NINE

EIGHT

MY NEMESIS SUNK below the horizon, conceding the field of battle for the night. My eyes popped open, alertness flooding my body as it always did upon waking.

As a vampire, I was lucky. There was no grogginess, no desire to return to slumber that a human might have. As soon as the sun went down, my brain came back online.

I stayed in bed, staring up at the ceiling. I felt like I was forgetting something. Something important. A dream, maybe?

My dreams had always been vivid, sometimes weird, but always entertaining. This wasn"t the first time I"d woken while feeling like I needed to remember.

Like I had in the past, I reached for what I"d forgotten, grasping at the edges as it fluttered out of reach. There, but the details fuzzy. A submerged leviathan waiting in the deep.

"Playing possum?" The bed moved as Liam climbed onto it. His face appeared above mine, his chest bare and his eyes seductive. "I can think of a few ways to occupy our time if you don't feel like leaving this bed."

The edges of the dream shredded, taking with it any possibility of recovering it.

"I"m trying to remember," I told him.

He propped his chin on my chest, which was still covered by the comforter he must have pulled over me when I did my impression of a coma patient. "What are you trying to remember?"

My gaze turned distant. "A dream, I think."

"What was in the dream?"

"No idea, but it seemed important." I shook off the uneasy feeling, focusing on Liam for the first time. "You got your shower."

His hair was damp, and I caught sight of a few stray water drops that made me itch to lick them off his skin.

Liam"s grin was cocky. "Some of us don"t have the luxury of lying in bed all day."

"Admit it, you"re just not as cool as me."

In reality, we both knew I didn"t have much choice. I could fight the pull of the sun and rise early, but it took a lot of effort. Liam, more powerful and older, did it as easily as breathing.

He slapped my sheet covered body. "Come on. Up. Shower."

I rolled onto my side, watching him as he sauntered to a dresser, pulling out a change of clothes and putting them on. It was a seductive sight. If I"d known spending the day with Liam came with views like this, I"d have come much sooner.

"You seem like you"re in a hurry." I wrapped my arms around my pillow, content to lie there for a little while longer.

The grin he shot me was roguish. "Thomas needs me at the Gargoyle."

I snuggled deeper into my pillow. "Lame."

Half dressed, with only his pants partially buttoned, Liam advanced on me. He planted his fists in the bed on either side of me. "Come with me."

I cracked one eye, taking in his intent stare, the electric blue of his eyes. "Why?"

He crooked an eyebrow at me, asking if I really didn"t know the answer to that.

Alright, I did. You couldn"t tell someone like Liam, a protector down to the soles of his feet, that an uber-scary group of assassins might be after you and not expect him to do something about it.

At least this time he was asking instead of ordering. I counted that as progress.

"You can"t visit clients if the Scattered are after you, anyway," he pointed out.

He was right. If the uber-scary assassins really were after me, I"d be placing any client I visited in danger. Not exactly the best business model.

Seeing he"d scored a point, Liam pressed further. "Come spend the night with us. That"s all I"m asking."

I found myself contemplating his offer. Last night had proven there were worse things than time spent in the company of the enforcers. Truthfully, staying at the Gargoyle wasn"t a bad idea. Surrounding myself with a bunch of powerful vampires would give me time to plan my next move.

A fact I was sure Liam was counting on me to recognize.

A compromise where he got me safe, but I kept my autonomy and control.

Who said old vampires couldn"t learn new tricks?

Liam grinned, seeing he had me.

I fixed him with a hard look. "You won"t always get your way."

His expression was innocent as he straightened. "Of course not."

"I need to call Connor and let him know the change in plans." I moved toward the end table where my phone was conveniently charging. Another thing Liam had made sure was taken care of while I was out.

"Already done. He and Nathan are bringing your car."

Liam disappeared into his walk-in closet while I froze in place. It seemed I"d spoken too soon about him learning from past experiences.

He walked out of the closet, this time wearing a long-sleeved shirt and holding a leather jacket. He grinned at my glare.

I huffed, not liking the fact he"d outmaneuvered me so neatly. Tricky, tricky vampire.

I grabbed my phone off the table, pausing when I noticed there were five missed calls, all from the same unknown number, and one message.

Who the heck was calling me nonstop?

I tapped the phone, bringing up my messages and pressing play.

A voice from the past spoke into my ear. "Aileen, it"s been a long time. A few things happened, and I"m in town. We should talk. It"s very important."

I lowered the phone to my lap, staring unseeing at the wall.

The captain. The man who had explained to me what I was after I woke up in the morgue. The man who had gotten me honorably discharged from the military despite having a year left on my contract. The person who had called in a favor and gotten me a job with Hermes Courier Service when it became clear that working in the mundane world wasn"t going to be possible due to my new condition.

I hadn"t heard from him in years.

Honestly, I thought I'd never hear from him again.

Liam had come out of the attached bathroom and leaned against the door frame. His gaze was thoughtful as he studied me.

"Who was that?" he asked in a neutral voice.

I set the phone on the bed beside me and rubbed my hands against my legs. Briefly, the urge to lie filled me.

I ignored it.

"That was the captain." I slid out of the bed, reaching for the sweater that had been discarded at some point last night. There was a tear in one sleeve from our antics, but otherwise it was intact.

I pulled it over my head, feeling like I needed to be clothed and less vulnerable for the conversation I knew was about to go down.

Liam"s face was carefully blank. "Someone from your military days."

Already I could see him putting the pieces together.

He"d asked me once who was responsible for hiding me from the vampires. I never told him. I knew he"d try to kill that person, and at the time I"d felt loyalty and gratitude toward the captain for helping me at an extremely low point.

Things had changed since then.

I was no longer entirely certain the captain had had my best interests in mind. I"d learned since then that vampires weren"t the monsters I"d feared. That drinking human blood wouldn"t turn me further to their side despite what the captain had insinuated.

With the advantage of time and space, I could see all the clues the captain had laid that had led to my decision to shun the vampires. He"d been smart, never outright pushing me in one direction. He"d simply provided the information that formed my choice. Information I"d since learned wasn"t entirely accurate.

"Yes," I said.

Liam"s lips flattened into a thin line. "Is he the one?"

I was silent for a long time. Finally, I nodded. "Yeah."

Liam moved toward the door.

"You"re not going to do anything to him." I didn"t move from my position by the bed. There was nothing I could do to stop Liam if he"d truly decided on this course. So, I didn"t try.

Liam stopped, swinging toward me and taking a step in my direction. His uncaring mask had ripped, showing me the anger and rage burning deep inside.

"And why"s that?" he practically hissed.

I didn"t back down, meeting his gaze with resolve. "Because I asked you not to."

"He kept you from us," Liam roared. "He made you so afraid of what you were that you nearly destroyed yourself trying to deny it."

I nodded. "Yes, he did."

"Is he that important to you?" There was an ache in Liam"s voice, a vulnerability that made me hesitate.

"Not in the way you seem to think."

"Then why?"

I was silent, reaching for the best way to put this. One that would make him understand.

"What he did was done to me. I"m the one who has to live with those decisions." And I wasn"t entirely convinced he"d had malicious reasons for his actions. It was possible he didn"t fully understand vampires. He could have thought he was helping me. If that was the case, I owed it to him to find out.

Liam might not agree with his actions, but the captain had kept me from thinking I was insane. It was probably because of him that I didn"t have any deaths on my conscience. I"d been so hungry that first night. He was the one who found me the thing I craved when I didn"t know how to myself.

"Does it not strike you as convenient that he reaches out immediately after the Scattered come after you?" he demanded.

"It does," I agreed. The thought had occurred to me, but again, I wanted facts, not speculation, before I acted. "And if I find out he"s the reason, I"ll take care of that too."

Liam stared at me for a beat longer and then shook his head, his eyes closing. The look on his face was almost pained.

I knew what my demand was costing him. Right now, his instinct was to take care of the threat, but he couldn"t, not without losing me. He knew that.

"Give me time," I told him.

"Fine," he bit off, starting for the door. He paused next to it. "But if I find out he presents a more immediate threat to you or anyone else under my protection, I"ll end him and take the consequences."

I guess I couldn"t argue with that.

"If that"s true, I"ll help you." It was a promise I hoped I didn"t have to keep.

Liam prowled out of the room, the door shutting hard behind him.

I collapsed onto the bed.

That could have gone better.

*

An hour later, showered, dressed, and in a better frame of mind, I picked up my phone and dialed the captain.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang. Until I thought I would have to leave a message. Only the message beep never came.

After what felt like an eternity, the phone clicked and the captain spoke, sounding like he was speaking from a distance.

"Aileen."

Just that. No greeting. No how have you been, sorry I haven"t talked to you since you drove off base. Just my name.

"Travis." Two could play that game.

There was a pause. I"d never addressed him by his name before. It was always Captain, sometimes sir, occasionally, Cap.

"I need to talk to you. Can we meet?" he pressed on.

I"d forgotten that about him. He'd always been extremely mission oriented, often to the exclusion of all else. While an asset on the battlefield, it could lead to blinders when not in combat.

I propped my hip against Liam"s dresser. "I"m a little busy at the moment."

Liam pushed open the bedroom door, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms.

"Can"t you get free? This is important." His frustration snapped and crackled down the line.

I was quiet.

His tone softened. "Please.

"I have some things I need to do. I could meet you later, maybe."

"What things?"

"Vampire things," I said, knowing he wouldn"t like that.

This time the pause was longer.

"I thought you"d decided to keep your distance from them," the captain said finally, making no attempt to conceal his reproach.

Liam"s gaze darkened. As a vampire, his senses—and mine—were heightened, letting him hear every word the captain said. I knew his presence here wasn"t required if he wanted to listen. He"d be able to eavesdrop from anywhere in the house. At least this way, he was being upfront about it.

"That was years ago. A lot has changed since then." My words were cold and stilted.

I didn"t care if the captain approved of my choice. It was mine and mine alone.

For the first time since the captain"s existence had been brought up, amusement touched Liam"s features. His lips quirked as if he was glad to know he wasn"t the only one I gave a hard time to.

"Fine, fine, I understand," the captain said, back peddling. "Why don"t you tell me where you are? I"ll come to you."

"That wouldn"t be a good idea."

I trusted Liam not to hunt him down, but if the captain presented himself like a lamb to slaughter, that might be a little different.

"Why don"t you tell me what you want over the phone?" I asked.

A frustrated sound left him. "It"s not safe. Face-to-face is better."

"Look, I have things to take care of. Why don"t I meet you at my apartment later tonight or early tomorrow? We can talk then," I said, offering him an olive branch.

He knew where it was since he"d helped me find it.

The suggestion was the best I could do on short notice. My apartment had the advantage of being neutral ground, since I had no doubt Liam was going to find a way to be present. It also had the advantage of coming with a pixie warning system. If the captain really had ulterior motives, they would make a good back up.

"Fine, if that"s the best you can do."

"It is."

He hung up without saying good bye.

Liam pushed off the door frame. "Nathan and Connor are five minutes out."

*

My gaze moved from the unexpected sight of my car sitting in Liam"s driveway to Nathan. "Please tell me you didn"t let him drive."

Connor straightened; his expression mildly insulted. "What would be wrong with me driving?"

I pointed at him. "You don"t have a license. No license, no driving Gwyneth."

Nathan peered at me in surprise. "You named your car?"

"All good steeds have names," I told him.

He glanced at the car with a skeptical look. "That"s not a steed."

"It"s a mechanical steed," I corrected.

Liam finished locking his door, joining me on the top step.

A thought occurred to me, and I glanced at Connor. "Do you even know how to drive?"

It would make sense if he didn"t. The Fae mostly kept to their own realms. None of which had human inventions, I was betting.

Cars and planes and the like were entirely new to him.

"I"m learning," he said stiffly.

"Not in Gwyneth, you"re not."

He cast a regretful look at the car but didn"t protest.

Nathan tossed the car keys to me. "Don"t worry, A. I didn"t let anything happen to your precious steed."

Connor looked away and I narrowed my eyes, not sure I believed him. Something told me Connor may have had a recent driving lesson—in my car.

"Any news?" Liam asked Nathan.

The enforcer shook his head. "Nothing new. All is quiet."

"Alright, call the team," Liam said. "I want to meet with them as soon as we get to the Gargoyle."

Nathan"s gaze moved between Liam and me. "Is there something I should know?"

Liam"s eyes lingered on me as he said in a droll voice, "Lots."

"What"d you do in one night?" Nathan asked me.

Conner shifted next to him, darting a regretful look Liam"s way.

"I"m sure Liam will fill you in," I said, starting for my car.

Liam stopped me. "You realize Thomas will have to be told."

I grimaced. Yes, that had occurred to me.

"I don"t suppose we could skip that part and pretend we did?" I asked, knowing that was impossible.

Liam"s look was smug. "Your dread over dealing with him makes this whole matter almost worthwhile."

He stepped past me, heading to his car.

"Glad someone thinks so," I muttered.

"Nephew, you"re with me. Nathan, you can ride with Aileen."

Connor hesitated, looking between me and Liam.

"Go. I"ll see you later," I told him.

I unlocked the car by touching the door handle and slid inside, Nathan doing the same on the passenger side.

He cast a sidelong look at me as I started the car. "You want to explain or are you going to make me guess?"

Liam pulled out, heading down the driveway. I followed.

"Why spoil the surprise when guessing is so much more fun?" I asked.

"You know I"m going to find out anyway."

Probably, but this method was guaranteed to frustrate the hell out of him. Sometimes you had to take your wins where you could.

"Come on, A. You know I hate being the last to know," Nathan whined.

His head was against the headrest, his eyes on me and his body canted in my direction.

Seeing my attention on him, he gave me puppy dog eyes.

"You know that doesn"t really work on me, right?"

He snorted. "What are you talking about? It works on everyone."

"Whatever you want to tell yourself," I said.

With one last look in his direction, I relented, filling Nathan in on recent events as we made the thirty-minute drive to Thomas"s main headquarters in Columbus.

Nathan whistled when I finished. "I have to hand it to you; you always keep things interesting. Most vampires never meet a Fae even after centuries of life. You have run ins with them every other month. Not only that, you have the biggest and baddest of the lot wanting who knows what with you."

I eyed him with a sour expression. "Please. Don"t hold back."

Nathan"s laugh was humorless as we made our last turn. "I can"t help it if you"re a walking disaster. What are you going to do?"

"That"s what I"m hoping to figure out," I said.

He touched my arm. "Hey, in all seriousness, you"re not alone. We have your back."

I flashed him a smile. "I appreciate that."

More than he knew. This didn"t feel like the other times I"d been in over my head. It was practically a requirement for how I lived my life. This felt different. Bigger.

I felt like a change was barreling down on me, and I was helpless to get out of the way.

Nathan waved away my words. "We"re family. Besides, if one of the super-rare magic breakers died on our watch, our reputations would never survive."

That got a disbelieving huff out of me as we pulled to a stop behind Liam, who was inputting his code for the gate.

The Gargoyle was a stately mansion that looked like an ode to gothic architecture. Surrounded by a large wrought iron fence, the mansion sat on at least two acres of prime real estate in the heart of downtown Columbus. A few streets to its north was East Broad Street known for its sky scrapers and business offices.

On the other side of the street was a neighborhood that looked like it had seen better days. Some of the houses were shuttered, their windows boarded up. Others had lawns that looked like they hadn't been cared for in years.

Despite the less than stellar surroundings, everyone knew not to mess with the grounds or inhabitants of the Gargoyle. It had only taken a few interlopers going missing for that message to get across.

A circular driveway led up to the Gargoyle"s front door, past the topiary garden.

Rumors around town had it that the building was an exclusive school for the wealthy and children of foreign diplomats. I had a feeling someone in Thomas"s camp had encouraged the claim. Along with the disrepair of the neighborhood.

It was easier to come and go as you pleased when no one cared or noticed.

Nathan and I headed toward Liam and Connor on the steps.

I paused halfway there, noting a car parked on the other side of the street and a half a block from the Gargoyle's parked gate.

That wasn't strange in and of itself. No, what set my instincts ablaze was how nice the car was compared to the rest of the cars in the neighborhood.

"Aileen? Something wrong?" Nathan asked.

I didn't answer, squinting at the car. Perhaps it was the attack the other night that was making me more paranoid than usual.

No magic rimmed the car. Nothing that pointed to something supernatural.

Still, it felt like I was being watched. I didn't like it. Not one bit.

A shadow moved within, too far away to glimpse the person's features.

"See that car?" I asked.

Nathan glanced in the direction I was looking at. His eyebrows furrowed as he picked up on the same thing I did.

Most of the cars parked on this street were clunkers. Many hadn't seen a car wash since the last decade.

Nathan took out his phone, typing out a text. "I have Makoto pulling up the surveillance feeds to see how long it's been there."

Seconds after he sent the text, the car's lights came on and the person drove away.

We watched until the car was gone.

"It's probably nothing, but we'll check it out all the same," Liam said from behind us.

I looked up at him to find him staring at the point where the car had turned off the street with a frown.

His electric blue eyes focused on me. "In the meantime, I"ll find Thomas and secure a meeting for us."

Oh goody.

"It would be a good idea for you to feed." Liam"s gaze on me made it clear who he was addressing. "Beyond the fact that it will likely put Thomas into a better frame of mind to know that you took care of your needs, it"s also important to gather as much power as possible. You"ll need your strength in the event the Scattered are truly after you."

He waited until I nodded grudgingly.

It was good advice. Even I could see that.

"Nathan," Liam said, the name a summons.

Nathan shot me a questioning look, asking without words if I was going to be okay. Relevant, considering my less than stellar history at keeping myself supplied in fresh blood.

I waved him off. I might not like it, but my days of not feeding on humans were over. At least the humans the vampires kept as blood donors were adequately compensated for their sacrifice.

"I already ate," Connor informed me when I glanced at him.

"In that case, I"ll catch up with you afterward," I told him.

We parted at the front door, him heading deeper into the mansion while I made my way to the section of the house claimed by the blood donors.

My steps dragged as I hesitated on the threshold of a room with an eighty-five-inch TV on one wall. Today, the oversized sectional and comfortable looking arm chairs next to the entertainment center were occupied by four humans.

There were two statuses for humans in the mansion. Claimed and unclaimed.

Being claimed meant the human was only required to feed their vampire. They provided for any needs the vampire deemed necessary—up to and including sex.

In exchange, the lucky human received a handsome yearly stipend. More importantly, they had access to regular feedings of vampire blood, which extended their life and kept them eternally young.

From what I"d heard, the competition to become a companion was vicious. Even more so because it wasn"t the humans doing the choosing.

The unclaimed were their opposite. Responsible for keeping fed those among Thomas"s vampires who didn"t want the responsibility of a companion, they rotated in and out of this room fairly regularly.

I recognized three of those present. The fourth was a stranger to me. Either new to the mansion or just returning from vacation.

I lingered in the doorway, feeling awkward. Asking another person if they"d let you gnaw on their wrist or neck wasn"t exactly covered in any of the classes or training I"d ever attended as a human.

Deborah looked up from fiddling with her phone, her expression closed off and angry. She"d lost her patron recently when Thomas had reorganized his people. Her patron had been one of those reassigned to a different section of Thomas"s territory.

I didn"t know if Deborah had elected to remain behind or if the patron had chosen to leave her here, but she was obviously unhappy about it.

For a moment, I hesitated, waffling over my decision. I knew Deborah. More importantly, I"d taken blood from her in the past.

Unfortunately, Deborah wasn't my biggest fan, which made getting blood from her awkward at best.

In the end, I chose a woman I only vaguely recognized.

I marched across the room, not letting my doubts get the best of me.

The woman didn"t look up from the phone she was playing with as I stopped in front of her. "Choose someone else."

Shock rendered me mute. An uncomfortable feeling washed over the back of my neck as something like humiliation sank its ugly claws in my stomach.

I was conscious of us becoming the center of focus. The stranger I"d noticed looked on with something like shock. Deborah was harder to read. The last human fought to hide his amusement.

The woman, Ivy, I thought her name was, finally looked up from her phone. "Did you not hear? Choose someone else."

That same hot feeling from before flicked through me. I fought to hold my ground and not go running from the room like a na?ve debutante.

Deborah started to stand.

"Do my ears deceive me? Are you really that stupid?" Anton drawled from the doorway.

I stepped away, unable to help feeling inferior and about an inch tall.

"My lord," the woman breathed, something like reverence in her expression.

My lord? Was she kidding me with this shit?

Anger finally pushed forward. I embraced its fire, using it to banish the unwelcome embarrassment. I was all kinds of awesome and if this idiot didn't understand that, it was her problem. Not mine.

Ivy bowed her head, dropping into an awkward looking curtsy, missing the look of disgust he sent her.

"You"re gone," he informed her.

Her head lifted with surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"Pack your things and get out." Anton prowled into the room, already dismissing her from his mind. "In case any of you are suffering from any misconceptions, let me make it clear. You have one function. Refuse and we have no need for you."

Ivy protested. "Wait, you can"t do this."

Anton speared her with a look. "I can do anything I want."

"She"s nothing," Ivy said. "It brings us no benefit to provide her blood."

Anton"s gaze was derisive. "Sweetheart, you"re nothing. She"s a vampire. If she asks you to get on your knees and bark like a dog, you obey because you"re hoping for what she already has."

He pinched her chin and stalked toward the couch, throwing himself on it as he spread his arms along its back.

Desperation twisted her pretty features as she struggled to save the situation. Ivy"s gaze locked on me. "I"ll feed you. I"ll feed you right now."

I shook my head, bending away from the wrist she shoved in my face. Too late.

Ivy"s arm dropped as she whirled on Anton. "You can"t do this. I have a contract with the master."

Anton shrugged, uncaring. "Suit yourself. Stay, but no vampire will touch you after this." He winked at her. "Best to get out while you still have some of your looks."

Ivy"s gaze darted around the room, finding no one willing to side with her.

Deborah stood. "Aileen, I"ll feed you."

Ivy shoved past, the angry sound of her footsteps echoing long after she was gone.

Anton flicked his fingers at the stranger. "You."

"Gladly." The stranger smiled and stood, taking a seat next to Anton. He ran one finger along his neck before leaning toward the enforcer.

I looked away as Anton reached up, his hands cupping the stranger"s shoulders and pulling him closer. All the while I could feel that his eyes were locked on me.

Deborah held out her wrist, thankfully not commenting when she saw my hands shaking.

Feeding from Deborah was different than when I tasted Liam"s blood. For one, there was no instant desire that threatened to overwhelm my faculties. This was much more clinical. It involved taking what I needed without causing pain. Nothing more; nothing less.

I"d been told my bite was mildly pleasant for a human. If I wanted, I could edge it toward intense pain or pleasure.

Minutes later, I was full. I swiped my tongue across the wounds and straightened.

"Thank you," I said softly.

Her nod was short. "Any time."

She stopped me as I turned away, catching my arm. "I mean that."

The offer was a surprise—especially considering the dislike she"d shown me in the past.

I hesitated, searching for an ulterior motive.

Finished with his meal, Anton stood, an imperious demand on his face. "Come along. Nathan sent me to fetch you."

Deborah let me go.

"I"m coming," I said, moving toward the hallway.

I chanced one last glance behind me, lifting a hand in thanks. "See you around."

Deborah"s nod was firm.

I trailed Anton for a few steps before he dropped back to join me.

"Does that happen often?" His voice was tight and his face expressionless.

I didn"t pretend to misunderstand. "Never quite that obvious."

There had been tension for some time between me and those who were unclaimed. On one hand I understood it.

From an outsider"s perspective, it would seem like I was rejecting the gifts I"d been given. Ones they wanted with all their being.

"I"ll take care of it," Anton said.

I shot him a glance. "No offense, but I don"t want to feed from people who are unwilling."

I had enough issues without adding worry that they weren't there of their own volition to the mix.

"They"re well compensated for their time and blood," Anton said in a mild voice. "They receive a yearly salary of eighty thousand dollars. That"s on top of a yearly stipend for clothes and other necessities. Nor do they pay for their room and board while with us. They can swallow any personal feelings they have to do their very simple job."

I stopped walking when I learned how much they made. Anton continued past for several steps before pausing.

They made over twice what I made. For doing nothing but sitting in a room twice a week waiting for a vampire to choose them for a donation.

"Holy hell, how much money do you guys have?" I asked.

Anton regarded me with amusement. "All of us are centuries old, and you know what they say, you can never go wrong by investing in real estate. Thomas owns a chunk of East Broadway. That"s not even the extent of his properties."

I swallowed hard. A lot of that land was filled with buildings twenty stories tall. The rent from the offices alone would make him a wealthy man.

Anton"s smile was sharp. "Vampires are as obsessed with accumulating wealth as we are blood. It"s best to remember that."

I blinked. I didn"t think I would be able to forget after this.

We started walking again, heading downstairs toward the basement gym.

Anton didn"t look at me as he paused in the act of opening the door. "What you did for Nathan before the Wild Hunt—that was a good thing."

I eyed his back warily. "Nathan"s my friend. No words necessary. The world would be a much darker place without him in it."

Anton"s head tilted and he sent me an astonished look. "I didn"t realize any of us were your friends."

I shrugged. "Surprised me too."

But it was true.

I didn"t think I imagined his faint smile before he opened the door and stepped inside.

I followed, asking myself why vampires always acted so damn weird.