Shane pulled me away from the silvered vampire, and he was not happy. “If you let that vampire lead us to the demon, no one will hire you again, Trinity. And this isn’t just about you. I’m along for this ride, and I don’t want your bad reputation to affect my work.”

“Calm down,” I whispered, with a glance in Gray’s direction. “It’s not like I’m going to actually let him go after he leads us to Seth Damon.”

He threw back his head and inhaled deeply, then blew it out slowly before looking at me. “You did that with the first vampire you caught in the city. Once, you can come back from. You do it again, and you won’t.”

“What?”

“You can’t make fucking deals with your targets, and then go back on your word.”

“Why not?” I frowned, confused by his anger. “No one cares. They’re only vampires.”

“Because no one will trust you,” he shouted, drawing a few looks from the others. He clamped his mouth shut and when he spoke again, it was more quietly. “No one will hire you, and no one will work with you. No vampire will make a deal with you when it really matters. You won’t be a respected hunter, Trinity. There’s a rhythm to hunting. There’s a community, an understanding, and there are fucking rules.”

“But I don’t—”

He leaned forward and got in my face. “There’s a code. And if you can’t live and hunt by that code, you will not be a hunter.”

I was quiet for a few seconds, and I stared into the little knot of supernats standing over the silvered vampire, unable to look Shane in the eye. “I’m sorry,” I said, finally.

I hadn’t meant to be a dick, or an idiot, but I’d ended up being both.

He softened. “Honor,” he said. “It’s important.”

I nodded. “But if I let him go…”

“Captain Crawford won’t trust you to hunt for the PD again.”

“And we won’t get paid.” I looked at him, trying for a smile. “I really don’t want to work at Angus’s store for the rest of my life.”

I needed to hunt. Needed it. It was in my blood.

“Then you’ll find another way,” Shane said, as he walked away.

“How long do we have before the exorcist gets here?” I called.

“Half an hour,” he said.

“Dammit.” I couldn’t do everything. Not in half an hour.

I strode toward the little group. “Angus, will you deliver Gray to Captain Crawford?”

They all gaped at me. “Hell no, I won’t,” Angus said. “How else are we going to find the demon?”

“I’m working on it.” I gripped his arm and stared up at him. I was tall, but Angus was really tall. “Take him to the police station for me.” I hesitated. “Please. Trust me.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Shane smile.

Yeah, I got it.

Angus shook his head, but his stare was gentle. “Be careful, Trinity.” He turned to Shane. “Truss him up, and do it right. None of that girly shit Trin has going on.”

Shane reached up under the back of his jacket and his hand emerged with a pair of silver handcuffs. He knelt beside Gray and got to work. When he was finished with the vampire a couple of minutes later, Gray was cuffed and wrapped from head to toe, and he wasn’t going anywhere.

“You gave your word,” Gray yelled, as Angus hauled him away.

“No,” I said. “I agreed to give you freedom if you led me to the incubus.”

“I need to tell you about Lucy.” But the silver was taking its toll and his voice was weak, fading, and tired.

“I’ll come see you when this is over.” But he was already gone, and he wouldn’t have heard my murmured words anyway.

I caressed Silverlight’s sheath, then turned and walked away.

“Hold up,” Rhys said. “Where are you off to?”

I turned back to face them. “I need to talk to Amias, and I need to do it alone.”

No one spoke—not even Miriam—so I left them there and went to find the only other person who could take us to the demon.

If he would.

I didn’t wander far from the group. I knew Amias would find me.

He did, not five minutes later.

I looked at him, and I waited for the rage. I could feel it, sort of, waving its arms and drumming its heels like a little kid throwing a tantrum, but it was easily dismissed.

I was sad to see it go, really, but no matter. The hatred was still there, and it wasn’t going to fade. Not ever.

He might think he ruled me, but he did not.

“Why are you smiling?” he asked quietly. He stood a few yards away, his hands at his sides. He wore no jacket, just a black button-up shirt and black pants. He shoes were freshly shined and expensive, and he looked like a mysterious gentleman taking a leisurely stroll inside the gates of his estate.

But I knew him, probably as well as anyone could know a master vampire, and it didn’t matter what he wore or how smooth he was.

He was a vicious animal.

“I didn’t want to leave you there,” he whispered. “I want you now, Trinity. Can you feel it?”

And it was as though his words were torpedoes filled with sex, because they pierced my eardrums, exploded in my brain, and left me gasping and doubled over, my fingers pressed to the two tiny puncture wounds on my thigh.

It took everything I had to straighten and pull Silverlight from her bed. She attached with a force that knocked the awful desire from my body, and she shook with the eagerness to taste the vampire who watched us.

“Your strength is impressive,” he said, smiling.

“Angus was telling the truth,” I said. “You did something to my mind.”

He took a step closer, despite Silverlight. “Are you in pain?”

I frowned. “No. Why?”

“You don’t want to hurt me.” And he was so very, very proud of that fact.

I could feel myself paling. “What is wrong with me?” I wasn’t asking him, and he didn’t bother to answer.

I would have hurt him if he’d threatened me, but I didn’t stand there with the overwhelming need to rip his heart out the way I had before.

Before the sex.

Silverlight wanted to hurt him. I didn’t.

“What do you need, Trinity?” There was pity in his voice.

That made me mad. “I need the demon. You’re going to tell me where he is.”

“Of course.”

I stared. “What?”

“He’s just returned to his nest a few minutes ago. He is tired and weak despite his…night. We must stop him now.”

“His night.” I cleared my throat and continued a little louder. “What happened?”

“We need to hurry,” was all he’d say. “Daylight arrives in two hours and I can’t help you when the sun comes.”

“Gray told me I can kill the demon with Silverlight and a priest. But…”

“But you don’t want to kill the priest.”

“No,” I said, honestly. “I really don’t.”

“You slaughter vampires.”

“Not the same thing.”

“Someday it will be,” he said, his voice flat.

“Maybe, but not tonight. Tonight I have to sacrifice a man in order to save God knows how many humans. That’s…” I swallowed, then blew out a quiet breath. “That’s fucked up, Amias.”

“There will be a lot of fucked-up things before this night is over,” he predicted. “Your priest will be the least of them.”

I shuddered, and tried not to think too hard about his words.

“I don’t need you to lead us there.” Honestly, I was worried that Angus would jump the master, and I did not want to deal with that. “Tell me where he’s hiding.”

He didn’t change expressions, but I had a strong feeling he knew exactly why I wanted to go without him.

“Give me your cell phone.” He walked closer still.

Finally, I slid Silverlight back into her sheath and let him come, but when I handed him my phone, his fingers brushed mine and I recoiled so violently I knocked the phone to the ground.

He said nothing, just picked up the cell, slid his long finger across the screen, and then handed it back to me. And he was careful not to touch me.

“I put the address into your GPS, Trinity. Go now. I will be there when you arrive.”

“Wait…” I said.

He waited.

“It might not be a good idea for you to be there. I’ll have the supernaturals and—”

“Trinity.”

“What?”

“I will be there when you arrive.”

He slid away, quicker than a shadow.

Before I could follow, my cell phone vibrated. “Hello,” I answered. “Clayton?”

“Trinity,” he said, his voice cold but somehow urgent, “I’m on my way to you with the exorcist. Something has happened.”

“What’s wrong?” I tightened my grip on the phone. “Are you okay?”

“When Angus took Gordon in, they tried to arrest him.”

I stopped walking and stared into the darkness, suddenly terrified. “Tried to arrest Gordon?” I asked, stupidly.

“They tried to arrest Angus,” he said. “The butchered bodies of eight human women were discovered. They were flung into a pile behind someone’s house. The demon is losing his mind.”

“My God,” I whispered. “Amias was just here. He didn’t tell me.”

“Stay with the others. I’ll be there in ten minutes unless I’m stopped. We have to end this tonight, or the Red Valley supernaturals are all going to die.”

Then he was gone.

When I shoved the phone back into my pocket and looked up, Miriam, Rhys, and Shane were standing in a line a few yards away, watching me.

I wasn’t surprised that they’d followed me when I’d gone to find Amias. They all thought they needed to watch me every second, apparently.

“Who were you talking to, Trinity?” Miriam asked, but I could tell from the look of dark anger in her eyes that she already knew.

But there was no time to care.

“Eight human bodies were found,” I said, striding toward them. “They tried to arrest Angus. Red Valley is rounding up all the supernaturals, so you have to stay here.”

“He called you,” she said, coldly, as though that were the only thing she’d heard. She pulled her phone from her pocket and looked at it.

“Fuck that,” Shane said, his voice thick with disgust. “Clayton and the priest are on their way?”

“Yes,” I murmured. “Unless he’s stopped, he’ll be here in a few minutes. Do not leave these woods. They don’t have the manpower to come in here and take on the vampires. At least not yet. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Where are you going?” Rhys asked. “You can’t leave, Trinity. They’ll likely see you as one of us. If you’re detained, we don’t have a chance to kill the incubus.”

I knew that, I did.

But they were after Angus. And his kids.

“I have to help Angus,” I said. “I’m safe. Captain Crawford won’t want me. He knows I haven’t killed anybody.”

“I’m coming with you,” Shane said.

Rhys and Miriam looked at each other, then at me. “Those kids know where to hide,” Miriam said. “They’ll be safe. Just get to Angus. If he loses control, he may kill one of those officers.”

“He can’t come back from that,” Rhys said.

“I’ll find him.”

She nodded. “We’ll wait here for Clayton and the exorcist. Go fetch our bull, Trinity.”

I raced away, Shane at my side, my heart in my throat.

I wasn’t sure Angus could be saved.

I wasn’t sure any of us could be.