Victor lay still, his world almost perfect. Kimber was in his arms after a night of energetic love-making and wore his ring on her finger, her soft breath on his skin as she slept.

If it weren’t for the threat to her safety he’d be in seventh-heaven. But the cloud loomed over him like a shroud of darkness that almost consumed him with fear that stole his breath away like a damn thief in the night and he could do nothing. Not when all their efforts to find the identity of Skotall’s employer had come up empty. It was eating away at him and he was finding it harder with each passing day to hide it from Kimber.

She knew something was wrong, but he’d fobbed her off and told her that a business deal was giving him problems, and she had nodded and said, “Fine.”

Fine. That age-old word that every man knew when it dripped from a woman’s lips signified anything but its true meaning. She hadn’t pressed him though, and for that he was grateful.

With the sun blazing through the window he felt ill at ease. It meant only a few of the Vampires would be on duty and there would be more Werewolves out and about. Not that they weren’t good at their jobs, just that they weren’t as fast, and Victor hated that not all his men would be available. Flint kept telling him that even his guards had to rest, and he knew he was right, but he still felt uneasy when he knew there wasn’t a full complement on duty.

At least Collins and Jana would be on duty. Truth was he was surprised they were still here. He thought Clarence would get bored and be on his way long before now, but no, the old guy had stayed, resolute in his desire to keep Kimber safe. He might have misjudged the stiff-upper-lipped old coot after all. Jana was a different matter altogether. He never doubted the Wolf’s resolve. She was bold, tough, and vicious, and he doubted that anything would get past her without her knowing it. That made him feel better . . . somewhat.

She was still only a Werewolf and she had no magical abilities so they were still in trouble if they were caught by surprise before Flint managed to find a substitute for the Witch who’d left. Damn the Directive. They could’ve given him some notice before pulling their Witch. At least give him a chance to replace them instead of just ordering them away. He was going to call Magno and give him a piece of his mind later. That old man deserved a good bawling out . . . nobody had the balls to do it. But he did.

Kimber nestled closer to him, her hand trailing down his chest and moving lower, her fingers playfully searching. It looked like she was awake and ready for some fun. “Morning, beautiful.” He chuckled as her hand disappeared under the covers.

“Morning,” she sighed against his chest before kissing his nipple, desire flooding through him as her fingers found her target.

His cock sprang to life, hardening within her grasp, his hips thrusting upwards . . . as his enhanced hearing picked up raised voices from downstairs. Reaching down he stilled her touch. “Wait.”

“I don’t want to,” Kimber purred, her tongue licking around his chest before her teeth nipped him.

Cocking his head, he heard Nellie shouting his name. “Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute.”

He leaped out of the bed, Kimber grumbling loudly as he snatched the pants he’d discarded last night and tugged them on before rushing out of the room. As soon as he closed the door he increased his speed, his body a mere flash as he flew toward the voices he could hear clearly now. Nellie’s voice was angry as she told someone to “Stay the hell away.”

Victor leaped down the stairs, his feet barely making contact until he reached the bottom, spinning around and seeing Nellie facing off with a younger woman. She looked to be in her late thirties, with dark hair pinned up, and dark blue eyes that were squinting at Nellie with a condescending look. Her lips were painted red, blood red, as she spat out, “Shut up, old woman.”

“You get out, now. I won’t let you near her. You hear me? You get out.”

Victor was confused. Who the hell was this woman and why was she here? More to the point, why was Nellie arguing with her? He strode over, anger clouding his vision. “Who the fuck are you and why are you in my house?”

Nellie didn’t take her eyes off the female. “Victor. Thank goodness. She’s the one. She’s here for Kimber.”

“What?” Victor looked down at Nellie then over at the woman. “This bitch is the one who hired Skotall? But he called that person . . .”

The woman giggled. The sound high-pitched, girly, and definitely not fit for the situation. “Mister Big. Yeah, he was an asshole and I used one of those wonderful voice-changer thingmabobs when we spoke. I kinda liked it . . . Mister Big! Dontcha just love it? My name is . . . Mivian. Remember it, because it’ll be the name of the person that’s going to take that sweet Dragon from you.”

Victor snarled, his lips curling back as his fangs descended, desperate to rip her damn throat out. All the anger he’d been suppressing rising to the fore as he glared at the bitch in front of him. “I’ll rip your heart out and feed it to you.”

“I doubt it, big guy.” She looked around, appraising the room. “I like this. I like it very much. I might move in for a while.”

“Nellie, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. She’s not a Witch. She’s like me . . . Fae. Just thought you’d like that information.”

“Fae?” Victor asked, confused and wondering what the hell was going on. “What the hell do you want with Kimber?”

“Yes, I’m Fae, but I’m not like you, old woman. I’ve . . . now what is that saying? Oh yes, I’ve gone to the dark side and it’s far more powerful. As for you, Vampire, I want her for the same reason everyone else does . . . her Dragon magic. I’ll harness it and become even more powerful. Simple really. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. What’s it to be?”

“How did she get in here?” Victor asked Nellie. “How did she get past the guards?”

Nellie sighed. “I’m not certain but I think she used a sleeping spell . . . simple but effective. And I also think she’s been affecting them lately too. The way some of them have been slacking off, yes, I’ve heard about it and I thought it was just plain wrong. I’m sure she’s behind it, Victor.”

“Oh that, well, yes, I did play around with them a little. Just for fun.” Mivian pouted her painted lips. “I was bored waiting around on you to take that bitch out somewhere so I could get to her. But no, you kept her here so I had to come get her. Yes, most of your men are sleepy bye byes, and some of them are off chasing a strange scent I left a trail for. So, it’s just us here and I’m getting bored. Can we just get this over with?”

Nellie shook her head, sighing loudly. “You’re a disgrace to our race. A disgrace but if you think a little extra magic is getting you past me, girly, then you’re mistaken. How old are you?”

Mivian looked shocked, her hand shooting to her chest. “What? You did not just ask me that? Why, Nellie dear, you know how rude it is to ask a woman her age . . . don’t you?”

“I mean it . . . how old are you?” Nellie asked again. Her voice was different, cold as ice and just as hard.

Victor was already harnessing his own anger and power. Did this bitch not know how old he was? Was she not aware of the power he could produce? If not, she was in for a fucking huge shock.

Mivian held a hand up to her mouth, stage whispering. “I know I don’t look it but I’m, shush now, and don’t tell anyone . . . but I’m almost sixty!”

Victor shook his head. Yes, he’d mistaken her age, but she was Fae and they didn’t age at the same rate as humans. But he would bet his last dollar she would not be expecting Nellie’s answer.

“I see. Well, to me you’re naught but a babe in arms. You’ve sought out and garnered some extra magic, by force no doubt, which always weakens it. Me, on the other hand, I lived with many other beings, including Dragons in the Scottish Highlands . . . you may have heard of them? They were rife when I was a girl, but that was centuries ago, Mivian, and at that time they shared their magic freely with those they cared about. Guess what, bitch . . . I was one of those.”

Victor saw the words hit as if she were sucker punched, but she recovered well. “I don’t believe you.”

“Fuck this shit.” Victor raised a hand, releasing one of his own power bolts that flew toward Mivian.

Her head didn’t move but her hand did, flicking toward him as she spat out. “Oh please!”

A bolt of blue flew toward his own power sending it careening back toward him to crash into his chest. The pain was instantaneous as he was lifted and sent crashing across the room. Kimber’s scream echoing in his ears at the same time as Nellie shrieked at her to stay back.