Saxon and Lucien took Jordan from him when he returned to the hotel the next morning. They would keep him hidden and guarded until Nathan was ready to present him to the other hunters.

Ronan glanced at Vicky, who stood slightly behind Nathan. They’d all come outside of the hotel, away from the hunters, to meet him, but his followers would soon learn of his return.

“Are Duncan and Sister okay?” Vicky inquired of Ronan.

“Yes. I had Declan take them and the children to our place earlier; he made sure they were settled and left them under the care of some trainees before returning here. They’ll be safe there, and we’ve altered the children’s memories.”

“Good.” Vicky spotted Abby and Brian when they stepped outside. “There’s Abby. I’ll see you later.”

Before Nathan could stop her, she hurried away to join the couple. Nathan clamped his teeth together as he resisted going after her. Ronan’s gaze followed her before he focused on Nathan again. Nathan braced himself for Ronan to say something about her.

“Are you sure this is the way you want to handle Jordan?” Ronan inquired instead of broaching the subject of Vicky.

“Yes,” Nathan replied. They’d discussed this last night, but Nathan’s plans had changed slightly since then. “Our old way of life is done. They either accept that or they choose a new leader. I need to speak to you about something else.”

• • •

“Are you okay?” Abby anxiously asked.

“I’m fine,” Vicky said.

She resolved not to look back at Nathan, but her gaze was unwillingly pulled to him as he spoke with Ronan. Ronan nodded and strode away, Nathan hesitated, but when Vicky returned her attention to Abby, from the corner of her eye, she saw him walk away.

A knife seemed to slice through her heart, but she forced a smile. “Is there an indoor pool here?” she inquired as she looped her arm through Abby’s. “Or maybe we can lay outside and work on our tans or something.”

“Vicky,” Abby said sadly. “Talk to me.”

“I am talking to you about the things I want to talk to you about, okay?”

“Okay,” Abby whispered.

“The pool is empty, but you can always return to Ronan’s and use the pool there,” Brian suggested.

Leave here? Panic constricted Vicky’s chest. Yes, you idiot, leave here, leave Nathan, get some distance between you.

“Or my hotel,” she replied. “There’s a spa.”

“You’re better somewhere secure until whatever this is with the hunters settles down,” Brian said. “I’m still needed to guard here, but I can have someone take you back to Ronan’s.”

“No, we’ll wait for you,” Vicky said before Abby could reply. Distance from Nathan wouldn’t be bad, but she’d seen the flustered look that crossed Abby’s face before she hid it. Truce or not, Abby didn’t want to leave her mate with a bunch of hunters, and Vicky didn’t blame her.

They entered the hotel and strode across the main lobby. Sheets, coated with dust, covered the furniture and main desk. “Where are we going?” Vicky asked.

“Kadence and Declan are in the sunroom,” Abby replied.

“Where are Lucien and Killean?” In the mood she was in, Vicky didn’t want to run into either of them.

“They’re around here somewhere,” Brian replied.

“Scaring the hunters?” Vicky quipped though she felt anything but amused right now.

Last night had been the best night of her life, but there were no promises between her and Nathan, and she didn’t expect any. Still, she wished she could have held onto him for one more day or fallen into a contented sleep in his arms one more time.

The increasing pressure for her to make him immortal and seal their bond was already building within her like two tectonic plates pressing against each other. She’d known last night would escalate it, but she despised this horrible, clawing sensation growing in her chest. It would be her new normal, except it would only get worse.

“Probably,” Abby said.

They entered a glass-encased room at the far end of the hotel. Vicky imagined breakfast was once served here so the guests could eat while watching the flow of the sun-kissed ocean beyond the windows.

Kadence and Declan stood outside the room, staring at something Vicky couldn’t see from here. Crossing the room with Abby and Brian, she opened the glass door and stepped outside to join Kadence and Declan. The salty scent of the sea filled her nostrils as she listened to the waves lapping against the shore. The receding tide had left seaweed and a treasure trove of seashells behind.

The hunters were gathered on the beach, a large fire burning in the center of the circle they’d created. Last night’s storm had washed the air clean, leaving the day warm and the sky a pristine blue. On a perfect spring day like this, the fire seemed an odd choice, but then, Vicky didn’t understand the ways of the hunters.

When the hunters all joined hands, she realized Asher and Logan stood outside the circle with their arms over their chests.

“What are they doing?” Abby inquired.

“We’ve always celebrated Mayday,” Kadence replied, yet she appeared as perplexed as Asher and Logan looked pissed off.

“I didn’t even realize it was May first,” Vicky muttered. Somewhere along the way, she’d lost complete track of the days.

“Yeah.” Kadence’s lips pursed when pink and blue ribbons were brought forth.

Asher and Logan started shaking their heads as they spoke with each other. Asher said something to one of the hunters in the circle, but Vicky was too far away to hear him. The other hunter glanced at him and stepped away from the fire, as a couple of young women strolled into the center of the circle.

“Shit,” Kadence muttered.

Asher and Logan moved forward. Their voices grew loud enough for Vicky to pick out some of the words, but not enough to understand what was happening. Kadence turned toward her, opened her mouth to speak, and then gawked at her.

Vicky lifted her chin when she realized what happened; Kadence had been too absorbed in whatever was going on to notice Nathan’s scent all over Vicky or the fact she was wearing his clothes, until now.

Kadence’s gaze flashed to her neck, but Nathan’s shirt covered most of what remained of his fading bite. Still, Vicky hadn’t been able to completely cover the bite he’d most recently given her. A look of sorrow flashed through Kadence’s eyes before she glanced back at the beach.

“Is Nathan with Ronan?” she asked Vicky.

“Yes,” Vicky said.

“I have to speak with him.” Kadence rested her hand briefly on Vicky’s arm before rushing from the room with Declan trailing behind her.

Vicky exchanged a confused look with Abby before turning back to the beach and the rising voices there. She watched as one twenty-something man stepped forward. Some of the older hunters used the pink and blue ribbons to bind his hand and arm to a young woman.

Vicky’s heart sank when she realized the hunters had turned this Mayday into more than a celebration of spring.

Three more women remained standing there waiting for their prospective grooms. One of the older women turned to speak with Asher and Logan, gesturing them forward. Two women for them, one for Nathan. She nearly choked on the lump clogging her throat.

• • •

Nathan strode through the halls with Ronan toward the sunroom. Vicky’s scent drew him onward at a faster rate. So focused on getting to her, Nathan nearly collided with Kadence and Declan when he turned a corner.

His sister took a step back, her eyes instantly going to his neck. His shirt hid Vicky’s bites on him, but he suspected that’s what she searched for.

“You know it will destroy Vicky if you don’t complete the bond,” Kadence said, her face set in disapproval. “Many of the hunters, and the elders, won’t approve of you becoming a vampire, but she’ll die otherwise, and I’m not exaggerating that. If she’s fed from you, and from what I can tell, you from her, you’ve… you’ve doomed her. What were you thinking?”

Ronan stepped closer to her while Declan faded back to examine the hallway.

“This isn’t something I’m willing to discuss with you,” Nathan said.

Kadence blocked his path when he went to step around her. “It’s not my business, but I like Vicky, and I love you. If you allowed this to happen, then that means something in you is also reacting to her. I can’t see you allowing a vampire to feed on you otherwise. Over time, not completing the bond will destroy you too. Maybe not as fast as her, but it will eat you alive. We have demon DNA too, and this is one of the traits we share with vampires.”

“I know that, Kadence.” He’d known it the second Vicky’s blood hit his tongue and infused him with not only a wave of power but also the knowledge there would never be another woman who could complete him the way she did. “I know what she means to me and what I am to her. I can’t walk away from everything else though, especially not now. You didn’t have much freedom in the stronghold, but in many ways, you’ve always had more freedom than me.”

When tears shimmered in Kadence’s eyes, Ronan rested his hand on her shoulder and drew her closer. Declan leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest as he studied Nathan.

“I will work through this,” Nathan said. “It will take time, but I will figure it out, and I will do that with Vicky. Things have drastically changed for the hunters. We can only move forward in a completely different direction. Ronan and I have discussed some things that I plan to put before the hunters today.”

Kadence’s jaw dropped. “You intend to stay with Vicky?”

“If she’ll have me, and if she can wait. I know it’s not usually a long transformation for a human to become a vampire, but yours was longer than normal. With everything going on, I can’t leave the hunters without a leader for any length of time,” Nathan replied. “Not until things have calmed somewhat.”

“I never thought you’d consider becoming a vampire.”

“Neither did I, but I won’t lose her, and I will not condemn her to death.”

“Then you should probably stop the elders.”

Nathan’s jaw clenched. “Stop them from what?”

“They’ve combined the Mayday celebration with the engagement ceremony.”

“I told them there would be no engagement ceremony today,” he snarled.

Before she could reply, he turned away and stormed down the hall.