It could have been seriously weird.

In fact, I suppose it should have been seriously weird, and in the event, nothing was said, leaving us in a silence broken only by the two humans catching their breath - I, of course, had no breath to get back.

But it was not an awkward silence, it was a comfortable one. Though nothing was said, small smiles were exchanged between us as we recovered.

I felt Gage's hand cover mine and squeeze it lightly, while Milo stroked some errant strands of hair away from my face. Despite the oddness of the situation, with these guys, it didn't feel odd.

It felt...warm? Not a word I readily associate with the word 'threesome', but there was something tender in the way we unfolded ourselves from Gage's abused bed and found our quiet way to the en-suite bathrooms that each bedroom had. I stooped to pick up Gage's shirt from the floor as I went, making sure that I also had the ticket that had lain beneath it.

"Mind if I keep the shirt? For now?" I asked.

"No problem." I caught Gage's eye and saw a man who would have given me so much more than a shirt if I had asked, and kind of liked it.

He headed into his bathroom, and I waited for Milo to leave the room, shooting a smile at me as he left, before hastily grabbing my dress from under Gage's bed, where I had stuffed it earlier.

That was how all this had started, a simple way to distract first Gage, and then Milo, too. It was safe to say that it had distracted them, but it had gone a lot further than that. I didn't know what to think or where my mind was. All I knew was that it had quickly become something far more than a distraction. It was actual feeling. Something which I was uncomfortable with, and yet something I had already been dealing when it came to Kael.

Kael, Milo and Gage. I had gone ahead and done the set. But I wasn't looking at them in those simplistic terms. There was more going on, but now was not the time to dwell on it.

Back in Kael's room, I ducked into his bathroom for the world's quickest shower - a few seconds of scalding hot water to sear me clean of the sticky sweatiness of sex. I was almost sorry to lose it.

I dried myself just as hastily, pulled on my clothes, and headed for the door, creeping on tip-toes with eyes on the other bedrooms. Vampires can move very quietly if we want to - we're evolved to be stealthy predators - and I made it out without being noticed. When they found me gone, they would think that I had left in the aftermath of an unplanned threesome and would not suspect that I had any other motive. They would probably think that I regretted it or was embarrassed. I was a little sad about that. I didn't want them to think anything of the sort, because I didn't regret it at all.

But Layla came first, now and always. I needed to get my head back in the game.

The sun had sunk by now and I could leave the building with impunity into the growing dark of night. So, what had I found out about these guys? Was there a chance that they were in some way tangled up in the increasingly complex and baffling web that surrounded Layla's disappearance? If so, what side were they on?

The truth was, that I didn't have much beyond vague suspicions and a train ticket with a strange number on the back. Still, there was something odd about them. How were they as strong as they were? I had now experienced that strength first-hand, up close and personal, and while they were human, it was not. Where had they learned to fight like that? Was there any chance I could find an answer that didn't involve the word 'Lawkeeper'? And if they were Lawkeepers, what did that mean? I didn't have the best impression of the Lawkeepers at the moment, but they were supposed to be the good guys, and based on my dealings at Lawkeeper Central...

The thought actually tailed off in my mind as a chain reaction of neurons fired off and lit up a light bulb above my head. That was it! That was where I had seen that odd accumulation of numbers and letters before; it was a Lawkeeper case code. Every crime they took on was given a code like that, they had given me one for Layla's disappearance - HK something - for identification purposes.

The delight at solving this little mystery was tempered by the uncomfortable knowledge that this strengthened the link between three guys I was starting to like an uncomfortable amount, and the branch of the police who were starting to take an uncomfortable amount of interest in me. On the other hand; I had one of those numbers scribbled on a piece of paper back in my apartment - it wasn't just Lawkeepers who had those numbers, the guys could equally be victims of a crime. What I had learned was that my guys had some relation to a case being investigated by the Lawkeepers, and with a bit of time online when I got home, I would probably be able to learn more about it, as the numbers and letters did mean something specific.

After that - because I prefer action to thinking - I would change into some more appropriate clothing and follow up on the train ticket. I knew some people who lived and worked around Center Plaza, and I could easily ask them to look out for my three guys and see where they headed. One good thing about Kael, Milo and Gage; they were easy to describe and easy to pick out of a crowd.

All in all, it seemed like a pretty solid twenty-four hours’ work. And given what had happened in the last twenty-four hours, it was pretty amazing that I had a lead of any sort, let alone one this promising. It made me feel better than I had for a long while - or maybe it was my encounter with Gage and Milo. Either way, I was feeling pretty good as I headed up to my apartment, swinging my bag in my hand. I opened the door and the smile faded from my face.

Max looked up as I entered. "Hi, Sonja. Where'd you get to last night? This is Kael. Kael, this is Sonja."

Kael was seated on the couch next to Max. He had the decency to look guilty as he caught my eye.

I don't know if I was jealous, scared for Max, worried at having my suspicions confirmed, or some combination of all three, but it came out as anger. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Max looked taken aback by my fury. "I met him at Carlos's Place, earlier this evening. We got to chatting and I asked him back for a drink. What's the..."

"Get out!" I now turned my venom where it belonged; on Kael. Max had just picked up a guy, she didn't know she might have done something wrong. Kael, on the other hand, was a conniving, manipulative bastard.

"I can explain." Kael got to his feet, holding up his hands in a conciliatory manner.

"I don't need your explanations." I shot across the room, faster than he could have followed, grabbed him by the shoulder, and hurled him towards the still-open door.

Kael smacked into the wall of the corridor outside.

"Sonja, what the hell's gotten into you?" Max was on her feet, standing up for herself just like I'd taught her to. But now was not the time.

"Sit down." I felt my eyes flare red with rage. I can't usually feel my eyes change color, but when I'm this angry, then the world turns red, like I'm seeing it through a haze of blood.

Max sat back on the couch like an obedient dog and I headed for the door. Outside, Kael was peeling himself off the wall. I didn't give him the chance to recover properly - I still wasn't sure what he might be capable of if I gave him a chance to defend himself, so I was determined not to give him that chance.

"Down the stairs."

"Sonja..."

I shoved him in the direction of the banister and he hit it fast enough to go straight over. If he was what I was now pretty sure that he was, then it would take more than that to do him any real damage, and at this point, I didn't much care. I followed him, vaulting over the banister and landing lightly on the steps beside him before he'd managed to get back to his feet. I caught him by the collar and dragged him down the steps. That was apparently one too far and he fought back, twisting out of the coat by which I was dragging him, getting back his feet and facing me down.

"Out," I said, simply. "You even try to go back upstairs and I will break your legs."

"You'll try."

"You know what I am. You know what I can do. And I guess by now you know what I'm prepared to do to protect those I love."

"I know that, if you let me explain..."

"Outside." I didn't want Max to overhear. I wasn't sure yet exactly what had happened and I didn't want her dragged in so deep that I couldn't get her out of it. I had lost one blood sister already, I wasn't about to lose another, and I still didn't know to what extent Kael was involved.

Kael paused for a moment, perhaps only to let me know that he wasn't just doing what I told him, then he headed out. I walked after him, not sure what I might do.

"You know, you're overreacting..." Kael turned to talk to me again and before he could finish the sentence, I shoved him forwards and he went out through the door, tumbling into the street. I followed him out, anger still ruling me.

And anger made me careless. Kael had provoked me into pushing him so he could be outside before me, ready to pounce when I came through the door. With the element of surprise on his side, he was able to get my arms behind my back, pinning them in his fierce, muscular grip.

"Right, you little hothead, you're gonna listen to what I have to--"

I pushed backwards. He must have weighed at least three times what I did and was built like a concrete chicken coop, but if you're a three-hundred-year-old vamp, then that means precisely shit. I drove Kael back into the wall, knocking the breath out of him, and tore my arms free from his grasp. Before he could recover his breath, I kicked out his legs and down he went. I grabbed him by his hair.

"What were you doing up there with Max?"

He shot a look up at me, still cocky through the pain he was in. "She's a pretty girl. It's what I do. Pick up pretty vamp girls in bars. You know that about me, don't you? Just bad luck she happened to be your roommate."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"You know I could tear your head off if I wanted?"

"Yes, I do know that."

"Tell me the truth!" I shook him, struggling to keep hold of my wafer-thin self-control. I had killed too many bastards this way already in my hunt for the truth. Kael would be able to handle my rage better than most, but his strength didn't make him invulnerable.

"I told you the truth. I met her in the same bar I met you. I'm a regular there; ask anyone. I pick up vamp girls there; ask anyone. What part of this is hard for you to believe?" He grinned at me. "I know why you won't believe it. It's because you don't want to think I might have chosen your pretty little roommate over you."

Was that true? At least, in part? Was I this angry at Kael because I was jealous that he had gone with Max two nights after he had been with me?

"Are you really going to kill me over that?" Kael continued. "Get your shit together, Sonja. You're better than that."

I shook my head clear of doubts. Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I was struggling with feelings for this man that I was not at all used to. But that didn't change my suspicions, and Kael was getting more suspicious by the moment.

"No," I said, suddenly more in control, the hot-red fading from my eyes. "I won't kill you over that. I might kill you over Layla."

"Never heard of her."

"You're lying again, Kael," I tightened my grip on his hair. "Just like you lied about why you picked up Max tonight."

"Prove it."

I shrugged and let him go. "I will."

Kael got back to his feet, facing me down. He knew that I could take him; he knew that I could own his ass, and yet he didn't run. Maybe that was stupid, but I couldn't help admiring the bravery, as well. Kael didn't back down from anyone.

"You can't prove shit," he said.

"If I go up to that apartment now and ask Max what the two of you talked about, then - even though you've only known her an hour or so - I will bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets, that you asked her a weird number of questions about her roommate. Don't answer." I held up a hand to shut him up before he could make his excuses. "I said 'if'. I'm not going to do that because I don't drag my friends into shit like this. I don't need to. I've got all the proof I need, right here."

I held up the train ticket and Kael laughed. He stopped laughing when I flipped it around. I guess Kael was a pretty good actor to have fooled Max into thinking he was interested in her when he was just after information, but that acting skill failed him now. I saw his reaction to the code number before he was able to hide it.

I grinned at him. "Proof, baby. What have you got to say for yourself now?"

He looked down at me grimly, and then cracked a rueful half-smile.

"Well, I guess since I’m busted, I might as well tell the truth. For the record, I wouldn't have slept with your roommate. And, pretty though she is, I never would have chosen her over you."