Darius’ neck bled profusely. The vampire not only bit him but ripped away a chunk of flesh when Brick had smashed its head.

He knew he could handle a fledgling vampire if he had to face one, but a vampire lord like Mont was beyond his skill level.

It didn’t matter though, the moment he’d seen Mont grab Kat he could think of nothing but getting her back. He had taken to the sky before Dawn could try to stop him.

And now, he was about to watch the poor hunter die along with the rest of her team. Ashwood Red was moving, trying to overcome their wounds, but they had no hope here. Mont was playing with them and they probably didn’t even know it.

Dawn gripped her sword tighter and readied herself.

Darius wished she’d run. He couldn’t fly fast enough to get away from a vampire, but she could teleport.

At least Kat was safe. Do you love her? The question turned his blood to ice because he knew why Mont had asked it: to torture him. He thanked the goddess that Kat would live this night. Seeing her die would have been too much. He knew she’d feel guilty but hoped she’d one day forgive herself. Maybe even find someone else. Find happiness again.

Mont approached. He didn’t bother moving fast. He didn’t need to.

Dawn attacked.

He dodged her first swing. And the next, stepping out of the way with elegant, fluid movements. She pulled two throwing knives from her belt and tossed them at him. He knocked one away with ease and caught the other, flinging it back to her. It hit her leg. He used the opening to close the gap between them and drive his fist into her face.

She reeled back but he stayed on her, and as he moved in for his next attack a voice cried out, “Stop!”

Darius felt as if the entire world froze.

Kat stood above her unconscious dad. The silver blade of her sword was in his neck.

From her ripped cadet uniform, Darius could see her reflex rune glowing bright. That rune took a lot of magic to activate, and most hunters could only keep it going for a few seconds—enough to give them an upper hand against a vampire, but not enough to keep up with one.

Yet, hers stayed active.

Mont started to move, and Kat pushed the sword deeper into her dad’s neck. “I only need to flex my hand, and his spinal cord is severed,” she said. “Leave. I’ll drag his ass back to the prison, and he’ll be there. Alive. Or stay, and I cut off his head.”

The vampire’s upper lip lifted.

“You have five seconds to decide,” she said. “Four…”

Mont hissed. “You won’t kill your own father.”

Kat twitched her hand a few millimeters. “No. You already did that. I have no problems ending this creature. Three…two…”

“I will return for my son.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Mont broke apart into bats and took off into the night sky.

Kat’s rune powered off, and she staggered forward. Darius pushed away his own pain. He sprung to his hooves and rushed to her, catching her in his arms. “You’re okay,” he said.

“What’s happening…?”

“It’s called a source drop. When hunters push themselves too far. You’ll be okay, rest.”

“You owe me one more honest answer,” she muttered, hardly able to keep her eyes open. “Mont’s question…”

“Shhh. Sleep.”

She nodded and drifted off to sleep. Darius returned to his human form and sat on the forest floor, cradling her in his lap.

“Make sure he doesn’t circle back,” a strained male voice said. The order came from Holden—or rather Chase—and Dawn carried it out.

Around Darius, Ashwood Red was recovering. He didn’t pay much attention except to note that none had died. A few needed more vampire blood than they carried with them—Brick’s wound was particularly deep—but they’d live.

Darius watched Kat sleeping in his lap until Necrus came over to check his injuries.

“You need to heal that, but I’m a zero,” Necrus said. “Brick’s a nine. He’s not in the best shape right now—”

“I’m fine,” Brick said.

“—but if you stick to kissing it should be okay.”

“Am I at death’s door?” Darius asked.

“Not quite. But you should feed.”

“I’ll wait.” Darius pulled Kat closer.

Do you love her?

He’d never been in love before. Could someone fall this fast?

Every part of his being wanted her. Needed her. He’d even die for her. Almost had.

Having Kat in his arms felt so right, and he could no longer picture a future that didn’t have her as a part of it. Together, they could go to the season’s biggest galas, explore cities, learn the foods she enjoyed, the movies she liked…even figuring out a work/life balance sounded like an exciting challenge to him.

Do you love her?

“Yes.”

His injuries caught up to him, and he joined her in sleep.

* * *

Darius woke with his dick inside of a warm mouth.

He pressed his head back into the pillow and moaned, hoping the feeling would never end.

Blood returned to his brain and confusion set in. He tried to push himself up only to be pinned back in place by an extremely strong arm.

Kat’s mouth made a shlick sound when she pulled off his cock. “Relax, you idiot,” she said.

“Idiot?”

“You could have died. Why didn’t you feed?”

Darius looked around. They were in the private medical rooms in Ashwood Estate. The plush accommodations were reserved for only the highest-ranking incubi. An IV dripping a red liquid—he guessed vamp blood—was hooked up to his arm.

He felt his neck and found a bandage there.

“We had a deal,” he said. “Why did you hold back in the fight? Why didn’t you take the chance to attack Mont?”

“You think you’re being clever, incubus, but I see what you’re doing. Since you’re injured, I’ll humor you…we had a deal.” She gripped his cock and with one unhurried stroke traveled the length of it.

“Stop that. I’m trying to hold a conversation—”

A flirty smile crossed her face. “Are you?”

“Gods, please ride me.”

Kat, wearing clean civilian clothes, stood and removed her leggings but left her oversized shirt on.

It took all of Darius’ control not to shift into his incubus form as he watched her crawl onto the medical bed and straddle him.

She grabbed his rod and lined it up to her already wet entrance, then she sank onto him, her body surrounding him. He clenched his jaw to stop from moaning too loud, but even that didn’t prevent the sound from escaping.

Kat smirked, and began to move.

In that moment, Darius knew what the goddess’ realm must have been like: love and pleasure on a level he’d never experienced before. Kat took him there, shaking his world and turning it upside-down.

Unable to hold back, he gripped her hips and began to piston into her, feeding deep and healing. His balls pulled up as his impending climax approached. He waited until she got close, her golden light growing brighter and brighter.

With a little nudging, they came together, his hot seed filling her insides.

She collapsed on him, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I feel drained,” she murmured against his skin.

“Mmm. I’m going to need to feed off someone else soon so you can recover a little.”

“But we can still fuck normally while I recover, right?”

He chuckled. “Of course.” The presence of a powerful incubus approaching grabbed his attention. “You might want to get dressed. We’re about to have company.”

She shot him a questioning glance then grabbed a wet wipe from the bedside table and quickly cleaned herself before shimmying back into her leggings. Darius, who wore nothing, pulled a blanket over his waist but it was for more her sake. Neither incubus would have cared.

The door opened, and the High Lord General strode in wearing his grey command uniform. Tight pants, tall polished boots, a button-up white shirt. He didn’t have the jacket on.

Kat’s eyes widened, and she pressed her fist into her shoulder and bowed.

“It’s good to see you’ve learned how to salute, cadet.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Would you mind giving me a few moments with Darius? I won’t keep him long.”

She nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Darius had seen the general command a battle before; he was focused, firm, gave commands that left no room for question. But outside of a battle, the general had a softer hand when it came to his hunters.

Dipping his head, Darius bowed as much as he could manage while lying on a bed. He waited for the general to speak first.

Tarrick stroked Darius’ cheek. “Rushing after a vampire lord is not only foolish, it breaks every rule I’ve ever set for you.”

“Yes, Lord Tarrick.” Darius wouldn’t argue with the general. He wondered what his punishment would be. It didn’t matter though. He’d do it again if he had to.

“Rushing after your mate who was in the hands of said vampire lord is just as foolish, but understandable.”

“My mate?” Tarrick’s face turned hard as if daring Darius to dispute the claim. Darius wouldn’t. Kat was his mate. His heart already knew it. “I think perhaps I’ll give her time to decide if she wants me that way.”

The general nodded. “Wise. Humans can be slower to realize such things. When you two are ready to make it official, Ashwood will throw an event the likes no one has ever seen. It’s not often a lord of my house finds a person they deem worthy enough to spend their life with.”

Darius beamed. And it wasn’t because of the party the general promised to throw—although he would be the talk of the season. Anyone of note would be in attendance. Ashwood only hosted parties when the general allowed it, and that wasn’t often. No. It was the idea of making it official with Kat. His wildfire.

Although, the recent battle did have him worried. “How is Ashwood?”

The general pressed his lips together. “We had heavy losses. The vampires have found some witches willing to work with them. It’s how our runes were disabled. We lost about a quarter of the Ashwood hunters. I’ll get you a list of the incubi who didn’t make it. Lady Rosaline and Lady Dennith are alive. As are Lords Vassu and Tane.” Good. Those were highest-ranking incubi currently at the estate, and if they had died, Ashwood and the general might not have recovered from the scrutiny their society would have put them under.

“At the start of the battle, dispatch said you couldn’t be located…”

The general sighed. “Cullip is under a compulsion to Ascelina. He caught me off-guard. We battled. It didn’t go well.” Tarrick didn’t look injured, but it could be a glamor.

“Is Cullip dead?” Darius hoped not, the commander was one of the few people Tarrick considered a friend.

“No, but we can’t break the compulsion. We’re keeping him in a coma until we can figure something out. I’ve promoted Silva to Commander. She’ll be taking over running the hunters both here and at the academy.” The general squeezed Darius’ shoulder. “There’s something else. A vampire I captured a little while ago…”

“Your new slave?”

“Of sorts. He’s going to be joining this house soon. I’ll tell you more later, but I wanted you to be aware. I’m going to need you to do some campaigning for me so that other incubi will accept him.”

Darius wasn’t sure what to say. A vampire joining House Tarrick? Impossible. Insane.

“You don’t have to like the situation, but I do need you to follow my orders,” the Lord General said.

“Of course. I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to be, I understand that it’ll be an adjustment, but I think once you know more about him, you’ll agree with my decision.” The general checked the time on his phone. “My trip to Russia is still going forward. Tane will be in charge in my absence. I expect you two to behave.”

“We will. I’ll have everything ready for you, my lord.” Darius had no intention of spending much time around Tane.

Tarrick leaned down and kissed Darius on the forehead. “You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger.” Pride swelled in Darius’ chest. He couldn’t see the comparison—he and the general were nothing alike—but all the same, he savored the praise from the man who had raised him for most of his life. “Recover fast, Lord Darius.”

“I will, sir.”

The general left, and Kat teleported in a few moments later.

She had changed.

Instead of street clothes, she had on a leather uniform.

Darius propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look at her. Tight leather pants, big boots, form-fitting leather top, a belt of hunting tools, she looked every bit the role of a vampire hunter.

“Like it?” she asked.

“It suits you, but our deal—”

“Don’t worry. This is a loaner. I still have to train in the dumb cadet uniform. And…I’m not going after Mont until I’m ready. Then I’ll behead the bastard.”

“And your father?”

Her face fell. “I don’t know…I think there’s part of him left in there, but until Mont is dead, he’ll keep trying to kill me. And none of that changes the fact he murdered my mom. But I did put in a request that he be kept alive. I’m told the general will review it later, once Ashwood is secure and back to running normally.”

“You know,” he said, reaching out and pulling her in closer, “if you come to our family dinner, you’d have a better chance of impressing him, maybe curry some favor. Butter him up.”

“Food puns, really?”

He smiled.

She shook her head. “Fine…I guess your mate should join the family dinner.”

Darius went still. He wasn’t going to press anything until she was ready, until he was sure she wanted it.

She laughed. “You should see your face right now.”

“You aren’t supposed to eavesdrop on the general,” he grumbled.

“I was eavesdropping on you, not the general.”

“You shouldn’t do that either, cheating hunter.”

“Hey, I got these runes, I want to use them.”

Gods, she was beautiful, looking every bit the warrior she should. “Do you know what mating is for us?”

“Yeah. Chase of all people explained it to me. It’s like super for-life-intense marriage.”

“And?”

“And what?” she asked. “If you’re asking me to marry you, try again in a few years. I’m not ready for that yet. But,” she kissed him on the forehead, “the idea doesn’t scare me. I have to go.”

“Go?”

“Yeah, Ashwood is short staffed. We’re being put on guard duty. I’ll be back tonight with a feeder, and we’ll do the thing.”

Darius chuckled. “‘The thing’?”

“Yeah. The thing where you blow a dude, and I watch and find it hot.”

“I’m blowing ‘a dude’ tonight?”

“Only if you wanna eat.” She winked and teleported away.

Darius sunk into the mattress and wondered how long Doc Maryweather would keep him in here. At least he had something to look forward to.

Kat reappeared. “One more thing—”