Ezra is pacing up and down in my living room when we enter. “About time,” he says, glaring at us both. “What have you two been doing up there?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Devin was actually being a nice guy and helping me out. We have undergone the Binding.”

Rhain, who is sitting on my sofa, looks up at us both. I expect to see jealousy, but I only see relief.

“Thank you, brother, the Binding will help Accacia immensely. I hate to see her suffer so, especially after what happened last night.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Devin says, giving Rhain a pat on his back as he passes by.

Rhain looks at me. “How are you feeling?”

“Surprisingly okay.” It’s true, I am. Even though I can still feel the desire, it is like a low hum in the background rather than an all-consuming tsunami of emotion. Devin seems to be blocking it somehow. I glance at him and he winks.

“I’m glad, Cia, truly.”

“Great, so you’ve undergone the Binding, good for you. Now can I have your attention because we have a big fucking problem,” Ezra says impatiently

“What, apart from you being an arsehole?” I mutter. Devin and Rhain laugh. Ezra scowls. “Such an arsehole that I risk my life dealing with that degenerate for you?”

“Thanks for the reminder,” I mumble under my breath.

“What do you mean, risk your life?” Rhain says, confusion furrowing his brow. “That piece of human trash wouldn’t have been a challenge for either of you.”

Ezra raises an eyebrow. “Rhain, have you not asked yourself why your gifts of persuasion did not work on Roland?” He looks at Rhain, then at me and there is anger in his stare.

“What are you talking about, Ezra?”

“He wasn’t fully human, Rhain. That is what I am talking about. I cannot believe you didn’t notice the first time your paths crossed. Clearly, the Claiming is affecting you a lot more than we first thought. Roland was part wolf.” Ezra slams his hand against the wall. I watch one of my pictures fall to the floor but I make no move to pick it up.

“Part wolf? What the hell are you talking about now?” I say.

Rhain runs a hand through his hair, his sapphire eyes flashing. “Lights be blind,” he says.

I look from Rhain to Ezra. “You’re not seriously saying that Roland is a wolf?”

Devin scrapes a hand through his hair. “Not entirely, no. In fact, we are not certain, exactly, what he was. All we know is that he was stronger than his appearance suggested. Our persuasion did not work on him, and the only thing that ended his life was silver. Not to mention the fact that he was also a sadistic bastard, a trait all wolf-shifters have in spades. Whatever the hell he was, he was too much like the wolf-shifters for it to be a coincidence.”

I’m not sure how to react. To find out that there are wolf-shifters is one thing, but to be told that Roland was somehow linked to one, quite another. “So, he is dead then?” I ask, shocked that this is the next question I choose to ask.

“Yes. The silver implements he had in his torture chamber finally ended his life. He will never hurt you again,” Ezra growls.

A huge sense of relief floods through me, and I sit down next to Rhain on the sofa. He takes my hand and squeezes it gently. At his touch, a surge of heat moves through me. I feel my desire ratcheting up a notch.

Easy, Devin says.

I can feel a calming coolness quickly replace the desire and I glance at Devin. Thank you, I respond silently.

Rhain sighs heavily. “There will be repercussions, Cia. We have been at war with Clan Spiritus for almost nine hundred years after they began to kidnap the common folk of Ever Vale. If this Roland was anything to do with them, then we have a problem.”

“Repercussions, what do you mean? Hold on, why do they kidnap people?”

“Clan Spiritus take the common folk to try to deplete our source of sustenance. We understand they are kept as slaves and are treated with little care or respect. One woman who managed to escape told us of their brutality. She was beaten daily and raped. They are a cruel race now and far removed from what they once were,” Rhain says, looking at me sadly.

“That’s horrific,” I say, and I don’t just mean the behaviour of Clan Spiritus. I pull my hand from Rhain, feeling sick suddenly. “The people you refer to as the common folk. It seems to me that they are the ones who are caught up in this mess. They are fed on by you and your people, and they are kidnaped, raped and beaten by Clan Spiritus. Is that correct?”

“Accacia, the majority of our clan do not wish to harm them, but we have no choice. Not all of us are monsters. Most of Clan Lux treat the common folk with care. We do not rape or torture like the wolf-shifters do,” Devin says.

My gaze rests on him and I want to remind Devin of what he said to me in the club, that he has killed many people, but I don’t because his guilt is plain for all to see.

Ezra sits down opposite me. Neither Rhain nor Devin notice him wince as he settles into the armchair. Was I witnessing the pain the others told me about because he refused to take my blood? His eyes meet mine, and I know I am right.

“The curse that befell Clan Spiritus was one of the worst. The spiritual, kind people that they once were are gone now, replaced instead with the wolf-shifters who have taken over the desert plains of Ever Vale. I counted many as my friends before the curse befell us all. Queen Adrielle was cruel in her punishment. Persuading any of the wolf-shifters to locate their missing daughter and help us break the curse may now prove an impossible task. The wolves are fiercely loyal within their chosen packs. That is, perhaps, their only redeeming quality.”

“Persuading them? You mean to say that one of the ‘sisters’ mentioned in the prophecy comes from their clan as well?” I say. I hadn’t put much thought into it, too busy trying to wrap my head around my own predicament.

“Yes, that’s exactly right, Accacia. Five sisters born beneath the stars neither bound by blood or kin, must unify the warring clans and rid the land of sin,” Devin says, recounting the prophecy.

“As we explained to you before, there are four other daughters, one from each clan. We do not know who they are, but Nostra has spelled each of them with the same ring as your own,” Ezra says sharply.

“Well, excuse me for being so pre-occupied by three vampires in my house that I didn’t pick that piece of information up the first time you told me. Frankly, I was probably too busy trying to get my head around the fact that I was born to another world full of paranormal creatures and a wicked sodding witch,” I say, losing my patience with him.

Ezra opens his mouth to retaliate but Devin holds his hand up. Always ready to keep the peace, it would seem.

“Yes, each clan has a daughter to locate, Accacia.”

“So why don’t we just go and find them then?” I suggest.

“We can’t. This gem has only been spelled for us to locate you,” Rhain says, dropping the huge ruby into my hand. “We don’t have the other gems, and even if we did they wouldn’t work for us. Each clan must send three of their own to find their missing daughter. Now that we have found you, we must keep you safe.”

“Why three?”

“What?” Rhain says. He looks suspiciously awkward.

“Because we are stronger this way,” Ezra says offhandedly.

“Why not four or five? Why not one, a couple? Three is an odd number, don’t you think?” I say, pressing the point.

Ezra narrows his eyes at me. “Three is plenty good enough,” he says, giving me one of his ‘be quiet’ looks. I cross my arms and bite down on my response.

“Right now, I’m more worried about the fact that there may be wolf-shifters about. If what you are saying is correct, then some of Clan Spiritus must have found their way here a long time ago. If they have any idea what we have done, then we are all in grave danger, especially Accacia,” Rhain says, standing abruptly.

“Why am I in grave danger? I’ve done nothing but mind my own damn business and suddenly I’m wrapped up in your stupid war!” I say, my voice rising.

“We have taken one of theirs. They will wish to return the favour,” Devin says matter-of-factly.

“Then we must leave, now. We will be safe in Nostra’s hidden hamlet,” Ezra orders. “Get what you can carry, Accacia. We are going home to Ever Vale.”

I stand, looking at the three men. Did they honestly think that I would leave my home, my job, my life, to wander into a strange world I knew nothing about? They had a cheek ordering me about.

“Over my dead body,” I say.