Chapter 27

I wokein an unfamiliar bed to the sound of an argument.

"Your anger is unwarranted." Charles's voice was quiet and calm.

"It's been almost a week, Vaughan," Sean growled, also in undertone. It sounded like they were on the other side of the room. "A week you've kept me waiting to see her."

I could not open my eyes, or move, or speak. That should have frightened me, but strangely I felt entirely contented. I lay still and listened to the steady beeping of a heart monitor, the soft whirring sounds of machines, and the voices of Sean and Charles.

"Your presence would have done nothing to improve her condition," the vampire replied. "As you can see, she is comfortable and well cared for."

"Damn it, that's not the point and you know it," Sean snarled. "I had the right to see her as soon as you knew the accusations against me weren't true. The Were Ruling Council cleared me three days ago, and still you turned me away."

"I am aware of the council's findings, but Alice is under my protection here, and I had no intention of permitting you access to her until I was personally satisfied the allegations were false."

"And it took you three extra days to come to that conclusion?"

"If it had taken a year, I would not have risked her safety by allowing your presence one day too soon," Charles countered. "If you care for her as much as you claim, you would understand my diligence."

"I didn't come here to argue with you; I came to see Alice. If you'll leave, I'd like a few minutes with her."

A long silence. "Speak of nothing that will trouble her," Charles said at last. "If she can hear you, I would not have her be distressed."

"I will keep that in mind," Sean said icily.

A door closed. Footsteps approached my bed, and Sean took my hand. His skin felt almost painfully hot.

"You're so cold." Sean's voice was rough. He brushed hair back from my face, his fingers lingering on my cheek. "Damned vampires. I'll tell them to turn the heat up in here. You shouldn't be so cold."

Minutes passed. Sean rubbed my arms, warming me.

"I spoke to the nurse, and she said hearing familiar voices might help you find your way back," Sean said finally. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here. I want you to know I found the source of the allegations that I planned to turn you into a werewolf. One of my wolves, Mike Holleman, wanted to take over my pack, but he knew there was no way he could win a challenge. He started spreading rumors that I planned to bite a woman to make her my mate, thinking I would be arrested or shot dead. It was one of Mike's buddies who told the bartender, Pete. After reviewing the evidence, the Were Ruling Council cleared me immediately of all charges, though apparently it took far longer to convince Vaughan that the whole thing was false."

Sean began rubbing my hands. "He wouldn't let me in to see you until now. I've been here every day for the last week, but this is the first time I've gotten to see you except through a video monitor. You're at Hawthorne's, but you probably guessed that."

Another pause.

"I have a lot more I need to say to you, but I'm going to wait until you're awake." Sean held my hand in both of his. "Allie, wake up. I know you're there. Just open your eyes, damn it." His voice was tight with frustration and grief. "Open your eyes and look at me."

My fingers moved. Sean froze.

It was nothing more than the slightest twitch, but I moved. I was elated.

"Allie, I can feel you," he breathed. "Do it again, baby. Squeeze my hand."

For a long moment, nothing happened. Sean's hope washed over me through the link that stretched between us.

My fingers tightened again.

The warmth of his happiness was a welcome feeling after my long, lonely wandering in the darkness. "Now I know you can hear me," Sean said softly. "It's time to wake up, baby. You've been asleep long enough."

I sent a blast of annoyance down our link and felt his surprise. "Don't call me baby," I murmured. My lips barely moved, and the sound was softer than a whisper, but his werewolf ears heard me.

Sean raised my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. I managed a ghost of a smile before sleep took me away again.

The next time I woke up, it was the middle of the night, and there was a vampire in my bed.

"Alice?"

With effort, I rolled my head on the pillow to look at him in the moonlight spilling through my windows. Charles lay on his side, facing me. I noticed he wore a button-up shirt and khakis, and his feet were bare. I'd never seen him dressed so casually.

"Ch…Charles." My voice was hoarse from disuse.

"I am here, Alice. I feared you would wake during the day when I could not be with you, but Ms. Smith was here so that you were not alone. You were cared for at Hawthorne's until early this evening. Once your condition improved, I believed you would be more comfortable in your own home."

I frowned. "But…the wards?"

"Your ghost was able to adjust the wards to permit us to enter." Charles took my hand. "I am glad you are back with us."

"Glad…to be alive. How did you…find me?"

"The werewolf sensed the attack on you through your link. Since he was still in my custody at the time, he and Ms. Smith went to your house immediately and attempted to find out what had happened to you. They found your blood in your driveway, but you were gone. Maclin recognized Peter Eppright's scent from your previous meeting, but they had no idea where you had been taken. Once your ghost arrived, he was able to communicate with the werewolf and tell him of Ms. Newton's kidnapping. When I woke at sunset, I tasted the trace of your blood found at your home and attempted to locate you, but it was so degraded by then that beyond a general sense that you were on the east side of the city and alive, I was unsuccessful. The wards hiding you were too strong."

Charles tucked my hair behind my ear. "Maclin was driving around the area, trying to reach you through your link or catch your scent, and I was attempting to locate you when I felt you break one of the spells. I still could not sense your exact location, but we were close when you broke the blood ward. We arrived soon after, but it was almost too late."

His gaze was troubled. "You went into cardiac arrest. Maclin arrived and performed CPR. Once we resuscitated you, we brought you back to Hawthorne's for medical care."

"Thank you for taking care of me." It was getting easier to speak, thank goodness. "What have I missed?"

"The building where you were held was a site belonging to Browning Construction," Charles told me. "We removed everything belonging to you, Ms. Newton, and Ms. Newton's grandmother, and your ghost dispersed your magic trace. I arranged a fire that consumed the building and destroyed much of the evidence."

I stared at him in shock.

"At this time, the police and coroner's office believe Amelia Wharton sacrificed Browning, Eppright, and Kathy Adams as part of a blood magic ritual, then lost control of the power she had gathered and burned the building down, killing herself. The case has not been closed, but unless additional evidence surfaces, I believe your involvement will remain unknown."

"What about Deborah Mackey?"

"While I feel certain Ms. Newton can be relied upon not to divulge your secret, especially as she would then be implicating herself in Wharton's death, I doubted Mrs. Mackey could be trusted. I glamoured her, and she remembers nothing of knowing Wharton or going to the construction site that night. It was, I believe, the best course of action, besides leaving her to perish in the fire. Your ghost was most insistent you would not have permitted her to die."

"Malcolm was right about that," I said. "Enough people died there."

"Then I made the correct choice." Charles's brow furrowed. "A man by the name of John West has been making discreet inquiries about the fire. There is some concern, as West seems to suspect there were at least one or two other mages present at the ritual who are not accounted for among the dead. As your ghost dispersed all magic traces other than Wharton's, how he came to this conclusion is not clear, nor is his involvement in these events."

Slowly, with frequent pauses to catch my breath, I explained how I'd been taken from my house by Peter Eppright and Ray Browning, who Amelia Wharton was, what she was doing with the Kasten, and why John West was involved. When I described how Adelbert and the Kasten had attempted to take control of me, Charles's face grew even more grim.

By the time I finished the story, I was breathless and covered in a cold sweat. Who knew talking could be so exhausting?

Charles touched my face. "You must rest. Your strength will return."

"I'm a little surprised to be so weak. You saved me with your blood, didn't you?" When I woke the morning after being cut by window glass, I felt fully recovered; this time, I felt as wrung out as a dishrag.

"It took a significant amount of my blood just to save your life. You had a deep stab wound, significant blood loss, a punctured and collapsed lung, first- and second-degree burns, a skull fracture, a severe concussion, a fractured wrist, broken ribs—"

"Broken ribs?" I didn't remember that.

"From chest compressions."

"Oh."

"I was concerned too much of my blood might have long-term effects. We used primarily human blood transfusions once the major injuries were healed, which is why you are weak."

I tilted my head to look at him. "What long-term effects were you worried about?"

"At first, I feared you might become a dhampir, since you had already consumed my blood just the night before. Once that danger was past, it was possible more blood could create a permanent telepathic bond between us. You might be able to broadcast thoughts and emotions as well, and there would surely be a dramatic increase in your libido."

I blinked at that. "Well, I definitely want to skip the first three, but that last thing might not be a complete disaster."

With a cool fingertip, Charles traced a line down my forehead and nose to my lips and chin. "A dramatic increase," he repeated.

I spent a few moments thinking about what would constitute a dramatic increase. "Well, it's just as well, I suppose. I wouldn't want to go around wanting to f—"

I was abruptly silenced by his mouth on mine.

Charles's lips were as cool as the rest of him, but the kiss was anything but chilly. His hunger was its own warmth. I'd never kissed a vampire before, but he didn't taste any different from any other man.

Heat blazed through me as my body responded to his touch, and I moaned. If there was anything in the world I wanted more than Charles at that moment, I didn't know what it was.

Through the haze of desire, I felt a strange sensation, as if something was nagging at me. Even as my body was responding to the feeling of Charles's hands on me, I was starting to realize something was terribly wrong. Charles was dangerous. I didn't want him touching me, or kissing me. My body was betraying me because of the blood he'd shared with me. My brain screamed to get away, even as I pulled at his clothes and dug my nails into his flesh. No, I thought desperately, as his cool hand slid under my pajama top. No, I don't want this. If he heard my thoughts, he ignored them.

Charles's blood might be powerful, but there was one emotion in me that was stronger. Fear of being victimized was at the core of my being. It rose in me like a tidal wave and broke his influence.

I took a ragged breath and looked up at the vampire. His eyes were silver. "Charles, stop."

"You are afraid, Alice." Charles's voice was low, almost a purr. "It is arousing."

"Well, it's not arousing to me," I snapped. Anger was clearing the fog of desire away. "Take your hands off me. I'm not thinking clearly. You know that what you're doing isn't fair."

"I never claimed to be fair, my dear," he said, lowering his head.

"But you've always been honorable," I said quickly, before his lips could touch mine. "There's nothing honorable in taking advantage of a woman whose judgment is impaired, or ignoring her when she says no. And have you forgotten my alliance with Sean's pack? An assault on me is an assault on the pack."

Charles chuckled, flashing his fangs. "Oh, yes, your alliance. ‘Well played,' as they say." He rose smoothly from the bed and tucked in his shirt, stepping into a pair of Italian loafers. I wrapped my arms around myself.

Charles crouched at the side of the bed, his face level with mine. "Soon you will come to me," he said, and his voice made me shiver. "You may say what you feel is because of the blood I shared with you, but we both know it is not true. You fear me, but you desire me as well." He stood and looked down at me. "Sweet Alice," he murmured.

He moved to the bedroom door and opened it, then vanished into the darkness.

I slept for a few more hours and woke just before dawn, feeling surprisingly clearheaded and alert. Instead of getting up, however, I lay in bed and tried not to think too much about Amelia Wharton and the horrors I'd witnessed at the construction site.

Though I tried to distract myself, I kept coming back to John West. The thought of West digging around made me nervous. I wasn't sure how he had been able to tell there had been any other mages at the construction site once it had burned down, unless he was able to sense the magic Malcolm used to remove my blood and trace. If it was Malcolm's magic he was tracking, that was still very dangerous since Malcolm was bound to me and I carried some of his magic within me.

Not long after sunrise, I thought I heard a car pull into my driveway. When the engine shut off and a car door slammed, I rolled out of bed and went to the window. I recognized the silver Mercedes even before I saw who was walking up the sidewalk.

Sean.

I froze, my hand on the curtain. After he'd spoken to me while I was in a coma, I knew we needed to talk about where things stood between us. I'd felt his truthfulness when he said he'd never intended to turn me into a werewolf. There was still the matter of him being an alpha in need of a mate, though, and the metaphysical link he'd created without my permission.

I'd planned on talking to Sean about all that when I was ready, but it looked like he was done waiting for me to call. Never mind I'd only been out of a coma for all of—I glanced at the clock—five hours.

Sean looked up and saw me at the window. A surprisingly overt parade of emotions moved across his face: relief, anger, determination.

I could claim I was exhausted and ask him to come back another day, but I didn't want to be a coward about this. It wasn't like the conversation would get any easier if I put it off.

I heaved a sigh and held up a finger, indicating I would be down in a minute. Sean nodded and pointed at the porch.

As I was debating whether to put on a robe or get dressed, my phone rang. Someone had plugged it in and left it on the nightstand. The screen said Bryan Smith. "Hello?"

"Do you require assistance?" Bryan's voice was a deep rumble.

I frowned.

"Alice? Do you need us to come to your house?"

"What? No, why would I?"

"Sean Maclin is at your house," Bryan said.

I glared at the phone as if the enforcer could see me. "How the hell do you know that? Are you people watching me?"

A pause. "Mr. Vaughan is concerned about your safety. We are monitoring your visitors."

My face grew hot. "Well, you can tell Mr. Vaughan when he wakes up that this surveillance had better be gone by tomorrow. And no, I do not require assistance. I can take care of my own damn self."

I threw the phone on my bed in disgust and stomped over to my dresser for clothes, then stuck my feet into flip-flops and braided my hair. Good enough. Anyone who showed up unexpectedly at my house at the crack of dawn got what they got.

I yanked my bedroom door open and walked straight into Malcolm; like, literally into Malcolm.

We both yelped and jumped back. I shuddered and rubbed my arms. "Son of a bitch!"

"Sorry!" Malcolm flitted around the upstairs hallway. "Damn it, sorry. I was about to tell you Sean is here."

"Yeah, I know. I'm going down to talk to him." I walked around him and headed for the stairs.

"Are you sure?" Malcolm trailed after me.

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Jeez. You're really grouchy when you wake up from a coma."

I sighed. "Sorry." I explained about Bryan's phone call.

Malcolm did not look happy. "The vampire's spying on you, huh? What are you going to do about that?"

"First off, get someone in here to check for hidden cameras and microphones, that's for damn sure." I stomped down the stairs. "And you are going to fix those wards so Charles and his people can't get back in here."

The ghost followed me. "I'll do that right now. You want backup with the werewolf?"

I squared my shoulders. "No, I want privacy. We have to get this over with."

"Okay, Alice. I'll be downstairs. Summon me if you need me." Malcolm disappeared through the basement door.

Before I chickened out, I marched to the door, opened it, and came face-to-face with Sean.

He wore a faded Rolling Stones T-shirt that stretched across his broad chest, jeans that fit very well, and sneakers. "Hello, Allie."

I hadn't seen him—not in human form—since I left him standing in Hawthorne's more than a week ago. It felt like eons since that night, and yet, when I looked at him, I felt a surge of something so powerful that it hit me like a physical blow.

To cover my reaction, I moved over to the porch swing and sat down. That made me think of the night I'd been burned by Natalie's magic, and how he'd held me on the swing while I was unconscious. I scrubbed my face with my hands.

"Allie?"

I peeked through my fingers. Sean was crouched in front of me. "What's going on?" he asked me.

I blew out a breath. "I don't know, Sean. I really don't. I thought you wanted to turn me into a werewolf. I watched three people get their throats cut, and I was helpless to do anything about it. I damn near died trying to save the city from a crazy woman with a box full of mage blood. I was in a coma for a week. Charles has people watching my house. It's a lot to process."

Sean stared at me. "Well, when you put it that way, it does sound like you've got a lot on your mind," he said finally.

Despite everything, that made me smile.

He put his hands on my knees, his eyes turning serious. "We need to talk."

"I know. But first, thank you for saving my life at the construction site."

Sean looked grim. "When the blood ward fell, I was several miles away. When I got there, Bryan was holding you and Vaughan was trying to get you to drink his blood, but you were already…." He paused. "I hoped you would use our link to reach out to me and tell me where you were, but you never tried."

I was startled. "It never occurred to me," I confessed. "I doubt it would have worked through the blood ward, anyway, but you got there in time to save my life." I hesitated, then covered his hands with mine and squeezed. "I heard you speaking to me while I was asleep. Thank you for not giving up on me. It just took me a while to find my way back."

"So you heard what I told you about Mike?"

"I heard you. Are you going to have any more problems with this guy?"

"No. He's dead."

I blinked.

Sean's face was hard. "I confronted him the day after the construction site murders. He challenged me and lost. Two of his buddies stepped up after him. They're dead too." He looked at me. "Does that bother you?"

"No." I'd seen my share of challenges when I was part of my grandfather's cabal. I remembered how Sean had looked in wolf form, and my mind conjured up an image of him fighting another wolf to the death. It would have been bloody and vicious. His werewolf physiology meant he healed quickly, but three fights was a lot, even for an alpha. "I'm glad you're all right."

Sean took my hands. "You must have spent some time around a pack at some point," he said, his eyes searching my face. "Most people aren't this calm when they find out they're alone with someone who recently killed three people."

I didn't comment on the first part of his statement. "You killed them in a fair challenge," I said, raising my shoulder in a half shrug. "They were trying to kill you. I know what it means to be an alpha." I'd assumed Sean had fought and killed numerous times as a wolf; alphas didn't get—or keep—that position by popular vote. "Mike gave you no choice. He sealed his own fate when he tried to get you killed."

"I tried to tell you it was a lie."

I shifted uncomfortably. "I know."

Sean pinned me with his stare. "I walked through Natalie's house wards when you called me. I helped Malcolm save your life. I held you and kept you from hurting yourself when you were delirious and hallucinating."

I'd hallucinated after being burned? I didn't remember that at all. Neither he nor Malcolm had ever said anything to me about it.

While I was still trying to wrap my brain around that news, Sean continued. "I did all those things because you are worth it, and I wouldn't hesitate to do them again. I let you set all the limits and call all the shots while we were working. You say you know what it means to be an alpha, but I'm not sure you know how difficult it was to let someone else have that much control. Believe me when I say that I have never done anything like that before." His gaze was fierce. "Before I met you, I never wanted to do anything like that for anyone who wasn't part of my pack. And despite everything we went through and everything I've done, you never gave me a chance."

I said nothing. What could I say? He was right.

Sean wasn't going to let me get away with silence. "Didn't I deserve the benefit of the doubt, Allie?"

"Yes, you did. I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to explain. I was so angry that I couldn't think."

"I can understand that." Sean squeezed my hands. "My guess is that up to now, you've probably known a lot more betrayal and lies than people you could trust."

He wasn't wrong about that either, but that wasn't a topic I was interested in discussing.

Sean rose, then sat on the porch swing next to me. "What happened between you and Vaughan last night, after you woke up?"

I looked at him.

"Did he hurt you?" When I didn't immediately respond, Sean's eyes turned bright gold. "He did," he snarled. "Tell me."

"He didn't hurt me. He kissed me and…wanted more. I said no, and he left."

"It was more than that," Sean said flatly. "I felt you through our link earlier. That's one of the reasons I came over."

I scowled. "Were you eavesdropping on me?"

Sean shook his head. "Not on purpose. I had the link wide open while you were in the coma, trying to sense you. I closed it when Adri Smith texted me that you were awake, but my shields must have gone down while I was asleep. I thought at first it was a dream, but then I realized what I was sensing. I felt your desire, and then I felt your terror. I knew you were with Vaughan. I was throwing clothes on to come over here when the fear subsided."

"He healed me with his blood. I wasn't thinking clearly, and I asked him to leave."

"But not before he scared you so badly that I felt it all the way across town. He didn't want to take no for an answer, did he?"

"I took care of it. It's over. I don't want a repeat of what happened over here a week ago."

Sean's anger prickled on my skin. "The vampire and I have unfinished business," he informed me.

My stomach lurched. "He was wrong about you and your supposed plan to infect me. Please don't—"

"That's not all of it," Sean said. "I'd have confronted him earlier, but he had you until last night and I'm not going to jeopardize you again. I underestimated Vaughan's ruthlessness last time. I won't repeat that mistake."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown.

"Vaughan deliberately pushed me through your window."

I stared at him.

"I had no intention of letting our…disagreement endanger you. I was trying to take the fight into the yard. Vaughan maneuvered us in front of the window, then pushed me through it." Sean's eyes became amber fire. "Even if he was just trying to use your wards to injure me, he knew you were standing right there. I don't know if he wanted you injured or if he simply had no regard for your safety, but I can tell you that he did it on purpose."

I tried to remember the scene the night Charles confronted Sean at my house. Sean had come through the window first, but when I replayed it in my head, the wolf's body had its back to the window. Charles would have been in position to take the fight through the window and into my house.

My thoughts raced. Why would Charles have wanted to injure me? He'd implied Sean was responsible for my wounds, thus further driving the wedge between us, and he'd held Sean in custody, effectively preventing Sean from warning me. Charles had offered to heal me that night, knowing his blood would influence me. I'd certainly lowered my guard around him after that. He'd played me like a violin, and I hadn't even realized it.

Cold fingers closed around my heart. Charles had several opportunities to taste my blood: before the burner spell turned it to ash, from my driveway after Ray Browning hit me on the head, when I'd been bleeding at the construction site, and then while I lay defenseless in a coma. If Charles had bitten me while I slept, I wouldn't know; vampires didn't leave fang marks unless they intended to brand their cattle.

In any case, if he'd tasted my blood, he knew I was no mid-level mage. There was a good chance my identity as Alice Worth had been irrevocably compromised, at least as far as Charles was concerned.

There was little I could do about it at this point except stay the hell away from him and make sure his prediction about us being lovers never came true.

"Allie, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have protected you better."

"It's not your job to protect me." My voice sounded mechanical, flat. "I knew he was a threat. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

"If he ever touches you again, I'll kill him," Sean stated.

"If he ever touches me again without my permission, you won't have to." I spent more than twenty years belonging to a cabal, with no control over my own body, and nearly died to regain my autonomy. I'd be damned if I'd let Charles, or anyone, take that away from me again.

We looked at each other.

"You mean that," Sean said.

"I do."

Sean didn't ask how it was possible I could kill Charles; he simply accepted it as fact. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised by his confidence in me, but I was.

I took a deep breath. "I have a couple of things I have to say."

"Say them."

"You're an alpha werewolf. You have to have a werewolf mate, and soon, or you could lose your pack. I'm not a werewolf, and I never will be. There's no future for us together."

"My mate doesn't have to be a werewolf."

I felt like my world had just tilted ninety degrees.

"Traditionally, yes, the alpha pair are both shifters, but there's no written law that says that has to be the case. In fact, there are a number of alphas with nonshifter mates. Several are mages. It's not unprecedented."

I looked him in the eye and lowered my shields to feel the link that stretched between us. It was thin and fragile but still strong enough to sense him. "Did you seek me out because I'm a mage and you want a mage for a mate?"

Sean met my gaze and didn't blink. "No."

Truth. I relaxed minutely.

Sean continued. "I saw you at the bar, and I thought you were the most beautiful woman there. I wanted to be with you for the night. By the next morning, I knew I wanted more than just one night."

Truth. Now I had to ask the hard questions.

"You created a link between us without my permission. Just when I thought I could trust you this much"—I held up my thumb and index finger a centimeter apart —"you tried to make me your mate without me knowing. That's not something I'm going to be able to get past, not very easily. Why did you do it?"

Sean rubbed his face. When he looked back at me, his eyes were troubled. "I didn't intend to form a link with you. When we were together here that last night, it felt like you were in my head. I don't know why it happened; I must have lowered my shields and reached out to you without realizing I'd done it. My wolf recognized a strong female he thought would be a good mate and created the link. I sensed something new in my head, like a door opening up, but I didn't understand what it meant, not until later that night. Suddenly, I could feel your emotions, and then I realized what had happened."

Truth.

I leaned back in the swing and stared at him. Acting on instinct, I had lowered my shields to feel closer to Sean during the most intimate moments of making love. I should have known that with magic and metaphysics, there could always be unexpected outcomes. His wolf had simply responded to my presence in Sean's mind.

I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.

"I screwed up not telling you about the link the minute I figured it out," Sean said. "I don't know if you'll believe me, but I was going to tell you as soon as we got back here from the bar."

I barely heard him over the rush of guilt I sensed through the link. I'd decided not to tell him at the time about lowering my shields, worried he would be upset I had seen some of his memories. My instinct was always not to volunteer information that could be used against me. I'd learned that the hard way. I wasn't in the cabal anymore, though, and Sean was not my grandfather. I swallowed hard.

"Allie? What are you thinking?"

"It's my fault, Sean," I blurted out. "The link is my fault."

"What? How is it your fault?"

"When I…." I cleared my throat. "When we were having sex, I lowered my shields. I wanted to feel what you were feeling. I saw little flashes of memories, of you as a wolf running through the woods at night. Nothing specific—just glimpses, really—and I saw myself through your eyes for a few seconds."

Sean looked stunned. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you'd be angry that I accidentally read your mind." I looked away. "I should have said something. It's just…."

To my surprise, Sean took my hands in his. "Thank you, Allie."

Confused, I frowned at him. "For what?"

"For being honest and telling me about what you saw. I wish you'd told me then, but I can understand why you didn't. Now at least I know why it happened."

I was silent.

"Alice?" he prodded.

"I don't get it," I said.

"You don't get what?"

"What you could possibly see in me."

Sean stared at me.

"I had sex with you, then I kicked you to the curb with no intention of ever calling you. After you nearly killed yourself getting through Natalie's house wards to save me, I made you work for the dubious privilege of a date with me. Then I dumped you like last week's garbage the second someone told me something about you that I immediately believed, instead of giving you the benefit of the doubt, or letting you explain yourself. I blamed you for a link I caused, and I almost let myself get seduced by a vampire whose ulterior motives have ulterior motives. I'm an asshole and an idiot."

Sean said nothing.

I kept going. "I'm rude, secretive, and stubborn, and I have massive trust issues."

Sean waited. "Are you done?" he asked me finally.

I thought about it. "Honestly, I'm a mess, but you know that by now, which is why I have no idea—"

For the second time today, I was interrupted by a kiss.

This time, however, my desire wasn't tempered by fear—only by my uncertainty over why Sean Maclin, alpha werewolf, wanted to put up with me and my shit. It was not enough, however, to make me want to stop, not even close. And if Charles's people were watching, well, so much the better. I hoped they reported it all back to him, every last detail.

Sean pulled back, his eyes flashing.

"What?" I asked, breathless.

"I can feel your confusion. You really don't know how incredible you are, do you?"

I scoffed.

Sean leaned forward until his forehead touched mine, his eyes glowing softly. "You are brave, strong, beautiful, and literally magical."

I snorted inelegantly. "One out of four."

"Four out of four," he corrected me. "I'm an alpha. We're always right."

I laughed.

"What now?" he asked.

I thought about it. "Why don't you come inside. I still have my turntable and my couch. We can listen to side two of Dark Side of the Moon and figure out where we go from here."

Sean kissed the tip of my nose. "Sounds like a plan."