Chapter Five

 

 

I INSISTED Cooke join me and was surprised when Garrett shrugged instead of muttering something derogatory about mongrels. As a rule, he never missed an opportunity to point out the differences between purebloods and everyone else, but instead he just changed seats to make room for us.

Hand clasping the roof of the truck, I bent over to peer in at Garrett. “I’m gonna run upstairs and change, all right?”

He shook his head.

“Really? You think I should meet your prince in jeans and a Henley?”

“You look fine,” he insisted, waving me inside. “Just get in the truck.”

“Are you sick?” I asked as I squeezed past the folded rear passenger seat to settle into the third row. Cooke lifted the seat and sat in it.

“No,” Garrett snapped. “Why?”

I shrugged and leaned forward between their two seats. “You’re normally not this accommodating.”

Instead of saying anything more, he rolled down the window and breathed in the fragrant night air always thick with jasmine. Cooke turned his head and lifted his eyebrows, as confused as I was about how nonconfrontational Garrett was behaving.

The trip to Benny’s home on Third Street near Coliseum took only fifteen minutes the way David, Garrett’s driver, navigated the roads.

“Holy shit,” Cooke said, leaning out the window, “lookit all the damn cars.”

They lined both sides of the street near Benny’s home, and while we stopped at the enormous wrought iron gate, I could see high-end vehicles cluttered the long circular driveway as well.

Once through, David drove us to the entrance, and Benny Diallo himself opened the door for Cooke.

“Mr. Diallo!” Cooke greeted Benny enthusiastically, even though I knew, from seeing them interact when he came by my shop, Benny scared him. “How are you, sir?”

“Good,” he replied curtly but then smiled at me as I climbed out. Garrett came around the side of the truck to join us. “How are you, Jason?”

“Fine,” I answered slowly, unsure, because he was normally more familiar with me. He usually called me Jase, not Jason, and the change seemed out of character, cold, soulless.

“Excellent. Shall we go inside?”

He was being too civil, robotic, and it tripped my weirdness meter. Air that was moving a moment ago had stilled. The ever-present breeze was gone, and the air felt heavy, almost smothering. My skin felt tight, and I was cold, which in seventy-three-degree weather was impossible. But I’d had these feelings before, and I knew what it meant. Even though I was outside, I was good and trapped.

“Jason?”

This must be how a mouse felt, cornered in a room by an owl or a cat.

“We should go in.”

They were stronger than me, faster, and even though I had a rapport with some of these men, my first thought was for my father’s rifle, under my bed in a locked gun safe, and how it would even the odds a bit. My military-issue knife, my sidearm… anything would have helped me with the adrenaline settling in. I could grapple with the best of them—I’d excelled at close-quarter combat tactics—but these were vampyrs standing outside in the cool night air, and if they all came at me at once, I’d be toast. I surveyed the driveway, the gazebo that stood in a grove of magnolia and willow oaks with hydrangeas and azaleas, and recognized outrunning them was never going to work.

I began edging away toward the SUV. I needed to leave.

“Jason?”

I pointed to the front door. “I’m not going in there,” I explained. “I’m not sure why I got in the car, and for that, I apologize, but I’m human, and the idea of being the lone snack in that house is not appealing.”

“You know better than that,” Benny retorted, the icy behavior now freezing his tone. He was clearly disgusted with my fear. “You’ve been told the law. No one’s going to hurt you. Humans are the safe ones, not the other way around.”

But the savagery in his voice was in no way comforting.

He took a step forward, appearing threatening to me, and I moved around the SUV, putting it between us. I wasn’t scared, but I could feel myself slipping into combat mode, getting ready to defend myself. His smile was slow, slightly sinister, and affirmed my feeling that he knew what he was doing, purposely trying to intimidate me. More vampyrs than I had initially noticed fanned out around us, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck.

Cooke took a step forward, but Benny reached out and took hold of his arm. “Remember where your loyalties lie,” he said, and Cooke froze in place.

I didn’t feel betrayed. We were friends, yes, but Benny was not only forging a new alliance with his leader, but was easily the most powerful vampyr in New Orleans. One didn’t argue with the man in charge, especially over a guy who could very well be lunch.

“Get the fuck back,” I warned two vampyrs closing in. I got smug, cocky smiles as they kept moving, not giving a damn who I was.

Something was wrong—my “mojo” wasn’t working—and when I glanced at Cooke, he looked as confused as I felt. Why weren’t these vampyrs responding as the others had?

“Jason Thorpe!”

The vampyrs who seemed intimidating moments before quickly moved back, hands up.

Hadrian descended the steps from the house, and an immense wave of relief came over me. He was as tall as I remembered, six five to my own six feet, broad shouldered, his teeth very white, as he smiled and the contrast to his deeply tanned skin was noticeable and appealing. He looked tremendously capable, and watching him come closer, I exhaled my fear. I’d been holding my breath.

The vampyrs took more steps back, making certain Hadrian was crystal clear on the fact that they were not threatening me. Hadrian’s guards stood at the top of the stairs, six in total, three men and three women.

Hadrian didn’t spare Benny, Garrett, Cooke, or any of the others a second glance, he just walked up to me, hand extended, wearing the grin I knew, mischievous and friendly.

“Hey,” I managed to get out, clasping the offered hand, holding tight.

He furrowed his brows instantly. “I smell fear on you. Why are you in distress?”

I tipped my head at the vampyrs around us. “I just didn’t wanna be dinner, ya know?”

He scowled, glanced around at the others and back at me. “It is forbidden for any to take the blood of a human, and albeit I know there are those who partake,” he said, shooting Benny and Garrett a disdainful look, a hint of revulsion on him, “I can assure you that you are, without question, secure in my presence.”

“Yeah, but you were surprised when you saw me alive at the hospital that time,” I reminded him.

“Because you were not with me, and thus I was not responsible for your safety.”

“So you plan to stick around this time?”

He squinted like he wasn’t following.

“You ditched me last time, as you recall.”

“I had hunting to do,” he admitted. “But I left you with Tiago for company, certain that once he recovered his strength, he would protect you.”

“It’s a good story.” I sighed, calming, my adrenaline rush subsiding.

“The truth always is,” he agreed. “However, allow me to assure you,” he continued ominously while narrowing his eyes, “should any attempt even to touch you while you are under my care—their lives will be forfeit to me.”

The way everyone was looking at him, respectfully, not moving, just waiting, watchful, let me know that being under his care was a serious thing. “Thank you.”

He gave me a slight tilt of his head before he took gentle hold of my bicep. “Now come inside. The prince would speak to you.”

“Is Tiago in there too?”

“He is.”

“Oh, that’s great. I’ve been wanting to talk to both you and him, but I had no idea how to get in touch.”

Hadrian eased me forward before letting go of my arm, and I walked beside him, keeping pace, not glancing at Cooke. I hadn’t expected him to take my side over Benny’s, but still, it hurt.

Shaking it off, I concentrated on Hadrian. “It’s really good to see you.”

“And you as well, Jason,” he admitted. “I had hoped our paths would cross once more.”

It was a nice thing to say, and the feeling came through in the tenor of his voice. I knew he meant it just as much as I did. “So this is weird, but the Rothschilds went ahead and paid in full for the job in their library, even though I never finished?” We climbed the stairs to the front door. “Did you do that?”

“No, I did not, but neither am I surprised.”

“How come?” I smiled at Hadrian’s people as we reached them, who gave me the same, plus a few nods, in return.

“The Rothschilds are no more, Jason,” he said. “And Tiago compensated your company to make certain no loose ends remained.”

“You mean they’re dead,” I stated just so we were clear, making sure “no more” meant the same thing to vampyrs as it did to humans.

“Just so,” he affirmed, walking in front of me through an arched door easily twelve feet high that looked like it belonged in The Lord of the Rings, all thick burnished oak.

“Everyone?” I asked, laser focused on him, on his words, how bored he sounded, as though this conversation was completely beneath him, utterly inconsequential.

He nodded.

“But that’s—”

“Is this house not lovely?” he asked, not subtle in the least.

I would not be so easily distracted. “I’m sure there were innocents among the—”

“Oh no, you misunderstand. Of the family, only those who held sway were purged,” Hadrian informed me. “We are not monsters.”

I met his gold-flecked cognac eyes. “You can’t simply pass judgment on—”

“The prince may, and does,” he instructed flatly. “Now, I invite you to please admire the chandelier.”

I opened my mouth to say more, but he pointed up, and when I looked, I was momentarily stunned into silence. Up until that point in my life, I had never been in a home with murals on the ceilings and a crystal chandelier that belonged in The Phantom of the Opera.

“Holy shit,” I gasped.

He chuckled. “If you designate this impressive, wait until you see the castle my prince calls home.”

I scoffed, still taking in the gorgeous artwork above my head.

“Laugh now, human.”

The walls held works just as notable: enormous paintings, some portraits, a few lush studies of still life, and landscapes rendered in stunning detail. I could walk the halls for days; taking it all in, though at the moment, with people crowding around us, moving anywhere in the house was a struggle.

“Attend,” Hadrian ordered, and I followed, careful not to bump into anyone as we snaked our way through the crowd.

The ceilings in the Greek-revival mansion were high in every room, at least thirteen feet. The floors were all wood, and I was certain the crown molding and millwork and medallions surely dated from the original build, which Hadrian said was in the 1860s.

As we stood in the great room, I noticed Hadrian had an earpiece in, and he was quietly checking with his men.

“You may walk freely through the home and be assured no harm will be offered you,” Hadrian said without looking at me. “Tiago is about, but he has much to attend to, and you will be called when the prince is ready to receive you.”

“So you’re saying beat it, you can’t talk to me anymore ’cause you’re workin’.”

He grunted.

“Is that a yes?”

“Indeed.”

I weighed his earlier words.

“I assure you that no one here is ignorant of the truth that you abide under the personal protection of the rekkr.”

“And that’s a big deal?”

He turned his head and focused on me. “It is.”

The ego on him made me chuckle, but I took him at his word and left his side, confident to explore on my own.

Upstairs had a terrace and downstairs a patio with a pool. In total it had to be something like twelve thousand square feet, with nine bedrooms, several drawing rooms, a study, and a library I slipped inside of to take a look around.

It was one of those rooms out of a movie, adorned with chandeliers, heavy brocade drapes, and crushed velvet and leather furniture. It smelled like citrus and beeswax and an underlying sandalwood and musk I wanted to inhale. The imagined history of the house and that irresistible smell utterly mesmerized me.

“Are you impressed with Benny’s home?” Niko asked, suddenly there beside me, smiling as he offered me a snifter of brandy.

“Yeah, his home is stunning,” I admitted, thoroughly impressed. I shook my head at the alcohol. “That you can keep. I never developed a taste for the hard stuff.”

He chuckled. “Beer, then?”

“Sometimes,” I said quickly. “But I think I should stay clearheaded tonight, yeah?”

He stepped in front of me, barring my path. “Cooke came and told me what happened outside. Are you still scared?”

I took a step back. “I wasn’t scared. I was thinking I was going to have to fight my way free, though, and that leaves you sort of keyed up and watchful.”

“And now you don’t trust me either?”

“It’s not about trust. It’s more that I shouldn’t get comfortable or let down my guard and forget that you’re not human. It’s not a smart thing. It’s not what I was trained to do.”

“And yet now here you are, inside and unharmed. Perhaps you overreacted.”

“Or perhaps something would have happened if Hadrian hadn’t showed up,” I suggested, studying his concerned expression. “I can’t say what could have been, but what I do know is that after this, I won’t be accepting any invites from anyone who isn’t a friend.”

“Am I your friend?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “But I trust you a helluva lot more than I do Benny, that’s for sure. Tonight was very eye-opening.”

“He’s a pureblood vampyr, Jason. You’re a human. He has little to no use for you. He puts up with your interference because it’s brought a truce to the community, nothing more.”

“And you don’t feel the same about me?”

“You’ve helped us all a great deal,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently. “My people aren’t being slaughtered in the streets anymore. I’m nothing but grateful.”

It was nice to hear. “Okay, so, let’s go have coffee or something soon.”

He smiled and nodded. “Good,” he said, taking a breath. “Now tell me, what do you really think of Benny’s home? I want to know.”

“It’s beautiful, and I’d love to spend some time here to take it all in, but I’m also very glad I don’t live here.”

“And why is that?”

“It would be like living in a museum.”

He grunted. “I know you mean that sarcastically, but you’re honestly not impressed with the trappings of wealth, are you?”

“I don’t—”

“I mean that you’ll go back to your little store and your tiny apartment and still be happy and not once think how unfair it is that Benny has all this.”

“Of course not. Why would I?”

He shook his head. “Some of us want more and don’t want to lose what we already have.”

“Then some of us should work harder to get whatever the hell we want.”

He scowled.

“What? You were talking in generalities, but I get it. Benny has a lot of stuff, and I don’t know if it’s because he comes from old money, or if it’s new money he’s made. But I don’t care because it’s not mine. If you want to be rich like this, Niko, then go get it.”

He was staring at me like he was missing something and trying to figure it out.

“The only gift I’ve ever received is that building,” I told him. “I’ve worked for everything else. I figure as a vampyr, you’ve got nothing but time to make all your dreams come true. What’s a hundred years to you?”

“Maybe I want my riches now.”

“I’ve seen what you drive, heard about where you live,” I said, taking a step back, needing space from another powerful vampyr. I was tense, it was obvious, and going home was a good idea. I would need to find Hadrian and tell him I’d have to see Tiago and meet his prince another time. “I think you’re probably plenty rich. You just want more.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I think it is.”

“You’re fascinating to me,” Niko said, taking a step forward, closer. “You would make a powerful ally if I could trust you… or bind you to me.”

Bind.

I’d heard that term before and I knew what it entailed.

He wanted to bind me to him with blood. He wanted to drink from me on a regular basis. He wanted me to feed him, and in return, I’d be protected from anyone wanting to do me harm. I knew several made vampyrs who had that arrangement with a pureblood. But I wasn’t a vampyr, so that was not going to happen. I wasn’t about to offer a vein to any vampyr.

Annoyed at myself for being alone with him, I went to move, but he grabbed my bicep tight. It was jolting because I didn’t expect it. He’d never shown me a hint of his power before.

“Niko?” Even though I was concerned—he could snap my neck in a second if he wanted—no one put their hands on me without permission. “Lemme go. Now.”

He searched my face. “I’m tempted to lie to Tiago and tell him that I couldn’t find you, because I fear what will happen when you meet the prince.”

“I could just leave,” I suggested. Why not? What was the real harm in not meeting the prince? Hopefully Tiago would still come and find me at my shop.

“I’m not sure that you can,” he said, brows furrowed, considering me before he released his grip enough that I could ease free.

“I can,” I promised, then turned and headed for the front door.

But Hadrian barred my exit—not intentionally, since he stood in a circle of gorgeous women, all of whom could have been supermodels—but he was there, and if I tried to sneak past him, he’d grab me and take me to Tiago. Before he spotted me, I doubled back and slipped by Benny, who muttered a halting apology before asking me where I was going, but more beautiful women stopped him. I moved as quickly as possible to the first parlor.

In the antique-laden room, I found people sipping what was probably blood, and then I passed through to the second parlor, where I smelled sex before I realized I was walking through an orgy. Vampyrs didn’t have a lot of issues about their personal space or, apparently, letting others see them fuck. Cooke once tried to explain it to me as a display of possessiveness and power, but I didn’t really get it.

After closing the double doors behind me, I bolted across another sitting room and found an exit, but once I stepped through, I wasn’t outside. It was a gorgeous conservatory with a chaise, an armchair, and a small table. I could imagine how nice it would be to have the windows open and a cool breeze blowing through. It would be so quiet and relaxing.

I realized then what I’d said to Niko was wrong. If this was what wealth could provide, I could learn to covet as well.

Three sides of the room were made of glass. I was sure that in the sunshine, it was stunning, but it was beautiful in the moonlight as well. The night-blooming jasmine, wisteria, magnolia, tea rose, and hyacinth filled the room with an amazing layered scent, one on top of the other, mysterious and inviting at the same time.

I shouldn’t have stopped to admire any part of the scene in front of me. Not the artistry of the planted and pruned flowers, not the intoxicating smell, and definitely not the man standing in the doorway to the garden. I had a clear path to another door, but I hesitated when he turned his head to look at me.

“Hi,” I whispered. Beyond that, my voice deserted me.

He moved forward, hands in the pockets of his black suit pants, and I had a moment to appreciate how well the matching jacket encased his broad shoulders and tapered to a narrow waist. His hair fell just above his shoulders, brushed straight back. What would it look like in the morning before he styled it, tousled and in his face?

It struck me that I knew him, that we’d met somewhere before, but I dredged my memory for his name and couldn’t find one. My breath caught as he stopped only a few feet away and held out his hand.

I took it without hesitation. “This is gonna sound lame, but… do I know you?”

“Do you feel as though you do?” he asked, and whoa, did I like the sound of his voice, gravelly and low, smooth and decadent. I trembled. Jesus, I had never had a reaction to anyone like this anytime in my life.

I nodded, and he took the final step into my personal space. I could smell him: that same sandalwood from earlier, and musk along with wood smoldering in a fireplace, pipe tobacco, incense, and bergamot. I breathed him in, wanting more, and I fought an urge to press my face to the side of this neck.

“You have caught my scent many times in this house tonight,” he said, still holding my hand. He leaned in and inhaled me as I had him, and a wisp of a smile curled his full dusky lips.

“Have I?”

He nodded. “It calls to many.”

“Oh, it does, does it?” He was very full of himself, and yes, for good reason, but still. A bit of humility went a long way. And as I’d never been a fan of being quite that conceited, I felt the spell breaking.

“This ride is not for the faint of heart.”

It was a staggeringly bad line. “Well, then, I don’t want to waste your time,” I conceded because all of my life, I’d been out of my depth with smooth operators like him. “You have a good night,” I bid, easing my hand free.

“Wait,” he insisted. He took my hand back and held on, but not tight. It wasn’t jarring or alarming, not at all what Niko’s grip had been. This was gentle, coaxing. “Forgive me, I didn’t realize.”

I didn’t encounter deep green eyes on a black-haired man every day and found myself unable to stop staring. “Realize what?”

“That you were speaking from your heart. I can see the sincerity in your eyes.”

“Now that sounds like a line,” I teased, grinning.

He stepped closer, crowding me, his sudden smile making an already gorgeous man utterly mesmerizing. “And yet not, because it’s true. Your reaction to me is refreshingly open and honest. So again, forgive me for being glib.”

“Done,” I assured him, slipping my hand from his.

“Have you been here all night? Because… I don’t know how I could have missed you.”

“Man, you’re just one pickup line after another, huh?” I was trying to keep things light, flirty, being charming because I wanted to impress him, keep his interest so he’d keep looking at me with those gorgeous eyes. I wanted to soak up every drop of his attention.

“No, I—” He stopped for a moment. “Oh, that’s true, isn’t it. That’s terrible,” he said, chuckling, and I felt myself decompress. He was real. Anyone who could laugh at themselves was good by me.

I gestured at him. “If I looked like you, I’d be making with the cheesy lines too ’cause who cares when you look like you do?”

He tipped his head, his smile wicked, as if he knew what his effect was on me. “I think that was a line as well.”

“Yeah, all right, we’ll call that even, then,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder.

His breath caught. I liked that I’d caused it.

“So were you on your way out?” he ventured.

“I was.”

“Why?” He touched my wrist, turning it gently to trace his fingers over the veins in my forearm. “You should stay here and talk to me.”

“Should I?”

“Yes.” He was adamant, but the tone of his voice enticed me, alluring, and I felt drugged and sluggish. When my eyes drifted closed, I didn’t think it was weird, didn’t open them, just let whatever was happening happen.

It was like being in the ocean and the lazy rise and fall of the waves. When he released my wrist and took hold of my hips, I couldn’t contain my sigh.

“You should stay,” he suggested, a warm puff of his breath on my throat. I finally found the strength to reopen my eyes. “I’m Varic Maedoc, the draugr, prince of the noreia. Who are you?”

I had a name, but it was stuck on the tip of my tongue.

“You’re not a vampyr,” he concluded, studying me. “I can smell your blood.”

“No, not a vampyr,” I agreed, barely able to speak, wanting so badly to lean into him that my muscles hurt.

“You smell so good,” he whispered. When his lips touched my neck, and then his teeth, I shuddered under his hands, a flush of heat rolling through me. “I want to taste you. Give me permission.”

I had thought I would never allow any vampyr to have my blood, but now I couldn’t remember anything I ever wanted more. He could have all of me, if that was what he wanted. Everything was his for the taking. “Yes, good, you have all the permission.”

His chuckle was filthy, seductive, and so fucking hot. He pressed against me, his cock hard inside his dress pants, and the urge to be under him overwhelmed me.

I would beg, if need be.

“Give me your name,” he murmured, no bite to the words, just a request.

“Jason Thorpe,” I answered breathlessly, and recognition and surprise flickered across his face. “You asked to see me.”

“Jason—” His voice faltered, then he inhaled and began again. “Yes, I did, and now I need to do so much more than merely see you,” he declared, slipping his hand around the side of my neck, easing me forward.

A burst of laughter broke the spell, so loud and jarring, like nails on a chalkboard, as five beautiful young men poured into the room. I pulled free, embarrassed about other people seeing me so vulnerable and exposed.

They were hard to look at in their designer clothes, with their flawless skin and perfect bodies. It was a lot of beauty to take in all at once. “We’re here for your pleasure, my prince,” a platinum blond announced, laughing and tossing a tube of lubricant to Varic. “And, of course, ours,” he finished with a wanton leer.

I didn’t think. I was far too mortified, just moved as more people filled the conservatory—all there, I was certain, to service the prince. All of them were vampyrs, all more than I could ever be, utterly breathtaking.

I charged for the door leading to the garden, burst out into the night, and ran, needing to put as much distance as possible between me and the player prince.

I was so much more than embarrassed. The ground swallowing me up would be preferable to living through that interaction again. I was thirty-two years old, for fuck’s sake, not some stupid teenager with a raging boner. So why in the hell had I thought the prince of all the goddamn vampyrs would want anything more to do with me than a quick bang or draining drink? What the ever-loving fuck was I thinking?

I was crushed.

“This is what happens when you don’t get laid regularly,” I told myself, stepping around one of the magnolia trees, realizing I was near the gazebo I’d noted on my way in. “You end up confusing vampyr princes with the charming ones.”

When I closed my eyes, he probably laughed at me, thinking about how pathetic I was, how needy and ridiculous. I looked older than all his pretty boys, older than him, and still I’d…. Christ.

Varic Maedoc had Abercrombie & Fitch models to screw. In comparison I was that leering old guy at the club, trying to pick up a hot young stud.

I shuddered, thinking about what I must have looked like, standing so close, his hands on my hips….

Horrible.

I wanted to go home, needed to talk to—

Wait.

What did I see? What moved?

Something wasn’t right, and it gave me pause. I stopped, took a breath, released it slowly, and then checked my surroundings.

There was a man in a Kevlar vest thirty yards away from me, skulking toward the house, holding a high-powered rifle. Then another man, and another and another…. All carrying guns.

What the hell?

I thought about Hadrian and Niko and Cooke, and even Benny. I thought about Tiago. I knew he was in the house somewhere too. My pulse spiked and my adrenaline kicked in. I was in full battle mode in seconds.

I had to save them.

Quietly, carefully, hoping the men weren’t actual military, or vampyrs who were military, I moved behind the one closest to me and grabbed him around the neck, used my bicep like a vise to cut off his airflow, and dropped him at my feet, unconscious.

Not military. Anyone with training could have gotten me off them even with the element of surprise. I would have still put him down, but he could have shouted to the others. People were noisy in real life; only James Bond knocked people out without a sound. And he normally killed them, which wasn’t my objective.

I took the Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle, sprinted to the next guy, and took him out with the butt of the gun. He went down hard, face-first, and I took his weapon and shoved it through the lattice work under the gazebo.

Unfortunately when I stood up, someone shot at me, grazed my left bicep, and I had to scramble around the gazebo to get to cover. It was really stupid and hurt like hell. I hadn’t been shot at in years, but instantly I was back on the battlefield and pissed that I’d been so careless.

It seemed to be the theme of the night.

The good news was I could hear shouts and yelling from the house; the bad news was the invaders began firing as they ran forward.

I had no choice. They were shooting at unarmed civilians, and vampyrs or not, there were women and men inside who came for a party and nothing more.

I shot the closest guy in the leg, and he went down fast, but I was momentarily stunned as I watched a few vampyrs exit the house in a blur of speed before someone shot up the willow tree beside me, snapping me out of it just in time for me to be caught in a flying tackle. I was driven against the side of a cypress tree so hard that, for a second, I was certain my attacker had snapped my spine.

“Here!” the man called before he used his hand to wrench my head sideways, baring the side of my neck. “I have him!”

I struggled as hard as I could, but he was inhumanly strong. And it hit me—of course I understood why. I was fighting with a vampyr.

“I’m going to rip out your throat,” he snarled.

No matter how well trained I could have been, how many grappling tactics I might know or how capable I was, there was no way out of the grip he had me in. He had leverage and strength on his side.

I was dead.

A hand appeared on his face, cupping his jaw, and the crack that followed was loud. No mistaking the sound of a neck being snapped.

His eyes widened and then emptied of life in quick succession, and as he dropped from sight, I was faced with Hadrian.

“Hey,” I rasped, catching my breath, shivering with the kind of fear that’d been ratcheted up as high as it could go in anticipation of death.

“How many?” he asked curtly.

Without Hadrian coming to my rescue, that guy would have had me. In a fight between man and vampyr, there was no contest.

“Jason,” he barked.

“Ten, I think, and I’m pretty sure some are human and—”

“I care not what they—”

“Yeah, sorry,” I babbled, out of it, recovering from my close call. “I think there’s ten, though there could be more of them closer to the house that I didn’t see. I shot one, knocked out two, and”—I lifted my left arm so he could see—“got shot in the process ’cause I’m a dumbass that forgot my training.”

He nodded, his eyes locked with mine. “You did a fine job. Now remain here until I return, yes?”

I smiled. There was no way I was sitting the rest of this out. He had no idea who I was, and yes, I was rusty and clearly no help where vampyrs were concerned, but I was still an asset. “Yeah, no, not staying here. Former Marine, and even though I fucked up a little, I’ll bet I’m better trained than you.”

“I fought for King Henry in the War of the Roses,” he countered. “Your training versus mine is debatable.”

“Oh yeah? Lots of guns in your day there, buddy?”

He scowled. “We are a thousand times faster than you. My men and I will dispose of the others and then question the ones you left for us.”

“I can do—”

“No, you have done enough.”

I was going to argue, but he disappeared. In front of me one second, gone the next, and in that moment, I gave myself a reality check. I knew he was right. I was out of my depth, and I’d been playing at something I didn’t understand. I’d been lured into thinking I was more important than I was, but I was only an anomaly, no more necessary to the vampyrs than any other human with blood in their veins. If the events of the night had taught me anything, it was I didn’t belong in the vampyr world.

Running back to the gazebo, I shoved the gun I’d been carrying through the lattice with the other to keep it out of the action and then darted to the edge of the property. The gate was locked, so I scaled it, up and over, and when I dropped on the other side, I looked back at all the lights in the house as people streamed out. Odd movement caught my eye, and I turned my head to see a man all in black drop from the brick wall halfway down the street.

“Hey!” I yelled.

He took one look at me and bolted.

In retrospect, yelling was stupid. I should have just run up on him, but I’d given away the element of surprise. Because why should I suddenly start being smart when the whole night was a clusterfuck of idiocy?

He wasn’t a vampyr, or I would have lost him immediately. He was a man like me, and he ran down the sidewalk like I was the devil behind him.

We crossed streets, both of us almost getting hit in traffic, but it was later in the evening and, out of the Quarter, the sidewalks weren’t filled. He couldn’t get away. I wouldn’t let him. Even if I wasn’t going to be part of the vampyr world anymore, at least I could get Benny and Niko some answers. Someone had come for one of them or the prince. My money was on the latter, and whoever planned the assault needed to be dragged into the light.

The problem was my legs, which started out churning beneath me, eating up the sidewalk, were burning with fatigue. My breathing was shortening, my stomach tying itself in knots, and my arms were no longer my own, instead like weights, heavy and spongy at the same time.

I had no idea how he was running so fast for so long. I was in shape, thanks to the Marine Corps and every-other-day trips to the gym where I lifted weights and swam. But I had never done cardio like this, and so I was relieved and thankful enough to send a quick word up to my maker when I saw my quarry run to and crouch on the other side of a parked truck.

I ducked behind a building and waited a moment before checking to see him jimmy the lock on the parked delivery truck and climb into the cab. I darted across the street, wishing I had a gun to pull to make him stop. I ran to the driver’s side, reached up, grabbed the door, and flung it open to find… nothing.

“The fuck,” I gasped, ready to throw up, the chase having taken every drop of strength and adrenaline out of me.

“Idiot,” someone behind me said before everything went black.