SIX

FIVE

I SHOVED OFF the couch, unable to sit still for another minute with this news. "I need to go."

While we"d been speaking, the last few rays of sunlight had faded from the sky, and night had once again arrived.

"Where?" Inara demanded.

I shook my head at her, not answering, as I walked toward my entryway table to collect my keys and messenger bag.

I needed to think about this. Consider the ramifications. I couldn"t shoot from the hip as I"d done in the past and hope things worked out.

It was entirely possible I was panicking for nothing. I wasn"t the same naive vampire of a few years ago. I had friends now. Allies.

Vampires weren"t the monsters I"d once feared. If Thomas suddenly had claim to my life, it wasn't the end of the world. It wasn't good, but it also wasn't anything to lose my mind over.

"Aileen!" Inara cut in front of me, her wings a blur. "We need to talk about this."

"Later. Right now, I have places to be."

And questions to ask.

Already I was moving into damage control mode. Creating a to-do list as long as my arm. The problem presented by the Scattered took precedence. Good thing I already had plans with the one person outside of a Fae who could help me shed some light on the situation.

I grabbed the messenger bag, checking that everything I had left in it was still there. With pixies as roommates, it paid to be careful. They had a distressing tendency to relocate personal belongings for their own amusement.

Sure enough, my wallet was missing.

"Alright, where is it?" I asked.

Inara alighted on the end table. She folded her arms over her chest and lifted her chin at me in challenge.

"Inara," I warned.

If anything, her expression grew more stubborn.

This wasn"t the first time they"d made off with an item. Sometimes it was my keys; others my phone. I only hoped they"d left the credit cards and money in the wallet and not scattered them all over the bloody house like last time.

I pointed at the unrepentant pain in my ass. "Boundaries. Get some."

Inara"s lip curled at that thought.

A quick search of the usual hiding places revealed my wallet taped to the underside of the coffee table. How they managed to transport an item that was heavier than them and then duct tape it into place was a mystery I had a feeling I"d never solve.

I shook the wallet at her. "We"ve had this discussion. You don"t touch my stuff."

Inara kicked my key dish in response.

And she called me immature.

I set the coffee table down and stormed toward the door only to find my way blocked.

"Move," I ordered Connor, no longer in the mood for niceties.

"You promised me a trial period." He held my gaze, reproach in his.

I took a deep breath and released it. "You"re right."

Connor"s shoulders relaxed and his expression lightened.

"But this isn"t about work," I continued, watching as wariness replaced his earlier relief. "It"s a girl"s night, no work involved."

At least not the sort I"d need him for. My contact was unpredictable. She might be fine with Connor"s presence, or she could spend most of the night pouting. Better to go alone.

"Girl"s night," he said the words like they were foreign.

"Yup." I stepped around him, not having time to educate him as to what that meant. I was already late enough. "Don"t wait up."

*

I paused on the threshold of Hang Out, a local hot spot on the edge of the Arena District. It was a nightclub that also served food—because who wouldn"t want to down a platter of pulled pork nachos before bouncing around a dance floor.

Tonight, it was strangely busy despite the fact it was a Wednesday.

Spotting my quarry sitting at a table that was as far from the dance floor and the sound system as physically possible, I headed in her direction.

The crowd jostled me as I forced my way through, not pausing to address the squawks of protest or the insults against the person who"d spawned me.

As far as I was concerned, it served them right. Didn"t any of them have work the next day?

The thought made me snort. Twenty-nine years old and already I sounded like an ornery grandmother.

Approaching from my quarry"s blind spot, I snatched the beer she was reaching for and gulped half of it down before she was even aware I was there.

The beery goodness helped wash away any lingering stress or tension from earlier.

It was totally worth the angry werewolf currently growling at me. Caroline"s rumbling stopped as recognition dawned. "Aileen! What the hell?"

I held up a hand, still drinking. I"d earned this, fair and square. She didn"t know the night I"d had.

Nor, apparently, did she care.

Caroline yanked the beer away before I could finish it. "That"s mine. You can"t even get drunk off this."

I wiped my mouth and grinned. "Neither can you."

Yet that hadn"t stopped her from ordering one—or three, if the other bottles on the table were anything to judge by.

Beer had little effect on vampires or werewolves due to our exceptionally high metabolism. Liquor might do a little better in creating a faint buzz if you downed it quickly enough, but usually it wasn"t worth the trouble.

No, if one of us wanted to get drunk we needed alcohol mixed with magic or fairy tears. It was one of the many side effects of vampirism that was not in the plus column.

"I don"t drink it to get drunk." Caroline crossed her legs as she looked around with an expression that was awfully close to a sneer. "I need something to get me through the next hour."

Caroline had always been described as the girl next door. Pretty with blond hair and blue eyes but in a non-threatening sort of way. That was before the bite that had made her a werewolf. Now, her beauty had a wild edge to it. Confidence mixed with danger that I was betting acted as catnip to the men around her.

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn"t only women who sometimes went for a little bit of bad in their significant others.

Too bad for most that Caroline"s personality was the complete opposite of her looks. Harsh and abrasive with an intellect that could be intimidating. She"d never cared much for what anybody thought of her. If you couldn"t take her as she was, she had no use for you.

Perhaps that was why we got along so well.

"This was your idea." I grabbed the beer from her again. "If anyone should get to drink, it"s me."

"Maybe if this wasn"t considered toxic to your system, I would let you." She stole the beer back before I could take another sip. "But it is, and this is mine."

A sheen rolled over her eyes announcing her wolf"s presence and the end to the squabble.

If I continued to push, she would take a swipe at me. Best to leave it alone for now.

Caroline wasn"t like other wolves. Like me, she was considered so new as to be practically an infant. Only unlike me, she carried demon taint which made her abnormally powerful.

Friend she might be, but there was only so much she could do about her instincts.

"I"d have preferred the Blue Pepper," I complained, watching the walking happy meals—at least that was how I was trying to think of them. If I let myself see them as human, I"d start to assign back stories to them. Then I"d never get to the drinking blood part of the night. It was hard to get excited about biting someone when I worried about them getting up tomorrow to feed their cat or check in on their eighty-year-old grandmother.

"Too many spooks," Caroline said. "And you know Dahlia would rip out your fangs and add them to that jar she keeps under the bar if you bit any of her customers."

I grimaced. I"d seen the jar. It was filled with more than just the fangs of vampires. I"d spotted a snake"s fangs and more than one set of claws from beings who had broken Dahlia"s rule of neutrality. There was to be no violence on the premises—or else. That included taking blood from humans.

Caroline focused on the crowd, nodding toward a group of guys next to the bar. "How about him?"

The human she"d indicated was good looking in that fresh faced, sharply cut jaw sort of way. Young, but then everyone here was young. He looked like some sort of athlete, his physique fit and muscular.

He stood in a group of guys, beer in his hand as he bobbed his head to the music. His buddy nudged him, saying something and they both snickered.

My lip curled. The guy reminded me of Eric Thurber from our senior year of high school.

A douche of the first order, Eric had been convinced he was God"s gift to women. He"d gotten handsy during a first date. When I refused to go all the way with him, he"d pouted like the giant-man baby he was then spread the rumor that I was a violent psychopath.

Admittedly, I"d kneed him in the balls and nearly broken his hand, so the second part might have been warranted.

I stole Caroline"s beer from her. "I"ll need a few more of these in me before I go there."

A chortle escaped Caroline. "You want to eat him; not date him."

I waggled my eyebrows at her. "And doesn"t that sound like a euphemism."

But in my case, it was literal. The only thing I wanted out of tonight was a blood meal.

"How does this work?" Caroline asked, leaning forward, the curiosity that had driven her to become a historian in her eyes.

I shrugged. "No idea."

"Didn"t Liam or one of his minions teach you?"

I frowned when I tilted the beer back only to find it empty. With a sigh, I set it on the table. "I know the mechanics. That"s mostly instinct. But drawing him in? Separating him from the pack? We haven"t really gotten to that part."

Feeding from live blood sources had become a regular occurrence. I wasn"t happy about how that had come about, but even I could recognize the necessity.

There were worse fates than drinking from humans. I wasn"t ready to die, which meant I had to get over that hang-up.

My line in the sand had been crossed, and there was no way to go back.

Until now, I"d mostly stuck to human companions. Only problem was most of them hated my guts. There was nothing more awkward then asking to bite someone and seeing the obvious dislike when they complied. It made me feel like I was doing something wrong when it was a service they"d agreed to provide in the hopes of becoming a vampire.

I had problems enough with drinking live blood. I didn"t need their bitchy attitude on top of it.

I was hoping learning to hunt in the wild would help with some of that. Problem was, I didn"t have the first clue where to start.

Sometimes I wished being a vampire came with a rule book—preferably one with cliff notes. Or a "How-To Guide for Idiots".

"What about putting the whammy on them?" Caroline asked.

"You mean compulsion?"

Caroline"s shrug was careless. "Yeah, sure. That"s what I meant."

I made myself a little more comfortable in the chair.

"I"m not very good at compulsion," I admitted.

Caroline leveled a look on me, knowing me too well. "Maybe if you practiced."

"Now you sound like Liam."

"Man sometimes has a point," she muttered.

I lifted a shoulder. "Possibly."

That drew a wicked grin.

"That why you want me here?"

"More for the moral support," I admitted.

As powerful as Caroline was, she couldn"t help me with this. Compulsion wasn"t a werewolf talent. They were more suited to ripping their prey apart. No need to wipe memories when they"re already dead.

Caroline"s smile was sly. "If you can"t fog their memory, I"ve always got a plan B."

She tilted her purse so I could get a look inside.

Disbelief filled me. "Is that a taser?"

"Figured it could scramble the person"s brain if they figure out what"s happening."

The look I sent her said I thought she might be crazy. "They"ll still remember what came before."

Caroline frowned. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Pretty sure."

Her shoulder"s drooped with disappointment before her face brightened. "I could tase them before you start. Then while they"re doing the herky jerky on the floor you can get in there and do your thing."

I propped my chin on my hand, lifting my eyebrows at her. "And what exactly is my thing?"

She crooked two fingers and mimed jabbing something with them.

Was that supposed to represent fangs?

Seeing the look on my face, Caroline stopped. "What?"

"Maybe you don"t need any more alcohol after all."

"Well, what"s your plan?"

"Certainly not that."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Now you sound like you fit right in with this crowd."

Her snort told me she wasn"t really insulted even as she started bobbing her head to the music. I flagged down a waitress and held up Caroline"s beer, signaling for two more.

"Those are eight dollars each, you know."

"For a beer?" I asked in dismay.

"Downtown Columbus."

"Yeah, it's Columbus not Chicago."

Prices lately were getting ridiculous. Not just in downtown either. The price hikes were everywhere these days.

Columbus was a foodie town enjoying a bit of a revolution. We were one of the fastest growing cities in the Midwest and it was starting to show. If prices like these were what we had to look forward to, I"d have to give serious thought to relocating.

"If you think that"s bad, you should see how much their cocktails cost," Caroline said.

I now regretted ordering beers neither of us could get drunk off of.

"I"m definitely wishing we"d gone to the Blue Pepper," I muttered.

At least there I could get a buzz while lightening my wallet.

The crowd spat our waitress out of its maw. She set our beers down in front of us and then was off, called to another table.

"What do you know about the Scattered?" I asked, picking up my beer.

Caroline was a new member to the spook ranks, but she had one advantage that most did not. She worked for the library, the biggest repository of knowledge regarding the supernatural world. It was housed in a popular independent bookstore located in German Village. Only those with power could find the entrance, let alone access the front door. Anything you wanted to know was available—for a price.

Caroline frowned, not bothering to hide her suspicion. "Why? And don"t tell me it"s because you"re curious. That lie stopped working when we were freshmen in high school."

I picked at the label on the beer, peeling one edge off. "I might have run into a couple."

And they were possibly trying to kidnap and/or kill me. Jury was still out on which.

I didn"t tell Caroline any of that. If she knew how much danger I was in, she"d plaster herself to my side and not let me out of her sight until she"d ripped my enemy apart.

Caroline grimaced. "I only know a little. They"re some seriously badass dudes."

"I heard they were mercenaries and assassins."

She paused in the act of taking a drink of her beer and set it down. "Yes and no. Most of them are refugees from a fallen court."

I sat forward.

Seeing my interest, Caroline nodded. "The ones most hear about are those who"ve made a name for themselves. The assassins and mercenaries."

I was willing to bet Don fell into one of those two categories, possibly both.

"Tell me about this fallen court," I said.

It sounded interesting.

Caroline leaned back in her chair. "There"s not much I can tell. I haven"t really studied their history and what I"ve heard is mostly second hand, nothing I can trace back to a trusted source."

"Tell me anyway."

Some gossip was better than nothing. I knew Caroline. She"d hem and haw, throw caveat after caveat, unless a fact was cited in at least three places. I needed an idea of what I was up against, not to write a PhD dissertation that I"d later have to defend in a group of my peers.

Caroline"s nose wrinkled. I"d forgotten how much she disliked guesses and innuendo.

"Please, this could help me," I pleaded.

Caroline set her beer down. "You"ve heard of the Summer Lands, right?"

"Yeah, that"s what they call their realm."

Caroline nodded. "There are several more realms beyond that, though most rarely hear of them. From what I gather there used to be one such realm that housed a powerful court. Stories disagree about its name, but most have some derivation of night or monster in it. Something happened to the king of that realm. When he fell, so did the realm. A few of his people ported out in time, but the rest perished. Those who survived have been wanderers ever since."

"When did this happen?"

Caroline finished taking a swig of her beer. "Eons ago. I"ve no idea the actual time frame for any of this."

"Why not settle somewhere?"

Caroline shrugged. "No one wanted them. From what I can tell, the denizens of that realm were uber powerful. There are many courts in the Summerlands, but the strongest of their Kings declared the Scattered criminals."

"And all the rest took their cues from him," I guessed.

"Pretty much."

So, I had a bunch of angry refugees who had been without a home for what was probably centuries after me. That was just swell.

I looked up to find Caroline studying me.

"I"m surprised you encountered them. Not many have." She lifted her beer to her lips. "At least not and lived to tell about it."

She snickered at my flat expression.

"You"re hilarious," I told her.

"One last thing—all of the Scattered carry a mark on them in the form of a raven or crow—I"m not sure how to tell which, those birds look alike to me."

My stomach dropped as she set her forearm on the table, pointing to a spot between the wrist and elbow. The same spot where I had a pair of black birds.

"It"s said that the mark allowed them entrance to their realm. They also say the more birds, the more powerful the person."

I rubbed my own mark through my sweater, as I stared at the table, only half registering her words.

How was it possible that I had the mark of an extinct court on my arm?

It shouldn't have been, that was for sure.

Maybe this was why they were after me. Maybe they didn"t like having some interloper walking around with the symbol of their court.

But how did they know? Until tonight, I hadn't even known about the birds.

"Aileen, are you alright?"

The question shook me out of my reverie. I looked up to find Caroline watching me with concern.

Feeling numb and far from myself, I nodded. "Yeah. I"m great. So great. Thanks for this. It"s a big help."

Caroline didn"t look like she believed me.

Get it together, Aileen. Caroline was like a mama bear with the people she loved. Normally that would be comforting, but I didn"t think adding a demon tainted wolf to the situation would end in my favor.

"You"ll tell me if you"re in trouble?" There was a vulnerability in Caroline"s voice that said I could hurt her so easily.

My years trying to hide what I was had damaged our relationship. We were only now getting back to who we'd been before. Lying to her would only further damage the trust we"d started rebuilding.

This time when I smiled at her, it held a note of real warmth. "You"re right. Old habits."

Caroline went still as I fidgeted, trying to decide what to tell her without raising too much concern.

"One of them approached me. He said he wanted to hire me, but after what you"ve told me, I"m thinking I"m going to steer clear of him." I left off all mention of the attempted kidnapping/murder or the fact that I had the mark of the Scattered on my forearm. "If things escalate, I"ll tell you. I promise."

I even meant it. That ship had sailed. Going it alone had only ever landed me in deeper water. Caroline had earned my trust, and part of that was not hiding the important stuff anymore.

But for now, there were some things that I needed to keep to myself.

Caroline was part of a package deal. With her came her pack and I didn"t want them involved until I knew more.

"Good. Because the next time you do a solo ranger, I"m keying your car," she told me with a pleasant expression.

I sputtered. How could she consider damaging my precious?

"Those wolves are leading you down a dark, dark path, my friend."

Her smile showed teeth that were a little pointier than they"d been seconds ago. "I"m enjoying every moment of it."

I threw my head back on a laugh.

Caroline threw the rest of her beer back and grabbed my hand. "Time to dance."

I put up a token protest.

"Come on, you used to love it," she said.

She was right. I had.

A slow grin covered my face. "At least this time we won"t be drunk."

A squeal left Caroline and she bounced out of her chair, her body already gliding to the beat. Together, we made our way to the dance floor, the pulse of the music wrapping around us.

I gave myself up to it, the rest of the world fading away as I lifted my arms, my hips starting to move.

For a time, Caroline and I were content to dance next to each other, pushing away or politely shaking our heads when others tried to intrude.

This wasn"t about meeting guys or finding a partner for the evening. This was about having a good time with my friend while we forgot our problems.

Eventually though, the men got bolder and the dance floor more cramped.

A pair of well-manicured hands attached to muscular forearms settled on my hips. By the way Caroline"s eyes danced and she looked seconds away from doubling over with laughter, I was guessing Mr. Grabby was the douche from earlier.

The much too strong scent of cologne wrapped around me, threatening to send me into a sneezing fit. By dint of will, I managed to resist even as I tried to breathe through my mouth.

Mistake. That scent left me feeling like I"d tasted a cloying acid.

Caroline"s nose wrinkled and she touched her nose with a grimace seconds later. She lifted her eyebrows at me, asking if I wanted her help in getting rid of Romeo.

I shook my head. No, if my prey wanted to serve himself up to me on a silver platter, who was I to prevent him?

Caroline stopped dancing and shrugged.

The guy must have taken that as a sign. He tugged me against him more aggressively as he ground his hips against my backside.

Eww. Any guilt I harbored vanished.

What I was about to do was a service for women everywhere who"d had to put up with uninvited strangers grinding on their ass without a by-your-leave or a word of greeting exchanged.

The man"s hands started to wander. I grabbed one that strayed too close to my boob, wiggling around to face him.

The first obstacle in Operation Feed presented itself.

I frowned up at him. "You"re too tall."

He hadn't seemed this tall from across the room.

"You know what they say about tall men," he said with a grin, nudging me with his hips, leaving me with no doubt as to what he meant.

I curled my lip in disgust as I considered my options. Unless I climbed him like a tree, biting him would be difficult. Somehow, I thought having a woman wrapped around a man like he was her favorite chocolate bar might stick out—even in a club as crowded as this.

"You want to get out of here?" he asked.

I didn"t answer as I stared at his neck. Blood rushed beneath the surface, singing a siren song and beckoning me forward. I licked my lips. Just a little taste. It would be so good.

His scent wafted toward me, the cologne still overpowering, but under it was a smell nearly as tantalizing as fresh baked pizza straight out of the oven.

I swayed, letting myself imagine how good he would taste.

"Hey, you"re not crazy, are you?" he asked.

I ignored him, eyeing the spot where I would bite him. Right there, mid-way up his neck.

My fangs ached, pushing through my gums.

"Not much of a talker, huh? That"s okay. I can think of plenty of other things we can do."

"Hmmm," I said, not paying attention.

What to do? What to do?

"You"re kind of sexy." The man leaned down, solving my problem for me.

I eyed the approaching neck with glee. Yay for prey who did the work for you.

The thought occurred to me I should probably take this outside, find somewhere private. I ignored that thought, too hungry to really consider it. The club was dark and the lighting bad. Anybody who caught a glimpse would think I was getting frisky, not that I was relieving him of a pint or two of blood.

I could do this. Bite, suck, and release.

You got this, Aileen.

I went up onto tippy toe as that neck got closer, bypassing the lips he aimed at me and going straight for the target.

"Kinky, I like it," he said as I set my fangs against his neck.

I ignored the man as he groaned in anticipation.

I put a little more pressure in my bite, holding him still when he started to stiffen. Mine. He was my meal.

"Hey, wait. Your friend"s in trouble."

The words didn"t register as I started to bite down.

Around us the crowd heaved as a disturbance set it off.

No, no. Mine. My meal. No one would take it from me.

"Get your hands off me," Caroline shouted.

I paused in the act of biting down.

A small yip filled the air.