I’m hung over.

That was the first thought that came to me when I regained my senses.

I had to be hung over; that was the only rational explanation for the sluggishness in my head. I could barely manage to form a coherent thought, let alone remember what had happened.

One breath, then another. I forced the air in and out of my lungs.

It was all I could do to focus on the act of breathing, but I knew if I got that down, then I’d be able to regain control of my faculties.

Memories came back to me, one at a time, and not in order.

I remembered the hunter—the blood mage. She’d been pressed against me, and I’d tasted her skin again.

The memory of her writhing in my arms was delicious, but I pushed it aside for the moment.

There was more, and I had to get the rest of the puzzle put together.

She’d killed a vampire. I was in the room of the vampire she’d murdered.

Fuck. Had I rutted against her like a youngling with no control of myself, in the room of her latest kill?

Disgust swept through me.

Just as I’d been about to kill her, she’d taken me down with some spell, forcing a pain through me like nothing I’d ever felt before.

What sort of magic had that been?

I’d never read anything about it, not in the records we kept of the blood mages.

We had extensive libraries on the subject. To know your enemy was to survive your enemy, but there was no mention of a spell that could incapacitate a vampire like that.

Not without killing them.

Come to think of it, why hadn’t she killed me? She’d driven me to unconsciousness with the pain, but she hadn’t delivered the killing blow.

The link. The connection.

No. I couldn’t think about that right now.

I forced my eyes to open and found an angel kneeling beside me, her face twisted with concern.

I blinked, and she came into focus.

Nina.

I relaxed as soon as I realized it was her leaning over me. She had such an effect on me, calming me when otherwise I might have given in to the panic that was threatening to consume me with all the questions that kept running through my mind.

And then more questions cropped up.

The blood mage had pushed all thoughts of Nina from my mind.

This thrall had captivated me in a way no other ever had—except the hunter.

How was it possible that two women could distract me in such a way?

I’d been in so much control before that night on the rooftop, and then I’d reclaimed it until Nina had shown up for the Choosing.

I didn’t want to think about that right now. There was too much else that needed attention.

Like finding that hunter and finishing the job.

I might want to spare her, but I knew it was my duty to ensure the safety of my people. Now that I knew who the killer was, I couldn’t allow her to remain at large.

She would kill again, and it would be my fault when it happened.

These murders – I’d refused to acknowledge that they were my fault before, but now that I knew who she was, I had to admit that any further killings would be on my head.

I couldn’t allow this to continue.

“Nina,” I gasped, my throat raw.

“Shhh,” she said, brushing a hand along my forehead. “You’ve been unconscious for at least ten minutes. What happened here?”

I turned my head to look over at the vampire on the bed—the dead vampire.

“There was another murder,” I said.

I sat up, forcing myself to block out the pain that came with that action. Apparently, I still wasn’t over whatever that mage had done to me, but there was no time to be worrying about that now.

I stood up, then grasped Nina’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “You must never tell anyone how you found me here. Never.”

She looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes and nodded. “Of course. I won’t tell a soul. I swear.”

I nodded, satisfied that she would keep this a secret. “Wait a few minutes, then call for help.”

“Where are you going?” She frowned.

“To find the bastard who did this.”

Without a backward glance, I stormed out of the room and headed for Alex’s.

By the time I reached his room, Nina still hadn’t sounded the alarm, and I was grateful for that. I wanted to get out of the castle before anyone knew what had happened—before the Council could call me back and make me listen to their whining.

I didn’t have time to deal with them at the moment. The mage had left just a little earlier…

Just a little earlier.

There was daylight outside.

Fuck me.

She was going to have the whole day to get away from me. The trail would be cold by the time I could get out and try to catch up to her.

I balled my hands into fists and snarled.

This was entirely unacceptable.

I stormed the rest of the way to Alex’s door and barged in, stalked across the outer chamber, and let myself into his room.

“Gray, fuck!” Alex jerked to a sitting position in his bed, his eyes wide, his hair tousled from sleep. “What the hell is going on?”

“What’s going on is, I know who our killer is. And we’re going to find her. Tonight.”

I turned and stalked out.

There was only so much that could be done during the day, but come nightfall, I was going to be out of here before the Council could get their hands on me.