Kaboom. The biggest bombshell of them all.

The little bell on the front desk dinged.

“What?” I gasped.

Addie cringed. “They found a body outside of town, in the woods. Looks like a vampire attack.”

“And of course they immediately come to the new girl in town.”

“You’re not exactly new.”

“Maybe not, but I wasn’t a vampire the last time I was here, was I?”

The bell dinged again, several impatient times. I stood and exhaled a sharp breath. Like I needed this right now. My brain was spinning with information overload. I didn’t even know if I could form a coherent answer to the simplest question, let alone ones that could put my freedom at risk—possibly my life. As I headed out of the office and toward the lobby, I realized I didn’t have an alibi for much of my time here. In fact, most of it had been spent with a woman who’s also now dead. Fabulous.

“Careful,” Addie whispered as she walked behind me. “Wolves aren’t exactly vampires’ best friends.”

I stopped in mid-step and hissed, “What does that mean?”

She bumped into me before catching herself. Her mouth was right by my ear as she explained in a low whisper. “They’re wolf shifters. They always showed outward respect toward your father because of his seat on the Court, but the natural instinct to hate your kind runs deep.”

Awesome.

Two men stood in the lobby, one in a khaki uniform with a deputy badge pinned to his chest and a brown felt hat in his hands, the older one in flannel and jeans. Both standing well over six-foot tall and with the same silvery-blue eyes and facial structure, they had to be related. Brothers, maybe.

The younger one bristled when he looked next to me, at Addie. “Came to warn her, did you?”

Addie gave him a warm grin, and her tone came out sickly sweet. “I came to make sure you do this properly, Deputy Kasun. She’s entitled to a representative from the coven.”

A noise almost like a growl rumbled in his throat, barely audible except to my keen ears.

“Ms. Petran,” said the one who appeared to be in his mid-forties based on the laugh lines near his eyes and the speckles of gray around his temples and in the scruff along his jaw. While the cop seemed uptight and ready to pounce, this guy was more relaxed, his tone softer around the edges. “We’re sorry about your aunt.”

“Peters,” I corrected. The deputy stiffened and peered at me with narrowed eyes. “That’s what’s on my ID, which I’m sure you want to see, right?”

“We already know it’s fake,” he said rather curtly, accusingly. As if I’d known it was fake. The older guy gave him a sideways look of warning.

“And thank you,” I said to the older one. “Although, I just learned she was my aunt.”

He nodded. “I’m Sheriff Ric Kasun. This is one of my deputies and son, Conall. We’re aware of your background and understand this all must be rather strange for you.”

“Strange would be putting it mildly.”

“Doesn’t matter what you remember from the past,” Conall said, his demeanor in contrast with the sheriff’s. Like they had a good cop–bad cop thing going on. Although, on closer inspection, while Ric’s posture appeared more relaxed, his muscles were tense and his gaze swept subtly around the lobby, likely taking in every detail, ready to spring if he saw something he didn’t like. “We need to know about last night. Where were you?”

“Care to be a little more specific with the time there, deputy?” Addie asked, her voice still dripping syrup, but with an underlying warning.

His upper lip twitched. “Between 4:25 and 5:12 a.m.,” he bit out.

Addie snickered. “That’s very specific. Russell’s lap time?”

“Something like that,” Sheriff Kasun said. “He found the body on his final run of the night out near Wylie’s gulch.”

“So where were you?” Conall snarled at me.

I pretended to think about it. “Pretty sure I was sleeping.”

“At night?” he scoffed.

I couldn’t help the small smile. “I’ve been working toward a more normal schedule, now that I can.”

“When do you hunt?” he asked. “If you’re on animal blood, as we’ve been told, best hunting is at night.”

“You would know,” Addie muttered. He ignored her.

“Madame Luiza provided me with more than a week’s worth of bottled blood. I haven’t needed to hunt yet. I don’t know when I will, either. The bottled stuff here isn’t too horrible, much better than anything I’d had before. And I kind of like animals. I don’t like having to kill them.” I paused. “Most anyway. The ones that don’t wish me harm.”

Conall cocked his head, sensing the challenge I might have been making.

“You have somebody to vouch for your whereabouts at that time?” the sheriff asked.

“That you were in bed,” Conall clarified quite rudely.

And there was the question I knew would come. I tried not to take offense at the implication, although I’d been here less than a week. What kind of girl did he think I was? Oh, yeah. Murderer.

“I sleep alone,” I said as nicely and calmly as I could muster.

“No need to be a dick, Conall,” Addie said.

“We need to know if she has an alibi, Adelaide,” Sheriff Kasun said to her. “That’s well within procedure.”

“Are you questioning all of the vampires?” she demanded.

“We will be. If we need to.”

I blew out a breath, trying to release some of the tension that only continued to build. “Look, I get it. You have a dead body, and I’m the newbie here. You want to believe you know me, except you don’t, because I’m not the old Michaela. But I’m not a murderer, either. I’ve never killed a human. I take pride in how well I control my needs. I swear I’m not the vampire you’re looking for.”

“In other words, you’re barking up the wrong tree,” Addie sniped, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.

“We do have empaths here in town,” Conall said. “They’ll know if you’re lying.”

I shrugged. “Bring them on.”

“She’s not lying,” said a deep voice from behind me, sending stupid tingles down my spine. I couldn’t even see him, but my whole body came on alert as he approached. “I’ll vouch for her.”

Oh, shit. What the hell was he doing? Barely more than an hour ago he was stomping away, acting like he wanted nothing to do with me. Now he was willing to lie on my behalf?

Conall looked over my shoulder, the disgust he felt obvious. “You were with her?” His nose wrinkled. “At least I know why she’d lie about it.”

Xandru growled behind me. Seriously growled. The sound a vampire makes in warning. His hand suddenly appeared in my peripheral vision, pointing a finger at the deputy. “Show some respect, asshole.”

Conall lifted a brow.

“To her,” Xandru yelled, making me jump.

“Calm down,” the sheriff quickly said, sensing the testosterone and who knew what other pheromones skyrocketing. “Both of you. Answer the question, Mr. Roca. Were you with her?”

I felt him bristle as he moved next to me.

“Not exactly,” he said. “I was on her porch the whole night, though.”

The sheriff squinted his eyes and cocked his head. “You were what?”

Xandru shifted next to me, sending heat over my skin. “I was watching her place.”

“Watching or stalking?” Conall muttered, and the next thing I knew, Sheriff Kasun was breaking up a fight of an inhuman sort.

He stood between the two younger men, both of their chests heaving, more likely from adrenaline than needing to catch their breaths. Conall’s eyes glowed a golden color, and Xandru’s fangs were out. The sheriff stood there for a long moment, his arms out to keep them separated. When they seemed to have calmed down and gained control, he put his hands on his hips and turned to face Xandru.

“Why were you watching her place?” he asked.

The muscle of Xandru’s jaw ticked. “You know why.”

They stared hard at each other for a long moment. Something passed between them, but the sheriff seemed to let it go.

“Anyone see you out there?” Conall demanded.

Xandru turned his glare on him. “Russell did. And you also know why to that.”

The two law officers continued their staring contest with Xandru. Another silent communication seemed to pass.

“Is this nonsense over?” Addie finally asked from my other side.

“Yes,” Xandru said at the same time the other two said, “No.”

“What else do you need from me, then?” I asked. “It’s been a hell of a day, and I need a drink.” Both pairs of silver-blue eyes cut over to me. “Wine. A glass of wine. Or a bottle. Sheesh.”

“One more question,” Conall said as he continued staring at me now. “What happened to Luiza Petran?”

Addie stepped forward. “All right, that’s it. Now you really are just being a dick.”

Xandru moved to her side, both of them in front of me now. “It’s time for you to leave.”

“Go on,” Addie added. “Before I have to file an incident report to the Court.”

“No worries, Adelaide,” Sheriff Kasun said. “I think we’ll be going over there ourselves.”

With a final glare at all three of us, the men turned for the exit.

“I’d better go with them,” Addie muttered quietly. She threw me a look over her shoulder before following them out the front door. And it wasn’t until they were out of sight that I realized Xandru and I were alone.

He turned to face me, dropping his hands to his hips as his gaze traveled down my body and back up. I could hear his heartbeat change as he did so. Slowing at first, but then spiking again as his eyes studied my mouth.

“Why did you lie for me?” I asked.

His tongue swept over his lips, and I nearly forgot my own question, consumed by the desire to be that tongue. Those lips. “I didn’t lie.”

My gaze flew up to his eyes. I lifted a brow. “You were seriously on my porch all night? And I didn’t know it?”

Those delicious lips curved into a smirk. “Vampire stealth.”

I pointed to my ear. “Vampire hearing.”

He lifted his chin. “You don’t live in a town like this without learning a few extra tricks.”

We stared at each other in silence, both of our hearts pounding. “Why then?”

He shrugged. “Maybe I like the view.”

“So you were watching the inn?”

“Maybe.”

I blew out a frustrated breath. “Can you give me a fucking straight answer? Finding out you were sitting on my porch all night last night without me knowing is a little damn unnerving.”

“Every night. Since you’ve been here.”

I pulled back. “What?”

“I’ve been around every night since you’ve been here.”

“Watching the inn?”

“Yes. And your cottage.”

“Why? And don’t give me a vague non-answer about the view.”

He hesitated, his eyes again doing that appreciative journey over my whole body. “Protecting you, Kales. Protecting the inn.”

“From what?”

He chuckled. “All kinds of things. Them—the law. The Court. The bank. And the one committing those murders. I knew they’d come to you first, try to use you as a scapegoat.”

“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. You said murderssss. As in plural. They only mentioned one.” I watched as Xandru pressed his lips together and rocked back on his heels. “You know something, don’t you?”

“I suspect something. Yes.”

“That you’re not going to tell me?”

“Nope.”

“Even though I could be in danger.”

“You’re not in danger as long as I’m around.”

“Hmph. Well, that’s the problem. You walked out today. How can I know or trust that you’ll be around?”

He took two strides toward me, until we stood toe to toe. I had to tilt my head back to look up at him. He leaned down until his forehead nearly touched mine. His eyes locked onto mine, piercing into me, delving down, down, down, and I found myself leaning closer to him.

“I’m not the one who left,” he said, his voice low, his breath fanning over my lips. The smell and the taste and the feel of him so close overcame my senses, making my body tremble and my knees weak. And my panties wet. But I held on to barely enough wherewithal to understand what he meant.

“It wasn’t up to me,” I said, and as soon as the words spilled from my lips, the memory of 18-year-old me in a fight with my parents rose to the forefront of my mind. I hadn’t been given a choice to leave. I hadn’t been asked what I really wanted—what I was really willing to sacrifice. Because it wasn’t them. Not this life. Not Xandru. Memories of us growing up together, from when we were toddlers to our first kiss when I was in the fifth grade to how we were virtually inseparable throughout high school, even when he graduated two years before me. A clear vision of seeing him for the first time with gray-green eyes instead of blue, after being gone for a couple of weeks. And how, right after, my parents told me about my acceptance to Emory and that I’d be leaving in two days. “You were right. I would have chosen to be turned. And to stay. With you.”

Our eyes held each other’s, and old feelings began to push against the barriers, what I could feel was about to become an avalanche. Before they overwhelmed me, sucked me under, buried me, I pushed up and against him and crashed my mouth against his.

His hands immediately came to my face, cradling it and holding tight. Mine slipped up, into thick, soft hair. The kiss deepened, our lips parted, our tongues met. And not for the first time, I knew. In fact, the moment mixed with the memory of the last time. The urgency, the passion, the desperation of saying goodbye, but now we were saying hello again. I missed you. I want and need you now more than ever. With just as much urgency and passion and desperation.

His mouth was delightful. His kisses delicious, sending a ping straight through my core. I sucked on his bottom lip, and he returned the favor, eliciting a whimper from me. He groaned in response, then suddenly pulled way. I nearly fell forward at his sudden absence, and I gasped for more while staring at him halfway across the room.

“What?” I asked.

“There’s something I don’t get, Kales.” Xandru’s gray-green eyes suddenly turned hard. Angry. Accusing.

“What?” I repeated.

“How could you forget me so easily? Forget us? After everything we’d been through?”