“Are you absolutely certain Hope can’t look after the dog?” asked Marcus for the fourth time.

Gena looked over at Lady, who leaned happily against Gena in the backseat of her car. The sight made her smile. “Hope has already done too much for me. Besides, she’s leaving to visit her sister in the morning and won’t be around.”

Marcus tried to focus on the road and not the drooling, shedding creature behind him. But the most important thing was that he’d gotten Gena to agree to come with him. That was a hurdle in itself. Well, that and getting her friend Hope to allow her to go.

Once it had been established that Gena would be staying with Marcus, they took a cab to Hope’s apartment. Hope had asked a hundred questions a minute, most of which Gena did not want to answer.

Gena basically stuck to a limited version of the truth. She’d told Hope that Ryan had shown up at the club, and that was why she freaked out and told Hope to leave. She said Ryan had confronted her; Marcus interrupted him and Ryan ended up running off—also partially true.

Marcus and Vlad agreed to help Gena with her double body issue but decided Gena should stay with Marcus to be safer. Hope was quick to call bullshit on that story, but he didn’t give her much of a chance to protest. As soon as Gena had the collar on the dog, Marcus grabbed her packed bag and put Lady on her leash while Hope listed off reasons for Gena to stay at her apartment.

Marcus gave Hope his cell phone number to ease her nerves. After Gena gave Hope a tight hug and told her to make sure Joy was okay, they were out of the apartment as quickly as possible.

Marcus watched Gena stare peacefully out the window and inwardly smiled to himself. He’d actually convinced her to come back with him.

What he was going to do with her was still up in the air. Hell, he wasn’t even sure why he was driving her to his apartment. He hadn’t lied to her. Those rebels in the alley would expect him to be emotionless when it came to human life, but Marcus didn’t need Gena to prove his heartless nature.

Sure, a few more people would’ve died, but in the long run, any war being avoided would save hundreds, if not thousands or millions of human lives.

It was unfair to place her in the middle of this conflict, but he couldn’t just let her walk away. When she first barged into Vlad’s red room, his reasons had been perfectly reasonable. He was bored as hell, and she was the most interesting thing that had happened to him in weeks.

Now that the rebels had finally made contact with him, Marcus didn’t have boredom as an excuse. He just knew he wanted her, and now he had her.

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The first glance Gena had of Marcus’s apartment took her breath away. The penthouse apartment was bigger than her entire house.

“I thought New York City apartments were supposed to be small,” she commented as she looked around.

The penthouse was two stories tall, and the living area had such a high ceiling that it took up both stories. One entire wall was made up of windows with a beautiful view of the nighttime skyline. The living room was decorated with ultra-modern black furniture and opened up into a state-of-the-art kitchen with stainless steel everything and black countertops.

Gena would’ve thought they were granite, but judging by the upscale look of everything else around her, it was probably some really expensive material she’d never even heard of.

The staircase bordered the open living room and seemed to lead up to a loft bedroom, but she couldn’t see it well from where she stood.

Marcus spoke from behind her. “Believe it or not, I’m not naturally a city boy. I need space.”

She turned to face him. “Are you claustrophobic?”

His intense gaze met hers. She suddenly felt the pressure of the knowledge she was alone with a vampire that she’d only met hours ago. Her nerves caused her hands to tighten around Lady’s leash. The dog seemed to sense the change in her and whined anxiously.

“Are you already looking for my weaknesses?”

“Just trying to make conversation out of an awkward situation.” She smiled nervously as she tried to defuse the situation.

His gaze held hers for one more moment until he looked down at Lady. “You might as well let her go,” he said. “This is her home for the time being too.”

Gena unhooked Lady and the curious dog quickly ran around the beautiful penthouse to sniff every single piece of furniture and every wall. Gena couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiastic wagging tail. “She really does make the best out of every situation.”

He nodded in agreement but did not reply to her comment as his gaze followed Lady’s frantic sniffing around the room. Gena could imagine that having a strange dog in his private space couldn’t be enjoyable.

“Well, I guess first thing is first,” he said. “You need a shower.”

Gena glanced down at the jacket that covered the now dried blood that coated her chest. She’d never showered at a stranger’s place before. “Is the shower half as nice as the rest of your apartment?”

Marcus’s smile was positively wicked. “You have no idea.”

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So this is heaven. The deliciously warm water washed over Gena. Marcus’s shower had to be supernatural, because it wasn’t possible for a normal shower to feel this good. She leaned forward; the super hot water cascaded down her back and loosened the muscles tightened by the stress of the past two days.

In this little cocoon of heat and steam, she could pretend her problems would wash away as easily as the dried blood on her had, but she knew that wasn’t possible.

A good half an hour, and ten very wrinkly fingers, later, Gena finally turned off the water and grabbed a towel Marcus had left out for her.

She looked to the small bag she’d hastily packed in her panicked rush from her house. She had a modest enough t-shirt and pajama pants adorned with a bunch of blue fish to wear. As an extra layer of security, she also threw on a bra. Normally she hated sleeping in the constricting garment, but knowing the exhaustion creeping up on her after the relaxing shower, she didn’t think it would be a problem tonight.

On second thought, the night was almost over. It was much closer to morning. She was officially keeping vampire hours now, she supposed.

She grabbed her bag and walked out of the bathroom sent from the heavens and into the master suite of the penthouse. She’d briefly seen it when Marcus led her to the shower, but now she really had a chance to take it in.

The room was large enough to have a sitting area with a smaller sofa and coffee table. One side of the room was all windows, and the other side was a railing that blocked off the lower-level open living area that the master suite looked over.

The centerpiece of the room was the king-sized bed against the wall between the windows and the overlook. The sheets were white, but the comforter on the bed was black, continuing the black-and-white theme found throughout the entire penthouse.

The most notable thing about the bed was that it wasn’t made. Everything else in the penthouse seemed so neat and pristine, it was nice to think of at least one “human” thing Marcus did.

There wasn’t much else in the penthouse to show anyone even lived there. There were no pictures out or magazines lying around. It almost seemed more like a hotel than a home.

Marcus had said he wasn’t a city boy and he was just doing a job for Aleksander. She wondered how long he’d been here.

She walked downstairs and found Marcus sitting on the sofa with a laptop open in front of him.

He looked up at her as she approached. “How was the shower?” he asked.

Gena couldn’t hold back her smile at the memory of the warm water cleaning off the horrors of the night. “Amazing,” she said. “This entire place is amazing. Is it yours or are you borrowing it from Aleksander?”

“I’m temporarily renting right now.”

“Where do you stay when you’re not in the city?”

“I move around a lot. Aleksander is based in the Canadian wilderness and has a really nice place up there. If I want time to myself, I have a house in West Virginia.”

“You don’t have a home?” Gena was already homesick for the comfort of her familiar little house.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, you don’t get too attached to people or places.”

Gena frowned. “I guess I never thought about that. Aren’t there any others like you that you’re close to?”

Marcus smiled. “I guess I should explain my position better to you. I’m a member of what is called the Council. Aleksander is king, and what he says is law. However, he has democratic tendencies, and appointed the Council to keep him informed of what thoughts were going through his people and advise him on various important matters.”

“So you’re a politician. Don’t politicians have lots of friends?”

“I have lots of friends and no friends at the same time. Any friends who were loyal to me before the war now consider me a traitor.”

Gena paused to consider whether she’d rather have all of her friends think she was dead or a traitor. She was sure Joy would never turn her back on Gena without good reason. “Why would those men believe you want Aleksander dead if you were a member of this Council?”

Marcus cocked his head at her questions. “Are you sure you want to go this deep into vampire history?”

“I’ve already been sucked into your present. I think I should know about your past,” she replied.

“Well, for time’s sake, I’ll try to give you the abbreviated version.” Marcus smirked. His blue eyes met hers and she couldn’t help but smile back at him. The man just oozed charm.

“You want to sit?” He pushed his computer off his lap and set it on the black coffee table in front of him. He sat back farther into the corner of the sofa and motioned her to sit with him.

The armchair adjacent to the sofa would’ve been better for two strangers to get to know each other, but Gena found herself on the other end of the sofa, facing Marcus. One cushion still separated them, so it was perfectly appropriate, she told herself.

He’d changed into an incredibly soft-looking gray t-shirt but still wore the jeans he’d been wearing when they met. His blond hair was casually tousled around his head, and his blue eyes stood out as the only color in the room.

Though he looked like an angel, she had to remind herself that he represented a world she wanted no part of. She was using him to get out of that world, and she was sure he was using her for his own reasons. Though she didn’t know what those reasons might be, she was sure he wasn’t being completely truthful.

He seemed to be looking her over too, but she couldn’t decipher what he was thinking through those emotionless eyes. She must look completely different with the heavy layers of black eyeliner wiped clean and her red lipstick gone. She wondered whether he preferred her like this or gothed up like all the other girls at Fang.

She pushed the thought out of her head as quickly as it had come. He shouldn’t have any preferences as far as she was concerned. “You were about to tell me why the other vampires would believe you’d want Aleksander dead,” she reminded him.

“I’m proud of you.” He smiled. “That’s the first time you actually said the word.”

“Well, I’m still convinced I’ve gone insane.” And was still waiting for Marcus to burst into laughter and tell her the entire thing was one idiotic, elaborate joke. But so far he seemed dead serious. “So why don’t you try finishing the story before I regain my senses.”

“Very well,” he conceded. “The basic need that drives vampires is the need to feed on blood, with human blood being our main food source.”

Gena shuddered at the verbal confirmation of what she already knew.

“For the most part, we’ve been kept a secret. Every once in a while, our presence among humanity would become known, but we were able to convince the vast majority we were nothing but scary stories and myths made up to scare small children and promiscuous women.

“The first king we ever had was named Kirill. Vampires were originally solitary and territorial. We were small in numbers and could be easily overpowered by humans if they had enough soldiers and skill. We’re also vulnerable to the sun and trapped for a good portion of the day.

“One of Kirill’s mistresses was murdered by a band of humans and his young son just narrowly escaped. Kirill vowed that vampires should never be powerless to the humans again. He was able to unite most of the vampires scattered around the Mediterranean and across Europe. However, not all vampires agreed that there should be one king. Many others believed that there should be a king, but they wanted the job personally. I was under my own arrogant opinion that I should bow to no one.”

“Obviously that changed,” pointed out Gena.

Marcus winced. “Bow is a very strong word. Through a strange turn of events, I ended up working with Kirill rather than against him. He was the king who created the Council. My opinion was especially valued since I held the point of view of the vampires who opposed Kirill’s rule. I could convince them better than anyone to see the light at the end of the monarchy tunnel.”

“Strange turn of events?” asked Gena. What could cause him to suddenly switch to Kirill’s side?

“I was vague on purpose,” responded Marcus.

Part of her wanted to know why he was keeping secrets. The other, more rational part, reminded her that they had only known each other for a matter of hours and he had no obligation to tell her every detail from his past. She let him have his secrets for the moment. “Fair enough. What role does Aleksander play in all this?”

“Aleksander didn’t play much of a role at all in the war. Kirill won, and vampires were under his rule for over four centuries.”

Gena’s jaw dropped. “Over four hundred years? You’re over four hundred years old?”

“A true lady would never point out how old I am.” He smirked.

Gena’s gaze raked over his youthful face and smooth skin. He looked like any other late twenties to early thirties male. Some strange impulse caused her to reach out her hand to touch his face, but at the last second she realized how ridiculous the action was and pulled her arm back.

She never saw him move, but a warm hand wrapped around her retreating wrist. She took a deep breath at the sudden feel of his warm flesh on hers.

“You want to know if I feel different,” he said. It was a statement and not a question.

Wordless, all she could do was nod.

His big hand released her wrist. “Feel free to touch whatever you want.”

Gena purposely ignored the suggestive underlying meaning of his words and she slowly reached out to touch the hard planes of his face. The cocky smile he’d worn just seconds before vanished and she felt his jaw clench under her fingers.

The tips of her four fingers lightly traced his cheekbone and down along the curve of his jaw. Light stubble tickled her fingertips as they moved along his face. His head turned slightly and brought his nose close to her wrist. He took a deep breath in, and she felt his warm exhale against the sensitive skin of her wrist.

He brought his eyes up to hers and she was shocked to see the normal ethereal blue color had turned jet-black. That wasn’t the only thing changed about him. His upper lip was now protruding slightly more than it had been a minute ago. Gena didn’t have to ask why. He was hiding his fangs from her.

She brought her hand back down. “Should I be worried?” she asked softly.

“I think that’s a loaded question. However, in relation to our current situation, I have enough control over myself to keep you safe from me.”

Well, she couldn’t fault his honesty. “You’re so warm. Shouldn’t you be cold to the touch?”

“I’m not dead,” he said. “I never was. I was born as a vampire and have always been one. I even have a heartbeat.”

Gena glanced at his chest. “So vampires can only be born?”

“Not necessarily. If someone is close to death and ingests vampire blood, there’s a chance they could turn.”

“Just a chance?”

“A slim chance. In order to convert, the vampire cells must be what we call ‘activated.’ A living person cannot activate the blood, and if it gets too diluted within a human body, they will not activate. So the blood must be ingested shortly before death, before the human immune system has time to fight the transformation. Once the person is dead, the vampire blood will become dominant and start converting the human organs and tissue. Once conversion is almost complete, the heart will start beating again and the new vampire will wake up.”

“So this isn’t done a lot?” asked Gena.

“Well, personally, I would only want to turn someone I enjoyed and respected and wouldn’t mind hanging around me for an eternity. Unfortunately, most of the time, the human dies and the conversion doesn’t take. So most new vampires are only turned if they are already dying.”

Gena nodded, feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the new information but also unable to keep herself from asking more questions. “Have you ever turned anyone?”

“Once,” he said. “Actually, it was just a few weeks ago.”

“If you just made a new vampire, shouldn’t they be here with you?” Gena didn’t know much about vampire life, but it seemed like there would be a traumatic adjustment period.

“Not in this case. I turned her as a favor to someone else. I mentioned that Kirill had a son who barely escaped an attack from the humans before the war. Well, once Kirill was king, his son, Nicolas, was his second-in-command for the next four hundred years.

“Kirill was a good king and did a lot of great things for us, but something seemed to snap toward the end of his reign. He started killing indiscriminately and slaughtering humans. He wasn’t discreet about it and was becoming a risk to everyone.

“Aleksander was the one who led the rebellion against Kirill. Kirill was killed and Nicolas was exiled. He stayed in exile for thirty years. A couple months ago, everything changed. Nicolas infiltrated Aleksander’s Canadian complex with a young human woman. They’d been led there by a member of the new rebellion that I’m now dealing with.

“The rebellion’s plan was to murder Aleksander and make it look as though Nicolas had done it out of vengeance. One of their members would have probably come forward to take Aleksander’s place as king and they would have all the power.”

Gena stopped him. “Your life is insane.”

Marcus let out a soft laugh. “You have no idea.”

“Obviously Aleksander’s not dead.”

He nodded. “The human Nicolas brought with him, Anna, had been childhood friends with Aleksander’s wife, which is another story entirely. Nicolas’s feelings for Anna proved stronger than his hatred for Aleksander. They were able to work together to discover one of the most trusted guards was part of this rebellion. Nicolas and Aleksander were able to stop the assassination attempt, but there was one casualty.”

“I’m assuming the one human in this story, Anna? She’s the one you turned?” said Gena.

“I was the first to find her.”

“Why did you turn her?” asked Gena.

Marcus shrugged. “There were a lot of contributing factors. She was already dying, so there was no harm in trying to save her. Nicolas was a powerful vampire for centuries. Now that he and Aleksander have come to an...” he paused to think of a good word, “understanding, Nicolas will once again be very powerful. It’s always good to have powerful friends.”

Gena gave him an incredulous look. “It had nothing to do with saving her life?”

“I don’t want you to have any false impressions of me, Gena. I’m no saint. The reason my people are so quick to believe I’m a member of this rebellion is because I have something of a reputation for being a heartless bastard.”

“If you have to tell me you’re heartless, it makes it less believable,” she pointed out.

“Maybe,” he agreed. “But no less true. Seeing as how you have known me for a whole five hours, what makes you so quick to defend my past deeds that I haven’t told you about yet?”

Gena didn’t know what to say to that. She knew very little about him and she was already defending him against himself. “I guess it’s just in my nature.”

“And that’s what makes us different.”

Silence hung in the air between them. What could she even say to that?

Marcus broke the silence. “You’ve had a long night. Some sleep would be good for you.”

Gena nodded in agreement. “Does the couch fold out to a bed?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, I’m afraid,” said Marcus.

“How complicated can a sofa really be?”

Marcus laughed. “You’re a funny girl,” he said in response to her sarcasm. Gena frowned. What she said hadn’t been that funny. “One of the advantages of my people is enhanced senses. Our sense of smell is far superior to yours.”

Gena didn’t like where this was heading. “What exactly does sense of smell have to do with where I sleep?”

“If those oh so pleasant men you met at Fang end up working with me, as I’m trying to get them to, there’s a good chance they will see this apartment at some point. With you staying here, your scent will be all over the apartment, which is exactly what we want. We want them to believe we’re together, as it appeared earlier tonight. The tricky part is that it will be suspicious if your scent is only in the lower level.”

Gena rolled her eyes. “Hell no. The upper level is your bedroom, and I’m not sharing a bed with you!” Gena didn’t care how sexy Marcus could be. She wasn’t the kind of woman to immediately fall in bed with a man.

Marcus shot her that snarky smile she was becoming so familiar with. “Don’t worry,” he assured her. “My scent has already been firmly established through the entire place. I can sleep down here.”

Gena looked him over. “You promise you won’t bother me at all? Not even for the bathroom?”

“There’s a second bathroom down here,” he said. “The shower isn’t as nice, so I let you use the master.”

“I don’t trust you,” said Gena, softly.

“Well, that just makes you smart.” Marcus stood up and held a hand out to her. “Let me take you to bed.”