The dark vampire laughed, but Sammael didn’t look very pleased. Ty just looked curious.

“What on Earth did you do?” Ty’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the massive vampire. “I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve even seen one of your line. I’ve never heard of a deserter before either. What do you have to do to get kicked out?”

Taj opened his mouth, but the Grigori silenced him with a look. Then he returned his gaze to Ty. It had gone frigid, and Lily knew she was looking at something that wasn’t truly human. Maybe he never had been.

“Mind your own business, cat. I think you have enough of it.” Sammael looked at Lily, and the knowledge in his red-violet eyes was infinite, frightening. Again, it was like staring into an abyss. Then he looked away, and the spell was broken.

“I suppose I do, at that,” Ty replied, but he still looked perplexed.

“Lovely. The camaraderie among outcasts warms my heart. Now, down to business,” Rogan said, all trace of humor gone as he switched gears to discuss terms.

“Not yet,” Jaden said.

Lily turned to look at him in surprise. He was so quiet that she’d almost forgotten he was standing in the corner.

Jaden was still looking at the other woman in the room with a mixture of suspicion and disgust. “I don’t want her here for this.”

The woman lifted one eyebrow and angled her head. She didn’t look perturbed, and she really didn’t look surprised. She did look like someone Lily wouldn’t want to mess with. Ever. Her voice was husky and inviting when she spoke.

“That’s awfully old-fashioned of you. If I were going to chase you, kitty cat, I would have done it by now. I have no interest in vampire affairs.”

Lily spoke before she thought about it. “You’re not a vampire?”

The woman’s eyes, a burning gold that was as beautiful and strange as anything Lily had ever seen, turned her attention to Lily and made her wish she’d stayed quiet. She didn’t sense any real malice, but there was something wild about this woman, even less tame than Ty and Jaden.

“No. And you obviously don’t know how insulting that question is, or you wouldn’t have asked it.”

Rogan sounded bored. “Come now, Jaden. I always treat my guests fairly. And Lyra here has nothing to do with you. She’s got problems enough of her own.”

Jaden just curled his lip. “I didn’t realize you’d gotten into the business of harboring wolves. That’s a hell of a way to pad your income. Is business that slow?”

“Jaden,” Lily said, mortified that he was being so openly rude. But Lyra heaved an irritated sigh and got to her feet. She really was gorgeous, Lily saw, in a very unconventional way. And tall. Though her spike-heeled boots may have had something to do with it.

“Forget it, sweetie. I’m used to it. Vamps think they’re the center of the universe. But I’d rather stay warm-blooded and free than go cold and deal with all of this dynastic bullshit.” Then she rounded on Jaden, baring incisors every bit as sharp as a vampire’s. “You don’t want me here? Good for you. Whatever makes you feel better about being on the bottom of the vamp food chain. I have more important things to do than listen to you whine.”

She turned on one heel and stalked out of the room, leaving everyone staring after her silently.

Rogan frowned at Jaden. “Her money’s good here, Jaden. Don’t you run her off, or I’ll run you through. She’ll be a pack leader one day, if she lives that long.”

Jaden just snorted. “Not with her attitude, she won’t. And the wolves are supposed to stay out of the cities.”

“Just as you’re supposed to stay with the Ptolemy, and we can all see how that worked out. Lyra is important to her kind. That carries weight with me. I don’t have many places left to hide people who don’t want to be found. Humans are too nosy for their own good. Just be glad I took you in, because you don’t mean a damned thing to anyone alive anymore. Dead, on the other hand, there’s a reward for. Remember that before you shoot off your mouth again.”

With that said, Rogan turned away from a chagrined Jaden and focused his attention on Ty. His grin reminded Lily of a shark about to attack.

“Let’s take this into my office, if you’re ready,” Rogan said, looking pleased with himself. “Just you and me. This is going to cost you, MacGillivray. And I’m going to enjoy it.” He stood and moved to Ty, reaching up to pat him on the cheek so hard it was almost a slap.

“Welcome home.”

Chapter NINETEEN

IT WAS NEARLY daylight by the time they were done, and by then Ty had assurances of both a car and an escort out of town, but he also had a checking account with no money left in it, a list of favors Rogan expected from the Ptolemy queen in return for his help in shuttling her precious cargo safely to its destination, wounded dignity, and a blinding headache.

It was quite enough for one night. He stalked upstairs, the usual lethargy beginning to brew in his bones as the sun crept closer to the edge of his side of the world. It didn’t help him knowing that Lily was in the room waiting for him, probably with questions he didn’t want to answer. Damn Rogan for bringing up his family. And damn his own stupidity for having come here in the first place.

This is what he got for stepping out of line, he supposed. They barely knew any more about Lily’s mark than when they’d arrived, but now he had a fugitive Cait Sith in tow and a woman whom Vlad Dracul himself wanted to “see,” likely on a permanent basis. The gods must hate him, if there were any who had ever bothered to notice him.

Sometimes, on nights like tonight, he had his doubts.

He didn’t see the other vampire looming in front of him until he’d nearly run right into him. Ty barely managed to keep himself from crashing into the Grigori who had apparently been lurking in the hallway waiting for him. He skidded to a halt just a breath away from the quiet giant, who stood a head above Ty’s six-foot-four.

“Gods, man!” he exploded, hating that he’d been taken by surprise. This whole thing was screwing with him, screwing with his instincts, which were normally impeccable. “What are you trying to do, scare me into a second death?”

The Grigori—Sammael, Ty remembered—merely lifted an eyebrow and looked disdainful. It was, Ty recalled from his admittedly limited experience with that dynasty, a look they had perfected.

“You are not very astute for a Cait,” Sammael said.

“Well, that’s an interesting way to get me to talk to you,” Ty replied. He was tired, damn it. He wanted to go to his room, curl up with the woman he wasn’t supposed to be sleeping with, and check out of this mess for a few hours.

“I need to talk to you about the woman,” Sammael said.

Ty sighed. “She does seem to stir things up wherever we go,” he said with a sinking feeling.

“You need to be careful with her.” Sammael’s voice was deep and resonant and managed to convey a sense of urgency even though his expression remained impassive. “I do not need to see her mark to know what she is. I knew the one she came from. There is much of Lilith about her, despite the many generations between them. The blood is strong.”

Ty could only stare for a moment, utterly floored. The Grigori looked back, as though he had said nothing of importance. How could he have known? And yet, there were rumors about the Grigori, about their origins. Their numbers were few, but they were powerful, and they were rarely seen out in society, preferring to keep to themselves. In America, they kept to the deserts, though whether it was the true base for them was open to conjecture. Some said there were many more of them on an island in the Mediterranean, while others insisted there was a Grigori fortress on some European mountaintop. Some said they could fly. Some said they were not truly vampires but demons. No one seemed to know for sure. No one even truly knew who led them, or if anyone did. But they all had the look of Sammael. Huge. Intimidating. Emotionless. And each bore as their mark a pair of black wings.

“You knew Lilith? The Mother?”

Sammael finally managed an expression that was easily readable: irritation.

“Did I not just tell you that? Don’t ask stupid questions. What I have to tell you is important.”

“Right, then, what is it?” Ty asked, fighting both weariness and mounting anxiety that the sky was going to come crashing down on him before he ever managed to get back to Arsinöe.

“Only this, ungrateful cat. She is Lilith’s, and meant for more than what you’re doing with her. The Ptolemy will destroy her if they discover what she is. History will repeat itself. But this time, Lilith’s line will end. It was worth preserving, though we did not try to stop what happened.”

“What is this? Do you mean the temple fire Lily keeps seeing?” Ty demanded. “You could have stopped all this madness?”

“We are watchers. It is not our place,” Sammael said.

“Typical,” Ty snorted, angry. “None of the highbloods seem to think it’s their place to do anything unless it’s their own ass on the line. And even then, they leave a lot of it to their servants.”

Sammael’s gaze was piercing. “Some. Most, perhaps. But not all. There is still honor among our kind, though sometimes found in strange places. Lilith was different. This heir to her dynasty is different as well.”

Though he would have thought it impossible, the throbbing in Ty’s head actually increased. He rubbed at his temple with his fingertips. “Look, Sammael, I appreciate the pep talk. But you’re not giving me much to go on here. Why exactly are we having this conversation? Are you planning to fight me for her?”

That provoked a small smile from the hulking Grigori, an expression Ty hadn’t imagined the man was capable of.

“Alas, no. You might be a worthy adversary, Tynan of the Cait, but you would not live. And I am curious to see what you do with what you have been given.”

“I’ll do what I’ve been trained to do. I hunt and I deliver.” He sighed and gave his temple a final, irritable rub. His words sounded callous and cold, even to his own ears. “Look, I appreciate your… well, it’s not exactly help, is it? But I don’t have a choice. The Ptolemy are dying. And I’m tied to them, like it or not. Lily is the key to fixing it.”