Suffocating pressure on my chest forced my eyes open, and I woke gasping for breath. “Meiko?” The hand I swatted the cat with weighed five hundred pounds. “Get off me. I can’t breathe.”

A heartbeat later, a nude woman stretched out beside me, her cheek propped on her fist. “My bad.”

“Why are you always naked?” I sucked down gulps of sweet oxygen. “Don’t you own any clothes?”

“I am how you imagine me to be.” She walked her fingers up my arm, and I noticed I had been stripped down to my underwear. “At least give me lingerie. Something pink and lacy.” She popped my bra strap. “I can Google it on your phone if you’ve never seen sexy underwear. Clearly, you’ve never worn any.”

The snap radiated pain throughout my tender shoulder. For a second, I wondered why it hurt, but then I recalled the seat belt clenching taut. Quick as a blink, the wreck exploded with crystalline clarity in my mind.

“Neely.” I shoved upright, wincing. “Where’s Neely?”

“Relax.” She pushed me back down then slapped me in the face with Boaz’s oversized T-shirt. “And put this on.”

“Where is my friend?” I shouted at her smug face. “I have to see him.”

“He’s at the human hospital where humans belong.” Her rounded ears twitched like they wanted to flatten but couldn’t in this form. None too gently, she yanked the shirt over my head. “He’s got a broken nose, a fractured rib, and bruising, but that’s it.” She bared her teeth. “What does it matter if he dies today or in, what, five years? Humans are short-lived and—”

Body screaming from the strain, I fisted a clump of her hair and flung her off the bed. The expected thump of impact took longer than I anticipated, and that’s when I grasped the situation.

This was Linus’s bed, up in the loft, and I had tossed her down into the living room.

“Meiko?” I eased onto the floor then crawled to the edge and peered over. “Are you okay?”

A cat stood where the woman must have hit, fur standing upright over every inch of her, but she had landed on her feet. Ears pinned back, she slinked off, tails whipping through the air.

A wash of tingles over my skin had me eyeballing the door before it opened, and Linus entered with a stout vampire beside him. She wore scrubs a size too small, and a crossbody bag bumped against her hip when she walked. Her nostrils flared, scenting blood, and her gaze swung up to meet mine.

“What are you doing out of bed?” Linus strode forward, hand outstretched as if I were in danger of falling and he planned on catching me. “Are you hurt?”

“I, uh—” I raked my frizzy hair from my eyes, “—accidentally tossed your cat out of the loft.”

Meiko chose that moment to yowl piteously, and he glanced between us. “I see.”

“Hello, Grier.” The doctor approached the stairs. “I’m Dr. Daria Schmidt. I practice out of Gershwin Memorial Hospital, but Scion Lawson convinced me to make a house call.”

“Oh good.” I sat upright, folding my legs in lotus position until the room stopped wobbling. “I need to check the status on my friend. He was driving when the accident occurred.”

“I just left Mr. Torres.” Her smile was warm, her lips held tight to hide her fangs. “He’s stable. His nose has been reset, his ribs wrapped, and his boo-boos kissed by a handsome lawyer.”

“You were his doctor?” Shock made me borderline rude, but vampire doctors didn’t waste time on human patients. “I apologize for my surprise.”

After winking, she cut her eyes to Linus. “Mr. Lawson was very persuasive.”

“I bet.” His checkbook could persuade most anyone of anything. “How many zeroes did it take to convince you to treat a human patient?”

Linus stared me down. Up. Whatever. “Grier.”

Schmidt guffawed, her feelings clearly not bruised. “Enough I almost ran out of fingers before I ran out of zeroes.”

“Send me the bill,” I demanded. “Whatever it cost, I’ll pay it.”

Linus developed a sudden case of selective hearing that tempted me to ask Schmidt to examine him.

“I’ll come up to you,” she said. “Could you get back in bed, please?”

“Sure thing.” I grunted as I unfolded my limbs. “Just a sec.”

Schmidt climbed into the loft while I rallied my battered legs into cooperating with me.

After setting down her supplies, she opened her arms, preparing to scoop me up and carry me. Her blue scrubs were a long way from pink satin and lace, but a vampire coming at me with arms extended kicked my hindbrain into high gear. I started backing away, not stopping even when my palms hit the edge.

“Step away from her,” Linus commanded an instant before an icy hand clamped down on my wrist. He balanced with half his body on the stairs, half in the loft, and my back pressed flush to his chest. “Grier, I need you to calm down.” He traded his initial grip for pinning an arm around my waist. “Daria isn’t going to hurt you. She won’t touch you if you don’t want her to.” His cool breath tickled my ear. “I can find someone else.”

“I’m the best doctor in the city,” she said defensively.

“I was…” I couldn’t get out the words. They got stuck in my throat. “I was…”

“She spent five years in Atramentous,” Linus told her, which wasn’t what I had been about to confess at all. But, her being a vampire, I understood why he wouldn’t want her to know about Volkov’s—or the Master’s—interest in me. “A vampire abused her.” Truth told on an angle. “This was a mistake.”

“You got me the best.” I found my voice. “It’s what you do.” I inched forward. “Her being a vampire was secondary to you.” I cast her an apologetic glance. “I meant no offense.”

“You’re Grier Woolworth,” she said, dumbfounded. “I should have put it together sooner when Linus Lawson requested me to treat his friend Grier, but it’s been a long night.”

A deadly calm settled across Linus’s features, and the memory of a black tattered cape tickled the back of my mind. “Will that be a problem, Doctor?”

“My clan is pro-Coalition, so that’s a no.” She leaned against the wall, as far from me as she could get, while I crawled back on the bed, Linus at my side. “I have no interest in political jockeying. Whatever this nonsense movement is selling, I’m not buying.”

Once I situated myself against the pillows, I waved her over to me, feeling slightly ridiculous to have her at my beck and call. “Do you have a name for the clans splintering from the Undead Coalition?”

“No.” She proceeded with caution, moving slowly so as not to spook me. “I didn’t watch the news when I was human, and that hasn’t changed. Any particular reason why you’re asking?”

“No.” Her no-nonsense attitude helped me relax. “Living in Savannah, so close to the Lyceum, you hear things and wonder. That’s all.”

Her noncommittal noise told me she knew there was more to it, but also that she was smart enough not to investigate. Letting the matter drop, she confirmed her story that politics wasn’t her bailiwick.

Some girls have all the luck.

“Can you lift your shirt, please?”

I peeked at Linus, but he had already turned his back.

“You’re healing well,” she said as she started my exam. “I don’t see any wounds consistent with the blood on your face, throat, and hand.” She checked with Linus. “I assume that’s your work?”

“Yes.” Using touch to guide himself down, he sat on the floor at the foot of the bed. The ceiling was too low for him to stand without bending. “I treated her while the EMTs worked on Mr. Torres.”

“I almost feel bad for taking your money.” She put away her supplies then winked at me, not looking sorry at all. “She’s bruised and tender. She’s going to be sore for a few days, so make sure she takes it easy. Light exercise is okay, but nothing strenuous.” She pulled down my shirt then slung her bag over her shoulder. “You can give her another pass in the morning if she needs it, but you’ve repaired any major damage. Her body can handle it from here.” Edging past Linus, she nodded to us. “I’ll let myself out.”

We watched her go, neither of us speaking until the door shut behind her.

Linus cocked his head to one side. “Are you decent?”

Swaddled in Boaz’s shirt, I was as decent as I was getting. “Yeah.”

He twisted around, seeming to finally notice Meiko’s choice of nightgown for me. A frown gathered across his forehead before he caught my look and erased the telling lines. “Do you want me to call anyone for you?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Odette most likely knows. She’s good at gleaning me in other people’s futures. Woolly would demand I come home. Amelie will tell Boaz, and I…” I toyed with the hem of my—his—shirt. “I don’t want them to worry.”

As much as I had enjoyed Boaz rushing home to check on me, I was tired of bonding with him over near-death experiences. Part of me wondered if I would have heard from him at all if not for my jaw. Sure, he had seemed like his flirty self during his visit, but how much of that was reflex?

Relationships were built on communication. That much I knew. So, was this the point where I told him I deserved more? Or was that being too needy? Would the wrong word send him running? Clearly, something had him eyeballing a new pair of sneakers. Why else would he avoid me?

Linus nodded like he understood the things I hadn’t said. “I called Mathew.”

I blanked on the name. “Oh?”

Not fooled for a minute, Linus chuckled under his breath. “He’ll want to spar with you to gauge your skill level. On Dr. Schmidt’s recommendation, I’ve invited him to Savannah next week rather than facilitating a meeting on this trip.”

Oh, yeah. Mathew. The self-defense instructor. “That makes sense.”

He scanned my face as if my capitulation surprised him. “Are you up for answering a few questions?”

“Sure.” I curled on my side to see him better. “Fire away.”

“Did you see your attackers?”

What did it matter since he had killed them both? “Yes.” I picked at a wrinkle in the cover. “I met them in the elevator on my way down. They got spooked when I mentioned I was your guest and fled when Hubert used my title. I was going to tell you about them tonight but…” I rubbed my face. “After everything, it’s hard for me to tell if I’m overreacting or if my paranoia is justified. I misjudged them. I should have brought them up when you called.”

“They were reckless.” Linus wrapped a hand around one wrist and pulled until he could see my face. “This wasn’t your fault. We had no reason to think they would risk harming you to capture you.”

“What changed?” A memory of the knife in Ernestine’s hand winked in my mind’s eye. “They weren’t gentle about getting what they wanted.”

Linus studied me, waiting for a reaction. “How much did you see?”

“I saw their heads separated from their bodies.”

Lips twisting, he grimaced. “I wish you hadn’t.”

“You saved me.”

“You give yourself too little credit.” He lifted his hands, exposing reddened skin blistered up to his elbows. “You were holding your own.”

“Goddess.” I leveraged up onto my elbow. “What happened?”

“Your sigil happened.” He twisted them to and fro as he examined the damage. “I tried to pull you out, but you set a ward inside the car.” He made fists then flattened them, watching the skin flex. “It took me fifteen minutes to break it, and I’m convinced it only failed then because you smudged a line to let me in.”

“What sigil did I use?” Trauma had softened those edges to a comforting blur. “I’ll have to remember it for next time.”

“I have no idea.” He huffed out a laugh, a surprised sound. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Where will they take Neely’s car?” I wondered. “Do you think we could get a picture before they do whatever they do to it?”

“It’s at an impound. Neely needs to speak with his insurance company. They’ll have to come out and take pictures before it’s scrapped.” He reached behind himself and produced his phone. “Is this what you had in mind?”

“You’re sneaky.” I accepted the phone when he tossed it and traced the lines of the sigils with a fingertip. It resonated, even though I had no memory of drawing it. “I should have known you couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

“I couldn’t risk leaving it behind.” He leaned against the nearest wall, making it easier for me to see him from this angle, and stretched out his long legs. “I took photos in case you wanted them, and I burned out the rest of the design.”

Fire was a good, if absolutely destructive way to negate magic. Water was best, but it wouldn’t wash blood out of fabric, and we couldn’t risk leaving behind stains.

“The photos are for me, huh?” I couldn’t resist teasing him. “I’m sure you haven’t doodled the design or backed these up for your own records.”

The promise of a grin fluttered along his lips. “I might have sketched it once or twice while waiting on Dr. Schmidt to finish her rounds.”

“That’s what I thought.” I took the opportunity to forward the images to my cell, and I heard a distant ping announcing its success. “Ah. My phone lives on.”

“It fell out of your jeans when I removed your…” Ears bright red, he rubbed the sting from them. “I had to see how extensive your injuries were before I could repair them.”

“I understand.” His flush seemed to be spreading into my cheeks. “I trust you not to take advantage.”

Trust must have been the magic word. The sound of it snapped his gaze back to mine, and a desperate hope transformed his navy eyes to blackened pools of endless longing before he tucked away his emotions.

I had told the truth. I trusted him.

I trusted Linus Lawson.

That faith in him might damn me, but… He had saved me. He kept saving me.

He was not the man I’d thought he would be. He was not his mother’s creature. I had seen his dizzying array of masks, one for every occasion, and I had peeked beneath them.

He wasn’t a stranger to me any longer. He was Linus. He was…my friend.

“I put it on the counter in the kitchen.” He jerked his chin toward the living room. “I can fetch it if you like.”

“Is that wise with Meiko padding around?” I was only half joking when I asked, “She won’t accidentally knock it into the garbage disposal, will she?”

His mouth opened, but then he turned his head. “Paws off her phone, Meiko.”

A pissy yowl echoed up to us. I wondered if the notification had captured her attention, and if we had headed her off before she could act. “We haven’t covered dual familiars in our lessons. When were you going to tell me about her?

He tipped his head back. “Never?”

“Taking on a second familiar, a sentient one, that has to be rare.”

“It is,” he agreed. “Both the act and her breed.”

“You didn’t think I would ever come here to see her?”

He angled his face toward me. “Was I wrong?”

“Odds were slim before you started tutoring me, yeah, but I like to think we’ll keep in touch after this.”

His eyes drifted closed. “I like to think that too.”

Taking a moment, I studied his profile and pronounced him exhausted. “How did you come by her?”

“A student of mine lost his childhood familiar to cancer. His girlfriend, a vampire, procured what promised to be a rare and powerful replacement.” Laughter moved through his shoulders. “Imagine her surprise when she visited his dorm and found a naked woman curled around him while he slept.”

Incoherent noises fell out of my mouth. “Meiko told me she shows people what they expect.”

“Meiko lies. It’s a hobby of hers.” He linked his hands at his navel. “Her kind tend toward mischief, and she enjoys a vicious sense of humor. Her favorite pastime is watching sparks fly, and she knows a beautiful, naked woman in bed with a man in a committed relationship will do the trick every time.”

From where I sat, she was lucky no one had snatched a knot in her tail yet. “So why manifest in your bed when I arrived?”

“To embarrass you? To annoy me?” He cracked open his eyes. “The possibilities are endless.”

Shock and awe made sense unless he’d told her to expect us. In that case, she knew he was bringing a guest home with him. More than a guest, she had anticipated me. That meant her exhibition was calculated to gauge my reaction. She wanted to see if I would pass or fail her test. After years of watching him draw me, she must have wondered if I was equally drawn to him.

“The benefits must outweigh the burdens,” I decided. “She performs an important function for you?”

Otherwise, another owl or other familiar would have sufficed. Even I would prefer Julius 2.0 to a Meiko.

“Yes” was all he said, and his tone ended that line of questioning.

“What happened with your student?” I was not going to ask the obvious question. It was none of my business if he snuggled up to Catwoman each night he spent in the city. Served me right for comparing him to Batman. “Better yet—why did you keep her?”

“The student, who was mortified, called security. The guards escorted Meiko out to the quad, where she shifted and fled. I got called in after numerous complaints about both the cat and the woman.” He looked tired just recalling the incidents. “She was bred to be a familiar, though it’s against the law to bind a sentient creature that way. She had no pride to take her in, no education, and no means of supporting herself. I didn’t know what to do with her, and she was so traumatized from the familiar bond breaking she remained a cat for the first two years after I brought her home.” He frowned. “At the time, it didn’t seem odd keeping her as a pet. She let me forget she was more than a house cat.”

“And then one day she was a beautiful naked woman again.” Evil as it was to bait him, I couldn’t help myself when he blushed that way. “Can’t put one of those out on the street, either.”

“I can’t win this argument, can I?”

“Nope.” All his talk of familiars did make me curious. “How does Julius feel about her?”

“Julius was not impressed with her and chose to live in the atrium at Strophalos rather than share the loft. I gave Meiko away six or seven times during those early years to peers I felt could handle her brand of magic and provide her with a comfortable home.” He wiggled his fingers at me. “The problem with a shapeshifting cat are thumbs.”

“She came back each time.”

“I don’t know why she stays. I’m rarely home. She’s alone all day.”

“What I’m hearing is free room and board in the safest building in the city under the protection of the man responsible for keeping it that way.” Poor Linus. I would have thought him above manipulation tactics considering who raised him, but…gorgeous nudist. “She’s playing you, and she’s going to keep on until you change the locks.”

“I can hear you two,” a shrill voice called up to us.

“No one cares, Meiko,” I yelled back before pegging Linus with a look. “More than anything else, this tells me there’s no woman in your life.”

“I am female,” Meiko growled. “I am in his life.”

“Still don’t care,” I hollered then got back to Linus. “No woman would put up with that.”

“You could have asked me if I was involved with someone.” His auburn lashes kissed his cheeks as he closed his eyes. “If you were curious.”

“I didn’t mean—” I pulled the covers up to my chin. “That’s not—”

“You’re such a little liar,” Meiko spat, her tone growing as coarse as a cat’s tongue.

“Meiko.” A sigh moved through him. “No.”

“I am not a dog to be given orders,” she hissed.

Glass shattered, a concussive blast, and loud purring revved her engine. No doubt a vase had met its doom, smashed against the concrete floor after she accidentally swished her tail too hard or licked her paw the wrong way while sitting next to it.

Briefly, I wondered if I could barricade the narrow staircase for the night. “Are you sure it’s safe for you to sleep down there?”

“She won’t hurt me.” He massaged his hands. “She’ll tire herself out soon.”

Plink. Crack. Smash.

Those weren’t the sounds of a cat giving up on revenge. “Do you want to hang out with me until she winds down?”

Eyes opening, he held out his arms. “Toss me a pillow?”

“Not until I examine you. You’re still rubbing your fingers like they ache.” I shoved upright and ordered him to take a seat beside me. Once I gathered his hands in my lap, I got a good look at what my sigil had done to him. His palms were blistered, his elegant fingers raw and swollen. From wrist to fingertip, his hands appeared sunburnt. “Why didn’t you treat this? Or ask Dr. Schmidt for ointment?”

“I did treat them,” he said quietly.

“How much worse?” Stomach plummeting into my toes, I caught him by the chin when he didn’t answer. “How. Much. Worse?”

Inky tendrils filled the spaces between his pupils and irises, flooding his eyes until blackness pooled from corner to corner. “To the bone,” he said at last, his gaze fixed on me. “I was charred to the bone.”

And yet he had challenged the ward, battered it until I relented and let him reach me.

“Goddess.” Releasing his chin, I threw my arms around his shoulders and yanked him close. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“That ward saved your life.” Linus was about as cuddly as an ice sculpture in my arms until he started melting against me in slow increments. “I’m proud of you, and you should be too. You defended yourself and Neely until help arrived.”

“That part does not suck,” I allowed. “Do you have a pen handy? I want to try something.”

Linus raised one hip and produced his pen, which he offered to me. “What do you have in mind?”

“The sigil that hurt you was mine, drawn in my blood.” I reached out, and his hand closed over mine. He cocked an eyebrow, waiting on an answer. “I’m going to need that hand back.” I wiggled my fingers where they gripped the cap. “If I draw this on with my left hand, goddess knows what might happen. I don’t want your hand to explode or—” given the sigil responsible in the first place, “—ignite.”

His sudden release plopped me back on my butt, but he steadied me with a hand on my shoulder. “Which sigil do you have in mind?”

“That’s the something part.” I squirmed under his regard. “I figure if instinct got me into this mess, then instinct can get me out again.”

“All right.” He shifted closer, extended a hand, and waited. “I’m ready.”

“You’re not worried I’ll maim you?” I cradled his palm in mine. “A necromancer’s hands are their livelihood.”

“I trust you.” He gave my words back to me. “Besides, I won’t exactly be destitute with or without them.”

“There is that.” I snorted a laugh. “Okay, here we go.”

Closing my eyes, I gave myself free rein to design. Pretending his skin was no different than the pages of my grimoire, I followed the tug in my gut to dictate each curl and swoop. A flush warmed his fingers, and my eyes popped open. I was terrified I had managed to set him on fire for real.

The angry redness in his hands disappeared, fading along with the feverish heat, until I held his cool fingers in mine, his skin smooth and flawless. Well, except for the charming freckles I suspected covered every inch of him.

And that was not a helpful thought to have while sitting on his bed.

“All better.” I capped the pen and set it on the mattress to prevent more accidental touching. “See for yourself.”

“This is remarkable.” Linus examined each knuckle and nail, crease and fold, and his proud smile was blinding. “You are remarkable.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls who maim and then heal you.”

“I mean it, Grier.” This time when he flexed his fingers, his face didn’t pinch with hurt. “Do you think you could teach me the sigil you used?”

“Probably not.” I nibbled on my bottom lip. “No offense.”

“I understand.” His fingertips rubbed together as though reacquainting themselves with one another. “We all have trade secrets.”

“It’s not that.” Good thing he was into self-experimentation. “I don’t know what I did. I wasn’t looking.”

A laugh shot out of him and ricocheted through the loft, startling a growl out of Meiko.

“Where’s your phone?” I searched the bed, unable to remember if I had returned it yet. “We can snap a few pictures of what hasn’t flaked off and recreate it when we get home.”

Home.

Savannah was home. For me. This—Atlanta—was his.

Yet another reason not to get attached to him.

“It’s in my back pocket.” Linus shifted his weight to one side. “Can you reach it? I don’t want to risk scraping off the ink.”

Careful not to cop a feel, I pinched his phone between my fingers and tugged it free. “Unlock it, please.” I rested it on his thigh then angled my head away to give him privacy, but he didn’t budge for concern over flaking. “Do you need help?”

Fingers outstretched, he glanced up at me. “Do you mind?”

“You’ll have to reset your password after this,” I teased. “Who knows what secrets I could unearth if I dug around on your phone long enough?”

“You can look if you want.” He held still while I took a series of shots, with and without the blinding flash. “I don’t mind.”

I got the sense he wanted to prove something to me, that by sharing the contents of his phone—which, for most people encapsulated their whole lives—he was entrusting part of himself to me. It was the kind of act that begged for reciprocation. You show me yours, and I’ll show you mine. But I wasn’t ready for that.

“I don’t want to invade your privacy.” That sounded polite and not panicky. “There are things on my phone I wouldn’t want anyone else to see. Selfies mostly.” I passed him back his device. “I’ve been trying to replicate this winged eyeliner thing Neely does, but it’s beyond me. Pretty sure he busts a gut laughing at my attempts when I text them to him.”

“Why the sudden interest in makeup?” Linus scratched his hands where the dried ink pulled his skin. “I don’t remember you wearing it except on special occasions.” He answered his own question. “Boaz.”

There was no point in lying. I had wanted to look nice for him once upon a time.

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I gave up on it, though. I would rather beg or bribe Neely into glamming me.” A pang rocked through me when I recalled how pale and broken he’d looked hanging there from his seat belt. “Cruz must have lost his mind when he got the call,” I said softly. “Neely is his whole world.”

“I’ll take you to see him tomorrow before we meet Reardon,” Linus promised.

“Thanks.” My jaw, which must have finished healing thanks to all the magic Linus pushed through me, didn’t twinge when I yawned. “I apologize in advance for my nightmare waking you. If it gets too bad, just toss a pillow up here at me or something. I don’t want to get you in trouble with your neighbors.”

“I etched soundproofing sigils into the floors. You won’t bother anyone.”

A shiver tickled over my skin, the idea of no one hearing me scream if Meiko tried to off me in my sleep as much of a relief as it was a worry. “Except you.”

“I’ll use earplugs if you don’t want to be disturbed.” A slight rise in his eyebrows left it to me to decide.

As if I would be the one bothered by hearing my screams or watching my thrashing.

“That would probably be for the best.” I rubbed my arms, sheepish. “If you wake me up, I’ll only go right back to where I left off in my dream. You can’t save me from it.”

His lips parted like he wanted to argue, but he wisely closed his mouth. I wasn’t interested in sigils or in sedatives. Enduring the dream sucked, I had to agree there, but it’s not like it stuck with me after I woke. All I had to do was survive the day. Easy-peasy. Sure it was.

“Sleep well, Grier.”

Not likely. “Good luck.”

Linus took the stairs down, and I got comfortable in his bed. Sleep forced me to chase it, but eventually, I caught it with both hands.