Darius said nothing. He couldn’t. His lungs were frozen.

Ilertha help him. The dress Kat wore left little to the imagination. Her lips red and inviting. Her wild hair tamed. Her stilettos—Marcel Vernier, expensive, likely borrowed—accentuated her luscious legs. Muscular calves. Perfect thighs he wanted to spread open.

Darius wasn’t sure which version of Kat he preferred: rough and wild, or sleeker and put together. He settled on both.

Kat went to tuck her hair behind her ear only to remember it was tied up. She palmed the side smooth. “Well… um, should we go?”

Gods, how would he make it through the night without ravaging her? “Yes. Yes, of course. You look gorgeous.”

She rolled her eyes, but red touched her cheeks all the same.

He motioned down the hall and put his other hand on the small of her back. She glanced at him. For a moment, he thought she would say something. Reject him. But instead, she sucked in a nervous breath and walked.

The close contact gave him a direct line to her emotions. Beyond the obvious apprehension, it pleased him she also felt excitement and desire. For all her denials, she was, at the very least, curious about him.

Now all he needed to do was convince her to let him feed. If the cowboy was right, that meant offering her more than a fun tumble in bed. It meant romance. And promises of more.

He’d never wanted more from someone before. And yet…he craved her.

But would she stay once she knew he had to feed on others?

Telling her now might mean she’d deny him, and he couldn’t risk it. He needed her. Just for the night. And once his head had cleared, once he had fed, he’d explain.

His skin itched as his incubus form tried to emerge.

Focus.

He pushed the monster back down.

Kat had her hand on the exit of the building.

“Not that way,” he said.

She paused, and looked back at him. Her head tilted slightly with confusion.

He smiled at her and opened an interior door. “Down here.”

“The basement?” She eyed him. “Should I be worried?”

His smile widened. “I take it they haven’t taken the time to show you.”

“Show me what?”

He chuckled and entered the stairwell, leaving her behind. He knew she’d be unable to resist following and sure enough, she trailed behind him.

Painted symbols covered the concrete walls at the bottom of the stairwell. Kat ran her fingers over them. “What are these?”

“Runes to keep vampires out.” Darius pulled open the heavy security door and motioned for her to enter. In the center of the somewhat sizable room sat a massive boulder. Runes were carved across it.

Disappointment crossed Kat’s face. “A rock?”

“Watch.” A rune on the stone began to glow a soft green then faded.

“Some kind of magic rock?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, what does it do?”

“You’ll see.”

A few moments of silence passed. Kat crossed her arms and popped her hip as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Are we waiting for something here?”

“Yes.” Darius pulled out his phone, annoyed. He pressed a few buttons, and a dispatcher answered.

“Lord Darius.”

“Where is my—” Before he could finish the question a hunter team teleported in. “Never mind.” He hung up and slipped the phone back in his pocket.

“My apologies, my lord,” the short female team commander said. Darius had seen her before. Commander Ga-hui of House Hanul from South Korea.

“You’re late because…?”

“Dispatch put the assignment out to available teams…we, uh…”

“Had to draw straws.” The bodyguards that had escorted him to the academy were cadets, and when he went out, he needed an advanced team with him.

The hunter’s lips pressed thin. “We meant no offense, my lord. My team is here for the, uh, whatever it is the Lord General has planned tonight. Do you know?”

He didn’t. But that would make him seem uninformed and put him in a position of weakness. “You’ll find out tonight.” Darius let his hand drift to Kat’s lower back once more. “We intend to be there as well.”

The hunter team kept their expressions professional but their emotional excitement nearly knocked Darius over, and he wasn’t even standing all that close to them. Everyone at Ashwood was looking forward to the event. “We’re going to New York.”

“Oh no way,” Kat said. She ran her fingers over the stone.

“It’s her first time.”

A hunter grabbed a paper bag from a storage cabinet and held it out to Kat. She looked at it.

“Teleporting isn’t easy the first few dozen times,” Darius said.

Kat took the bag. “Great.”

“Let’s go.”

Commander Ga-hui touched the stone to activate the magic. Darius was used to the feeling of being stretched thin then reformed in a new location, but poor Kat wasn’t. She dropped to her knees, vomiting into the bag.

“Jesus,” she gasped between heaves. “I’m sorry. Ugh.”

Darius stroked her back to soothe her. “You’re hardly the first person I’ve seen go through this. You have nothing to worry about.” He went and got a damp towel and a bottle of water for her.

She wiped her mouth with the towel, stood, and grabbed the water from him, downing it.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded, looking around. They were currently in an abandoned brick office building with no windows. “Are we really in New York?”

“Yes. Come see.”

They exited to a narrow street surrounded by heavy brick buildings. Two SUVs and a limo waited for them. The hunters piled into the black SUVs. Kat hugged herself as the winter air hit her. Darius wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. She relaxed against his chest…that is until Darius let out an inhuman rumble of pleasure and she tensed. He cursed himself. To her, he was a monster.

“It’s warmer where we’re headed,” he said.

A driver opened the limo door for them, and Darius slid in after Kat, sitting next to her.

“No sports car this time?” she asked, looking around.

“I’d rather pay attention to you, not the road.”

She looked at him, studying his broad shoulders, then dipped her eyes down his suit shirt until they landed on his bulging crotch. Hungry and next to the woman of his desire, Darius couldn’t help it. He’d been rock hard since he’d first seen her in the dorms.

She returned to looking at his face. “What happened to ‘keeping flirtation to a minimum’?”

“I assure you, this is minimum.”

“Maybe you should go sit over there.” She motioned to an empty seat. “You’re doing the thing again. With the hormones.”

“They aren’t hormones. They’re pheromones. Is it really that unpleasant, or unwelcome?” Darius brushed his hand against her knee.

She glared at him.

He pulled his hand away. “Sorry, I—”

“Go to the other seat and get yourself under control.”

Darius did as ordered, sliding over and leaning back, defeated.

Several moments of silence passed before Kat asked, “Where are you taking me? I’ve never been to New York before.”

“Really? I love this city. It’s one of the safest cities you can be in. Vampires don’t attack here.”

“No?”

Darius looked out the window. “Our High King lives here, and the High Lord General assigns extra hunters to this city to keep it safe.”

“What’s he like?” she asked.

“The High King or the Lord General?”

“Either. Both.”

“The Lord General is intense but fair. Not everyone agrees with his methods, but he gets results and protects our people. But the High King…” Darius shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him.”

“Never?”

“No. Not many have. He’s…old. Very old.” Every incubus wanted to see the High King, Darius included, but only an elite few—usually other kings and queens—had that privilege. “We’re here.”

The limo pulled to a curb, and they exited into a dirty back alley behind a Chinese restaurant. Kat shot him a questioning glance. “This isn’t quite what I expected.”

“No? Don’t like Chinese?”

“I love it. But you don’t seem the type to take a date to a place like this. Maybe I’ve misjudged you.”

“Maybe you have.” He held out his hand to her. She took it, and he led them to the back door. The inside was dark—pure black—and before she could realize or protest what he was doing, he pulled her through. The feeling of teleportation slid over him, and they materialized on the other side of the portal.

Darius retrieved a paper bag from his pocket and handed it to her. “Then again, maybe you haven’t misjudged me at all.”

“A warning”—she said as she dry-heaved into the bag—“would have”—another heave—“been nice.” She glared at him. “I don’t think there’s anything left in my stomach. You’re kind of a jer—”

An audible gasp escaped her as an enormous eagle swooped out of the sky and landed not far from them. Its rider—an elf, tall as any human but thinner with pointed ears—slid off. He connected the giant bird’s lead rope to a hitching post.

Darius watched her jaw go slack; her eyes darted around the medieval-looking town with its stone roads, wooden buildings, and thatched roofs. Gargoyles sat frozen at nearly every roof corner.

Shops lined the wide main street. There was a florist with plants that bloomed and shriveled and bloomed again in the span of a few moments; an art studio where the paintings sparkled and moved; a pet store specializing in magical critters. The blacksmith, Torfe the Ironmaker, a squat man with a beard that always seemed to be smoldering, was hard at work with his assistants in his open-air shop. Darius used his services whenever a warrior needed new armor commissioned.

A woman with skin that glittered many different colors in the sunlight walked past them. She bowed slightly to Darius and left through the portal.

“Where are we?” Kat finally asked after the initial shock waned.

“King’s Borough. A city created by the two Aeonian witches centuries ago, now ruled and policed by the incubi. A city where monsters don’t have to hide.”

The look of wonder on Kat’s face reminded Darius of the first time the Lord General had brought him to King’s Borough as a young child. He had spent months lost in the grief of his parents’ death. The Lord General somehow freed an afternoon and brought Tane and Darius to the town, hoping it might help Darius reconnect to life.

Lost in the sights and sounds, Darius could hardly move. He’d never seen so much magic before, or that many different creatures. It overwhelmed his young mind, but the Lord General’s steady hand on the back of his neck grounded him. Comforted him.

That was the first day in a long time Darius could feel anything again.

Of course, Tane made fun of him for standing still and ran off despite the Lord General’s command for the boys to stay close. Hunters went after Tane while the Lord General kept at Darius’ side, reassuring him.

“This is incredible,” Kat said.

“I’ve always thought so. Come, I’ll show you around.” He held out his arm for her, and together they strolled along the road. Kat stayed uncharacteristically silent as she absorbed the scenery.

They passed a shop window displaying a row of ornate wooden stakes, and Darius noticed her eyes linger on them.

“I want to go in,” she said and pushed open the shop’s engraved wooden door.

He watched her as she explored, her hands ghosting over products. Clocks, ornately carved statues, toys, stakes, one of a kind headboards, benches…

“Is everything in this shop made from wood?” she asked.

“Oh yes.”

She stopped to study a massive oak tree that grew in the center of the store; its thick leaves and old, twisting branches harmoniously occupied the area. A section of bark on the trunk began to move. It gathered and swirled into a mass, and the mass began to take shape.

Kat grabbed one of the stakes from a display and stepped in front of Darius as if to protect him. Darius admired her fearlessness.

The mass of moving wood separated from the tree and formed into a woman. She wore no clothes over her broken, bark-like skin, and her green hair had twigs and leaves poking out of it.

“Ah,” she said, her voice soft and lyrical, “Lord Darius, it has been a long time since you’ve come to visit us.”

Darius offered her a smile. “Balanos. You’re looking lovely as always.”

“What is she?” Kat whispered.

“A hamadryad. Bound to the oak tree, she’s its protector.”

Balanos reached out and ran her fingers down Kat’s face. “And what is she?”

“I’m a human. A hunter cadet,” Kat answered before Darius could.

“Do you like the stake?” Balanos asked.

Polished, with a carved handle, Darius thought it looked more like a piece of art than a weapon.

“It’s nice. Your work is extraordinary,” Kat said as she weighed it in her hand.

The leaves of the oak rattled. Balanos’ hand moved from Kat to Darius. “We like her. Is she the reason you never slept with us?”

Darius cleared his throat. “We’ll buy the stake. Charge my account. Shall we go, Kat?”

Kat smirked at him. “Sure.” She put the stake in her purse and followed him out. “Am I the reason you never slept with her?”

“Do you really want to hear about my conquests, or lack thereof?”

“The lack thereof ones interest me.”

“Because you want to see me embarrassed?”

“Yeah, you’re cute when you blush.”

Darius paused. “I don’t blush.”

“You do.”

“Impossible.” It was. He had a glamor up right now to hide the bruises that Tane gave him. She wouldn’t be able to see him blush unless he allowed it.

“So…why didn’t you sleep with her?” Kat pressed. “Is it because she’s all wood?”

“Yes. But it’s not what you think. My people go through a few transformations during our lives. The first usually happens around our late teens, and that’s when we get our incubus abilities. Before that point, we’re essentially human.” Darius paused. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Positive.”

“Alright. After our first transformation, our hormones go a little wild. Tane and I—I shouldn’t be telling you this—had competitions over who could fuck what. We set our sights on the hamadryad, and it was a race to see who could, uh, feed from her first.” Darius chuckled. “He won.”

Kat raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem too upset.”

Darius shook his head, his smile wide. “Tane spent the next two weeks pulling splinters out of his dick.”

Kat stifled a laugh. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I avoided her after that. But that was over fifty years ago.”

“If so much time has passed, why would she think I was the reason you stopped coming in to see her?”

“She’s ancient. I imagine that years pass like moments to her.”

Kat walked in silence before asking, “Does having so many partners bother you?”

The question felt weighted, and he didn’t know how to answer it without upsetting her. Food was food. Fun, extremely fun, but still food. He settled on, “I’ve never had a partner.”

She stopped walking. “You know what I mean.”

“No, it doesn’t bother me, but it clearly bothers you.”

She shrugged.

If his past sexual partners bothered her, there was no way she’d ever accept his need to feed on others. The disappointment he felt surprised him. He gave her a warm smile. A mask. “We’re almost there.”

“Where?”

“Here.” He led her down a quaint alleyway, heavy in shadows as the day grew late. At the end of the alley was an iron staircase, covered with vines. They ascended the stairs two stories to a balcony of French bistro design: small table and chairs, yellow walls, red awning, thick greenery dripped from planters. Small balls of light hung in the air adding a pleasant glow to the area.

“Are these bugs?” Kat said. She raised her hand to one. Darius grabbed her wrist.

“Will-o'-wisps. They’re asleep right now, and you don’t want to wake them. They get unruly.”

“Unruly bugs?”

“Mock all you want, but when they’re setting you on fire, you won’t enjoy it.”

“No touching the light balls, got it.” A wolf’s howl drew her attention, and she went to the balcony edge. “Wow.”

King’s Borough lay before them with its rows of colorful, eclectic buildings. Three wolves ran down the main street.

“Jeeeeezus, they’re huge,” she said. “Shapeshifters or werewolves?”

“Shifters. Werewolves are something different.” Darius pulled out the chair for her. “You should see their alpha. He’s the size of a horse.” She didn’t take the chair he offered her. Instead, she leaned against the banner and stared at him. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“I want to make a deal with you.”

If she were an incubus, or a sea witch, or even a djinn he’d turn her down without even hearing the terms. But…she wasn’t. She was a human. A human who stirred him like no other. “What deal would you like to make?”

“I’ll let you kiss me if you answer three questions honestly.”

Tempting, so tempting. But Darius would honor any deal he entered. He prided himself on it. And, sadly, knew too much classified information about the war to risk it. “I can’t. I want to, but—”

“I’ll even let you do that thing where you give me pleasure by touching me.”

He stalked at her, not even realizing that he had started moving until he had already crossed the small balcony. His horns emerged, and his eyes began to glow blue. His frame grew in size, testing the limits of his suit’s seams.

He slid his hands around to her back and leaned in, pausing inches away from her lips.

“Deal.”