Marie “Ironheart” Lacombe looked down at the dead human at her feet with disgust. A quick glance to one of her men, Edmund, communicated all she needed to. He swiftly lifted the dead woman in his arms and carried her to a more secluded corner, closer to the elevator entrance and away from the curious eyes of all the arriving guests. Another one of her men, Carlos, joined him and they hid the girl from the arriving guests with their bodies.

She scanned the room and to her relief, no crowd had formed. Hopefully everything had happened so quickly that no one even realized a murder had just occurred. She managed to contain her anger as she motioned for the guard who snapped the human’s neck to come to her with the slow flick of a manicured finger.

As the tall guard whom she’d never met approached her, she took in the subtle self-satisfaction that clouded his features. He looked sophisticated enough in the black tuxedo all the guards wore, but the tattoos that crept out of his white collared shirt gave away a darker side. She didn’t recognize him and that made her uneasy.

She had had a bad feeling about this night, and she hated that her worries had been justified. “What the hell just happened?” she quietly snapped at him.

His expression remained cool. “She was running in here like a maniac. I was just doing my job.”

One corner of Marie’s mouth lifted in a disgusted snarl. “Since when is it your job to snap the necks of unarmed, human women?”

She saw his muscles tighten in defensiveness. “What do you expect me to do when threatened by a human?” he countered.

“I expect you to grow a pair and actually handle the situation. She would’ve been no match for you, so I don’t see how you could possibly be such a pussy to think she was a threat,” she shot back at him.

The sound of footsteps behind her was the only thing that stopped Marie from ripping into the guard even further. She turned to see the king, Aleksander, approach. “Do we have a situation?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to tell him about the idiotic guard, but he spoke first. “No situation, sir. Just a human who had to be dealt with. Nothing important.”

Marie’s eyes narrowed as she looked back to the guard. “You don’t consider humans important?”

His eyes boldly met hers. “Not at all.”

“If I were you, I would make myself very scarce for the rest of the evening,” she said in a soft, threatening voice.

He seemed to take the hint as he silently walked away. Marie faced Aleksander. “Well, that was curious,” she muttered.

“That the evening has only just started and we already have a dead woman on our hands?” he asked. Marie studied his face but saw no hint of a smile or joking manner. He had shining gold eyes and hair that matched his stunningly attractive face. The soft colors and easy smile made it reasonable to assume he was no threat, but Marie knew better.

She’d fought beside Aleksander and knew more than most just how lethal he could be. “I have the distinct impression that he had no idea I used to be human,” she said. Anyone who knew her past would be aware of her affection for her former species and would never dare make light of a human’s death. “Who hired him?”

“Marcus took care of the security. I think his name is John, or something,” said Aleksander.

Marie couldn’t hide her surprise. “The same Marcus who just tried to kill you and the queen?”

Aleksander cast a suspicious look around him, letting her know that he was worried about being overheard. “It’s complicated,” he silently mouthed.

“Not really. He either did or he didn’t, and I now know which one,” she said with a knowing smile. She wanted to ask more but knew that now wasn’t the time. She’d have to be somewhere soundproof before she could get him to spill his secrets.

She marked it as something to look forward to.

“Get her!” shouted Edmund from behind her. In a fraction of a second, she turned to see the dead human looking decidedly alive as the elevator doors closed in front of her.

Marie’s reached for the gun strapped to her thigh as she ran for the nearest stairwell, determined to cut off the woman before she caused any more of a scene.