The drive to wherever Marcus was taking her was a quiet one. He drove her car, apparently not worried about the fact that her insurance and registration were no longer legal. She was okay with the silence for the moment. He’d promised he’d tell her anything she wanted to know as soon as they got there, so at least his secrets had a time limit.

The drive wasn’t too bad, considering it was almost three in the morning, but there was still more traffic than Gena would have expected. She wasn’t familiar with all the boroughs of the city yet, but she could tell they were in downtown Manhattan.

She wished it was lighter out so she could get a better view of the buildings, but she knew that could always wait for another day. Soon, Hope would be back in the city and she could show Gena around.

When the car stopped, Gena hopped out and looked up at one of the biggest buildings she’d ever seen.

“Welcome to Sonin Tower,” said Marcus.

“What is this place?”

“This is bringing vampires into the future.” Marcus put one hand at the small of her back and guided her into the building.

There seemed to be plenty of guards, but they all moved aside for Marcus. “I thought you were in exile.”

“Politics is one thing, but money is another. Aleksander and I are equal investors in this building. I need to stop by every once in a while to look over the progress and budgets.”

They walked into the lobby and Gena was shocked by the grandeur of it all. The entire middle of the building was an atrium that went up what appeared to be sixty stories. Two glass elevators scaled up all sixty stories, and the black-and-white color scheme of the building’s interior only added to the opulent atmosphere.

“This is amazing,” she whispered. “You own this?”

“Part of it. This will be a safe haven for vampires all over the world to see and stay. We will have permanent residents and temporary accommodations for anyone who needs them.”

“Like a vampire only club?” she asked.

“Not necessarily. Humans are allowed to stay, and there will not be any signs saying ‘vampires only’ or anything. It’s a place for us to be ourselves and feel safe. There will be plenty of blood supplied here, so all vampires will know where they can get food without hurting anyone. Best of all, all the windows are a special design that allows light to come in, but it will not burn our skin.”

Gena looked behind her at the glass doors they had just entered. They looked slightly tinted, but nothing out of the ordinary. “That’s amazing,” she murmured.

“It gets better.” He took her hand and led her to the elevator.

The atrium stretched all sixty stories up, and at the top of the building was a skylight to let in the sunlight during the day hours. He led her inside the glass elevator and pressed the button that appeared to be the top floor.

As they began their ascent, she turned around to see the aerial view of the lobby, once again shocked by the beauty. “It looks finished already.”

“It basically is,” he replied. “The grand opening gala is the night after tomorrow.”

Gena imagined how glamorous the building would look filled with men and women dressed to the nines. “Do you get to go?”

Marcus gave her a solemn look as the doors opened. “Even though I helped finance the project, I probably wouldn’t be welcome here.” Seeing her frown, he continued, “It’s nothing to be sad about. I’ve been around politics for so long that I’ve attended enough parties for many, many lifetimes.”

Gena scoffed. “There are never enough glamorous parties.”

Marcus smiled. “You’d be surprised.”

When they left the elevator, they were met by a set of ten-foot-high double doors. Gena stood back while Marcus fished out the key to open the doors. Though she should’ve been used to the many amazing sights so far, she still gasped in amazement as the doors opened.

The top floor was a restaurant, but it was no normal restaurant. All the walls and ceilings were made of the special glass that would allow vampires to sit in the sunlight. The tables already were covered by elegant white linens with simple candles for the centerpieces. Though the candles were not lit, Gena could imagine how pretty they would look once the restaurant was open for business.

The lights of the city made it too bright to see stars, but the lights of all the surrounding buildings were just as beautiful. “This is amazing,” she said again. Marcus smiled silently as she gazed in awe out the window. “I can’t believe this is your life.”

His grin dimmed a little. “It’s not just my life. This is your life now too.”

She shot him a surprised look. “I don’t think I could ever belong here.”

“When the vampire war started, I was against the idea of following anyone’s orders. I loved the freedom of going wherever I wanted and eating whoever I wanted.” He paused to see whether that would horrify her, but she kept her expression blank as she waited for him to continue.

“During one of the fights against Kirill’s men, I was severely wounded. I thought I was going to die. The sun came up and I was stuck in a cave that gave me precious little shade. In dire situations, I would’ve dug a hole in the earth to shade myself, but I didn’t even have the strength to complete the task.

“But through some strange luck, a woman came across me. I was able to feed from her and regain strength, but before she died, and I’m sure I would have killed her if I had continued, she was able to push me off her and escape.

“This girl was very brave. Thinking I was a demon, she came back to finish me off and protect the only family she’d ever known. We made a bargain that I would feed from her to regain strength and leave without hurting any of her family.”

Gena hung on his every word as he told his story. She was certain this somehow related to her but she couldn’t guess how.

“By the end of the day, I was entranced by her. I did not know why at the time, but I had this strange compulsion to be with her and I knew I could never leave her behind. To my amazement, she agreed to run away with me. It might have been the happiest day of all my existence.”

A chill came over Gena. Something had gone horribly wrong for Marcus to end up alone.

“Before we could leave together, I had to remove myself from the war. I left to find Kirill’s men to assure them I was no threat and that I was leaving. I did not return to the girl in time. She was living at a convent. The vampires I was with came searching for me.”

The chill that Gena had been feeling settled like a stone in her stomach. “My dream,” she said.

“Your nightmare,” corrected Marcus.

“Your men killed her and everyone at her convent,” Gena said as a statement and not a question.

“Kirill’s son, Nicolas, told me a convent had been attacked, but I didn’t get there in time. When I reached the convent, Mary had been dead for hours.”

Gena felt a tear roll down her cheek. So much needless destruction of life. Her heart also ached for Marcus. He’d found his greatest love, only to have her murdered just days after first meeting. As sad as it was, she still didn’t understand why she was seeing it in her sleep. “What does this have to do with me?”

“I never knew this until tonight, but Mary wasn’t fully mortal. Her mother was what you know of as an angel.”

Gena scoffed. “Angel?”

Marcus nodded. “They’re agents of an all-powerful being. He has many names, but the most common now is God. Their job is to make sure destiny unfolds as it’s supposed to, but they are limited to what they can do. People have free will that cannot be tampered with, so all they can do is influence.

“This angel met a mortal she felt was so worthy, she decided to bear his child so his line would live on, even though this was forbidden. When the child was born, the child could be raised with mortals, having no memory of its true parentage, or she could be raised among the angels, never knowing the love mortals could give. Angels feel emotions, but they are much more muted than a human’s or even a vampire’s, for that matter.”

Gena just stared blankly at him. “Seriously? Angels?”

“Seriously,” he said, not an ounce of humor on his face. “This angel took her daughter to be raised at a respectable convent. When Mary was murdered, her mother returned to her and gathered her soul until she could find another, safer, body for her daughter.”

Suddenly, Gena knew exactly where this was going. She shook her head. “No.”

“She found a perfectly normal family in the twenty-first century to raise her baby again. One with loving parents and good jobs to make sure the child was always comfortable and enough love to make sure the child was always happy.”

“I am not half angel!” yelled Gena.

“But things went wrong again. This body was murdered too. Instead of repeating her mistake again, instead of finding a third body for her daughter, the angel made her daughter a better body. An immortal one that couldn’t die.”

Gena pushed Marcus away and turned to leave. As soon as she’d finished turning, Marcus was already in front of her. “I’m not your dead girlfriend!”

He put gentle hands on her shoulders. His grip didn’t hurt, but he didn’t seem as if he’d let her leave any time soon. “I saw your mother tonight.”

Gena narrowed her eyes at him. “You’d better be talking about my human mother.”

“She sent you to me to keep you safe and to help you transition from human to immortal.”

This was all too much for her to take. “She couldn’t talk to me herself? Her daughter is murdered and her life is completely fucked over and she can’t even show her face?”

“She’s forbidden. She was even pulled from me after only minutes. She wants to be with you, but she cannot. That’s why she is giving you the best bodyguard imaginable. The one who has already had to live through your death.”

That gave Gena pause. She yanked herself back and away from Marcus’s grip. “You understand I’m not Mary, right? We are not just going to magically fall in love like you did with her. I’m no nun.”

Marcus shook his head. “I don’t think you’re the same, and I don’t expect you to be anything like her. But,” he added, “despite your differences, I was drawn to you the moment I first saw you walk into Vlad’s room at Fang, and I know you were drawn to me. I’m not saying we’re going to be together forever and I’m not going to get down on one knee and declare my everlasting devotion. However, I wanted you before I knew you were connected to Mary in any way and I still want you now. If you say you don’t feel the same, you’re lying.”

Gena couldn’t respond. She could not say she didn’t want him. Every time he was in the same room as her, all she could think about was how to get them both naked on the nearest flat surface. But wanting to sleep with someone and finding out that he’d been your lover in a previous life were completely different things.

“This is just too weird for me,” she whispered.

“I can understand that,” said Marcus. “This would be strange for anyone. Tonight will be the worst. Then tomorrow, it will still be fucked up, but the shock will start to wear off. In a week, you’ll start to get used to the idea that you are half angel. Then in a month, you will start joking about it every time you think anything slightly naughty.”

Gena saw the slight twinkle in his eye as he said the last word. “Well, I did die a week ago,” she said. “So far I’m handling that rather well.”

She saw him release a pent-up breath at her statement. “Amazingly well,” he agreed.

She looked around her at the fabulous building they stood in. “That still doesn’t make you my permanent bodyguard,” she said.

“I don’t know about that. Us supernatural beings tend to stick together. We maintain our own circles, but we still stay close.”

“I get the impression there aren’t a lot of angels or half angels around here,” she pointed out.

“No, but you are friends with one of the most powerful vampires,” said Marcus. “I’ll see to it that all vampires accept you as their own.”

Gena was touched he considered her a friend but was skeptical of his words. “The only problem is that all your people hate you.”

“That’s just temporary.”

“Are you worried about the rebels crashing the party here?” she asked.

“Extremely worried,” he said. Not very comforting. “The men I met with said they were planning something that was happening in the next few days, but would not give me more details. I slipped the guard at the entryway a note warning everyone to be on highest alert.”

Gena frowned. She hadn’t seen any note. “You think beefed-up security is going to protect you from vampire terrorists?”

“We’re not exactly weak. I’m hoping Ironheart will be able to work security, but I have been unable to make contact since my exile. Hopefully Aleksander will get my message and make the necessary arrangements.”

“Ironheart?” Gena laughed. “I’m sure he thought that name was scary, but I don’t think it works.”

Marcus smiled at that. “Don’t like it? It’s a recent name change. It comes from the phrase hooker with a heart of gold.” At Gena’s questioning expression, Marcus continued. “Ironheart is a woman. She was a prostitute in 1800s France. She is exceptionally beautiful and was rather good at it, even while she despised all men.

“Her beauty caught the attention of a vampire who became obsessed with her. He locked her in a room and turned her against her will. After careful plotting, she killed him and took control of all his assets. It’s rather exceptional for a newly turned human to be able to kill a vampire, let alone a pure born. That’s only the beginning of her reputation.

“As turned vampires need to feed off other vampires, she set off to turn her own small army. Now they wander the world, still punishing the men who deserve it. If you have enough cash, she will work private security, but it involves lots of cash.”

“Something tells me the vampire king has lots of cash,” commented Gena. “But if he’s king, why can’t he just order her to work security?”

Marcus appeared to choose his words carefully. “Ironheart is not loyal to any king. She considers herself loyal to herself and her crew. That being said, she does respect Aleksander and his policies and she has supported his decisions so far.”

“You think Aleksander is afraid of her?” She wondered what kind of vampire could strike fear into the heart of the king.

“Let’s just say Aleksander would not have his throne if he hadn’t had her support throughout his rule.”

Gena nodded in apprehension. “Remind me to be nice to her if we ever meet.”

“Will do,” agreed Marcus.

As he started to lead her from the beautiful, glass-enclosed restaurant, she gave one last lingering sweep of the room. “Do we really have to leave so soon?”

“Though it’s reasonable I would check on the progress of the building, it’s best if we leave quickly.”

Gena could see his point, but she still gazed wistfully at the splendor of the room they were leaving.

“It’s so romantic up there,” she said. “Lots of babies are going to be conceived in this building.” The idea made her pause. “Vampires can have babies, right? You said you were pure born.”

Marcus nodded. “Babies are very possible. They just take a lot of work, as ovulation only occurs once every few years, and during pregnancy, the mother has to make sure she is very well fed. Miscarriage is very common as well, so it’s usually a long process.”

Gena couldn’t imagine the pain of waiting so long to conceive only to lose the child. “Can half angels have children?” she asked, not expecting him to know.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know any other half angels.”

Gena would give anything to question her “other” mother at this moment.

Before they could continue their conversation, the doors opened. At the exit to the building, there were now three guards. One of them seemed very relaxed while the other two seemed pissed off at something.

Gena was trying to piece together what that something was when their angry glances settled on Marcus. Oh yes, Marcus was a traitor. It made sense they would want him gone.

“Are you finished yet?” asked one of the angry guards in a curt voice.

Marcus said nothing to the man but did narrow his eyes at the vampire. Gena never wanted to find herself on the receiving end of one of Marcus’s angry glares.

The amount of heated looks being tossed around the lobby was overwhelming. She averted her gaze and noticed the more relaxed guard. He leaned nonchalantly against the wall next to the doors and looked at Marcus and her with light interest. She wondered why he was so different from the other two.

As Marcus and she left the building, his gaze followed them. As his neck turned, Gena saw the edge of a tattoo poke out from his collar but didn’t have a good enough view to make out what it was.

Marcus and Gena walked in silence. The car was parked right down the street, but Gena enjoyed the walk. It was surprisingly peaceful, considering Marcus’s irritation at the way he was treated. It had to be hard to know that all of his people believed he committed a crime he was innocent of.

Her thoughts kept going back to the relaxed guard. Gena asked, “Do you have any tattoos?”

The question seemed to startle Marcus out of deep thought. “What did you ask?”

She immediately felt stupid for asking the question. He was obviously dealing with serious shit. What did it matter if he had any tattoos? “It was nothing,” she assured softly.

She could tell Marcus was about to ask her what she’d said again but before he had a chance, he was knocked at least ten feet away from her. She screamed and reached for him, but she was pushed in the opposite direction by the same unseen force.

Gena landed painfully on her side, but the force of her fall still caused her to roll twice before her battered body came to a stop. As she tried to get her arms under her, she heard sounds of a struggle from behind her.