Killian stood and glanced at the window—which had a gauzy curtain drawn to block out the brightest bits of sunshine that managed to peek through the dull gray clouds. He’d probably heard something, based on the slight quirk of his eyebrows. (I was coming to learn that his eyebrows were the gateway to his moods, and thus studied them hardcore.)

“Where is Celestina?” I asked. “She usually comes to get me right about now for practice.”

“She’s out for the afternoon,” Killian said.

“Oh, on a mission?”

Up went one of Killian’s eyebrows, signaling his amusement. “Mission? We’re not an intelligence agency.”

I let my arms hang at my sides. “Mission sounded better than asking if you sent her out to go intimidate and rough up some people.”

“We’re not the mob, either,” Killian scoffed. “But in this case Celestina requested time off.”

“Good for her,” I truthfully said, though it ruined my escape plan. “Are we done making fun of my suit yet?”

“You have somewhere more important to be?” Killian asked in a deceptively mild voice.

“Nooo,” I reluctantly said.

His smirk was back, and he sauntered closer to me. “If you are so bored, we could go downstairs and engage in a practice match. It’s about time you started having play fights.”

“No!” I said with a lot more fire. “We can make fun of my suit!”

Killian made an amused sound at the back of his throat. “You don’t need to worry. You could never touch me or any Drake vampire this early in your training.”

“I am not at all worried about hurting you.” I shook my head for emphasis. “But I’m pretty sure I’ll get killed by accident.”

“Have a little faith.”

“I prefer to be a skeptic, thank you.”

Killian chuckled, but was turning toward the door. I didn’t understand why until I heard the knock. “Come in,” he said.

A female vampire opened the door and bowed deeply to Killian. “Please excuse the intrusion, Your Eminence, but two wizards have approached the gates and requested an audience with your wizard.”

I furrowed my eyebrows so much it made it hard to see. “Seriously?”

“Yes,” the vampire said simply.

“Bring them into Drake Hall. If they are indeed Hazel’s friends, they can use this room.” Killian said.

The female vampire bowed, “Yes, Your Eminence,” and disappeared, leaving the doorway empty.

Killian adjusted his tie, then glanced back at me. “Scream if you need help.”

“You’re not staying?”

“For wizards? No. Don’t take too long.” Abruptly, he left, leaving me alone—in my suit—to wait for the maybe-friends-maybe-Mason’s-cronies.

When I heard footsteps, I knew it had to be the wizards—most of the vampires were as quiet as cats, except Rupert who stomped when he was angry, which was most of the time. I poked my head into the hallway, and I felt the tension, anger, and frustration I’d been carrying for weeks instantly start to fade. “Momoko! Felix!” I bolted from the parlor and tackled my closest friends, squeezing them in a tight hug. It was the only way I could assure myself they were okay.

Momoko laughed and threw an arm around me, but Felix silently dragged me closer.

“You’re okay,” I said, the relief raw in my voice. “I didn’t know—I had no way of finding out what happened!”

“We’re fine,” Felix said.

“We’re more worried about you,” Momoko added.

I released both of them and stepped back. I could barely look away, I was just so relieved to see them. Unfortunately, it looked like the past few weeks had taken a toll on them as well. They didn’t have any visible wounds or bruises, but Momoko seemed a little pale, and even Felix’s Awesomely-Good-Looks were dulled a bit—he had dark circles under his eyes and his hair wasn’t as glossy as normal.

I barely remembered to call out a belated “thank you!” to the vampire who had brought them in before I grabbed Felix and Momoko by the wrists and tugged them along. “Come on—tell me everything.”

I left the door cracked—I didn’t want the vampires to think I was hiding anything, and it hardly would have mattered with their hearing anyway.

“You first.” It was Momoko’s turn to grab my wrist and drag me over to the leather couch Killian had previously perched on. She sat down and pulled until I did as well, and Felix plopped down on my other side.

“But—” I tried.

“Spill it, Hazel,” Felix ordered.

I gave in and told them a brief version of all that had happened since I had arrived—though I only alluded to the vampire murders as I didn’t think Killian wanted the details spread.

“And Killian hasn’t asked for anything in return?” Momoko asked when I was finished.

“He said he plans to use me as an attack dog,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but to have his second and third best vamps train you?” Felix ran a hand through his blond hair, momentarily ruffling it. “There’s got to be an angle we don’t see.”

Momoko pressed her lips together. “You’ll be careful. The Drake Family is ruthless. Killian might be biding his time until you can take House Medeis back.”

I winced at the thought. I’d gotten a little lax since Killian seemed to find my complaints and observations amusing, and I’d gotten to the point where I considered Celestina and Josh friends.

Not that I doubted either of them (Killian, however, was shady as hell) but they had their loyalties, and I had mine. One day I wanted to take House Medeis back, but I didn’t want Killian to be involved in that. I didn’t want him to have control over me, either.

“But you have more magical abilities, wow,” Felix said. “That’s a lot to take in.”

“Is there any chance the Paragon was lying?” Momoko asked.

“No,” I flatly said. “He has no reason to lie to me, and there’s no possible way he’s under Killian’s thumb. He’s the national fae representative. Killian’s power base is here in the Midwest.”

Momoko shook her head. “I can’t believe your parents would do that to you. They loved you, and they just let you suffer when you were bullied?”

“You two were there for me,” I reminded her.

“Yeah, but I know you still ran into problems as an adult, and you wouldn’t tell Felix or me,” Momoko said. “Your parents had to know that, too. So why would they lie to you?”

I stared at the ground and shrugged. “I don’t know. All I can think of is that I didn’t know my parents as well as I thought.”

I would have cried, but I’d run out of tears weeks ago. I had turned the issue over in my mind thousands of times, trying to find some way to put a positive spin on it, but there wasn’t. My parents had majorly messed with me, and now they were gone, and I couldn’t even ask them why.

“We’re sorry, Hazel.” Felix leaned into me.

“It’s fine.” I cleared my throat and sat straighter. “But now I want to hear about you guys. How is everyone—and how’s the House?”

Felix grimaced, and Momoko collapsed back into the couch.

“It’s bad,” she said. “But now that we know you’re safe, it’s better.”

“For real, guys.” I bit my lip. “Has Mason…killed anyone?”

“No.” Felix shook his head. “He’s busy trying to keep us under his thumb and the House in some semblance of working.”

“Ever since you left it’s been throwing a fit,” Momoko said. “It hasn’t weakened any more—I think out of sheer spite. Even though it’s been cut off from its Adept for weeks, just yesterday it locked a visiting House Tellier wizard in the basement.”

A rush of warmth and affection for my home hit me. “I’m glad it’s fighting.”

“Oh yeah,” Felix snorted. “It will keep making Mason miserable. It’s why he didn’t send anyone after you sooner—though we’re grateful he did, it’s how we found out where you were.”

“Everyone heard how Killian Drake almost killed Langhan—that’s the House Tellier wizard who spied on you—and the werewolf mercenary Mason had hired. It really freaked Mason out that Killian personally kicked them out. Did you really stop him from killing them?” Momoko asked.

“Yeah,” I said, somewhat hesitant to own up to it.

“That’s really weird,” Felix bluntly said. “Killian Drake is incredibly powerful—there’s no reason why he should listen to you.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to make of it either.”

“We’re glad you found a safe place,” Momoko said. “House Tellier told Mason they wouldn’t send anyone to try and reclaim you as long as you were inside Drake Family lands, and Mason knows he can’t send any of us after you, so I don’t think he can hurt you.”

“Does he know you two are here?” I asked.

“Nope.” Felix shook his head. “He thinks we had work shifts today at the library.”

Both Felix and Momoko were set to graduate from the local college in fall, so in the meantime they worked part-time at the local library, along with Felix’s sister-in-law, Leslie.

“Our parents sent us out to find out how you’re doing,” Momoko said. “Everyone is going to be relieved.”

Felix studied my suit with a disturbed look. “Maybe?”

“You guys still haven’t given me a straight answer, though. What is Mason doing to the House? Not the building, but our family?” I stood up so I could face both of them and stare them down.

“We’re…managing,” Felix said.

“He’s used magic on a few of us,” Momoko admitted. “But since you left, the threatening stopped—though he has us wearing magic-blocking bracelets.” She held up her wrists, showing off the unassuming silver bands that hung from her wrists.