VEE

Ewan keeps his promise and doesn't say a word to Xander. He messages him and escorts me from the club, through the fire doors at the back. An alarm sounds, but Ewan strides through despite somebody appearing in the doorway to yell at us.

"I told Xander to meet us at his car," Ewan informs me and we walk across the dirty tarmac in silence.

I shake, my mind missing chunks of the last hour, and when I close my eyes, all I see is Ewan's face looking down at me, his lips on mine and hands on my body. I waver between anger over the attack and mortification I imagined the demon was Ewan. Why the hell did I?

As Xander strides towards us, he clicks the key fob and the lights flash as the Aston Martin unlocks. Ewan pulls open the car door and I slide onto the cool leather seat, not looking at him as he slams it shut behind me. I huddle down in the seat as the two guys talk.

I’m beyond grateful Ewan found me when he did, but I can’t separate the incubus and him in my mind. He probably takes my inability to meet his eyes as pissed off with him, or upset by the attack, but I’m bloody embarrassed I’ve revealed my feelings. Ewan now knows how I see him. How can I look Ewan in the face knowing he doesn’t want me, but that he knows I fantasise about him?

Minutes later, Xander climbs into the driver’s seat and I eye him warily. He starts the engine.

"You're a bit of a lightweight, huh?" he says as he releases the handbrake.

"Pardon?"

"Ewan said he found you sitting in a corner having thrown up in the bathrooms. Seriously, you had one vodka, Vee."

"Must've been something I ate," I mumble. The perspiration across my back cools under the car's air con, and I shiver.

"All good. But you should've stayed with us or told us where you were going."

"I lost you in the crowd."

"Yeah, pretty crazy in there, huh?"

I clear my throat as he manoeuvres the car onto the nearby street. "I think next time you guys should go on your own."

"Not your best intro to hunting if you don't see us kill the bastards. Demons were in there. Found a couple of succubi, and Ewan took out one of their male counterparts before he found you. He's headed back to find the fourth in the group before he comes home."

I swallow. "Good."

Xander sighs and leans over to switch on the car radio. "I don't want to sound like a chauvinist asshole, but I think we need to teach you more skills to defend yourself. I mean, Ewan freaked when he couldn't find you, and I admit I was a bit worried too."

A muscle in his cheek twitches.

"Or maybe just teach me how to use my bloody powers!" I snap then draw in a shaky breath.

"Did something happen to you?" he asks in a low voice. "You're tense."

I breathe out, pushing away the truth ready to come out of my mouth and find vague words instead. "I had a stressful evening."

Xander huffs. "Yeah, waste of fucking time. I questioned the succubi before I killed her, and she’s no idea who Portia is. No demons apart from those predators. Sure, we cleared out that gang but they’re low life, a demon underclass. Their kind live for one thing only."

I dig nails into my palm. Don’t I know it.

"I hope Joss and Heath had a better evening than us and found some clues. The longer this goes on, the worse things could get between us and the fae," he says. "I don’t have time to chase around. I need names and to deal with the fucking problem."

Xander slams his foot on the accelerator and I lurch, gripping the seat.

"You didn’t stay behind for your fun," I say with a weak smile. "At least you would’ve achieved something for yourself."

For a moment Xander stares ahead, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "Some things are more important."

I think his pause is the end of the conversation as I stare at his hard-set jaw, but he turns his head to me. "I spent a long time looking for you, Vee, and I can’t lose you." The strange intensity in his eyes matches that from before, but is as unfathomable. He looks back at the road. "Besides, it’s not like you could ride home on Ewan’s bike dressed like that."

His attempt to backpedal doesn’t fool either of us.

* * *

JOSS

Vee's distress hits my radar as soon as she walks into the lounge room. She flops on to the armchair and leans down to undo her shoes, before kicking them off and wriggling her toes. Xander heads into the kitchen to speak to Heath.

What happened? "Where's Ewan?" I ask.

"Some demons were at the club. He stayed behind because one of them disappeared." Her voice is flat. "We came home because I wasn't feeling well."

"Bad night, huh?"

"I think she had too much to drink." Xander walks passed. "I'm going to shower the demon filth off me."

His footsteps thud upstairs as I focus on Vee’s face. "You don't seem drunk. Did someone try to attack you again?"

Vee abruptly stands and grabs her shoes from the floor. "I'm tired, Joss. Long night. Eye opening."

I watch in disbelief as she follows Xander upstairs. A thought crosses my mind: is she heading after him? Or avoiding me? My bedroom door opens with a familiar creak. Okay, she’s not following Xander.

A weird response to me though. I put down the book I was reading and pad up the stairs after her. "Vee?" I rap on my bedroom door.

Xander appears from his adjacent bedroom, shirtless, holding a towel. He shakes his head at me. "You three are sad bastards, all desperate for her attention. Just go out and get laid, Joss."

"Shut the fuck up. Something's wrong. What happened?"

Xander shrugs. "We lost her for ten minutes or so. She was throwing up in the bathrooms, apparently."

I didn’t detect any drunkenness around her. The club isn’t far; she couldn’t sober up this quickly. "Who found her?"

"Ewan."

"And he said nothing happened? No demons or fae approached her?"

"Ewan would've said if there'd been any problems. The girl's not used to clubs and drinking. That's all."

"And did you find any information?"

He snorts. "Nope. Wild fucking goose chase."

"Wasn't a wasted exercise if you found some renegades."

"True." He pushes down the handle on the bathroom door. "I’m getting my shower. Stay out of her bed."

"My bed," I remind him.

He shakes his head and walks into the bathroom. I knock on my door again. "Vee?"

A tired Vee opens the door and stares back at me. She's changed into flannel pyjamas with black cats on them, brushed hair framing her face. A mess of emotions emanates from her and I can’t sort through which is strongest. Upset? Fear? Anger? What the fuck happened to her?

"Can I come in?" I ask.

Without speaking, Vee steps back and I close the door behind me. My room looks the same, but with her possessions spread around. The lemon scent I associate with Vee and a subtle perfume she wore tonight fill the air around.

"You look like you need a hug," I tell her and open my arms. "I guess you felt a little out of your depth tonight?"

Vee hesitates before stepping into my embrace. She doesn't hold me in return but her body gradually relaxes in my arms. I place my chin on her head, relishing the warmth but worried by the confused emotions within her. This is what I worry about: Vee might be our missing Fifth, but how strong is she? She's not one of us yet.

"Ewan and Xander should've looked after you properly."

The emotion in her switches, annoyance bubbling through, and she pulls back to look at me. "I don't need looking after. Hell, I've lived my own life without four big, bad guys looking after me."

"Wow, okay." I stroke her hair. "You gotta understand most girls we come across need rescuing."

Despite her hard look, tears reach her eyes, and she swallows. "I don’t want this conversation. I had a shit night. If you want to help me, do your Joss thing."

"My Joss thing?" I itch to follow this up with the same banter as earlier, but her face warns me not to. "I'll do whatever you need," I whisper and cup her cheek. "What do you need?"

Vee’s mouth so close, with her skin velvet soft beneath my fingers, and her scent surrounding us, all pull together in an intoxicating mix. My need to protect and be what Vee needs is challenged by a need of my own. Would kissing her amplify my ability to take away whatever upsets her? Or would my physical desire rush through and wipe that power away, replacing the comfort with something else? I ache for this girl, literally some days, but now I hurt because I want to show her I can be tender and loving. I want to show that my straight-down-the-line statements that I want sex with her are only part of how I feel.

I hold both Vee's cheeks with my hands and extend my arms so the intimacy drops. She looks back, pale. "Just a hug, Joss."

I do as she asks. Ewan can tell me what happened because her evasive words hide a truth. "I wish you'd tell me what’s really wrong."

I'm surprised when her arms wrap around my torso. "It doesn't matter. But one things for sure, it won't happen again, and I'm ready to fight every last one of the bastards."

I detect an intense anger pushing out the fear; an inner strength greater than I expected. I’m positive she’s using this to deal with whatever the hell happened tonight. My need to protect her is joined by a new realisation: I underestimated her.

We’ve all underestimated Vee, and I believe there’s more to Truth that we still don’t know.