The scream echoes between my ears, and I turn toward the man screaming at me, focusing on him. His head shakes and his eyes bulge before his head explodes, and I turn to the next one . . . and the next one . . . and the next one.

It’s not until the silence reigns in my head that I look and recognize the blond curls of Tyler, Noah’s massive chest, Cole’s sooty waves. “Oh, my God, what have I done?”

“You killed them, freak!” Joe says behind me, and I turn to see him looking at me with utter horror in his eyes. “You’re a monster.”

“No, Joe. I didn’t mean to. I—”

“They’re your guardians, the men who care for you, and you slaughtered them like cattle,” Joe says. “Only a monster would do that. A monster, Eve. Maybe that’s what you are. You’re not Fae. You’re just the daughter of a monster.”

“No!” I gasp, jumping up and covered in sweat. My chest is heaving, and I struggle for oxygen, trying to calm myself. I’m not too sure what time it is. All I know is that it’s still dark and the moon is just starting to creep through the window to my left.

I groan lightly, trying to let my nightmare fade without alerting my guardians, who must be in the other room.

I turn back to my memories of the living room, trying to calm down, but the vision of amazing sex doesn’t completely replace my nightmares. In my mind, I do my best to recall every touch, every stroke of a tongue that set my skin on fire, every shiver as I was filled, stroked, and fucked more thoroughly than I’ve ever been in my life, all of it to try to replace the feeling the nightmare left inside me. It helps to settle me, and I walk to the window, trying to gather myself enough to attempt to go back to sleep.

I’m so exhausted that my head is thumping shallowly, and I close my eyes, whimpering as it starts to grow. God, again? I thought having the orgy of all orgies was supposed to relieve the rock band playing in my head. I hold onto a little hope that it’s only a hunger headache. I mean, I haven’t eaten since . . . well, breakfast.

I hear wood creak, and I open my eyes again to see Jacob and Tyler looming at the entrance to the bedroom, Jacob leaning casually against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest while Tyler holds his bow in his arms, both watching my every move. They’re both so gorgeous, stripped to the waist and only in pants. Regardless of the drawbacks of my new powers or any nightmares I’ve had, I’ve woken up to worse sights. Still, a flash of my nightmare goes through my mind, and I shiver before clearing my throat. “Yes?”

“Rise and shine, Mistress of Mayhem,” Jacob says, smirking. “The night isn’t going to tear itself apart, you know.”

I scowl. “Really, Jacob?”

Tyler comes in and sits on the edge of the bed. “Ignore him. You quickly grow used to his humor. We have cleaned or replaced all of your clothing.”

“Thank you,” I reply, taking his hand and giving it a little squeeze.

Tyler helps me up, assisting me as I wrap the blanket around my shoulders. He’s so cute, blushing when his hand accidentally bumps against my left breast. “Tyler.”

“Yes, Eve?” he asks, still looking down.

I stand on tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek. “Don’t worry if you accidentally cop a feel. I just had your tongue all over my body. No need in being shy. In fact, I feel like I owe you.”

I hear footsteps approach and know Jacob’s being intentionally noticeable. If something is about to go down, he’s going to be involved.

“Your Perkiness,” Jacob says, handing me a clean set of panties, my old pants, a fresh T-shirt, and a sweatshirt that’s glorious against my upper body. And I smell food.

“Thanks? Should I ask where you got this stuff?”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Jacob says, smirking.

I get dressed and follow them into the living room, looking around. Tyler brings me some food and somehow knows exactly what I like. “Seriously, Chinese noodles? You guys are magical.”

“Too bad we don’t have a microwave,” Jacob says, sitting down. “Best use for that particular invention.”

“Where are Cole and Noah?” I ask after taking a bite. God, I love late-night noodles. Nothing seems to curb the post-midnight cravings like a shitload of soy sauce and MSG.

“Cole decided to honor your request and help you with the vamps. They are . . . looking into it,” Tyler says.

Relief that I’m not going to be trussed up and shipped to faerieville against my will washes over me, but at the same time, I’m a little annoyed. “Guys, I meant help me, not do it for me! How do they expect to find the right vamps?”

“By starting with the information you gave them,” Jacob says. “And besides, it’s not like it’s hard to find a vamp in Old Haven.”

“That’s not enough. Sure, if Cole and Noah want to pick a fight—”

“They’re not stupid,” Tyler says. “We’re more than just soldiers, Eve. We’re soldiers, guards . . . and more. In the Fae realm, we serve many roles, and we’ve had to do our share of solving mysteries.”

“You guys have centuries on me, I’ll give you that,” I admit begrudgingly, “but I don’t think Cole and Noah should be handling this issue.”

I jump to my feet, and Tyler is right with me, placing himself in the doorway.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he growls.

“To find my sister and make sure she’s okay. Then I’ll look for Cole and Noah and tell them this vamp problem is my responsibility. I’d appreciate the help, but I don’t feel right completely shirking it off onto someone else, however capable they might be,” I protest. “Stand aside, Tyler.”

He shakes his head, his shyness gone. “I’m sorry, Eve, but I can’t allow that. Cole’s orders.”

“Do you realize how everyone in this city is looking for you?” Jacob asks, pulling out a tablet and turning on the local news feed. He holds it out, but even from a few feet away, I can see the headline scrolling across the screen.

Para Cop Goes Mutant! Kills Suspect, Wanted For Murder!

The sound is off, but the subtitles are on, and I can read what the video’s saying. Eve Carter, a detective in the New Haven Police Department’s 54th Precinct, escaped custody today and is suspected to be with a group of shifters. The detective—

The video changes to a picture of me, taken last year for my Department ID, along with artist’s renditions of the guys. “Well, whoever drew those needs to be fired,” Jacob quips as I sink into the sofa. “I’m much more handsome than any of those drawings.”

“Hush,” I chastise him as the video shifts again. My breath is taken away as the interrogation video comes on, edited to the last few seconds before I blow Cody’s head apart, the video only pixelating the last little bits. Not that it matters much. The subtitles are giving plenty of outlandish descriptions and info.

The four Paranormals, it says as I turn on the sound, reportedly have shifter abilities and are highly trained. According to NHPD sources, Detective Carter claimed they were . . . excuse me, that they were fairies. Regardless of that, the NHPD considers all five armed and extremely dangerous, and they should contact NHPD or DHS if they are seen.

“Extremely dangerous,” Jacob says with a chuckle. “Guess they got that part right, at least.”

“Shh!” I hush Jacob again, listening intently to the newscaster.

“Additionally, an unruly crowd of vigilantes has coalesced in front of Eve Carter’s apartment, where her sister, Alyssa Cater, is believed to be inside. The crowd is said to be enraged by reports of Eve’s escape and is demanding justice for the murder of Cody Reigns.”

The footage shifts to outside my apartment, where a rowdy crowd is yelling obscenities, shoving and pushing at each other against a barrier that’s been erected by authorities. My breath hitches in my throat when I see the camera shift to a window, and I see Alyssa, her face pale and frightened, peeking out from behind a curtain for a moment before disappearing from sight.

“Authorities are on-site to keep the peace, but it’s a bad omen for a town that’s already on edge from all the recent unsolved murders reported to have been committed by paranormals.”

The camera cuts to where officers in riot gear are keeping the crowd at bay behind the barriers.

It shows the tumult for a few seconds before the news feed shifts once again over to some ‘expert analysts’. It’s a blowhard that I’ve met before, a guy who got lucky early in the Para Wars and has been living on his reputation as an ‘American hero’ ever since. I shut the tablet off, resisting the urge to throw the device across the room. “That’s such bullshit! And Alyssa . . .” I struggle to swallow the rage and fear boiling up from the core of my stomach. She must be scared to death.

Queasiness roils my stomach as I remember the look of fear on Alyssa’s face, and I gesture at the two Fae. “Guys, I appreciate the need to try to keep me safe, but you saw what I just did. She’s scared and needs me!”

Jacob and Tyler exchange a glance, slight looks of worry on their faces.

“You’re right, and I can see the worry in your eyes,” Tyler says gently, “but your going there could endanger her. You see that, right? There needs to be a plan.”

“You saw that crowd. They’re out for my head! They could end up hurting Alyssa just to get to me!”

“The authorities have it under control right now. Let us use that time to assess the situation. The safest place for her right now is in your apartment, surrounded by cameras and the police. As long as those cameras are broadcasting, they’re going to do everything they can to not let things spin out of control.”

“You guys can’t keep me here,” I protest as Tyler stations himself at the door again. “You can’t stop me from leaving if I want to.”

“We can, and we will,” Tyler says. “I’m sorry, Eve. I know she’s your sister, and we’re going to help her, but we have to sit tight until Cole and Noah are back.”

Gone is the shy guy, and even Jacob’s dropped all pretense of humor as I look at the two of them. Tyler’s probably right. They’ve got centuries of experience on me, a shitload of muscle, and probably skills I’ve never encountered even if they don’t use their weapons.

I bite my lower lip, weighing my options. The truth is, I have little chance of getting out that door. And as upset as I am about Alyssa’s predicament, I must admit, Jacob’s words have merit. For now, no one’s getting inside that apartment.

For now, the unwanted words weave their way into my consciousness, but what about when the crowd gets too wild for the cops to handle?

I shove the troubling thoughts down, trusting that Noah and Cole will return quickly. They must.

“Fine,” I sigh finally, “but if Cole and Noah don’t show up soon, I’m going to get my sister and you’re not going to stop me, capiche?”

Jacob nods at my fire, and I flop back down on the couch, grabbing my empty noodle bowl and holding it out. “Since I’m going to be held here against my will, I might as well fuel up. At least tell me about yourselves. Might be useful to learn a little about you and about the faerie realm.”

Jacob scratches his head, evaluating me for a moment before relaxing a little and taking my bowl. As he does, I notice that he’s still carrying his knives, and I wonder if he’s been humoring me all this time. When he comes back, he hands me a fresh bowl, and even Tyler relaxes, sitting down in a chair that’s between me and the door still, but his bow is resting by his feet and not in his hands. “What would you like to know?”

“Well, where are you from? How’d you grow up? Favorite color, do you have a dog . . . that sort of stuff,” I ask, taking another bite of noodles. I must have burned through more calories than I thought today because I’m still famished and they’re still delicious.

“I was actually born here,” Jacob says, chuckling. “My parents were . . . well, I guess you’d call them cultural anthropologists. After the Fae had pulled out of the human realms, we still were curious, so we kept track. And there were still some people who might not have been peaceful but were more understanding of us than now. I spent my first eighteen years living in the Scottish Highlands. I’d return to Lunaria from time to time—that’s the name of our land, by the way—but I wore a kilt and carried a dirk from the time I was a toddler.”

“So, is that why you carry knives now?” I ask, and Jacob looks at his arms, laughing. “What?”

“We learn many weapons in the queen’s Guard. I just drifted toward these because of my other talents. I became an information gatherer, a bit of a rogue, if you will.”

How appropriate. “So, when did you enter the queen’s Guard?”

“When a certain archer’s father caught me sneaking out of his daughter’s window,” Jacob says with a laugh. He glances over at Tyler, who just nods. “I faced a choice—arrest for breaking in, or enter the service. I suppose it has worked out.”

I look over at Tyler, who laughs as he takes over. “She was my older sister and was seeing a minor noble in the queen’s court. While my father wasn’t all that upset over Tianna sneaking a man out of her bedroom window, he knew that if our low-born family had any chance of making it into the nobility, my sister couldn’t be seen with another man. And he saw other opportunities, so he took them.”

“How so?” I ask, interested in more. “I didn’t know you two went back that far.”

“It sometimes seems barely a week has passed, sometimes an eternity,” Tyler says. “You’ll come to find that out with the Fae. We can spend a decade apart, and it means nothing when we reunite when you compare it to our lifespans. My father was one of the higher-ranked members of Lunarian Guard, what you might call the police. This was particularly important, as being a retired Guardsman is one of the few ways up the social ladder in Lunaria.”

“You have a caste system?” I ask, surprised. “I would have thought you more . . . open-minded than that. No offense.”

“Long lifespans lead to a slow evolution of systems,” Tyler says. “There are three main castes. The low-born, the warriors, and the nobility. The only way one can jump from the bottom to the top in one generation is to serve honorably and retire as a member of the Imperial or Queen’s Guard. My father intended for that to happen. Serious for a Fae, he’d always wanted his children to follow in his footsteps. Especially a son, but when he had four children who were all daughters, he’d nearly given up hope. Then, just as he and my mother were about to give up, I came along.”

“That had to relieve him,” I comment, and Tyler frowns. “No?”

“Not at first. I didn’t think it was my calling. I was the studious one. The only ‘athletic’ activity that I enjoyed as a young boy was archery,” Tyler says with a self-effacing shrug. “It greatly disappointed my father, even though he never said it directly to me.”

“Then what led you to the service and the Guard?”

“When I was twenty-three, my father was on patrol when he lost his footing and tumbled down a rather steep cliff. He was severely injured . . . not enough that he had to leave the service, but he was scarred. His accident sort of jolted me, and I helped him with his recovery. That started me on the path, but I was still more familiar with parchment and laboratories than the battlefield at that point. It took a certain rogue sneaking out of Tianna’s back window for me to get in gear.”

I look back and forth between the two, shaking my head in amazement. “And so, he marched you two down to enlist?”

“Gods, no!” Jacob says with a laugh. “He had me start working with Tyler on some of the gaps in his training. I spent a year working with Tyler before he was ready. I thought it would’ve taken longer, but when he puts his mind to something, there is little that can stop him. He put his mind to becoming a soldier, and later a member of the queen's Guard.”

I was so right about Tyler. He’s got more layers than an onion, and as I peel back each one, I’m enchanted more and more by what I find. “So that explains you two. What about Cole and Noah?”

Jacob gets himself a glass of water, sipping it slowly. “It’s their place to tell their tales.”

I nod, still wanting to know more. “And Lunaria?”

Before they can respond, the night is shattered by the sound of automatic gunfire and I leap to my feet.

“Get down!” Jacob says, but I ignore him. I might be unarmed, but I’m still a cop, and I need to find out what’s happening to my city.