As the chauffeur drove Reina to Gunner’s house, she practiced her expressions in a hand mirror.

“Oh, Gunner! My love! I came as soon as I heard! We can be together again!”

Rolling her eyes, she did the same with her tongue in her mouth, tasting what was left of Terrance’s essence. A true leader, he took from her everything she had to give, and she was willing to do whatever she could to advance his plans, like she had the last time.

The trap she’d laid those months before had been a chore to bring to fruition, but one by one, she’d delivered the people to Terrance to be sacrificed. She then notified him that the con was set, as she watched Gunner creep into the window she’d left open at the warehouse. It was fitting that she had been the one to set the whole thing up, and for Terrance, as a senior Directive official, to discover Gunner in such a compromising position.

Since then, she’d brought more to be slaughtered for the cause, sneaking them out of The Directive holding cells, or picking them up off the street with promises of jobs, food, and shelter. Their terrified faces, as they realized her true intent for them, didn’t bother her anymore. After the first few, it became easy to lure them to their deaths. After all, Terrance’s ascension assured hers, yet she would’ve done anything he asked of her to be at his side, regardless of her status once he began his reign.

A laugh escaped her, as she thought about the bodies lying in the same place they had been when Gunner was apprehended. Terrance had shown her the order he drafted for the shifters to be buried properly, if possible, but there was nothing to be done for the vampires’ ashes. He’d sent the decree to Magno to cover the required bases, but the corpses hadn’t been interred and were a dead monument of his blood offering to the ancient deities he’d worshipped before he was turned vampire.

As Terrance had directed after Gunner’s arrest, Reina had taken the recent victims to a different location to avoid disturbing the previous ones, possibly angering the gods.

“Ma’am, we’re here.”

“Don’t park right in front of the house! Drive down a block or two!” The chauffeur nodded, pulled to the side of the street, and shifted into Park. “Don’t wait for me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Opening the door, she stepped out, narrowly avoiding a puddle. She slammed it shut and walked off in the direction of Gunner’s sprawling estate.

“He did that on purpose. Stopping in all that water. Bastard.”

A male form came out from the shadows, and she saw that it was Gunner. A blood pack was stuck to his fangs, and she wondered at that. She’d never known him to drink in the open, where he could be seen.

He was walking erratically, first one way and then another, and she decided to tail him at a safe distance so as to not be discovered. Although, the way he was acting, she thought she could’ve walked right up to him, and he wouldn’t have recognized her—the woman to whom he’d professed his love.

Something was definitely off.

An hour later, they were at the edges of the city, and she had to hang farther back to keep him from seeing her.

He paused in front of a house and then stomped one foot in frustration. Curious, she dashed behind trees and shrubs, as she crept closer. Then, of all things, a male shifter emerged from inside, threatening Gunner, ordering him to leave his mate alone.

None of it was making sense to Reina.

What would Gunner want with a shifter female?

Then the woman in question appeared, but rather than breaking into a battle royale, after a bit of posturing between the two men, she told them to go inside.

To Reina’s shock, they obeyed her, further relegating Gunner and the shifter to a lower status than Terrance, who would’ve never allowed her to tell him what to do. That would’ve earned her a resounding spanking. At the thought, she giggled and considered doing exactly that. But it was the image in her mind of the displeasure in his face, the disappointment in her defiance, that made her push the idea away. She’d been born to obey him, to submit to his every whim, and she intended to do so for the rest of her life.

Dashing to the side of the house, underneath an open window, Reina listened to their conversation, and a smile crept over her face at the realization that she wouldn’t have to debase herself with the likes of Gunner. He was handsome, but he was too nice for her. Terrance was her perfect match, knowing when she needed his palm reddening her ass until she cried. He understood her. He satisfied her and was her true mate.

As she heard Gunner describe his symptoms, she covered her mouth to keep from cackling.

He has the Thirst! Terrance will be so pleased! Any problems Gunner could possibly pose can be thwarted easily! All we have to do is get the girl!

Easing away from the house, she called the driver to meet her a few blocks away. As they went back to the city, she again withdrew her phone from her purse.

“Do you have news?” Terrance drawled.

As she told him of Gunner’s circumstances, he laughed with her.

“Come home, Reina. I have another use for you.”

“I’m eager to serve.”