“Cripes, Fi, of course you are. A hundred percent.” He pulled her back to her feet. More sounds of scuffling and shouting carried through the closed door. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise, but right now I need you safe, okay? The car should be downstairs waiting for you.” He hugged her hard. “I love you, baby. Don’t worry.”

“I love you, too.” Her gut ached like she’d been sucker punched, but she went ghost and slipped into the night unable to shake the feeling she might never see Doc again.

“I’ll only be gone for as long as I have to.” Chrysabelle pulled on a tan leather jacket over the pale green sweater and jeans that were part of her new look.

Damian nodded. “Take whatever time you need. We’ll be fine.”

“Please, move into the house.” She looked past him and out into the courtyard where Jerem was putting her roller bag into the trunk of the car. She glanced at the guesthouse before putting her hands on her hips and turning back to her brother. “Amylia can have the whole guesthouse to herself and you can get settled in here without me in your way.”

“You’ve never been in my way.” He smiled, but then his eyes narrowed and he moved to see past her. “You expecting company?”

“No.” A car pulled through the estate’s open gates. “That’s Fi’s car.”

Sure enough, the car stopped and Fi jumped out. The moment she saw Chrysabelle she broke into a run. “Are you leaving? Wait, don’t go yet.”

The panic in Fi’s eyes alarmed Chrysabelle. “I am, but I can wait. What’s up?”

Fi came to a stop beside her. “I just found out someone put silver dust in the arena sand where I fought Heaven.” She looked on the verge of tears. “That means I didn’t win fair and square and now Heaven’s brother is calling for my death to make things right.”

“Pride law,” Chrysabelle whispered. “How awful. What can I do to help?”

“Let me stay here?” Fi shook her head. “It’s not safe for me at pride headquarters right now.”

“Chrys, take her with you to New Orleans.” Damian nodded toward the car. “Not like you don’t have room and getting her out of town might be the best thing.”

Fi’s eyes brightened. “If you’re going there to do what I think you’re going there to do, you should totally let me come.”

Chrysabelle bit her lip. “I don’t know. I don’t want to be responsible for what might happen.”

“I can take care of myself, you know,” Fi said.

Chrysabelle raised a brow. “I don’t think one sparring session qualifies you as being able to take care of yourself.”

“Please.” Fi sniffed. “Nothing can touch me when I go ghost. Which I promise to do if anything bad happens.”

“C’mon, Chrys,” Damian said. “Let her go.”

Chrysabelle said, “Fine,” but a loud rumbling drowned her out.

“Hey,” Jerem yelled. “Creek’s here.”

The KM parked his motorcycle beside Chrysabelle’s sedan, notching his kickstand into place. He slipped his helmet off as he walked toward them. “Chrysabelle, can I have a word with you alone?”

“Sure.” Creek’s expression held no joy. Something was wrong. Chrysabelle shivered. “Fi, why don’t you go inside with Damian and see if Velimai can pack you some snacks for the trip.”

“So I can go?”

“Yes.” Chrysabelle was already walking to meet Creek. She spoke to him as soon as Fi shut the front door. “What’s going on?”

“Bad news. There have been two humans murdered, both by vampires, and the KM think Mal’s to blame.”

Her spine went cold. “Why would they think that?”

“Because they know something’s changed between you two. You didn’t give me the full story the other day, did you?”

“No.” She sighed. “It’s not something I want to get into, especially if I can make it go away.”

“That’s not all.” He shot a look at her car. “Are you going somewhere?”

“I have some out-of-town business to take care of.” Out-of-town business that would hopefully bring Mal back to her.

“Good, that’s good.”

“Why?”

He glanced at the gate behind him before answering her. “Because as of last night, Tatiana is back in Paradise City.”

Chapter Seventeen

Mal stared hard at the woman who’d once been his wife. And his captor. “You want me to kill a baby? You should know better than to ask me that.”

Tatiana shook her head, her fingers again clutching the locket around her neck. “She’s not a child any longer. The ancient ones fed her their blood and now she’s an adult. More than that, she’s a monster vampire. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Even the ancients are afraid of her.”

He walked back toward the bed. This game of Tatiana’s was starting to bore him. He had a comarré to deal with. “You’re not as smart as you look, are you? Telling me the ancients are afraid of her isn’t a great way to motivate me to the cause.”

Desperation began to creep in around her eyes. He knew that look. He’d seen it many times before. If her next plea didn’t work, she’d try to seduce him to her will. “The beast within you is stronger than she is. Would it be an easy kill? Perhaps not, but when’s the last time the beast had a worthy opponent?” She smiled and took a few steps toward him, sashaying her hips. “You might even enjoy it.”