I stare at the huge-ass mansion in front of us and give Hunter the side-eye. "Your dad doesn't do anything by halves does he?"

"No, he doesn't," he confirms. "We've got to make this quick, though. Parker's mom is expecting us within the hour."

"How exactly are we going to get there?" I ask. Holding Vivian's hand, I follow behind him as he leads us inside the mansion.

"Teleporting," he says with a shrug. "War can teleport two of you, and I can teleport the other two."

"I didn't know you could teleport," I say to War. His mouth quirks up.

"There's a lot you have yet to learn about all of us, Mercy."

"Clearly." I try to ignore the pang in my chest at the memory of finding out that Hunter had hidden more shit from me than I thought. Not even knowing that War could teleport, which not all demons can do is kind of a big deal.

"Mercy, you know we don't keep things from you to hurt you," Hunter says, his voice a soothing whisper in my mind.

"I'm not talking about this now. We'll talk later." Yes, I'm avoiding this conversation like the plague. Do I really care right now while the hurt is still fairly fresh? No.

Hunter sighs and directs me and Vivian to a room for Vivian to use while they're here. Ignoring the guys, and everyone else, I enter the room with her and place her bags on the bed. Apparently, someone arranged for her to have new clothes. I vaguely register Hunter directing mom, dad, and Roderick to rooms they can have, before they all disappear back down the way we came.

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Vivian asks, watching me pull her clothes out of the bag and put them in the dresser next to the bed.

"I am, but hopefully, it won't be for long." Finishing with her clothes, I crouch down in front of her and meet her gaze. "I'll be back, okay?"

She nods and looks away, but otherwise doesn't say anything.

"Vivi," I mutter, making her meet my eyes. "I kept my promise last time, didn't I?"

A small smile graces her lips. "Yeah," she whispers.

"I'll keep this one, too. Just make sure you stick with my mom, dad, and uncle, okay? They'll do everything they can to keep you safe."

Completely shocking me, she throws her arms around my neck and squeezes me tightly. I freeze for a minute then return the hug, holding her to me just as tight.

"You'll be fine, honey. Listen to my family and everything will be fine. No one's going to get to you again," I swear.

She pulls back and places a kiss on my cheek. "You'll be careful, right?"

"I'll be careful," I promise.

"Pinky swear?" Her soft voice trembles as if she's trying to keep back the tears I can see swirling in her vibrant green eyes.

I laugh and hold out my pinky. She wraps her pinky around mine. "I swear, I'll be careful. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah." Her eyes take in the small toy box in the corner of the room, and she grins. "I'm going to play if that's okay."

"Go ahead, Vivian, I'll tell my mom that you're in here playing."

She races around me with a squeal and practically dives at the toy box. Straightening, I turn toward the door and nearly jump when I see Talon there. His expression is soft, and I know he saw me make my promise to Vivian, if he saw more than that, I'm not sure.

"Hey," I say, suddenly feeling nervous.

"The others are gathering in the living room, ready to go."

"Which living room? We passed like five of them on the way to this room."

He snorts a laugh. "Yeah, that's true. Just follow me."

I follow after him into the nearest living room to Vivian's room. Walking to Hunter, I ask, "So was there already a small thing of toys here, or did your dad have them put in when you told him about Vivian?"

"I told him that he should make sure that there are toys for her if he didn't want his house wrecked by a five-year-old upon his return," he says with a smile.

"Just a heads up, Mercy," Parker starts, drawing my attention to him, "my mom, she doesn't like half-demons, so I apologize in advance if she tries starting shit with you. She also doesn’t know that a half-demon is coming with us."

I laugh. "Parker, I think you need a reminder about how Talon acted when we first met."

Talon scowls at me. "Things are different now."

"Yeah, now. Back then, you were kind of a dick." I give him an impish smile.

Talon rolls his eyes. "Can we just go?"

"Mercy," my mom says, approaching with her arms held out wide. I walk into her embrace and bury my face in her neck. "Be safe, honey. I love you."

"Love you too, mom," I mutter into her neck. “Vivian’s playing in her room.” Looking at my dad and uncle I say, "Please, for the love of everything, make sure nothing happens to any of you."

My uncle glares at me, and my dad's lips twitch at the sides, indicating he's trying to hide a smile.

"Be safe, kid," Roderick says gruffly.

Dad comes to me and wraps his arms around me tightly. "Come back to us, yeah?"

I smile as I pull away. "I will."

Stepping back, Hunter grabs my hand and puts a hand on Talon's shoulder. I look over to watch as War places his hands on Parker and Kai's shoulders.

Before anyone says anything else, everything fades around us, and in the blink of an eye we're in yet another lavish home. I frown as I wait for the slight dizziness to fade, thankful that it wasn't as bad as it was when Jerome teleported me to Payne's place in hell.

"Where are we exactly?" I ask, glancing around the spacious entryway.

"Nevada," Parker answers. "Near Vegas, but you can't find this place on a map or even accidentally because of the wards."

A handsome man, who is no doubt older than he looks, dressed in a tailor-made suit enters through a door and pauses when he sees us. Bowing low, he says, "My Lord, I wasn't aware you were going to be here, or that you'd be bringing guests with you."

"It's fine, Val. Where are my parents?" Parker asks.

"Your mother is in the study. Your father is on a business trip."

"Thanks. Can you have some rooms prepared for us?"

"Of course, sir."

When the man disappears I look at Parker. "'My Lord?' 'Sir’?"

He shrugs. "I don't know how much you know about vampire hierarchy, but my mom and dad are the king and queen of vamps."

I eye him for a minute. "You don't act like a prince."

He grins. "Much to my parents’ disappointment, I'm sure."

I didn't have Parker pegged as a rebel, though if he's supposed to be prince of the vampires and doesn't really act all princely, then I should probably reevaluate that thought.

Parker sighs. "Let's get this meeting with my mother over with. The sooner it's done, the sooner I can apologize. Again."

I raise a brow. "You really think she'll be that opposed to my being here?"

"Honestly? I think she'll probably try to do her best to keep me away from you while you're here, since I'm not giving her a choice about you being here."

"Interesting," I drawl. "I'm looking forward to what mommy dearest has to say."

Everyone chuckles, except for Parker who looks pained. "Let's just go," he says after a long minute of silence.

Parker leads us down several hallways, each one filled with expensive-ass paintings or knick knacks that I know would have been broken a billion times over if they were in my house while I was growing up.

Before Roderick started training me, I was a klutz and tripped over air. It was bad. Thankfully, I'm cured of that shit now, but seeing all these breakable things around is making me fidgety and nervous that I’m going to revert back to my old clumsiness.

Parker's hand brushes against mine and links his fingers with mine before he squeezes them reassuringly. "Calm, Mercy," he murmurs softly. "Your heartbeat's going crazy."

"There's a lot of breakable shit in here, Parker. I feel like I'm one step away from destroying all of it. That kind of feeling is making me fidget. I can't help it."

He chuckles softly and stops at a set of double doors at the end of the hallways. He knocks twice then opens the door. Still holding my hand he opens the door and leads us inside where a gorgeous woman with long raven-black hair stands at a bookcase, fingering the book spines.

Her movements cease for the briefest moment, the only indication that she knows we're here. "You dare to bring a half-demon into my home?" she asks, voice hard and chilling my blood.