behind them, I ran down the stairs. A part of me had to be physically sure they weren�t in here now.

�Quin, don�t you dare hide from me.� Walking down the hallway, I opened the garage. The most expensive car I had ever seen was parked inside.

What the heck is going on? I know I saw my sister today. I came home and walked into her room and there she stood, in a towel no less.

Lately, I�ll be the first to admit that I�ve been falling apart. I gave my sister flack, but what baby sister doesn�t give her older sister hell? That all changed when she sacrificed herself for me at MO�s Bowling Alley. Locking the garage, I headed back upstairs. I needed answers, and I needed them now.

�Quin. Come out now. I know you�re in here somewhere.� Heading down the hall, I walked into my parents� room. I�ve avoided coming in here because the room still smells like mom�s fragrance and I�m secretly afraid that one day, it won�t; like her, it will just fade away. Breathing deep, I searched their master bathroom just to be thorough.

Flopping on their bed, I grabbed mom�s pillow as I tried to channel her strength. Mom and dad lived a very modest and simple life out of the limelight despite dad having money. He went through a lot to hide his funds and lived four hundred percent below his means. We moved a lot when I was younger, and I thought it was because of dad�s job, but he said that he was an accountant, and accountants didn�t make the type of money he did.

All of them tried to shield me or leave me out, but I�m a Lambert too. I might have been better prepared if I knew what I was up against. Mic had implied on several occasions that I didn�t know everything there was to know about the family, well that�s the understatement of the decade. Mom always favored Mic�s control over her emotions. I never had it. I�m a Gemini, so I�m an emotionally complex person, depending on which side of the bed I wake up on determines which version of me you get.

I was daddy�s favorite. Despite Mic and I being identical twins, daddy swore I looked like him. Everyone knows that we looked like mom with her fair skin and striking blue eyes. Our beautiful wavy thick blonde hair was a gift from dear old dad.

Mom was a warrior in a dress. She had infinite ways to go to war, and it seemed like I needed that skill now more than ever. Mom was a planner; unlike other people, she planned for the good and bad days. She probably planned for this day as well.

Where would she have put that information? She would have had it in two places just in case something happened to the first place.

One of those places would have been here. Mic and I are always here, and she knew that. Where here? The attic would be the obvious place, so it wouldn�t be there.

I sat up, remembering a time when I was twelve years old. I had walked into their bedroom without knocking and barged into the walk-in closet where dad was putting his nine-millimeter inside a charcoal gray case that had a fingerprint and combination lock on it. It was the first time I realized that my loving, easygoing father had a gun, and not just one. Inside a tiny compartment hidden in the wall, he kept a small arsenal of guns: assault rifles, shotguns, machine guns, and Glocks.

�Baby doll, you�re old enough to knock. You didn�t knock on the bedroom door and you didn�t knock on the closet. You didn�t announce your presence at all.�

�Daddy, I was in a hurry to talk to you. I won�t forget to knock again.�

�You shouldn�t. I heard you coming, so I wasn�t surprised, but what if I had thought you were an intruder and shot you by accident? This would be a different conversation.�

�Daddy, you can�t shoot an intruder. We should call the cops, shouldn�t we?�

�Yes, but they take time to get here and I have to do everything I can to protect your mother, you and your sister.�

�Daddy, what if someone breaks in and shoots you with those guns? They can hurt us, maybe we shouldn�t have them in the house.�

�I will take them out of here, just for you. However, right now, I need you not to tell your mother about them. She will worry just like you.�

�I promise, daddy. I will never tell anyone.�

�I know, baby.� He wrapped his arms around me, and instead of laying my head on his shoulder like normal, I tilted my head to the side, looking at those guns. In that moment, I never looked at him the same.

Opening the dresser, I rummaged until I found a box cutter hidden underneath a pink floral pair of thong panties in mom�s drawer next to the bed.

Yep. I wanted to be like her. I might not be the strongest person, but I could learn. Their blood flowed through me, and I will channel their spirit and unrelenting tenacity to find the people who set my sister up and killed our parents.

Right now, nothing is as it appears. I will find out the truth and destroy our enemies if it�s the last thing I do.

Clutching the box cutter, I walked to the closet, shutting the door behind me. Walking to the back, I scooted my father�s suits aside and moved the old Italian tapestry. Pulling out the dented section of drywall, I saw the charcoal gray case.

A part of me was sad that daddy had lied to me. A child�s perspective for sure. My parents knew the real deal, and I didn�t, but that changes now.

Dragging out the case, I saw the small arsenal of weapons, as well as a floral journal. I didn�t recall the beautiful journal being in there. Folding my legs Indian style, I opened it.

Swiping my tears, I slipped the journal inside my baggy pants, and replaced the drywall and the tapestry. Releasing a breath, I closed the closet door, and walked into Mic�s room. I sat down on her bed. Everything I thought I knew about my family had just been destroyed. Glancing at the crumpled towel on the floor, I flopped back on her bed.

I always resented them for including Micheline and excluding me. It seemed like she was their favorite, but I know now that it was for my protection. I�m grateful to them. It�s too late to show any of them that their sacrifices were appreciated and priceless.

�Are you calm now?� asked Quin. He walked inside the room holding a sterling silver serving tray with chamomile tea and a raisin bagel with cream cheese.

Running my hands through my hair, I stared at him. �When I was in the hospital, they talked to me about discussing my feelings before I self-harmed or attempted another suicide.�

Nodding, he sat down next to me. �Go on.�

�I need you to be straight with me. I know I saw Mic here. Where is she?�

He tilted his head and studied me, then reached over and handed me the mug. �What do you remember about that night?�

Taking the cup, I sat it down next to me on the dresser and turned away from him. I remembered leaving my sister there, running like a coward. It�s the worst mistake of my life and I wished I would�ve died standing and fighting next to her.

�I remember killing my sister.� Standing up, I stop as tears momentarily blinded me, and sharp pains slice through my chest.

�You didn�t kill her. I was there. I saw you driving away. I know she sent you out of there. It�s not your fault, it�s mine. She made us split up and we both knew we were out of time. If there�s someone to blame, it�s me.�

Wiping my tears, I shake my head. �I knew what might happen if she fired that gun drawing all the attention on her. I didn�t want to leave her, but she was determined to provide the distraction so I could get away.�

Quin picked up the second mug and took a sip. �This is something you and I must work through. We don�t have time to wallow in our guilt and regret. Torin means business.�

Wiping my face, I walked over to the towel. It was dry now, but my sister�s scent mingled with her favorite lotion lingered on the towel. The lotion that wasn�t here in the house, it was the same lotion she had on her, the one she had been wearing that night. I�m not crazy. She hadn�t been a figment of my vivid imagination. Joy, wonder, and curiosity flowed through me and I smiled and held up the towel.

�Where is my sister?�

Quin shifted on the bed. �She died that night, but she didn�t remain dead.�

Narrowing my eyes, I sat back down on the bed. Curling up, I grabbed my mug and took a sip of tea. �Go on.�

�She came this morning, shocking you and me. She was turned by a vampire named Domenico.�

�We�ll deal with her little undead problem later. Where is she now?�

�The immortals live among us in secret. It�s not like you�ll see vampires, werewolves and sorcerers running for office. They are here incognito. Your sister is part of that world and, in some ways, still dead to you.�

Folding my hands, I glared at him. �She can live in secret and still be in my life.�

�No, she can�t. It�s for your safety that she�s staying away. She doesn�t want you to mourn her death every day or feel guilty. Micheline never intended for you to see her again.�

Turning away from him, I fought back another wave of tears. This wasn�t just a sibling losing a sister.

We are identical twins and the bond between us is unbreakable. I can still feel her.

�If she can�t come back into my world then I�ll go into hers. I�ll be with Tobias if I have to if it means I get my sister back.�

Swoosh.

A man landed in front of me. Stumbling back, I felt my body sliding downward, but his strong arms caught me around the waist. I was pulled up against his hard abdomen.

�Who are you?� I tugged at his arms to release me, but they just tightened around me like a steel band.

�I mean you no harm. My name is Nicenzio and I know your sister.�

It was very vague. I was born at night but not last night. There�s no telling how long he had been perched up there. He might have been there when the Cullens came.

�Does your knowing my sister include you lurking and hiding on the recess beams in her room? Let me go.�

He hesitated, then stepped back. �Domenico is one of my best friends.�

Quin stood. �Why didn�t you leave with the others?�

He looked at me. �I wanted to make sure she was safe. Micheline is safe with Domenico, but she isn�t safe with you.�

Quin�s nostrils flared and his eyes turned cold. �Excuse me, I�ve been protecting them since they were in the womb.�

�You did a mighty fine job. I mean no disrespect, but a human isn�t equipped to go to war with any immortal.�

�Look, Quin is family, and I don�t know or trust you. If you want me to trust you, tell me how to reach you and get out of my house.�

He lifted one eyebrow but pulled a black and gold card from his silk shirt pocket. When he took his phone out, I expected him to ask for my number, yet he handed me the phone.

He started walking to the door.

�Wait. You�re leaving me your phone?�

He smiled. �Yes, and the car. You have my phone. I�ll call you so you have my number, and you have the car, so you can come see me when you�re ready to listen.�

I watched him leave. Frowning, I looked around for the car keys, and I saw the fancy spare car key on the dresser. Grabbing the key, I headed down the steps. Opening the garage door, I inhaled. This was definitely a car for the rich and famous.

Heading back upstairs, I leaned over the banister looking for Quinn. The lights downstairs were off. I went inside my room. I had been sleeping in her room, but I now know that she�s not lost to me and that I�ll see her again.

Closing my room door, I sank on the bed, and pulled out mom�s journal.

This Immortal Mafia Council sounded like they had too much power. It�s just like in the government, from time to time, you have corrupt government officials. What do you do when the people that are supposed to protect you are against you? Rubbing my temples, I flipped to the end of the book.

�I know that I smelled Micheline�s scent up there.� I looked at my brother who was characteristically silent. Jumping high, I landed on the roof. There was more going on than they wanted to admit but that�s alright. I will get to the bottom of this situation and find out the truth.

Tobias frowned at me. �Are we going to wait up here forever?�

�They�re hiding something. There was no reason to cremate her body.�

Tobias covered his mouth and shook his head. �I can�t believe you demanded her body. You�re an insensitive asshole sometimes.�

Waving my hand, I rolled my eyes. �Just listen and watch closely. Micheline was there, and that can only mean one thing. Before she died, she was touched.�

Tobias stroked his chin. �None of us would have done that. That would only mean the werewolves or vamps did it.�

A few minutes later, two men disappeared into the night.

Bats. I knew it had to be the vampires.

�Tobias, I need to get back. We�ve been gone too long, and I need to show my face.�

He shifted from one foot to the other. �Uhm, I didn�t want to say anything until we were out of the Lambert�s, but have you seen your face recently?�

Sighing, I frowned. �What are you talking about?�

�Your eyes have turned a yellow color and they�re glowing. Whatever that thing did to you, has changed the color of your eyes.�

Grabbing my forehead, I tried to calm myself. �Why would you let me go to the Lambert�s with my eyes looking crazy?�

Tobias shrugged. �It�s not like you could wear sunglasses in a house. Nevertheless, you were hell-bent on going so I figured we�d address it when they brought it up, but they acted like they hadn�t noticed.�

�I�ll see what I can do about my weird eyes. You need to go to the council meeting, and I will see what the vampires are up to. It could be that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time or it was strategically planned on their part. Either way, I need to know why this happened to Micheline, and how I can reverse it.�

Tobias paced back and forth. He gripped a handful of his hair. �You need to figure out what the Shadow Spirit did to you so we can reverse it. He did something to you. You might not be in control of your abilities.�

�Don�t worry about me. Tell the council that I�m away checking on a girl whose lineage is in question.�

�If I say that, the council will be breathing down our necks to find out who. Besides, what lead on a royal do you have?�

�Are you serious? It�s true that I thought my feelings and desires for Micheline had nothing to do with her dying, but evidently, I was wrong. She must be the royal the council is seeking.�

�You asked father once about them and what did he say?�

�He told me to look out for them always. You know dad and his ever-cryptic self. If he planned on enlightening me, he was killed before he could.�

Silently, I knelt inside the air duct in the great room. Beads of sweat trickled down my face and I clutched at my stomach. I was weak, like a newborn baby taking its first breath. Whatever Valen had done to me, I wasn�t the same. I was probably dying. Opening the palm of my hand, I saw the onyx color flowing in my veins, and my insides felt like they were quivering.

It wouldn�t be long before Tobias would need to take his place as ruler upon my death. I need to eliminate the outside threat and destroy the Shadow King.

The door slammed shut, and Domenico walked inside behind Micheline.

She tossed her hair behind her. �You saved me, but I didn�t want to be saved. Turning me into one of you might have caused my sister issues with the warlocks. Let�s be clear, they do things a lot different from you.�

Domenico narrowed his eyes. �You know, beautiful, for someone who is as exquisite as you, the brains must have past you and went to your sister.�

�Now, lovers, we need to work together not tear each other�s throats out,� said Genziano.

�I came here to hear what you have to say, and you promised to keep my sister safe, but know this. I don�t want anything to do with you.�

�I hear you, but it wasn�t the vampires that took your life. It was the warlocks. If you had married Torin Cullen, your sister would probably be dead. Don�t deny it, I saw the warlock. He was working with the werewolves to kill you.�

My nostrils flared and I balled my fist.

I would never harm her. This only confirms that a fae was involved. I just need to find out who has an alliance with the werewolves. My gut tells me it is Matias.

She scrubbed her hand down her face. �It wasn�t the Cullens. Torin wouldn�t hurt me. I never saw this warlock before, but he was working with the werewolves. The werewolves cornered me and then the warlock finished me off.�

�Can you tell us what the warlock looked like?� asked Genziano.

She nodded. �He was tall, muscular, and handsome in a rugged sort of way. His aquamarine blue eyes changed to a cobalt blue when he delivered the final blow. He had two ears inside his ear, and short brown wavy hair on top of his head with the sides shaved off.�

Genziano sat down in a chair at the table. �There are three hundred and ninety thousand people living in New Orleans, and that doesn�t include the immortals.�

Bartolome` strolled to the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of blood. �Did he have any distinguishable marks?�

�He had red and blue tattoos from shoulder to wrist on his left arm and all black tattoos from shoulder to wrist on his right arm. There was a huge cross on his right arm that had a skull with fire coming from it.

Genziano pulled out his phone. �This is the man we saw with the werewolf when we discovered you. Is this the man that attacked you?�

He played a video and handed it to her.

Her hand flew to her mouth. �That�s him, and the werewolf. He came in after I had killed the werewolf that jumped through the window. Do you know who he is?�

Domenico took the phone and set it on the counter. �We need to get to the council meeting. We need to show them this footage, and they can tell us who the warlock and werewolf are.�

Bartolome` sighed. �I have a feeling that the council might not care. They seemed to only be concerned about the Shadow Spirits and the royals.�

Frowning, Micheline scratched her head. �What is a Shadow Spirit?�

�They are beings from a different realm that summon spirits from the dead.�

�I didn�t think that necromancers existed,� said Micheline.

�Genziano, tell me the moment Nicenzio gets back. We have to fill him in on everything we know,� said Domenico.

�Am I going to the council meeting with you? I need to tell them what happened to me in my own words.�

�I don�t trust them. Their focus was on them, and if they thought you might be a threat, you would be eliminated on the spot,� said Domenico.

�Why would they think I was a threat?� asked Micheline.

Domenico sighed. �Do you know why the warlocks banded together with the werewolves to murder you?�

Micheline bit her lip. �I was a human trespassing on the werewolf�s� turf. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.�

�No. That explains why the werewolves would attack you, but not why your death was planned out with the warlocks. What did the warlocks and werewolves have to gain by your death?� asked Domenico.

�You must lay low. We�ll protect you while we figure this out. Trust us, taking you to the council meeting would be an execution. Stay here with us where you�ll be safe,� said Bartolome`.

When their footsteps had receded, I removed the vent and jumped down. Grabbing his phone, I played the video.

Matias had killed Micheline. I didn�t know the werewolf, but he looked like an elder. He was a Mexican wolf, and all the ancient werewolves were Mexicans. I emailed the video to my phone, then deleted the sent email.

Matias what are you up to?

Rushing through the house, I summoned Matias. I didn�t have all the answers, but I had what I needed. Once I killed Matias and stopped the Shadow King, he could rule from within without betrayal.

Donning my latest pair of black Prada shades, I called a meeting. There was chatter among everyone as they were shocked to see me. I had the video ready to play on the projector screen.

When they were all gathered in the great room, I held up my hands. �As you know, my fianc�e was recently killed, and now I know who did it.�

I played the video footage on the screen. When it was over, a hush fell over the crowd.

Selena stepped forward. �Why would Matias go against you to kill your fianc�e?�

�He wants what he�s always wanted, power. He thinks if I am gone, he will get my seat.�

�Tobias is next in line if you�re killed,� said Selena.

�If we�re both dead, there would be no one to challenge him.�

�Soon all will be revealed, and you will have to make a choice whether to follow Tobias or Matias.�

Heading toward my office, I sat and waited for Matias. Soon, he strolled inside, closing the door behind him.

�You�ve been gone for days. We were worried about you.� He stood near the door.

�I know what you�ve done. I know you and the wolves killed Micheline.� I lifted my hands, channeling all my power into a fuchsia orb, and shot it at him.

Everything levitated around me, and shades flew to the floor. All of my anger, rage, and resentment flowed through me and manifested into dark shadowed assassins. They opened their mouths and a silver mist fell over Matias.

The bay window glass shattered and Valen flew inside. He lifted his hands, and the glass reassembled behind him.

�Yes, kill him. I want to eat his black heart,� said Valen. He smiled and leaned against the wall.

The shadow assassin sliced through Matias�s arm and blew a silver mist on him. He fought as the mist turned into black rope-like binds that held him immobilized to the door.

Turning, I waved my hands, mentally chanting the spell of annihilation at Valen.

His lips curved. �You can�t kill me. You and I are bonded.�

Matias screamed as another blade sliced through his leg. There was a puddle of blood directly below him.

�You don�t want to admit it, but you�re just like me. Look at what you�ve done. You summoned the dark shadows because you were meant to walk the path of darkness.�

�I am a Cullen. You will never own me or my spirit.�

Closing my eyes, I lifted my hand freeing Matias and sent him flying through the window.

Valen laughed. �You should�ve killed him. It was either his death or yours.� He waved his hand and the shadow assassins disappeared like mist. He opened his mouth and a silvery snake sprung forth and latched on my neck.

I collapsed as its body coiled around me, tightening until I was immobile.

�I will not allow you to die when I�m this close. You will help me whether you want to or not.�

I sat at the table next to Nicenzio, Genziano and Bartolome`. Looking around, I noticed that most of the warlocks hadn�t showed. It was just Tobias and two others that I hadn�t seen before.

Where was Torin?

The council wouldn�t think anything was amidst if Torin wouldn�t show, but I knew better. Torin never had his brother at the council�s meeting. He kept him out of most of the council�s affairs on the surface. Everyone knew that Tobias would rule if and when something happened to Torin. His absence couldn�t be good.

I watched as Axel and his men sauntered toward the table. There was nothing in their body language that suggested that they were hiding anything. That was probably worse than if they had helped. Axel Lavache was a hard-ass who didn�t care for vampires, especially us, so convincing him to help us would be difficult.

The council came in and sat down. Pierre held up his hands. �We have found out some new information. The Shadow Spirits were seen in the city a few days ago. That means this situation has gone from urgent to critical.�

�Did you fight the Shadow Spirits? You saw them and didn�t fight them?� asked Axel.

�Are you daft? We are not asking you to fight the Shadow Spirits. That would be a death sentence. You�re to locate the key and bring it to us, and we will fight the Shadow Spirits,� said Hashaan.

�How will one royal�s blood empower the entire council to fight the Shadow Spirits? It seems like one human�s blood would only be enough for one person,� said Nicenzio.

�It would. That�s why when the royal is brought to the council, I will take the royal�s blood,� said Pierre.

Akida frowned. �We did not agree that you would take the royal�s blood. We agreed that the royal�s blood would be divided among all of the council members, so that the balance of power remained equal among us.�

�Once again the vampires were trying to be slick. The werewolves will not be left out in the cold on this. All of us will partake of the royal�s blood equally or the royal gets destroyed and nobody takes her blood. The power must be divided between us equally,� said Hashaan.

�By the time you guys finish squabbling over the power of the Shadow Spirits, they will have killed us all. The royal female must be destroyed, so that there isn�t an imbalance in power,� said Axel.

�You have to look past your species dying out and focus on the here and now,� said Nicenzio.

Axel jumped to his feet. �I�m going to rip your throat out.�

Nicenzio stood. �You�re welcome to try.�

Grabbing his arm, I jerked him back into his chair. �The enemy is out there. We have to ban together if we�re going to survive the threat.�

�Maybe, I�d rather we all die out than help you vamps,� said Axel.

�Then so be it, but just remember you�ll be dying alongside us. The Shadow Spirits don�t care about any of us.�

The restaurant door flew open, and a sorcerer walked inside. It was the same man on the video. I balled my fist but looked at my men.

It was hard to recognize him as he was bloody, and his clothing was in pieces. His blue eyes were wild, and he looked spooked.

Tobias stood. �Matias, what are you doing here? What happened to you?�

He rushed over to the table and pointed at Tobias. �Don�t you dare play innocent with us. Your brother is the Shadow King.�

Tobias stood. �You have tried to get us to go against the council, now you accuse Torin of being the Shadow King. He�s away mourning the death of his fianc�e. If you want power so bad, step up your fighting skills. You lost and nobody will follow you.�

�That was then, and this is now. If he were to fight me now, he�d lose,� said Matias.

Tobias laughed. �He offered you a re-challenge the other day and you backed down like a punk. You�re no match for our family. If you think to sully my brother�s name, I will destroy you.�

Matias spit on the ground. �I want to see you try it.�

Imaan stood. �Matias Machesky, we�re all familiar with the challenge you lost to Torin. If by some miracle you had won, you still wouldn�t be a leader. A leader must have people willing to follow him and you did not.�

Monica stood. �Do you have any proof of what you speak? The council�s time is not to be wasted.�

Tobias leaped over the table.

Imani lifted her hand and sent Tobias soaring into the wall. A purple dome formed around him, and he was lifted off the ground. �Hold on and I will have my answers.�

Matias held out his hands. �Pierre or Amelinda, do that mind thing where you search memories. I speak the truth.�

Amelinda stood. �Come to me, child.�

Matias strolled over and held out his neck. Her fangs elongated and she bit him. When she lifted her head, his blood ran down her chin.

�Today the Shadow Spirit showed up. He wanted to use Torin for his own agenda. Torin must be eliminated so the Shadow Spirit can�t use him.�

Tobias landed on his feet when Imani dropped her hands.

�My brother isn�t a Shadow Spirit. You�re the most powerful of all immortals; if the Shadow Spirit has done something to my brother, reverse it.�

�We aren�t as powerful as the Shadow Spirits. They use dark magic, and unless we kill the royal blood, we�re all doomed,� said Akida.

Matias smiled. �We should eliminate Tobias, too. He won�t stand with us against his brother.�

�Tobias has done nothing wrong. We are not here to further your efforts for power Matias,� said Simeone.

�His fianc�, Micheline Lambert, was murdered recently. I think she was the royal the Shadow Spirits were seeking. That must have been how they latched on to Torin.�

Tobias balled his fist. �We�re investigating her death. There is no evidence that she was a royal.�

Matias looked around the table. �You claimed Torin to be innocent as well. Your word means nothing to me and the council.�

�Matias you aren�t part of the council and you don�t speak for anyone here. Tread carefully, or you might not live long enough to gain the power that you seek,� said Simeone.

Pierre stood. �Silence. We have seen for ourselves that Torin has been compromised. It would make sense that his fianc�e might be a royal and at the heart of Torin�s downfall. Micheline Lambert must die.�

�Didn�t you say she was murdered a few days ago. If she�s alive who turned her?� asked Axel.

Imaan stood. �That is what we will find out.�

Closing the door, I didn�t speak until the restaurant wasn�t in the rear-view mirror any longer. The council had sided with Matias too quick for my liking. It seemed like they only hungered for power. Things were definitely screwed up. I headed toward the Lambert�s house to check on Madeleine. That would be the first place the council members would send their assassins.

�When the council finds out that I turned Micheline, they will send the ancient imperial assassins after us, to wipe us out. If we�re to survive we need to form an alliance with the sorcerer and the werewolves.�

�Axel and his men genuinely didn�t like what went down today, but that doesn�t mean his pact would help us,� said Genziano.

Bartolome` sighed. �If the council will turn and order Torin�s execution, what�s to stop them from doing the same thing to all of us? We�re stronger together, and together we outnumber the council members.�

�Sounds good until you think about the fact that the werewolves and the witches plotted on Micheline, so we don�t know who we can trust,� said Nicenzio.

Glancing in the back seat, I saw Nicenzio frowning and texting. �What the hell is so important that you�re on the damn phone?�

Nicenzio frowned. �Madeleine isn�t answering my calls or texts.�

I swerved off the road and made a U-turn. �Call the house and make sure Madeleine�s there with Micheline. They need to be prepared.�

�What do you mean Madi�s not there?� Closing my eyes, I leaned against the wall. The last thing I needed to hear right now was that my sister was missing.

�How could you let this happen, Quin? Search the attic, search everywhere, even the garage. She might get scared and harm herself again. If she�s not there, call me back.�

�The garage wasn�t checked. Hold on, let me do it now,� said Quin.

I listened as the garage door opened and closed.

�She took the car. I have a feeling she�s headed your way.�

�I�ll text you the moment she gets here. If she isn�t here in fifteen minutes, I�m going looking for her.� I hung up the phone.

There was no way that Madeleine would come here. She doesn�t know where Domenico lives, unless Nicenzio gave her the address. I dialed her number again, but it went to voicemail. Pacing, I started thinking of places she could be.

Where are you, Madeleine? You know it�s not safe. What would be so important that you�d leave the house?

The roar of a car engine interrupted my thoughts and I peeked out the window. My mouth flopped open and then closed as I saw Madi jump out of the car I stole earlier. Running to the door, I threw it open and yanked her inside. She flew into the coat closet.

�What the hell were you thinking leaving the house? You�re in danger, and you didn�t even tell Quin you were leaving.�

�Dang. Are you trying to kill me?� Madeleine stood up rubbing the back of her head.

She moved away from the closet, and I saw that the closet door was now caved in. I�m so angry, I don�t give a damn. I didn�t sacrifice my life for her to be so stupid. If she weren�t careful, she wouldn�t last a week before she was murdered too.

I grabbed my phone and dialed Quin. �She arrived here. I�ll have her wait until they�re back so that she can be escorted back home.�

�I came to show you this. I found mom�s journal.� She handed me the beautiful book.

�You know mom liked to write. You could�ve called me on the phone and told me this. You shouldn�t have left the house.�

She snatched the journal and flipped to a page and handed it to me. �Mom and dad were murdered. I went to Palace Cove just like mom said and I found out about the royal queens of New Orleans. The humans whose blood is special. We�re two of them. Did you know about this?�

Rubbing the back of my neck, I turned away from her. �Mom and dad explained it to me, and made me swear never to tell anyone, especially you. They wanted you to have a normal life. It�s rare that twins will both have the gene, but we did.�

Madeleine flinched. She gave a slow, disbelieving head shake. �You kept something like this from me, how could you? I�m a part of this family too.�

�I promised to protect you in this life and in the next. There was no reason for you to be a target too. I�m your big sister. It was my responsibility to protect you. I swore a blood oath to mom and dad.�

�I found out that there are eight other women who are of royal blood, besides us. We should get together and form a plan,� said Madeleine.

My phone rang. I ignored it. The ring tone was generic which meant it wasn�t Quin. Everybody else could wait. My sister had found out more than we wanted her to know. It seemed the more I tried to protect her, the worse things became.

�No. It had been agreed on long ago that we wouldn�t contact each other. That way if the Shadow Spirits find one, they don�t find all of us.�

The house phone started ringing. Frowning, I looked at Madeleine. �Did you tell the vampire you were coming here?�

�No. I didn�t tell anyone.�

The answering machine kicked on. �Hey, it�s Domenico. The council wants you dead, so the council might be on its way. Get to the basement. There�s a safe room. Go now, I�m on my way.�

Grabbing Madi, I rushed down to the basement. Closing the door behind us, I rushed down the steps. The basement was huge. There was a fully stocked bar, game room, and three bedrooms toward the back. This basement was big, but I didn�t see anything that looked like a safe room.

�Do you think the council wants us dead because they killed our parents?� Madeleine said, looking around the basement. She rushed over to the stone bar and felt along the wall.

I ran to the game room and ran my fingers along the wall. �I don�t know where to look for the safe room. We don�t have much time.�

�You don�t know where it is?�

�It wasn�t like they gave me a house tour. They just dropped me off and went to the council meeting.� I ran into the third bedroom. It had a king-size bed, and chaise lounge. There was a huge television mounted on the wall. I ran my hands along the wall and felt a cylinder-shaped button. I pressed it. The wall opened. There were several guns mounted on there. Grabbing two of them, I headed to get Madeleine.

�Madi, come quick.� I rushed out the bedroom, and my breath caught in my throat, as the window shattered, and three men wearing black outfits landed inside. One ran toward Madeleine, but I fired several shots. One landed in his head and the other in his heart.

Madeleine ran toward me. I tossed her one of the guns. She turned and fired on the assassin running at her.

I shot the other one, but not before he threw a dagger at me, which landed in my stomach. Falling to my knees, my vision became distorted. The wounds of the men that had been shot started to heal.

�Madi, they�re healing; get to the safe room.� I staggered to my feet and headed to the room and pushed the button. Madi ran past me inside the room.

�Come on.� She jerked me in just as I felt another dagger pierce my chest.

�Lock yourself inside now.� I fell to my knees as sharp pains sliced across my chest. Lifting the gun, I focused on the two men who had rushed inside the room.

Another man ran inside. He ran toward me and lifted his sword high.

�No.� Madeleine stepped from the safe room, with two guns. She fired on the man. He sank to the floor with the first head shot.

�Get up, Micheline. Come with me. It�s just a few steps.� She tossed one gun down and helped me to my feet.

Swoosh. Something soared through the air.

I turned just as I felt Madeleine�s body shake. She made a strangled sound in her throat before she collapsed to the floor. She had a dagger protruding from her chest. Her body hit the floor and I turned to see three more assassins enter the room.

Throwing back my head, I let out an ear-piercing scream, which shattered all the windows in the bedroom. Glass flew everywhere. Something snapped inside of me and I flew to the first assassin, ripping his head off. Taking his sword, I threw it at the other. The last assassin ran toward me, wrapping his hands around my neck. I slammed my head into his, and twisted around, flipping him over my shoulder. I slammed my knee into his windpipe, crushing it.

A dozen assassins ran into the room just as Torin flew through the window. He disappeared and reappeared, but there was a dozen of him. He was fighting them all. Crawling to Madeleine, I touched her cheek.

�Madi, you must live. Fight it.� I felt her carotid artery, but her pulse was weak.

I sank to the floor. My eyes closed as the pain became unbearable.

�Stay with me, Micheline,� said Torin.

�Torin, save Madi. Please. It�s too late for me, but not for her.�

I slammed the car door and ran toward the front door. My heart plummeted as I saw shattered glass all over the sidewalk. Bursting through the door, I headed straight to the basement.

�I�ll take upstairs,� said Bartolome`. He flew upstairs.

Flying down to the basement, I saw more shattered glass. All the blood on the floor made adrenaline surge in my veins as I reached the third bedroom. Torin was bending over Micheline. There was a cobalt light over her body and the dagger-gaping wound in her chest was illuminated.

Running to him. �Don�t you touch her.�

�She wouldn�t be dead if you hadn�t turned her.� He lifted his hand and my body soared through the air. My back slammed against the wall, hitting my head against it.

Torin glared at me. His eyes glowing an odd shade of amber. �I�m healing her, and I don�t have time to deal with you. I want a reason to end your life. You turned my fianc�e for your own lustful inclinations so please know that I will kill you without hesitation.�

Her hand reached up to touch his cheek. �Don�t kill him. Domenico was just trying to help me. Did you save Madeleine?�

Torin glanced away from her. A rosy blush crept over his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. �The council assassins stabbed her in the heart. She was dead before she hit the floor.�

Nicenzio and Genziano strolled inside the room.

Genziano attempted to prevent him from seeing Madeleine but he pushed him out of the way.

Nicenzio fell to his knees. �No.�

Closing my eyes, I attempted to block out the pain in his voice. It gutted me. We had arrived too late, and Madeleine had paid the ultimate price.

�Save her, Torin. I know that you have the power to do it. The Shadow Spirits are the most powerful beings. Please do this for me,� said Micheline.

His nostrils flared. �You don�t know what you�re asking of me. I don�t want to be connected to the Shadow King and bringing your sister back from the dead might make him more powerful and give him more control over me.�

Nicenzio snorted. �I don�t care. Bring her back. Now!�

Torin dropped the healing light from Micheline and stood. �Earth can�t fall because you want to save your sister. This could�ve been avoided if you hadn�t sacrificed yourself for her in the first place.�

�Torin, if it were Tobias you would�ve done the same as me.�

Just then Tobias walked in. �Bring her back. You will find a way to defeat the Shadow King. I know you can, and I have faith in you.�

Torin pointed at Micheline, then stormed out of the room. �Look at what having faith in me got you. They�re plotting to kill you now that I�m dead. Our people and everything our family stands for hangs on the precipice of being lost, all because I fell in love with her, and she doesn�t give a shit about me.�

Nicenzio jumped to his feet. �What the fuck?�

Tobias held up his hands. �Give him a moment. Things haven�t gone his way lately. He�s entitled to a few moments of privacy to mourn losing his fianc�e and his life the same night.�

Micheline sat up. �I�m not the most beautiful woman in the world and he can have any woman he wants, but I never thought he loved me.�

�Have you looked in the mirror?� asked Domenico.

Genziano smiled. �You�re a very attractive woman.�

�You�re not bad looking but Madeleine is the most beautiful,� said Nicenzio.

They may be twins, but Micheline�s selflessness and passion for those she loves makes her as stunning on the inside as she is on the outside.

I attempted to get up, but I still couldn�t move, even without Torin being in the room. �Damn, his magic is strong.�

Genziano sighed. �You do know that they are identical twins?�

Nicenzio rolled his eyes. �Yes, but Madeleine has a mole, a tiny one, on the inside of her upper lip. It makes her beautiful and endearing all at once.�

�I never thought I�d see the day Nicenzio Pasquariello would fall for one woman,� said Genziano.

She curled up next to Madeleine and wept.

Nicenzio moved to the door, but Tobias blocked him. �Don�t go out there,�

�I�m going to make him breathe life in her.� Nicenzio pushed against Tobias but he wouldn�t release him.

�Nobody, not even the Shadow King, can control Torin. I saw Torin back the Shadow King off. What do you think you can do?� asked Tobias.

Micheline lifted her head. �It�s not fair for me to ask him to sacrifice himself for my sister.� She wiped her face.

Torin waved his hand and moved Tobias and Nicenzio out of his way. �So, you�re not demanding that I bring her back from the dead?�

She lowered her head. �It was selfish of me. I have no right to demand anything from you.�

Torin lifted his hand and waved it over his heart. Micheline lifted off the ground and floated to him. His arms circled around her waist. �Did I not promise you that, if it was in my power to give you, I would always give you whatever you wanted?�

She sniffled. �That was when I was going to be your wife. Besides, neither of us thought bringing the dead back to life was a wifely request.�

He caressed her cheek. �You would�ve made me the luckiest man in the world had you become my wife. I would have laid down my life a thousand times for just one day with you.�

�She can still be your wife. There are marriages between vampires and sorcerers all the time,� said Tobias.

The bastard will not steal my girl.

Twisting in the air, I stopped and glared at Torin.

�It�s too late,� said Torin. Looking at me, a ghost of a smile touched his lips.

�Domenico will take good care of you or you�ll be a widow. When I bring her back, you have to turn her immediately,� said Torin.

Micheline cupped her cheek. �I don�t want her to be turned. It will make her a target. Why bring her back to make her a target?�

�I will turn her, and nobody will ever know, and she won�t be a target,� said Tobias.

Nicenzio grunted. �No. She will be one of us if she�s to be turned.�

Torin shrugged. �I can�t guarantee she will live if you won�t allow her to be turned. She needs help against what�s coming at her. The council�s imperial assassins aren�t the worst of it.�

He closed his eyes, and then his eyes popped open and rolled to the back of his skull. When his face twitched to a melon color, light fell over Madeleine and her wounds healed. Torin�s body rocked back and forth like a boat in a tsunami. After a few minutes, his body lifted off the floor and he disappeared and reappeared before her. All of a sudden, he stepped inside her. A yellow light shined on Madeleine from the inside out, and her chest began to rise.

It had been a few hours since Torin had literally stepped inside Madeleine and breathed life back into her. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen and hoped I�d never have to witness it again. As much as I hated to leave, I knew I had to go. This was the testament that I needed to shore up our alliances and do it quickly.

Bartolome` sauntered into my office. �I could stay and watch over both of them if you�re still intending on meeting with Axel.�

�I appreciate it. I will leave Nicenzio here as well. I doubt anything could pry him away from Madeleine�s side anyhow.�

Genziano walked into the office. �I think we should take half of our forces, but the women would need them should the assassins or Shadow King attack again.� He sat down in the chair.

�I won�t risk them. They will have the manpower they need. Today should�ve never happened and I won�t let it happen again.�

�You need more than you and Genziano. The werewolves will try to kill you,� said Bartolome`.

Tobias walked in. �He�s right, but they won�t try to kill me. Axel and I get along very well. He still might kill you, but I�ll do my best to talk him out of it.�

I felt like I had died and came back to life. Sitting up in bed, I ran my hand over my chest. Nothing. No scars, wounds, or even scratches. Frowning, I ignored the dizziness that made my head swim and stumbled out of bed to the mirror hanging on the wall.

Lifting my shirt up over my stomach, I took a deep breath to pull it off when I heard clapping.

�Please don�t stop on my account,� said Nicenzio.

Frowning, I pulled my shirt down. �What are you doing in my room?�

The small bit of light that filtered into the room from the wooden blinds shined on his fangs. �This was my room, but since you�ve been injured, I broke my rules and allowed you to rest in my bed.�

�Your rule?�

His smile faded as he stalked towards me. �I never allow anyone, let alone a female, in my room. It�s my personal space.�

I snorted. I can�t believe I thought he had something serious to say. �And you crawling between their legs isn�t personal to you?�

His fingers grazed my chin, tilting my face upward toward his. His lips were dangerously close to mine and I was not sure if I wanted to hit him or kiss him.

Nicenzio is attractive. I mean panty dripping on sight attractive, and I�m sure he knows that.

He uses his attractiveness as a weapon.

�It depends on the female, and whose legs we�re talking about.�

�What?�

What are we talking about? Why is his skin so dang soft? Does he use mango butter?

Inhaling deep, I pushed his hands away from me. �What happened? I know I was stabbed in the heart, but how am I alive? Where is Micheline?�

�She�s resting but she�s fine too.�

Turning away from him, I walked back over to his bed. I�d be lying if I said I didn�t like irritating him, but he had Charlotte Thomas Bespoke linen on his bed. Any man that has the most expensive sheets in the world on his bed had my vote. These sheets have twenty-two carat gold threads woven directly into the merino wool fabric with a one thousand thread count. Yep, I�d be willing to fight another assassin or two to lay in these top-notch sheets.

After all, what girl doesn�t like her beauty sleep?

Closing my eyes, I tried to remember the question I asked him. I�m so comfortable and relaxed that I�ve decided to think about it later.

�Are you getting comfortable?� He tucked the duvet up underneath my right elbow.

I sighed. �Oh yes. They say these sheets are twenty-four hundred dollars, and I must say, I�m impressed.�

He laughed. �You�re impressed with me or with the sheets.�

Opening one eye, I stared at him. �Oh, the sheets.�

�When you got out of bed, you ripped the intravenous line out. Lay back and I�ll get another saline bag, so you don�t dehydrate.� He stood and walked out the door.

When he came back, he hooked the saline bag on the hook and motioned for me to give him my arm. �I�ll be quick, and I never miss a vein.� His toothy smile made me smile as I gave him my arm. Nicenzio was close, since he sat on the bed, and I turned away, somewhat nervous at his proximity. Glancing at the trashcan near the bed, I saw an empty intravenous bag of blood.

Was that for me? I don�t feel like I�ve received blood. I feel strong but sleepy.

�Ouch.� I jerked my gaze back to him. �That hurts.�

He stood. �You�re not allowed to leave this house, let alone this bed, so ring the bell when you want something, and I will get it for you.�

�So, I can pee in your bed too?�

�Very funny. You were hurt bad, and I don�t want to undo all of the hard work he did to fix you.�

�Amazing. You have doctors on standby? Can I thank him?� I sat up and fluffed the pillows behind me.

�We do but our doctor didn�t work on you. Torin saved you and it would be nice for you to thank him the next time you see him.�

�Torin? Why would he save me?�

�All that matters is that you and your sister are alright.�

Licking my lips, I rubbed my temple. �I want to see my sister.�

Nicenzio nodded. �When you wake up from your nap, I will take you to see her.�

�You can�t mean to leave me and Micheline here by ourselves?� I stood and crossed my arms. My sister was nodding her head as well.

�You really shouldn�t speak on speaker if you don�t want others to hear. I can�t allow something to happen to Domenico because he left everyone here to protect us. If we go with you, he won�t be in danger,� said Micheline.

�No. He left everyone here to protect you. I�m not taking you two with me. Stay here. I�ll be back,� said Nicenzio.

Unfolding my arms, I bowed my head. �He�s right. I don�t want to undo the healing that Torin did. We�ll stay here.�

Micheline looked shocked. �You should stay but not me.�

�I need you here to protect me. Please don�t leave me.� I pouted and looked at her.

When Nicenzio grunted and went upstairs, I elbowed her. �We�re going to get in the car and hide. By the time he realizes we�re with him it will be too late to turn around.�

Running to the garage, I opened the trunk and stopped. The entire trunk was filled with more weapons than I could count. Closing the trunk, I opened the back door and slipped inside. The car was immaculate, like the man. He never had a wrinkle or hair out of place.

I huffed. �Even his car is clean.�

Micheline laughed. �Nicenzio is a beautiful man. Admit it, and he has his eyes on you.�

Crouching low, I almost sighed when the engine roared and the car started to move. It seemed like where we were going was located on the other end of the planet. My knees were tired, and I wanted to stand. When the car came to a stop and the engine turned off, I smiled.

Nicenzio slammed the car door and walked toward the trunk but stopped.

�Fuck.� He gripped his hair then walked over to the back of the car and opened it.

�He�s found us. We had better get out before he drives us back to the house.�

�I can help,� said Micheline.

�Really? I thought you cared for Domenico and your sister, but you insisted on showing up. Do you think you�re immortal or something because you�re not? The werewolves will tear you apart like last time.�

She flinched as if he had hit her. The hurt look on my sister�s face won�t easily be forgotten, nor will the guilt of me being the reason she was killed in the first place.

Jumping out of the car, I pushed her aside and slapped him across the face. �You asshole. We�re just trying to help. It�s our life to sacrifice if we choose to.�

He pointed to the car. �Stay in there.�

I shook my head. �I�m helping whether you like it or not. I�m not Fido, I won�t be ordered around like a dog.� I stomped to the back of the trunk and glared at him when he didn�t open it immediately.

After a few tense moments, I took four guns, and she took two; he didn�t take but one. Frowning, I looked at my sister. Why had he packed all these guns if he wasn�t going to use them?

We entered into the Parkside North parking garage. We were definitely on the werewolves� side of town from the smell of things. I had expected at least a building for the meeting. It hadn�t taken long to find Domenico and Genziano. Once we followed the shouting, we walked in on a weird encounter.

Domenico was arm wrestling the head werewolf and Tobias was on the side taking bets.

What the heck was going on? This wasn�t what I expected when I heard Genziano�s message to come quick it�s an emergency, and our lives depend on it.

�Well, is that her?� asked Axel. He let go of Domenico�s hand and stood.

Axel stepped forward toward Micheline. �I thought I�d never see the day; you vamp would come to us for help. Now that I see her, I see why it wasn�t hard to swallow your pride.�

Nicenzio stepped in front of her. �That�s close enough.�

Domenico looked like he was going to kill Nicenzio. He looked at me then back at him. �What were you thinking?�

I shrugged. �Micheline heard come quick our lives are in danger and we decided we had to help rescue you.�

Frowning, I turned to stare at Genziano. �Are you serious. Do we look like we�re in danger to you?�

Genziano shrugged. �Watching you two arm wrestle for four hours has been a life-threatening emergency. We still don�t know if Axel�s men are with us. Stop dicking around and let�s do this,� said Genziano.

Axel frowned. �Don�t use that kind of language in front of the ladies.�

Axel licked his two fingers and wiped his eyebrows. �If we had known you would be showing up, we could have had this meeting in our usual place.�

I touched his sleeve. �Will you help us? My sister and I were attacked by a sorcerer and werewolves. My sister lost her life that day so that I could live. Please help us.�

Pointing to Domenico and Genziano, I gave them my best puppy dog eyes. �It�s not fair for the vampires to get this kind of heat for helping a lady in need.�

Axel grabbed my fingers and brought them to his lips. �I can�t say no to a lady in need. If I had stumbled on your sister or you, I would�ve done the same thing.�

Nicenzio growled. �Don�t get any ideas.�

Axel�s smile faded, and his body started to shake. He threw his head back and his bones started to crack. When he finished transforming, unlike the other werewolves, he was huge. He easily made up five of the other werewolves.

Domenico stepped in front of Nicenzio. �Get back; we�re not fighting each other to the death when we have mutual enemies that need to be destroyed.

I stepped back as he fell to his knees as his face distorted and became hairy. He was transforming, right before my eyes.

I looked over and Tobias was on the phone. His face had drained of all its color. �Thanks, Jorel. We�ll be ready.�

Tobias looked at us. �That was Jorel, Matias is trying to take my spot as leader over the clan.�

Genziano snorted. �That isn�t anything new. We were at the council meeting when he called for the council to kill you.�

Axel grunted.

�Matias is coming here with the other wolves to kill Micheline. He�s with the ancient wolf, Jaeger Chalet, and his pack.�

Glancing at my sister, I saw her tremble then check the ammo in her weapon.

Tobias shook his head. �You ladies are leaving now.�

Domenico nodded. �Go, it�s going to get bloody.�

Micheline shook her head. �I�m not running this time. His blood is mine.�

Boom. The entire garage structure shook, then the lights went out. A second later, car alarms went off as several wolves landed on the hood.

Tobias caught the car keys from Nicenzio and picked me up. �Let�s go.�

I was glad Tobias let me drive. He didn�t look happy about it, but I pointed out that he could fight the wolves and sorcerers while I drove us to safety. He probably thought I meant I was driving us back to Domenico�s place. This was the perfect time to find the other royals. Nolani Palakiko was the closest to us. She was just an hour�s drive from New Orleans, and I intended to check on her and enlist her help.

Nolani Palakiko. Please be alive girl. We all need to stick together.

�Where are we?� Tobias narrowed his eyes and looked around.

The neighborhood was an older one. I parked several houses down on Madison Court. I was sure we hadn�t been followed but I was taking no chances.

�Nicenzio�s place would�ve been crawling with wolves and sorcerers so I came here.� I looked out the window and smiled at him.

�You didn�t have to drive outside the city to get away from them. Where are we?�

�We�re in a small town called Ponchatoula. I needed to see my friend and I doubted that, after this latest attack, Nicenzio will let me out the house.�

Tobias got out the car. �I don�t blame him. We need to get back. We don�t know anything about this town.�

Pressing the car alarm, I rolled my eyes. �Would you say the same if she looked like Micheline?�

His eyes became wide then he shook his head. �I don�t believe you.�

I shrugged. �See, this is the first and last time I confide in you. Here I thought you and I could be best friends.�

�I was hoping to be more than a best friend. Has that cock hound already won your heart?�

My face felt hot, but I hurried up to the third house on the right. It was a beautiful home with a three-car garage on the side. The exterior was a light mixture of stone and brick. Breathing deep, I rushed up and knocked on the door. After two rings of the doorbell, the door was cracked open.

A female with gorgeous dark wavy hair and green eyes poked her head out. �I�m not interested. We have a no solicitation sign in the yard.�

Before I could speak, she moved to close the door, but I stuck my foot out, jamming it. �I�m not selling anything. I�m looking for Nolani Palakiko.�

�I don�t know anyone by that name. Remove your foot,� she said.

�Tobias, evoke the shadow demons; this is her.� I watched as horror lit her face and she ran from the door.

I pointed around back. �Go around there and get her.�

I ran in the house, and down the hall. I ducked as something flew past my head. She had a shovel.

I pulled out my gun. �I was just kidding back there, but the Shadow King is coming. If you want to live, you�ll come with us.�

She jerked on the shovel trying to get the tip out of the wall. �Why should I trust you?�

�You can trust me because I�m a royal too. They�re after all of us. Unlike you, I am protected by the vampires and werewolves. Who�s protecting you?�

I watched as Nolani cursed and left the shovel stuck in the wall. �You don�t get it. Because you�re a blonde, let me spell it out for you. If they find all of us, the world will fall. It is much safer for the world if we are separated.�

Tobias wasn�t in human form any longer. He had transformed and was creeping behind Nolani.

I stood and pointed. �Watch out.�

�Like I�m going to fall for that trick.� Nolani turned and, when Tobias lunged for her, she fainted.

�Good work, Tobias.�

It was a brutal battle. I leaped over the wolves� dead carcasses as I ran toward Matias. He had backed himself against the wall on the third level and a dozen sorcerers surrounded him. He was happy to steal my life and I was ready to avenge myself. Leaping over a nearby car, I ducked as the grey wolf from that night lunged at me. Shooting at him, he managed to slide underneath a navy-blue Hummer.

Dang, the wolf had gotten lucky.

�Come back for more, sweetheart? You should be thanking me. If I hadn�t killed you, Domenico would�ve never turned you,� said Matias.

Firing several shots at the sorcerers blocking him, I groaned when they disappeared. One reappeared before me, wrapping his hands around my neck. He slammed me against the wall.

Wham! My ears rung as my vision blurred. Behind him another sorcerer appeared. He wasn�t one of them that was with Matias, but that didn�t make him any less scary. He waved his hand, and the man flew off me and into the red corvette a few cars down.

�Micheline. It�s nice to meet you. I�m Jorel Milien. Mind if I give you a hand here?�

Bending low, I tried to catch my breath. �Sure.�

Smiling, I fired at Matias. He threw several of his men in front of him before he disappeared. Clenching my jaw, I walked toward the next row. The grey wolf lunged for me, but I was knocked to the ground. Axel leaped on the gray wolf and tore a gigantic chunk out of his neck. The gray wolf howled and sank to the ground. His blood coated his fur and Axel was still tearing him limb from limb. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw four more wolves rushing toward Axel and me.

Firing several shots, I hit them all but one. I fired at the last one as he jumped left and right from car to car. My gun was out of bullets. I looked around for a weapon, but there wasn�t anything. The wolf opened his mouth and leaped high in the air toward me.

Pow. Pow. Pow.

Three guns shots rang out and the wolf grunted and fell to the ground. Bartolome` walked up to the wolf as he heaved his last breath and fired two shots into its head. �He won�t be getting up from these bullets.�

Nodding my thanks, I saw Axel back up from the dead wolf, or what was left of him. His entrails were littered all over the cement.

�Here, take this. You need it more than I do,� said Bartolome`. He reached inside his suit jacket and handed me his gun. He winked and walked away.

Running after Bartolome`, I spotted Domenico and another group of vampires. They were in front of the sorcerers, fighting the werewolves. I couldn�t tell the bad wolves from the good ones, so I didn�t fire on any of them. The sorcerers that came with Matias, were trying to retreat. Jorel and his men had done something, and the sorcerers were paralyzed, and they were decapitating heads as they moved through them.

Where was Matias? This would all be for nothing if he got away. Where are you, you weasel?

At the end of the row, Matias sprinted away.

Pointing, I screamed over the noise and carnage around me, �Matias is getting away.�

A tall man with dark hair raised his hands and brought Matias back up the row, and Axel latched on to his neck. Matias pulled a dagger, and I shot several times. He fell to the ground and Axel kept biting his neck. His screams were music to my ears, as I watched, with my gun lifted, for any sign that I needed to unload my clip into him.

Too bad I couldn�t have shot him in the head. Axel was so close; I couldn�t risk shooting him too. The hair on the back of my nape lifted as everything started to come to a stop. A dozen vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers strolled inside the garage. The tall woman, with brown wavy hair, waved her hand and sent Axel flying into the wall. His body hit it and slithered to the ground.

Several werewolves formed a circle around Axel blocking him from their view.

This must be the council. They didn�t look old or weak. It didn�t look like they had come to talk. The way all of them stared at me, it looked like I was about to taste death yet again.

The dark-haired beauty lifted her hand and Matias� body lifted off the ground and floated to her. She waved her hand over his neck, and his wound started to heal.

Salty tears pricked my eyes and I bit my tongue, tasting my own metallic blood. Matias spilled my blood, but he would never spill my tears.

Matias smirked. �Council, there she is. Kill them all.�

The man next to the woman looked at me. �This female is Micheline Lambert? She is so weak.�

Domenico roared. He had an amber light surrounding him and his clothes were being shredded under the light. The light didn�t stop after it touched his skin. It ripped open his flesh. Looking at them, I noticed a man with his eyes closed, as if in deep concentration. His fingers were moving like he was playing an invisible instrument.

The council wants to kill us.

�Come my child, and I will make his death quick,� he said.

I laughed. �You lust for power, but you won�t gain any power from me.�

The woman flung her hair. The werewolves next to her advanced but she held up her hand. �You laugh in the face of your death.�

�No, I laugh at your death. All of you will be annihilated.� I lifted my chin and stared them all down. I wasn�t afraid of death. I knew what it felt like and I wouldn�t give them the satisfaction of fearing them.

Things could be worse. The Shadow King could kill me. He was the one that I feared. If the stories mom and dad had told me were true, he would make any pain these idiots inflicted look like a toothache.

�Come, Micheline, I�m Pierre. This won�t hurt for long.� He smiled, then disappeared. He reappeared in front of me, his hand wrapped around my neck.

His fangs elongated. �I�m going to drain you dry.�

The werewolves growled behind him and several footsteps made him turn away from me. �I will leave you all some blood. You know what I meant.�

When he turned back toward me, his smile fell. His attention was centered directly behind me. All of a sudden, the other council members were encased in a purple dome. They pounded on it while the sorcerers attempted to reverse it. Torin grabbed Pierre�s neck and snapped it.

Torin waved his hand over the others and they regained movement. Everyone except Domenico. He was still paralyzed, and he now stood in a pool of blood.

Torin was like lightning, disappearing and reappearing. Sometimes he only reappeared to kick the severed head away from him. The council members were being killed. The woman punched some black oval shaped button before laughing.

�You can kill me, Torin, but you�re already dead,� she said. She laughed until he snapped her neck and cut off her head.

Waving his hand, he gathered their heads, and set them on fire. �Where is Tobias?�

I ran to Domenico, who fell to the ground and collapsed into unconsciousness. �He�s at the house with Madeleine.�

Torin shook his head. �I went there first. They aren�t at the house.�

I jumped to my feet. �Oh my god. The council must have attacked them there. Did you search for their�? Did you look through the entire house?�

He nodded. �They might have been attacked, but it wasn�t there. Where would they go?�

A gust of wind flew inside the garage and everything felt chilly. I looked at the others, but they had surrounded Axel and Domenico.

�Torin, you killed the council. I wasn�t ready for them to die. I guess you know where the royal bloodline heir is that I seek,� said Valen. He appeared at the end of the row and started walking.

Torin clenched his jaw. �Don�t do anything until I come back.�

�I can help you.� I fired my gun, but the Shadow Spirit vanished.

Torin waved his hand and all of us disappeared, leaving him to battle the Shadow King alone.

We appeared back at the house. Shaking off my confusion, I ran through the house.

�Madeline, where are you?� I sprinted down the hallway and up the stairs. Breathing heavy, I ran through each room. My heart slammed against my ribcage as I bellowed her name at the top of my lungs.

�She�s not here,� said Domenico. He grabbed me from behind and held me close to his chest.

�They have to be here. Where else would she go?� I pulled away from him.

Where could she be? She wouldn�t leave town, would she?

Rubbing my temples, I paced back and forth.

�Don�t panic, we�ll find your sister,� said Domenico.

Shaking my head, I headed for the bathroom. Rushing into the bathroom, I shut the door, leaned against the cabinet, and rubbed my temples.

What if she went to find the royals?

The Shadow King appeared in front of me. �Don�t bother searching further. I have Madeleine. If you want to see your sister alive, you�ll come to the Dark Realm.�

Backing from him, I opened my mouth to scream, but he disappeared and reappeared right in front of me. The fluorescent lights flickered, and he radiated raw power.

He laid a finger to his lips. �Scream and I will kill all of them. You don�t want to be the cause of their deaths, do you?�

�No.� Narrowing my eyes at him, I backed up a step.

�If you decide you care for your sister, all you have to do is call me, and I will come for you.�

�If you want me there so bad, why don�t you take me?�

�You�re special, or should I say, your bloodline is special. I can�t force you to come to the Dark Realm. It�s a place you must voluntarily enter.�

�You have until the moon appears before her life is forfeited. It�s your choice.�

He disappeared.

Placing my hand in my mouth, I bent my head and wept. It seemed like I would have to taste death a second time to save Madeleine. Opening the cabinet, I got the liquid diphenhydramine and poured some in the cup. Opening the door, I Rushed to the kitchen. I poured some red wine in a cup for myself and poured some blood in his cup. Mixing the blood with the diphenhydramine, I swirled one last time before heading back upstairs.

�Domenico, come have a drink with me.� I walked up the stairs looking in the rooms. Stepping into his room, I saw him conversing with Genziano.

�I�ll leave you two alone,� said Genziano as he walked out the room, closing the door.

�I wanted to thank you for all you�ve done to help me. I handed him the drink. I watched him drain the liquid in one long gulp.

I put the damp cloth against her cheek. Nolani was out cold. She was terrified of werewolves. What we did was a bad move, but we didn�t have time to coddle her. We are in danger and she needed to understand that.

Tobias glared at me. �This was a mistake. You�re always being reckless. Has your sister�s ultimate sacrifice shown you nothing?�

That was a low blow. My sister died for me. I know. I didn�t want her to, but she did. I should�ve never left her there alone. I�m making up for it the best way I know how. We need to form alliances just like Matias and the council. We are standing still while they make power moves to destroy all of us.

�This was for the best. One day she�ll agree with me.�

Tobias frowned. �You�re dreaming but whatever. We don�t have time for this. Move.� He pushed me out the way and lifted her into his arms and headed for the door.

When we stepped out on the street, things seemed different. Looking around, I motioned for him to rush toward the car. Running across the street, I pressed the unlock button.

Boom! We flew back. The car erupted in a fiery explosion.

Strong hands wrapped around my waist and I elbowed and kicked to get free. My hands were trapped, and I couldn�t reach for the gun underneath my shirt.

�Stop. It�s just me,� said Nicenzio. He set me on my feet, and I swung on him. Looking around I sighed in relief when I saw Tobias pulling Nolani along with him. He was scanning the surroundings.

She glared at me. �Great you�ve doomed us to death.�

�You jerk. You almost gave me a heart attack. Did you blow up the car too?�

His lips thinned. �Nope.� Grabbing my elbow, he dragged me to the sidewalk.

�Where are you going? Let�s just take your car.�

�My car met with the same fate as yours ten miles down the road. I tracked you by your scent.� Nicenzio opened the front door and slammed it behind us.

Turning to Nolani, I ignored Nicenzio. �Do you have a car?�

�No, I don�t leave the house ever. That was why I had been safe the entire time until you showed up.� Nolani rolled her eyes and ran up the stairs.

I took off after her. Maybe she had guns. She could be running but, after watching a car blow up, I doubt she wanted to be outside exposed like we had been a few minutes ago.

Following her into the second small bedroom, she pulled the bed away from the wall. �Don�t just stand there, help me unless you want to die.�

Throwing the bed aside. She ripped a poster off the wall and there was a section of the drywall cut out. She pulled it off the wall and reached in and pulled a lever.

Glass shattered downstairs. Nolani looked at me then rushed over to the dresser and pulled out a backpack. She put it on her shoulders and reached in and took out two guns.

I pulled out my gun and stood away from the window. A second later, Nicenzio came in dragging Tobias.

�What happened to him?�

�A gun shot with silver bullets. I blocked him, but a piece of the bullet shrapnel pierced his leg. I got it out, but he�s wounded and weak,� said Nicenzio.

Nolani locked the bedroom door and flung aside the rug. Lifting the floorboards, she started climbing down. I followed, and Nicenzio carried Tobias down with him.

Nolani shook her head. �After we hike for twenty miles, that should put a little distance between us. Then they will have to search all of the tunnels down here to find us. If we�re lucky, we might escape.� She looked at Tobias. �We can take turns carrying him. You need your strength to help us fight.�

Tobias looked pale. Biting my lip, I silently prayed that his life wouldn�t be sacrificed because of me.

It seemed like hours before we had hiked twenty miles. Nolani and I had taken turns carrying Tobias. The longer the time passed, the more I worried because he hadn�t woken.

I looked at her. �How much further before we can stop and tend to his wounds?�

Nolani looked down the dark tunnel but Nicenzio had disappeared. �We aren�t far enough into the tunnels. I don�t think they are far behind us. We must keep going.�

These tunnels were dark and narrow. He wasn�t familiar with them and I didn�t want him getting lost and running into more enemies.

Nolani kept moving. I was carrying Tobias on my shoulders, so she was speed-walking down the tunnel. �Do you think he�s lost? He�s been gone a while.�

�He�s a vampire. There�s no way he would get lost. He can smell you. There were probably more enemies than we thought.�

I followed her, restraining myself from choking her. Nolani was pissed that I had come for her, yes; but that doesn�t help things now. Her nonchalant attitude about Nicenzio running into more enemies made me want to beat her tall willowy ass.

When she finally stopped and turned right into a small alcove that I didn�t see, I sank down with Tobias. My feet were killing me, and I worried that Nicenzio had been gone too long. I was going after him.

No one else dies for me. I can�t handle it. If it�s my destiny to die today then I was going out in a blaze of glory, or at least try to anyway.

�I�m going after him. It�s been too long. How do I get back to where we left him?�

Nolani stopped rummaging through her backpack and glared at me. �Going back by yourself is a sure way of getting yourself killed. He can handle himself and, if he didn�t, then going back means you�ll die for nothing.�

�It won�t be for nothing.�

She shrugged. �Suit yourself. Go back forty-five miles then turn left and then a right. When you�ve gone an additional ten miles, take the fourth left and go down a mile and turn right.�

Breathing, I nodded. Ignoring her rolling her eyes, I turned and walked into a wall of muscle.

�As touching as that was, you will never willingly put yourself in danger,� said Nicenzio. He grabbed my elbow and jerked me back near Tobias.

When he tossed me down on my butt, I winced. �What took you so long? I wasn�t going back empty-handed. I still have my gun.�

�A gun with twelve bullets is not as much help as you might think it is.�

�I never heard any gunfire,� said Nolani. She pulled out a metal flask, lifted Tobias� head, and poured some water into his mouth.

�I didn�t shoot anyone. The Shadow King showed up.�

Nolani closed the flask. Her hand trembled and she licked her lips. �You fought him?�

There was so much hope in her eyes I wanted to turn away. I knew that nobody would fight the Shadow King and live to tell the tale.

Nicenzio shook his head. �He was upset that you guys had gotten away, and he killed them.�

�How many men were there?�

�There were three dozen. I took out a dozen of them, but I needed to strategize how to take down the other twenty-four, since I was running out of places to stash their bodies.�

Several hours had passed, and Tobias had only woken up for a few minutes before passing out again. We were in a tough jam for sure. I wasn�t sure we would make it out of here alive and, if we stayed, Tobias would surely die. Fighting the council and their imperial assassins was different than fighting the Shadow King. This was the worst place to fight. These tunnels were narrow and didn�t allow room for error. I looked at Nolani. We had both taken turns staying up and keeping guard, since neither of us could sleep.

She was a beautiful woman and if we had met under different circumstances, she and I might be friends. I didn�t want to be her enemy, I just wanted everyone that I cared for to be safe.

�I�m sorry that they tore up your house.� I picked imaginary lint off my clothes.

I wasn�t good at small talk. This girl probably wanted to shoot me in the face. After hearing that the Shadow King had come here and killed his own men in a rage, I don�t blame her.

�Thanks, but I don�t give a damn about the house. I told you, it was dangerous for all of us to be together. Your boyfriend led them right to my house. I�ve lived here for eleven years. Now everything I worked for in order to keep safe has been destroyed.�

�He�s not my boyfriend.�

She swung at me and I ducked. I bounced back on my feet, with my guard held high. I was an excellent boxer, and I didn�t mind messing up her pretty little face if she tried to punch me again.

�I�m not trying to fight you, but I�ll kick your ass if I have to.�

Nicenzio grabbed her arm and pushed her away from me. �It�s not her fault. It�s mine. Kick my ass. I was being careful so they wouldn�t follow me, but I guess the Shadow King had somehow cloaked their presence. I didn�t know they were here until they blew up my car.�

I backed up and sat down. �It was not safe to be so far away from other royals. We have power together. After we are turned, we can unlock our power and the Shadow King won�t be able to kill us so easily.�

Nolani turned her lips. She paced back and forth. �You�re a monster?�

I shook my head no. �I�m human but once Nicenzio turns me into a vampire, I can unlock my powers.�

�I�m not turning you. You�ve never mentioned that you wanted to be a vampire. You don�t have to be a vampire because your sister is.�

Nolani laughed. �You should have discussed your grand plan with your boyfriend before fucking up my life. He isn�t even willing to turn you.�

Ignoring her, I stared at him. �What do you mean no? You never asked me what I wanted.�

Nicenzio shook his head. �No, we will handle the Shadow King, but I have no intentions of turning you.�

�If your boyfriend had been willing, Mariyah might have gone back with you, but she isn�t going to risk her life when your boyfriend doesn�t even have faith in your plan.�

Pushing Nicenzio out my way, I glared at her. �You know where she is? Tell me.�

Nolani sighed. She leaned against the tunnel walls and closed her eyes. �She will never go along with you. Why should she? You�re as vulnerable as she is.�

�I�ll turn her. I�m second in command of my kind and I can offer Mariyah safety just like the vampires can. My kind knows a lot about the Shadow King, and we will defeat him,� said Tobias.

�You will not turn her. She doesn�t belong to you,� growled Nicenzio.

�I don�t belong to you either, Nicenzio. You had your chance and you denied me. Tobias or his people can turn me, and I will do what I need to do to help protect my sister.�

�You�re insane,� mumbled Nicenzio.

�Nobody else dies for me. Nobody.�

Tobias sat up. �I need to go to the Cullen Coven. They will be able to help me.�

�I will get you there. Can you walk?�

�I�m not sure,� said Tobias.

He winced and shifted to the left attempting to walk. �I think so.�

�Are you crazy? You have been unconscious this entire time, and the Shadow King might still be here,� said Nolani.

�We can�t stay here,� said Nicenzio.

�We should hurry. My strength is fading fast,� said Tobias.

We arrived at the Cullen�s Coven and Tobias lost consciousness for a third time. Nicenzio carried him inside.

A tall man rushed toward us. �What happened to him?�

�We were attacked by the Shadow King and he shot him with silver bullets,� said Nolani.

Nicenzio carried him to the couch. �Jorel, can you help him?�

�Simeone get Nicholas.� They formed a circle around Tobias. Their deep baritone voices spoke in unison and their eyes rolled back, and the lights flickered. A gust of wind blew through the room, despite none of the windows being open.

After ten minutes, the lights came on. �His body is too weak. We�ve done all we can,� said Jorel.

Tears blinded me, and I shook my head. �You haven�t done enough. You�re warlocks. Do something else, damn it.�

Nicenzio reached for me, but I stepped away from him. Glancing at Tobias, I clutched my chest as a sharp pain sliced through it.

A tall woman with pink hair grabbed her forehead. �This can�t be happening. If the council kills Torin, we�ll be stuck with Matias,� she said.

�We need Torin. Somebody has to do something.�

�We�re doomed without Tobias and Torin.�

Simeone paced back and forth. �

Nolani shrieked. �You have, but I haven�t.� She pushed passed the sorcerers that stood around Tobias. Before anyone could stop her, she ripped her sleeve, grabbed her blade, cut her forearm, and dripped her blood over his wound.

�Get her,� said Jorel. He lunged for her but Nicenzio grabbed him.

He shook his head. �She has had plenty of time to kill him. Let her save him.�

Simeone hissed. �She�s a royal.� He looked at Jorel and Nicholas.

Maybe she was right. The more people that know about her makes her more of a target.

He rubbed his hands together with a lopsided grin �She�s mine,� said Nicholas.

Tobias shot right up. �She�s not a piece of property. Back off.� He stared at them, but his eyes were no longer green.

Glancing at her, he cupped her cheek. �Thank you. Please tell me where Mariyah is.�

Nolani turned away from him, but he grabbed her back. �Please.�

�She�s in Franklinton but she might kill you.�

Tobias bent his head and kissed her cheek. �Thank you.�

�You think you�re a match for me, boy?� asked Valen. He disappeared and, when he reappeared, his hand was wrapped around my throat. Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore the pain and channel my powers, but my brain felt sluggish.

The pressure around my neck was unbearable. He let go of my neck and thrust his hand inside my chest. He wrapped his claws around my heart and squeezed. Everything in my body ceased to work as he dug his claws into my heart, piercing it. Sharp pains surged through me from my jawline to my chest. My eyes twitched as intense pain racked my body. The pain brought me to my knees, and I blinked rapidly as water flooded into my eyes.

�I can kill you now, but you and I are alike. Stop fighting me and join me.� Valen twisted his fingers and my body shook as he drained my life force.

Blocking out the pain, I closed my eyes, and lifted my hands. An invisible power wrapped around his neck. I tightened my hand into a fist. His grip on me started to wane. I kept the pressure around his neck.

�I don�t care if you end me.� I waved my hands and thrust him out of the window. Bending down, I struggled to catch my breath.

Several black clouds surrounded me, and I felt sharp pricks as my body flew into the wall. There was an unseen force that impaled me against the wall. My air was cut off as something tightened around my neck. Dropping my hands, I focused on freeing myself.

He smiled. I released him. �You don�t fear death, but you fear Tobias�s death. Don�t worry I�ll make his death quick.�

�No.� Bucking and thrusting, I shifted from side to side, but I wasn�t able to free myself. Heat engulfed me from inside out as large crate size boils opened on my skin, and black silvery snakes slid inside me. Razor sharp fangs punctured my body everywhere as the serpent like creature bit. My heartbeat that pounded in my ear, slowed and my vision clouded.

Valen smirked. �You act like Tobias is your heart, but you sacrificed your life for a woman. Don�t think for a second you are better than me. This is about more than me. What is it about for you?�

I sighed. �You wouldn�t understand.� Closing my eyes, my head lulled to the side.

�I understand more than you know. I�ve lived this before. I, too, once loved a woman; unlike you, she loved me too. When she was taken from me, I vowed we�d never be apart. I keep my promises.� Valen and his Shadow Spirits disappeared. I fell to my knees gasping, as darkness engulfed me

I�ve got to find Tobias.

When I opened my eyes, it was still dark outside. The open boils on my body oozed an amber substance. Turning my arm over, I noticed the black substance that flowed through my veins. Struggling to my feet, I leaned against the wall, and gathered my strength. I needed to check on Tobias.

My time was drawing near.

Closing my eyes, I transported to the house. Running through the halls, I shouted his name. �Tobias, where are you?�

�He�s not here. He was wounded but he left with a female,� she said.

�Darlene, where is everyone? Where is my brother?�

�I don�t know where he is, but he was here earlier but he had been mortally wounded. He had found a royal. Jorel took half of the men to protect the vampires, since he thought they have found a royal. Nicholas took a small army to try and kill Matias. Simeone went after Tobias to try to protect him.�

�If Matias shows up here, do not confront him; he will kill you. If he asked you what happened, tell him everything except the part about the royal. Call me and I will deal with him.�

Blinking, I sat up. The tart, bitter taste on my tongue felt slightly acidic. Narrowing my eyes, I stood and immediately fell down upon my bed. The ringing in my ears made my hair stand up. The last time my brain was this foggy, I had been afflicted with a spell of disorientation from a witch. There was no doubt in my mind, Micheline had drugged me. She had been the only one in my bathroom.

Why had she drugged me? I should�ve known when she was being nice that she was up to something

�Genziano and Bartolome` get in here.� I managed to stand up without falling on my ass again.

�You look confused. Did mind-blowing sex muddle your brain?� asked Genziano.

Bartolome` chuckled. �It�s about time he closed the deal. I was beginning to wonder if you had lost your touch. I�ve never seen a female resist you like she does.�

I wish we did have mind-blowing sex. More and more I�m thinking of glamouring her. She isn�t being reasonable about her safety, and I�d love to erase how we met.

�Micheline drugged me. I�m sure she�s gone after her sister.� Heading to the closet, I grabbed my sword. I wasn�t sure what we needed to do, but I knew it would be grimy. Pressing the hidden spot in the wall, an octagon shaped thumb print slid forth. Placing my thumb on it, a serrated blade nicked my finger, and my blood filled the cylinder-shaped tube underneath. After a few seconds, the wall separated, and I walked inside.

�Do you know where she is?� asked Bartolome`.

Inside the war room, I walked to the back wall and scrolled through the camera feeds in the house. This wasn�t our home, but we spent a lot of time at our bachelor pad, since it was strategically located in the middle of the witches� and wolves� territory; it allowed us to keep an eye on them.

I pointed to two hours ago, when she stepped inside the bathroom. Our cameras had gone dark for five minutes. This was worse than I thought. How had the Shadow Spirits gained access to the bathroom, when I was less than three feet away?

Why hadn�t she screamed for me? I�m missing something.

�The only one that could do that is the Shadow King himself. Our systems are protected from the werewolves and witches,� said Bartolome`.

�The council can�t be trusted so maybe they gave the witches a way to bypass our security,� said Genziano.

The council was another huge problem, but I wasn�t sure the rest of the council had gotten wind that their members had been killed. Narrowing my eyes, I watched Jorel and a small army bang on the door.

�I�m going to ask them.� Flying out the hidden room, I placed my hand on the secret spot and shut it behind us. Rushing to the door, I tossed it open, and stepped aside.

I balled my fist. I was ready to battle them all, but I wanted answers first. �How convenient of you to come now.�

Jorel held up his hand, staying his men that attempted to reach me. �We know that you found a royal. We are here to protect her and you. We are all in this together.�

�Why would you want to protect us, when we would be more powerful than you guys?� asked Genziano.

�Because you aren�t. We have a royal as well, and it makes sense for both of us to band together to protect our royals from all that would seek to harm us,� said Jorel.

If they had found a royal that would make sense, but I didn�t think they had found one. If they had, they managed to hide their activities from my surveillance that would be disturbing.

�I don�t believe you. If you found a royal, where is she?� asked Genziano.

Jorel�s smile fell. �I was hoping Tobias and Nolani had come here. The Shadow King had severely wounded Tobias, and we were powerless in saving him. If it had not been for Nolani, he would be dead.�

If Tobias and Madeleine had a royal, that explains why the Shadow King showed up here to get Micheline. I don�t know how to reach Torin, but they might be able to protect Tobias and his royal while I went after Micheline.

�Reach out to Torin. He can protect Tobias and his female. My female has gone to the Dark Realm with the demon spirit himself.�

�We haven�t been able to reach Torin. We have to assume he might have been eliminated by the Shadow Spirits.�

�Denise, Torin isn�t that easy to kill. I would feel it if he were dead. He�s distant but not gone,� said Jorel.

Denise was a petite female with red hair. Her green eyes were dark, and she looked out of place among the big burly men. I was pretty sure she was just as fierce as them.

�Let�s just hope that Simeone can track Tobias and protect them,� said Denise.

�Jorel, can you send us down to the Dark Realm?� I cracked my neck muscles and waited for an answer.

�That is a death sentence. You need to wait on Axel and his pack, and we�ll all go together,� said Jorel.

�No, I can�t wait. Denise said Torin might be dead. If the dark realm gets their hands on one royal, we are as good as doomed. We�ve had some run-ins with the Shadow Spirits and, trust me, they don�t need to be any more powerful than they already are.�

Genziano grabbed my arm. �We need all the help we can get. You would be no good to her dead.�

�I can�t wait all day to find Axel, and then go to her.� I rubbed my temple.

Denise opened the door and Axel and his men stalked inside.

There were more werewolves here than when we confronted the council. I�m relieved. We almost got our ass handed to us. The more reinforcements the better.

Axel pointed a finger at Jorel then at me. �I�m here to save your ass, and the both of you will tell me where to find my royal. This fragile truce will go sideways if I�m not told where to find a royal for the Lavache clan.�

Jorel nodded. �We only found out when the royal revealed herself to save Tobias. It seemed that the royal chooses her mate. Trust me, I want one too,� said Jorel.

Axel shook his head. �Tobias has one and Domenico has his. My kind will not die out because you are holding out on us.�

I held up my hand to ward off a brawl between Jorel and Axel. �Let�s save the royals and you can ask them for anything you want. We can kill each other in my entrance way or go save the women and you can obtain the answers you seek. We don�t know where they are, but I�m suspecting the royals themselves have the information.�

Axel growled. �Jorel, don�t think the werewolves will be cut out of this prophecy.�

�Let�s go meet with the devil. I can�t tolerate this mangy mutt for too long,� said Jorel.

Axel pulled back his fist but Jorel waved his hand and transported the werewolves. After he laughed, he sent us all there. Traveling realms felt like your insides were in a cheese grater. The travel scrambled your insides and drained some of your energy. When we arrived in a dark cave that felt like a sauna, I knew this must be what hell felt like.

The best shot at winning this battle meant that we needed to be cunning like the Shadow Spirits. Looking around I knew that it would be a matter of time before our presence was discovered.

�My men and I will go in first and start the battle. They will expect me to come. I need one of your sorcerers to come with us. We�ll signal so that you know what�s happening before revealing yourselves to the Shadow Spirits.�

�What�s the signal?� asked Axel.

�Genziano will coo. He makes these realistic sounds, and it will go unnoticed or ignored by the spirits but that will be your cue that we have eyes on the females.�

Glancing at Bartolome`, I noticed that he was quietly observing Denise. �If he doesn�t coo, we don�t have eyes and you should split into small mixed teams to show a joint force.�

Axel smirked at Jorel. �I like this plan. It means we are all visible to each other and trust isn�t an issue.�

�Axel you don�t trust anybody. We aren�t the ones that betrayed the wolves. Stop punishing us for what others did,� said Denise.

Rolling my eyes, I moved forward. �Try not to kill each other and focus on killing the enemy.� Jorel motioned for Clyde to follow me, and we moved forward through the tunnel. Genziano was quiet as he pointed down the narrow opening where fire blazed on both sides. There were legions of Shadow Spirits on either side and a ton of them standing behind the Shadow King. The walls were coated in blood with turquoise writing on them. The letters were written like calligraphy, but I was sure they didn�t have a positive meaning. Off to the side, there was a gigantic hole in the ground that looked like a bottomless pit.

The Shadow King stood over Micheline. Looking around, I didn�t see Madeleine, but that was the only logical reason she would sacrifice herself like this. Micheline looked like she was prepared for impending demise. We stepped out from the shadows of the corridor and walked down toward Micheline.

Often times, we can�t choose how we die, but we can choose how we live. It looked like this was the night I would be laying down my life.

I lifted my hands. �Honey. I�m home. Did you miss me?�

�You�re like Tardigrades. Just die already,� said Valen. He lifted his hands and the spirits disappeared. Flames flew out of nowhere behind us trapping us where we stood.

�Form a circle and let�s do this.� I placed my back to Genziano, and he did the same to Clyde. As the spirits appeared, we cut them down.

Valen shook his head. �If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.� He disappeared. I blinked and he reappeared in front of me and stuck his hand in my chest. Black serpents slithered inside me, and I fell to my knees.

What the hell is Domenico doing here?

I�m shocked that he followed me to the dark realm, but I shouldn�t be. He was here with his friends. I hope he brought backup, although I was not sure it would do any good. This was a one-way trip.

�Domenico, you guys get out of here,� I yelled over the roar of the fires and the screams from the spirits around me. The spirits had become drunk over their lust for my blood, and it was downright creepy.

Turning away from him, I looked at the Shadow King, or Valen for short. �Where is my sister?�

I watched him carefully. It might be too late for me, but it wouldn�t be for Madeleine.

He smiled. �I don�t know.�

My nostrils flared. �Liar.�

Valen shrugged and floated over to me. His sharp nails trailing down my cheek. �Oh. I am a liar, murderer, and thief, but I don�t know yet where your sister is. When I do, she will meet with the same fate as you.�

A guttural roar escaped my lips, and I palmed the scissors hidden under my sleeve. I plunged it into his chest. Thick, black billowy clouds escaped, and he laughed.

�Do you think you can kill me? You are so pathetic.� He pulled out the scissors and tossed them to the ground.

A commotion distracted Valen, and both of us looked behind me, as another group led by Axel came rushing forth to fight the spirits.

A sudden urge to laugh overtook me and I burst into giggles. Holding my stomach, I ignored the flash of anger surging across Valen�s face.

He rolled his eyes and disappeared.

Straightening, I looked for him. Valen reappeared and thrust a handful of spirits inside Domenico. Long tiger-striped serpents slithered underneath Domenico�s skin and he screamed before collapsing to the ground.

In a blink of an eye, Nicenzio, Tobias, Madeleine and another female appeared. She had straight jet-black hair and blue eyes that turned green. Her skin was fair, and she was extremely tall. We�ve always encouraged Madi to make friends, but this wasn�t the time.

Grabbing my sister, I shook her. �Get out of here. Now.�

Madeleine hugged me. �We are here to help you. Don�t worry I brought backup. Mariyah Sidorova, meet my sister, Micheline.�

Pushing past her, I snatched Tobias� arm. �What were you thinking, bringing her here?�

He eyed my hand and smiled. �I was thinking that you�re not ready to die and these ladies can help you live.�

A spirit lifted Domenico�s head, and was about to decapitate him.

�No!� In a blur of motion, I was beside him, ripping the spirit�s head off. His head disappeared into smoke and he reassembled a moment later. Picking up one of Domenico�s swords, I began slashing heads and hearts, forming a circle around Domenico�s body which had crumpled into a ball.

The werewolves were taking the spirits and tearing them limb from limb. We were slowing them down, but we weren�t stopping them.

Valen shook his head and held out his hand. �Come to me. Your death doesn�t have to be painful, but make no mistake, you will die here.� He flew to Madi, and lifted his hand to wrap around her neck, but Tobias waved and all the spirits, including Valen, flew down into the bottomless pit.

Tobias shoved the women in front of him. �Run, we don�t have much time.� He ran after the females, but a horde of spirits walked over to me and the others. There was now a gaping hole blocking Madeleine, Nicenzio and Tobias from getting to us. Nicenzio stepped in front of Madi and pulled two swords. I saw him hand her a gun.

Tobias kissed Madeleine on the cheek. �Be safe.�

Madeleine struggled. �No, dammit. You won�t do whatever the hell you�re thinking of doing. We came together and we�ll leave together, or we don�t leave at all.�

More spirits appeared and Madeleine opened fire. Valen appeared and lifted his hand and Nicenzio flew into the bottomless pit of fire.

�No. You bastard,� said Madeleine. She opened fired on Valen, but he stood strong, prowling toward her. Madeleine turned toward the bottomless pit and tried to run to it. A witch lifted Nicenzio from the pit. He was severely burned, almost unrecognizable.

I ran toward the open hole. �If you want me, then come and get me.� I jumped over the hole and stood beside my sister. Nodding to her, we held each other�s hand and Mariyah grabbed my hand.

�You�re going to need me but, whatever you do, just focus on destroying him and our powers together will do the rest,� said Mariyah.

I closed my eyes and focused. Thinking about my parents, and all those that lost their lives trying to keep the city safe. The Shadow Spirits started to scream. Opening my eyes, our thoughts became stronger and stronger as the spirits started to turn to ashes.

Tobias stood in front of us. He had made a protective dome around Domenico and was shooting fireballs at the spirits.

Valen wasn�t anywhere to be seen. Looking around, I saw the spirits dying but I didn�t see him. I had a feeling that it was going to take more than this to kill him. All at once, he reappeared and grabbed Tobias around the throat.

�You�re only alive because Torin protected you, but where is your brother now? Your time has come,� said Valen. He opened his mouth, tilted his head back, and black mist flowed from him into Tobias.

Tobias went limp and fell to the ground. His skin started to turn blue, like rigor mortis was setting in. Silent tears streamed down my face as I continued channeling my power.

Torin and another female appeared. He saw Tobias lying on the ground, and his scream of rage shook the entire structure. The ceiling started to crumble and fall. He disappeared and became a blur as he jumped inside of Tobias. Madeleine and Mariyah stopped concentrating and Valen laughed.

�Torin moved like the Shadow King,� said Madeleine. She watched as Tobias�s body shook and lifted off the ground. The black mist that was inside of him flowed out as he whimpered.

�Keep concentrating or we�re dead meat.� I refocused, but it was too late. Valen flew to me. Waving his hands, he sent Mariyah and Madeleine flying against the wall. Mariyah moved out of the way as a huge chunk of the ceiling narrowly missed her.

Valen saw Axel creeping up behind him. My air was cut off and my eyes rolled to the back of my head. Thoughts of my parents� death and Madi filled my thoughts. Thrusting my hand out, I touched Valen�s chest, hoping he could feel my emotions. I wanted him to feel everything that I felt.

Axel latched on to Valen�s neck, but he was thrown against the nearest wall as Valen waved his hand.

�How does it feel knowing that you�re about to die?� asked Valen.

�She will never know,� said Torin. He ran and jumped inside Valen. My neck was released, and I fell to my knees gasping for breath. I crawled over to Tobias, who still hadn�t moved. Placing my ear to his chest, I heard a faint heartbeat.

Patting his cheek, I scooted him near me. �Tobias, wake up. We need you to open your eyes.� I watched as he struggled but didn�t open his eyes. He made little gurgling noises in his throat, but his eyes remained closed.

Torin jumped out of Valen. He lifted his hand and sent his demons inside of Valen.

Valen laughed, then grimaced. �You can�t kill me, or you�ll die too. Your friends can�t kill me because they aren�t as strong as you are.�

�I know,� said Torin. He closed his eyes and lifted his face toward the sky. He fell to his knees as all his demons surged out of him into Valen.

Torin�s strength seemed to be draining and the color of his skin started to turn blue. He fell to his knees, with one hand bracing himself from face planting on the ground.

Torin was killing himself to save us. To save me.

Madeleine stood. �We�ve got to do something. Torin is dying for us.�

My tears blinded me. I grabbed her hand, and I stood, but Tobias moved. He opened his eyes and rolled onto his stomach looking at his brother.

Tobias screamed. �No. No, I can�t let you do this.�

Torin hung his head. �I�m sorry I failed you, but I will not fail our people. This is the only way.� He bit his lip, struggled to his feet, and ran toward Valen.

Tobias jumped to his feet and lifted both hands, paralyzing Torin. �I can�t lose you too.�

Tobias�s eyes turned red as he wrapped his arms around himself and brought Torin close to him.

�Jorel, Denise, and Nicholas send him to the realm now,� said Tobias.

They gathered together, closing their eyes. A gust of wind swept through the place and the spirits and Valen were swept into a tornado, and then vanished.

They didn�t stop chanting, and another gust of wind swarmed around Torin.

Tobias frowned. �What are you doing?�

�He will have to watch over the Shadow King and destroy him if he tries to leave the realm, so he must go too,� said Jorel.

Tobias�s lips thinned. �I feel it. You did something else as well.�

Denise stepped forward. �We have applied a safety measure. If something happens to you or you die, there are no assurances that Torin will care about Earth any longer.�

Tobias grabbed Jorel and lifted him off the ground. �Undo it or die.�

Denise ran toward Tobias, but she was grabbed from behind by another male.

�He�s too powerful. He has to stay in the Realm of Vatakula, where he can watch over the Shadow King. If he attempts to come back to Earth, he loses all connection with you, never to be regained again,� said Jorel.

�We have to control him. He can�t be allowed to come to Earth with that power, not to mention the demons inside him.�

�It is only a matter of time before the dark side consumes him,� said Denise.

Tobias tossed Jorel from him and lifted his hand. �You will die for betraying your leader and my family.�

Torin grabbed Tobias. �No. They are doing what they need to protect you from the council.�

I frowned. �You killed the council.�

�The council is limitless, others were assigned to Earth as soon as they found out the old council was dead,� said Torin.

Torin walked to Mariyah. �Are you the one that saved him? Will you look after him for me?�

Mariyah shook her head. �Nolani saved him. You never need to worry about losing touch with him, I will always tell you what is going on with him.�

�That is a beautiful thing to say. What is your name?� asked Torin.

She smiled. �Mariyah Sidorova.�

�You don�t have the power to promise him that,� grumbled Jorel.

Thank you for taking the time to read the Cursed Vampire�s Touch. I hope you have enjoyed Micheline�s and Domenico�s story. In this series there is a lot happening with action, adventure, and love all in one. I hope this book piqued your interest and made you eager to find out what happens to them as the series progresses. Please consider leaving an honest review, so that other readers might select this book and read it as well.

If you want to know what happens with Micheline and Domenico, click the link below to obtain the next book in the series titled Cursed Vampire�s Kiss.

https://books2read.com/u/49lJ5J

Lashe� Lacroix has always enjoyed reading all genres of romance. Her love for romance books started when she was given Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey. Her passion for creating vivid characters and developing make-believe worlds began when she was four years old. When she is not reading, writing, or traveling, you can find her on the ocean somewhere, sailing the high tides. Sign up for the mailing list to receive a copy of Only You and find out about her latest releases, giveaways, and more.

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�How could you? You bastard! I will never understand your obsession with that Keezy Fem, but it�s going to be the death of you!�

Regina Salisbury could hear the yelling before she reached the landing of her floor.

Lovely. The neighbors are at it again, she rolled her eyes and walked towards her apartment door.

Regina knew she needed to move into a better neighborhood, especially with a baby on the way, but with the measly paycheck she received every two weeks from her minimum wage job she just couldn�t afford to. Once the little human she was carrying in her womb arrived, Regina knew money would be even tighter.

Her best friend, Ashley O�Rourke, had offered to move her into the luxurious penthouse apartment owned by her family numerous times, but Regina continued to turn her down. The loud crash she heard against her kitchen wall as she entered her shabby apartment had her reconsidering that offer.

Regina�s phone rang, and she smiled when she looked at the caller ID. �Where your ears burning?�

�Huh?� Ashley said.

Regina laughed. �Nothing never mind. What�s up?�

Ashley took a deep breath and started speaking at a million miles an hour. �My family is throwing this huge gala next week and I wanted to make sure you knew about it! You absolutely have to come, you know that, right?�

Regina rolled her eyes again, a soft smile playing on her lips. �Hold on a minute, Ash. Slow down and explain to me what the gala is for and exactly why I must be there. Besides it�s not like I wouldn�t have seen the mention on the front page to the newspaper. You know every time you family throws any kind of party the newspaper is the first to announce it.�

Regina stated as she took a seat at the small table she�d placed in the tiny area of her kitchen.

Ashley chuckled. �I guess you�re right, Gina. Well, this gala is for one of the numerous charities Daddy supports, breast cancer awareness I think, since the theme is pink and white. I�ll let you know for sure as soon as I get that intel. But the reason you must attend is because Grant Thompson will be there, and I happen to know that he needs a date. I ran into him at our favorite little bistro, and we got to talking. I mentioned that you�d be at the gala and would happily play the role of arm candy for the night. His eyes glazed over and he practically drooled when I showed him a picture of you.�

That last part was said in a singsong way, letting Regina know that her attendance was not merely a request but a requirement. Her best friend was completely serious about Regina playing the role of arm candy. She was being voluntold to be there for the handsome, dashing, and filthy-rich Grant Thompson.

The twenty-six-year-old brunette shifted her weight in the chair she was sitting in, listening to the creak it made and the argument that was still raging on in the apartment next door. More things were thrown against the wall, causing thumps to accompany her breathing as she tried to come up with a response that Ashley would except. Regina could hear how important it was for her best friend to have her at the charity gala, but she wasn�t sure if it was so she could play matchmaker or if her company would help the night fly by.

�I will kill you; you bitch!�

The tinkling sound of broken glass made Regina cringe because she knew the ugly sound of flesh hitting flesh would be next. The neighbors hadn�t been in a fight like this in a few weeks and the pregnant woman couldn�t help but wonder which woman it was about this time.

�Gina, are you still there, or did you hang up on me after my Grant Thompson revelation?� Ashley said anxiously bringing Regina�s attention back to her phone conversation.

The pregnant woman shook her head as she answered, knowing there was no way she was going to get out of going to the charity party. �No, Ash, I�m still here. Just listening to my neighbors fight while breaking all their dishes and thinking about my wardrobe, wondering which dress would be the most appropriate to wear when meeting a billionaire mafia boss.�

Ashley let out a disbelieving scoff. �Girl, you know you are just going to be borrowing one of the many ballgowns Daddy is always buying me. Trust me when I tell you I already have the perfect one in mind.�

There was a pause while Ashley thought about something. �Listen, Gina, I have a very serious question to ask you, and I need the truth here. Can you do that for me?�

Regina stood, moving toward her refrigerator, looking for something to put together to eat. �It�s okay, Ash, you can ask me if I�ve seen or spoken with Luck lately. I�m not going to break down into a puddle of blubbering mess just because you bring up his name. The answer to that question is no, I haven�t seen or heard from him since we had lunch three weeks ago when I told him the news about the pregnancy.�

Ashley clicked her tongue in disapproval. �Not that I am one to say I told you so, but I did warn you that no good would come from having sex with Lucas Brasher. But let�s not get into all that, how are you holding up now that you�ve had the brush-off?�

Regina pulled out some ham steak and set it on the counter, turning toward the cabinet where she kept her bread and opening the door. �I�m fine, Ash, really. There are plenty of women who have raised babies on their own with little or no help from the biological fathers throughout the years; I�m pretty sure I can handle this. Besides, like I told you before, we used a condom, so this pregnancy should never have happened. But this is neither here nor there seeing as though The Powers That Be decided I was ready to be a mom at twenty-six-years-old.�

Ashley sighed. �Do you remember in health class how the teacher repeatedly told us that a condom was only ninety-eight percent effective in preventing pregnancy?�

Regina let out a sarcastic laugh, �Of course, I do! I�m not a complete idiot! That�s why I said The Powers That Be decided it was time for me to become a mother. We�ve talked about how much I wanted a family, and even though this may not have been the way I had always envisioned starting one, here it is. In any case, I�m not getting any younger, so I�m going to continue to think of this as a blessing instead of a curse. No matter what happens between now and the time this baby gets here, they are going to know how much they are loved.�

She placed her hand over her still flat stomach, a soft smile on her face as she informed her best friend of seven years how she planned on taking care of the child that was growing inside of her. Regina would never admit it to Ashley, but she was scared shitless of the prospect of raising a child, much less a child on her own. But she would put on a brave face and pretend that she felt much braver than she truly did.

The smile slipped as she remembered the last words Like said to her as he walked away three weeks prior, �How can you even be sure that child is mine?�

Regina stood in front of the full-length mirror in Ashley�s luxurious bedroom, looking at her reflection. The pale pink ballgown that her best friend had picked out for her made her milky-white skin seem a little paler than usual, and her blue hair seemed almost black in the dim light of the room. Running her hands down the length of the bodice, she noticed that it was formfitting enough to garner attention from the men attending the gala but not tight enough to cause her to worry about a wardrobe malfunction in the middle of a dance. The floor-length skirt had a slit that came up to midthigh, showing just enough leg to be flirtatious but nothing that she would be too uncomfortable wearing.

�Damn, girl! I knew you would look stunning in that dress the minute I saw it. Grant won�t know what hit him when he sees you.� Ashley said as she looked over Regina�s reflection standing next to her own.

Regina turned her attention to the reflection so different from her own. �I don�t know, Ash. You don�t know think it makes me look to pale?�

Ashely wrapped her arms around her best friend pulling her into a tight embrace. �Of course not, honey! You are going to be the belle of the ball tonight and I promise you�ll be thanking me for setting you up with Grant by the end of the night.�

Regina pulled away, wiping at the tears that had started falling, �It�s a good thing we hadn�t started on my makeup or you�d be furious with me right now.�

Ashley laughed. �Nonsense! We�d be able to fix you up in no time. Now, tell me, how do I look?�

Regina gave her best friend a watery smile taking in the cream-colored formal gown that caressed the other woman�s figure, squeezing the waist just enough to show how small it was and spreading into a long skirt. Ashley�s caramel colored skin played peek-a-boo in the lace sleeves as she played with her hair waiting for her best friend�s opinion.

�As always, Ash, you look drop dead gorgeous. You�re going to have every man in the place panting to be next to you,� Regina stated.

Moving away from the mirror. �Where did you say your dad found these gowns?�

Ashley turned to look at her best friend. �You know how Daddy is, he likes beautiful things, and he can discover those things anywhere.�

Regina nodded her head in acknowledgment. �Fair enough.�

Taking a deep breath as she looked over the makeup and hair accessories that Ashley had laid out on her bed, Regina could feel the butterflies that had started fluttering in her stomach when she had climbed into her car now flying around as if they were seeking an exit. �What time does the breast cancer awareness gala begin?�

Placing her hand on her abdomen, Regina turned back to her reflection, noting with a small twinge of sadness that this might be the last time she would be able to wear a dress as tight as the one she had on before the swell of a baby bump would be noticeable.

Ashley watched her friend�s movements with a sad look in her eyes. �Wipe that thought from your mind, mama-to-be. You don�t have to worry about that for at least two, maybe, four more months. Now the gala starts at seven, but we won�t be arriving until seven thirty, because all classy women��

�Show up fashionably late,� Regina finished for her friend.

Ashley laughed. �I take it I�ve shared this information with you before?�

Regina tilted her head to the side, pretending to think of an answer. �Oh, only every time I attend one of your galas. I�m ready for you to work on my hair and makeup now. The water works have been suppressed and while I can�t promise that they will stay that way for the whole night, I can promise that they won�t start again anytime soon.�

Ashley walked around her friend, taking in her appearance. �I�m thinking that we�re going to go for a natural look with you, light on the makeup and we should do an updo, not a ponytail really but just enough that it is off the back of your neck. And we can curl a couple tendrils on either side of your face, like a frame that will bring attention to your bright blue eyes. How does that sound?�

Regina smiled at her best friend, this was a side she loved to nurture in Ashley, the side that allowed her to be as creative as she wanted to be. She watched as sparkles seemed to appear in her friend�s dark eyes and the crinkles formed as Ashley smiled. Her caramel color skin seemed to glisten in the light of the room as Ashley moved about, picking out this shade of eyeshadow and that shade of eyeliner. This was a woman on a mission, one that would guarantee a new path in the life of her best friend, though neither of them knew just how much of a change was going to happen when they stepped off the bottom step.

Grant leaned against the wall next to the open bar, taking in the scene before him. He�d been attending O�Rourke�s soirees since the day he invested in the man and his business, but lately he found himself getting bored having the same conversations with the same people at every single one. Grant was looking from something different, exciting even, to capture his attention. Searching the crowded room for a face he�d never seen before he discovered it was the very same people he had socialized with not more than a week before.

Pushing off the wall and making his way to the bar, Grant nodded to the people trying to get his attention but avoided starting any conversations with anyone. He was intent on getting a drink and keeping to himself until his host�s daughter arrived with the tasty morsel she called a best friend. Once Grant had his drink in hand, he turned away from the bar and began to watch the crowd once more, searching for Ashley.

Their conversation at the bistro four days prior had not only piqued his interest, on many levels, about Regina but also lead him to believe that the attractive woman didn�t like to get out much. Ashley had informed the successful businessman that her best friend was coming out of an unhealthy relationship and wasn�t looking for anything serious. Which worked out great for Grant, of course, because he wasn�t looking to change his Most Eligible Bachelor status any time soon.

Moving his gaze from the sea of faces in front of him, it finally settled on the two women who were walking down the stairs to join the fray. Grant and Ashley�s eyes met, and she gave him an encouraging smile. Grant�s gaze moved from Ashley to her companion. He had been watching Regina for some time, hoping to be able to have a full conversation with her. Oh, they�d met before but had never truly talked, because the woman was always in a hurry to get somewhere. So, when Ashley suggested he add Regina as his plus-one for the party he was attending, Grant jumped at the chance.

Grant was used to getting his way and having women throw themselves at him, but Regina was different, and not in a bad way. She was polite when she had to speak with him, but if given the choice, she would keep her distance.

Tonight should be interesting indeed, Grant thought as he watched the women make their way to the bar where he was leaning.

�I should have known you�d position yourself at the bar, Grant,� Ashley said as she stood on her tiptoes to give him a hug and kiss on his cheek.

Grant released her and smiled. �Of course. This is the best vantage point to look over the crowd. You�re looking beautiful, as always, Ashley.�

Ashley giggled. �You make it sound like I never look bad. Let me introduce to my best friend. Grant this is Regina Salisbury, my best friend in the whole world. Regina, this is Grant Thompson, the benefactor who has ensured Daddy�s successes.�

Regina offered her hand to the man standing before her, she had been brought up to be polite, after all, but she didn�t know what Grant would do.

Grant took the offered hand, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he brought it to his lips. �You look lovely, Ms. Salisbury. I have to say I barely recognized you without your uniform. I must tell you, with you on my arm, I will be the envy of every man in the room.�

Regina met his gaze with a serious one of her own as she pulled her hand from his grip. �You�re too kind, Mr. Thompson. It�s especially kind coming from a man who comes into a diner and drops a hundred-dollar bill as a tip for a waitress who only brought you a glass of iced tea.�

Ashley gawked at the scene that was unfolding before her. �The two of you have met before?�

Grant continued to look at Regina as he answered Ashley�s question. �It just so happens that I had the good fortune to have lunch at the Souls Diner the other day, and Regina here was my waitress. She was very sweet and extremely attentive.�

Ashely turned to her best friend, a shocked look on her face and exclaimed. �How come this nugget of information didn�t come up while we were talking on the phone about the gala, Regina? I honestly believe this is the type of information that you would share with your best friend. You know what? Never mind, we�ll talk about this after the party.�

Her annoyed gaze moved between Grant and Regina. �I�m going to go look for Daddy. You two play nice now.�

Ashley spun on her heel and walked away in a huff, clearly upset that Regina hadn�t told her that Grant had been in the diner for a glass of iced tea. Regina couldn�t fathom why Ashley thought having the billionaire mafia boss drinking iced tea in her diner was so important.

Regina watched as her friend bounced off in the direction of the makeshift stage in the middle of the room where Mr. O�Rourke was standing, leaving her alone with the most dangerous and influential man in Chicago. Add all of that with his amazing, good looks, smoldering chocolate eyes and wavy jet-black hair and that spelled trouble for Regina. She was always attracted to the bad boys, dangerous men who called the shots and could end your life with one word. Regina never understood why that type always appealed to her, but she had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with a particular hunger she had deep down; one might even say it was the core of who she was.

Grant offered his arm. �Shall we do some mingling? It looks like Mr. O�Rourke is about to speak, so maybe we should get closer to where he and Ashley are.�

Regina reluctantly placed her hand on the offered arm and turned with the billionaire. �I suppose it wouldn�t hurt to at least make our way to the stage. I�m sure Mr. O�Rourke will be introducing you as the biggest donor to the charity this evening, and we certainly don�t want to miss that.�

Grant chuckled. �Is that chip on your shoulder about the amount of money I have and spend, or do you just not like me in general?�

Regina took a breath to answer his question when he interrupted her. �No, I mean, really, I want to know. Let�s get all of that out of the way while we walk to the stage so we can have a good time tonight, okay?�

As the two of them made their way to the stage and her best friend, Regina thought about Grant�s question. What was it about this man that had her so on edge? Was it his money, or was it the man himself? She didn�t need to think too hard to come up with the answer, it wasn�t the man or the money, but his values and everything he seemed to stand for that Regina had issues with. When Grant stopped walking so he could talk with a fellow businessman, Regina decided to tell him the truth about how she felt. She was hoping that by confronting him in a very public area, she would be able to get her point across without hurting his feelings or invoking his anger.

When Grant had finished his short conversation and returned his attention to Regina, she cleared her throat. �To answer your question, Mr. Thompson, I abhor everything you stand for. That is what this chip on my shoulder, as you so eloquently put it, is about. You have no morals or sense of decency. You walk around this town as if you own it, throwing money at potential problems to make them go away without making a mess. The only thing you care about is whether or not you can buy someone. Oh sure, you donate to charities and nonprofits to make yourself feel better or look good, but in the end, you�re still unethical.�

The businessman who had been walking towards them with an outstretched hand to speak with the billionaire suddenly decided he needed to be elsewhere when Grant�s welcoming smile changed into a cold, calculated look. �Mind your tongue, Ms. Salisbury. You need to ensure that you have all of the facts when speaking about things you know little about, lest you look foolish when you find the popular opinion is dead wrong.�

Regina scoffed and stood her ground, her voice rising slightly in her disbelief. �You�re seriously going to stand there and tell me that I�m wrong, that my facts don�t add up? That�s a ballsy move, even for you, Mr. Thompson.�

Grant gave the waitress an accessing look. �There is a lot more to me than you think, Ms. Salisbury. There are many sides to a person, some that are hidden from the world.�

The billionaire leaned closer to the waitress so he could whisper in the waitress�s ear. �Are you going to tell me that you�re not hiding something? Even from your best friend?�

Regina�s eyes widened in surprise as she stepped back from Grant, her hand moving from his arm. Her startled gaze searched the crowd until they found her best friend.

Ashley waved to the couple and gave Regina a questioning look when she saw how frightened she looked and the space that was between the billionaire and waitress.

The squealing feedback from the microphone drew Regina�s attention away from her best friend and back to the man standing in front of her, helping her regain her composure. �Why, here comes your big introduction now. Shall we join Ashley and her father on the stage?�

Grant watched as Regina and Ashley talked in hushed tones, waiting for Mr. O�Rourke to introduce him, so he could make the announcement he was sure would make his plus-one feel justified in her assumption of his character.

�Without further ado, I would like to introduce to you Mr. Grant Thompson. This man has not only donated the largest amount of money to our breast cancer awareness charity, but he has singlehandedly helped raise five hundred thousand dollars for Feeding America. He has an announcement that he has been dying to share with all of us. Now let�s give a big round of applause for Mr. Grant Thompson!� Mr. O�Rourke�s voice brought Grant�s attention from the women in front of him.

The applause was deafening as Grant accepted the offered microphone and cleared his throat. �Good evening, everyone! Are we having a great time?�

This question was met with whoops and hollers, people stomped their feet to show how much they were enjoying the party.

Grant smiled, slipping into his public speaker persona, encouraged by the cheering he had received. �As Mr. O�Rourke stated, I have an announcement that I�m dying to share with you. But before I do, I need to have Mr. O�Rourke rejoin me on this stage as it concerns him. Let�s give him some encouragement with some applause, shall we?�

The people gathering around the stage clapped harder and screamed louder as if they were attending a rock concert instead of a charity event, but that was all of the encouragement Mr. O�Rourke needed to join Grant on the stage. Mr. O�Rourke waved at the partygoers, a smile lighting up his face as he walked toward the man that had called him back on stage. Taking his place by the billionaire�s side, he used the universal sign to have the crowd calm down.

Once the people had quieted down, Grant cleared his throat once more and spoke into the microphone. �Now that we have the host back up here on the stage I can share the announcement I have been waiting for the last month to share with everyone. I believe we can all agree that breast cancer and feeding the hungry are very important causes, and I am excited to share with you that we not only made our goal for tonight, but we were able to bypass that goal immensely!�

This news was met with thunderous applause and loud shouts. Everyone was happy to hear that the charity gala was a huge hit.

�Quiet down now. Don�t you want to hear my announcement?� Grant said with a chuckle.

Regina watched as the crowd reacted to the billionaire�s words and had to admit to herself how impressive it was for one person to control such a large crowd of people. Maybe she didn�t really have all of the facts concerning his character.

Once the crowd had calmed down, Grant continued with his speech. �As you all know, I am a man that invests in many things and businesses. You may also already know that recently I invested some of my time and money in the business Mr. O�Rourke was trying to get up and running. I�m sure you�ve heard the chatter concerning the Find My Child GPS Locator app, but when you Google it, you haven�t been able to find it, have you? Well, let me explain why that is; the reason you haven�t been able to locate the app is because it�s not quite available. You see, when you start working on something that is sure to be very popular, you need to make sure there are no kinks, so the app is working correctly, patents and copyrights to put into place to soothe the legal aspects. Price is a factor a businessman needs to work out as well because you want people to use your app, so the price needs to be reasonable, but you don�t want to go bankrupt so how does one put a price tag on an app that would be so important to many parents? All of that needs to be taken into consideration before you can release the app or make any kind of announcement.�

Grant began to walk across the stage, looking back at Regina as he did. �Now, while on the business end of things, money has to be used to make sure everything is working properly by hiring the people with the know how to build the app, use all of the tech that is needed to set the app up, and apply it to the app stores that are used for your smartphones. So, where does all of this money come from? Well, it comes from an investor like me, someone who sees the great potential in a lucrative business idea. Can we get the slides started?�

The projector could be heard once it was started, and a slide was showing on the whiteboard behind the men standing on the stage. Grant looked over to Mr. O�Rourke, handing him the microphone. Now that he had pumped the crowd up and had them practically salivating to hear more about the precious app that every doting mother and father were sure download to their cell phones and their child�s phone by release day, it was up to the man who created it to make them purchase it and show them the ins and outs of the product.

Ashley gave her best friend a hug as the billionaire walked towards them. �This is my time to shine, doll. You have a great time with Mr. Delicious.�

Before Regina could say anything, Ashley rushed off in the direction of her father.

Grant appeared seconds later, holding out his hand. �I think we should finish our conversation, don�t you?�

Regina looked at the offered hand as if it were a snake preparing to bite. The last thing she wanted to do was pick up the conversation the two of them had been having before Mr. O�Rourke had introduced him, but what other choice did she have? Maybe if Regina had left during the presentation, she might have been spared the embarrassment of hearing the billionaire tell her how wrong she�d been about his character. Or worse yet, having to apologize for what she had said before he had made his announcement.

But instead of saying any of that, she simply nodded and accepted his hand. �I suppose we should.�

The two stepped off the stage and made their way through the crowd, Grant looking for a place that was not so crowded or loud so they could have a true conversation about the way Regina saw him. As they wove through the crowd, Regina noticed they seemed to be heading towards the stairs. She sent a panicked look over her shoulder toward the stage, but her best friend was too busy pointing to an area on the slide that her father was talking about.

Regina put her best resting bitch face on and looked back at the man leading her through the downstairs portion of her friend�s home. �Just where do you think you are taking me?�

Grant looked back at his companion for the night, an innocent yet thoughtful expression on his face. �I thought somewhere quieter would be better for us to continue the conversation we were having before the announcement. Wouldn�t you agree?�

Regina sighed. �No I would not agree as I would rather not be anywhere alone with you, but I suppose it would be easier for us to talk without having to shout over Mr. Rourke�s presentation for his new smartphone app.�

The two climbed the stairs, and Grant lead her into the first bedroom on the right and flicked on the light switch, making sure the door clicked shut behind them.

The billionaire leaned against the door and heaved a heavy sigh, enjoying the silence for a moment before speaking. �This is much better.�

Grant moved further into the room, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the first button of his cream-colored button up shirt. His suit jacket was already undone and billowed slightly as he walked with a confidence that Regina was almost envious of. The power that was radiating off of him had the breath catching in her throat and Regina�s eyes widened when she realized just who was standing in the room with her

�I thought all of you had died off,� Regina whispered as she moved to have a seat on the bed before her suddenly weak legs stopped holding her weight.

Grant stopped his pacing long enough to look at Regina with curiosity. �I�m sorry, Ms. Salisbury, what did you just say?�

The waitress shook her head in disbelief. �I said I thought you had all died off. I mean, isn�t hard to remain with no worshippers?�

The billionaire gave her a quick knowing smile. �What exactly do you seem to be picking up on, Ms. Salisbury?�

Regina stood, tired of being fearful of the deity in front of her. �Cut the shit, Enki. You know as well as I do that supernatural beings are able to pick up on one another. I just haven�t been in the presence of a God in many years. Especially an Ancient Mesopotamian God. What the Hells are you doing in Chicago?�

The God laughed, �I prefer the name Grant Thompson now, thank you. Enki is just so old, and you�re right there aren�t worshippers of our kind anymore.�

Grant looked at the door they had just entered, and he spoke quietly. �But you saw how the crowd reacted to me. If the other Gods and Goddesses, of all the faiths not just Mesopotamian, had listened to me before completely fading away they would still be here just as I am.�

Regina couldn�t argue with the God. He may not have the religious worshippers that he he�d had in ancient times, but the people of modern times were still worshipping him, just for different reasons. Grant may not be worshipped as the God of Water that he once was, but he had found a way to stay relevant in modern times. And it would appear as if he was doing a damn good job of it.

Grant moved to stand in front of the waitress. �I�m going to ask you once more, how you figured out who I am?�

Moving as close as he could to the waitress, he invaded her personal space and took a deep breath. �I sense nothing coming from you.�

Regina gave Grant a cold and calculated look, her blue eyes flashing. �Step back, Grant. I�m tired of playing games. Being among the humans for so long has made you forget your manners.�

The waitress refused to take a step back, denying the God the satisfaction he was looking for in trying to intimidate her. �It�s not my fault that you can�t sense what I am. But let me ask you this question, would you say there was an instant attraction between us when we first met at the Souls Diner?�

Grant took an involuntary step back at how forward Regina�s question was. She hadn�t come across as a woman who would come out and ask such a question. But then again, he had only been with her in a crowd. The God tilted his head to the side, thinking about her question. Souls Diner was always busy, especially during the lunch rush, but he had to admit he had purposely sat in her section. The minute Grant had seen Regina he knew he had to have her. The God had never been a possessive being but there was something about the waitress that made him want to mark her as his own.

Grant gave her a curt nod. �Yes, there was an attraction. But you are a very beautiful woman. What does this have to do with our current conversation? Not to mention the fact that we were supposed to continuing the conversation we had started downstairs, which is the reason we came up here in the first place.�

Regina gave him a mischievous smile. �While that is true, and we will continue that conversation, it is your own fault for letting your power leak out the way it did.�

The waitress returned to her seat on the bed and watched as Grant went back to his pacing. �I�ll tell you why the attraction is there and the reason it is so strong. It�s not one-sided, Grant, I want to let you know that.�

The God stopped his pacing and gave the waitress a heated look, moving towards her. �Wait a minute, let me tell you why it�s there and how I knew who you were as soon as I felt your power before we decide to act on that passion building between us.�

With a disappointed look, Grant stopped moving and gestured that Regina should continue quickly, before he decided to act on the passion first and find out the reason later.

Regina took a deep breath. �All right, with you being the God of Water I am sure you�ve heard of us but was under the impression that all of us had faded away as most of the supernatural beings have either done or want the world to think they have done. I�m an Undine, a water nymph or water elemental. However, you want to see me. We have not faded, but rather decided to either live in the water or take on human form as best we can and live among humans. All of the Elementals of made these decisions because we can�t fade, not like the Gods and Goddesses. Truth be told, no supernatural being can truly fade forever, including the Gods and Goddesses. That is why the Fairy Hills were built, as a safe haven for all of us from the human world when we can�t take anymore.�

Grant closed the space between the two of them in two steps and wrapped Regina in a tight embrace, leaning his head to claim her mouth with his own. The heat in the kiss was enough to make the Water Elemental steam and the God of Water moaned with a passion he hadn�t felt in centuries.

When they broke the kiss, the billionaire flashed a bright smile at the waitress. �I have been dying to do that all night. Now that the truth is out, I think we can deduce that all conversation is over.�

Regina laughed and ran her fingers through his wavy jet-black hair. �Not quite yet , my dear. There is one more thing I need to tell you, because I am sure Ashley didn�t get around to telling you about it when she was talking me up to you.�

Grant gave her a questioning look but set her back on her feet. �Well, I can�t think of anything that Ashley didn�t cover when we were discussing you before the gala but if you insist on telling me this tidbit then please make it quick. I can�t wait to claim you, Regina. I have been patient for months now and my patience is growing thin.�

Regina�s hand drifted to her stomach, knowing she needed to inform Grant of the baby growing inside her but not wanting to ruin what could be a great relationship before it started. �Grant, I�m pregnant. It was not supposed to happen, and we were so careful when we had sex, but I ended up getting pregnant anyway. I felt you should know what you were getting into if you are being serious about wanting to be with me.�

Grant let out a roar of laughter, his face glowing with is joy. �Is that all? Honey, that is nothing. A baby is blessing. Especially for Elementals.�

Regina gave him a small smile. �Unfortunately, the baby is only going to be half Water Elemental and the father doesn�t even believe he is the father.�

The billionaire smiled and took the waitress back into his arms, kissing her forehead. �Then he doesn�t need to be in the child�s life. Don�t worry, Regina, you and the baby will be taken care of and want for nothing. The first thing we need to do is move you out of that apartment.�

He laughed at the surprised look on her face. �Yes, Ashley told me about your living conditions.�

Before she could argue with him about moving, Grant kissed her and pulled her body into his, reminding her of how much he wanted her. The two quickly shed their clothes and made their way to the bed, finally exploring each other�s bodies. When Grant entered her, Regina thought she would pass out from the feel of his cock sliding into her.

Moaning in pleasure, Regina wrapped her legs around the lower half of his body, urging him to enter her more with the heels of her feet on his ass. Grant held himself up on his upper arms, looking into his lover�s eyes as he picked up speed. He could feel the orgasm moving closer and he had known the first time the two of them were together was going to be quick, especially since it was his work partner�s home with a party going on just downstairs.

Regina cried out as the orgasm hit her, her juices flowing over Grant�s cock and down his balls. Grant came right after she did, the stars floating in his sight letting him know how much he was filling her.

Grant rolled to the right side of the bed, trying to catch his breath. �Talk about your quickie.�

Regina laughed. �Well, there is a party going on downstairs and we do happen to be in your business partner�s home. Believe me when I say that Ashley will come looking for us if we don�t reappear downstairs in the next ten minutes. A quickie is about all we were going to be able to pull off.�

Grant propped up on his elbow looking down at his lover, �I want to do this again, very soon. And I promise it won�t be quick.�

Regina stood up, looking for her clothing. �I certainly hope not. If you�re this quick every time we may need to rethink our arrangement.�

As she was pulling her dress back on, Regina looked at Grant still lying on the bed in all his glory. �Get up, slowpoke! I�m not kidding when I say Ashley will come looking for us.�

A knock at the door accompanied the words Regina had spoken, followed by a voice. �Gina? Are you in there? Did you and Grant get into an argument? I�m so sorry, I thought you would have a great time with him tonight. Let me in, Gina. I can hear you moving around.�

Regina�s eyes widened as her gaze moved from the door to the bed. It was empty! Grant had disappeared and while the bed looked as if someone had used it for a tumble there was no evidence that it had been the waitress and the billionaire.

Checking her makeup and hair in the mirror over the dresser by the door, Regina pulled the door open. �Everything�s fine, Ash. Grant and I just came upstairs to talk where we could hear each other, and we didn�t want to interrupt your dad�s presentation.�

Ashley stepped into the room and looked around. �Where is he then?�

Regina smiled. �He went to get us something to drink. Why don�t you head back downstairs, and I will see you in a few minutes, okay? I have some news I want to share with you.�

Ashley nodded and headed out the door, her eyes shining. �I�ll see in you five minutes. I hope it�s good news!�

Regina closed the door after Ashley left and turned back to the bed, looking for Grant. �Where the Hells did you go?�

A door on the left side of the bed opened and Grant stepped out, completely dressed and looking as gorgeous as if he hadn�t just had sex. �I was getting cleaned up in the bathroom. Figured I would give you a few minutes with your best friend. Are you ready to head downstairs?�

Regina just nodded and opened the bedroom door again. The two moved out of the room and down the hallway to join the party that was in full swing downstairs. Regina couldn�t wait to tell Ashley that she was moving from her apartment and that she and Grant were together.

Like most authors, Elvira Bathory always loved to read. When she was younger, she had always been creative and dreamed of being the next big thing in music but found she didn�t make the cut for that creative outlet. So, she turned to other means of creativity. She started spinning worlds and fell in love with the idea of being a writer. When she turned 28 years old, she decided it was time for her to settle down and married the man who had been pursuing her for years. Shortly after the two got married they started a family and Elvira decided it was time to dust off those old notebooks that contained her creative words so she would be able to stay home with her children. Five children later and Elvira took a chance, submitting some of her worlds wherever she could. Despite the fact that she hasn�t been published for very long she hasn�t slowed down in creating her worlds. She writes in the erotic genre, with a paranormal flair. She prefers to write about shifters, using animals that have never been used before, or haven�t been used that often, and she loves delving into the research to make her characters come to life. She�s been known to write a contemporary romance or two but just has more fun adding the paranormal aspect to all of her work.

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12 Years Ago

�My boy!� Father opened his arms, inviting me in for a hug as I walked through the front door with Vincent following close behind.

It was my eighteenth birthday, the day I�d been waiting on for so long, the day I�d finally be free of the man. I�d spent the last few hours at a local coffee shop, trying to convince Vincent this was the best move for us. And though he wasn�t excited about the idea, he went along with it anyway. He didn�t want to lose his cushy lifestyle, but I was grateful when he decided he was even more resistant to the thought of losing me.

I gave my father a wary stare before accepting the hug. He wrapped his large arms around me and patted me on the back. �Today is a special day for you, my son. Today is the day you become a man.� He guffawed and spun us around, guiding me to the dining area. �I had the chef make you your favorite dinner, Lydia brought over the finest scotch you�ll ever taste, and yes my boy, you�ll be enjoying every bit of being man tonight.�

I grimaced at the statement but continued on, rubbing my hands together as if this was the best news I�d had all night. Instead, I wanted to just end it right then and there, and in hindsight, I wish I had.

He sat me at the head of the table, a space usually designated for him, and sat my brother beside me. Across the table from me sat a girl I�d never seen before. She looked completely out of place, dressed in an elegant gown that hung loosely on small delicate shoulders. She looked young, but so did most women in high school. It was the one thing I found unattractive about them. I preferred older women, women with a lot more experience than anyone my age could bring to a relationship. But looking at the girl now, I couldn�t help but admit she was beautiful. Her skin was a golden brown. It was a perfect contrast to the silky black curls that graced her small shoulders. And when she peaked up at me with those beautiful hazel eyes, my heart almost dropped in my chest.

I thought back to every class I�d ever attended, wondering how I could have missed her. But before I could think any further, a plate was set before me and my brother.

Portabello ravioli with a rich mushroom sauce. It was hardly my favorite but my brother�s eyes lit up as they devoured the plate before him. As usual, father had mixed us up, but that wasn�t uncommon for a man raising twins. Either way, I sunk my fork into a piece of pasta and brought it to my mouth, before glancing up at the girl again. No plate had been set in front of her, but I could tell she was hungry by the way she glanced over at our plates with longing in those rich hazel eyes.

�Why isn�t she eating?� I asked my father, who�d taken a seat opposite Vincent.

He shoveled a forkful of pasta in his mouth, chewing loudly as he replied. �Her father owes me a great debt. We�ll talk about that later.�

�Surely we can give her something,� I said, dropping my fork.

The cling of the metal against the porcelain plate made the girl jump and I couldn�t help thinking about how odd that was. If I were honest, the entire thing was odd. It wasn�t like Father to bring his work to the dinner table, especially on a special occasion but there she was.

I picked up my plate and stood.

Before I could take a step, my father grabbed my arm in a tight grip. �Don�t.�

�It�s my birthday right?�

He gave me a nod and released my arm. �You�re probably right. She should eat. She�ll need the energy.�

Those words didn�t sit right with me at the time but I shoved them away as I walked across the room and deposited my plate in front of her.

She shook her head the instant it hit the table.

�I insist.�

She pushed the plate away from her, but I could tell it took a great deal of effort on her part. She glanced over to Father before lowering her gaze.

�Just take the damn food. The man insisted,� my father said.

When she hesitated, Father hit the table with his fist, hard enough the damn thing trembled.

�Eat the fucking food.�

This time she didn�t even hesitate. She pulled the plate close, picked up my discarded fork and stabbed at a piece of pasta.

I frowned at the terrified look in her eyes as she took another bite of food into her small mouth. My father always had a way of scaring the shit out of people but I couldn�t imagine anything she could have done to deserve this treatment. She looked sweet, innocent, like the kind of person who would give you their last scrap of food if you asked.

Forcing my eyes away from her, I returned to my seat as my father summoned the server to prepare me another plate. But when it was delivered, I found I was no longer hungry. Instead, my gaze continued to shift between Father and the girl. Father gave me a satisfied grin, one that told me he appreciated the attention I was giving the girl, and it made my gut clench. There was something sinister in his demeanor, something cold and calculating but I pushed that thought away. Regardless of his plans, my brother and I were leaving that night, even if we had to sneak away to do so.

My mind was on our mission as we went through the motions for the evening. Father produced the bottle of bourbon and filled a glass before setting it before me. In no mood to argue, I consumed the disgusting liquid, trying my best to keep it down. How anyone could enjoy it was beyond me, at least until I began to feel the effects of it.

�That�s some pretty good shit, isn�t it son?� Father asked, pouring me another glass.

I nodded my approval and raised my glass to my brother, a silent cheers to our future away from Father, free to do as we pleased. Vincent never touched his glass. Instead, he sat there looking every bit as uncomfortable as the girl on the opposite end of the table.

�Vincent, I think it�s time for you to head up to bed. There are things I�d like to discuss with Vic.� Father stood from his seat and walked around me toward my brother. Vincent stood and hugged him, casting me a wary glance. I knew he was concerned about our plans for the evening and hoped I�d change my mind, but I wouldn�t. Not if it meant Vincent would be able to live a more fulfilling life outside of my father�s criminal enterprise.

I tossed him a meaningful glance before he gave me his back and exited the room, his shoulders slumped forward. I knew he was afraid and he had every right to be. Father was a mean son of a bitch but I added that to the growing list of reasons we needed to leave.�

Once Vincent was gone, I stood from my own seat, pushing it back under the table. �I�m tired. I think I�ll head up too.��

�Nonsense,� Father said with a chuckle that caused his large frame to shake. �Your night has just begun my son.�

He waved the girl over, using his other hand to clap me on the back. She stood from her seat, dutiful yet timid. I could see a sheen of tears moisten her eyes as she followed his instructions. Once she was at his side, she lowered her gaze toward her feet, placing her hands behind her back.�

�June, this is Victor. You will show him a good time tonight.�

She gave a tight nod, her hazel eyes meeting mine briefly, and for a moment I thought I saw fear in them. That fear flitted away as quickly as it came, replaced with a blank stare that belied the slight tremble of her lower lip.�

�I really am tired,� I said, as her gaze slid back to the floor.�

She relaxed at those words and for the first time that evening, I realized she�d been tense the entire time. I wondered what my father had in mind but quickly dismissed that thought. No matter what it was, those plans would be ruined.�

�Victor, you�re being rude to our guest, a guest whose father owes me a great deal of money. June here has agreed to show you a decent time in exchange for her father�s life. The least you could do is be hospitable.�

I�m not sure whether it was the alcohol or the harsh tone of his voice that made me agree to it, but whatever it was, I wanted to get it over with. I had no doubt Vincent was in his room, gathering up everything he needed to survive the next few days on the run so I needed to make this quick.�

I gave Father a nod.

�Ha! I�ll make a man of you yet.� He walked over to the bar cart in the corner of the room and picked up a glass decanter and two glasses. Setting them on the dining room table, he filled them both before handing them to us.�

June took the glass with hands that trembled so violently I was afraid she�d spill her drink. Father must have noticed this as well because he shoved a beefy finger in her direction.

�You better not waste one drop. This bourbon is worth more than your entire family and I�ll see to it��

Before he could continue, she raised the glass to her full lips and emptied it, the tremble all but forgotten. With a smile, he reached for her glass, plucking it from her hands before refilling it. Handing it back to her, he gave her a grin that showed he was impressed. If I was being honest, I was also impressed. His bourbon was harsh on the throat and chest, yet she took it down easily, without complaint. I wondered where she�d learned to drink like that but that thought passed quickly as my father passed me a questioning glance.�

I knew what that look meant. No son of his would be outdone by some chick. I lifted the glass to my lips and the acrid smell nearly had me choking as it did every time I drank. But fuck it. I�d already emptied a few glasses earlier and he was right. If she could do it, so could I. I emptied my glass and handed it back to him for a refill, knowing at this point I�d be far too drunk to carry out the plans I�d made with Vincent. I shook away that thought. Drunk or not, we were leaving and there wasn�t a damn thing he could do about it.�

He refilled the glass before handing it to me, his eyes darting between June and me. �I�m going to leave you two alone. Maybe you can give her a tour of the house, Victor? After all, I�m sure she�ll never have the pleasure of enjoying the finer things in life again after today.�

I flinched at the hateful tone as he stalked out of the dining room, leaving us there alone.�

Thinking back on that night, I�d been a fool. I had no clue of his plans, no clue of the lengths he�d go to earn my loyalty, no clue of a depravity my father wanted me to commit to. But now, thinking back on the blood and tears of that night, along with the effect it had on my brother, I wish I would have killed him instead of trying to run. At least then my brother would still have his mind and our girl would never have been hurt.

They say one moment could set the course of the rest of your life.�

One moment.

One choice.

One thing that felt so insignificant and fleeting at the time, yet has made a profound mark on your life. A moment I couldn�t escape, no matter how hard I�ve tried. I wanted to save my brother, to drag him from the clutches of the man we called father, a man so depraved his evil had darkened our lives for years. To keep my brother away from the life, away from the darkness that pressed upon me daily. The dark tasks laid at my feet. The sight of life slipping from a dying man�s eyes after I�d pulled the trigger, shredding me of any humanity I had left.�

I didn�t want that for him, yet I�d dragged him into my world at the weakest moment of my life, the moment I�d done the one thing there was no coming back from.

I looked over at Vincent, noticing his quick intake of breath as he watched the object of our affections strip out of her clothes and step into a small shower. His gaze lingered for moments after she was hidden from our view.

He turned his dark gaze on me, sweeping a hand through his equally dark waves he usually wore slicked away from his face. Now, it was a mess atop his head, lacking the usual polish he�d been so fond of. �Are you sure you want to go through with this? Once we cross that line we can never go back.�

I huffed out a rugged breath, pulling the binoculars from him and setting it on the arm of the couch. Were I honest, I wasn�t sure of anything anymore, not after everything we�d already done to keep our woman safe.�

I glanced about the apartment, thinking of the millions we�d already sunk into the plan. The previous owner, a slum lord, had allowed the building to crumble around him, content in his posh upscale apartment while his tenants were forced to deal with shoddy electrical work, crumbling stucco, and a large rat infestation. Considering he�d been the only one shady enough to rent to them, most who were drug addicts or felons, they continued to pay their rent without complaint until we acquired the building nearly a year ago. Samson owed my father a considerable amount of money, a debt that while advantageous for us, left him without a dime to his name and I couldn�t care less about the asshole.�

I thought back on the night we forced him to sign over the deed. The building, even in its dilapidated state was worth three times the amount of his debts, and he�d hoped to cut a deal. He�d even offered up his seventeen year daughter to solidify the deal, willing to sell her if it meant keeping at least a portion of his wealth. He�d deemed his cushy lifestyle worth saving while his daughter could rot in hell as far as he was concerned and it had taken everything in me not to put a bullet in his brain. Vincent had no such reservations as he raised his gun and fired - the first bullet causing the man to bend forward and cup his dick as blood spurted from the wound, the next sending him into oblivion as it drilled through his skull. As the man laid dead, his body crumpled in a pool of blood and brain matter, Vincent, the crazy fucker he was, reached into his own pants, yanked out his dick and pissed on the man.

Without a word, he tucked his cock back into his pants and pulled out his cell phone to call a cleaning crew. With a coldness I�d rarely heard from him, he barked his orders, giving the crew very specific instructions. �And make sure you deposit a nice lump sum of money into his wife�s account,� he demanded, ending the call.

I shook my head at the memory, my eyes glancing over the only apartment we�d renovated so far. Upgrading the building had taken a considerable amount of money, money we�d had no problem parting with if it meant we�d be able to keep our woman safe, but it had nearly wiped us out. That and the money we�d spent to relocate the previous occupants.�

The apartment was huge, taking up the entire top floor of the building. With eight bedrooms and ten bathrooms, an indoor pool, a gym, and a theater, there was more than enough to space to keep everyone happy. Our guards took up residence in six of the bedrooms located on the south side of the apartment while we made a comfortable living space of the north side. The large livingroom opened to an equally large eat-in kitchen with stainless steel appliances and dark wooden cabinets.�

A smile tugged at my lips as I looked over everything. We�d had the space decorated with her in mind, knowing one day just watching her wouldn�t be enough. One day we�d claim her and if everything went well, tonight would be the night.

�I�m sure. Is everything in place?�

Vincent pinned me with an exasperated look. �Since when have I let you down, brother?�

Never. Even in his craziness he�d been meticulous about everything. He�d already trained the guards and set up accounts for their families should something happen to them. They knew the risks they were taking and were more than willing to put their lives on the line for us. Still, we needed to ensure they had no reason to cross us. He�d laid out all the rules, hired all the staff required to keep her safe and comfortable. At least as comfortable as we could considering she had no idea what we were up to, or even that we existed.�

�The invitation?� I asked.

�Bran assured me it will be delivered in an hour. Do you really think she�ll go along with this?�

The uncertainty in his voice had me wondering the same thing. Were it up to me, we�d play the long game with her, starting with seeking out her favorite spots to hang out and slowly giving her a chance to get to know us. But with my father�s men getting closer to discovering her whereabouts, we had to move quickly. Vincent had drafted a proposal he was certain she couldn�t refuse. With her mother in the hospital, the medical bills were piling up and her waitressing gig hadn�t been enough to cover the costs, even with the large sums we�ve contributed to that bill ourselves. The proposal was simple, one night in exchange for five hundred grand, enough to cover the medical bills and leave her with enough to make her comfortable for a while. Sex was purely optional.

Without much thought, she�d agreed to the terms.

An ache rose in my chest as I thought about what we�d done, what had led us to this point of desperation. One act of kindness I�d shown had taken everything away from this woman years ago, and now, once again, I found myself in a difficult situation.�

�I�m probably overthinking it,� Vincent said when he�d grown tired of waiting for a response. A smile curved his lips. �We do, however, have another matter that needs our immediate attention.�

I quirked a brow at him. �And what would that be?�

Vincent stepped away from the window and walked past me into the kitchen. Dragging out a bottle of vodka from the cabinet, he set out two glasses and filled them to the brim. Whatever it was, it was serious, considering the amount of alcohol he poured into the glass. Someone was going to die or end up in the hospital with at least a few broken bones.�

He approached me, handed me a glass and took his seat on the couch, pushing one arm over the back of it. He raised his glass before taking down almost half of it in one swallow. While most assumed he drank before every kill as a way to cope with what he was doing, I knew the truth of it. Something my father had done to him after I�d defied him was too much for him to bare. He�d never been the same after that, his mind delving into the darkest corners to escape or embrace the horrors he�d seen. I didn�t know which it was but he seemed to love the darkness and I�d support him either way.

�A certain chef crossed the line today.�

So the fucker finally grew some balls. What a shame. I couldn�t say I was surprised. We�d bugged the place the day June was hired to work there and watching the way he�d treated her already had us on edge. But there was rules in place that prevented us from taking action. So long as he continued to line Father�s pockets, he was reasonably safe. That was until he crossed the line.

Though I hated to complain about trivial things, especially after all I�d been through, I had to admit, today had been a really bad day. I was pulled from my sleep by my phone ringing incessantly in the quiet room, its sound bouncing from the walls and causing my head to ache. I�d stumbled out of bed, twisting my ankle in the process. The sun hadn�t even begun to shed its rays through my window, meaning whoever it was felt their reasons for calling was important enough to drag me from my sleep and that could only be one person.�

Using the light from the display to guide me, I made my way to the phone, wincing as a sharp pain crept its way from my ankle up my leg. I�d be limping for the rest of the day or week, depending on how much damage I�d caused. I picked up the phone from the vanity, pressed the display to accept the call and pulled it to my ear. As I�d suspected, it was Nurse Daily, calling me with news of my mother. My heart raced in my chest as she gave me the news. If my mother couldn�t get a transplant in the next week, I�d lose her forever.

I ended the call. Though I�d expected the news, I�d hoped I had time to come up with enough money to cover the surgery our insurance refused to cover. They thought her a lost cause given her chances of living a full life after the surgery were slim to none. At the least, she�d survive another year before inevitably meeting her maker. At most, she�d struggle through the next ten years barely holding on, but she�d be alive. Either way I�d have to say goodbye to the only family I had left after my father was taken from me, but I wasn�t ready to lose her. Not yet. Not when the thought of being alone caused my palms to sweat and a lump to form in my throat. So what if she had to suffer? She�d been the reason my father was no longer around, and as heartless as it sounded, she owed me.�

I tossed the phone back on the vanity before reclaiming my spot on the bed. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn�t go back to sleep. Not with the anxiety over my mother�s condition and the memories of my father flowing freely through my head. I stared at the wall blindly, allowing visions of my father to consume me. I remembered everything about him.�

The way he�d smile the moment he walked through the front door after a long day of work.

The way he�d cherished every moment he had with me and Momma.�

And the way he�d make brought light to every dark spot in our lives.�

My father was my everything, even if he�d chosen the wrong woman for his wife. Where her greed and selfishness brought us to ruin, his hard work and dedication saw us prosper. I could still see his face, his rich brown eyes beneath bushy dark brows and salt and pepper hair cut short to his scalp and faded on both sides. True to his Mexican heritage, his skin was brown as if kissed by the sun. I could still see his gentle smile, punctuated by two dimples. I could hear his deep laughter roaring through the house, echoing off the walls as I regaled him with tales of my childhood angst. He�d always made it a point to steer me from my darkness, to bring light to everything I�d endured and he�d succeeded in doing just that.�

I could still smell his cologne as it wafted around me, encasing me in the scent I�d come to know as safety, love, and acceptance. Where my mother had chastised me for being a tomboy, my father had no such inclinations. To him, I was perfect the way I was and he�d made it a point to embrace all of my many phases.�

Hatred rumbled in my gut for the mother who laid on her death bed, fighting for a life she didn�t deserve. Were I not afraid of navigating this life alone, I would�ve pulled the plug on her a long time ago. But as it was, I couldn�t bring myself to do so. Not when it meant I�d have no one left, and not when I knew my father would be disappointed in that choice.�

It was for that reason I�d dragged myself from my bed, took a quick shower, tugged a comb through my course dark hair, and slipped into my uniform. Waitressing barely paid the bills but at Marcia�s, the tips were good enough to get me by.

I went through my shift on autopilot, smiling at the guests, flirting when the need arose and doing my best to force my customers to part with enough money to get me through the day. When the shift was over, I counted my tips in the safety of a bathroom stall, making sure to pocket at least a hundred before carrying the rest to my boss.

His full lips curled into a smile as he counted the bills I�d collected.�

�You comped the couple at the bar, and you�ll be covering that with your tips.� He counted out sixty of the hundred I�d given him, his fat fingers too anxious to pocket money I�d earned.�

�You also owe me for that day you took off two weeks ago,� he said, taking another twenty from the pile.

By the time he was finished prattling off a list of my offenses, I had fifteen dollars left of the hundred I gave him. I pocketed the money with a grimace. Had I given him the full amount of my tips, they�d be stripped bare until he handed me the same fifteen dollars he just did.�

I spun away from him, pointing my feet toward the exit before taking a step towards it. A beefy hand reached out and grabbed my wrist, spinning back so fast I stumbled forward into a soft chest. His arms snaked around my waist as he pulled me closer, grinding his hips forward. If his stomach were flat, I�m sure I would�ve felt the evidence of his arousal pressing into me as one hand fell to cup my ass, giving it a harsh squeeze.

�How long do you plan on playing these games with me, June?� he asked, using the hand that wasn�t squeezing my ass to grip my chin and force me to look at him.

I straightened myself, pushing from his arms as my eyes met his. Fury radiated from me so thick I began to tremble from the weight of it.�

�Don�t touch me,� I sneered, slapping his hands away and running my hands over my clothes.�

One corner of his lips tugged up, his eyes raking over me in a salacious show of appreciation before focusing on my breasts. I bristled under his scrutiny, bile pushing in my throat as I imagined his filthy hands on my body. Swallowing it down, I gave him an impassive stare. He loved my reactions to him, the way my hands trembled and my body slunk away from him. To him, I was a scared lamb that would do anything to keep myself safe from him and he was a predator, waiting, creeping beneath the cover of brush until he found his opening to attack. To me, he repulsed me. Sweat stained his white tank top a yellow so dark it was almost brown as it stretched over the mass of him. His stomach hung over a pair of tight-fitting jeans that clung to his bulk for dear life. How his wife could stand to touch him, I didn�t know. I could only imagine he�d took from her the same way he would take from me given the opportunity. He�d get no opportunity from me.

�I�m growing tired of this little game of cat and mouse.� He took a step toward me, invading my space. �While I enjoy the chase, I think you and I both know this will inevitably lead to you beneath my sheets. After all, you need this job more than I need you.�

A week ago, I would have coward beneath his harsh gaze, tried to come up with some placating remark to get him to back off while still dangling him on that string enough to keep my job. Today, however, I had an out. Though it wasn�t an out I was particularly happy with, it was an out all the same. I allowed my mind to drift back to the proposition literally laid at my doorstep. Two men, brothers, wanted to spend the night with me, wanted me to be open to a night of consensual sex and courtship for a large sum of money, money that would take me out of this place and set me up to be more self sufficient. Because that�s what I needed more than anything. I had everything taken from me. My life laid in tatters from the moment my mother forced my father to make a bad deal before she forced him to trade my innocence to cover her crimes. I haven�t been innocent since and if giving my body for a night could end my suffering�fuck it. I�d do what I had to do to make ends meet and change my life around for the better.

I stabbed him in the chest with my finger, stepping forward and backing him away from me. �You may think I owe you some sort of gratitude for keeping me off the books, and allowing me to work here without documenting me. While you held up your end of the deal, I�ve held up mine. I�m the hardest worker you have here. I�ve gone above and beyond since stepping into this filthy establishment. I owe you gratitude for what you�ve done but I owe you nothing above that. My work has seen this place thrive. The nights I�ve spent cleaning up the place, decorating it, making it somewhere people would love to spend their waking moments devouring good food. I trained your waitstaff to be more proficient. It was my work that took this place from being a hole-in-the-wall dive to something anyone would be proud of. I won�t give this place anything else. If you want to fire me because I won�t slink into your bed and allow you to put your disgusting hands on me, fine. I fucking quit. Fuck you and fuck whatever hole you crawled out of.�

With that, I turned away from him and exited the diner. Fuck him. Benji Marcia would never get the best of me. As the afternoon sun bore into my flesh, I knew now I had no choice but to take the proposition. One night, at the mercy of two men and my mother�s medical bills would be paid and my future would be set. But was that enough? I�d agreed to give it some thought, agreed to allow them to set their meeting place, in public of course, but that didn�t mean I was entirely safe. Anything could happen.

I walked down the block, allowing the gentle breeze to wrap me up in its warm caress, the sun to beat down on me as I made my way to my home. And once I got home, it clicked for me. Before, my mother was wiling to give up my body to fix her issues, to save her from her greed. Now, I had the chance to use my body to do something more. To gain freedom. I felt the world pressing in on me, felt the breathes against my neck as I was hunted down. My boss had been a godsend to me, allowing me to work off the books to keep the wrong people from discovering where I was. But it hadn�t been enough. I felt death creeping in on me, ready to wrap me in its cold embrace every day I ventured outside of my home. My mother had been taken into the hospital under a false name but soon enough, the monsters that lurked in the dark would find me. I needed to move. I needed to create miles between me and those demons and the money offered me would do just that. It was enough to change me and my mother�s identities, to move to a small town where no one would find us as I built a life for myself. To ensure her safety.�

One night could change all of that for me and I was willing to sacrifice anything to make it so.

Tonight was the night and holy fuck did the thought of finally having June with us have my cock hard. I didn�t know whether to scream, laugh, or jerk myself off as I thought of all the delicious ways I�d play with her once she was finally ours. But I settled for neither. After all, we had a situation far more pressing to deal with beforehand. A situation that would end in blood.

A smile curved my lips as I thought about showering myself in the blood of the man who thought it a good idea to touch what didn�t belong to him. I could already feel the sticky warm feel of it coating my hands, splattering across my face as I dug my knife into his throat. I wondered if I should show up to our date with it, a mark of honor for defending her honor. Maybe she�d fuck me, allow my blood-stained hands to slide across her soft skin, leaving trails of it on her smooth flesh as I buried my cock inside her. I quickly shook that thought away. No, the little mouse probably wouldn�t want to be tainted with even a piece of that bastard after all he�d put her through and I couldn�t blame her.

Victor guided the car into the parking lot of Marcia�s before cutting the engine. Desire raked its claws over me as thoughts of Benji pleading for his life as I toyed with him came flooding into my mind. I loved the game. He�d beg and cry with snot running from his nose and tears flooding his fat cheeks, bringing up every single thing he could to get us to back off. He�d offer anything, though we all knew he had nothing to offer. His greed turned what used to be a respectable diner into filth I wouldn�t even allow my worst enemies to dine at. And were it not for the drugs and prostitutes he�d dealt on the side, the place would have been shut down years ago.

We stepped through the glass doors, a buzzer announcing our entrance as I pushed through the dining area without a care in the world. Victor was all business, his poker face firmly in place, but me, I was trembling with excitement. For Benji�s slight, I was granted permission to play, and I couldn�t fucking wait.�

I patted the duffle bag I carried in with me. It held all sorts of tools I planned to use on him and I was particularly interested in the drill. I�ve always wondered how deep I�d need to drill into someone before they pissed and shit in their pants and today, I�d find out.�

Victor passed me a glare that told me to keep myself in line, at least until we were able to get a bit of privacy, but I couldn�t wait. Not when the smell of dirty grease and body odor assaulted my nose, and the grime collecting on the walls made me feel sick to my stomach. How anyone could eat in such a disgusting establishment, I wasn�t sure. But I did know most of the men seated at their tables hadn�t come for the food. They�d come for the number 1 special - Fifty dollars for a greasy burger with a side of head, the number 2 special - one hundred dollars for a side salad with a side of cocaine and cunt, or the number 3 special - one grand for your choice of any drug along with a willing participant to act out all your darkest desires. From my understanding, the participants weren�t always so willing and that alone was enough to make me want to kill the bastard. Lucky for him, Benji paid my father a hefty price to keep his establishment open, and we�d allowed it to continue. That was until he�d set his sights on the wrong waitress.

Is it wrong to say I was giddy as the diners rushed to finish their meals and vacate the building once they realized who me and my brother were? If it is, I don�t give a fuck. I was giddy as a schoolgirl waiting for her crush to ask her to prom as they all scurried to get out of the door, leaving their half-eaten meals behind. At least we saved them from food poisoning.

�Why are you leaving? Where are you going?� Benji said, slipping from the kitchen and marching into the dining area.

The moment his eyes met us, he trembled. He knew what our presence meant. Victor and I only showed up when something was wrong, when someone needed to be dealt with, and he knew he was in danger.

�What can I do for you boys?� he asked, though I knew the real question behind those words. He wanted to know what he did wrong, and were we sent by my father to fix a problem. Only he didn�t know our father had nothing to do with our presence. Our father would kill us if he knew what we�d planned to do, but Benji didn�t need to know that. �I�ve paid my due on time every month. Where is your father? I want to speak to him. Now.�

�I�ll call him for you,� I giggled. I seriously fucking giggled. Cupping my hands around my lips, I called out. �Father. Oh, father.�

Benji opened his mouth to speak but I put a finger to my lips to silence him, cupping my hand around my ear as if listening for our father�s response.�

�Oh shit on a stick. Unfortunately, he�s not available to accept your call, but I�m sure if you leave your name and a brief message, he�ll call you as soon as he�s available.�

A hysterical laugh ripped from my throat and he cringed from the sound of it. The action made my dick hard, his fear eliciting a groan of desire. As Victor would say, my brain was wired wrong. The thought of suffering shouldn�t make me hard, but it did. And I didn�t give a single shit about it.

Victor just stood there, his suit impeccable as he watched our exchange. There was a slight grimace on his face as he watched us, but otherwise none of it concerned him. He was happy to let me play my game when normally he would have stepped in by now, but I knew his motivation. He was just as captivated by June as I was and Benji had made a grave mistake. He�d touched our girl. For that alone, his hands should have been severed from his body, but he�d gone a step further. He�d terrified her, pressed his will against her, until she�d fled.�

Stealing from her had been bad enough. We�d known about him taking her tips for the smallest slights, leaving her with crumbs in hopes she�d turn to him and give him what he wanted. She never did. Our little mouse was too clever. Instead, she�d hidden most of her tips away, only giving him enough to satisfy him. The rest went to her crackwhore of a mother�s medical expenses. We�ll cross that bridge when it�s time. But for now, Benji owed us blood and I aimed to collect.

Victor uncuffed the sleeves of his jacket, rolling them up his arms.�

�Father has nothing to do with why we�re here today, Benji.� He was calm and collected, a far cry from the crazy I pressed on the man. We were the perfect team. Sanity versus crazy, both qualities no one could surpass the moment you brought them together. �But you see? There is one rule in our partnership that should never be challenged. Respect us and what we hold dear, and pay your toll. You�ve paid your toll. So where do you think you�ve gone wrong?�

He flashed Benji smile that was as cold as Benji�s corpse would be once I�m done with him. There was danger in his eyes as he regarded the old man, daring him to give the wrong answer. He would. I�m sure the poor fuck had no idea what mess he�d gotten himself into but he�d learn soon enough.

�I don�t know.� Benji�s eyes widened as he took a step back, raising his hands to us in surrender.�

Fuck this dude. I was tired of playing nice. In one fluid motion, I grabbed a knife from my hip and stabbed his hand. Blood spattered onto me and my body shook from the impact of it. If I could draw out my cock right then, I�d be fisting it in my hand. Our little mouse wouldn�t like me tainting this disgusting waste of space with my semen, but I could piss on him at least.

He screamed, a terrified shrill that escaped his lips as he curled his hand into a fish and nursed it against his chest. His other hand cradled it, as if that would ease the pain.

�Fuck,� he screamed again, his eyes wide. �What did I do? I�ll make it right. I swear.�

�You touched our girl,� Victor said simply, a smirk spreading across his lips. His dark eyes danced with violence, the same violence I craved.�

�What are you talking about? I haven�t��

�June,� Victor said with the same monotone inflection.�

Benji�s eyes lit up at the name. �That skank?�

My well placed stab to his thigh had him falling to his knees. Another scream tore from his throat as he pressed a hand against the wound to keep himself from bleeding out. Poor guy. If he only knew what I had in store for him. He probably would have been better off bleeding out on the floor. It would be a nicer death.

�Had I known she was yours, I would never have�..�

His words are cut off as I ball up my fist and deliver a punch to his nose that has bones cracking beneath my assault. The sound reverberates through me as I seek out another area on his body to break.�

Victor tossed me a wary glance but he understood my reaction.�

�Did you really just refer to our girl as a skank?�

The brutality in his voice had Benji shaking, a wet spot blooming out on the crotch of his jeans. Did this motherfucker just wet his pants? Fuck, I haven�t even begun having fun with him.

It was hard enough to imagine this cum stain felt himself worthy of such a fine woman with his pot belly, his greasy hair, and stained clothes. He reeked of sweat and sex, no doubt from the prisoners he held in the basement, ready to force them to service other men for his benefit. The fact one of those prisoners was fifteen hadn�t escaped us. The disgusting bastard deserved death. But he�d laid his greasy hands on our girl. For that, he deserved a fate for worse than death. And I was that fate.

I lept towards him, drawing my knife and carving a viscious line in the skin of his cheek. �Our mouse didn�t want to play so you tried to force your will on her. It wasn�t enough you have your harem of unwilling prostitutes, you had to focus on our girl. Our June.�

�You can have her, but good luck getting that frigid bitch to put out,� he blurted and I didn�t know if he somehow thought my father�s business with him would keep him alive, or if he was just that stupid.�

�You�re insulting our girl again?� Victor asked, a vicious edge to his tone. He glanced over at me, thrusting his thumb toward Benji. �This guy really has no idea when to stop does he?�

�Look, I�ll give you anything you want. I have a safe full of cash��

Victor shook his head. �We�ve already had that cleared out. I�m sure my father will be disappointed to learn you�d been holding out on him. I�ll be sure to let him know. But right now, the matter at hand is you�ve crossed the line. It offends us. So you�ll spend the next couple hours trying to convince my brother not to kill you. After that, we have a date with our girl. Good luck.� Victor bowed to the man, a mock show of respect but he�d given me everything I needed. He�d given me Benji�s death.

�June, did you hear me?�

Michelle�s shrill voice grated my nerves but I couldn�t help the way my stomach knotted up at the news. Benji was dead. I was out of a job.�

�The police are here. They�re saying Benji had a bunch of girls locked up in the basement. I wasn�t even aware he had a basement. This has to be a set up. The Benji I know��

�The Benji you knew never existed.� I cut her off. She�d had a high opinion of him after he�d rescued her from the homeless shelter and given her a job. He treated her like his daughter while he devastated the lives of other girls, including mine. Luckily, he�d never managed to catch me off guard, but it definitely wasn�t from lack of trying.�

She huffed into the phone. �Without him I�d probably be out on the streets with a needle in my arm. How could you say that?�

�How can you praise a man that had girls chained up in his basement while he prostituted them out, keeping them so doped up they lost their minds. Not women, Michelle. Fucking girls. And he wanted me to join them after he had his way with me.�

�I�m sure those girls did something wrong for him to do that,� she spat back, with no care in the world what those poor girls had to endure. �Did you rat him out? I swear if you had anything to do with this��

I disconnected the call, throwing the phone against the wall and watching it land on the floor unharmed. The girl was unsufferably selfish, her only concern was for the comforts he�d gifted her with. Settled in a nice one bedroom apartment without having a pay a single bill, he�d made sure she wanted for nothing. I�d often wondered what she traded for those comforts. The man I�d come to know would never do a kind deed without something in return, but that didn�t matter. None of it did. The girls he�d had in his basement were now free, hopefully being taken someplace to get the proper care and reintegrated into society. As for me, I never had to worry about him sexually harrassing me again.

They always said karma was a bitch and from what Michelle told me, karma was that bitch. They�d found Benji with holes drilled all over his body in a puddle of piss, shit, and blood. It was exactly what he deserved. I couldn�t bring myself to care about his death.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. Hazel eyes stared back at me but they were rimmed with black, evidence of the long day I�d had with very little sleep. It was nothing concealer couldn�t fix. I dabbed the stuff under my eyes, working it into my skin. Once I was satisfied, I ran my fingers through my curls. The curls frothed around my shoulders with enough product to keep them tamed.�

I wore a black dress that hugged my curves perfectly, showing off the perfect amount of cleavage and landing mid thigh. I wasn�t exactly skinny, something that used to bother the hell out of me until I�d learned to appreciate my body. It took a lot of work to keep myself slim and I�d decided long ago it wasn�t worth it. Besides, I loved my curves. Apparently I wasn�t the only one considering the offer laid in my lap.

They�d said sex was optional but I knew that was a lie. Five hundred grand was a lot of money to pay out with no expectations and, to be honest, I was intrigued. The thought of selling my body should have been abhorrent to me but at a young age, I learned that everyone had a price. My mother�s price had been her next hit. She�d often lied to my father, telling him she�d never go that far but we both knew the truth. We�d seen it when she returned from one of her benders, her lipstick smeared, her clothes disheveled. She didn�t even have the decency enough to shower after her escapades.�

Her price was small, at least she�d felt that way. For me and my father, that price was too high with no reward that I could think of. There�d only been pain and loss but that didn�t matter now. What�s done is done, and all I cared about was making sure I didn�t have to pay the price for her misdeeds any further. With the amount of money offered, I could take care of her, as my father would have were he still alive and forge my own path in life. I could get out of the slums, put myself through college and never look back.

I picked up my phone to look at the time. I had fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes to decide if I would really go through with this crazy plan or back out of it. Fifteen minutes to prepare myself for whatever task they�d set before me, whether it be sex or something far more demeaning. My father had been willing to risk it all to protect me and save my mother from her self-destructive ways but it hadn�t been enough. We�d lost it all anyway. And now, here I was trying to fix what was left of an already broken family. Sometimes I told myself it was because despite her faults, I loved my mother, but I knew that wasn�t true. I had no feelings toward the woman. I just wanted to do what I felt would make my father proud. That was it.

I pressed my hand to my abdomen, in that space just below the belly. The scar there was still sensitive to the touch, even after all these years, but I embraced that pain. I spoke to life snuffed out before he�d even had a chance to draw his first breath.�

�One day, I�ll make all of this right for you,� I promised, remembering my father�s words.

While I�d been devastated by the loss, my father told me that child still lingered, waiting for the right time to show himself. A time when I�d pulled myself from my mother�s grasp and left the seedy world behind. A time when the father would be someone I loved instead of someone who�d stolen away my innocent for something that had zero to do with me. I�d believed him because I had no other choice. The alternative was knowing that he was lost to me forever and I couldn�t take that, no matter how hard my mother tried to convince me otherwise.�

My father had hoped someone worthy would come along, someone worthy of me, to bring that child back to me, and I clung to that hope with a vice grip.

�I know this is leading me away from you, but I promise I�ll be better once this is done.�

And I would be. I�d take the money and relieve myself of my obligations to my mother. I�d find my peace and fall in love. Then, I�d have my son.�

The doorbell rang and anticipation rumbled through me. Primping myself in the mirror one final time, I made my way to the door.

Standing opposite of me was a large man, dressed in an expensive black suit with a purple tie. It was the same man who�d delivered the proposal. His blonde hair was slicked away from a babyish face, giving him an appearance of innocence, but I knew he was anything but. I could sense it in the way he stood, his back ramrod straight as he gestured towards the limo waiting for me. There was danger in his blue eyes and the way his muscles bunched beneath his suit. He�d taken a life or two. I could tell by the ease in which he wore that mask of indifference, the way his gaze slid around the place as if waiting for someone to pop out of the bushes and deliver a challenge.�

That soft intensity to his demeanor had me on edge but I shook those feelings off. I was already stepping into a lion�s den and I needed to keep my wits about me.

Straightening my stance, I gave him a nod of understanding and stepped outside, locking the door before sauntering towards the limo.�

He rushed past me and opened the door for me, waiting patiently as I climbed in. Once I�d stepped in, he closed the door, effectively sealing the deal. There was no turning back.

I pulled my phone from my bag, pressing a few buttons to look at a picture of the brothers. Just like before, I was hit with this strange sense that I�d seen them before though I couldn�t recall when or where. I searched my mind, trying to come up with something but nothing came. That should have been a problem for me. In my experience, I�d only ever forgotten one significant event in my life, the event that had led to my father�s death. My psychiatrist thought it was my brain�s way of protecting me from something I couldn�t cope with, but that gave me little comfort. I wished I could remember. Even knowing what happened to me that night, I wanted to know every detail of what my mother had done to cause my father�s death.�

Flashes of memory came to me, all of them dark and fluttering by so fast I couldn�t grasp any of them. The same thing happened the first time I�d looked at a photo of the brothers. From what I understood of that night, I�d suffered a great deal and if either of them were a part of it, I was sure I�d recognize them immediately. At least I hoped I would. My psychiatrist had assured me I�d know my tormenter the moment I laid eyes on him, and I believed her. She had no reason to lie to me, considering she wasn�t being paid enough to even treat me.

Still, trepidation slid through me when the car came to a halt before Rizo�s, an expensive Mexican restaurant I�d picked out for the meeting. The driver exited the car, made his way to my door and pulled it open, pushing out a hand and offering me a hand out. I took his hand, marveling at how soft it was. Before I could think about it any further, he curled his fingers around my hand and tugged me from the car.

�Give them your name. They should direct you to the Valentine brothers� private room in the back. Go directly to them. If you�re stopped for any reason,� he pulled a small device from his pocket and held it up for me to see it. The square was black metal with a red button in the center. �Press this button and I�ll come escort you.�

He pressed the device into my hand, his penetrating gaze telling me it was important I follow instructions.�

I gave him a stiff nod and walked past him to the door, not even thinking about the device as I slid it into my purse. A host dressed in a dark suite with a red bow stopped me as I walked into a restaurant I knew I�d never be able to afford to eat with my salary. Or lack of now that I was out of a job and my boss was dead. Had I wanted to crawl back and beg for my job back, his death made that impossible.

Another reason I need to go through with this, I thought to myself.�

�Maam, can I help you?� His bored tone told me everything I needed to know about the host. He wasn�t impressed, probably sensing I wasn�t made of money like most who frequented this restaurant.�

�My name is��

�There is a burger joint down the street. Nothing in this restaurant is less than a hundred dollars and every diner is required to give the waitstaff at least a twenty percent tip.�

He slid his gaze behind me, completely dismissing me.

�I�m sure if you just look at the list, you�ll see I have reservations here. My name is��

�Maam, if you would excuse me, we are expecting a special guest here this evening.�

He didn�t even look at me. Anger clawed its way through me and I clenched my fists at my side. �Nevermind, I�ll find my own way.�

I shoved past him, my eyes seeking out anyone who could direct me to my dates, when his fingers curled around my arm tight enough to leave a bruise. I tugged away from him, spinning around to deliver a lip splitting smack. His lips curled into a vicious smile as he tightened his grip, tugging me back toward the door.�

�You people are all alike,� he snarled as I reached into my purse to grab the device the driver had given me.�

Before I could press the button, his hand fell from my arm as his eyes widened. At first, I thought it was the small device that caused him to tremble in fear, raising his hands to the air in surrender, but his eyes were locked on something or someone within the restaurant.�

I spun on my heel, my eyes landing on two pairs of dark eyes, each trained on the host in angry gazes that had goosebumps rising on my arms. Danger swam in those dark pools as they stalked towards us, their eyes focussed solely on one person. The host, who was now stepping away from me, tossing out apologies I barely registered as I focused on the two brothers who were far hotter in person than they were in their photos. Vincent was dressed in a dark suit that clung to every dip and plane of defined muscle as if it were painted on him. His dark hair was cut short at the side, the long strands on top a beautiful mess of dark curls on top of a face that had heat pooling low in my belly. The man was fucking hot, as if chiseled to perfection by the gods. His full lips were pressed into a tight line as he glanced past me, snatching up the host and hauling him away from me. Victor walked directly up to me, in an equally impressive gray suit. He reached for my wrist, tugging it upward as he inspected the red marks on my arm. Heat flared in his gaze as he released my arm, his attention no longer on me but on the host who was desperately pleading with his manager to call the police.

�You left a mark on her,� Victor spat out, sliding a possessive hand around my waist and drawing me close to him. His earthy scent fell over me as I was tucked against his side.

Vincent wrapped his hand around the boy�s neck, shoving him up against his podium.�

�Now, wait a minute, guys,� his manager, a short stalky man stuttered, flicking his gaze between the brothers. �I�m sure Henry had no idea she belonged to you. Otherwise, he wouldn�t have��

�Put his hands on our girl?� Vincent finished the sentence for him, as his grip tightened around the boy�s neck.

�Please, he�s my son. Is there some way we could work this out?�

�Sure. I�ll take the hand that offended her.��

A gasp escaped my lips at his words. I looked up at Victor, hoping he�d intervene when Vincent removed a knife from his side, but he said nothing. He simply looked on, his dark gaze trained on the boy as if he�d kill him for even looking at me.

�Is he really going to cut off the boy�s hand? That feels a bit excessive, right?� I asked.

Victor didn�t respond. Instead, he pulled away from me, walked up to his brother and whispered something in his ear. Vincent tensed up as his eyes reached mine, a strange emotion flitting across those dark depths before a salacious grin curved his lips.�

�Seems our girl here doesn�t want to see this asshole dismembered. So how about this? We�ll leave him intact, for now,� he said, keeping his attention focused on me. �And since her heart was in trying the food here, we�ll allow you to send over your best dishes. If she doesn�t absolutely enjoy her meal, I�ll carve up your son and feed him to you. Understood?�

The manager nodded his agreement, wiping the sweat from his brow. Without looking away from me, Vincent released his hold on the boy before stalking toward me and grabbing my hand. He led me from the restaurant and out to the car where the driver was waiting with the door open.

I climbed into the car, releasing a breath I didn�t remember holding. My mind was twisted in knots as worry settled over me. Would he really follow through with that promise? It seemed a bit excessive considering I wasn�t really harmed, but before I could think further, Vincent had his hand curled around the driver�s neck.

�Next time, you escort her in,� he admonished before releasing the driver and climbing into the car with me.

The drive to their apartment was uncomfortably silent, but it gave me the time I needed to reconsider the agreement between us. Where I was comfortable before, the scene at the restaurant was enough to cause anxiety to quicken my heart rate and form a lump in my throat. It was all too much.�

Sure, the host had been out of line, judging me without giving me a chance to so much as give him my name. But was it worth this? I couldn�t be sure but in a small way, I was grateful they�d stood up for me. Being judged by my appearance wasn�t knew to me, especially being a latino woman growing up in a rough neighborhood in the city. I was used to the sideways glares, people following me around stores to make sure I didn�t steal anything, and people treating me like I couldn�t afford anything. Still, I wondered just how dangerous they were.�

The manager sure seemed to believe they were dangerous, judging by his trembling hands and the sweat that collected on his forehead as he regarded the two. Never once did he threaten to call the police and that was saying something in itself. Were the brothers so much of a threat the owner already knew better? And if so, what did that mean for me?�

Perhaps sensing my mood, Victor laid a large comforting hand on my thigh, the action tearing my mind from my thoughts. I glanced down at where his grip tightened, kneading the flesh there and creating a powerful sensation that crept up my thigh. His hold on me was possessive, as if he owned me and a shiver worked its way down my spine.�

He brought his lips so close to my ear I could feel his lips brush up against the tender flesh there. �I�m sorry you had to experience that. No one should be judged based on where they come from and I can guarantee that�ll never happen to you again.�

His tone was warm and affectionate. It caught me off guard but I smiled at him anyway. It was a nice gesture after everything I�d been through lately and he wanted to play the chivalrous boyfriend for the night, I�d let him. After all, he was paying me a great deal of money to spend the night with him and his brother.

He squeezed my thigh again as we pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building that was a far cry from what I�d expected. The weathered red brick was cracked all over the exterior of the building, but the windows were intact. Where I�d expected trash to litter the yard, the yard was clear of debris, with plush green grass surrounding the dilapidated structure.�

Victor led me past the manicured yard and through the front door. Once inside, I was met with the sight of emptiness. The entire bottom floor was empty, save for a few pillars used to hold the floors above them up. We walked to an elevator in the center of the space and pooled inside. Once the doors closed, Vincent pressed the button directing the car to the top floor.�

The ride up was silent and immediately I began wondering if I�d made a huge mistake. I�d known eventually I�d be taken to a place to spend some time alone with the men, but that would�ve been after getting to know them at the restaurant. I hadn�t gotten that chance, thanks to an overzealous host and his habit of passing judgement on me based on my appearance. Now, I was stuck in an elevator with two men I knew nothing about, two men I knew were capable of violence judging by the way they�d acted in the restaurant.

The elevator dinged and I jumped from the sound, my mind running rampant with the many ways the entire ordeal could go wrong. The doors opened and I was immediately caught off guard by a huge figure that seemed far too imposing in such a small space. He looked at me, lifting his brow slightly before letting out a grunt. He stepped aside and reclaimed his post beside the elevator, tapping the gun on his waist as if issuing me a warning.�

�Don�t worry, he�s like that with everyone,� Victor�s soft voice wrapped around me, tugging away all traces of my anxiety.

For some reason I couldn�t understand, I felt safe next to him, like no one would dare touch me unless he allowed it.�

Vincent was the first to step from the elevator with me following close behind. We walked through a short hall before entering a living space that screamed expensive with large floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the neighborhood. The slums. We were smack dab in the middle of the poorest part of the city, which was odd, considering the men could afford to live just about anywhere but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as I admired the chef�s kitchen, large livingroom, and open space. No wonder they�d so easily part with half a million. They were made of money and could probably spend ten times the amount without batting an eye.

My gaze traveled to the marble countertops in the kitchen. It was covered with bags displaying the restaurant�s logo.

�Is that our food?� I asked. There was no way possible the food could have arrived before we did, but there it was.�

The scents of cilantro and citrus hit me first, stirring a hungry ache in my belly. I hadn�t realized how hungry I was until I smelled the food and all I wanted to do was dig in.

Vincent flashed me a wicked smile. �The fate of the manager�s son rests in your hands. It better live up to your expectations.�

I gulped down a lump that formed in my throat at his words. I wanted to believe he was just messing with me but the glint in his eyes told me he meant every word and would enjoy making good on that threat.

Victor went to work setting out the food on the oversized dining room table, while Vincent made us drinks, both awkwardly ignoring me as they carried out their tasks. Once they were done, I was led to sit at the head of the table with both men taking their seats on either side of me.

�So,� Victor said, breaking the silence. �What would you like to try first?�

He gestured to the food which was enough to feed an entire army. I�m not kidding. And while I was expecting enchiladas, posole, and mole, my eyes fell upon food I hardly recognize.�

Victor plucked up a menu, a bright smile lighting his face as he handed it to me. I couldn�t believe my eyes when I read it over.�

Domestic quail marinated in chile ancho and garlic -salmon with a spicy chipotle sauce - red snapper with serrano peppers, garlic, cilantro. I�ve eaten Mexican food my entire life and have never heard of these offerings, yet I couldn�t wait to taste them. I�d heard Rizo�s was pretty upscale and they prided themselves on being authentic. That was one of the reasons I�d always wanted to eat there. I frowned at the thought. You�d think they�d have no problem serving Mexicans considering their offerings but that didn�t keep them from passing judgement on me.

�What do you want to try first?� Victor asked, that same brilliant smile still in place.�

I pointed to the spicy chicken consume with serrano peppers, cilantro, onions, and chicken. The combination of flavors had my mouth watering and I had to admit, I was in the mood for something spicy.

Vincent set to work fixing me up a bowl. He sat my bowl in front of me first before preparing a bowl for him and his brother. Once we were all served, both pairs of eyes were on me, waiting for my reaction.�

I lifted my spoon, my hands trembling slightly as they stared. If I had less than a stellar reaction to the meal, I knew what was at stake and I prepared myself to fake it if only to keep the boy safe. Yes, he was wrong for judging me so harshly, but I didn�t want him hurt behind it.�

That preparation was in vain. The flavors exploded on my tongue, and that little kick of heat from the serranos was exactly what I wanted.�

�Wow, this is spicy,� I marveled, taking another spoonful and shoveling it into my mouth.

Vincent�s gaze darkened at my words, and I couldn�t help the laugh that escaped me. The man looked downright murderous.

�I can�t tell you how many restaurants promise spice and rarely deliver. This is absolutely perfect,� I explained, reaching over and taking his hand in mine to soothe whatever beasts lurked beneath his surface.

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before saying, �I guess the boy lives.�

Something about the way he�d said those words let me know he was dissapointed by that. It was as if he�d relished the thought of causing the boy pain and I had no clue how I felt about that. On one hand, I was happy he wanted to stand up for me, but on the other� Hell, it didn�t matter. Instead of thinking about it, I finished my bowl before Victor scooped up the bowl and replaced it with a plate of quail.

�You do realize I can serve myself right?� I smirked, though I had to admit it made me very uncomfortable being served. All my life I�d been the one to serve others and I wasn�t sure I could get used to the treatment.

�You�re our guest,� he said simply, pouring me a glass of wine and sitting it before me. �It�s not often we get to entertain anyone as beautiful as you.�

I rolled my eyes at the corny line he�d dropped before digging into the quail. Everything was delicious and I found myself gorging on the food, wanting to savor each delectable bite. It wouldn�t be long before I was thrust from this world of extravagance only to return to my meager life. Only five hundred grand richer.

Once we were finished, Vincent motioned towards a man standing off in the corner, dressed in a dark suit. I hadn�t noticed him there before he stepped from the shadows and began clearing the table. And that�s when it hit me. While the dinner was lovely, I knew there were certain expectations I needed to meet and I wasn�t entirely sure how to go about it. Sure, I�ve been with men before, though not always willingly. I knew what they wanted, how to entice them, how to play that role to get what I wanted from them. But with these two, I wasn�t sure exactly what they wanted.�

�So, how does this work?� May as well rip off the bandage before I lost my nerve.

Both pairs of eyes pinned me with confused stares and again I found laughter spilling from my lips. I hadn�t expected to catch them off guard.

�How does what work?� Vincent said, leaning toward me, his eyes trained on me as his tongue slid across his top lip.�

The arrogant bastard. He knew exactly what I was referring to but had no desire to make this easy for me.

�I doubt you offered such a large sum of money for the pleasantries of my company,� I deadpanned.

Vincent quirked a thick brow before leaning back in his seat. This time laughter poured from his lips as his large hand slapped the table. I jerked back, stunned by the sudden action as he continued his guffaws. It was Victor who took my hand, grabbing my attention so I could look into a pair of severe dark eyes. The intensity of his gaze flitted over me, stirring feelings in me that felt oddly familiar though I still had a hard time placing it.

�You�ve already fulfilled your obligation to us,� he said, his voice thick and rich in a way that slid over me, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

He slid a calloused finger across my knuckles, eliciting a shiver from me. Fuck, these men were hot. I was sure they�d have no problem getting any woman to bed them with nothing more than a suggestive smile, so why had they chosen to pay me for the deed?�

�Anything that happens after this is purely up to you,� Victor assured me, and though I found that difficult to believe, I couldn�t help to feel he was telling the truth. As if you prove it, he gestured toward my purse. �You have your phone in there, correct?�

I gave him a tight nod.

�Check your balance.� It was a command. I could here the authoritative tone of his voice and it set me in motion right away.�

I tugged up my bag, scooped out my phone, and sent a text to my bank for the recent transactions. Moments later, my phone vibrated and I opened the text. Sure enough, an hour before I�d even left my home, there was a deposit there for five hundred grand.

�You paid me before you knew whether or not I�d show up?� I asked. But, it did make sense. The boys screamed danger and I had no doubt they�d find a creative way to recover the funds were I to skip out on them.�

�You�d already agreed to the arrangement,� Victor replied, shrugging.

�And if I hadn�t showed up?��

It was Vincent who answered this time. �We would have taken you.�

Victor tensed beside me, tossing a stern look at his brother, and the frown that tugged at the corners of Vincent�s lips had a knot forming in my stomach. At the restaurant, he�d seemed so sure of himself, confident and free. True, he screamed violence and danger but that didn�t bother me as much as the thought of him trying his best to hold his true nature at bay.

She glanced up at me, surprise etching her features. I knew what she�d think about the proposal the moment she received it. That was one of the reasons to inserting sex was optional. Did I want her? Fuck yeah, I did. Every muscle in my body was thrumming with anticipation over finally being able to claim the only woman who�d been able to light that fire within us. But I wanted her to be a willing participant. I wanted her to want us as much as we wanted her.

She gave off that cute awkward smile that had her nose crinkling. �So,� she began, her voice low. �If I decide to call it the night and leave?�

�You�re free to go, though we hope you�ll stay.�

The air was filled with nervous energy. My gaze slid to Vincent who appeared on the edge of his seat, anticipation tensing the muscles of his arms as he did everything he could to hold himself back. I�d warned him to be on his best behavior but I could tell that was taking a toll on him. He wanted to play. He wanted to show himself, to challenge June to accept him as he was and I couldn�t say I blamed him. Vincent was a difficult pill to swallow, even for me, but he was my brother and deserved to be appreciated for the loyal, dedicated man he was.

�And if I stay?� she asked, her voice smooth and sultry, a challenge punctuating those words.

Gods this woman was perfect. Where I�d thought she would run away to the safety of her apartment the moment she realized her obligation had been met, she seemed to crave the unknown, to revel in the face of it.�

I kept my eyes trained on her, hoping she could feel the fire burning within them as I said, �We�ll show you a night you�ll never forget.�

She trembled beneath the weight of my words but otherwise gave no sign she was ready to leave. Instead, she leaned forward, giving me the perfect view of her cleavage as my thumbs slid over her knuckles. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip and damn if that action didn�t have blood flowing straight to my cock. She was interested despite her hesitation. I just needed her to make the first move.

�How about I get to know a little more about you first?� she queried.

�What would you like to know?�

�Were you really planning on killing that boy at the restaurant?�

�Yes,� I replied. Only I didn�t tell her I was still planning to. He�d crossed the line when he put his hands on her, and that was a line I would never forgive.�

I wondered how she would react to that if I told her but decided against it. We were already treading on dangerous territory and I had no desire to scare her away.

But the words that tumbled from her mouth had me completely stunned.�

�Thank you.�

My mouth fell open at those words as I tried to figure out why she wasn�t rushing from there in fear. Everything I�d known about June told me she didn�t appreciate violence, especially after all she�d been through, yet she was thanking me for wanting to kill the host?

She laughed again, a musical sound that shivered through me and I wanted to bottle it up. If anything could push my demons back, it was that laughter of hers. I tried to think of how often I�d heard that sound and couldn�t really come up with anything. We�d been following her for years, but I could only count on one hand how many times I�d heard her genuinely laugh.�

�You must not get thanked very often,� she said, a fit of giggles spilling from her lips.�

�You�re the last person I thought would thank me for that.� And it was the truth. While most girls would love a man who was every bit as protective and me and my brother, I knew deep down it was nothing but a thrill for them. For June, it had to mean more and I was dying to figure out what exactly it meant to her.

She took a deep breath before explaining. �No one has ever stood up for me like that before, besides my dad.�

A lost expression flitted over her features for only a moment before she�d shoved whatever thoughts she was having away.

I cocked a brow at her. There was so much I wanted to say, so many things I wanted to tell her but I knew now wasn�t the time. Now was the time to claim our woman and have her claim us in return. The rest could wait.�

�Even so,� she continued. �I hardly think what he did deserved such a harsh punishment. He�s been reprimanded and made a fool of. That should be enough.�

Vincent reached out and grabbed her chin, commanding her attention. �Tell me, little mouse. In the deep dark corners of your thoughts, did you think about harming him when he put his hands on you? Did violence cross that innocent little head of yours?�

Darkness flashed in her eyes and I knew Vincent saw it the moment it happened. She had thought of it and judging from the smile that spread across Vincent�s face, he was pleased with that news. More than pleased. My brother was salivating at the thought June could be just as corrupted as him. That he�d be able to drag her into his world and show her what he felt when he punished those who went against us. And I had to admit, that spring of hope that lit his eyes made my dark heart swell. Our June would accept him for who he was. More than that, she�d love him for it and I couldn�t be more grateful. My father had stolen the last strands of sanity from my brother but she�d be the one to bring light to his life and drive away the shadows that plagued him damn near daily.

�If there was anything you could have done in that moment, without the fear of retribution, without morality, without any consequences, what would you have done?� Vincent queried, leaning into her.�

Without missing a beat, she responded. �Plucked out his eyes so he could never judge another person by their appearance.�

If she knew her words had given Vincent exactly what he needed to carry out the boy�s punishment, she never let that show. Instead, a giggle bubbled up from within her as she took his hand, bringing it to her lips. I expected her to kiss his hand, to press those beautifully full lips against it in a gentle caress, but even I wasn�t prepared for what she did. She brought his hand to her lips, before sinking her teeth into the tender flesh that stretched between his thumb and forefinger, eliciting a moan from my brother as his eyes widened and pure lust claimed him.�

I gulped down the fear that knotted my throat. My brother was unstable, dangerously so, and it would take nothing for him to retaliate against her. When he erupted into a fit of laughter, even I couldn�t hold back my surprise. No one had been able to cause him pain without him making them pay for it, yet June sat there unharmed.�

Our June. If there was no other indication she belonged to us, this was it.�

�Our little mouse. We�re going to have so much fun getting to know each other,� he cooed, caressing her chin.

She bit her lip again, uncertainty flooding her expression. �Is that what you want? To get to know me?�

Vincent opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything to scare her away, I responded. �Of course, we do. Why else would we go through all of this to bring you here?�

�That�s the same thing I�ve been wondering,� she responded, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip and fuck that action was driving me crazy. Everything about her was adding fuel to already blazing inferno within me.

Vincent snorted out a laugh, his chest rumbling.

I cut him a look that warned him to keep himself under control but June seemed to be comforted by his outburst. If only she knew the dangers behind releasing his beast. The girl was in a lion�s den, figuratively and literally speaking, only we couldn�t show her that part of ourselves. Not yet. Not until we knew we could trust her with our secrets.�

We�d been careful to keep that magical part of ourselves hidden away, even from Father who had no clue why it had been so easy for us to perform our tasks. It was also the reason I knew June was ours from the moment I saw her. All we needed was her yes, and we�d do anything to get it.�

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The grass felt soo wonderful under my feet as the sun warmed me.

It was spring and I�d been aching to run around for months. Winter made it so much harder to get excited about shifting. Even with a thick coat, it still got very cold during the winter months.

I stretched and tilted my head listening to the other squirrels chitter to each other about the best places to find nuts. It was the best of both worlds, the animal kingdom, and the human race. Being a shifter allowed me to understand either language with ease or it might just be that I had an ear for languages.

A phone rang in the distance and I ignored it as I chased another squirrel up the tree. It was so freeing not to have to think about the responsibilities that being a human tended to add.

The phone rang again and I let out a sigh, my whiskers twitching.

I took a running jump and transformed into my human form with ease. Most shifters couldn�t do it on the fly, but I�d been using my animal form to escape things from the time I was a little girl.

My family hadn�t made growing up easy. My mother had enough of the fighting when I reached the age of eight and left us alone. It had just been me and my dad for a short while until a new stepmother had shown up on the scene.

The clothes I�d taken off before shifting were right where I�d left them on the back porch next to the phone that wouldn�t stop ringing.

Deciding it was more important to answer the phone than to get dressed, I pushed the button and balanced the phone between my ear and shoulder.

�Hello?� I didn�t recognize the number as I slid my jeans on skipping the underwear for commando. It was my preferred method and a big middle finger to society�s expectations of how a woman was supposed to dress.

�Is this Mable Lynn Rook?�

"Yes, it is. May I ask who is speaking?" Pressing the speaker, I put a bra on before yanking on a shirt. While I'd have loved to give bras the middle finger as well, my tits were too large to just hang loose.

�Ma�am, you�re father�s had an incident. You�re listed as his emergency contact. We�re working on him, but we�d recommend that you get here as quickly as possible.�

My hands started to shake as I laid the phone on the porch rail so that I didn�t drop it.

�What happened? Where is he?� I might not be on speaking terms with him all the time, but he was my dad.

�He�s had a heart attack. They are working on keeping him alive. He is going to need surgery which will mean that you�ll have a few decisions to make about his care.�

�I�m a few hours away. Is he at�,� My mind went blank trying to decide which one would be the closest to where my father lived.

"Oh, sorry. He's at MUSC which is the top-rated hospital in the city." She hurried to inform me as if I'd transfer him somewhere else if it wasn't the best.

�Fine, if the doctors need me or have any questions about his wishes, they can reach me at this number.�

�Very well.� She answered in a clipped tone as if she was happy to be done dealing with me. �I�ll pass on the message.�

�Thank you.�

The call had barely ended when it started to ring again.

This time the display read, Nelson Miller, my step-brother. I was pretty sure that he was the entire reason that I�d gone gay instead of straight.

�What�s up Nelson?� Besides being my dad�s second in command, he was what I considered to be the most annoying type of shifter, a dog.

Yep, he was just an average Pomeranian and mutt mix. He simply hated it because it wasn�t a fierce or aggressive type of dog. These days he stayed in human form to keep others from finding out what he was exactly.

�Your dad is in the hospital. He wasn�t happy with one of our suppliers and as we were leaving, he started to clutch his heart. The doctors have him now and they are hopeful. He�s going to want you here when he wakes up.�

For Nelson to even admit that to me meant that my dad was at death�s door.

I took a steadying breath before answering because while my dad and I had a rough history, he knew I still loved him. Maybe not the way he ran his business, but that wasn�t my concern right now.

�I�ve sent the chopper for you. It can land on the roof of the hospital here. It�s the fastest thing to get you here and by his side.� He interrupted my musings with information. �Be prepared to stay for a while.�

�Why would you say that?� Slightly shocked out of my worries at the change of tone, �Has something else happened I need to know about?�

"Um," His hesitation was evident even over the phone, "I'd rather tell you in person as to its sensitive in nature."

�Ah,� It made sense now. I was the only one that could give orders in my father�s criminal enterprises and if he was laid up then I would be in charge. �I�ll make the necessary arrangements on my end.�

�Thank you. We�ll see you when you get here then.� The relief in his voice was so unusual for the tough, hardened person I knew him to be.

�Yeah,� I hung up the phone and sank into the nearest chair trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my dad was hurt.

There were a lot of things that I needed to be doing, but I couldn't find the energy to move.

The man that I admired and hated the most was lying on a table in a hospital fighting for his life. If he didn�t make it, I was going to have to run the family company for him.

It didn�t matter that I would hate it or the things I was going to have to do. If I didn�t step up, then someone would try to take me out and establish themselves as the Boss. The Organization had been in our family for years. By even calling it that silly name, I knew it was something I was going to have to face up to eventually. The day had just arrived much sooner than I had wanted it to.

Being a woman in charge wasn't going to be my only obstacle, I wasn't the vicious type of person that the Consigliere-Boss needed.

Something inside me wanted to rebel against this, and yet it was as if another part of me was a little bit excited to see if I could pull it off.

Shoving those thoughts away as if I�d been burned, I stood. It was time to get ready and quit borrowing trouble from the future.

On the chopper, I closed my eyes and let the vibration lull me to sleep. It was going to be the only time in the next day or so that I would feel safe enough to get some rest. Until it was official and my father wasn�t going to be able to take care of his people, the fear of anything happening to me would keep his minions in their place and keep me from harm.

It wasn�t long enough, but I roused as the change in speed could be felt when we approached the city limits.

Nelson met me on the rooftop and we hurried inside where the noise from the blades wasn't so loud.

He fell into step beside me as he began the update on my dad�s condition.

�He�s doing as well as can be expected. They�ve brought him back from placing the stints in. It�s going to be a while before he�s awake enough to speak to us.�

�So they think he�s going to recover?� I stopped and he had to come back to my side to answer my question.

�It was the only thing they could do right then to keep his blood flowing and relieve the pressure. Now, they�ll see if it helps or if he�s going to have to have a valve replacement or something.� He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. �I don�t know exactly. Most of what they said is over my head as far as the details. I just know they are trying to keep him alive.�

For a moment, I felt sorry for Nelson. Even with all of his faults, he did love my dad.

I started walking again and realized that I had no clue where I was going.

"This way." He moved forward and for once in my life I let him lead me. A group of men trailed after us as my father didn't go anywhere without his bodyguard.

At the door to the room, Nelson held back. �You should go in alone. We�ll be just out here.�

His thoughtfulness was so uncharacteristic of the normal behavior I almost took him for a normal brother.

With my hand on the door, I felt my chest tighten. What if this was the last time that I got to see my father alive? He�d always been such a strong indestructible figure in my world.

I walked in and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

�Hey, Daddy. I�m here.� Taking his hand in mine, it felt so cold and weak.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. He was going to live forever. He had to.

The rhythm of the monitors continued to beep alerting me to the fact that he was still breathing.

�Daddy, please don�t leave me. I�m not ready for you to go.�

He mumbled something and I leaned closer to hear.

�You have to take over, my little Cable. I have faith in you.�

It was what I�d always wanted him to say, but could never get him to admit. He believed in me.

�I�m just projecting what I want to hear from a few mumbled words. You didn't say that, did you?" The hope in my voice was pathetic for a grown woman to want that kind of approval. It shouldn't matter if he approved of me or not.

There wasn�t a response this time and I just sat there holding his hand.

Someone must have alerted the doctor that I�d arrived because the door opened and he joined me.

�Ah, I�m guessing you�re Mable?�

�I go by Cable, but yes. I�m his daughter. What�s his prognosis?�

He consulted the table in his hands before answering.

"From the reports, everything appears to be functioning. The blockage has been worked through with stints to get all the blood pumping to his heart again. We won't know if it's going to be enough until he's awake again." He gave me an appraising look as if he wasn't sure that I was hearing the truth.

�He might not make it. There�s still a 50/50 chance, but he�s here with us monitoring him so the odds are in his favor.�

�Thank you, Doctor.�

As he left, I followed him out to find Nelson standing against the wall across from the door.

�Hey,� All those years of being careful around him had made me wary. I didn�t want to get too close or become used to having someone to lean on when it would all fade once this crisis was over. Nelson didn�t have my best interest at heart.

�Doc fill you in?� He straightened.

�Yeah,� I glanced up and down the hall, �Are you the only one on guard duty?�

"Nah, I sent the ones who've been here a while to get something to eat. Then they can take point again when they're done.� Nelson eyed me warily. �There are a few things that need to be taken care of immediately. You�ll have to get your hands dirty.�

�That won�t be a problem. Is it urgent?� Even though I had been told by my father I was in charge it was going to take a minute to get used to being just that.

�There�s a shipment coming in this evening and we have to handle the new dealer because this is only the third time we�ve done business with him. Your father wasn�t quite satisfied with his references.�

Blowing out a sigh, I wanted to escape so badly, but that wasn�t in the cards.

�Where and when is this taking place?�

He glanced at his watch, �Uh, an hour at most.�

�Transportation?�

�Arranged.� He leaned closer, �You do have some sort of weapon for protection, correct?�

�Not that it�s any of your business, but yes I�m well protected.�

The two bodyguards came around the corner pausing when they caught sight of both of us.

�Jeff, Sam, this is your new Boss Lady, Cable.� His tone sounded very condescending. It was time to show my step-brother how things were going to work for the next few days.

I pushed him against the wall with my elbow firmly against his windpipe.

"First off, it's Rook or Boss Rook to you, everyone. Even, you Nelson. I won't have disrespect in the ranks. While I haven't been around for a few years, that doesn't mean that I'm not a force to be reckoned with and your skin would do well to remember it."

"I�I�" He tried to speak but didn't have enough air to get the words out.

�Was there something you were trying to say?� I eased up just a little so that he could speak. �Yes?�

�Nothing Ms. Rook. I didn�t mean to be disrespectful.� His eyes pleaded with me not to ruin his reputation in front of the others.

�That�s better.� I turned to look at the two guards, but they had their eyes fixed on the suddenly interesting floor tiles.

"You two?" Their heads popped up in unison.

�I need to make one thing clear. If and I mean if anything happens to my father that isn�t medically related to his current condition, then I�ll have your heads. Is that understood?�

Both men simply stood there nodding.

�Good. Call me if his condition changes. I�ll be back later tonight.�

I didn�t wait to see if they were going to take me seriously or not. It didn�t matter. My father was more than likely going to die whether they stood at his door to protect him or not. It didn�t change what I needed to do for the next few days.

What I had to do was prove that I belonged at the head of an organized crime syndicate. Time to make my mark on the underworld.

Memories came rushing back as the smell of dirt and flowers assailed my nose. I tried not to clutch the door handle as I pushed the bile down.

Nelson grinned as the limo drove up to the back of the warehouse. Reaching across me to open the door, he lingered letting me feel his presence.

�Hasn�t changed much since you�ve been gone?� His words held a taunt that my threat from only a short while ago hadn�t managed to sink into his thick skull.

I pushed him off balance and he landed on his ass on the floor of the limo.

With a chuckle, I got out slamming the door in his face as he tried to follow.

�Still trying to establish dominance over your brother?� A familiar voice spoke from the shadows.

�Uncle Carlo?� A smile spread across my face as I ran into the outspread arms as if I was still a young girl.

�Ah, how is my little squirrel doing?� His hug was a welcome relief to my overwhelmed senses.

�Great, Uncle Carlo.� Reality hit as the reason for a comforting hug sunk in causing me to pull back. �Um, actually it�s been not so great.�

His frown echoed mine. �We heard and rushed over.�

�Yeah, it�s why I�m here now.�

�The others are all inside. Nelson mentioned that he was on the way from the hospital and I hoped that he was bringing you with him.� Uncle Carlo held the door open that would take us toward the inner sanctum.

The conference room used for most of the Rook Organization�s meeting took place was located in the back of the warehouse. While it hadn�t changed much over the years, the only redeeming quality was the fragrance of the flowers mixing in the air.

Inhaling deeply, I knew I would need it to get past all of the horrible smells that had soaked into the walls of the conference room over the years.

Violence was something that shifters and Otherworlders could smell or sense long after the event had occurred.

In my case, the event had been the reason that I�d left my place as my father�s underboss. It wouldn�t be wise for the men in this room I was about to enter to sense my fear of the past.

I couldn't let that happen. These men were powerful in their own right and wouldn't be happy if they thought a weak woman was going to take over. What I was about to do included more danger than many people face in a lifetime.

The room reeked of sweat, fear, and excitement. Someone was happy about this new arrangement and the only thing I knew for certain it wasn't me.

Some of the older men like Uncle Carlo had been a part of the organization for years. The other heads of the family were Leone Gallo, Vittorio Marino, and the much younger Stefano Brambilla.

Uncle Carlo kept a steadying hand on my shoulder as if he knew how difficult this was for me.

�Gentlemen, it seems that we have gathered at the perfect moment to discuss the crisis we�re faced with today and the solution has arrived.� He continued to stand near the chair at the head of the table.

�Our very own Cable Rook has returned. She�ll be running things for the foreseeable future as per her father�s instructions.�

Murmurs of descent began to flow up and down the table.

�Hmmm...� Uncle Carlo cleared his throat and the room began to quiet.

"This is not the time for us to be divided. Now, our fearless leader Owen Rook left specific instructions about who would lead us if he wasn't able to fulfill his duties." He raised a hand to keep them calm.

�Believe me, I would have a problem as well if he hadn�t provided such a welcome and trustworthy person to fill his shoes.�

There were still a few grumbles, but no outright threats were made as I took the head seat at the table.

I nodded to Carlo in thanks for his support.

�Thank you all for coming here. While I know that it wasn�t out of the goodness of your hearts or concern for my father, we�ll act like it was. At the moment, everything will continue to run the same as before until I�ve had a chance to look over the books and different operations.�

No one made a move so I continued.

�This has been something I�ve trained for and hope that you will give me a chance to prove that I�m worthy of your loyalty and trust. If, no when my father can return to his place as head of this organization, I will gladly step down, but until then things must continue to run as normal."

�Anything I need to know before I start doing inspections?�

Stefano raised his hand.

�There is a shipment that will need to be looked over before we can accept payment. Unless you�re too squeamish to check out the merchandise before we pay for it?� His smile implied that because I was a woman I wouldn�t be able to handle the dirty stuff.

"Well, Stefano. I have done a few inspections and your cock is just not up to par for the kind of work that it's been doing, but I'll leave that up to your next partner to decide if they can settle for such a small piece of merchandise."

The chuckles around the room made the comment worth it. In the shifter world, most of us had seen the others naked in some form due to shifting and not having clothes handy.

Stefano was a cruel bastard that didn�t want to take no for an answer. He was a California squirrel which made him cunning and dangerous. There was also the fact that his family was from the sunny state of valley girls and not from Italy where the true crime families came from.

He sent me a glare but acted like my insults weren't of any consequence in the scheme of things.

"Nelson will be accompanying you as he's had the most hands-on with this project. It's a connection through a friend of mine so I'll be there as well." He seemed to think I'd have sort of objection.

�Sounds like a plan. I�m curious what kind of merchandise you think is valuable enough to be inspected by the bosses of the organization.� I tilted my head and unconsciously started tapping my foot. Patience had never been my strong suit.

�It�s not something we discuss with everyone.�

�Are there any other things that need to be taken care of today?� I waited for more, but they were a quiet crowd.

�All right then. This has been fun, but my father is in the hospital and I have merchandise to inspect so we�ll adjourn this until tomorrow when I�ve been able to check over things.�

A few of the Caporegimes stayed to offer their congratulations while the lower soldiers left to continue their jobs.

When all but the top four Caporegimes and Nelson were the only ones in the room, it was time to get down to business.

�So you�re telling me that we have a shipment of otherworld people that you sell for parts?� My voice came out higher than planned. �Seriously? Do you know how dangerous and well evil that is?�

�Ha, I knew it. You are squeamish.� Stefano cackled in delight. �You can�t stomach doing what needs to be done.�

"No, there is a difference in being a big bad boss of an organization committed to illegal activities and sadistically torturing members of our kind." The hint of a smile tugged at my lips. Now that I knew where Stefano drew the line, keeping him in his place was going to be so much fun.

�When did we start dealing in Otherworlders?" I turned expecting Nelson to explain it to me but was startled when Carlo's voice answered instead.

�Three months ago, the O.O.D showed up and requested that we take a piece of the money from this to fund to other enterprises that they have a stake in.� He sounded very apologetic.

"I'm not saying we stop this very instance because I know how involved these types of deals are. Let's see what we've got and then I'll decide in a few days." I scanned the room, "There will be no raping or trying to make any of these people into your personal slaves. All sales will be discussed with me before taking place. Do I make myself clear?�

�Yes, Boss Rook. Completely.� Stefano agreed in a mocking voice. �Hands off the merchandise.�

The knife I kept tucked into the pocket of my pants, thudded on the table between his fingers.

�Like I said, �No, touching.��

The stutter coming from his lips was so worth it.

�I�ll need to make a stop at my father�s house and then we can go to the meet.�

�Sure thing, Boss.� Nelson nodded and followed behind me so that no one tried to come at me from behind.

Not that I trusted him, but at the moment there wasn't anyone else to watch my back for me.

The ride in the limo was spent in silence. There wasn't anything else that needed to be said. I had probably scared him just a little bit when I�d taken charge earlier which was exactly what I�d been hoping to achieve.

My father�s butler, Watts opened the door with a smile.

�Welcome home, Ms. Cable. Is there anything that I can get for you?�

�Have Nelson bring my luggage up to my room once he�s unloaded it. I won�t be back until late this evening. How have you been Watts?�

�Very well until today, Ms. Cable. My thoughts are with you and your father during this hard time.� He gave a half bow, before hurrying out to help Nelson with the few bags I�d brought with me.

Skipping going to the room I�d had for years in this huge mansion, I went straight for the library where I had a private stash of weapons.

The door latched behind me and I didn�t bother with locking it because Watts wouldn�t hurt me or let Nelson near me.

A mahogany desk set on the side of the room was the logical place for weapons, but I'd hidden mine in a much different place. The bookcase along the wall swung open to reveal my personal cache.

Guns, swords, knives, and a few extras were all in the exact place as I'd left them.

Normally, I only carried a couple of well-placed knives, but today I was going to need to be fully stocked. Probably for most of my future now. The days of being only a college student without any real worries were over. It was time I took on the responsibilities that came with my name.

The gun holster went over my shoulder and I slipped my preferred 9mm Colt 1911 into place. A small canister of pepper spray hooked onto my wrist as part of a charm bracelet that I�d had special made just for me.

There was supposed to be protection for me because I would have bodyguards. It wasn't certain that they hadn't been paid to kill me instead.

Doors slammed and brought my attention back to where I was standing�with my hidden weapons open for anyone that entered the room.

A press of the button and the bookcase swung back into place.

I moved toward the door and carefully stuck my head out to make sure the hall was clear before walking toward the large entryway.

"Yes, she's here, but you won't be able to see her until tomorrow. There's a work event that she needs to take care of." Watts' voice rose, but there wasn't any anger behind his words.

Trevor gave Watts a knowing grin. �Well, I�ll just have to make myself at home until she�s available to see me.�

With a small squeal, I grabbed him from the side and swung him around.

�Hey, Glasses what�s up?� I gently set him down again.

�Watts here was just telling me that you have a pressing engagement this evening.� He shoved his glasses back into place without realizing that he�d done so.

�Yeah, I wish I could have you come with me, but this is one of those things where the less you know the better.� I frowned as I said the same words my father had spoken over and over again through the years.

�No worries, Cable. I�ll be around. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay since your dad was in the hospital.� His eyes flicked over my shoulder and I knew without turning that Nelson was back.

�Ready to leave?� He didn�t even bother to acknowledge Trevor as he walked past him toward the door.

�I�ll be right there.� I waited for him to be out of earshot before I gave Trevor another hug. �This being tough thing is for the birds. Breakfast in the morning?�

�Yeah, if you can tear yourself away from your guardian.� He scoffed.

�Oh, don�t worry. I�ve already had one talk with Nelson and I�m sure that we�ll have another one in the next few days.�

I gave his cheek a quick peck. �Later baby.�

Trevor was one of the few people that I could trust and I was going to have to lean on him more than I wanted to because the organization needed both of us.

He wasn�t going to like the fact that he�d have to get involved. We�d both been hoping to avoid taking our place in the organization until a little later in life. There wasn�t any way to stop the natural order of things now though.

The limo pulled up at the strangest place possible�the truck stop right off of the highway.

"They'll be here in a few minutes," Nelson announced glancing between Stefano and I nervously.

�Where do we store the merchandise when we�ve agreed upon the price until they�re shipped out?� I couldn�t believe that I�d been able to ask that question in a calm tone.

�There is a kennel out on the edge of town run by one of our kind that feeds and cares for the merchandise until we can sell them." Stefano's words were so manner of fact as if it were normal for people to sell other people.

A shiver ran down my spine as I realized that other shifters were held prisoner until we could make a profit on them.

�Anything else I need to know before I make this deal? Is the price already agreed upon?�

Suspicion darkened Stefano�s gaze, but he answered my question.

�The details have been worked out. Mostly, you�re here to make sure they know the consequences of making a mistake or trying to sneak something by the Boss.�

�Yeah, and what�s your cut?� I might have only been the boss for one day, but I knew that Stefano wouldn�t make a personal appearance without there being some sort of kickback for him.

He frowned, �I get to pick out the top three for personal use.�

�Unless you have a contract that states that, it will no longer be happening. You�ll get paid the normal fee as do all the others for the finder�s fee.� With the flick of a wrist, I held one of my concealed knives to his throat.

�My father may have indulged your tastes for torturing women. Hell, he may have even encouraged it, but I�m not about to put any creature into your care. I�ll also be watching your activities and if I think for one minute that you�re doing anything that will affect the Rook Organization or our bottom line, well let�s just say that you�ll fetch a nice price on the market.�

If looks could kill, Stefano would have slashed my throat right then and there. He knew that to do anything to me would trigger the other Caporegimes coming for him.

I released him as three semis pulled into the lot that had the logo from the main supplier of shifter product. We'd been doing business with them for years without any problems.

�Let�s go make a deal.�

The drivers parked as two other vehicles pulled up and took up defensive positions around the trucks to protect the cargo.

To my surprise, Haven a coyote shifter from Texas was in charge of the operation.

Unsure if he was working undercover, I didn�t acknowledge that I knew him.

�Show me what you�ve got.� I jumped lithely into the back of the large truck as the scents of otherworlders hit me.

�Very well.� Haven waved his flashlight into the dark before flipping on a switch that illuminated the cages attached to the walls.

I strolled casually through the path and tried not to make eye contact with anyone in the cage.

�How many are in this trailer?�

�About 30 in each. A few of them are on the smaller side so there�s a hundred of them in total.�

Surprisingly, Stefano and Nelson stayed on the ground not bringing themselves close to the merchandise.

Not that I blamed them, these poor creatures had been in cages for a while and the smells coming from them didn't lend to being human.

�Good job. Do you know where they�re to be delivered?� I questioned as one of the cages caught my eye.

�Yes, ma�am.� Haven nodded and moved to turn off the light.

�Wait, I want to pick out three of these to be my new bodyguards.�

The shock on Stefan's face was worth it.

�You can�t do that.� He sputtered.

�Oh, I totally can. These recovered members will be a lot more loyal to the person that rescues them than they will be to the ones who were about to sell them to the highest bidder. Don�t you think?�

I turned back to Haven.

�I want the fairy in the small cage. The tiger in the back and I believe I saw a raccoon?� At his nod, I smiled. �I�ll take him or her as well.�

"Make sure that they are delivered to my home tonight after they've been showered. If they go missing, I'll have your head." I delivered that last part without changing my tone.

�Uh, yes ma�am.� Haven motioned to a few of the men standing to the side as they hurried to collect the ones that I�d mention.

Stefano climbed back into the limo without a word and gave me the silent treatment.

It felt good to be in charge. Maybe if I couldn�t teach these animals new tricks at least they�d learn to respect me.

The limo dropped Stefano off at his apartment/penthouse downtown before heading to my home.

Nelson tapped on the glass.

�The hospital first Jeeves,� He spoke in a condescending tone as if the driver should have read his mind.

The driver frowned but didn't respond. Instead, he switched lanes toward the hospital.

To be honest, I�d forgotten that my father being in the hospital was the reason that Stefano was probably plotting my death.

It was after visiting hours, but due to the number of donations my father made to the hospital every year, no one stopped us from going to his room.

The donations were to keep the gunshot wounds and fast healing shifters from being reported to the police. I hadn't given it any thought, but maybe another check was to make sure they kept trying to save my father's life.

My father was laying still on the bed almost lifeless as if this was the last of his life cycle.

"No change?" I stopped the nurse from coming from his room.

She shook her head, "No, miss. He's doing well considering he had surgery, but we won't know anything until he wakes up."

�Thank you.� The view from the window into his room was as close as I wanted to get right now.

Some people said that you are supposed to talk to those who are unconscious, but I wasn�t really in the mood for it at the moment. He was the one who�d allowed there to be buying and selling of otherworlders and that wasn't something I was going to be able to forgive soon.

�Tell the staff, I�ll return tomorrow. If his condition changes they are to call immediately.�

Nelson nodded and went to speak to the nurses at the station only a few meters away.

The sigh of relief that left me would have been a sign of weakness even though he was my father. I couldn�t have any chinks in my armor or it would give my enemies a chance to take me down.

His enemies were now mine. It couldn�t be helped and came with the territory.

�Everything is taken care of. Let�s get you home. You have a busy day tomorrow.� The sympathy in his voice made me glance at him warily.

"Look, he's been a father figure to me for a long time. My dad wasn't worth anything and my mom left me with a crime boss so what does that say about her?" He shrugged as if it didn't matter, but maybe there was more to him than I'd originally thought.

Kids could be really cruel and it could have been just been his way of acting out to torture me at every opportunity.

I gave him a small smile as a peace offering. If he was going to be nice, I�d take it while it lasted.

�Dinner and a chance to look over his things to see where we stood would be wonderful.�

Chaos had invaded the normally peaceful residence when we arrived.

�You can�t bring those filthy things in here.� Watts was trying to explain to Haven that the three pieces of merchandise I�d ordered delivered weren�t allowed in the house.

I rushed out of the limo and put myself between them.

�Gentlemen, there�s a solution to this.� Placing a hand on Watts� chest, I turned to Haven. �Thank you for being punctual. I believe that the showers out by the pool will work well for giving them a chance to clean up properly.�

"While they're showering, could you please see that something is available for us to eat? We're starving and I have no idea when the last time that these Otherworlders have been fed properly.� Watts only needed to have his need to be useful appealed to before he would do as I asked.

He�d been with my family since I was a child and had been an ally through the painful teen years.

�Yes, madam.� He gave me a frown before bowing stiffly.

Appraising the cowering things in front of me, I spoke gently. �You�re going to be okay now. Go get cleaned up and we�ll see what your best skills are. As long as you do what you�re told, I won�t let Nelson have you to punish.�

It was hard to keep my eyes off the small little fairy with her chin out, eyes flashing in defiance.

�Trying to escape at this point wouldn�t be a wise decision. Stefano would love to lead a hunt and he won�t be in a forgiving mood when he finds you.� I warned knowing what she was thinking.

�Nelson, please that they have clean clothes and anything they�d need on a personal level before they join us for dinner.� Knowing he�d hate that I gave him an order, I left him standing there with Haven trying to figure out a way to not do what I�d said.

Oh, this was going to be more fun than I�d have thought possible.

Using my phone that was clean, I was aware that the entire house would have bugs to monitor it. I was going to have to be careful what I said out loud.

Rubbing my wrist tattoo thoughtfully, I dialed Fiona. My worry must have translated through our connection.

�What�s wrong?� Her tone indicated that I wasn�t going to be able to hide my feelings.

"Oh, well my dad is in the hospital." I let the words sink in as the ramifications of what it all meant hit her.

�Fuck, Cable are you okay?� She raised her voice and I could hear the chorus of friends in the background.

�For now,� I let out the air I�d been holding in, �I�m going to be here for the next few weeks and it may even be a permanent situation. I�ll keep you posted. I just wanted you to know where I was in case something happens and you need to get a hold of me.�

Caution laced her next words, �How is Trevor doing?�

�Um, good. We�re going for a run tomorrow to let off some steam.� Thankful, she had gotten my unspoken message, I could only hope that some backup would arrive in the next few days.

�We�ll have to postpone that lunch until I can come down and help cheer you up.� She must have sent something good my way because my tattoo started to vibrate with emotions of love from all of the guys.

"If you could bring Hawthorne with you, I may have a couple of odd jobs for him." Having a personal friend that was a witch might just be the advantage I'd need to stay alive in this game for the head of the Rook Organization.

�He�s right here with me shaking his head yes.� Fiona laughed.

�They�re all listening aren�t they?� For the first time since I�d gotten the phone call that morning, I felt myself relax. �Tell them that I miss them already and we�ll have to plan a movie night when my father�s out of the woods.�

�It�s a plan. You can invite Trevor so we can hear all the embarrassing stories from when you were growing up. I�m sure with the right incentive, he�ll dish.�

A warm and fuzzy feeling spread over me at her words.

�Thanks, Fiona. Tell the guys hi for me. I�ve got to get some food in my system. You�ve made me feel so much better.�

�Girl, we�ve got your back, day or night. Just hit us up and we�ll bring the popcorn and soda.�

With a laugh, I hung up and went toward the dining room. It was more formal, but there weren't any places in the massive home that weren't formal. This would have to do for tonight, but if my father stayed at the hospital or heaven forbid didn't come home, I was going to do some redecorating.

I let out a startled yelp as Watts appeared behind me.

�Apologies Ms. Cable.� He gave an exaggerated bow. �How many will be joining us for dinner?�

Pausing to count and calm my breathing, �Uh, I believe five unless Trevor stayed.��

�No, madam. He left after you did.��

�Very well, then just the five of us. After dinner, I�d like you to have the servant�s bed made up in the room adjoining mine. I�ll be needing a bodyguard twenty-four seven.��

�Ah, I�m sorry about that, madam. I�ll make sure that you are well cared for. Your father made a few improvements which you�ll find helpful.� He winked at me, �Each set of personal quarters has a unique code so that we know if there is trouble inside the home. We can quickly isolate the problem and get help much faster than before.�

�Wonderful. That will make things much easier for me.� I patted his arm, �It�s going to be an adjustment. I�ll try to give you a heads up in the future when I have things delivered that might require a more personal touch.��

�I appreciate that madam. I must check on dinner. Excuse me.� With a bow, he hurried from the room.�

�It�s good to be home,� I chuckled, enjoying the fact that Watts was always so formal. It was as if they had programmed him only one way and he was permanently stuck with a stick up his ass.

Nelson appeared with the merchandise right behind him.�

"Everyone take a seat please." I motioned to the empty seats at the large table. Following my suggestion, I pulled out a chair at the head of the table.

�Now, I know that this situation we all find ourselves in isn�t ideal. I am hoping that you�ll take advantage of my mercy in a good way.� There was no point in beating around the bush, I might as well just come out with it.

"My father was put in the hospital today with heart problems. I am going to be taking his place for a while and find myself in need of some bodyguards. While this may not be what you planned before you were taken, it will be a form of freedom in that you'll have time off to pursue your activities after you have gotten a routine established. If my father returns and I'm no longer needed, then you'll be freed."

Nelson cleared his throat at that statement.�

�If this doesn�t work out or you prove that you�re not trustworthy, well there are other places in our organization that will gladly make use of you. Do I make myself clear?��

The two shifters simply nodded, but the fairy�s posture held a regal defiance.�

�You�ll be paid a fair sum. This makes you an employee so there will be benefits. Nelson has placed a tracking chip on you to ensure that you don�t try to escape.��

Watts entered the room with a cart filled with food.�

Rare steaks were placed in front of the tiger and raccoon, but the fairy turned up her nose.�

My meat was medium rare and Nelson's was done similarly.

�Oh, I completely forgot. I�m Cable Rook.��

The tiger spoke around the bite of meat in his mouth. �Tyson, ma�am.��

"Gram, and while I don't want to be a prisoner, this is much better than the last three places I've been in several years." His black hair and darker skin were offset by the white skin tone of his facial features. It was an unusual mixture of skin tones.

�Thank you, Gram. I�ll make sure that you�re treated fairly.��

Everyone turned to the fairy since the others had given their names.�

Arms crossed in front of her, she hadn�t touched her food yet.�

�And who might you be, fairy?�

"Someone that won't take enslavement well." Her glare warned that she would be in trouble.

�I ran her information and from what Haven provided me, her name is Whisper. She�s the Queen of the Nature Fairies from the Sprite Grove Provence.��

�Your highness, I do apologize for the inconvenience. I won�t be able to let you return to your grove for a while, but if you work hard for me, then we might be willing to work something out for you.��

There had been a spark of connection that I�d felt when I had met her eyes. While she was in my care, I wouldn�t feel comfortable using my position of power to pursue that without feeling that I�d in some way crossed an ethical line.

�You�ll need your strength during the coming days so you might want to eat.��

It was up to her to accept her circumstances and make the most of them. I wasn't going to spoon-feed her.

�Nelson, I�ll need you to send the list of current projects to my personal computer so that I can have a working grasp on things before we get started in the morning. Are there any specific meetings that I will be required to attend?�

Due to the sensitive nature of my father�s organization, he had a personal secretary that kept up with the legitimate side of the business while his right hand, Nelson handled his more private meetings only alerting her when they would be unavailable.�

It was going to take some getting used to the fact that he would have a better working knowledge of my whereabouts than I wanted him to know.�

Watts had noticed that the Fairy Queen wasn�t eating and as he began to clear the table, he handed her a few energy bars to help her stave off the hunger.�

His actions were so thoughtful. It was going to be nice to give him something that didn't cause damage to others as my father so often required of him.

"Whisper, you'll accompany me tonight for the first shift. Both of you, Tyson and Gram, had better rest up because tomorrow you're going to have to keep up with me as I get used to running such a large business again."

Expecting them to just obey my instructions, I got up and began to head toward my quarters.

A buzzing noise indicated that the fairy queen was following after me.

The door to my room closed and she began to speak.

I held up a finger and went to the desk where a notepad was conveniently sitting.

�Pretty sure the room is bugged. I don�t plan to hold you for more than a couple of days, but I do need your help. I have friends in the Protectors and we�ll be shutting down this portion of my father�s organization.�

Her eyes widened as she landed on the floor growing to her human size. She still was a small wisp of a thing only coming to my shoulder at about 4�9.

Grabbing the pen out of my hand, I tried not to touch her. I knew that if for any reason we touched, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of her. I wanted to be respectful and have her consent.

�Why was I kidnapped?� The pen scratched furiously. �What were they going to do to me?�

I shook my head and picked up another piece of paper so that we didn�t have to share.

�I�m not sure exactly, but fairy magic is highly coveted. A Fairy Queen would bring a considerable amount on the black market.� I walked toward my suitcase that Watts had left unpacked. He knew that I hated to have him going through my things.

The scanner I�d gotten after our incident with the O.D.D. a month ago would tell me if there were any bugs or magical spells. It was sad that I�d needed to invest in this type of equipment.

Whisper watched as I went over the entire room with a fine-tooth comb including the air vents in the ceiling. It wasn't uncommon for video feeds to be put there and then the pictures sold online.

�All clear.�

She smiled in relief.

�Good. Just know that I�m entirely pissed with this whole thing.�

�Agreed. If my father hadn�t had a heart attack, I don�t know where you�d be. I had no idea that they�d branched out into this type of operation. It�s going to be my goal to take our organization in a different direction.�

�Very well. I�m not happy, but I�m glad that you are trying to rectify things.� Her wings opened and she flitted over to sit in the one comfy chair I�d managed to get into my room.

I took a chair across from her.

�Can I get you to help for the next couple of days so that I don�t get assassinated before making things right?�

�Only if you take me out for a date after I�m free again?� A sly look crossed her face.

�Wait, have you been faking being mad?�

She shook her head causing the tips of her wings to move. �No, I was mad. Still am, but I can see that thing are a lot more complicated than I had assumed. Plus, I felt the energy pulse between us on the semi which might be why I was so defiant to start with.�

"I knew I'd felt a spark." A feeling of happiness spread over me, "Uh before we explore that, I need to set down a few ground rules."

�Sure,� she shrugged. �What do I have to do to make them think you hate me?�

"Well, I need you to be cautious when you're around both Stefano and Nelson. They're the most likely to put a contract out on me. The others won't like my new ideas or suggestions, but they're too old to care who is giving the orders. They just want the money to continue to pour in without having to do more than go golfing in the mornings."

Whisper snickered at my statement.

�Why is it that retirement is only for the rich and old?�

"No, clue. I'm not rich or old, but I'm about to be making business decisions that are worth millions daily. I'll take retirement golf over that any day."

"Maybe you're just what this family or business needs to make it a corporation bent on doing good instead of evil.� Her words made me pause.

I'd been around so many things that most would consider being a moral problem that I'd forgotten what it was to want to save the world.

�You�re going to be good for me.� I stood up feeling antsy, �I need someone to help keep my moral compass pointed in the right direction.�

�Then I�m your girl.� The scent from her body was making me want to take her at her word and make her my girl.

�Um,� I cleared my throat, �For tonight, I think you�d better sleep in the room next to mine. Nothing should happen, but just in case I want you to be close.�

"Whatever you say, Boss." She gave me a saucy wink as a knock sounded on the door.

Her booty bounced as she walked to open it for Watts.

�Did you want me to show you how to work the system, Ms. Cable?� He gave me a half bow.

�Yes, please.� I tried to answer with a straight face as Whisper began to mick taking the stick out of his ass and then fucking him with it.

If he knew what she was doing, he ignored it and walked to the security panel.

�When they had everything updated, I had a few extras placed in your room and the library so that when you came home, you�d have extra protection.�

�Thanks, Watts.� His thoughtfulness gave me the warm fuzzy feelings of being part of someone�s family.

With a few directions, I was able to set and arm the security system to my rooms for the night.

�Why don�t I set it now and when I come back disable it to make sure that it�s working properly?�

Glances at Whisper weren�t helpful as she continued to make suggestive gestures that were turning me on. I was going to need an escape from being near her if my resolve to not get physical was going to hold.

�As you wish, Ms. Cable.�

I set the alarm and practically fled from the room. Watts followed at a much slower pace.

"Why don't you get some rest and I'll be back in a little while?" I suggested as I closed the door. I wasn't going to let her answer me since I had a pretty good idea what her version of the rest included.

Out of earshot, Watts gave me a big smile.

�I think the Fairy Queen made an impression. All I can say is that it�s about time you fell for someone that can handle you for a change.�

Crap, if Watt�s could tell that I had the hots for Whisper then had Nelson and Stefano known as well.

Watts must have sensed my waring thoughts. �Don�t worry. You�re secret is safe with me. I�ve been able to tell when you�ve had a crush since you were a little girl.�

�That�s a relief.� I couldn�t imagine the target that would be painted on her if those other two knew I had a vulnerable spot. �Okay show me what I need to know in the office.�

It was going to be a long night followed by a cold shower. I could hold out on these emotions for the next few days. I simply had to if I was going to keep her alive.

Survival for both of us was the most important part of my new business plan.

A knock on the door had me groaning.

�It�s too early. Go away.� I threw one of the pillows at the door as it creaked open.

The alarm started beeping and then it went silent.

I sat up instantly.

No one, but Watts and I knew the code to that alarm.

Then I saw him, Trevor.

Flopping back onto the pillows, I let out a growl.

�Of course you�d know the code.�

The bed dipped next to me as his grinning face hovered over mine

"Hello, gorgeous."

�Ugh, go away.� I turned on my side away from him.

�Who is this?� Whisper�s voice cut through the air. She didn�t appear to be jealous, but more curious.

"This is my very annoying best friend about to be a best dead friend for waking me up, Trevor. I told him we�d go for a run this morning.�

"Hey, no deadness happening here." He hopped over me and held out his hand. "Hello, and who are you?"

"This is Whisper, Queen of the Nature Fairies from Sprite Grove," I announced by way of explanation. "My new bodyguard or rather one of them."

�You found bodyguards? That you trust?� He glanced back at me in surprise.

"Well, rescued them is probably a better term." This getting up early was for the birds. It was a good thing I was a squirrel shifter rather than a bird.

�Hmm, are you up to taking a run, or do you want to skip it?"

�No, we�ll go for a run.� I sat up for the second time, but without my adrenaline racing. �Whisper, you could explore the garden while we run?�

�Sounds good. Then I can lust after your body from above.� She winked and I could feel the heat covering my face.

�Remember none of that once we leave this room?�

Her pout was cute, but she changed form into the small little fairy I�d first met.

�You take all the fun out.� She chirped flitting around only to stop when I pulled off my shirt. �Yummy.�

"Oh, goddess?" Trevor rolled his eyes but turned his back before stripping.

He shifted down to his normal squirrel size as I opened the window with the tree branch we�d used many times over the years.

Blowing Whisper a kiss, I shifted into my second skin and ran out the window only pausing on the branch to make sure that she was following me.

A little blue-winged bug flew past me and I raced to catch up.

We�d just finished eating when Nelson showed up in the dining room.

�Ready to go? I got a call from the hospital that the doctor would like to see you when he makes his rounds.� He leaned over the table to snatch a couple of pancakes.

�Sure,� I wiped my mouth. �Tyson and Gram will be accompanying me today.�

Whisper raised an eyebrow.

�Watts will be letting you wander the grounds today. He has a few plants that need a special touch.�

�Madam,� Watts sputtered pausing mid-grab of the empty dishes.

"Watts, Whisper, and the others are going to be keeping me alive. While you might not think that you need the help, you do. Plus, she needs to be outside as much as possible. It builds up her energy better than any type of human food could."

�Yes, Madam.� His sigh was loud and large so I�d know he�d only said yes to polite.

�Nelson, please show these two the weapons they�ll need and see that they�re in the limo. I�ll just say bye to Trevor and be out in a minute.�

He bristled at being given an order but went to do what I'd asked.

�See that she�s safe please, Watts.� I pleaded as I looped an arm through Trevor�s and drug him to the library.

�I have something special for you.�

�Yes, you�re finally going to rip my clothes off and have your wicked way with me on the desk.� Trevor began to unbutton his shirt.

A quick playful swat to his head had him laughing as he ran around staying out of my reach until we both collapsed side by side on the couch.

�What was it you needed me to do for you?�

�You�re not going to like it, but I need you to scan the house for bugs. Make sure that all of them are disabled so that we only have to worry about shifter hearing here in the house.�

"Oh, you mean like Nelson?" Trevor squeezed my knee.

�He�s going to be a problem. He�ll have to move out if Father dies.�

�Yeah, he�s not going to like that.�

�Nope, but then again neither are you.� I sat up knowing that he was going to unhappy with me.

�Uh, you have to take your position in the Rook Corporation.�

�Cable, no.� He protested, �I can�t do that. I have so many other things I need to do.�

�As do I.� I stood up and walked to the door. �Think about it today, but I�ll need an answer tonight.�

It was one of the hardest things I'd had to do, but the day wasn't over yet and neither were the hard decisions.

All day, the only thing I could concentrate on was getting back to see Whisper.

The files and reports weren't anything that interested me. It was torture to sit there and listen to the old men. Especially when they tried to find a way to explain how they weren't stealing from our corporation and it was just business.

My phone buzzed and I glanced at it. I wasn�t taking calls, but this one was from Fiona.

"You'll have to excuse me for a moment," I answered. I had to walk outside toward the doors of the warehouse.

Gram followed a short distance behind while Tyson had run ahead to scout in front of me.

�Hey, I can talk now. Is everything okay?�

�Yes, everything is fine. We just happen to be in town and thought you could use a night out.� Her voice was the lifeline I hadn�t known I was missing until just then.

I glanced at my watch, �I can meet you at that restaurant downtown by six. I�ll have two others with me if you want to call in a reservation. Use my name and they�ll get us a private table.�

�Perfect. Can�t wait to hear all about it.� She hung up.

�There�s nothing to hear about. Just boring rows and rows of numbers that make no sense which is exactly what they wanted to have happen to me.� I muttered out loud.

�Everything going good out here?� Nelson queried looking around suspiciously.

�Just had to take a call. I�m having dinner with a few friends that drove down to cheer me up.� I began to walk back, �Oh and Nelson make sure that both of these guys have suits to wear while I�m out this evening.�

A string of cuss words followed as I walked out of hearing.

Now, it was time to tell these guys where to stick it because they were just going to feed me more Bullcrap about how they were doing a great job.

Either my father had been blind to their schemes or he knew about it and just hadn�t cared enough to do anything about it.

That was about to change.

�All right. I�m going to give everyone one chance. You have until tomorrow morning to bring me a current list of the assets that you manage.� I looked at each one of them and didn�t stop until they looked away.

�Both sets of books. I�ll know and you don�t want to find out what happens after that. It�s time to clean house and if you don�t like then I expect you to leave me the books with a note of resignation.�

�You can�t do that.� Leon protested.

�Why would you jeopardize all of that?� Vittorio screamed as his face turned red. �Your father would never have demanded that we do anything like this.�

�See that�s kind of the problem Tonio,� I used the name only his closest friends used. �My father was allowing you to exist in his world. He didn�t have the heart to do what needed to be done, but me. Well, I have no problem taking out the trash or letting each of you do it for me.�

I pointed to my fitness band and tapped it.

�Tick-tock time�s running out.�

Watching them scramble for the door, I just hoped that I could back up my statements.

I made a stop on the way back to the mansion at one of the high-end clothing stores.

"Is it ready?" I stood at the counter as the clerk eyed my not-so-expensive jeans and button dress shirt. It had been my concession to business attire for the day.

�Yes, ma�am.� The clerk looked uncertain until I held out my black credit card.

�Oh, I�ll get that carried out for you. Will there be anything else?�

�No, thank you.� I hated it when people suddenly became nice when they knew you had money to spend.

Slinging the dress bag over my shoulder, I couldn�t wait to see Whisper in it. Or maybe it was more I wanted to take it off of her.

�Hello, I�m home.� It was a little on the quiet side when I entered the house with Tyson and Gram following on my heels.

�Watts? Where is everyone?�

A distant thumping sound echoed through the walls and only those with shifter hearing could have heard it from far away.

I took off running skidding to a stop at the pantry in the kitchen.

Watts fell through to the floor as I opened the door.

He was bound and gagged.

Hurrying to untie him, I knelt and gently began to massage his wrists.

�What happened?�

�It was Stefano�s men. They came in and searched the house for Whisper. When they found her, it wasn�t much of a fight because of the special dust. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in here tied up.� He wouldn�t look me in the face.

�I�m sorry, Ms. Cable. I tried to protect her, but they were ready for us.�

Placing a hand under his elbow to lift him off the floor, I guided him over to a chair before getting him a glass of water.

�If anyone could have stopped them it would have been you.� I knew it wasn�t much in the way of comfort, but it was true. When someone wanted to hurt you, they didn�t always go for the physical assault approach. On occasion, the best way to make sure that the enemy knew where you stood was to hurt their loved ones.

Tyson made sure that I heard him come back into the room.

�I�ve taken a look around and it was four men. The trail leads out to a truck parked in the driveway.�

"Stefano just made the worse mistake of his life." I pulled out my phone.

�Fiona, I�m having Trevor pick you up. I need Hemlock�s help with tracking someone�s that been kidnapped.�

She gasped, �Oh, no. That�s why the tension from you just tripled. We�ll be right there.�

Nelson waited until I finished the call. �He�ll have her taken to the one place that you won�t want to go.�

�My father�s kill site out on the property.� I nodded, �Of course, he�ll want to use that place to make me doubt myself.�

Eyeing him with suspicion, I glanced over at Watts to see if he was on the same wavelength. Nelson had just as much to gain if I was out of the picture and using that part of the property would put me on edge.

"Come on," There was only one way to find out if Nelson was in on the kidnapping or if he was trying to help. "When Fiona gets here, have them start the magical trackers. If necessary, you can send back up."

I hoped Watts got my unspoken message. This was just a decoy to get me out of his way. I was probably walking into a trap.

He nodded before taking another sip of water.

�Let�s go. I don�t want to take a chance on missing her.�

The truck rattled as I raced over the ruts and down the not often driven dirt road.

While Tyson and Gram were in the back of the truck, Nelson was holding on for dear life.

I couldn�t be certain that he hadn�t done something that would earn the loyalty of these two so that instead of backing me up, they were going to help him take me out.

A group of trucks were parked in a circle around a campfire.

"Who permitted a camping trip out in the middle of where we bury the bodies?" I gripped as we moved past them toward the back of the property.

On alert, I threw the truck into park and jumped out glancing to the edge of the trees for others attempting my demise.

Nelson was right behind me, but he wasn�t expecting it when I turned and punched him in the throat.

�What the hell?� He sputtered trying to catch his breath until he felt the tip of my knife against his pulsing vein.

�Both of you stay back,� I warned Tyson and Gram not taking my eyes off of my step-brother.

�I should have taken care of you when you forced yourself on me all those years ago. You haven�t changed at all. I�m not going to keep watching my back or trying to save others from the terrors that you inflict upon them.�

�No, Cable. Sis.� He tried to move, but I dug the knife deeper. �I would never do anything like that to you. You�re remembering it all wrong.�

"Oh? So I just imagined your horrible breath as you pinned me to the wall." I pulled the shoulder of my shirt down, "This is where you used your thumb to put pressure so that I wouldn't move because it was too painful."

Gram started to edge toward me.

�Back off,� I yelled. �Unless you want to pay for his sins, then I suggest you stay out of it.� The growl coming from me radiated a warning.

�Okay, we�ll stay over here.� Tyson nudged Gram and climbed back into the truck bed.

While I�d been distracted, Nelson had gotten on his knees and was trying to crawl away.

"Not so fast," I muttered grabbing one of his legs as he fell flat on his stomach.

�You�re going to tell me where Whisper is and who has her?�

He rolled over and laughed.

I lost it and plunged the knife into his shoulder. With a cry of pain, he just continued laughing.

�Did you think I was suddenly going to spill my guts just because you stuck me with a knife?�

�Oh, no. I didn�t expect it would, but I�m going to enjoy spilling them for you.� With my foot in the middle of his chest, I pulled the knife out before slicing open his stomach. �This might prove to be a better incentive.�

�AGH!� His scream could be heard for several miles as he tried to hold his intestines inside his body.

�Cable, don�t.� Fiona�s voice cut through the rage and I paused with my hand ready to rip him to shreds.

�We know where they took Whisper. She�s still alive, but you�ll have to hurry.�

Hemlock stood beside her and chanted a spell.

Nelson's body rose as an invisible force field wrapped around him to keep his insides from leaving his body. It also kept him from trying to escape.

Hemlock lifted a finger and floated Nelson over to the truck bed, laying him down none too gently.

�You drive.� He pointed at Gram, �I�ll ride with them, you go with Fiona.�

I didn�t have to be told twice. I slid into the passenger seat as Fiona began to turn the SUV around.

It wasn�t long before I realized that we were headed back to the truck stop where the trafficking deal had gone down in the first place.

A group of muscled men stood circled a few trucks and a limo that Stefan was leaning against.

He barely flicked a look my way assuming that they would keep me from getting to him.

Rounding the truck I grabbed Nelson by the hair and pulled one of the swords from the bag of weapons that had been tossed into the back with Tyson and Gram.

He screamed as the full force of his body hit the pavement. His legs tried to move, but the containment spell kept him from doing anything.

The bodyguards caught a glimpse of his insides ready to spill out and moved aside to let me pass.

�Hemlock,� I yelled.

His answer was a long sigh, but the spell keeping Nelson from moving dropped right as he landed at Stefano�s feet.

�I don�t think you took my warnings seriously, Stefano. I know that Nelson didn�t when he gave you the information on the house that you needed to go in and kidnap Whisper.�

"Awe, he's just a minion darling. You know that he's always done just as I asked him to." Stefano's smile was filled with such evil that I had to restrain myself from snapping his neck right that moment.

�Oh, that�s very good to know. I have plans for all of you, even the minions.� I left his body lying there groaning as I stepped over him to get closer to the man in the business suit.

"I don't believe we've met yet." I held out a blood-stained hand, "I'm Rook of the Rook Organization."

"Ah, yes." He glanced at Nelson on the ground and then at Stefano trying to gauge the situation as he grasped my hand. "I've met your father. My condolences on your loss."

�So I�m going to go out on a limb and say that you�ve been doing deals behind his back for a while now. There�s just one problem. You�re trying to buy my property.�

It felt ugly saying it in that way, but it was the only way someone of this evil nature could understand why it was a problem.

�I had no idea. I�ve already paid for the merchandise though and a deal is a deal isn�t it Stefano?�

�Oh, you know what? I completely agree with you.� I smiled and then hit Stefano in the face.

Blood squirted out of his nose and dripped down his face.

�I�m going to give you an even more special type of shifter that you can sell to the highest bidder. He�s even got a few enemies that will pay you top dollar to do whatever they want with him. It�s time he got a taste of his own medicine.�

Haven moved out of the shadows to hand me a pair of magical cuffs for his wrists.

�No way. You can�t do that.� He lunged at me and I planted my fist into his stomach.

�I can and I will.� Slapping the cuffs on his wrists, I shoved him toward the man in the suit.

�One other thing and I want all of you to know I mean business. No one and I mean no, no one messes with me and mine.� I took the sword that had been ignored in my left hand and brought it down on Nelson�s neck.

The strength needed to severe someone�s head couldn�t be done in one blow even by a shifter with abnormal strength.

Nelson�s eyes bulged as it sunk in that I was going to kill him. I was going to make good on my threats.

With a fistful of his hair, I yanked his head from his body as those around us gasp. They hadn't expected me to do it.

�Now, if anyone thinks I�m not serious then they need to think again.� I threw my knife at Stefano hitting him squarely in the chest. �Where is Whisper?�

Haven had been standing back with her protected behind him since he didn�t know what I had planned next.

His boss nodded at him and he released her from the small cage that they�d put her in.

She fluttered to land on my shoulder.

"Are you hurt?" I continued to keep my gaze on the man in the business suit that was holding Stefano from falling to the ground.

�No, Boss Rook.� She answered staying character as one of my underlings.

�Good. Let�s keep it that way shall we?� I waved her back to where the others stood on the outside of the armed guards.

�Do you swear that you�ll sell him to the highest buyer because if I don�t have your word, then I�m afraid I�ll have to find one that likes old man for dinner?�

He shoved Stefano at Haven. �Put him in a cage and see that the auction starts immediately.�

With his hands now free, he bowed. �I, Otto Lanius, humbly pledge my allegiance to the Rook Organization and its leader, Cable.�

�Thank you. Please spread the word that I won�t be this generous again.� I took the still dripping head of my step-brother and walked back toward the truck.

The guards silently moved aside to let me pass.

"Load his body into the truck please," I ordered and someone get me a towel. I don't want to have to smell this traitor's blood on my hands any longer."

Instantly the men standing around sprang into action. A few brought Nelson�s body to the truck while one bowed as he walked toward me holding the knife I�d thrown and a clean towel for me.

"Thank you." While many didn't believe in acknowledging the underlings, I felt that treating them with respect made them better loyal workers. Only time would tell if my ideas worked out, but I was willing to try.

"Let's go home," I whispered to Fiona. "I need a shower."

I�m not sure when things changed, but I was no longer trying to be as tough or project that to the others.

Something was different. I�d changed.

Deep inside my father had known I�d had this darker side to me. Unlike him, I�d found no pleasure in the death of my step-brother. It might have seemed like I was serving revenge so coldly after all these years when instead I had felt nothing emotionally. Although, a therapist might disagree with me.

It was needed to show the others that I wasn�t about to be messed with by those in my organization.

My organization. Those words sent a thrill through me. Excitement and caution were both needed to keep from going completely to the dark side.

I gazed down at the head of my dead step-brother in the burlap bag and felt my resolve strengthen. The time had come when I needed to step up to the challenge and run things in my way.

Everyone that wasn�t away on assignment had gathered in front of me in the warehouse parking lot.

�Attention please.�

The grim group of men and a few women, quieted down waiting to see what I was going to say.

�Most of you know that my father is not going to be able to resume his role as the head of this organization. If he ever leaves the hospital, then he will retire to somewhere far away from all of you.�

A few laughs rang out below me as the truth of my words came through.

�With this change in leadership will also bring a few changes to the way things are managed around here. My father ruled with an iron fist. Most of you were afraid to speak to him for fear of what he would do if angry. That changes today.� I looked around picking out those I wanted to stay and those that would be moving on whither by their choice or mine.

�I�m not as nice as he was.� The bag�s bottom was soaked with blood as I upended it and let my step-brother�s head rolled out landing at my feet.

To stop the roll, I used the tip of my boot as an added emphasis.

�This is the only chance you�ll have to leave. After this, I�ll expect complete loyalty to me and no other. Any hint of disloyalty or threats against me will be met with a response of this nature. If this,� I pointed to the head under my boot, �makes you queasy or uncomfortable then I suggest that you do us all a favor and leave now.�

I waited for anyone to move. Two seconds then three passed as no one showed any signs of leaving.

"My brother decided that he could run things better than I could even though his last name wasn't Rook. I had a bodyguard and he decided that she was worth more in cash to him than doing her job. Now, he's dead and she's been set free. So consider carefully before you take my oath of loyalty.�

With a nod to Hemlock, I hopped down to stand beside him as my associates began to line up.

�This can only be removed with permission of the Rook. When you take the oath of loyalty, it will allow her to track you and will cause great pain if you do anything that might be considered a threat against her interests.� Hemlock spoke loudly so that everyone could hear.

�Do you enter into this agreement of your own free will?� He asked each person individually and then I shook their hand learning names as the mark settled onto their wrist.

The mark was in the shape of the chess piece of the same name. It would be a reminder that the Rook organization was alive and thriving.

After everyone present had come forward, I spoke again.

�Welcome to the dawn of a new day. May you and the Rook family prosper in all that we do.�

As I spoke the words the same mark appeared on my wrist to make those under me feel safe.

�I�ve had some food brought in to celebrate so grab you a bite to eat and I�ll be mingling among you. I�ll be here in the office for the rest of the day if anyone has ideas they�d like to bring forward or ways to make things more efficient for what we do.�

Hemlock collected his things and I slung an arm over his shoulder.

�Well, what do you think?�

�I think that I�m very thankful you�re on my side.�

Not wanting anyone around to hear, �You know how I am. Always the mean one.�

A smile flitted across his face, �Yep, the tough nut.�

Trevor sidled up next to us and held out his arm.

�Well, it�s official. I now belong to you.� He gave a dramatic sigh, �It�s what I�ve always wanted.�

�Oh, shush. I knew you were the golden friend way before you ever got that mark, Glasses.� I used my hip to brush past him.

�If only she wasn�t into girls.� Trevor�s voice reached my ears, �I�ve been in love with her forever.�

A blush crept up my cheeks. He would have been the one for me if things had been a little different. I had to put my Boss's face back on because I didn't want anyone to get any ideas.

There were a few people that I�d known my entire life, who wished me happiness. For the most part, my underlings grabbed some food and wandered away.

It was going to be up to me and Caporegimes to tell them how things were going to work in the future.

Things had to change at the top before they could change at the bottom.

Rook Enterprises wasn't going to become legitimate overnight, but at least we wouldn't be trading in people anymore. That was the first thing to go off the list. Hopefully, the mark would keep anyone from reacting too much and doing something crazy as Nelson had.

The three main men that had been with my father for years settled into the comfortable chairs around the table. Noticeably missing was Stefano.

He had been so confident that no one would ever bother him that he�d had a conference room put together in the back of the flower warehouse.

I took the main seat at the head of the table. Even though my butt had been in the seat, I hadn�t felt comfortable using it until today.

There were uncomfortable murmurs as the men in the room turned to face me.

"Today was a little unusual," Carlo spoke carefully as the other two grunted in agreement.

�Yes, it was." I gave each of them a pointed look. "It's time we went modern. There are some things that I certainly don't mind doing that are considered illegal according to human laws. Kidnapping and selling Otherworlders is not one of them.�

�We�ve been doing this for years now, Cable.� Tonio protested.

�You�re right. It�s been years overdue. It�s barbaric. How would you like to have your family chased so that someone could take your blood for potions? Or scrap the dust off of your wings because they want to get high for a few seconds?" I slammed a fist onto the table.

�This is a criminal enterprise. That doesn�t mean that we can�t have a moral code. I just killed my step-brother because he was betrayed me. I�m not opposed to violence. We�re shifters, it�s part of our animalistic nature. It should be used to our advantage though.�

They eyed me warily.

�I�m open to ideas or options that would continue to bring money in, but we aren�t not going to exploit our people any longer.�

Carlo sighed, �I should have seen this coming after all the years of knowing you. You always took up for the underdog. Let�s give it a try and see how things go.�

�Other organizations are going semi-legit so it might not be a horrible idea to try it.� Leone tapped the table thoughtfully.

�Do you have those reports that I asked for?� I hoped that they had done what I�d needed so I could show them the options that were available to us.

�Yes,� Tonio pushed a stack toward me. "I've labeled all the different branches and their income over the past ten years.�

�Which branch do you think is our best asset?� The stack had been organized into human and non-human ventures.

Tonio appeared surprised that I�d asked his opinion.

"Um, when the fairies who have been captured can grow the flowers, the more exotic ones go for quite a bit of money in both the human and non-human worlds." He turned to check his notes.

�Tonio, gentlemen, I am not my father. He didn�t ask for your opinions or advice. That�s not how it�s going to be going forward. I will ask you questions and I expect honest answers. You have years of experience and I would be a fool to throw not take advantage of that.�

Leon shook his head as if he couldn�t believe me.

�This will only work if we all work together. I�ve negotiated with the Fairy Queen that my step-brother was carelessly going to sell to the highest bidder, to come and help take care of our flowers. She�ll assign different fairies to come, but only if I promised that no one would touch a single part of their wings. They�ll receive a cut, still to be decided on what form that will take for their services.�

�It will double or triple our flower production.�

�We have two other items of business. Stefano was using Nelson and many others to do his dirty work for him. He has now been sold to the very people that�d been profiting off of.�

Each of the men avoided making eye contact with me.

�Trevor will be taking his place on the board. When Carlo is ready to step down, we�ll vote to find the next Caporegime rather than just putting someone in the position. They�ll have to work for it.�

�Yes, ma�am.� They chorus.

�Good, now that we�re on the same page let�s get to work.�

When I returned home that evening Whisper was waiting to meet me.

�How did it go?� She asked hope filling her voice.

�As well as could be expected I suppose.� I groaned, exhaustion filling every part of my body.

�Let�s get you upstairs and I�ll work my magic to make it disappear.� She took my hand and led the way with no protests on my part.

The door closed behind us and I sighed.

"We can't do anything while you're not a free person. I don't feel right. It's like I'm forcing you to like me."

�Then set me free.�

�Whisper Queen of the Nature Grove Fairies you are freed from service to the Rook family and organization. I apologize for the trouble that you�ve had to endure.�

�Thank you.� She smiled and shoved me against the door before kissing my lips. �You won�t regret it.�

All of the longing and need that I�d been feeling had just been waiting for someone like her to kiss me.

�Welcome home, Rook.�

Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! You can also catch up by reading Fierce: Feathered Protectors� (https://readerlinks.com/l/1354663), Book 1 in the series.

Pepper Paris fell in love with the idea of love at a young age. As dreams of love changed as she grew up, so did the ideas for her romance stories. Kick-ass heroines who find love in fun and sexy ways make for the best type of romances. A spicy love story filled with everyday problems turn her stories into escapes from reality a welcome adventure.

She also writes thrillers under the name Paris Morgan while fighting zombies under the pen name Alathia Paris Morgan.

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