I knew it was damn harder to find her than should have been physically possible.

“Well, then,” I state, bristling.

Admittedly, I’m a bit unnerved by yet another bloody thing I didn’t know or even consider.

Violet stumbled into the woods, left, killed a bunch of shifters, and came back without us ever suspecting it was her. All because of a voice.

Lovely. I wonder how many other times I’ve been a fool.

Hitting the brakes, I skid to a halt in front of the local Mad House.

Jasper remains safely secured against me, the quick halt not disturbing him or bothering him a bit.

However, Anna screams, as she flies through the windshield and crashes to the ground.

Exhaling and trying to keep the proper amount of tension required to bash in some skulls, I ignore the waving purple penis, and faux ghost—who is bitching about my driving. Annoyed by all the insanity, I stalk toward the front door.

When I push the door open, I’m greeted by…Simpletons…who are blowing up condoms like balloons.

How?

Why?

I need to stay angrily motivated, but this place makes that damn near impossible sometimes. Also, holding a baby makes it much harder to stay suited with the proper amount of ire.

Ighan grins at me around a condom, before he starts blowing it so hard his face turns red.

“Ighan, those aren’t balloons,” I inform him with as much seriousness and calmness as I can muster.

He studies it like he’s confused by that, but shrugs and ties the end, before hanging it from a dangling rope.

“W-W-We’re celebrating. We d-d-don’t have t-t-to go underground,” he says, smiling brightly.

His smile slowly falls. “But V-V-Violet—”

He cuts his words off, looking down as if in shame. Bobo lumbers up behind him, eyes on me, as he gives me a weak, almost apologetic smile.

“Bobo, she can handle her monster and even likes it,” I assure him.

Anna props up next to Bobo, smiling up at him with the sweetest look she can muster, as she innocently blinks.

Bobo doesn’t seem bothered by her in the slightest, and even smiles back down at her.

Then his look sobers when it returns to me.

“But we did this to her,” Bobo says, lips thinning. “She didn’t ask for this.”

I clap him on the shoulder, as I start to walk by. “Feeling guilty will only hurt Violet far worse than having Anna. Violet’s a protector. Now she’s strong enough to be that protector. Bad always comes with the good. We have to accept both, and then trust and hope for the best. In this case, I’m feeling confident for the first time in a long time.”

I keep my voice quiet, in case someone is listening through the walls.

He stiffens, but then he nods once at me. Feeling like I’ve said what I can to alleviate some of his guilt, I hurriedly turn and move through the house, refusing to be distracted by anything else.

Shera walks out of a room, and I immediately—and gently—force Jasper on her. She’s startled as she takes him, and then her eyes go wide.

“Oh, no, Van Helsing. Please don’t do this to me!” she calls to my back. “I’m terrible with kids—”

Jasper starts crying, and I don’t even have to turn around to know she’s being swarmed by helpful, gentle Simpletons. Given her squeak, it scares her, which will piss her off.

Feeling some of that tension returning just in time, I begin rolling up my sleeves, one at a time, in preparation to charge in, crack some faces, and then steal Violet away.

The door sails open when I charge in, but the scene before me halts me in my tracks. My heart thumps, my throat gets tighter, and my trousers grow more constricting, as my gaze rakes over the eternally maddening woman who’s marked me as hers.

Violet’s spread on the bed, with that devilish dragon-fire chain holding her in place. Her head pops up, giving me a glimpse at her hazy eyes. Then my gaze drifts down her damp skin, as she squirms under my slow appraisal.

The silk negligée she’s wearing is trimmed with lace and pushed up on her hips. Torn underwear lays discarded at her side. Her pale skin is generating a cold fog inside the sweltering room…

Her pupils are damn near pinpricks. Something I notice after I finally manage to tear my gaze away from the unnaturally tempting sight of the rest of her body.

Emit moves out from between her legs, wiping his mouth, as he battles back a smile. Arion pulls back from her neck, only a small trickle of blood escaping the rapidly healing puncture wounds he’s left behind.

The vampire grins at me, even as he idly toys with Violet’s nipple, his thumb absently teasing the pebble.

Damien appears on her other side, shirtless as the rest of them, with his hand resting on her stomach.

“Welcome, Van Helsing. You’re just in time for my wedding night celebration,” Arion states through his devious grin.

I came to fight…

But then my gaze moves to where her left hand is bound, when a glistening object catches the sun.

I forget the fight.

I forget what’s going on.

I forget why I even came here.

Violet’s wearing my ring.

Chapter 56

VIOLET

The door bursts open, just as my next orgasm is robbed, leaving me once again on that painful cusp that’s just shy of explosive pleasure. I barely maintain the scream that’s on the tip of my tongue, as my entire body trembles in response.

Exposed and incredibly embarrassed, I lift my head to see who’s just barged in. My gaze lands on Vance, as I pant for air, watching as his own eyes glue themselves to me.

Emit removes himself from between my legs, which gives Vance a much more direct shot of the goods.

I squirm, wishing I could close my legs, and almost whimper when Damien sends one of those sharp, erotic pulses through me.

Vance’s eyes lift to left hand that’s chained, and his body tenses. A dark, almost hungry look crosses his eyes when his gaze finds mine again.

“Just tasting her refuels me enough to toy with her almost effortlessly. Seduction has gotten much easier since she fell in love with me,” Damien says, his grinning lips moving across my neck. “She’ll be putty in my hand after a decade.”

Vance undoes his belt with one hand, and his tie with the other. As if he gets impatient, he rips his shirt off and casts it aside. Emit starts to stand in his way, but Vance shoves him so hard it sends Emit stumbling back, even as the wolf laughs for whatever reason.

In the next instant, Vance moves so fast I barely gauge the motion, and he comes down on top of me.

My skin sizzles against Vance’s, as the room chills and heats over and over, Damien’s power working against me. My lips have never before so hungrily kissed another person, as just the barely-there brush of the back of Vance’s hand sends my toes curling.

He groans into my mouth, when I start writhing against him, desperately wishing he’d hurry up and get his pants out of the way.

Hard and fast, he eases my torment by pushing inside me. Just that has me crying out with pained relief.

I feel every glorious inch of him, as he slides in, soothing that painful ache. It’s the best sex ever, and we haven’t even really started.

My hips begin moving, desperately, as he groans against my mouth. A firm hand grips my hip, steadying my erratic motions, as he takes over the rhythm.