The doorbell at Gunner’s house rang, and he lifted his head, as Jana glanced down at her watch.

“I can’t believe she’s early,” she muttered.

Delia came through the entryway, sliding her black gloves off her hands, and then she gathered them together to hold in her left.

Gunner stood on shaky legs, thinking she would address Jana first, but she stalked towards him, looking him over from head to toe. When she reached him, she peeled his lips back and did a cursory inspection of his gums and then his eyes.

“You’re obviously the one affected. Gunner, is it?”

“Yes,” he said, rubbing his mouth to remove her invasive touch.

“Blood intake?”

“Pardon?”

“How much?” she snapped. “Ten pints a night? Twenty?”

“I’ve lost count.”

“I see.”

Blaine went to stand beside Gunner, and then Lee joined them.

“And you,” she said to Lee, “smell of yours being spilled.”

“Huh?” Lee asked, shifting on his feet.

“Blood!” she shouted, throwing the accusation into the air.

“Oh, yeah. Cut myself shaving.”

“That explains the stains on your shirt, shifter?”

Lee glared at her, though he didn’t say another word.

“Henry!” she called out.

A man shuffled through the door, his jaw ticking with nerves. He had a medium build, and his blonde hair was unkempt and looked as if he ran his fingers through it constantly. In that instant, the man did just that and then glanced up and away.

“Who’s that?” Gunner asked, wondering if his new guest could read his mind. “Can he help?”

“As you have, no doubt, been informed, I am Delia Costanzo, and I work with a select few operatives to locate Bloodmates. Henry Grimes is with me, and he brings his special expertise to these cases.”

Henry snorted and then covered his mouth.

“Can he assist us, or not?” Gunner asked, raising his voice.

“Would I have brought him if he couldn’t?”

Stepping forward, Jana said, “Delia, perhaps you could fill them in on what they can expect and what is needed.”

“Right. Henry has the ability to locate—home in on, you might say—the location of missing persons.”

“Success rate?” Blaine interjected.

“Enough to be on my team,” she answered, cutting him off.

“What do you need us to do?” Lee asked, directing his question to Henry. “I’m Lee, by the way. This is Blaine, and Piper here is my mate.”

Henry nodded at each of them but didn’t say anything, canting his head towards Delia.

“Gather items that she.... This is a woman, correct? Gender wasn’t listed in the casefile, and I don’t want to assume.”

“Yes,” Gunner said. “Imogen is a female.”

“You’ll need to bring objects to Henry which are special to her.”

“I... but... I... don’t know—”

Lee said, “On it.”

Delia looked at her watch.

“The time is now 8:30. Go get the items, and we’ll reconvene here at precisely 10:00.”

Lee grabbed Piper’s hand, and they took off out the door at a full run.

“You,” Delia said to Gunner, “sit with Henry and tell him about her, whatever it is you do know. We understand the Thirst and how it operates—the overwhelming drive for blood and sex. Nothing you tell us will be shocking in the least. I’ll be sitting in, taking notes.”

“I’ll attend, as well,” Blaine said, “as his legal advisor.”

“This isn’t a deposition, counselor. Your services are not required.”

“All the same....”

“As you wish.” She shrugged. “Where should we go?”

“My study.”

Gunner waved in the general direction and walked towards it, as they fell in step behind him.

“I’ll join you in a minute,” Blaine said, as he headed towards the kitchen.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done without him,” Gunner said, as they crossed the threshold of the richly furnished room.

It was filled with dark leather couches. Bookcases lined the walls, and plush rugs were underfoot.

“He cared for you when the Thirst hit?”

Gunner nodded, as he eased himself down into a chaise. His veins were on fire, and his throat was parched as if he hadn’t fed in weeks rather than mere minutes.

“You would’ve most likely died or gone insane if he hadn’t. You could still.”

“That’s become abundantly apparent to me, Delia,” Gunner replied, not sure if he should be grateful for her frankness or annoyed at it. Blaine walked quickly over to where they were sitting and set a cooler at Gunner’s feet. “Thank you. I owe you, man.”

“Nah. You would’ve done the same for me had the Legendary Hunger hit me.”

“It could,” Delia said, as she took her seat across from Gunner. “There’s been a rash of them recently.”

“You wanted Gunner to relay whatever info he had?” Blaine prompted.

Delia pinned Blaine with her eyes in assessment, and Gunner’s normally calm and steady friend shifted from foot to foot.

Turning her attention to Gunner, she said, “Yes. Anything you have to share. Begin.”

“Honestly, I don’t know her very well. Once the urge came, I had to have her or blood. When Lee and Piper introduced us, our connection was immediate, an undeniable thing.”

“Sex?”

“Pardon?” Gunner asked, wondering if he’d heard her correctly.

“Did you have intercourse with her?”

It was Gunner’s turn to feel discomfort at her questions.

“Why is that important?”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

If the stakes hadn’t been so high, Gunner would have busted out laughing at how absurd the entire situation and conversation was, but his need for his Bloodmate overrode any of his other senses.

“What is Henry doing? He was supposed to be joining us.”

“I have no idea. Preparing himself, I suppose.”

“He went with Lee and Piper,” Blaine replied.

Gunner reached for another pack and said, “I thought they’d already left.”

“They came back, and Piper grabbed him by the arm, dragging him behind her, saying something about taking him to Imogen’s place.”

A hiss erupted from Gunner, as jealousy ran through him at the thought of another man setting foot inside Imogen’s abode, without him there to chaperone him through her rooms.

“Careful, vampire.” Delia wagged a finger at him. “He’s mine, and he’s on a Directive mission on your behalf.”

Shaking his head, Gunner said, “My apologies. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

“No, you haven’t, and you never will again.”