Our ride home passed in silence. Silence between the two of us, at any rate. There was little silence around us, anywhere we went.

It was the weekend, and there were dozens upon dozens of people ready to squeeze into every train. There was a heavy stench everywhere, the stench of human bodies and sweat. How could any of them stand it? Didn’t they smell themselves? Normally, I suffered through ignoring the tantalizing smell of blood. I could barely make it out from everything else assaulting my senses.

She ignored me.

I wasn’t disappointed—in fact, that was as it should be. I should fade into the background to be used when she needed me. Nothing more. We weren’t friends and would never be friends. It wasn’t done.

She would get used to it.

It was easy to forget she was so young.

The witches I had guarded always looked decades younger than they were and possessed a much broader understanding than she did. She knew nothing of my world, of the blood she came from.

I couldn’t hold that against her.

And her feelings did her credit. I could admit that to myself.

She put on a show, pretended to be tough and hard. She hadn’t had an easy life, probably never had friends. No sympathy from her family. It made her wary of showing her true nature. But that nature was there. She was kind, caring, deeply emotional. An artist.

That didn’t make her any easier to handle.

Just my luck.

Why couldn’t I get somebody boring? Even vapid would be better than emotional. Trying to create a relationship where there wasn’t one.

“Are you hungry?” I asked as we walked up the stairs from the last subway ride.

Night was falling by now, and she had only eaten a small muffin while riding into Manhattan hours earlier.

“I’ll live.”

“I didn’t ask if you would live. I asked if you were hungry. I’m sure you’ll live, though from the looks of you there’s no telling for how long.”

“I’m too skinny now? Sorry. I’ll add gaining weight to my list of things that would make your job easier. Right under ignoring you.”

“Good. If I can think if anything else for you to work on, I’ll let you know.”

It was better this way. If I told myself so enough times, I’d even believe it. We were coming up to the corner store.

“Stop in and get yourself something to eat. I would rather not have to leave the apartment again tonight.”

“Do you really have to come with me when I go down to the corner for milk?”

“Yes.” I left it there.

She sighed softly, but kept her mouth shut.

Miracles were possible, after all.

I followed her into the tiny store and walked behind her as she picked up dried pasta, sauce, bread, milk. And more ice cream than any human could crave at one time.

“So you’re hungry,” I observed wryly as she dropped three containers into the basket over her arm.

“You’re the one telling me I’m too skinny.”

“I didn’t mean you had to gorge yourself to prove a point.”

She threw a withering look my way. “I like ice cream. I can’t decide which kind I want. I have a freezer. It doesn’t take a genius to understand this.” She pushed past me on her way to the counter.

I was about to follow her and come up with a retort when something else caught my eye.

Someone else.

Watching from just inside the door, though he pretended to thumb through a magazine.

Not a vampire—I didn’t sense it about him, and his eyes were still like a human’s. But he looked exhausted, with heavy circles under his eyes and sallow skin. His long, brown hair was greasy and lank. His clothes hung on him. He was one of their minions, no better than a cow for repeated milking.

And he was looking for her.

I kept my eyes focused on the back of her head as I walked to the counter, but he was always in the corner of my vision.

He watched her the way I did.

Who sent him? Did the one I killed in the alley have a mate? It was likely. Perhaps the male she danced with, the one Janna had watched.

I leaned in and caught the scent of her hair, her skin. She was still warm from all the sun she had soaked in throughout our day.

I brushed my lips against her ear, like a lover’s caress.

She went stiff.

“Relax. Act like nothing out of the ordinary is happening.”

“Why?” she breathed.

I could almost hear her heart racing. Even now, when I felt the stranger’s eyes on me, I could barely resist the temptation to taste her skin.

“Someone’s watching you. Do not look. He’s by the door.” I wrapped my fingers around her shoulder and held her in place. “Everything will be fine. I’m going to take him outside. You wait here.”

“And do what?”

“Just wait. You don’t have to do anything.” I squeezed a little harder than I needed to for effect.

She needed to remember who was in charge. This wasn’t the time for her to get ideas in her head about taking care of herself.

All I had to do was stand in front of him and flip up my sunglasses. As soon as he saw my eyes, he knew who he was dealing with.

“Outside,” I muttered. “I don’t want to do this in front of humans.”

“You… you don’t know who you’re dealing with…” His voice was high-pitched, anxious.

“Neither do you.” I took him by the arm and half-dragged him out the door, then around to the side of the building.

There were no prying eyes there.

I slammed him against the wall hard enough to make his teeth rattle.

“Please don’t hurt me!” he pleaded, shaking from head to toe.

I reminded myself he was just another stupid human who’d gotten in over his head.

“Who sent you here?” I snarled as my fangs descended.

His eyes went wide and perfectly round, and his lips pulled back from his teeth in a grimace of horror.

I could smell the fear coming out of his pores.

“I—I can’t tell you,” he whimpered. “He’ll kill me.”

“I’ll kill you if you don’t,” I promised. “And I’ll take my time.”

“I’m not allowed!” His voice turned into a whine.

Killing him would be worth it if only to get him to stop whining.

“I only need a name. You don’t even have to tell me where to find him—I’ll find him on my own. Just one little name is all.” I looked deep into his eyes, pushing his thoughts aside, demanding answers.

Nothing he felt or thought mattered, anyway.

Only what I needed.

He was going to give me what I needed.

“Bradley,” he whispered before squeezing his eyes shut. Tears squirted out from under his lids and his pale eyelashes. “Please. Let me go now.”

“Where is he?”

“You promised!”

“I promised nothing.” My mouth lingered near his throat, and my tongue darted out to slide along his skin.

His pulse raced.

It would be so easy to drink my fill. His heart would pump the blood straight into my mouth, down my throat. I wouldn’t even have to try to drink.

“You’ll tell me where he is, and you’ll tell me now.”

“He… he lives beneath the club…” he managed to whimper.

“And why does he want her?” It was worth asking, even if I was fairly sure I knew the answer.

“Desiree. Desiree is dead. He loved her.”

“And she wanted the girl. Is that it? He thinks the girl had something to do with Desiree dying. That’s why he wants her now, because she was going after the girl and ended up dead.”

“Not just that. She’s special. Not pure human. He wants to know what she is before he…”

I snapped his neck before he could go on.

I knew what Bradley wanted to do.

A half-human, half-witch would be a wonderful new consort since he’d lost his mate. Either that, or he’d kill her just to set an example. My job was the same regardless: keeping him away from her.

What to do with the body hanging limply over my arm?

I looked around and decided on a dumpster.

He folded up easily and nestled in among overflowing bags of garbage.

She was waiting for me inside the store. Her face lit up when she saw me through the window, and I had to admit surprise that she had followed my instructions.

She hurried out of the store with her bag of groceries in one arm. “What happened?”

“Hurry. Once we’re upstairs, I’ll tell you about it.” My eyes swept the street as we rushed to her building with me nearly carrying her just to get there faster.

He could be anywhere.

If he knew where to send his minion, he could easily send another. Or come on his own.