I shook my head and then the rest of my body, shaking off the impossible feeling. The exhaustion of the move, the drive, and everything else finally slammed into me. My body must have pumped through the last of the adrenaline from discovering the blood bottle and now I was crashing. I just need sleep. This will all make sense after I’ve had some rest.

After a quick shower to wash off the travel stink, my head hit the pillow, and I was out.

Full lips skate over my jaw and up to the corner of my mouth. His tongue flicks out, over my bottom lip, before he sucks it in between his. I moan and press my body against his, digging my fingers into the skin of his shoulders as his mouth assaults mine. His hand splays on my lower back, pulling me in tighter against his thigh that’s between my legs. I whimper from the friction as my breasts swell and tighten against his bare chest. Needing a breath, I pull away for a moment. My finger traces the birthmark over his heart as my gaze slowly slides upward to meet his. Beautiful gray eyes flecked with green stare back at me.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he says, although his voice calls me home.

I awoke with a start, my heart pounding a hard rhythm against my ribs. My eyes swept around the unfamiliar room as my mind tried to remember where I was. Oh, right. Freakwood Falls. Home. I drifted back to sleep almost immediately.

A light knock on the door brought me out of a deep, dreamless slumber, and I was relieved to see night had fallen. Now I can get answers. I threw on a robe before hurrying for the door as another knock sounded. When I pulled it open, Madame Luiza was about to descend the stairs off the porch.

She turned around, and a bright smile lit up her face. “Oh, you are up! I was beginning to think I came too early. You’re probably exhausted from all that driving. I can come back later, if you’d like, and we can get you all set up with the important stuff then.”

She made to turn again, but I stopped her. “No! Wait! I need answers. Now.”

A frown momentarily marred her sweet features. “Oh, dear, you are all worked up, aren’t you? I should have known. Tsk tsk. I’m so sorry. Here you were, stuck here all day, too. But we’ll get that taken care of in a jiffy. The Court is expecting you.”

I blinked as my still sleep-fogged mind tried to catch up. “The court? Why?”

Was it really necessary to change my driver’s license and car registration my first night here? And how would the court even be open now?

“Well, you have to sign into the Registry and get your mark.” She said this as though I should have known what she spoke about.

I lifted a brow. “My mark? As in the tattoo you mentioned last night?”

Realization dawned on her wrinkled face. “Oh, there I go again, getting ahead of myself. You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

I shook my head.

“No worries. Adelaide will explain everything and take good care of you. As long as you follow the rules and laws, you’ll be fine.”

“This Adelaide will explain everything?” I asked, and she nodded. “Then take me to her. Now.”

Madame Luiza gave me a once-over. “Don’t you want to put on something a little . . . um . . . warmer?”

I glanced down at my nearly naked body clothed in only a short, terrycloth robe barely covering the important parts. I’d been too concerned about answers to even notice the cold. “Oh my god. Of course.”

I turned to rush inside and change, but Madame Luiza stopped me. “As soon as you’re dressed, you can head on over to the Court. It’s across the town square, at the back of City Hall. You can’t miss it. There’s an emblem with a sun and a moon over the door.”

“You’re not taking me?”

She smiled warmly. “Oh, no, honey. I have guests to take care of. Doing your job—and everyone else’s—for now.”

“Do you need help?”

“Yes, but that’s what you’re here for, right? I can manage another day or two while you get settled. It’s important you take care of everything with the Court first. Don’t want to get in their bad graces already.”

Thirty minutes later, I hurried down my porch steps, bundled in my new coat, hat, and gloves, and focused on finding this court, whatever it was, but more importantly, this Adelaide, who could give me answers. When I set foot on the inn’s lawn, though, I had to stop for a moment and close my eyes to take it all in. I inhaled the cold air deeply—or tried to. My lungs struggled to pull as hard as I wanted to, and it took me a moment to remember the thinner air at this altitude. I’d been warned about that.

Still, I sucked in enough to savor the clean, crisp fragrance in my nose and taste on my tongue. Freezing cold, but all natural, the earthiness of aspen, pine, and dirt. Several different food aromas lingered from neighbors’ dinners, combining with the smoky warmth of burning wood. Barely a hint of gas fumes, oil, asphalt, or even concrete.

I listened to small animals scurrying into their nests for the night along with the muted chatter of people in their homes and the low hum of television shows. From somewhere not too far away came the sound of people in a bar and nearby there, patrons in restaurants and coffee shops. The sound of tires on roads was definitely present, but not like the nonstop whooshing of the big city. There was still a cacophony of sound here for my vampire ears, but one that was actually calming rather than irritating.

A light breeze kissed my face, chilling my skin, and I was brought out of the moment. My eyes opened, but I hesitated, and for the first time since arriving, I really looked around. The three story inn with its turrets, many bay windows, and gingerbread trim stood ahead at an angle to the corner, its back to me. To my left and slightly behind me was the row of cottages that provided five of the eighteen guest rooms—well, minus one for me now—and beyond them, near the street going north and south, was a small and noticeably empty parking lot. To my right was the driveway that led to the cottages, each one with its own space behind me. All but mine was also empty. Were all the guests Madame Luiza had to tend to still at dinner? And nobody stayed at the inn to eat? I thought I remembered it having its own dining room, supposedly with rave reviews.

The thoughts about the state of the inn drifted away as my gaze lifted to the mountains beyond the structure, soaring thousands of feet high. In awe, I turned in a slow, complete circle, and they were everywhere, boxing this little town in. I guessed that’s why they called it a box canyon. Up to the tree line, the mountainsides were dark with forest, and the jagged edges of their white peaks seemed to scrape the stars in the sky. And those stars . . .

“Holy. Shit,” I whispered. I’d always half-believed pictures of the night sky with this many stars—and so close!—were fakes. I gasped as I turned in a circle again, now while staring at the sky. “That’s the fucking Milky Way!”

I lifted my arms and waved my fingers in the air as though I could actually touch it.

“It’s so magical.” The words came out softly, barely audible to my own sensitive ears, but they were followed by what sounded like a snort from the direction of the inn’s wraparound porch.

I dropped my head, and my gaze swept across the porch, but I saw nobody there. Chills rose anew over my skin, and I tightened my coat around me as I began to walk again when a scream and a crash came from inside the main house. I immediately bolted to it, across the lawn and at the door in less than a second before remembering myself. Not that any witnesses were around, considering all the empty parking spaces.

“Madame Luiza?” I called as I rushed through one set of French doors and into a parlor room. I heard a whimper and a faint heartbeat a level above me. I hurried through the parlor, past the empty and dark dining room, and into the lobby before turning for the curving staircase, taking two steps at a time. Not until I stopped at the end of the hallway, where Madame Luiza lay, did I realize I’d known exactly where to find her and how to get here.

“I’m . . . okay.” The old woman’s gasp came from the floor, and I dropped to my knees by her side. What appeared to have been a tea set lay in pieces on the floor, the tea mixing with blood gushing out of a gash in her forearm.

“Oh, no. Here.” I peeled off my coat and gloves and lifted my wrist to my mouth to pierce my skin and give her my healing blood, but she gave a minute shake of her head.

“No, no. That . . . won’t work,” she gasped out. “Just . . . get me . . . to bed.” Her voice faded, and her eyelids drooped before closing completely.

I grabbed the tea towel and pressed it to her wound before picking up the little old lady and carrying her into the room that I instinctively knew was hers.

“What happened?” I asked as I lay her down.

Her eyes fluttered open for a moment. “Old . . . lady. Accident.”

She fell silent again as her eyes closed.

“What the hell happened? What did you do to her?” The girl’s voice demanded in that accusatory tone teenagers always seemed to speak in. She pushed past me and dropped to the old woman’s bed, glancing at me long enough to show her disgust before giving Madame Luiza all of her attention.

“What’s going on?” a deep voice asked from the doorway, making the hairs on the back of my neck raise. “Oh, fuck. Is she okay?”

The large body pushed past me as well, nearly knocking me over. He knelt down next to the girl, his broad shoulders blocking me from seeing anything else. I took several steps backward before turning to leave the room. I assumed they were her family and would take care of her, so I stood in the dark hallway, not knowing what to do besides wait. Oh, and clean up the mess. Just as I bent down to start picking up the ceramic pieces, the man’s body filled the doorway again before he strode right on by me, again without a glance.

“I have to find Isabella,” he growled over his shoulder.

“Wait! Don’t leave me with her!” the girl shouted, her voice filled with annoyance.

“She’s your family, Aurelia. Get over yourself.” He disappeared down the stairs then, although I could hear him stomping around the lower level as though looking for something. A moment later, I heard a door open and close.

“Asshole,” the girl huffed as she stomped out of the room, also right past me. “I notice you’re not staying.”

She kept talking, although he was long gone. A moment later, she too left through the same door.

I stood there stupidly for a long moment, until Madame Luiza’s faint voice called out to me.

“What do you need? What can I do?” I asked as I rushed inside and knelt by her bed.

“Arm,” she croaked. I looked down to find the towel, now stained crimson, still pressed against her wound.

“Oh, god, of course! Are you . . . sure?” I held my wrist out.

She gave me a weak smile. “I’m sure, dear. I’m far beyond healing. A bandage will do. Keep me from messing up the bedding any more than I already have.”

“Anything else?” I asked. “Water?”

“That would be good.”

I hurried back down the stairs and to the kitchen. The first aid kit was exactly where I knew it would be and so were the glasses. I tried not to think about that too much, forcing myself to focus on Madame Luiza. She drifted off while I bandaged her arm, and I couldn’t help but notice the odd odor—her blood was not of a healthy human. I tried not to think about that too much either.

When I finished, I lifted her unconscious body into the chaise lounge, the only other piece of furniture in the room besides the bed and a dresser between them. I easily found the closet of linens and changed her bedding, then I studied her, wondering if I should change her, too, or if that would be crossing the line. After all, she was my boss. Undressing her might be going too far.

As I looked more closely at her, I noticed in more detail the lines and curves of her face. I hadn’t noticed so many wrinkles last night. I’d thought her hair was a steel-gray then, but now it seemed lighter, with more white strands than I’d realized. She was even older than I’d first thought. And she was running this place by herself? No wonder she’d been so desperate to hire someone! I wondered if she knew how to spam the internet by herself, or if her grandchildren had helped.

Speaking of whom, what the hell happened to them? Did they really just take off and leave her here with a near stranger? I thought they’d gone to get help, but more than an hour had already passed, and still nobody had come.

“Help me?” The little old lady’s soft voice jerked my attention from the doorway and back to her. “I’d like to change. Purple dress in the closet.”

My eyes squinted as I looked at her. “I don’t think you should go out. You need to rest.”

She let out a long, sad sigh. “Yes, I know, dear.”

“Then wouldn’t you be more comfortable in a nightgown?”

She reached up and patted my hand as she gave me yet another weak smile, this one reaching her eyes with a faint twinkle. “Please, dear. I don’t want to die in my night clothes.”

I returned her smile as I held her hand in mine. “You’re not going to die, Madame Luiza. Not on my watch. It’s just a cut. The bleeding’s already stopped.”

She squeezed my hand weakly. “Oh, no, not from that. Look at me and tell me death’s not coming. Maybe not tonight, but soon. It’s simply my time. I’m the last hold-out. At least you’re here, though, honey. That’s all I wanted. Now help me put on my favorite dress, will you?”

I gazed at her for a moment, and she was right. I could practically see her aging in front of me. My heart suddenly felt like it weighed three tons. My emotions confused me. I barely knew this woman, but I couldn’t deny the deep sadness filling me. Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I nodded.

After changing her into the purple gown that looked as though it had been in fashion at the turn of the last century, I helped her lay back down.

“Who can I call?” I asked.

Her eyes fluttered closed. “Nobody, dear.”

“But your family—”

“They won’t come if you call, but Aurelia and Gabe might come on their own. You’re here, honey. That’s enough.”

I won’t let you die alone. She obviously didn’t want that if having me here was enough for her. The poor woman was nearly as bad off as I was in the family department. Although it wasn’t something I’d say aloud, regardless of how well she seemed to be accepting her imminent death.

She fell asleep almost immediately, although it was a fitful sleep. Afraid to leave her side and not knowing what else to do, I sat on the bed, then paced, then sat on the chaise for a while, then paced some more. Hours passed. The earlier sounds of town square had fallen fairly silent. Aurelia never returned. Neither did the guy, who I assumed to be Gabe. So much for going to court and finding Adelaide. They’d have to wait until tomorrow night. Sunrise was only a few hours away. At least the curtains appeared to be blackouts, so I could stay if nobody came. I stood at the window after inspecting them, watching the moon as it began to set behind the mountain. The sound of a door downstairs barely registered in my mind.

“Adelaide’s here for you.” The deep voice once again sent a shiver down my spine.

I turned to meet a very familiar pair of eyes that even in the dim light I knew were gray with green flecks.