“Here we are,” Matias announced cheerfully when they pulled into a parking lot at the university campus.

“Thanks.” Beth got out and walked around the vehicle, aware that Scotty had got out of the back seat and was following. She slowed and then paused to peer at her cousin with surprise, though, when she saw Matias was out and following Donny toward her. “Where are you going?”

“With you,” he said as if that should be obvious, and then, grinning, he said, “It is a building full of young, nubile women. I will be good backup.”

“I think it’s a mixed-gender residence,” Donny commented. “There will be guys too.”

“The males are your problem,” he said with a shrug. “But the women I can help with. They love me.”

Shaking her head, Beth turned to start walking. “Fine. But don’t get hurt. Aunt Giulietta would flay me alive if you got hurt.”

Matias snorted at the claim. “My mother loves you. She would blame Lucian.”

“Yeah, she would,” Beth agreed with a grin.

“Why does Giulietta love her?” Scotty asked with curiosity, and Matias glanced at him as if he were crazy to even have to ask.

“Because Beth is perfect,” he said. “She is smart, and kind, and good and strong . . . and she used to keep me out of trouble when I was young.”

“I babysat him when he was growing up,” Beth said with affection.

“Sí.” Matias nodded. “She was the best aunt ever.”

“I spoiled him rotten,” Beth admitted without apology.

“Sí, as I said, the best aunt ever,” Matias repeated.

“I thought you were kissing cousins?” Scotty said dryly.

“As an adopted sister to Drina, she is my cousin,” he said solemnly. “But I called her Aunt Beth when I was very young.”

Scotty merely grunted in response. They’d reached the residence, and all fell silent as they entered the lobby.

Beth took a quick glance around, and then approached the front desk. She smiled in greeting at the twenty-nothing girl behind it, and decided she would try the mortal approach first. “Hello, we’re here to see Kira Sarka. Do we have to sign in before we go up to see her?”

“No. You can’t go up,” the girl said baldly. “Visitors have to stay here in the lobby until the student comes to get you. But I can call and tell her you’re here. What’re your names?” she asked, picking up the phone and starting to punch numbers.

That’s when Beth decided that the mortal approach sucked, and slipped into the girl’s mind. The last thing she needed was Kira knowing they were coming so she could warn her bodyguards. Making the girl set the phone back in its cradle, she quickly rearranged her thoughts a little so that she would forget they had been there and not notice them heading to the elevator. Easing out of her mind, Beth gestured for the men to follow and led them to the bank of elevators.

“It would seem Kira is not well-liked,” Scotty commented as they stepped onto the elevator and Beth pushed the button for the correct floor.

“Yeah, I caught those thoughts myself,” Beth murmured as she watched the panel above the door. She had sensed him poking around inside the receptionist’s mind, so wasn’t surprised by the comment. She had been a little surprised at the level of enmity the receptionist had felt toward the Russian girl, though. Something the receptionist clearly thought was shared by every single person in this building who’d had to deal with “that Russian bitch.”

“I suspect the girl will not be easy to deal with,” Scotty murmured. “Perhaps I should handle her.”

Turning, she eyed him with amusement. “Scotty, I spent most of my mortal years in a house with thirteen women . . . half of whom thought they were prima donnas. That’s probably why Mortimer sent me. I can handle this.”

“Of course.” He nodded solemnly and then actually grinned. “Should be fun.”

Beth blinked in surprise, and then glanced to Matias as he chuckled.

Shrugging, he said, “I know you, cousin. Scotty is right. This should be fun.”

The ding announcing their arrival and the sound of the doors opening forced her to turn away and start off the elevator. Beth spotted Kira’s door almost at once. It was hard to miss. There were two huge grim-faced Amazons standing guard in front of it.

“Oh man,” Donny muttered behind her. “I can’t help you with them, Beth. I can’t hit a girl.”

Stopping abruptly, she turned on the younger immortal. “Are you kidding me?”

“No. I can’t hit a girl,” he insisted. “I was raised not to hit them.”

“So . . . what?” Beth asked with disbelief. “If we come up against female rogues, you’re just going to—”

“Female rogues are different,” he said quickly. “They’re . . . well, they’re rogue. But these women are just doing their job.”

“Never fear, Donny,” Matias said sympathetically. “I will help. I will seduce them away from the door.”

Beth clucked her tongue with exasperation. “There are two of them, Matias. And they’re immortal. I can see you seducing two mortals with whatever mojo the nanos give us, but I can’t see two immortal women willing to—”

“Is fine, cousin,” Matias interrupted reassuringly. “Women love me.”

Beth frowned. “I know you think—”

She broke off and they both turned their heads to peer toward the women when two soft hisses were followed by two thuds as the bodyguards hit the floor.

“There,” Scotty said easily as he slid his dart gun back into his belt. Catching Beth’s eye, he shrugged. “Now Donny does no’ have to hit them, and Matias does no’ have to play the Latin lover. That’s a teed baw. Can we get on with this?”

Beth bit her lip to hold back the laugh that wanted to escape, and simply nodded and continued forward, saying, “Now maybe you can control the residents who saw that and make sure they don’t run screaming to their rooms and dial 911.”

“Already on it,” Scotty assured her, and she knew it was true. The half dozen young men and women spread throughout the hall had all frozen where they stood.

“Right,” she murmured. “Then, Donny and Matias, you get to keep your eyes open for any more bodyguards who might be around.”

“You think there are more?” Donny asked, sounding nervous. As he should be if he wasn’t willing to hit a woman.

“Mortimer did say Kira’s father had sent several of them,” she reminded him patiently. “There are probably one or two in the room with Kira, and others on break who could return at any moment.”

“Right,” Donny muttered. “Can I shoot them?”

That made her stop and turn on him again. “Seriously? You can’t hit them, but you can shoot them?”

“It’s a dart gun,” he pointed out defensively. “A little ouchy and they’re out. Besides, Grandma might have said never to hit girls, but she never said don’t shoot them.”

Beth heard the bark of laughter that slipped from Scotty as well as Matias’s chuckle, but held back her own amusement, and merely said dryly, “Yes, you can shoot them.”

Shaking her head, she turned on her heel to continue forward again, this time not stopping until she reached the door where the two Russian women had fallen. Stepping between them, Beth raised her hand to knock at the door, and then thought better of it and instead bent to heft one of the women over her shoulder. She then pulled out her dart gun and glanced to Matias expectantly.

Understanding at once, he eased up to the side of the door, grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

The door wasn’t locked, thank goodness. That would have completely ruined her entrance. Actually, she would have crashed into the door, looking an idiot, because the moment Matias turned the knob, she started forward, raising her gun as she went.

The room was larger than she’d expected. In fact, if Beth was to guess, she’d have said that the wall between two of the usually tiny dorm rooms had been knocked out to make one large room for the little Russian princess occupying it. It was fitted out like a loft apartment, a large bed in one corner, a kitchenette in another, a dining table in the third. A small sitting area took up the last and the rest of the space.

Beth took all that in at a glance and then focused on the three women in the room. A petite blonde and two more Amazons, one a blonde and one a brunette. She almost shot both of the larger women, but caught herself at the last moment and shot the petite blonde and the large brunette instead. She then dumped the woman she was carrying on the floor and turned toward the door, only to pause when she saw Scotty bending to grab the other bodyguard’s wrist. She could see that the people in the hall were moving again as if nothing had happened, and stepped to the side to make room for him to drag the second fallen guard inside as well, and then turned to eye Kira Sarka.

The girl stared back belligerently and then lifted her chin as she gestured to the petite blond and asked, “How did you know she was not me? Most people think Liliya is me and I am one of the bodyguards.”

“Then most people must not be looking very closely,” Beth said easily. “The bling you’re wearing has to be worth a quarter million at least, and your shoes are Jimmy Choos, while your friend there is wearing cheap knockoffs.”

“You have good eye,” Kira said with a shrug. “But I am not interested in talking. You must go.”

Beth chuckled at the order and walked over to sit at the dining table as Scotty straightened and moved to close the door. He then took up position beside it. That left Donny and Matias in the hall to keep an eye out for the return of any absent bodyguards.

Hoping the pair could handle the job, Beth turned back to the Russian and said, “To tell you the truth, Kira, I’m not interested in talking to you either. Unfortunately, that’s the job.” She arched her eyebrows. “You’ve been a very bad girl and have been feeding off mortals here in Canada.”

“I am Russian,” she said with indifference, chin going up even further.

If she wasn’t careful, she’d give herself a crick in the neck, Beth thought, but said easily, “And this is North America, where the North American Council rules, and where that kind of thing is against our laws.”

“I am Russian,” Kira repeated, harshly this time. “And my father is head of Russian Council. He—”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s the big chief in Russia.” Beth waved her hand dismissively. “But again, this is North America, and you will follow the rules of the North American Immortal Council, or you will be subject to their punishments.”

“If you cut off head, my father will—”

“So you do know the punishment for feeding off mortals here,” Beth interrupted mildly.

Kira snapped her mouth shut and glared at her.

“The Council was concerned that perhaps you did not know our laws, or that you thought you had some sort of diplomatic immunity because of your father’s position in Russia,” Beth said lightly. “However, that’s obviously not the case.”

Beth paused briefly, and then, in a gentle voice, continued, “This is the only warning you will get. They will cut off your head if you feed off even one more mortal.” She paused again, testing the girl’s thoughts before adding, “That seems a very high price to pay to punish your father for being overbearing.”

“He is overbearing,” Kira exclaimed bitterly. “He is the bastard. It is always ‘do what I say, go where I send you, be what I want.’”

Beth shrugged without sympathy. “There are worse things fathers can do.”

Kira blinked and then narrowed her eyes, obviously reading her thoughts and memories. Beth let her, not trying to hide her history or what her own father had done.

“Your father is bastard too,” Kira growled when she finished.

Beth nodded solemnly.

Kira hesitated, and then moved to sit at the table with her. She stared at Beth in silence for a moment, and then said softly, “I almost would rather my father send me to brothel than kill my love, Bogdan.”

Beth opened her mouth, and then paused and read the girl’s mind, wincing when she saw a naked young immortal being pulled from a bed of rumpled silk sheets as an equally naked Kira tried to hold on to him and begged for his life. Her cries had no effect, and she had to watch as he was dragged out of her room through a pair of French doors to be beheaded. His blood was vivid crimson against the white snow.

Blinking the visions away, Beth considered the girl, knowing Kira had let her see those memories on purpose. They had been too clear and not at all disjointed as thoughts often were when you were reading someone who was trying to veil their thoughts.

Kira had let her see more than that, though. She’d let Beth see thoughts and feelings that were clearly a cry for help. Frowning, she asked, “Was he your life mate?”

“My father says no,” she admitted sadly. “But I loved him.”

Beth covered her hand and squeezed gently.

Seeming to take strength from that, Kira sat up straight again and said with disgust, “My father tried to make it up to me by promising I could attend any school I wished.”

“And you picked this one,” Beth murmured.

“My father hates Lucian Argeneau,” she announced, her jaw tight. “Lucian Argeneau is in Canada, and so—”

“So you wanted to attend a school in Canada,” Beth finished for her.

“Da,” Kira said with a nod. “He was furious, but he could not refuse because he had promised.”

“Why didn’t you pick a university closer to where Lucian lives, then?” Beth asked with curiosity. “Say, in Toronto or something? That would have made him even angrier.”

Kira made a sound of disgust. “I did not realize the country was so big. I thought I would be close enough to both California and Toronto.”

Beth stared at the girl for a minute, reading her state of mind again, and then said, “You plan to feed off a mortal the moment we leave and force the Council to have you beheaded.”

Kira shrugged wearily. “My Bogdan is dead. What is there to live for?”

“I don’t know,” Beth admitted. “But it’s a shame you’re willing to give up so easily when there are still so many ways to punish your father. I mean, sure he’ll be upset when you die, but he’ll get over that and move on. It seems to me there are better ways to make him suffer for longer.”

Kira lifted her head and peered at her uncertainly. “Like what?”

Beth shrugged. “You could always drop out of the university here, move to Toronto and see if you couldn’t train to become a Rogue Hunter for the North American Council. That would probably really piss him off.”

Kira sat up straight again, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “That truly would infuriate him.”

“Especially since you’d be training and working under Lucian. He runs the hunters. I’d imagine that would be like a thorn in your father’s side every single day for as long as you did it.”

“Da,” Kira breathed with building interest.

“But Rogue Hunters cannot feed off the hoof,” Beth pointed out.

Kira waved that away. “I prefer my blood cold anyway. Is disgusting to me off the hoof. I only did that to—” Pausing abruptly, she met Beth’s gaze and smiled sheepishly. “You knew I did not like to feed directly from mortals.”

Beth smiled. “Yeah, I kind of picked up on that when I first read your mind.”

Kira nodded, and then asked anxiously, “Do you really think I could be a hunter?”

“I think now is the perfect time for you to sign up for it. We are shorthanded at the moment and desperate for help.”

Kira grinned. “I have some training already. I am a good shot with a gun and a bow and arrow. I trained with swords and even took some martial arts.”

Beth raised her eyebrows. “Then I definitely think they will be interested in hiring you.”

Kira smiled, and then reached out to squeeze Beth’s hand. “Thank you. You have given me something to live for.”

Squeezing her hand back, Beth nodded and then stood. “We fly back to Toronto the day after tomorrow. The plane leaves at noon. You can come with us if you wish.”

“Da, I wish,” Kira said determinedly. She got to her feet as well and then glanced at her bodyguards with a frown.

“They can come too if you like,” Beth assured her. “There is room.”

“In truth, I would rather they not come,” Kira said with a grimace. “But they will insist, and if I refuse them, my father will probably cut off their heads too.”

“Charming,” Beth murmured, moving toward the door as Scotty opened it. Spotting Matias across the hall flirting with a young redhead, Beth said, “Matias, give Kira the address of the airport we landed at.”

“I will text you!” Matias said, smiling at Kira.

Beth raised her eyebrows and glanced to the Russian girl. “You know each other? He has your number?”

“Da. He is terrible flirt . . . and persistent,” she added, rolling her eyes. “I gave him number to shut him up.”

Chuckling, Beth offered her hand. “I hope to see you there on Sunday.”

“Da.” Kira nodded firmly and shook her hand. “Dosvedanya.”

“Dosvedanya,” Beth murmured the Russian good-bye and then turned to start up the hall.

“It went well?” Matias asked, falling into step beside her as they headed toward the elevators.

Beth nodded, and then said, “So, Matias, am I right in guessing you were the one keeping an eye on Kira?”

“Sí,” he admitted and shrugged. “It was no trouble. She was in a lot of my classes and likes the same clubs I do.”

“Well, it looks like you won’t have to keep tabs on her anymore.”

“Why?” he asked with surprise.

“She plans to move to Toronto,” Beth explained. “In fact, I think she’s flying back with us. So don’t forget to text her the address of the airfield.”

“Speaking of which,” Scotty said before Matias could respond, “I do no’ think Mortimer and Lucian are going to thank ye for this.”

“The girl was planning on suicide by Council,” Beth said solemnly as they reached the elevator. “I had to do something.”

“Kira?” Matias asked with surprise, trailing her onto the elevator. “Suicide?”

“Her father cut off her lover’s head a couple months ago,” Beth explained quietly. “She isn’t taking it well.”

Eyes widening, Matias raised a hand to his throat, but said, “That explains why she was not receptive to my advances.”

“I don’t understand,” Donny said, and Beth realized he hadn’t caught the first part of the conversation when he asked, “Why would Mortimer and Lucian be upset with Beth? What did she do?”

“She suggested the lass move to Toronto and train to be a Rogue Hunter,” Scotty explained.

“Really?” Donny asked, and then pursed his lips. “She might do okay. She’s big enough for the job.”

Beth grimaced at the comment. Kira was a good six feet tall. She was not only voluptuous but muscular as well. The sword training she’d mentioned had shown in her physique. Still, Beth thought as the elevator doors opened and they crossed the lobby to the exit, size didn’t make a good Enforcer. Smarts did. She was only five-foot-three and considered herself a damned fine hunter.

“I’m hungry,” Donny said suddenly as they headed for the parking lot. “Can we stop at a coffee shop and get doughnuts on the way to the house?”

Beth glanced at him with disbelief. “Seriously? There were probably twenty or thirty food stalls in that place where you could have got food.”

“I want a doughnut, though,” he said with a shrug.

“They probably had a doughnut shop in there somewhere too,” she said with exasperation.

“I will stop at a Tim Hortons on the way to the house,” Matias said as they approached the SUV. Beth suspected he made the offer to keep the peace.

“Oh, good.” Donny beamed at the man as he followed him around to the driver’s side of the SUV. “I like the ones they have with white icing and all those pretty sprinkles.”

“Such a girl,” Beth muttered under her breath with disgust as she reached for the front passenger door handle.

“Allow me,” Scotty said on a chuckle as he got there first and pulled it open for her.

“Thanks,” Beth murmured, a little flustered by both his nearness as he leaned around her to get the door, and the chivalry displayed by the action.

“My pleasure,” he assured her with a smile as she slid into the seat. He waited until she was settled and then closed the door and got into the seat behind her as Matias and Donny got in on the other side.

“Well!” Matias said cheerfully as he fastened his seat belt and started the engine. “Is this not wonderful? Business is done and now we can play.”

Beth turned to him in question. “What did you have in mind?”

“Dancing!” he announced happily. “The girls here, they do not know how to dance, my cousin. You and I will show them.”

Beth chuckled at the claim, but shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

“But doughnuts first, right?” Donny said from the back seat.

“Sí, sí, doughnuts first,” Matias assured him. “We will stop there on the way back to the house, and then you can all change while I order the pizza, and we will eat properly before we go out.”

“Will anything be open by then?” Beth asked dubiously, glancing at the watch on her wrist.

“Cousin, you are forgetting the time difference again. It is not even yet ten o’clock,” he said in a pained voice. “I promise we will be at the club by midnight and have hours to dance before it closes.”

“Starbucks!” Donny squawked suddenly.

“I see it,” Matias said with exasperation.

“Are we sure Donny should have coffee?” Scotty asked, sounding disgruntled. His voice sounded so close she was sure he had leaned forward in his seat.

Turning, she saw that she had been right, but merely shrugged. “Our trainers thought it best to find out how you reacted to things like coffee before you were on the job. We are done with business now, so we might as well let him see how he handles it.”

Scotty looked dubious, but merely nodded and sat back in his seat.